YOU ARE MY ‘SUNSHINE’
TROUBLE AT HOME
Former Texas AG’s bill will help open federal records to all
Bobcats fall 4-1 to visiting Brancos SEE SPORTS PAGE 8
SEE OPINIONS PAGE 6
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
www.UniversityStar.com
MARCH 22, 2006
WEDNESDAY
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 64
Patients, doctors connect through Telehealth Program
Lone Star
Jam Session
By Magen Gray The University Star The research laboratory may look like an ordinary office lined with telephones and computer screens, but Room 331 in the Texas State Health Science Center is home to the only Physical Therapy Department Telehealth Program in the nation. The Texas State Telehealth Program began three years ago when Texas State alumna Patti Sue Harrison wanted to show her appreciation to the school with a grant from her PSH Foundation in Wimberley. Harrison graduated with a degree in clinical laboratory science, and her foundation supports health in Texas communities. Dr. Donald K. Shaw, Telehealth Program director and physical therapy associate professor, said he was in the right place at the right time. In 2003, he presented the Teleheath Program to the PSH Foundation and received the first grant of $204,000 to get the program started at Texas State. Telehealth is a system that transmits a patient’s medical information from one location to another using a telephone line.
Bridgette Cyr/Star photo Texas musicians. The event featured artists Radney Foster, Miss Lavelle White, Mingo Saldivar, Terri Hendrix, Lloyd Maines, Aaron Allan and Rosie Flores. See story on Page 4.
Texas Music History UnPlugged, a concert organized by the history department and the College of Liberal Arts, brought an audience of about 500 to the LBJ Student Center Ballroom on Tuesday night to watch a lively collaborative effort by well-known
San Marcos parents arrested for murder of infant By Anna Heffley The University Star
Parents of a 2-monthold girl were arrested and charged with capital murder in her death last week. Cipriano Gonzales IV and Esther Marie Gonzales, both 23, were arrested by San Marcos and local police March 17 in Holland, Michigan. The Gonzales’ had lived in Michigan until they moved to San Marcos March 3 and returned there shortly after the infant’s death, said Sgt. Penny Dunn of the San Marcos Police Department. “They went back to Michigan after she died, and Detectives Scott Johnson and Brandon Winkenwerder went to Michigan to continue the investiga-
when they were unable to resuscitate Cynthea, which they should have been able to based on what the parents told them happened, Dunn said. Justice of the Peace Margie Hernandez ordered an autopsy, which found the infant died of severe head Esther Gonzales Cipriano Gonzales trauma, including a fractured skull. tion,” Dunn said. The autopsy also showed Dunn said the infant, Cynthea evidence of multiple healed Gonzales, was taken to Central rib fractures, a sign of previous Texas Medical Center by an abuse. ambulance on March 11 and Hernandez said she could pronounced dead at 6 p.m. not comment at this time, since The Gonzales’ told doctors this is still an ongoing investithey had been trying to feed gation. and burp Cynthea when she The Gonzales’ other child, stopped breathing and went a 3-year-old daughter, was unconscious. placed in the custody of relaDoctors became suspicious tives in Michigan.
Dunn said she shows no clear sign of injuries. Michigan police said the Gonzaleses have requested extradition hearings that likely will be scheduled for midApril. Michigan Judge Brad Knoll denied bond and the couple remains in the Ottawa County Jail, police said. This is a capital murder case because it involves the death of a person younger than 6 years of age. Dunn said this is the second murder in San Marcos in five months, and these were the firsts since 2003. “It seems like it goes in cycles,” Dunn said. “We won’t have any for awhile, and then we have a couple in just a short time.”
The program is especially useful for heart or lung disease patients who cannot travel to medical centers, have no insurance or have a low income. Shaw said most Telehealth patients suffer from either congestive heart failure or an irregular heartbeat that prevents them from having an active lifestyle. “Enhancing the quality of life is one of the goals of physical therapy,” Shaw said. After patients are approved for the program, a kit is delivered to their home. This system includes a modem box, a telephone cord, headphones and a small transmitter box to place on their body while exercising. The system acts like a telephone, and with the touch of a button the patient is connected with the Telehealth research lab, where their voice and data are transmitted into a computer from the telephone line. As the patients exercise, the technology monitors the readings, and the patient can speak with the physical therapist through the telephone line. Shaw said the 10 diagnosed patients under the Telehealth Program’s care are monitored See TELEHEALTH, page 3
David Racino /Star photo HEALING HIGHWAY: Donald K. Shaw, Telehealth Program director and physical therapy associate professor, demonstrates how the Telehealth system, which transmits a patient’s medical information from one location to another using a telephone line, works.
Child pornography on Feasibility study to determine funding for iPod gives evidence for planned construction of new fine arts center grand jury indictment By Clayton Medford The University Star
By Kathy Martinez The University Star
using computer forensics to find evidence. This is the first case handled by the Texas Ron James GuzAttorney General’s man, a former Texas office involving an State student, was inoffender who stored dicted on March 1 by child pornography on a Hays County grand an iPod, a portable jury on nine counts music device that can of possession of child Ron Guzman be used to store phopornography and six tos, videos and music. counts of promotion of child pornography. “Innovative technology has Guzman, who was arrested made electronic recordings and on Jan. 11, stored several sexu- photographs more portable and ally lewd videos of children on accessible,” said Texas Attorhis iPod, which was confiscated ney General Greg Abbott in an from his San Marcos residence e-mail. “Unfortunately, sexual after the Texas Attorney Gener- predators are taking advantage al’s Cyber Crime Unit investiga- of these new developments in tors and the San Marcos Police order to exploit children.” Department executed a search Hays County Assistant Diswarrant in April 2005. The nine trict Attorney Wesley Mau said months that elapsed between the there are various cases pendexecution of the search warrant See INDICTMENT, page 3 and Guzman’s arrest were spent
Today’s Weather
Partly Cloudy 65˚/44˚
Precipitation: 10% Humidity: 44% UV: 8 Very High Wind: ENE 12 mph
The Texas State University System Board of Regents have authorized a feasibility study, moving forward the construction of the proposed Fine Arts and Communication Center on the Texas State campus. The center is a large part, both financially and physically, of the 2006-2015 Campus Master Plan. Texas State hired California-based design firm Pfeiffer Partners to conduct the feasibility study for a fee of no more than $300,000, according to a press release. The firm designed the recently constructed 64,000 square feet. Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center at the University of Oklahoma and has several projects in progress worldwide. The current plans for the center dedicate 125,000 square feet along University Drive, the space currently occupied by Falls and Sterry Halls, for its construction. The Master Plan referred to the proposed center as the “front door” of the university and said the building “must welcome the San Marcos community.” Nancy Nusbaum, vice president of Finance and Support Systems and Campus
Two-day Forecast Friday Sunny Temp: 67°/ 36° Precipitation: 10%
Saturday Mostly Sunny Temp: 68°/ 35° Precipitation: 20%
Rendering courtesy of Media Relations Master Plan project manager said feedback from the community is an important part of the design process. “What we are looking for, what they want to see in the center — what kind of theater should be in it and what kind of performances they would attend,” Nusbaum said. The relief efforts along the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have affected the development of the center. “The hurricanes have had a significant impact on not only how much materials are costing, but the available labor as well,” Nusbaum said. The initial cost estimate of the center is $50 million, but Nusbaum said the feasi-
Inside
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
News ..............1-3 Trends ................ 4 Comics .............. 5 Crossword ......... 5
Sudoku .............. 5 Opinions ............ 6 Classifieds ......... 7 Sports ................ 8
bility study will provide a more accurate estimate. Funding for the center will come primarily from private donations, with only 25.5 percent coming from higher education assistance funds from the state. “That’s the main purpose of the feasibility study — to try to find people that are interested in funding the center,” Nusbaum said. Nusbaum could not give a specific time for completion of the study, which was authorized in February, but estimates the study to be complete in six to nine months. The $12.75 million will be spent between 2009 and 2012, by which time Nusbaum said construction of the center should be complete. Construction plans for the center are split into two phases. The first phase will focus on new space for the School of Music and could include a 1,600-seat performance hall, a music recital hall with seating for 400, choral rehearsal space, two band halls, practice rooms and faculty office space, according to a press release. The second phase will focus on the Department of Theatre and Dance and could include two dance studios, a 350-seat theater, a black box theSee FEASIBILITY, page 3
To Contact Trinity Building Phone: (512) 245-3487 Fax: (512) 245-3708 www.UniversityStar.com © 2006 The University Star