Defending the First Amendment since 1911
Volume 99, Issue 6
WEDNESDAY
www.UniversityStar.com
PUTTING PREMIERE
The women’s golf team travels to College Station for its first tournament of the season
page 8
Cartoon Craze
New art exhibit opens at Wake The Dead Coffee House page 6
Students stranded after SWAT disbands By Lora Collins News reporter Students no longer have the option of calling Students With Alternate Transportation to assist in getting them home after throwing back one too many drinks. SWAT is no longer running. Judy Row, director of the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center, said there has been too
few volunteers to sustain the program for the last two and a half to three years. “The maintenance of SWAT and the running of SWAT takes a tremendous amount of time and students certainly wanted to,” Row said. “But most of them had jobs, all of them were going to school and it just got to be too much” Row said she hopes SWAT will pick up again.
“I know definitively not for this year because they did other things with the budget,” Row said. “I know ASG was looking at some alternatives so I don’t know whether that will help bring it back faster or not.” SWAT began in 2000 at Texas State as a model of Texas A&M’s Carpool program. “We did a lot of communication back and forth the six
months before they went into operation and they helped us get through the first two years,” Row said. “It’s an excellent program and ours was almost exactly like it.” The program operated Thursday through Saturday from 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. and assisted students in getting safely home from surrounding bars and apartments. Row said part of the program’s problem
was getting students to trust SWAT. “Some trusted us, but one of the myths SWAT fought, (was) that they would report to university police or the San Marcos police who rode which was never ever true but there is also a sizeable amount of people who would not have ever called swat,” Row said. See SWAT page 3
Scam Artists
Students trade, steal classes they do not need Gabrielle Jarrett News Reporter
There could be a black market for art classes. Erika Molina, art junior, said she found a suspicious flier in an art-building bathroom. “The fliers will say, ‘does anyone need a metal or sculpting class?’” Molina said. “The students will then get together and make the trade at the same time.” Molina said art students register for classes they do not need and then trade then among themselves. She said a former student who was part of the University Honors Program would use his early registration times to enroll in classes he did not need. Molina said instead of getting classes he needed, he would register for all of the classes his girlfriend needed and drop them during her enrollment time. “Some students sign up for any class and find others to trade with,” Molina said. “This process is really ‘hush hush’ among students because they fear the consequences.” Erik Nielsen, School of Art and Design director, said he was not aware of students trading courses. “If this is in relation to the petition, then we are doing what we can to offer more courses,” Nielsen said. “The
administration has been generous in providing us with more courses for next semester.” Nielsen said there will be Saturday courses along with a new list of classes for the spring semester. Laura Henckendorn, communication design senior, said she has been offered a course someone did not need but has never traded with anyone. “I wouldn’t be surprised if students were trading classes because there aren’t enough courses,” Heckendorn said. “I would hope it wasn’t happening though.” Andrea Ball, theater senior, said she has never encountered students trading classes. Ball said the trading is probably isolated among a small group of students. Ball said she ran into problems signing up for classes because they were full. Ball had trouble getting into a class she needed for graduation and even tried to register for the course at an advanced level. Ball said she thinks there should be consequences for students trading classes. However, she said no one would confess to stealing courses. “It would be hard to catch people,” Ball said. “How could you even tell if students were trading?”
Today’s Weather
93°/71° Scattered T-Storms Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 59% UV: 8 Very High Wind: E 10mph
Thursday Scattered Thunderstorms Temp: 94°/71° Precip: 30%
Friday Isolated Thunderstorms Temp: 94°/70° Precip: 30%
INISDE THIS ISSUE News…..Pages 1-3 Athletic liason is ‘best fit’ for position Mall development still on hold, could attract crime Opinions….Page 4 Main Point: Ineffective Enforcement Students should learn to recycle Question ethics of Blackwater Trends.......Page 5-6 Coffee house hosts ‘Cartoon Visions’ Diversions…Page 7
Jenny Polson/Star Photo
Classifieds…Page 7
ARMY AWARNESS: All around campus are yellow ribbons to honor the troops.
Sports…….Pages 8
Veterans welcomed with yellow ribbons By Heidi Morrison Special to The Star Texas State students are seeing yellow. Seven people assisted in putting approximately 3,000 feet of yellow ribbon throughout the campus in just about two hours, said Sheila Bustillos Reynolds, coordinator for Retention Management and Planning. Reynolds said the ribbons were a way to make student veterans feel a part of the Texas State community. “Our purpose of putting them up was to welcome the veterans, but also to educate students about what they meant and symbolized for veterans,” Reynolds said. The Veterans Alliance, a campus organization offered
to student veterans for various resources and support, played a key role in the project. “It’s for awareness, just to stop and think about some things that are going on,” said Amanda Lewis, student veteran and former treasurer of Veterans Alliance. “On campus, it’s easy to forget there’s a war going on and we’re dying all the time.” Lewis, social work junior, calls it a place where veterans can go to be with people they identify with. Veteran Chris Schave, international business junior, is president of the Veterans Alliance and said its purpose is to help veterans adjust to college life. “Essentially, what we do is help transition veterans back into university life that are
coming out of the military,” Schave said. “We try to provide a social outlet. Since veterans typically are older than the kids coming out of high school, they may not feel comfortable with a typical college life.” Schave said Veterans Alliance does community services, such as reaching out to older veterans and sending care packages to Iraq. He said it is important for people to acknowledge sacrifice. “It’s knowing that this guy sitting next to you in class may have risked his life so you could be sitting in this class next to him,” Schave said. See RIBBONS page 3
Women’s golf looks to send message to competitors Bobcats grill Rams for season opener Garrett brothers keep reigns on Cowboys.
Lindsey Goldstein/Star photo illustration BLACK MARKET: Art and Design program classes have become so scarce students register for classes they do not need and trade others.