VOLUME 102, ISSUE 8
www.UniversityStar.com
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
TUESDAY GO NE ONLI NOW
SEPTEMBER 11, 2012
Rally on The Square
Rally on The Square was a Bobcat special event held in anticipation of the Texas State vs. Texas Tech football game on Sept. 8. Watch the video at UniversityStar.com.
Bus system works through changes By Andrew Osegi News Reporter The Texas State Bobcat Tram system has been the subject to route changes, altered stops and rearrangements due to the increase of apartment complexes in San Marcos and the Texas State community. There are approximately 800 more students riding the buses on the Ranch Road tram route after the opening of The Retreat, a new apartment complex off Craddock Avenue. An additional 1,000 students are utilizing the trams on the Mill Street route due to recent additions to the Copper Beech and Aspen Heights complexes. As a result, buses had to be moved from the Campus Loop route to address the de-
mands of the new apartment complexes. The Campus Loop route now caters to the new residence halls in the North Campus Housing Complex, Gaillardia and Chautauqua Halls. The bus no longer stops by the Student Recreation Center or Bexar and San Marcos Halls. A new stop was added to the Wonder World route at Concho Street during the summer to increase the pick-up and dropoff frequency. Nancy Nusbaum, associate vice president of Finance and Support Services, said route changes were made to accommodate more students in different locations. Texas State’s parking and bus services were merged Sept. 1. Joe Richmond, director of Transportation Services, said the uni-
versity needed to find a way to maximize the limited amount of buses in the most efficient way possible. “(Transportation Services) is trying to move as many people as possible with a finite number of available buses,” Richmond said. “Our number-one goal is to provide access to the Texas State campus to all who need it.” Richmond said with the exception of Fridays, the number of hours of bus service has not increased this semester. While the bus system is working at full capacity, students are still being left behind at their stops. Norberto Gomez, biology junior, said he
READ BUSES, PAGE 2
TECH-NICAL DIFFICULTIES
Austin Humphreys, Star Photo Editor
Isaiah Battle, junior wide receiver, is taken down by Cody Davis, Texas Tech safety, Sept. 8 at Bobcat Stadium. Texas State was defeated 58-10, giving the Bobcats a 1-1 overall record.
Bobcats falter before record crowd in FBS home opener READ THE FULL STORY, PAGE 6
Meal trade limit restricts swipe usage By Sara Elmiaari News Reporter Students hoping to load up on food may dislike Chartwells restrictions on the number of meal trades students can use at one time. However, the rule is not likely to change any time soon, officials say. Students eating on-campus at dining halls such as Jones Food Court, The Den or The Lair are limited to using three meal trades at once. The rule prevents one student from purchasing an excessive number of meals at once, reducing the amount of food available for other people, said Leslie Bulkley, resident district manager of Chartwells. Bulkley said students wishing to buy several meals at once must return
to the end of the line after using their first three meal trades. Students can then purchase three more meal trades after making their way through the line again. During the rushes of students getting out of class, some of the more popular vendors on campus have a difficult time keeping up with the demand for food. Bulkley said this problem would be aggravated if students could purchase as many meal trades as they wanted. Bulkley said it is unfair for students trying to buy lunch quickly between classes. She said students would have to wait an unreasonable amount of time in line if one person bought more than Katrina Barber, Staff Photographer three meal trades’ worth of food. Kaylee Lorence, health care administration sophomore, exchanges a meal trade Sept. 10 at Jones Dining Hall. Chartwell’s is limitREAD CHARTWELLS, PAGE 2 ing the number of meal trades students may use at a given time.
Faculty senators discuss student retention rates By Karen Zamora News Reporter University officials addressed concerns about retention rates at the Sept. 5 faculty senate meeting. Faculty senators met with University President Denise Trauth and Provost Eugene Bourgeois during the first President’s Academic Advisory Group (PAAG) meeting of the semester, when top university officials met with the senate to discuss issues and seek suggestions. Barbara Melzer, faculty senate chair, brought up several instances where she heard among faculty there was a decrease
in enrollment this fall. Melzer said she has only seen fall enrollment numbers for freshmen and transfer students, not including retention rates. Trauth said enrollment figures are not finalized until Sept. 13, but predicts the number will be approximately 200 students more than last year’s total. She has also heard enrollment is down. “We’re used to having so many additional students, so when (enrollment) is only 200 students (higher) it looks like (enrollment is) down,” Trauth said. The overall enrollment of the university depends heavily upon retention rates, Trauth said. She said every year when
university officials discuss the topic of retention they also discuss how to better improve certain services so students can graduate. One particular area of improvement that has been discussed is veteran retention rates, Trauth said. She said veterans have a “significantly lower retention rate than the general population.” Veterans are one group of students that are at-risk of low retention rates, Trauth said. The general retention is between 78 and 79 percent, and the retention rate for veterans is 55 percent.
READ FACULTY SENATE, PAGE 2
Professor misses class amid legal trouble By Beth Brown Editor-in-Chief A Texas State assistant professor whose homes may be seized by federal officials among allegations of money laundering failed to show up to her class Thursday evening. 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. A civil lawsuit was filed in a San Antonio federal court Sept. 4 seeking forfeiture on a house in Kyle, owned by Chapa, according to the Hays Central Appraisal District. Chapa has not been charged with a crime. However, federal officials are seeking to seize her home for violations of allegedly purchasing a property with laundered money, according to court documents obtained by The University Star. “As (of) today I have no formal documentation of what the authorities will do,” Chapa said in an email Thursday evening. “Thus, I have no comments.” Matt Flores, assistant vice president of University Advancement, said the university is reviewing the incident. “This is something that is a non-university matter and we have no comment at this point,” Flores said. “Something may change later on and we may have a statement, but at this point this is not a university matter.” Flores said “everything remains the same” for Chapa’s teaching responsibilities. However, she did not show up to teach her Research Methods class on Thursday evening. The graduatelevel class was instead instructed by Olga Wilson, an adjunct lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Wilson said it is not unusual for professors to substitute for other professors when they attend events or present research and have to miss classes. She did not know why Chapa was unable to attend the class, and was only asked to fill in for that evening. Wilson said she was unaware of the media reports of Chapa’s forfeiture. “She is a very responsible and knowledgeable faculty member,” Wilson said. 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 Texas 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 her houses in both Kyle and McAllen may have been obtained with illegal funds. Officials are also seeking forfeiture on her McAllen home. The allegations of Chapa’s involvement in money laundering came as a surprise to her students. Jacob Ehrnstein, mass communication graduate student who is in Chapa’s Research Methods class, said the class has only convened once this year, but he was shocked by the money laundering allegations. “She seemed like she was going to be a great teacher,” Ehrnstein said. Paul Martinez, a graduate student studying journalism with an emphasis on Latinos in the Media, said Chapa was one of the reasons he decided to attend Texas State. He received his bachelor’s degree from A&M Kingsville. “My impression of her (was) excellent—she was very intelligent and very dynamic,” Martinez said. “She’s got positive energy. She’s ambitious, a gogetter.” Martinez was surprised by the allegations against Chapa, and said people should reserve judgment until all the information surrounding the case is available. “Honestly, I don’t think people should be too quick to judge right now,” Martinez said. “From what I understand, there’s no indictment. There’s nothing that says what happened, so we need to know the whole story.”