GOING GREEN
This first in a series educating on living lightly SEE TRENDS PAGE 6
SOFTBALL SWEEP
Bobcats send Roadrunners packing with three losses in weekend series SEE SPORTS PAGE 12
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
WWW.UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM
APRIL 3, 2007
TUESDAY
VOLUME 96, ISSUE 71
Students face charges after early-morning water rescue By Molly Berkenhoff The University Star An intoxicated Texas State student, Britt Walker, along with his three passengers, reinforced the importance of the slogan “Don’t drown, turn around,” after his truck was swept into the Blanco River early Sunday morning. The other passengers were Kati Walker, 18, and Texas State
students Mustafa Shahid, management junior, and Matthew Belisle, biochemistry freshman. After leaving a party earlier that evening, Britt Walker, marketing freshman, ignored warning signs and circumvented the barricade at the Uhland Road low water crossing at the Blanco River near River Road. After attempting to cross, Walker’s truck was swept from the bridge by 6 to 8 inches
of rushing water. Emergency response workers received the call at about 3:30 a.m. Approximately 25 emergency personnel responded to the scene including Hays County Sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and San Marcos Police Department officers. “All of our people are swift water rescue technicians,” said Fire Chief Mike Baker. “From
an operational standpoint, everything was textbook. As far as the outcome of the incident, everything was just perfect.” The rescue procedure faced obstacles with overhead power lines and rapid water movement, Baker said. Firefighters were placed downriver in case one of the passengers were swept away, and upriver to watch for dangerous debris. The rescue
workers used a new 100-foot ladder, which was extended to help the passengers two at a time from the truck. They were given life jackets while they waited for help during the approximately two-hour-long rescue. They were arrested after their retrieval. Walker was charged with driving while intoxicated, which entails a possible fine and up to six months in jail, and
Bobcats building a better community By Christina Kahlig The University Star A river of Bobcat Build volunteers flowed into Strahan Coliseum 7:30 a.m. Saturday to participate in the city’s largest community service project. Volunteers were treated with free Bobcat Build T-shirts, coffee and breakfast. A record-setting 2,700 volunteers showed up for the fifth annual Bobcat Build. “A day like this is letting people know what we have here in San Marcos,” said San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz, who spoke at the opening ceremony along with University President Denise Trauth and State Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs. City councilmen Chris Jones and John Thomaides were on hand. Rows of tools were lined up in the Strahan Coliseum parking lot for volunteers to take to their job sites. “The tool section was well planned out,” said Nancy Tunell, Bobcat Build Student Planning Organization student director. There were 105 designated job sites throughout San Marcos. Linda Contreras, a member of First United Methodist Church of San Marcos, participated in Bobcat Build by doing yard work and cleaning up See COMMUNITY, page 3
deadly conduct for which he could serve up to a year. Walker declined comment. “I think we’ve gotten enough attention,” said Walker in an electronic message. For ignoring the barricade during a time of high risk, he additionally faces up to 180 days in jail and up to $2,000 in See CHARGES, page 3
ASG discusses general property deposit refund By Paul Rangel The University Star
Jon Clark/Star photo GEORGE’S CHORES: Stacey George, public administration senior, helps the H-E-B Bobcat Build group paint a house near Bishop Street during the annual community service project Saturday afternoon.
Associated Student Government Sen. Daniel Browning, College of Business, presented legislation to the ASG Senate Monday regarding the refund of the general property deposit students pay when they enroll at the university. “As of now the money is not refunded automatically to students,” Browning said. “According to Chapter 54 of the Education Code it rolls into scholarship funds which are dispersed.” The resolution would support a bill proposed by State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo. The bill, SB 1233, would require public universities to automatically refund the money no later than 180 days after a student were to graduate or withdraw. Students can request the money be refunded after applying to have a check written at J.C. Kellam. In the event a student was to damage university property, that deposit would be used to cover all or a portion of the damage costs. “Honestly that’s what should happen,” Browning said. “There’s no reason that the university should take a deposit and not give it back to you.” See ASG, page 4
ASG presidential candidates address greeks, IFC Endorses Pugh By Bill Lancaster The University Star The Interfraternity Council endorsed Reagan Pugh in his bid for Associated Student Government president after he and opponent Chris Anderson presented their platforms Monday. The council includes in its purpose, according to its Web site, promoting and maintaining fraternal ideals, spirit and leadership and ensuring cooperation among fraternities. “I think that in the end the choice that we made will be
the best choice for the student body,” management sophomore Kyle Tilley said. “He’s best for the communications between student organizations.” Pugh, along with vice-presidential running mate Alex Steimle presented a three-point plan of embracing heritage, pride and future. “We want to leave ASG better than we found it,” Pugh, English junior, said. “We want to communicate with organizations to increase involvement by the student body.” Anderson, marketing sopho-
more, and his running mate Rebecca Quillin, microbiology senior, will run on a three-point plan as well; moving the football program to Division I, holding administration accountable for the Campus Master Plan and ensuring student representation. Both candidates worked the room prior to the meeting and exchanged a handshake when they greeted one another. The format included a fourminute speech by the candidates before the floor opened for questions. The candidates
did not address one another directly. “I want to enable the students to move forward along with the faculty to make this a better place to be,” Pugh said in a telephone interview. “It’s a good place; I want to make it better.” Pride is a huge issue, Pugh said. He said everyone wants Division I football, but he wants students to focus on pride and winning. During the speech, Pugh said he wanted to increase the level of communication with alumni
in order to assist growth in the university. “Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat,” Pugh said. “We are in this family together.” Steimle spoke on the pride section of their platform. The university is already recognized for its academics and as one of the best value educations, she said. “We think moving toward Division I football is the next step in that process,” Steimle, international studies senior, said. Anderson focused on moving to Division I football by having
it as a single issue in his platform. “One of the most important issues is to move football to Division I,” Anderson said. “We can go to Division I right now pending two signatures, Larry Teis, (athletics director), and Denise Trauth, (university president).” Anderson said other requirements included increased ticket sales and 22 additional scholarships for both men and women. Anderson and Quillin want See DEBATE, page 4
Student Islamic group seeks to ease tensions University hosts Native American conference By Molly Berkenhoff The University Star The Muslim Student Association of Texas State will host an event with guest speaker Imam Siraj Wahaj, an activist of Islamic faith, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Evans Liberal Arts building, Room 116. The event, entitled “Jesus: What did he actually say?” will feature Wahaj in a discussion of how Jesus is portrayed in the Quran, and how he and his teachings are viewed in the Muslim faith. The answer might be surprising, said Samer Morad,
the association’s president and manufacturing engineering senior. “A pretty common criticism of our faith is that we over-praise the prophet Mohammed,” Morad said. “Jesus is actually mentioned even more than our own prophet in the Quran. There are over 40 references to (Jesus) and only about two of Muhammad. I think people are often surprised by that. I don’t think it is very well known how respected Jesus is in our religion.” According to an Oct. 24, 2003 article in The Wall Street Journal, Wahaj was born Jeffrey Kearse and raised as a Baptist
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Mostly Sunny 86°/64°
Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 70% UV: 8 Very High Wind: S 11 mph
in Brooklyn. He converted to Islam in the 1970s. The article says since then, he has served as a dynamic force in the Islamic North American movement as a widely traveled speaker whose lectures and speeches are highly popular with the Muslim community. Wahaj gained media attention in 1988 with his anti-drug efforts in the New York neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, an area close to his mosque. The efforts put a significant dent in the area of crack trade, and earned Wahaj praise from the NYPD. In See MSA, page 5
Two-day Forecast Wednesday Scattered T-Storms Temp: 69°/56° Precipitation: 40%
Thursday Partly Cloudy Temp: 73°/54° Precipitation: 10%
By Karen Little The University Star Texas State will host the first annual Native American Cultural Awareness Conference from 8 a.m. to 6 pm. Wednesday in the LBJ Student Center. “Reflections and Hope on Native America” is the theme of the symposium. “(Texas State) is the first in the area to have an educational conference on Native American issues,” said Stella Silva, associate director of multicultural student affairs. “(We) found that pow-wows and other activities go on, but no conferences.”
The office of multicultural student affairs is one of the hosts in Wednesday’s conference. Lecturers will discuss topics ranging from American Indian civilizations and myths to writers, art and health. Silva said San Marcos and the surrounding areas are some of the oldest in the nation to be continually inhabited by American Indians. Supporting the American Indian community at the university is a priority, she said. Networking from the November National American Indian Heritage Month’s “Celebration of the People” helped create many contacts for the
speakers in the upcoming conference. Philip Havice, adviser for the Texas State Intertribal Council, helped plan and host the conference. “These people want to speak from the heart,” Havice said. “(They) are open to continuing the knowledge they hold inside themselves to share.” Havice said Ray Duncan would be one of the many guest speakers. Duncan, a full-blooded Cherokee, Vietnam veteran and chairman of the Keetowah, will discuss growing up in an
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