THE POWER OF PAINT
THE ROAD TO GREATNESS
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Texas State students making ‘mark’ with new campus organization
Austin author Lawrence Wright wins the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction
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WEDNESDAY
APRIL 18, 2007
VOLUME 96, ISSUE 77
Texas State sponsors memorial panel for Virginia Tech victims By Christine Mester The University Star “God Bless You.” The simple words were written on four tall panels in the LBJ Student Center Tuesday. The panels were set up to provide a way for Texas State students to show their empathy for the victims of the Virginia Tech University massacre that occurred Monday morning. The suspected gunman, identified as Cho SeungHui, killed 33 people including himself. Annie Fitzgerald, history junior, stopped to read the messages. “It’s hard to wrap your mind around kids our age experienc-
ing that,” Fitzgerald said. “It blows my mind.” The news of the shootings at Virginia Tech has Byran Johnson reconsidering his safety on campus. “I was sitting in my class today and that’s what I was looking at,” said Johnson, exercise and sports science senior. “There’s only one way in this class and there is only one way out and I am on the third floor. It makes you really think about it.” Fitzgerald, however, said she feels safe on campus. “Security on campus isn’t something that runs through my head,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m just going through my day — going to class. Honestly, I do feel
secure. I see security guards around a lot. I see police cars. It just never crossed my mind that maybe we aren’t secure here.” Natalie Kleinecke felt disbelief that a college campus would experience such an occurrence. “I never thought anything like that would happen at a university,” said Kleinecke, studio art senior. “It opens your eyes to how crazy people can be.” Kleinecke questioned Virginia Tech’s policies that are in place to deal with situations involving homicides on campus.
MORE COVERAGE INSIDE News, Page 3 •Parents’ reactions to Monday’s shootings •Potential emotional toll on unscathed students •VT’s initial response in shooting question Monty Marion/Star photo BEST WISHES: Students left messages of condolence Tuesday afternoon for those affected by Monday’s Virginia Tech shooting.
See MEMORIAL, page 3
San Marcos hospice seeks volunteers to spend time with elderly Election day stained with negative ad
By Alex Hering The University Star Melvin Hoffman plays dominoes. He plays them so well in fact, he was the Division I champion of the Metro Domino League. Every Friday, Hoffman plays dominoes with Texas State student Lance Harper, and “pretty much hands it to (him),” said Harper. VistaCare, a hospice caregiver, employs Harper to volunteer his time with people like Hoffman. “He’s pretty good,” said Harper, biology junior. “He counts (the bricks) so fast, and calls out the number faster than I can count them in my head. He’s been at it a long time.” Hoffman, who lives with his daughter and her family in New Braunfels, said when people get to his age they “don’t have much to do.” “Ouch. That’s no good, that’s no good,” Hoffman said Friday as he analyzed the blocks on the table in front of him. “If you play wrong that’s OK, it’s all part of the game.” Harper, who has been volunteering for VistaCare since November, said he finds his time with Hoffman fun because he learned to play dominos from his grandparents at a young age. “Mr. Hoffman reminds me of my grandfather big time,” Harper said. “He also reminds me of myself because he talks about what he did when he was my age and that’s pretty much what I’m doing now besides school.” April Coldsmith, manager of volunteer services at VistaCare, said they provide the elderly with spiritual, medical and emotional support. She encourages students to volunteer through events like the Volunteer Fair, where Harper discovered VistaCare last semester. “We do volunteer training every month,” Coldsmith said. “We have at least one or sometimes more from Texas State
By: Philip Hadley The University Star
Alex Hering/Star photo MAKING CONNECTIONS: Melvin Hoffman analyzes dominoes at his home in New Braunfels with Lance Harper, biology junior. Hoffman plays several games every Friday with Harper, a student volunteer for VistaCare.
who want to volunteer.” Coldsmith said VistaCare has four types of volunteers. Harper is a patient care volunteer. “What the volunteer will do is sit and talk with the patient,” Coldsmith said. “What they also can do is look at old photographs, make small meals or run errands for them. It’s all very touching and wonderful stuff. One thing we want to do is have the volunteer set up web pages for the patient so the families can have something to look at. “A volunteer like this one provides companionship. One of our patients cannot talk anymore so the volunteer will just hold (the patients’) hand.” Coldsmith said although it may not sound like much, the com-
panionship is valuable to the volunteer and the patient. She said most volunteers will be placed in nursing homes instead of at patients’ homes because it is easier on the students’ schedule. The second type of volunteer answers phones at the VistaCare office and files documents. Coldsmith calls the third a bereavement volunteer. This volunteer spends time with the families who have just lost a loved one. “Those volunteers are few and far between,” Coldsmith said. “This is someone who has lost a loved one and can speak that language.” A special projects volunteer makes special gifts for the patients. Coldsmith said the women of a local church make “wrap
blankets and bibs.” “We also have a 13-year-old who lives in Canyon Lake who makes gift bags for us,” Coldsmith said. “She stuffs them with cookies and things like that. We might have her make Mother’s Day bags for us as well.” The volunteers get background checks and complete training, Coldsmith said. The volunteers have “a significant amount of responsibility in their hands, but it is a rewarding experience.” Harper said apart from learning about Hoffman, he has educated himself about the medical limitations of the patient’s illness. “All he really wants is for someone to come and play domi-
noes with him.” Harper said. “That’s the least I can do for him — just play dominoes with him. You are trying to do all you can for them while they have just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. That’s all they are asking for really. They know they have a limited time.” Harper encourages students who would like to make a difference at the hospice to volunteer. His familiarity with Hoffman has made Harper grateful for the time he has with family and friends. “It really makes you appreciate what you have and the time you have with loved ones and friends,” Harper said. “I think that a lot of college students take that for granted.”
Counseling Center feeling effects of understaffed, under-funded field By Chelsea Juarez The University Star A recent study shows anxiety disorders to be common among college students in the United States. The study revealed the growing demand for mental health services is being met with a lack of staffed professionals and resources. The study was released by the nonprofit Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Jerilyn Ross, the association’s president and CEO, said a goal of the research was to raise awareness about the dangers of anxiety disorders among students and university leaders. “Also at this time of the year, when prospective students and their parents are making college decisions, we want to give them another important factor to consider: What mental health resources
are available on campus should they need them,” Ross said. Michael Hershberger, an intern at the Texas State Counseling Center, said he has noticed more students seeking help for combating stress and anxiety. “Here we see lots of depression, transitioning issues, test anxiety, breakups, stress-related anxiety, social anxiety and other significant issues,” Hershberger said. “This is a stressful time for most students making that jump from life back home to college.” Ross said it is important to recognize of the 40 million Americans who suffer from an anxiety disorder each year, approximately 75 percent experience their first episode before age 22. Kristen Freeman, interdisciplinary studies junior, said she agrees stress and anxiety are “rampant” among college students.
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“It’s hard not to be stressed most of the time, what with tests and breakups and projects. It’s a hard balancing-act most need help with at times,” she said. All schools reported a noticeable increase in students seeking treatment for anxiety disorders, though there is a lack of staff available to meet the growing demand. Gregory Snodgrass, vice president and director of the Counseling Center, said there is a lack of resources available and most students who need continued treatment are usually sent off-campus to local clinics. “We have limited resources here so we don’t get to see students as much as we would like to,” Snodgrass said. “We’re here to help deal mainly with adjustment issues, but we also offer some mental and psychological help if needed.”
Two-day Forecast Thursday Partly Cloudy Temp: 81°/57° Precip: 0%
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The center is staffed with eight full-time counselors, three practicum and three interns. The counseling staff visits with several students a day. “If one student filled every available slot for counseling services every day, once a week, we wouldn’t have enough staff members to accommodate,” Hershberger said. “Because of funding issues we cannot provide enough staff for the volume of students’ needs.” Ross said the study’s findings prove students are not receiving adequate care. She said this issue begs for acknowledgment and improvement. “There have been numerous surveys done that prove that the availability of mental health care is inadequate,” Snodgrass said. “It’s not a problem just for Texas State, but other campuses nationwide.”
An advertisement attacking Associated Student Government presidential candidate Reagan Pugh was circulated Tuesday to some students and faculty via a mass e-mail, and mysteriously disappeared that evening. The e-mail was sent on the first day students headed to the polls to elect their next ASG president. The message was sent from an anonymous group referring to themselves as the Students For Truth. The advertisement, entitled “I Quit,” features Pugh with a sinister look on his face sitting in front of a News 8 Austin anchor who appears to be reporting on the election. The advertisement blasts Pugh for quitting his position as an ASG senator. Pugh called the advertisement unfair, and was disappointed that anyone would resort to such campaign strategies. “Texas State students deserve more than that, students deserve to hear about the issues and a chance to really be able to make up their minds fairly,” Pugh said. “Dirty politics is unfair.” Suspicion was raised when the e-mail was mysteriously deleted from the inboxes of its recipients. Jude Prather, one of Pugh’s campaign coordinators, said the e-mail was in his inbox early Tuesday but disappeared that evening. “I think it’s odd that the e-mail was deleted from my inbox,” Prather, public administration junior, said. “I don’t know how the system was accessed, or if it was a faculty member or student.” ASG presidential candidate Chris Anderson said the anonymously circulated e-mail and an e-mail sent by his campaign outlining his ticket’s platform were deleted from students’ inboxes. He said if the university administration is responsible for deleting the messages, his campaign thinks it would be a dismissible offense. Anderson said no personal e-mail should be removed from a student’s inbox, regardless of the message’s content. “I’m not saying it’s the administration,” he said. “But obviously you have to have some sort of administrative privileges
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