DANGIT, BOBBY
BORING FOR OIL
Hank Hill becomes King of the Southwestern Writers Collection
Star columnists unimpressed with Common Experience symposium
SEE TRENDS PAGE 7
SEE OPINIONS PAGE 12
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
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THURSDAY
APRIL 13, 2006
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 74
hip hop
payoff By David Rauf The University Star
I
n the world of underground hip-hop, beats and rhymes are not just sequenced rhythms — they are a way of life. Subscribing to the philosophy that “rap is something you do, hip-hop is something you live,” emcees do not define hip-hop strictly as a form of music; rather, it is a form of expression that defines them. National freestyle champion, emcee and Texas State undecided sophomore, Valin J. Zamarron, aka “Zeale 32,” believes that hip-hop lives and breathes with the people. “It’s a culture; it’s the way I live, the way I oper-
BIG BREAK: After winning a freestyle battle during Babygrande’s showcase at the South by Southwest music festival, undecided sophomore Valin Zamarron signed a single deal with the record label.
See PAYOFF, page 5
Students allege signatures on petition forged By Leah Kirkwood and Kirsten Crow The University Star
Allegations of fraud threaten the possibility of San Marcos’ annexation to Austin Community College district, and students are among those claiming their signatures on the petition were forged. Last year, the ACC/YES! Committee circulated a petition to get the ACC annexation on this May’s ballot. The petition required signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in San Marcos to bring the issue to a vote, allowing San Marcos residents to pay in-district rates at ACC. ACC trustees validated 1,963 of the petition’s signatures, exceeding the necessary 5 percent quota by only 62 votes. More than 1,000 of the original 2,999 signatures were rejected as unregistered voters. Applied sociology senior Scott Padgett said his name appears on the validated version of the petition, although he never signed it. Padgett received an e-mail from his boss at the Derrick Hall computer labs warning all employees about the alleged fraud. Padgett viewed the list at and saw his name at page 154 on the list of signatures. “When I saw it, I got so mad. I was like, ‘Oh, crap! There’s my name, and that’s not my signature,’ and it wasn’t my address either,” Padgett said. Padgett downloaded an affidavit from the site, had it notarized and turned it into Hays County Elections Administrator Joyce Cowan. “Right now I have 40 affidavits stating that their See ALLEGE, page 4
David Racino/Star feature photo
Smoke free zones have risen in amount of cigarette butts collected By Magen Gray The University Star On April 6, 2005, The Quad was designated as one of the smoke-free areas of campus, yet Bobcat Build volunteers collected more cigarette butts this year than last year. In one hour, 13,600 cigarette butts were picked up throughout The Quad by 30 adult and children Bobcat Build volunteers from Camp Fire USA and Texas State Terry Foundation scholars. “This seems like a lot of butts for a nonsmoking area of cam-
pus,” said Elizabeth Wills, Camp Fire USA leader. Wills said the cigarette butts totaled to about $2,770 worth of cigarettes. Elizabeth Arceneaux works in the Texas State Risk Management and Safety Office, specifically with environmental stewardship and waste management, and is a Camp Fire USA leader. She organizes the cigarette butt cleanup and said she was surprised by the number picked up this year. During Bobcat Build 2005, just days before The Quad, Alkek Library and Academic Services Building breezeways were
added as a non-smoking areas to the University Policy and Procedure Statement No. 04.05.02 Smoking Policy, 12,000 butts were collected on campus. Arceneaux said during Bobcat Build last year, the grounds maintenance was working in The Quad at the same time of the cigarette butt cleanup, so the volunteers moved to an area referred to as the “smoker’s pit” outside of Butler Hall. Arceneaux said during this year’s cleanup, the Psychology Building and Chemistry Building had the most cigarette butts, along with areas just outside
academic building doors and grassy areas by The Fighting Stallions. Some of the 13,600 butts came from the bus stop by The Quad and the Taylor-Murphy History Building. “I used to see ‘Thank you for not smoking’ on the marquee in The Quad all the time after the policy was passed, but lately I haven’t seen it,” Arceneaux said. “I would like to work with an environmental group on campus to start a new campaign.” A compiled e-mail from Associated Student Government
Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Wills NO BUTTS ABOUT IT: Camp Fire USA children, Bobcat Build volunteers and Texas State Terry Foundation scholars scour The Quad for cigarette butts on April 1 during their fourth annual cigarette butt cleanup.
See BUTTS, page 3
Visiting professor to lecture Stations of the Cross performance an annual on death’s role in life tradition for the Catholic Student Center By Jacqueline Davis The University Star
zer Prize-winning author and cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, who wrote The Denial Death. The very word is un- of Death. settling to some people, but it is Christopher Frost, director an inescapable reality that every of the Mitte Honors Program, human being must played a role in getting eventually face — but Solomon to Texas State it will also be the topand said Solomon will ic of discussion for discuss his own retonight’s Common search and helpful and Experience lecture, effective ways to quell titled “Grave Matters: the fear of death. On the Role of Death “We live in a counin Life.” try where fear is used Sheldon Solomon to control people,” will lecture on the Frost said. “His work subject from 7 to 9 Sheldon Solomon challenges people to tonight in the Alkek have courage to live on Teaching Theater. Solomon is some basis other than fear.” a professor of psychology and Frost said that what Solomon scholar of interdisciplinary has found is the more people studies at Skidmore College in contemplate their own death, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. it invariably causes anxiety and Solomon co-authored a book people begin to engage in activion terror-management theory, ties to try to lesson that anxiety. titled In the Wake of 9/11: The Solomon’s book made several Psychology of Terror. The book’s See LECTURE, page 3 theories borrow from Pulit-
Today’s Weather
AM Clouds/ PM Sun 88˚/58˚
Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 55% UV: 10 Very High Wind: SSE 10 mph
By Nick Georgiou The University Star
Andrew Nenque/Star file photo PURE PASSION: Interior design senior Joe Barron, seen playing the Centurion during last April’s Stations of the Cross Passion play, looks down at computer science senior Jeremy Connell, who portrayed Jesus.
Two-day Forecast Friday Mostly Sunny Temp: 88°/ 62° Precipitation: 0%
Saturday Partly Cloudy Temp: 90°/ 63° Precipitation: 10%
The Catholic Student Center’s annual Passion play will be performed on Friday at noon. The play is a performance of the Stations of the Cross, which depicts the final hours of Jesus Christ. The performance will begin at the CSC, located at the corner of Lyndon B. Johnson Drive, North and Concho Street and then move to The Quad before returning to the CSC for the mock burial of Jesus. Although the play emphasizes Jesus’ pain and suffering, James Hickey, a participant in last year’s Passion performance, said it is ultimately about Jesus’ resurrection. “This is what we’re really celebrating,” said Hickey, a recent Texas State graduate. Approximately a dozen Texas State students will participate in the event, some of who will be provide narration, songs and prayer to accompany the performance. The Stations of the Cross and the Passion play gained worldwide attention in 2004 with Mel Gibson’s controversial movie, Passion of the Christ. The CSC may not have a $30 million
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dollar budget like Gibson did, but Cyrus Mallison, director and coordinator for the event, said they try and make it as realistic as possible. Although he is aware some Catholic students believe the stations should be a private occurrence, Mallison said they try and attract more students by doing it in public. In addition, he said, the play has become a tradition for the CSC, as they have performed it publicly for at least a decade. Inevitably, some students walk past the performance without even looking, while others will join the crowd. Neil Petty, a mass communication junior, said if he walked by he probably would not pay too much mind to it. “(If) we can have guys ranting and raving in the middle of The Quad, I don’t see why students reenacting the Passion play would be a problem,” Petty said. The portion of the play that takes place in The Quad is performed by The Fighting Stallions, which is the designated campus free-speech zone. Maureen Colpoys, psychology junior, See CROSS, page 3
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