VOLUME 102, ISSUE 7
www.UniversityStar.com
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012
GO NE ONLI NOW
Sports at the San Marcos River The San Marcos River is a great place for sports and relaxation. For more, check out the University Star’s website at UniversityStar.com.
Tech game to cause traffic, lane closures By Emma Long News Reporter The City of San Marcos and Texas State are bracing themselves for the 30,000 fans anticipated to be in attendance for Saturday’s home football game versus Texas Tech. San Marcos residents can expect to see congested roadways and lane closures, according to university and city officials. The University and San Marcos Police Department, along with emergency services, are attempting to alleviate game day traffic with several road closures around the newly renovated stadium. Police will close Eastwood, Mill and West Streets near Aquarena Springs Drive, but only if absolutely necessary, said Adam Rodriguez, administrative sergeant for the University Police Department. Rodriguez said the closures will depend upon traffic at game time. The primary focus of the plan is a clockwise traffic loop around the stadium. The loop will run down Aquarena Springs Drive, then right onto the temporary oneway Thorpe Lane toward Hopkins Street, then right from Charles Austin Drive going one-way back to Aquarena. Rodriguez said the clockwise plan will attempt to relieve some of the congestion coming in from I-35 and Post Road. Rodriguez said UPD has been planning for the Texas Tech game for months, and the traffic plan officials came up with can be used for every game in the future with adjustments in personnel. The East and West parking lots of Bobcat Stadium and the Northeast corner of the Strahan Coliseum lot will be reserved for Bobcat Club donors. Fans can pay $10 to park at the Mill Street commuter lot, the Thorpe Lane lot, Springtown Shopping center and the Northwest portion of the Strahan Coliseum lot. The campus shuttle buses will only be stopping at the Speck Street and Woods Street parking garages, while parking closer to the center of campus is free. Buses will drop passengers off on Charles Austin Drive near the baseball fields, the closest area to the stadium to which vehicles will be able to get. Joe Richmond, director of transportation services, said eight buses will run three hours before the game, allowing for pick up every five to seven minutes. Richmond said fans going to the game should walk rather than take the bus to the stadium. “The buses are just going to get caught
Sewell Park restrictions selectively enforced By Kolten Parker News Reporter Bending a rule on non-student usage in Sewell Park is the most efficient way to manage the behavior of visitors, officials say. Signage in the on-campus park indicates “Sewell Park is for use by Texas State students, faculty and staff only,” and a Texas State I.D. is required for entrance. However, the rule is not strictly enforced, particularly during the summer, said John Johnson, assistant director of camAdriana Candelaria, Staff Photographer pus recreation. “I know sometimes college stuStudents and families engage in activites at Sewell Park on dents get frustrated at the first of the Sunday.
summer when there are families and high school students out here, but (Texas State) treats this like a public park,” said Johnson. “That’s the easiest way to manage Sewell.” Johnson said Sewell Park is solely funded and maintained by Texas State. He said the park should be a fun and safe place for all members of the community to enjoy. Johnson said the restriction is used more to oust individuals causing problems in the park, whether students or not, than to keep a tight watch on who uses the park. For example, if the University
READ SEWELL, PAGE 3
MAKING FACES
Austin Beavers, Staff Photographer
Kelly Rathbone, sculptor, works on a sculpture Aug. 29 in her studio at the Eye of the Dog Art Center. Rathbone was born in Singapore and traveled around the world before settling in San Marcos.
Local sculptor returns to San Marcos READ THE FULL STORY, PAGE 5
READ TECH GAME, PAGE 3
IRS targets professor’s home for alleged money laundering By Beth Brown Editor-in-Chief A Texas State assistant professor’s house may be confiscated by the federal government for allegedly being purchased with laundered money, according to court documents obtained by The University Star. The Internal Revenue Service is seeking the home of Sindy Chapa, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the assistant director of the Center for the Study of Latino Media and Markets. Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit in a San Antonio federal court seeking forfeiture of a house at 1019 Fairway in Kyle,
property owned by Chapa, according to the Hays Central Appraisal District. Chapa has not been charged with a crime, but federal officials are seeking to seize her home for violations of allegedly owning a property that was bought with laundered money, according to the court document. When a University Star reporter called the number associated with the Kyle property, a woman answered the phone. Asked if Chapa was speaking, the woman answered, “I don’t know” and then hung up. The Kyle property the IRS is seeking is worth $262,140, according to the Hays Central Appraisal District. The property’s value is more than four times Chapa’s Tex-
as State salary, which is $57,750, according to the Texas Tribune’s government salary database. According to a Sept. 6 San Antonio Express-News article, Chapa may be the ex-girlfriend of Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba, a former mayor of Matamoros and ex-governor of the Mexican state Tamaulipas. Federal officials have been targeting Yarrington for alleged money laundering, according to the article. The Express-News article states Chapa’s past attachments with Yarrington led agents to claim that her houses in both Kyle and McAllen may have been obtained with illegal funds. Officials are also seeking forfeiture on her McAllen home, accord-
ing to the article. Chapa earned a bachelor’s degree in mass media communication at Valle Del Bravo University in Mexico, her master’s from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and a doctorate in International Business/Marketing from the University of Texas–Pan American, according to her curriculum vitae, provided by Texas State. She has been at Texas State since 2008 and is currently teaching classes such as Mass Media Research Methods, International Advertising and PR Issues and Music Marketing and Media: Emphasis in the Latino Market. She won the 2011-2012 university’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Service.
Lack of research leaves Texas State ineligible for CPRIT funding By Andrew Osegi News Reporter Texas State was one of the first major universities in the area to prohibit the use of tobacco products on campus. However, unlike other institutions, it is not receiving funding for its tobacco ban. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awards grants to universities who conduct research and have tobacco-free policies. Institutions like the University of Houston, Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin all receive funding from the institute and have recently introduced tobacco-free areas onto their campuses. Heidi McConnell, chief operating officer of the institute, is responsible for financial administration and grant management. McConnell said the goal of the institute is to fund research projects and
cancer prevention practices that will impact the health of Texans. “We send out requests for applications if universities feel they have adequate research that needs funding,” McConnell said. “The funding application is then sent to a peer review panel made up of out-ofstate officials for approval. We provide funding for commercialization, research and prevention programs.” While Texas State is a tobacco-free institution, it is not conducting cancer prevention research, disqualifying it from receiving funding. Joanne Smith, vice president of student affairs, said Texas State does not receive funding because of the nature of the tobacco ban and why it was implemented. She said it was not because the institution did not seek the funding. According to the university website, Texas State became a tobacco-free campus
in fall 2011. The change was in response to the growing evidence of the harmful effects of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. The institution has funded Texas entities since its establishment in 2007. However, the institution recently deemed those entities receiving funding must be tobaccofree if they wished to continue receiving money. According to the University of Texas at Austin’s website, their tobacco ban was implemented April 9. It was partially due to the threat of research funding being canceled unless they adopted a tobacco free policy. The University of Houston and Texas A&M University also implemented tobacco-free policies in order to continue receiving their funding. The Texas School Safety Center located on campus is devoted to encouraging and supporting healthy students and commu-
nities in Texas. Jennifer Steele, associate director of tobacco prevention and community services at the center, said funding opportunities are available for Texas State and its tobacco-prevention initiative. She does not know why the university has yet to pursue them. In 1998, the state of Texas sued the tobacco industry and earned approximately $17 billion through settlement, Steele said. “That money was then to be paid over a 25 year span, of which a percentage would be devoted to tobacco prevention and research,” Steele said. “The state funding is there, but it seems Texas State has yet to capitalize on tobacco prevention and research through its tobacco ban.” Although the Texas School Safety Center is located on the Texas State campus, their research and prevention efforts are not associated with the university or involved with the tobacco ban.