False promises
Season finale
Men’s basketball ends season with defeat to UTSA/Sports/Page 14
Web trends
Online services, SXSW festival provide insight to virtual world/Trends/Page 8
Army offers facade of morals for your soul/Opinions/Page 7
TUESDAY
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 61 www.universitystar.com
MARCH 9, 2004
DEADLY RESULTS T E X A S
S T A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y - S A N
M A R C O S
ASG elections drawing near Fee increases, positions up for vote in late March By Amelia Jackson News Reporter Students will have the opportunity to vote on several referendums during the upcoming Associated Student Government elections. The elections, slated for March 30-31, will give students the opportunity to vote on
Andrew Nenque/Star photo Melissa Stockman, elementary education graduate student and survivor of a drunken driving incident in March 2001, stands by and watches as the University Police Department, in conjunction with city emergency teams and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, conducted a mock DWI crash in The Quad Monday.
Mock car wreck scene displays effects of drunken driving
S
By Jennifer Warner Senior Reporter tudents planning their Spring Break vacations were given a reminder Monday in The Quad to not get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol. Two mangled vehicles were placed between Evans Liberal Arts Building and Flowers Hall to show students what a drunken driving accident could look like. The event, titled “Know Your Dreams, Know Your Limits, Know the Consequences,” was sponsored by the University Police Department along with the Student Affairs Civic Responsibility Team and the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It provided information about drugs and alcohol
and included a mock crash scene. The mock scene was at 11 a.m. in front of a crowd gathered in The Quad. Videos of the stories of those who have been injured or killed by people who have chosen to drive while intoxicated were shown later. “I think we have a responsibility to the students, to inform them and make them aware of the dangers of drinking and driving,” said John Garza, UPD patrolman and event coordinator. “(We have a responsibility) to show that there are consequences to the decisions they make.” The scene, which featured students from the Drama Club, included real emergency service personnel performing tests and g See DWI, page 5
amendments to the ASG constitution and student fee increases for the Tram and an environmental service fee increase along with candidates for the Senate, including the vice president and president positions. The amendments to the constitution focus on requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates and on representatives from each of the university’s colleges. Senators were divided on the wording of the referendum,
Panel attempts to answer questions about The Passion
By Kassia Micek Assistant News Editor
A panel discussion on the movie The Passion of the Christ will take place at 5:30 p.m. today in the Centennial Hall Teaching Theater. A panel made up of religious scholars and psychology and media professors will discuss the film and its consistency with biblical scholarship. According to a press release for the event, it hopes to answer questions such as the following: Does the film accurately portray what we know of the life and character of Jesus? Does the film
g See ASG, page 5
communicate anti-Semitic sentiment? Does it subject its audience to such savage and unrelenting violence as to anesthetize us to any possible impact? Does it make a positive contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the central figure of the Christian faith? “(Mel) Gibson’s film has become a lighting rod for renewed interest in the suffering and death of Jesus, making a perennial theme in Western culture a very current one,” said Jeffery Gordon, panel moderator and philosophy professor. g See PANEL, page 5
Presidential candidate Kucinich brings campaign to San Antonio By Daniel Mottola News Reporter
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, rallied more than 150 supporters in San Antonio’s Milam Park Friday as he continued to campaign in order to influence the discourse of the presidential debate. Kucinich spoke on issues including his plans to end the war in Iraq, abolishing NAFTA and pulling out of the World Trade Organization, providing
Today’s Weather
High: 75 Lo w : 42
AM Windy/PM Clear
Wind: From N at 23 mph Precipitation: 0% Max. Humidity: 45% UV Index: 8 High Wednesday’s Forecast Sunny 71/49
I N S I D E
Classifieds......................11
Comics/Crossword......10 News.............................2-5 Opinions...........................7
Sports........................12-14 Trends............................8,9
free kindergarten through college education and universal healthcare for all Americans. San Marcos resident Kay Taylor described Kucinich’s address as energetic and motivational. “People are grateful to hear about Kucinich more so than before,” Taylor said. “They sigh as if relieved to hear that there are still signs of life on planet (Democrat) after all.” Despite being numerically lockedout of the nomination, Kucinich
vowed to remain in the race through the July Democratic National Convention, campaigning on his key platform issues and gaining delegates in order to shape the Democraticparty platform as a whole. “We’re committed to continuing the fight because we have lost our democracy, we don’t have the freedoms we had two, four years ago,” said Fidel Acevedo, Kucinich’s Texas field coordinator. Acevedo said with someone like
Kucinich in office, who has the interests of hard-working Americans in mind, democracy would be won back from special corporate interests. “Kucinich’s progressive-issue platform is the future for young people,” Acevedo said. “If we can get his platform passed at the national level, we will have the opportunity to steer this party in the right direction on several basic levels.” Acevedo emphasized two directions in particular: education and
health care. He said Kucinich’s free pre-kindergarten through college education plan would foster a more educated society and not leave the masses behind like the current plan. “Universal health care is something that we are already paying for but not receiving,” Acevedo said. He said there is no reason why Americans should have to suffer the high payments of a for-profit health
SIFE aims to teach elementary students how to be savvy in Internet, business By Jennifer Warner Senior Reporter
Members of the Students in Free Enterprise class have teamed up with the College of Education in an attempt to help make elementary students Internet and business savvy. The team, which is designed to teach younger students the concepts of free enterprise, has developed a Web site called “The Study Spider” and a project called “Vocabulary Bingo” for use with students at Tobias Elementary in Kyle. SIFE members Brandi Askew, marketing senior; Jenny Mednick, marketing senior; and Claudia Perales, marketing senior, worked with student teachers in the College of Education to help them incorporate technology into the curriculum. “The connections with the
Internet helps the elementary students to better understand various aspects of the vocabulary,” said Barbara Davis, College of Education associate professor. “It’s just basically learning how to use the Internet as a resource in their learning. It’s a supplement to what happens with the teachers in the classroom.” The program is also designed to help students study vocabulary related to business and free enterprise. “When I came to school, I didn’t have much knowledge of a business background,” Askew said. “If you get the kids involved at a younger age, they’re more aware of it.” SIFE members have been instructing Davis and student teachers on how to use the Web site and to teach the elementary students about technology. In turn, the children learn
about technology and how to use a computer to search for things they would like to know. Askew is the SIFE vice president and serves as its liaison for the College of Education. In order to participate in SIFE, students enroll in a class taught by marketing lecturer Vikki West. They attend competitions across the country, including one in Phoenix, Ariz,. where they won third place. “It develops the students’ skills in communication, teamwork and leadership,” West said of the program. West said the SIFE team has nominated Davis to the national Best Business Adviser board for her work on the project. The SIFE organization is at more than 1,300 universities across the world. In 2000, the Texas State SIFE team was the
g See KUCINICH, page 4
SIFE photo Student teachers learn to use computer technology to help teach elementary students how to use the Internet and the concepts of free enterprise. international champion in a worldwide competition. They have placed in the top 20 national teams every year since 1996. In 1996-1997 the Texas State team won the International Competition. Askew said she believes projects like this to be very important to the community
because it is important for students to learn about free enterprise at a young age. “It’s just a fun way of learning,” Askew said. “We basically try to reach as many students as possible because the aspects of business are used in everyday life.”