02 24 2004

Page 1

Liberal hurdles

Beat the rage

Bobcats claim victory against Cajuns/Sports/Page 10

Vintage threads

Retro Exchange provides an alternative to modern fashion/Trends/Page 5

Nothing but marriage is acceptable for gay couples/Opinions/Page 4

TUESDAY

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 55 www.universitystar.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2004

T E X A S

S T A T E

U N I V E R S I T Y - S A N

PLANTING TREES OF UNITY

M A R C O S

Ethics commissioners drop investigations City Council members no longer face conflict of interest complaints By Dan Mottola News Reporter The San Marcos Ethics Review Commission decided Wednesday against holding hearings for any of the alleged conflict-of-interest complaints against the mayor and three City Council members filed during the past five months. However, the politics that spawned the flurry of ethics complaints originated from battle lines drawn in 2001 when the city was divided because of the annexation of a south San Marcos neighborhood. The passage of October 2003’s disannexation ordinance and this month’s ethics amendments have failed to quell much of the uproar still resonating from section D of the annexed tract. Of the two subsections not disannexed in October (D and E), D is the most heavily inhabited and closest to the city. Jon James, of the city’s planning department, said the area was left in the city because water services had been extended to the area at the time of the ordinance. Following the first and second readings of the disannexation ordinances, San Marcos resident Chris North filed ethics complaints against Mayor Robert Habingreither and council member Bill Taylor. North alleged there were conflicts of interest violations involving their votes to disannex subsections A and F, in which Habingreither and Taylor own property. North called for an investigation into the legality of the men’s actions as well as modifications to the existing ethics ordinances. While North is pleased with the ethics amendments, which passed on second reading Monday, she believes the ordinance needs to be further

amended and simplified. “No city official should vote or participate in any decision-making process if that official has a direct financial interest under consideration,” North said. One of the recent ethics amendments calls for restrictions on communications between City Council members and ethics commissioners. During the review process of the initial complaints, three of five ethics commissioners resigned, citing a lack of cooperation from the City Council and letters from the mayor who was described as angry and threatening. In previous University Star articles, he cited numerous legal opinions Habingreither sought pertaining to his participation on the disannexation matter, in addition to the statements of two property appraisers who he said concurred that his south San Marcos home’s value would not be affected by disanexation. Throughout his candidacy he stated he would act on disannexation if it came across his desk and would establish a temporary residence within the city. Habingreither wrote in a Dec. 19 letter to City Attorney Mark Taylor that if his opponents are going to make an issue out of this, so would he. “If this becomes a hangman’s court, everyone will be hearing plenty from me and my supporters,” Habingreither wrote in his letter to Taylor. Tom Clendennen, resident of subsection D in the south San Marcos neighborhood, said that as long as their mutual interests coincide he would support Habingreither. “I believe the mayor has done an excellent job, and I will support his bid for re-election,” he said. Clendennen filed an ethics complaint Jan. 16 accusing council member Susan Narvaiz of failing to report supposed campaign contributions from g See ETHICS, page 3

Tiffany Searcy/Star photo Robert Gratz, Academic Affairs vice president, Katsuyoshi Kanno of the National Collegiate Network Institute; Kentaro Sawa of the NCN Institute Los Angeles; Pat Cassidy; and San Marcos Mayor Robert Habingreither participate in the Sakura Festival. The Sakura festival is held to celebrate the blooming of cherry trees in the spring.

F

Japanese tradition honored with tree planting

By Amber Conrad News Reporter lowering peach and Mexican plum trees were planted in the green space between the J.C. Kellam Administration Building and the Theatre Center at 11a.m. Friday to symbolize a harmonious relationship between Japan and the United States. Members of the National Collegiate Network, Japanese Language and Culture Club, San Marcos officials and university staff were on hand to dedicate the five trees, which have cherry blossoms grafted to them,

I N S I D E

Amusements....................7 Classifieds........................8

Comics/Crossword........7 News..............................2,3 Opinions...........................4

Sports...........................9,10 Trends............................5,6

Today’s Weather

High: 69 Lo w : 43

AM Rain/PM Clouds

Wind: From NW at 13 mph Precipitation: 30% Max. Humidity: 65% UV Index: 5 Moderate Wednesday’s Forecast Cloudy 55/33

as part of what will become an annual celebration of the Sakura Festival on campus. Chinatsu Fukuda, Japanese Language and Culture Club president and accounting junior, attended the event and presented her mother’s traditional Japanese-style artwork depicting cheery blossoms in bloom. “It’s hard to establish a Japanese culture within the hugely diverse Texas State community, and with this symbol of friendship we hope to better express ourselves through the festivals yet to come,” she said. Janis Schiller, English as a Second g See SAKURA, page 3

ASG voting begins in March By Amelia Jackson News Reporter March is election month at Texas State. Associated Student Government hopefuls can announce their intent to run by filing March 1. Elections will be held online March 30-31. Senators are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA or higher; however, a 2.75 GPA is necessary for presidential and vice presidential candidates. All ASG members must be fulltime students. “I encourage anyone who is interested in running for a student government position to

look at our Web site and contact us with any questions,” said Ernie Dominguez, ASG president. Filing forms will be available on the ASG Web site and in a half page ad in The University Star. Dominguez also said a public debate will be held the week before elections for presidential and vice presidential candidates. A grievance session will be held March 2-3 in the LBJ Student Center and The Quad for students to talk to senators about problems with the university. Next week, ASG will hear

from Brad McAllister, assistant director of Auxiliary Services, about the Tram system at Texas State. Currently, the Senate is hearing about plans to expand Tram routes and add additional buses. Representatives from the Pedagog, Texas State’s yearbook, will also speak to ASG. Students who have opinions on the buses or the reinstatement of the yearbook are encouraged to attend next week’s meeting at 7 p.m. in LBJSC, Room 3-14.1. ASG also approved the dismissal of Senator Elizabeth De Socarraz, pre-psychology senior, from the Senate for two unexcused absences.

College Democrats learn from local state representative Rose tells students about his first term in office By David Doerr News Editor District 45 State Rep. Patrick Rose encouraged members of the College Democrats to get involved with his re-election campaign and explained how state government directly affects the lives of college students during the organization’s Thursday meeting. For almost 30 minutes, Rose spoke and answered questions concerning tuition deregulation, funding of public schools and lowering property taxes. Rose also mentioned sev-

eral members who helped with his initial campaign for office and several members who are currently helping with his re-election campaign. Rose cited tuition deregulation as one of the issues currently affecting college students. “If your family is poor you can get the need-based grants and scholarships to pay instate tuition, and if you are wealthy you can pay for it as well,” Rose said. “But if you are middle-class in this state and you are trying to pay for college tuition, particularly now that it is being raised, it’s very tough.” He said legislators knew tuition deregulation was going to pass because the speaker of the house, the lieutenant governor and governor were all for it. However, he and others had concerns with

it, which is why he worked with Democrats and Republicans to amend the legislation to include a provision that would require 20 percent of the tuition increases to be set aside for grants to middleclass students, he said. Rose, who is 25 years old, said one of the lessons he has learned by serving in the legislature is that young people can have an impact in state government. “We can win races, we can help shape policy and we can make the state a better place, but only if we get involved,” Rose said. “We, as Democrats, sit in a unique time. In the House, we have got to be bipartisan in the way Andy Ellis/Star Photo we get to 76 votes if we are State Rep. Patrick Rose stopped at campus Thursday to speak with going to impact policy. That’s interesting because some of the College Democrats. Rose attributed some of his past success g See DEMOCRATS page 2

directly to the Texas State Democrats, some of whom are currently contributing to his re-election campaign.


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