BOBCAT FOR LIFE
A WALK THROUGH NATURESCAPES
SEE SPORTS PAGE 8
SEE TRENDS PAGE 4
Jason Washington has made a smooth transition from the hash marks to the sideline
The Walker’s Gallery displays scenic photographs inspired by San Marcos nature
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
WWW.UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
WEDNESDAY
VOLUME 96, ISSUE 12
Texas State’s largest total enrollment reached this semester By Bradley Childrens The University Star This fall, Texas State reached a new record for enrollment. With 3,300 new freshman and transfer students, total enrollment for the fall has peaked at 27,503. President Denise M. Trauth said she is pleased the university is growing and stepping up to the challenge of accomodating the great numbers of undergraduates who are coming to Texas State. “It’s the largest enrollment in our history,” Trauth said. “We also have the most accomplished freshman class in our history in terms of test scores and class rank. Fifty-one percent of the freshman
class was in the top 25 percent of their high school class.” Michael R. Heintze, associate vice president for enrollment management, said the increased enrollment is necessary to meet the demand for skilled workers in Texas. “The population of Texas is growing pretty rapidly right now,” Heintze said. “If we are to maintain a strong economy in our state, between now and 2015 we’re going to have to educate roughly 600,000 more students in Texas than we would have normally educated.” Heintze said the increase in enrollment will also enhance the possibility for the university to
achieve HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) status. “Our hispanic undergraduate population went up 1 percent this fall, so we are now at 21 percent hispanic among undergraduates,” Heintze said. “Once we reach 25 percent, we will have reached HIS status and that will open up the opportunity for additional funding from the federal government.” Some students, however, do not view the increasing enrollment numbers as a positive trend. Angel Durr, advertising sophmore, said she has noticed restrictions on the amount of campus housing available. Durr said the floors in her
dorm are supposed to be separated into male and female floors, but there are some male students living on her floor because of overcrowding. “They had more boys than they had places to put them,” Durr said. “They’re raising the number of students while raising tuition. We’re stuck in crowded classrooms and we’re paying more money now.” Francesca Aguilar, sociology sophomore, said she knows some students who were placed in hotels because of insufficient dorm space. “If you know already how many people are supposed to live in your dorms and how many
ROTC makes a splash
Water combat training preps cadets for survival
people they can hold, why accept extra people,” Aguilar said. Amanda Oskey, vice president of the Associated Student Government, said the “2006-2015 Campus Master Plan” might take care of the housing issue because of new campus housing that is scheduled to be incorporated. She said ASG is looking at ways to create a solution. “One of the things that we are looking at is the housing policy,” Oskey said. “We’re trying to lower the number of hours required to get sophomores out of the dorms. What we want to do is lower it to 40 to 45 hours so that it’s possible to get sophomores out of the residence halls and free up some
space.” Other students said the rising increasing enrollment numbers are a good thing for the university. Jonathan Flores, geography sophomore, said he is glad to see the university becoming more popular. “It’s good because this university is growing now from being just a small school that nobody’s ever heard of to being something that more people want to come to,” Flores said. The number of students at Texas State has been increasing steadily since 1998, with an average increase of 3.25 percent per year.
‘Nothing more, nothing less’ By David Saleh Rauf The University Star Demonstrators gathered Tuesday morning in downtown San Marcos calling for Police Chief Howard Williams’ resignation. Approximately 20 family members and friends of two men killed this year by local law enforcement officials carried signs that said “Williams get out, nothing more, nothing less,” a reference to nearly identical Larry Kolvoord/American-Statesman statements Williams made Rosemary Whited to the press concerning the deaths of Leslie Eugene Whited and Jonathan four SWAT members involved Christopher Gonzales. in Whited’s death were cleared Whited was killed by members of wrongdoing by a grand jury of the Hays County SWAT team investigation in June. Frans has in February after a two hour been placed on administrative standoff and Gonzales was shot duty during the investigation. by SMPD officer Tracy Frans in “We want the truth, that’s August for allegedly stabbing See PROTEST, page 3 his mother with a fork. The
Monty Marion/Star photo WATERY WEAPONS: Cadet Brittney Patton, psychology sophomore, fights the weight of her combat gear to keep her head above water during the ROTC’s Combat Water Survival Training.
I
By Georgia Fisher The University Star
n a test of strength, mental tenacity and endurance, Texas State’s Army ROTC underwent Combat Water Survival Training Thursday at the San Marcos Baptist Academy’s indoor pool. Held yearly by ROTC chapters nationwide, the training simulates emergency water situations troops may encounter in combat and prepares them for the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, which ranks cadets on a national scale. Officers and cadets participating said the exercises build the skills and confidence needed to extract oneself from a real emergency. “We’ve made the training as realistic as possible for them, so they can survive an aquatic area if necessary. Unexpected entry into the water with weapons requires them to recover, to get their wits about them,” said Maj. Andy Sanchez, training officer for the group. During the training exercise, cadets rotated among four stations within a swimming pool, each in full uniform and boots. “Just to get in a pool and swim — that’s easy. Anyone can do that. But clothing alone can add 15-20 pounds, depending on how big you are,” Sanchez said. “It’s challenging.” The equipment-ditch en-
Monty Marion/Star photo KEEP IT UP!: A cadet ensures his weapon will continue to function by keeping it dry after walking blindfolded off the diving board of the San Marcos Baptist Academy’s indoor pool.
tailed cadets jumping into water with their gear, releasing it, and swimming to the pool’s edge, while the high-dive takes them to the edge of a diving board — blindfolded and with rifle in hand — and requires a swim to the pool’s edge without allowing the rifle to touch water. The exercises are practical, cadets said, because despite relatively dry conditions in the Middle East, water-based emergencies occur regularly. “Even though Iraq is a lot of desert, there are still a lot of incidences where soldiers have drowned. There are still a lot of rivers, a lot of lakes,” said Jacob Burlinson, criminal justice senior and civil affairs coordinator for Texas State’s ROTC. Sgt. Robert Garza said his own water survival training came into play when he was deployed in Iraq.
Today’s Weather
Sunny 91˚/67˚
Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 41% UV: 9 Very High Wind: S 9 mph
“I was in the back of a semitruck when a wheel caught and threw us into a canal. We had to get out and we had all our stuff with us,” said Garza, criminal justice sophomore. Though ranking is competitive within ROTC, the cadets are highly supportive of one another, often cheering slower swimmers through each exercise. After four tries amidst the cheers of friends, Keri Price finished the rifle-swim and pulled herself over the edge of the pool, grinning and exhausted. “The first of the three times I attempted it, I only made it halfway,” Price, psychology junior, said. “The second and third times, I made it across but dropped my weapon.” Even though every cadet undergoes regular training and is physically fit, not all are strong swimmers and a few are still learning. In the event that one
Two-day Forecast Thursday Partly Cloudy Temp: 93°/ 75° Precip: 10%
Friday Partly Cloudy Temp: 98°/ 76° Precip: 20%
is unable to complete a routine after several tries, he or she is moved to a section of the pool designed for quick lessons. “If you can’t swim, you’re given a lesson on dog-paddling, on breast-stroke,” Andrews said. Each cadet is supported until they are able to complete the course and according to Sanchez, everyone eventually does. “We encourage them to sign up for swimming classes at Texas State University and we’ll test them again at the end of the semester,” he said. “In the last three years, we haven’t had anyone we trained not pass.” Sanchez said the fact that the training prepares cadets for their yearly LDAC assessment is especially significant as the LDAC can establish an officer’s career path. At camp’s end, cadets “receive a written evaluation which will be factored into an assessment process to determine where they’ll rank,” he said. “The first one through 4000 are ranked chronologically and cadets who place higher get their choice of what they’ll do,” Sanchez said. “They’re competing for branch as well as whether they’ll be in active duty.” The training also instills leadership skills, Sanchez said. “Most of it is self-confidence,” Sanchez said. “As officers, they’re going to have to encourage their soldiers to do the same things they can do.”
County considers using water supply alternatives By Kathy Martinez The University Star The Hays County Commissioners Court focused Tuesday morning on finding solutions to the current diminishing water resources in the county. One of the agenda items discussed included possible action to authorize the county judge to execute an inter-local agreement between the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and the Hays County Commissioners Court to cooperate and address the immediate and long-term water and wastewater needs of Hays County. Bill West, GBRA general manager, said the agreement will lay the foundation for future water projects. “From this agreement, we can begin to make a difference in our water resources by making a somewhat open discussion with the public in its dealing with our county’s water issues,” West said. West told the court that immediate water sources for Hays County can be supplied from the Guadalupe River and Canyon Lake. However, these are only short-term options, he said. Hays County Judge Jim Powers, sponsor of the inter-local agreement between the GBRA and Commissioners Court, said that finding water for Hays County is a top priority. “The point of today’s discussion is to begin an open dialogue about the water issues,” Powers said. “We know we have
a problem, but now it’s time we have some solutions and I will be in discourse with the mayors of Hays County to get a plan of action.” President of Hays Community Action Network Charles O’Dell said he questioned the intentions of the inter-local agreement and its suggestion of ground water as a future supplier for water in Hays County. “First off, I believe that there does not exist an infinite amount of water,” O’Dell said. “For people like me who pull our water from wells that comes from the ground, water will be affected when an entire county is dependent upon that same source through underground pipelines.” Lynn Sherman of Winstead Consulting spoke on behalf of Sustainable Water Resources, who have entered into an agreement with GBRA to address their efforts to bring new, diverse and sustainable water resources up the growing Interstate-35 corridor. Sherman said water supply is extremely limited for Hays County and by the year 2030 the population of Hays, Williamson and Travis counties will double. She also addressed the problems involved with relying on current sources of water as long-term suppliers. “If we are going to start talking about alternatives for water supply, we need to do this now because the demand is increasing and our supply is diminishing fast,” Sherman said.
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