Still Sex-y
Who’s Kerry anyway?
Aggies shut out
Pitchers help Bobcats defeat A&M, 1-0/Sports/Page 12
Not much is lost in syndication for Sex and The City/Trends/Page 7
Check track record before making decisions of Democratic senator/Opinions/Page 6
WEDNESDAY
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 80 www.universitystar.com
APRIL 28, 2004
T E X A S
S T A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y - S A N
M A R C O S
Sexual orientation an issue for regents Proposal challenges current policy
By Chris Boehm and Katherine Eissler News Reporters
An unidentified Texas State University System regent has recently dropped his proposal that would invalidate Texas State President Denise Trauth’s
decision to include sexual orientation in the university’s non-discrimination policy. In a meeting of all TSUS presidents held April 21, a majority made a recommendation that the rule change should not be included on the agenda for the Board of Regents May meeting. However, in an e-mail Thursday from Kent Adams, Board of Regents vice chairman, he stated there is backing for a change in Texas State’s nondiscrimination policy. “I have been contacted by several members of
San Marcos may be site for new regional airport
the (Texas State) faculty who favor a change in the current policy and by faculty members from other schools in our system who likewise support a change in Texas State’s policy,” Adams wrote in the e-mail. In the meeting, Trauth brought forth the Texas State Faculty Senate’s resolution against the potential systemwide policy. “We just wanted to affirm to the president that we have not changed our position on the issue,” said William Stone, Faculty Senate chair.
Trauth said every issue on the proposed agenda received thorough discussion, but with so many proposed rule changes, the presidents could not dwell on any one issue. “This is a controversial issue that receives a lot of attention, but the majority of the presidents thought it was not something that should be included on the agenda, and as a result it will not be included,” Trauth said.
THE SENSE OF SUMMER
g See REGENTS, page 3
By Ryan Coggin News Reporter
San Marcos officials are hoping the city will not be overlooked during the Texas Department of Transportation’s search for a new location to install a regional airport. TxDOT received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration several years ago to determine whether Central Texas could support a new general aviation airport. The study is the result of a mandate by the Legislature to account for the lack of options and space available to local owners and users of aircraft following the closures of Austin’s Robert Mueller Municipal Airport and the Austin Executive Airpark. It will also be used to find the best location for such a facility. San Marcos Mayor Robert Habingreither said he is approaching the prospect of a regional airport in San Marcos with caution. “My reason for supporting the resolution was to put our name back in the hat,” Habingreither said. “After more discussion, we might say ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ We have to know all the conditions of the deal before anybody signs on the dotted line.” However, he said a regional airport, if contracted correctly, could be a major economic engine for the city. “If you can take something and turn it into a tremendous economic resource for the city, then I believe that’s something elected officials should pursue,” Habingreither said. TxDOT has proposed building new facilities in Travis and Williamson counties, but has received opposition from residents and county commissioners in those areas. San Marcos was originally overlooked for the project because of its location and the state’s desire to build a new facility instead of revamping an old one. “(Hutto, Taylor and Manor) were the preferred sites for a new airport because the demand area is in g See AIRPORT, page 5
REACHING HIGH
By Kassia Micek Assistant News Editor
Tony Ramos/Star photo Students such as Roydan Mcculloughun, undecleared freshman, are enjoying the weather in late April. Mcculloughun returns a serve during a match Monday afternoon at Sewell Park.
River Fest to offer variety of music SACA to host annual event in Sewell Park
By Kay Richter News Reporter
With the local Texas music scene becoming a popular form of entertainment, students can enjoy a free concert featuring a plethora of musical talents in a relaxed atmosphere. The River Fest Spring Concert, sponsored by the Student Association for Campus Activities, will feature Roger
Creager, Honeybrowne, River Train, Rodger Wilko and Micah Harris. Students can enjoy a wide array of music from traditional country to rock to Americana. “It’s definitely country and Texas music with a little bit of honky-tonk combined,” said Micah Harris, musician and agriculture junior, about his music. River Fest will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday in Sewell Park. None of the bands performing are foreign to the Texas music scene. Roger Creager, who will headline the concert, has been perform-
ing for seven years around the Texas area. He is best known for his mixing of musical genres and is excited about coming to play in San Marcos. “San Marcos has always been good to us and we always have a good time when we play,” said Kirby Standley, Creager’s tour manager. The majority of these performers are not new to the San Marcos scene either. Many have performed on The Square. “A lot of these kids have seen us before,” Harris said. “We have g See RIVER, page 5
Civil Rights activist lectures on campus
By Jennifer Warner Senior Reporter
Tiffany Searcy/Star photo Texas State Association of Recreation Majors sponsored Recreational Awareness Week in The Quad Tuesday. James Herrington, public relations senior, takes advantage of the free use of the 20-foot rock wall that was provided by the Austin Rock Gym.
Professor to speak on legal moralism
A journalist, advocate for First Amendment rights, author and Civil Rights activist visited Texas State Tuesday as part of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Distinguished Lecture Series. John Seigenthaler spoke in two presentations, addressing everything from his experiences in the Civil Rights movement to his new book about former U.S. President James K. Polk. He held a book signing and information session at the Southwestern Writers Exhibit on the 7th floor of the Alkek Library, but the small, informal session was
overshadowed by his lecture, “Reflections of a Son of the Racist South,” in the Alkek Teaching Theater. Seigenthaler SEIGENTHALER admitted to being from the racist South, not with pride but not with shame either. “I am a son of the segregated, racist South,” Seigenthaler said. “I state it neither as self-condemnation nor as conviction. I state it simply to acknowledge a truly grotesque fact of life in a cursed time, in a conflicted place.” During the lecture he told stories
about growing up in Tennessee and watching the Civil Rights movement unfold before his eyes. One such story was a tale his grandfather had told him about witnessing a man thrown from a bridge and hung. Seigenthaler also regaled a story of his fifth grade teacher telling the class that the Civil War was not fought to free slaves. She told them the slaves were better off on the plantations than the whites in northern factories. Texas State President Denise Trauth gave the opening and closing remarks and stated that Seigenthaler is the first person who g See ACTIVIST, page 5
A University of Chicago professor will speak at 7 tonight in the LBJ Student Center Ballroom for the Randall W. Bland Lecture on American Constitutional Law and Theory. Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. “Dr. Elshtain is a very prominent intellectual American individual,” said Kenneth Grasso, Texas State political science professor. The title of Elshtain’s lecture is “The Problems with Legal Moralism.” Grasso said Elshtain will speak about the limits of law as an institutional reform and how to deal with these problems. Elshtain said she will discuss the ways in which the United States has become moralistic to the point where every human contingency is covered by legal laws. Elshtain will talk about ways to solve these problems through politics and religion. “Human freedom requires that the world is not covered with laws,” Elshtain said. She said certain laws are necessary, such as murder and child abuse laws, but laws such as punishing a juvenile who has given the finger are unnecessary and remove responsibility from people. “We can’t cover everything g See LEGAL, page 3
I N S I D E
Amusements....................9
Classifieds......................11
Comics/Crossword........9 News...........................2,3,5
Opinions...........................6
Sports..............................12 Trends............................7,8
Today’s Weather
High: 77 Lo w : 62
Cloudy/Rainy All Day
Wind: From S at 13 mph Precipitation: 30% Max. Humidity: 59% UV Index: 8 High Thursday’s Forecast Cloudy 80/66