OPINIONS THE UNIVERSITY STAR
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - Page 8
quoteof the day “They did tell us it was nothing related to anything dangerous or biological or anything that could hurt anybody.”
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—FBI Special Agent Rene Salinas following further testing of a powdery substance found in a dormitory at the University of Texas-Austin. Initial reports claimed it was the biological agent Ricin, but were later retracted following extra testing. (Source: the Associated Press)
Opinions Contact — Joe Ruiz, staropinion@txstate.edu
THE MAIN POINT
Supreme Court ruling demoralizing for student journalists
The Main Point is the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. Columns are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the full staff, Texas State University-San Marcos Student Media, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or Texas State UniversitySan Marcos.
Kelly Simmons/Star illustration
The United States Supreme Court announced they would not hear the appeal in the case of Hosty v. Carter last Tuesday. For those who are unaware of the case, here’s a primer. Three former student journalists at Governors State University in Illinois filed suit against their dean attempted to hold issues of the campus newspaper, the Innovator, for prior review after articles critical of faculty and administration were run. The dean, Patricia Carter, attempted to review the newspaper prior to printing despite a university policy that allowed those students who worked on the paper to “determine content and format of their respective publications without censorship or advance approval.” After a ruling from a lower court that the dean went outside her bounds, an appeals court reversed the decision and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Supreme Court, in its 1988 Hazlewood v. Kuhlmeier ruling that high school students did not enjoy the same freedom from prior review by administration, also allowed for the same ability for review for newspapers at public colleges and universities. While you might believe this case matters only to employees of The University Star and those in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, it actually presents problems for all college students at any public institution. Aside from the alphabet soup of journalism and media organizations with issues about these rulings, the court’s decisions about public forum and their designation could remove the ideals of the free exchange of ideas. But you know what’s different about Texas State University, The Star and our friends at KTSW-FM have already been guaranteed the freedoms of the press by both the First Amendment and the University Policy and Procedure Statement. While the university is our publisher and the license holder at KTSW, the student editors retain complete control of the content and for as long as we can remember, it’s always been that way. We can’t be thankful enough for those boundaries and appreciate the university for continuing to respect the First Amendment and the policy established in the UPPS. What makes us different from our colleagues at the Innovator is that even though we share the same type of funding from student service fees and through our own advertising, we have been clearly designated a public forum with editorial control to be held by the student editors. Below, you will see a poll which shows that a third of high school students surveyed believe the First Amendment delivers too much freedom to newspapers and media outlets. What makes this non-decision by the Supreme Court even more disheartening is that they have started a process of solidifying the wishes of that one-third.
Pros, cons of ACC annexation tax (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a three-part series of columns from Nicole Hernandez about the Austin Community College and a possible election on a new tax for the residents of San Marcos.)
economic stability in the future. Andrew Gary is the representative for a group of San Marcos residents and businesses that oppose annexation for a number of NICOLE HERNANDEZ reasons. Although Star Columnist the ACC tax would be the smallest of all collective taxes in San Marcos, The Austin Community Col- costing the average resident lege Board is expected to call $75 per year, many residents for an election on the issue of cannot afford what taxes alannexation of the San Marcos ready exist. Gary told Bobcat area on March 6. In May, San Update there is a large group of Marcos residents will be able to people in the community that approve a small tax that would currently “have trouble paying generate more than $2.4 miltheir utilities,” much less an lion for ACC. In reality, the tax additional tax for ACC. would support San Marcos and The deal offered by ACC is its future residents and econoa legal contract, from which my. By approving annexation, there is no turning back. Once which would permanently San Marcos votes itself into make San Marcos part of the the taxing district, it can never in-district area, local ACC stude-annex itself or otherwise dents would be able to attend secede from the ACC taxing a fully functioning campus in district. Furthermore, ACC San Marcos, with extensive does not become accountdegree programs and training able to San Marcos after anoptions for students. Local nexation. San Marcos residents students will enjoy a guaranwould gain the ability to vote teed 54 percent decrease in the in ACC board elections and cost of attending, according gain representation on the to information from the ACC board through public elecBoard of Trustees. More San tions. However, state law would Marcos residents, a largely have to change in order for San Hispanic population, would be Marcos to pull itself out of the able to afford a college educadistrict. The ACC taxes would tion, improving our commugo to the ACC regional district, nity locally and ensuring more and, as Gary points out, ACC
is not obligated to spend San Marcos tax money on the San Marcos campus, services or students. To accept the current deal from ACC would be entering a legal agreement “with no guarantees,” Gary said. Gary and his group bring valid concern to the issue. Any deal without guarantee is almost always a bad idea. However, ACC has raised its taxes only once in the history of the college. There is no precedent to assume that the college would attempt to increase the tax at all once this one is approved. Even if ACC proposed a higher tax after annexation, a majority of voters in the district would be needed to actually impose a new tax rate. ACC strongly contends that the college “has honored all commitments made in all of its annexation elections.” Another point of interest for the group affiliated with Gary is the high school dropout rate and the perception that San Marcos has less than quality public education. Gary said in a Feb. 7 article in The University Star that “expanding higher education prospects in San Marcos isn’t even in the top 10” on the list of priorities. He says the focus of our community should be on the children in our public schools. The 2004 report card for San Marcos High School listed a completion rate of 95.3 per-
cent for the class of 2004, up from 93.6 percent in 2003, and 90.5 in 2002. These numbers do not indicate a dropout problem. Although the district has a dropout rate higher than the state’s average, which is 3.3, the number of students permanently leaving high school has also been decreasing during the last few years. “We feel we have a handle on dropout intervention with home visits and follow-ups,” said Rosina Valle, San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Attendance Coordinator. Reports on the school district published every year confirm a declining high school dropout rate among ninth through 12th graders. The community cannot ignore the opportunity to offer higher education to those high school students who do graduate. Gary, whose father attended San Marcos High School, where Gary and his three children graduated from, said San Marcos’ main priority should be the children in grades K12, of whom not enough are graduating and not enough are college-ready. Valle says although one child dropping out of school is too many SMCISD does not have a dropout problem. Nor do the reports filed indicate an out of control problem with dropouts.
Letters to the Editor Minister’s version not reflective of Jesus’ teachings Texas State students, I’m sure you all saw, heard, or heard about the “evangelists” who were in The Quad last week. I want to apologize for the things that these guys were saying. If you felt offended by their browbeating tactics or harsh rhetoric, I’m sorry. Some pretty nasty things were said in the name of Jesus Christ. I want to tell you that it was wrong. That is not what Christianity is about. I know that they used a lot of scripture to justify their tactics, but most of it was used out of context. I won’t deny that the Bible does outline the way we are supposed to behave. I can’t tell you that what was written on their banner were not sins. But the way they go about presenting that informa-
tion is what was wrong with their “ministry.” Jesus is all about love. Yelling and screaming and browbeating is not the way Jesus meant for his message to be spread. God loves you, and he desires to enter into a relationship with you. The job of Christians is to show this love of Christ to others. The men from “open air ministry” are not showing the love of Christ. Once you’ve experienced the love God wants to show you, then through that love comes repentance of sin. The guys in The Quad are skipping this very important step. Again, I want to apologize if you were hurt by anything “Brother Jed” or his friends said. I also want to let you know that there are people on this campus who love God and want to show you his love. There are students who care about this campus and are committed to bringing God’s true word to the students. If you really want to experience the love of God, I encour-
age you to ask someone you know that has a relationship with him, or visit one of several organizations on campus (BSM, CRU, Crosstalk) that would love to tell you more. Again, I’m very sorry for the way you were treated by those people. I pray God’s blessings on you. —Daniel Gray business management sophomore
Student apologizes for scene at The Stallions My picture was published in the Thursday issue of The University Star arguing with a man preaching at The Stallions on Wednesday. I would like to apologize once again for my actions toward him. He sparked my anger with his harsh words about minority
groups such as homosexuals, and my emotions overrode my mind and I got completely out of control. I was mad because he stoops down to insults to prove his point, yet all I did was stoop down to insults of my own. I was no better than the person I was criticizing. I have no right to judge whether or not his actions were moral, but I do have a right and obligation to judge whether mine were, and they definitely were not. I later went back to The Stallions and apologized to him and the people watching, but I believe that was not enough. I would like to once again apologize to the group, and the people watching. Also, I would like to make clear that my actions and words do not represent the majority of the gay and lesbian community, nor my own thoughts. —Tyler Ferguson political science freshman
Letters policy: E-mail letters to starletters@txstate.edu. Letters must be no longer than 300 words. No anonymous letters will be printed. We reserve the right to edit for grammar, spelling, space and libel. We reserve the right to refuse obscene, irrelevant and malicious letters. All e-mails must include the name and phone number of the letter writer. Students should also include their classifications and majors.
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The University Star is the student newspaper of Texas State University-San Marcos published Tuesday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. It is distributed on campus and throughout San Marcos at 8 a.m. every other Wednesday of Summer I and II with a distribution of 6,000. Printing and distribution is by the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Copyright February 28, 2006. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The University Star are the exclusive property of The University Star and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the editor in chief.