04 11 2006

Page 1

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

TREACHEROUS TRIP

Japanese Language and Culture Club holds third annual Sakura Festival

Texas State baseball travels to College Station after 2-1 series win over Northwestern

SEE TRENDS PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS PAGE 10

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS

www.UniversityStar.com

APRIL 11, 2006

TUESDAY

VOLUME 95, ISSUE 72

THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE:

Protest at the Capitol

Protestors take to streets of Austin to call for immigration reform By Joe Ruiz The University Star

A.D. Brown/Star photos

A

USTIN — Thousands of Central Texans marched downtown on Monday afternoon to protest resolutions before Congress calling for tougher crackdowns on illegal immigration. An estimated crowd of 12,000 were present throughout the day, and an estimated 3,000 congregated on the steps of the Capitol building to listen to speakers, organize and chant slogans calling for equal rights within the immigrant communities. The lush, green lawns of the Capitol were awash in white shirts

12,000 STRONG: (Above) Austin Police Department officers kept a crowd of 12,000 protestors under control and safe from traffic as they marched from the Capitol Building to the Federal Building on Monday afternoon. (Lower left) One of many children who attended the march as part of The National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice watches on as speeches were delivered on the steps of the Capitol. (Upper left) American and Mexican flags were ever-present during the march as protestors showed their loyalty to both countries.

See PROTEST, page 4

Muslim scholar aims to enlighten, educate listeners at discussion By Anna Heffley The University Star About 100 people attended a discussion called “Islam Uncovered” led by an Islamic scholar in the LBJ Mall on Thursday. Anas Hlayhel has studied Islam for 15 years and lectured on the subject for seven years, said Samer Morad, manufacturing engineering junior and president of the Muslim Student Association. Hlayhel began his lecture with the basics of the Muslim faith. “The purpose is to introduce Islam,” Hlayhel said. “Many people have heard of it, but probably not from the right sources.” Hlayhel said Islam answers the most important questions, such as “Why are we here?” and “Why did God create us?” with “to worship and obey God.” Hlayhel said Muslims believe God, or “Allah” in Islam, is the only creator, owner, manager and overseer. Muslims also believe there is nothing in humans that is similar to God in any way and that humans cannot comprehend the reality of God until after they die. “Anything you imagine about God, just remember, he is different,” Hlayhel said. The word “Islam” is directly derived from the phrase “submit to God.” Worship should be obeying God with utmost love and utmost submission, Hlayhel said. “Any act of God is an act of worship,” Hlayhel said. “Praying, fasting, charity, those are all

84˚/62˚

By Clayton Medford The University Star

important parts of worship, but the other aspects are love and submission.” Islam also teaches people to hope in God’s mercy and not despair if a sin is committed, but remember to balance hope with fear, Hlayhel said. “Hope in his mercy, but fear his punishment,” Hlayhel said. “You can’t have just hope or just fear, you have to have both.” Hlayhel said another important aspect of Islam is gratefulness to God. “He’s given you life and all bounties. Thank God in your heart and with your tongue,” Hlayhel said. Hlayhel said Islam is based on the Six Pillars of Iman, two of which are belief in prophets and Judgment Day. All the true prophets brought different laws, but the essence was the same, since they came from the same God, Hlayhel said. “All the prophets agreed God was the one and only God,” Hlayhel said. “Don’t worship anything besides God. Not money, not other people, nothing.” Hlayhel said when you die, your wealth and family do not follow you, only your actions follow you to Judgment Day. “God looks at your heart and what you did in life,” Hlayhel said. “But Islam doesn’t say to abandon this life. Work, make money and use it for the sake of God.” Even though his lecture was covering religious information, See SCHOLAR, page 3

Today’s Weather

Cloudy

ASG reads legislation supporting summer athletic scholarships

Precipitation: 10% Humidity: 58% UV: 6 High Wind: SSE 12 mph

Legislation supporting the creation of four summer school scholarships for athletes was read for the first time at the Associated Student Government meeting on Monday. The legislation, authored by Spanish senior and Sen. Carla Podgurecki, calls for the “immediate and permanent funding of 6-credit summer school scholarships to be given to two female and two male athletes.” Podgurecki’s resolution

claims “summer school is a critical time for students to take classes in order to complete classification transition (and) in order to graduate in shorter number of semesters.” Lead sponsor of the legislation and Sen. Clerk Kyle Morris said Texas State student athletes are at a disadvantage because of Texas State’s 128hour graduation requirement. “Our competitors, however, have a 120-hour degree requirement. So that means we have to take more hours, and right now we don’t offer summer scholarships. So

that means that while they are in their competitive seasons, they’re not going to take more hours than their counterparts. If they had these scholarships, they would be able to take more courses in the summer, which means in the long semesters they would have lighter course loads,” Morris said. Student athletes are required by the NCAA to complete 40 percent of their degree requirements by the end of their second year of eligibility, 60 percent by their third year and 80 percent by their fourth. Morris said this requirement

was a major factor in sponsoring Podgurecki’s resolution. ASG Vice President Cassie Holman said that Podgurecki’s bill is the first step ASG is making toward supporting across the board scholarships that will cover long semesters as well as summer sessions. The senate went into executive session to vote on the only tied race of last week’s ASG elections. The race between current senators Eric Heggie and Casey Hartle was decided in a 16-7 vote in favor of preinternational studies senior Heggie.

Relay for Life runs laps and bounds for a good cause By Marquita Griffin The University Star People walk for many reasons — to better their health, reduce stress or to simply have time to themselves — but on Friday, people walked in honor and in memory of those who currently have cancer, those who survived cancer and those who died from cancer. The Relay for Life, an overnight community meeting where anyone can contribute to the fight against cancer, was held from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. at Bobcat Stadium. The San Marcos community partnered with Texas State to participate in the 12hour walk event. Music rocked the stadium while people walked, skipped, hula-hooped and ran around the track. Jennifer Moore, public relations senior, said she was running in support of those affected by cancer. “I’m racing for the cure,” Moore said. Moore attended the event with her sisters of the Alpha Kappa

Alpha sorority to support one of their members, Shalanda Gilford, whose mother died from cancer in January. Charlene Esek, athletic training senior and AKA member, said Gilford was participating in Relay for Life in her hometown, Cleveland, Texas. By participating in Relay for Life, Esek said the sorority is supporting Gilford. “All of this is so emotional because it hits so close to home,” Esek said. The Sterry Sweehearts were also present at the stadium. The residents of Sterry Hall, an all-female dorm, decided to engage in a significant community project and chose Relay for Life as the project to get involved in. Jjounyta Buchanan, undecided sophomore and Sterry Hall resident assistant, said the hall wanted to use their theme of “girl power” to endorse a good cause. Leslie Cortez, accounting junior and Sterry Hall RA, said the participants from their hall arrived at 7 p.m. and were going to stay until the end.

Two-day Forecast Wednesday Isolated T-Storms Temp: 87°/ 62° Precipitation: 30%

Thursday Mostly Sunny Temp: 88°/ 58° Precipitation: 0%

David Racino/Star photo SLOW BUT STEADY: Marchers circled the football field at Bobcat Stadium from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday , raising more than $40,000 in the Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event.

“We’ve decided to take shifts because we are in for the long haul,” Buchanan said. Other activities accompanied the walking as a way to represent support. The Diaz Martial Arts Performance entertained the audience.

Inside

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS

News ..............1-4 Trends .............5-7 Comics .............. 7 Crossword ......... 7

Sudoku .............. 7 Opinions ............ 8 Classifieds ......... 9 Sports .............. 10

Children demonstrated the discipline of martial arts as their contribution to Relay for Life. Eddie Diaz, instructor, passed out cards entitling people with a free 30-day trial program for See RELAY, page 3

To Contact Trinity Building Phone: (512) 245-3487 Fax: (512) 245-3708 www.UniversityStar.com © 2006 The University Star


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
04 11 2006 by The University Star - Issuu