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Step dance revolution
Volume 99, Issue 8
Tuesday
15
www.UniversityStar.com
The Golden Dynasty Step show was held in Evan’s Liberal Arts auditorium Saturday night. For a story see page 6, for exclusive video visit UniversityStar.com.
web extra
Former ASG senator makes accusations
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By Chase Birthisel Assistant News Editor A former senator accused the Associated Student Government of acting against their founding documents at Monday night’s meeting. Mandy Domaschk, president of College Democrats, said Tommy Luna, ASG vice president, is not following the Constitution by enforcing mandatory senate trainings. She said the Constitution does not give the vice president the
power to mandate trainings. “Make your own agenda, don’t just follow what they have — make sure you know your own rights as senators,” Domaschk said during the meeting’s public forum. Luna held a mandatory senate training Aug. 29, of which he claims there was “little complaint.” “If anybody did not go, there was nothing I could do,” Luna said. “They all showed up, but in the event that they didn’t, I wouldn’t have called on them
Overcrowding
until they made it up. That power is granted to me in the Code of Laws.” The complaints were not limited to senate trainings. Domaschk claims ASG President Chris Covo and Luna receive $2 more an hour than what is allotted by the ASG Code of Laws. Covo argues their pay, which is posted on the ASG Web site, is lawful. Covo and Luna are paid $10.70 and $9.70 per hour, respectively. Their pay was increased in July.
Domaschk and Luna have “I will point out that none conflicting interpretations of of that says minimum wage the ASG Codes of raise, it just says Laws. pay raise,” Luna According to the said. Code of Laws, “The Domaschk, who hourly wage rate campaigned for shall increase withthe Covo/Luna out a vote of the ticket last spring, senate in the event urged the senate to of mandated local, read the ASG docustate or federal pay ments. raise. Such an in“I heard Tommy crease will not go Luna was making into effect until the mandatory meetLuna next fiscal year.” ings for the senate,
and I knew that was unconstitutional because we brought it up last year,” Domaschk said. Luna said Domaschk’s accusations are unfounded. “I just saw it as somebody venting or giving their opinSee th ion about what ASG should do,” Luna said. “We got a www. lot of questions afterward about what just happened. The senators that addressed me were very confused about what she said.” see ‘ASG,’ page 4
Transportation tight for tram travelers By Chase Birthisel Assistant News Editor
Students will continue to cram trams as Texas State’s transportation system refuses to grow with the population. Bobcat Tram is locked in a service contract with First Transit until 2013. Paul Hamilton, manager of the shuttle system, said Texas State would not see more than a few trams added to transportation because of the contract. He said the university is bound by the expiration date mainly because of a high cost of ordering more trams in the middle of the service. “Could we ask them to deliver more buses? Absolutely,” Hamilton said. “But we might see our operating cost go from under $70 an hour to $100 an hour, and I’m not sure that is something we want to do.” Hamilton said First Transit currently has 43 buses, but does not allow more than 85 percent to operate at one time. First Transit keeps reserves in case of breakdowns, according to Hamilton. The current number of buses on routes everyday is 32, and Hamilton said he plans for this to increase to 34 next semester. “Our best opportunity is to utilize the capacity we have now as efficiently as possible and then look to try to build a system that’s big Bobby Scheidemann/Star photo enough to handle the growing population in LONG WAIT: Students wait for their bus after class lets out. A shortage of trams causes massive pileups of people at 2013,” Hamilton said. the bus stop, which can have students stranded for extended periods of time. At times students cannot ride a tram because of the capacity limit and have to wait for the next one. Greg Lienhard, finance sophomore, said he is familiar with this experience. “I’m usually stuck (at the university bus stop) and have to wait for at least two buses until I can get on,” Lienhard said. “Then I have to squeeze on.” see ‘BUSES,’ page 4
I’m usually stuck (at the university bus stop) and have to wait for at least two buses until I can get on. Then I have to squeeze on. –Greg Lienhard finance sophomore
Emergency Phones
Malfunctions cause false responses By Megan Holt News Reporter Emergency call phone are going off on campus without being touched, according to University Police Department officials. The emergency call phones, referred to as stanchions, trigger a flashing blue light when activated. The phones are placed in parking lots and next to campus buildings in case students need immediate UPD assistance. The stanchions have been malfunctioning and causing UPD to respond to false calls. The blue strobe lights placed on top of the stations have been flashing to falsely alert students and police officers of an emergency. “I’ve had several of those phones giving me problems lately,” said Robert Campbell, university police sergeant, in an e-mail. “On several of them, the trigger of the phone or the strobe effect has gone bad. The phone is functional, which is the reason why we haven’t disconnected them.” Campbell said the phones are set to have an open phone line, which means it does not have to dial 9-1-1 to alert a dispatcher when triggered. “The phones can be affected by surges, but Lindsey Goldstein/Star photo they can also be affected by line issues in general,” Campbell said. “We have a number BLUELIGHT EMERGENCY: The blue UPD emergency lights located of issues which involve water related damaround campus like the one in between Sterry, Falls and the Theater age, which causes the malfunction.” building have been malfunctioning.
Today’s Weather
88/68° Mostly Sunny Precipitation: 10% Humidity: 65% UV: 10 Very High Wind: NNW 8mph
Wednesday Partly Cloudy Temp: 86°/67° Precip: 10%
Thursday Mostly Sunny Temp: 87°/67° Precip: 10%
INSIDE THIS ISSUE News…….....Pages 1-4 Students could acquire hours in virtual reality City residents, officials remember Sept. 11 at ceremony Medical Mannequins: Instructional simulators prepare nursing students Faculty see classroom behavior is more rude Opinions……..Page 5 LBJ ruined higher education funding
MAIN POINT: Proposal Campbell said the phone automatically di- ‘Tramples’ Rights
als a UPD dispatcher and triggers the electronic board that controls the light strobe or beacon when a student pushes the button on the stanchion. Students who use the open phone line will see the blue light flashing on the top of the stanchion after the button is activated. Campbell could not confirm the amount of time it takes for the blue lights to stop flashing once they have been reset by a police officer. However, he admitted it takes a “little while.” The Traffic and Parking Regulations map shows 37 emergency stanchions located in various places around campus. According to the GAI-Tronics Corporation, makers of the emergency phones, Texas State has spent more than $63,000 to secure the campus with the call stanchions. Campbell said few calls that come from the emergency phones are emergencies, and other times people use the phones for information and non-emergency reports. “Even if they keep getting false reports, they should still check on the so-called ‘emergency’ because it’s better to be safe than sorry,” said Kaley Dierlam, agriculture freshman. “I wouldn’t want to be the one with a real emergency and they don’t respond to it.” see ‘EMERGENCY,’ page 4
Trends………..Page 6
Classifieds…..Page 7 Diversions…..Page 7 Sports…………Page 8 Volleyball leaves tournament successful for first week at home Soccer ‘learns lessons’ in pre-conference game Ski club takes year for rebuilding after leader dies