Softball Split Harmonious Holiday The Texas State softball team splits a Record Store Day celebrates independent doubleheader with Texas Tech Monday SEE SPORTS PAGE 8 SEE TRENDS PAGE 5
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April 14, 2009
Tuesday
THE PASSION
Catholic Student Center re-enacts trial of Jesus in The Quad
Volume 98, issue 72
Villagio recognizes residents’ accusations, begins negotiations between lawyers By Theron Brittain Senior News Reporter
the addendum, and are being charged wrongfully,” the letter states. “This includes a reimbursement of all water charges and late fees as appropriate. Students should not be charged for any water ‘overages’ unless they signed the addendum at the time of the original lease.” Christopher said she was contacted by attorneys for Villagio soon after a March 11 University Star article publicized a situation she has called a pattern of abuse at the apart apartment complex. “They are concerned, and they want to resolve these issues,” Christopher said. Cohen agreed, but said Villagio owners had no previous knowledge of the specific complaints until receiving Christopher’s letter. Cohen said he forwarded the letter to the owners and has not had a chance to review the requests himself. “The owners are going over
The Office of the Attorney for Students is negotiating with lawyers for Villagio Apartments to resolve multiple resident claims of unfair leasing practices that have occurred within the last year. Milena Christopher, attor attorney for students, sent a 12page letter April 7 to Mike Cohen, attorney for Villagio, detailing accusations made by 12 students. The letter makes four primary requests, the most important being students are not to be held responsible for water charges under an addendum they were required to sign, which was not included in the original lease. “We demand that you cease and desist on all water charges to any students who were coerced into signing the addendum or who refused to sign
(the letter) now,” Cohen said. “They are not on site and had no idea any of this was going on, and of course, the article is injuring their business and they are very upset about it. They are going over the complaints and they are going to take care of them.” The students allege they have been forced to sign agreements requiring them to pay for water, a provision not included in the original lease. Students also allege they are being held responsible for damages caused by previous tenants and have been turned over to collection agencies for amounts ranging in the hundreds of dollars. “They were not coerced,” Cohen said. “If you say ‘you need to sign this lease amendment before you move into my apart apartment,’ then (the resident) has a choice: They can say ‘no’ and See VILLAGIO, page 3
House Bill concerning Trauth approves new commuter rails compensation moves to senate amounts after boiler failure By Teresa Wilburn News Reporter
Tina Phan/Star photo elric Blauvelt portrayed Jesus during the living stations of the Cross event sponsored by the Catholic student organization on Good Friday last week.
By Travis Hord News Reporter Students and their families stood outside the doors of the Catholic Student Center last Friday as the story of the trial of Jesus Christ at the hands of the infamous Roman governor Pontius Pilate was re-enacted. The Living Stations of the Cross event is a depiction of Jesus’ final hours — a live, realtime demonstration of his trial and crucifixion. It is an annual Easter tradition of the Catholic faith and of the Texas State University Catholic Student Organization. Pontius Pilate, played by Brian D’Andrea, history senior and president of the Catholic Student Organization, sentenced the unrepentant Jesus, played by Elric Blauvelt, veterinary science senior, to death by crucifixion as the
trial came to its conclusion. Blauvelt carried a large plank of wood on his shoulders as he walked up the North LBJ hill toward campus. Costumed Roman guards, in tow behind Blauvelt, beat him repeatedly and vigorously with frayed ropes as he walked. “I told them not to go easy on me,” said Blauvelt, who is a three-year veteran of the Living Stations event. “I wanted it to be genuine. Being able to share even a fraction of his pain and sacrifice is what makes this event so special.” The actors and audience proceeded from one station to the next as Sara Luong, vice president of the Catholic Student Organization, narrated the story. The audience replied with a short prayer and sang hymns as they
Future Bobcat commuters may be able to leave their car keys at home soon. House Bill 1923, which will allocate money toward the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund, is now in the senate after passing through a subcommittee. “We are hoping that this state legislation will add a financing source to the rail relocation and improvement fund,” said Alison Schulze, rail district administrator and senior planner. “It was approved by voters in 2005, but the legislation has not financed a plan for it yet. We are hoping they will do it soon this legislative session.” Schulze said the commuter rail will be 112 miles long from downtown San Antonio to Georgetown. She said the project has a total estimated cost of $613 million. “The plan right now is to have half of that come from the state and half of that come from local communities,” Schulze said. “It would be subject to approval if the individual community did decide to use bonds, but the overall system does not require a vote.” Schulze said Texas State and the City of San Marcos would benefit from the rail system. This gives the city an opportunity for economic development to work around the downtown plan, she said. “Texas State is also largely a commuter
Students left in the cold the past two weeks might be feeling a little warmer. Reimbursement checks were sent to all students who went without hot water after a week weeklong boiler failure. “Usually, when a disruption of the heating and cooling system occurs, it is restored in a reasonable amount of time with no monetary compensation to you. However, in this case, it took a week to fix the problem and we believe a monetary compensation for the inconvenience it created for you is warranted,” wrote Joanne Smith, Vice President for student affairs, in a letter sent to affected students. The compensation was approved by President Denise Trauth, Smith said. She wrote the compensation is equal to one week of the monthly room rate for the hall. “I, along with the rest of the university administrators, am sorry that you had to endure disruption this past week due to the recent steam and heat outage,” Smith wrote. Jessica Canty, marketing freshman and Butler resident, received a $108 check. “I think it’s just and the right thing to
See RAIL, page 3
See WATER, page 3
By Allen Reed Assistant News Editor
See GOOD FRIDAY, page 3
University officials tighten belts for summer budgets By Kosaku Narioka News Reporter The summer teaching budget for 2009 will stay the same from the previous year, whereas it typically increases by 3 percent. Associate Provost Gene Bour Bourgeois noted at Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting specific adjustments will be made, such as the new expenses for The Emerging Stars Program. Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus asked state agencies earlier this year, including institutions of higher edu-
cation, to make recommendations to reduce fiscal year 2009 appropriations by about 2.5 percent. “We do not anticipate an across the board cut if we have your guidance as to how to specifically achieve that goal, while still preserving the funding for essential programs,” they said in a joint statement. “The reason I held that back is I still don’t know how we are going to come up with … part of that 2.5 percent reduction the state has asked us to explore,” Bougeois said. “I’m a little bit more conservative when I still don’t know
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Lindsey Goldstein/Star photo PERFECT PITCH: sophomore pitcher Brian Borski pitches to southeastern louisiana, helping to win the game 4-3 saturday at Bobcat Field. FOR FULL COVERAGE SEE SPORTS PAGE 8
what’s going to happen.” Faculty Sen. Jaymeen Shah asked Bourgeois what actions would be taken if the department increased the number of classes in response to higher student enrollment. Bourgeois said each department policy should address such issues. Debra Feakes, Faculty Senate chair, said few departments actually have a policy for summer teaching. “It’s a fixed pie, fixed sum of See SENATE, page 3
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