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The Austin Reggae Festival celebrates its 13th year
Texas State baseball beats Dallas Baptist and gets the sweep
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TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
www.UniversityStar.com
APRIL 18, 2006
TUESDAY
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 75
District attorney candidate talks with ASG about position
Passion Play
By Clayton Medford The University Star
sessing the ability of the office to handle the caseload. “Part of your job as a Democratic candidate for prosecutor is to be able to Hays County district attor- look at the cases and decide ney Sherri Tibbe addressed whether or not we can meet the Associated Student Gov- our burden; can we prove ernment on Monday. Tibbe, this case beyond a reasonwho is currently a Travis able doubt as to all the eleCounty prosecutor, said she ments of the case?” Tibbe wants to said. “That’s establish your job as a student an attorney, liaison poas a prossition in ecutor, to the Hays figure that County out.” District T i b b e Attorney’s said adoffice. dressing the “ T h e backlog of students in cases would San Marbe her first cos are an priority if extremely elected. important “ We ’ r e —Sherri Tibbe, democratic part of the to candidate for Hays County going populahave to look district attorney at all the tion and the citizencases that ry here, and I want to make are pending and have been sure that you all are a part pending for a long time and of the process,” Tibbe said. figure out what we are go“I hope that I can win this ing to do with those cases,” election in November and Tibbe said. that we can work together Deciding whether or not and make San Marcos a re- cases need to go to trial is ally cool place to live.” important in relieving the Tibbe has two sons who backlog, Tibbe said. attend Texas State, computThe ASG senate unanier science sophomore Brian mously passed a bill supBorthwick and management porting the creation of junior Chris Borthwick. athletic scholarships for Tibbe said the current summer school. Currently, backlog of cases at the dis- athletic scholarships only trict attorney’s office is a re- cover long semesters. sult of a poor effort on the The legislation, authored part of the current district attorney, Mike Wenk, in asSee ASG, page 3
“I
hope that I can win this election in November and that we can work together and make San Marcos a really cool place to live.”
Mark Decker/Star photo PIETÀ: Cynthia Villota, who plays the part of Mary, holds the deceased Jesus (Javier Gonzales), reenacting the famous scene of Mary receiving the body of Christ before he is placed in the tomb.
Catholic Student Center helps spread meaning of Good Friday By Marquita Griffin The University Star The Catholic Student Center’s annual Passion play, a reenactment of Jesus Christ’s final hours before his death known as the Stations of the Cross, began at noon on Good Friday. Although the play began at the hottest hour of the day and the heat caused some people to turn their programs into improvised fans, no one in the
audience seemed to lose focus on the performance. The play consisted of 12 cast-members who practiced 30 minutes each day for one week to prepare for their performance. It began at the CSC with Cyrus Mallison, history senior, opening with the first line. Mallison’s transformation into his character, Pilate, garnered silence by the audience until signaled by Mallison’s speech directing them to participate. As the play progressed through the 14 stations, so did the location of the cast and audience. When the play entered the second station, Jesus, played by Javier Gonzales, pre-mass communication sophomore, took the burden of the wooden plank on his shoulSee PASSION, page 3
ACC board calls off annexation election after alleged signature forgery By Kirsten Crow The University Star The Austin Community College Board of Trustees rescinded a recent vote calling for a ballot initiative to annex San Marcos into the ACC tax district Monday evening, said Dwayne Cox, ACC public information and college marketing executive director. The board voted to rescind the March 6 vote, which called for
the election, amid widespread allegations that signatures on the petition were forged. Cox declined to comment, saying the board’s vote speaks for itself. ACC President Steve Kinslow said the decision was not a controversial item for board members. “What the board is being asked to do is rescind the calling of the election, not decertify the peti-
tion,” Kinslow said. The petition, which would have brought the issue of annexing San Marcos into ACC’s taxing district to the voters in May, contains the signatures of residents who deny signing it. Joyce Cowan, Hays County elections administrator, said she has received about 60 affidavits from residents, claiming the signature on the petition was not theirs.
A total of 46 signatures were also duplicated on the petition, she said. “I can’t say it’s a forgery unless the voter says it’s a forgery,” she said. Voter information, including the name, address and birth date of signers, is certified, but certification of a signature is not part of the process, Cowan said. Voter registration lists are public information, and Cowan said
politicians frequently request them as part of their candidacy after signing affidavits labeling their use of the information as strictly for campaign purposes. “I’ve been here for about 20 years, and I haven’t seen anything like this,” Cowan said. She said if the person, or persons, responsible for the fraud were caught, they could be charged with a felony. Kinslow said the local steering
committee for the project, ACC/ Yes!, hired political consultant Mark Littlefield to spearhead the signature-gathering process. Kinslow said he would be surprised if any ACC representatives had contacted student organizations such as the College Democrats about gathering signatures, contradictory to a statement given to The Star on Wednesday. See FORGERY, page 3
Photojournalist displays images, lectures on AIDS epidemic in South Africa By Leah Kirkwood The University Star Photojournalist Susan Winters and Nozuko Ngcaweni presented “Dignity and Community: Courage in the Time of AIDS” in the LBJ Teaching Theater on Monday night to give Texas State students a glimpse of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Winter’s photo essay contains more than 110 images. It documents the end of Apartheid and tells the story of Ngcaweni’s personal experience with HIV. Ngcaweni’s story received the “Story of the Year” award in her native South Africa. Winters’ work with the Philadelphia Daily News piqued her interest in violence along racial lines. She first visited South Africa in 1988 and returned once a year before deciding to move to the country in 1997. “I call myself an American African,” Winters said. “I moved
to Africa, and I choose to stay there.” Winters explained the poverty and unfair conditions blacks faced under Apartheid when she first arrived in South Africa. Blacks were forced to live in tribal homelands unless they had permits to work in the city. “It was a very cruel system, and it was destructive,” Winters said. In 1990, the South African president released Nelson Mandela from prison and lifted the ban on the African National Congress. During the next four years, change in the oppressive system of government became a real possibility. Winters said people stood in line for days to cast their votes in the first election in 1994. Men and women were excited to give their children a free and peaceful future. “Most of those children were not going to live to accept that legacy,” Winters said.
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The HIV virus had quietly infiltrated South Africa through migrant laborers and it would become the country’s No.1 killer. Winters took an interest in the families affected by AIDS. She thought people would begin to understand AIDS if they could see the stories of people they identify with. Although the media’s interest in South Africa was high during the days of political unrest, Winters found there was no market for her stories about AIDS in either the United States or South Africa. Winters began printing her own 16-page magazine titled Ubomi Living containing the photographs and stories of South African women living with AIDS. AIDS currently has a 27.9 percent prevalence rate in South Africa. In 2001, 250,000 people died from the disease, and every year 100,000 babies are born infected with HIV.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why?’” Winters said. Winters blames the South African government’s denial of the AIDS problem for its continued spread through the country. She said the current president, Thabo Mbeki, has stated that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS and instead blames poverty for the disease. “The problem is South Africa needs leadership now,” Winters said. “We need realistic, responsible leadership, and we just don’t have it.” Winters explained the common custom in South Africa for men to purchase wives with cows. Women feel like they are property of their husbands and they have little say in the treatment of their bodies. Winters said wives are often powerless to stop their husbands from having multiple sex partners or demand condom use. Winters said many South
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GLOBETROTTING: In Nozuko Ngcaweni’s first visit to America, she shares her story about living with HIV in South Africa with students after Susan Winter’s award-winning photography exhibit on Monday night at the LBJ Teaching Theater.
See LECTURES, page 4
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Bridgette Cyr/Star photo
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