Exit Interview Dance, Dance sits down to talk about his term in office SEE UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM SEE TRENDS PAGE 6
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tuesday
April 28, 2009
Texas State may not have to pay if boiler failure fault lands on contractors By Allen Reed Assistant News Editor Students paid in a weeks worth of cold showers, but the cost for Texas State was approximately $670,000. Multiple university departments were affected by the weeklong hot water boiler failure in March. Pat Fogarty, associate vice president of facilities, said after the original rental boiler failed, a second was brought in at a cost of just under $20,900 a month for 15 months. “When the rental boiler failed, I did not have complete confidence the repairs would hold, and I asked the contractors to bring down an additional boiler,” he said. Fogarty said the contractor paid for the parts, which repaired the original rental boiler. “We have to determine what caused the boiler failure,” Fogarty said. “If the cost was our fault, we pay. If it’s the contractors, they pay.”
Volume 98, issue 78
TOP OF THE SOUTHLAND
The second boiler was put to use af after the first failed a second time. Students would have been left in the cold longer if the decision to acquire the additional boiler had not been made. “That’s why when we had the second failure, we got it up so quickly,” Fogarty said. Fogarty said a third party contractor was brought in by the university to review operating procedures — an estimated cost of $6,900. Fogarty said the price of the two permanent boilers, which were scheduled for installation before the failure to replace the current rental, cost $2,481,600. Fogarty said some costs, such as labor, are unquantifiable. “I don’t know the cost, but there is a cost involved,” he said. “Basically, the Harris plant, which was running the whole time, took care of everything west of Comanche. Every facility that See BOILER, page 4
student Health Center takes precautions for swine flu By Scott Thomas and Amanda Venable The University Star Students who come to the Student Health Center with flu-like symptoms will be tested for the now infamous H1N1 swine flu, according to center officials. Emilio Carranco, director of the Student Health Center, said students with “suspicious” symptoms will be tested. “(The test) will allow us to deter determine in about 30 minutes if they have a type A influenza,” he said. “If it is positive we will send a swab to a state
lab and the state lab will test if it is swine flu.” Carranco said the system was implemented Monday and went “very smoothly.” There are no confirmed cases of swine flu in San Marcos. However, Carranco said the city’s proximity to Guadalupe County, where there have been three confirmed cases, is “concerning.” Carranco said there are additional suspected cases in the area. “We are meeting on a daily basis with the Texas emergency management team to see what is going on
Austin Byrd/Star photo Taylor Hall, senior outfielder, steals second during Texas State’s win over Stephen F. Austin Saturday. Texas State won two of three games against the lumberjacks during the weekend, giving the Bobcats the outright regular season slC championship. FOR FULL COVERAGE SEE SPORTS, PAGE 10
See FLU, page 4
Online Spanish workbook causes petition, Texas State student may be appointed to Board of Regents apprehension for affected students By Theron Brittain Senior News Reporter A Texas State student may be appointed as a member to the most powerful authority in the Texas State University System. The Board of Regents, a ninemember committee with an operating budget of $794 million in 2008, appoints a student representative every year by the gover governor to liaison between those who call the shots and the students most often affected by them. Gov. Rick Perry is required by law to make the appointment before the term term begins June 1. Perry is expected to announce his pick sometime between May 1 and May 15. The student representative holds a non-voting position, but is designated to represent the interests and opinions of thousands of students in the eight institutions included in the Texas State University System. Two Texas State students, Clay Patterson and Caleb Hudgens, are vying for the position. “Anytime I go anywhere, I like to leave it better than when I found it,” said Patterson, international studies sophomore. “I have noticed inconsistencies with certain areas of our university, and I am sure the same thing is going on throughout the system. I want to make it run more efficiently and serve the students better.” Patterson said he believes it is important to give voting members student opinion on issues
being discussed, despite the nonvoting status of the position. Patterson, an Eagle Scout and former Marine, serves as the financial coordinator for the Student Foundation and will serve as president of the organization during the 2009 to 2010 academic year. He said his experience operating within organizations has provided him with the tools to negotiate between different individuals. “Throughout my time serving in leadership positions, I have been successful in relaying messages between one group of people and another, which is something I feel is important for somebody who is going to be representing the student opinion for all the universities in the system,” Patterson said. Hudgens agreed, saying effective interaction with peers and administrators was the primary responsibility of the position. “Communication with each of the student governments at each of the respective universities is paramount,” said Hudgens, public relations and English senior. He said running for the position is his way of paying Texas State back for everything the campus has provided, namely, with the experience of working in the political arena. Hudgens said he expects his experiences to serve him well as the student regent and later in a career in state politics. “The administrators really love the students here, and it has given me a really good insight on how institutions and government
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agencies operate and how effective they can be,” Hudgens said. Except for continuing to serve as chair of the Foundation for Excellence committee, a Student Foundation event honoring outstanding faculty and staff, Hudgens said he declined office nominations in his organizations to dedicate himself to the duties of the student regent. “What is really going to set me apart is that I have set aside next year entirely to devote to the students of the Texas State Univer University System,” Hudgens said. “I am really exited about taking the student regent’s position and create what it should be, which is accurately representing the constituents of the system.” He elaborated on the seriousness with which he considers the regent’s job, saying the “best of the best” are usually considered for the nomination, but these students tend to be involved in too many organizations to be ef effective liaisons. The Board of Regents is the highest governing authority in the Texas State University System, overseeing a system enrollment of 64,000 students divided among Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University and Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College, Texas State University, Lamar Institute of Technology and Lamar State Colleges in Or Orange and Port Arthur. The Board was awarded $349 million in fisSee REGENTS, page 4
By Amanda Venable News Editor A Texas State student, enrolled in a first-year Spanish class, is disseminating a petition, which claims a required work workbook for the course is ineffective and inefficient. John Torres, mathematics senior, is circulating the petition. His goal is to decrease the work workbook’s impact on a student’s overall average. Torres argues the workbook, currently valued at 30 percent of a student’s semester grade in all Spanish 1410 and 1420 classes, is too problematic to carry such a critical weight. There are at least two mandatory purchases for all students in the first two Spanish courses. First, the textbook — “Puntos de Partida,” and second, a $100 supplementary online workbook application designed by Antonio Gragera, who is the coordinator of the first-year Spanish Depart Department. “The many problems with the program are likely to discour discourage students from continuing in second language learning,” Tor Torres said. “I think the department underestimates how negatively students react to having to pay $100.” Not only does Torres question the workbook’s value, he doubts its effectiveness as a learning tool. “If you’re willing to sit there clicking and dragging long
Lindsey Goldstein/Star photo illustration PROGRAM PETITION: John Torres has gathered signatures on a petition for lowering the percentage that the spanish online workbook will count as a grade.
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the Spanish language,” Torres See SPANISH, page 4
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