02 14 2013

Page 1

VOLUME 102, ISSUE 55

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THURSDAY

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

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Conflicting schedules cause football delays By Xander Peters News Reporter Though San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District has rented Bobcat Stadium for years, recent scheduling conflicts could lead to a relocation of football games. San Marcos CISD has rented Bobcat Stadium for football games since it was built in the early 1980s. However, Texas State’s upcoming realignment into the Sun Belt Conference has caused scheduling conflicts for San Marcos High School’s home-game schedule, said Nan Arredondo, San Marcos CISD athletic secretary. As a result, the school district is looking into constructing its own stadium. Rick Poulter, sports information director, said the dates for some Texas State home football games have not yet been determined. This has prolonged the process of developing San Marcos High School’s football schedule, Arredondo said. Poulter said the scheduling between the university and San Marcos High School has had to take place under special circumstances. “We’ve had the same relationship that we’ve always had with (San Marcos CISD),” Poulter said. “The only stipulation for them is that we have first rights to the dates for our games.” Mark Soto, San Marcos CISD athletic director, said there are no sore feelings between the high school and Texas State, and he would not call any of the confusion with scheduling an inconvenience. “We’ve always worked well with Texas State,” Soto said. “You guys are just growing and moving up the ranks. We’re kind of a little brother that needs to get out on our own too.” Soto said there is discussion about the high school building its own football stadium, and he will know more details by the end of the month. Approximately $20 million is expected to be invested in constructing the new stadium over a period of six to eight months, depending on weather and materials, Soto said. “It just depends on what kind of plan we can come up with as a school district, but we want to get it on the ground as fast as we can,” Soto said. “The community loves Friday night football, and to have it again would be great.” Poulter said in financial records dating back to 2000 the high school’s use of Bobcat Stadium can be seen. However, members of the Facilities staff have told him San Marcos High School’s rentals date back to Evans Stadium, the previous field. San Marcos CISD paid the university $8,000 per high school game at Bobcat Stadium last year. Five high school games were hosted at the stadium throughout the course of the regular season, totaling $40,000, Poulter said. Texas State covers all custodial and gameday staff personnel, which costs $1,000 per game. The university made a $35,000 profit last season for the high school’s rental use. The revenue brought into the university for hosting the games covers the operational costs of Friday night football, Poulter said. Operational costs include any damage inside or outside of the stadium, electricity expenses for lighting night-games and other utility charges. San Marcos CISD keeps the revenue from ticket and parking sales, he said. Poulter said he does not think the revenue loss would be significant if the high school eventually had its own stadium. His reasoning was there would no longer be a cost for hosting the games.

Bus changes, new director discussed at Faculty Senate By Taylor Tompkins Assistant News Editor Transportation officials met with the Faculty Senate Wednesday to address recent changes made to the tram services provided by Texas State. Nancy Nusbaum, interim director of transportation services, said interviews for her replacement will begin next week. Nusbaum is the interim director for Joe Richmond, who is out on extended leave. Nusbaum said additional changes could be in store for bus services because the tram industry has indicated a 20 percent increase in costs for next year. Transportation services officials are asking students to pass a referendum on April 6 and 7 that would increase the bus fee from $78 to $95 per semester for fall 2014 to cover the costs. The proposed fee is based on the same review by Texas A&M Transportation Institute that eliminated the Bobcat Tram Interurban services. “If the students don’t pass the referendum to increase the fee, then we will be cutting services drastically, most likely,” Nusbaum said.

COUNSELING CRISIS Fall of 2011 new intake appointments: 352 Fall of 2012 new intake appointments: 447 27% increase Fall of 2011 appointments International Association of Counseling attended: 2100 Services recommends:1 counselor per every 1500 students Fall of 2012 appointments attended: 2562 National average of permanent Texas State has: 22% increase staff for schools with enrollment of 1 counselor per 3400 30,000- 35,000: 14 counselors students Permanent staff Texas State: 10 counselors National average of trainees and permanent employees (includes interns and post doctorates) National with enrollment of 30,000- 35,000: 18 counselors Texas State: 15 counselors

Counseling Center struggles to meet demand By Taylor Tompkins Assistant News Editor The Counseling Center is struggling to meet the needs of an ever-growing student population because of a lack of resources, and clients are being turned away as a result. Gregory Snodgrass is assistant vice president of Student Affairs and director of the Counseling Center. He said concerns for the mental health of students have been raised because of the center’s inability to address the magnitude of clients’ needs. The Counseling Center is not being proportionally funded to support the increase in students, resulting in a space and manpower deficit, he said. Snodgrass said during a Feb. 6 presentation to the Faculty Senate the Counseling Center had 447 initial consultations for first-time clients this fall. In total, 2,562 appointments were attended last semester, and 1,127 students were turned away. There were 1,700 students turned away during the entirety of the 20112012 academic year. “This seems to be a real crisis for the university,” said Mary Cavitt, professor in the School of Music. There are seven to eight initial consultations scheduled for each day, and they are fully booked before 8:30 a.m., Snodgrass said. Students are told to call back another day when turned away.

Snodgrass said not all students call back, and Counseling Center staff are trying to devise a way to track those whom the office loses. Snodgrass estimates 50 percent of those students turned away never call back. “It takes a lot for a student to get up the gumption to call the Counseling Center for the first time,” Snodgrass said. “We don’t like that turn away.” The center is accredited through the International Association of Counseling Services, according to its webpage. The services suggest centers have one counselor for every 1,500 students. Snodgrass said Texas State has one counselor per every 3,400 students. Some schools do not meet the suggested number, but most come closer to it than Texas State does, Snodgrass said. “I’ve been here for 35 years, and I’ve been asking for (more) people for 35 years,” Snodgrass said. “I never will have enough, but if we could get enough people to a level where it is comparable to most other places, I would understand.” The below-average number of counselors cannot be remedied because of disproportional funding to student enrollment and lack of space in the Counseling Center, Snodgrass said. “The funding is just going in other directions right

READ counseling, PAGE 3

Video of snooping maintenance staffer in student’s dorm room leads to firing By Taylor Tompkins Assistant News Editor The person who was moving things around in Jacob Roberson’s dorm room turned out not to be his roommate but a university employee. Roberson, undecided sophomore, used a motion-activated video on his laptop to record footage of his room throughout the day. The video revealed a member of the Department of Housing and Residential Life maintenance staff had entered Roberson’s room in San Marcos Hall and looked through several drawers and the closet. Roberson posted the video on YouTube Dec. 10, and it has since received more than 4,150 views. Multiple items had been moved in Roberson’s room in late September. The changes led Roberson to believe his roommate was going through the belongings. Roberson then set up the motion-activated video software to catch the culprit. He was shocked when the video revealed a man Roberson had never seen before looking through the belongings and moving things around Oct. 4, 2012.

“Nothing was ever taken, nothing that I know of,” Roberson said. “I had never seen him, never met him before.” Roberson said Rosanne Proite, director of Housing and Residential Life, spoke with him about the matter after being alerted by the dorm’s residence director. “She told me the employee was removed from the building and reassigned,” Roberson said. “The thing is, that same day my friend saw the same guy in the building, in the lobby. (Proite) assured me they were handling it, that they were investigating.” The maintenance worker was terminated not long after the residence director was informed about the man’s continued presence, Roberson said. Proite said she could not comment about the incident because it concerns human resource issues. The Department of Housing and Residential Life is not liable for loss of property because of theft or burglary, according to the 2012-2013 dorm contract. Students are required

to allow any university employee into their rooms for inspections or maintenance. Staff may enter a student’s room without consent if “reasonable suspicion exists of violation of University policy, concerns about safety of the students or guests, or situations that may cause harm to others,” according to the contract. Bobby Niemietz, maintenance supervisor for the department, said all university employees must go through background checks handled by human resources. All maintenance staff members have protocol that must be met before they can enter a student’s room. “You can’t go in before 10 a.m. They have to knock and announce themselves,” Niemietz said. “They have to have a work order or a reason to go in (if no one is in the room).” There were 26 dorm burglary incidents reported in 2011, none of which occurred in San Marcos Hall, according to the University Police Department crime blotter. However, 27 incidents were reported in 2012, and five occurred in San Marcos Hall.


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02 14 2013 by The University Star - Issuu