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ThURSDAY
Volume 99, Issue 10
17
www.UniversityStar.com
RANKED RIVAL
The Bobcat football team faces No. 15 Texas Christian Saturday in Fort Worth, see story page 14
Texas State, SMPD track burglary trends Chase Birthisel Assistant News Editor Students may be more susceptible to bad credit, insomnia and a pizza-based diet. But they may also be more at risk to being victimized by burglary. Data collected from a criminal justice class suggests burglaries in San Marcos primarily affect students. Pete Blair, assistant professor in the criminal justice department, and students
worked through the summer in collaboration with San Marcos police to produce crime statistics for from Jan. 1 through May 31. The data suggests burglars thrive on student apartment complexes. Ninety-five cases of habitation burglaries were reported in the five months. Seventy-seven percent occurred in apartment complexes. The Zone, University Heights, The Heights 2 and The Villagio were marked as hot
spots – combining for a total of 32 of the 73 apartment burglaries. The statistics showed burglary rates for apartments appear to be increasing while rates for homes have stayed stable. Forty-two percent of burglaries occurred between 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. An additional 42 percent occurred between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Police Commander Terry Nichols said he found the percentage of night burglaries to be very uncommon.
“I think San Marcos is way outside of the national trend for nighttime burglaries,” Nichols said. “It is just not a real common occurrence.” Blair said most burglaries happen during daytime hours because it is when criminals can best avoid residents. Seventy-two percent of all burglaries involved an unforced entry. Fourty-four percent of the unforced entries were through the front door and 18 percent were through a window. The Villagio, Cabana
Beach, The Zone and Palazzo apartment complexes had 23 break-ins. All were unforced entries. “It involves the culture and lifestyle of students,” Nichols said. “There are roommates and friends who come and go at all hours of the day and night. It is very conducive for criminals. If there is one point I want to emphasize, it’s lock your door and windows.” see ‘BURGLARY,’ page 5
Today’s Weather
87°/68° PM Showers Precipitation: 30% Humidity: 58% UV: 10 Very High Wind: NNW 13 mph
Friday
contagious
Mostly Cloudy Temp: 88°/68° Precip: 20%
CROWD
Saturday Partly Cloudy Temp: 86°/67° Precip: 10%
Packed buses are raising concerns during the flu season. See page 5 for the full story.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE News……....Pages 1-5 First Transit responds to H1N1 concerns Council officials initiate new program for city beautification Health center offers flu vaccinations Opinions……..Page 6 MAIN POINT: Craft Class Crime
Bobby Scheidemann/Star Photo Illustration ILL RIDERS: With flu season approaching, commuters question how big of a problem H1N1 could become on the trams.
Round Rock nursing school ASG allegations takes ‘the best out there’ may be brought before court By Maurah Ruiz Special to The Star
Calling all nurses. Applications are now available. Texas State’s new School of Nursing located at the Round Rock Higher Education Center is set to open for class fall of 2010. The $36 million, 77,740 gross square foot, three-story building will house approximately 100 students. Students need to have 65 hours of core curricular and pre-requisite courses, a minimum 3.0 GPA, taken and suc-
cessfully passed the Test of Essential Academic Skills or TEAS IV, a personal essay, reference letters and other materials to apply. “We are anticipating as many as 300 student applications to fill the slots,” said Lolly Lockhart, associate professor in the School of Nursing. “We will do everything we can to help our students understand the process of how we will be evaluating the applications.” Faculty will implement technologies including simulation laboratory training, a skills labs where students will have
access to lab materials, a live cast of actors for self-assessment, technological manikins and audio/video taping during simulation for briefing. “It’s a twenty-first century program where we have taken the latest and best evidence about teaching nursing students and integrated it into this state of the art program,” said Marla Erbin-Roesemann, director of the School of Nursing. “That’s really what brought me here”.
By Scott Thomas Web Editor
Student leaders are saying they have broken no rules after an allegation of illegitimate pay and unconstitutional training meetings were brought Monday before the senate. Mandy Domaschk, former ASG senator, addressed student government members Monsee ‘NURSING,’ page 5 day during the public forum. She encouraged senators to be skeptical of the executive board. She said they may have broken rules by accepting pay higher than what is outlined in the Code of Laws and by creating mandatory senate trainings. “I think everyone should follow the (ASG) Constitution,” Domaschk said. ASG President Chris Covo and Vice President Tommy Luna said they broke no rules. Luna said Domaschk’s claims were unfounded and she had failed to properly research the matter. “I would ask that before anyone brings up issues dealing with the constitution and Code of Laws that they do the research behind it,” Luna said. Domaschk supported Covo and Luna during the election and said her address Monday was not intended as an attack, but as a way to encourage senators to be more active and think more independently. Michael Guzman, ASG SuStar File Photo preme Court justice, said the CALLING ALL NURSES: A high tech nursing center will open in fall 2010 at Round Rock Higher issue is likely to be brought beEducation Center. fore the court. “I am familiar with the issue,
Police, TABC ‘brilliantly’ catch minors with fake IDs Memorial tainted with party politics Trends…......Pages 7-11 Facebook offers ultimate purchasing power Annual KTSW music festival set to deliver ‘energy’ next year
Tarantino’s Basterds but I cannot comment until we weaves web of style look at everything,” Guzman said.
Five Things Every Bobcat Mandatory senate-training Should Know
meetings
Domaschk said Luna did not have the power to make senate-training meetings mandatory, claiming it went against the Code of Laws. The Code of Laws grant the vice president the power to not call on senators, and Luna said anyone who did not attend the meetings would not be called. “I said they were mandatory,” Luna said. “I didn’t say what would happen if they didn’t show up because honestly I couldn’t kick them out — I couldn’t penalize them. What I could do is embrace the power given to me in the Code of Laws.” According to the Code of Laws, the vice president has the power to call on people “fairly.” “It is not fair to the senate and the students we represent if a senator has not gone through the proper training,” Luna said. Domaschk said she became interested in the matter after she and another senator wanted to make meetings mandatory in a previous semester, but looked into the constitution and “saw that no one has that kind of power.” see ‘ASG,’ page 5
Possible ‘chupacabra’ makes its way to Hill Country Classifieds…..Page 12 Diversions…..Page 12 Sports……Pages 13-14 Female athletes not receiving credit they deserve Bobcats face Mustangs in weekend tournament Women’s soccer looks forward to third game Two ranked teams face off Saturday in division challenge Texas State, Texas Christian sports editors debate Saturday’s outcome