09 27 2007 by The University Star

PET FEST

HORNED FROGS SPIKED

Four-legged friends and San Marcos residents unite to beneﬁt Pet Prevent a Litter of Central Texas

Volleyball turns away TCU in 3-0 sweep, extends win streak to six

SEE TRENDS PAGE 7

SEE SPORTS PAGE 12

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

WWW.UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM

THURSDAY

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

VOLUME 97, ISSUE 13

University, city officals unite for change on Sagewood By Nick Georgiou and Sean Batura The University Star San Marcos and Texas State officials made a tour of Sagewood Circle Wednesday as part of the ongoing effort to address the complaints of area residents. Included among the group was Denise Trauth, university president, Susan Narvaiz, San Marcos mayor, Chris Jones, city councilman and Reagan Pugh, Associated Student Government president. Fire Marshal Ken Bell attended the tour as well. He said tickets are handed out every night, 90 percent of which are noise and alcohol-related. He said 10 percent of the violations involve parking. “Some folks are having difficulties understanding how the culde-sac parking works (and it) is problematic because it they don’t park correctly, we can’t get emergency vehicles through,” Bell said. He said another problem is too many occupants living at a residency. “In a nutshell, we’ve gone over the occupancy load for these types of buildings, and I think that’s one of the issues that’s a driving factor,” Bell said. Law enforcement, as directed by the San Marcos City Council two weeks ago, has increased its presence on the street, but in a Sept. 11 University Star article, Howard Williams, chief of the San Marcos Police Department, acknowledged it would only be a temporary solution. There was a general consensus Monty Marion/Star photo

WHAT’S UP?: Sagewood resident Henry Smith (right) talks with city and university representatives about issues concerning the area Wednesday evening outside his home.

Diversity faces challenges

See SAGEWOOD, page 4

Faculty drug testing policy revisited By Scott Thomas News Reporter

Minority percentage

20 On campus black

On campus black population population

On campus hispanic population On campus hispanic

population

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003 2004 Fiscal Year

2005

By Karen Little, Bill Lancaster at Texas State has remained around 2001 2004 the past 2005 and Nick2002 Georgiou 2003 5 percent 10 years. 2006 The University Star Fiscal Year About 35 percent of Texas’ population is Hispanic. The Hispanic stuIn a state where the minority dent population at Texas State has population continues to grow, the increased approximately 3 percent, diversity of the student population from 19 to 22 percent, during the at Texas State has remained rela- past decade. tively stagnant during the past deAlthough the Texas State student cade, according to ﬁgures from the population is not reﬂective of the university’s online fact book. state’s demographics, the number While blacks comprise about 12 of minorities on campus has inpercent of Texas’ population, the creased every year. total percentage of black students “Increases in diversity are show-

2006

2007

2008

ing up in a more pronounced way in 2007of undergraduate 2008 students,” terms said Michael Heintze, associate vice president of enrollment management. “If we look at the freshman class this year, 25 percent are Hispanic students as opposed to 23 percent a year ago.” There has been more of an incentive to enroll Hispanic students more so than blacks. When the student Hispanic population at Texas See DIVERSITY, page 4

Fresh grievances, as well as some reiterated ones, were voiced Wednesday when the Faculty Senate discussed the controversial university drug policy. Senators decided to push for a single drug policy document that would cover both faculty and staff. The document would not include any random drug testing. “We need to stand with the staff on this one,” said Faculty Sen. J. Nathan Bond, assistant curriculum and instruction professor. In the current version of the statement, faculty is excluded from the section mandating random drug testing. “Even if this is just staff policy, we have huge problems here,” said Faculty Sen. David Wiley, health, physical education and recreation professor. The decision to stay with one document was not unanimous. A vote was taken by Faculty Sen. Chair William Stone, criminal justice professor, with the alternative being to push for two separate policies — one for faculty and another for staff. “Staff has staff council to look out for their best interests,” said Faculty Sen. Gary Winek,

engineering and technology professor. The vote passed 6-5 with two abstaining and one absence. Reasons for senators voting in the affirmative were the desire to keep the document simplified and support the staff. “I think tenure gives us a freedom to talk about this others might not have,” said Faculty Sen. Ian Davidson, associate music professor. Wiley asked if it was possible to have two separate documents and still fight for the staff. “That’s a slippery slope,” said Faculty Sen. John McGee, finance and economics professor. “They’ve got staff council. Are we going to start taking on staff problems now?” Some other issues with the current policy senators voiced were with the wording and structure. While faculty was exempted from the section mandating drug testing, they were not exempted from punishment for refusing a drug test. McGee, an attorney as well, said it could be interpreted in court; the ambiguity negates the exclusion. Still, more controversy was caused by section 3.03 of the policy, which defines perforSee FACULTY, page 4

Erin Brockovich-Ellis encourages students to ‘make a difference’ By Nick Georgiou News Editor Courtesy of University News Service

As a legal clerk at a law firm, Erin Brockovich-Ellis was filing papers when she came across some medical records that caught her attention. Erin Brockovich-Ellis She conducted some research and discovered a toxic substance leaked from a nearby Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s compressor station into a California town’s groundwater, causing many people to become sick. She began an investigation that brought about the largest toxic tort settlement in U.S. history. Brockovich-Ellis will be on campus Tuesday, as the featured speaker for this year’s Common Experience

theme “The Water Planet: A River Runs Through Us.” She will give a speech at 8 p.m. at the LBJ Mall, which is located between the Alkek Library and the LBJ Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. Pam Wuestenberg, assistant dean of university college and Common Experience co-chair, said she is hoping for a large turnout. “The more students that come to these things, then the better we get at it, and plus we can bring bigger and bigger names to campus for our students and that’s kind of what our purpose is — to expose students to new ideas.” Previous Common Experience featured speakers have included Spike Lee, Maya Angelou, Isabel Allende and Edward James Olmos. Wuestenberg said people who attend the event should be able to learn about

Today’s Weather

Cloudy 92˚

Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 61% UV: 9 Very High Wind: ENE 9 mph

Two-day Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy Temp: 91°/ 67° Precip: 20%

Saturday Sunny Temp: 90°/ 68° Precip: 20%

“E

ven though she was one person, she knew the resources to go to to help eliminate this problem and garner attention for how important this issue is.”

—Florine Oyakhire psychology senior and forums coordinator for SACA

the power of the individual. “Here was a woman that was not necessarily powerful,” she said. “(She was) someone who noticed something and followed her instinct, and discov-

ered all this and researched it and made a huge diﬀerence in the world.” Wuestenberg tried to put BrockovichEllis’ experience into perspective for the Texas State and San Marcos community. “Imagine if somebody had been allowed to pollute (the San Marcos River)?” she asked. “What would we miss? And I think that’s why this thing is so important to all of us. We need to learn to be caretakers.” Florine Oyakhire, psychology senior and forums coordinator for Student Association for Campus Activities, said she admires BrockovichEllis’ determination. “Even though she was one person, she knew the resources to go to to help eliminate this problem and garner attention for how important this issue is,” Oyakhire said. The story of Brockovich-Ellis was made famous in the 2000 ﬁlm Erin Brockvich.

Actress Julia Roberts portrayed Brockovich in the film, which was nominated for several Academy Awards. Roberts won the award for Best Actress. The film made the real life Brockovich-Ellis a part of popular culture. “Her story was important to the people of California, but after the movie, the story was important to the U.S,” Wuestenberg said. “She has certainly gained name recognition through the movie.” The film will be shown 7 p.m. Monday at the LBJ Teaching Theater. The event is free and open to the public. On her Web site, Brockovich-Ellis writes: “From the exposure of the movie, I became a reluctant public figure. Over time, I realized I could use my notoriety to spread positive messages of personal empowerment and for me to encourage people to stand up and make a difference.”

Inside News ........ 1,2,3,4 Opinions ............ 5 Trends .......... 6,7,8

Texas State University-San Marcos is a member of the Texas State University System

Diversions .......... 9 Classiﬁeds ....... 10 Sports ......... 11,12

PAGETWO

starsof texas state Advertising seniors Jessica Worrell and Antonio Banos and communication design senior Lyle Jenks with faculty adviser Jody Gibson — received third place in the Yellow Pages Association (YPA) 2nd Annual Collegiate Creative Competition. The Yellow Pages design com-

Today in Brief

Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Page 2

petition asked college students pursuing an education in advertising, marketing, graphic design or a related ﬁeld to create an advertisement. — Courtesy of Young & Associates

News Contact — Nick Georgiou, starnews@txstate.edu Texas State University-San Marcos is a member of the Texas State University System

Correction

University Police Department

Calendar THURSDAY The Catholic Student Organization will meet at 6 p.m. in the library of the CSC. The Rock — Praise and Worship will be 7:30 p.m. in the St. Jude Chapel of the CSC. The Catholic Student Center will have “Coffee and a Concert,” a contemporary Christian concert in a coffeehouse setting, at 8 p.m. Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship will hold its weekly meeting 8:30 p.m. in Old Main, Room 320. There will be contemporary worship, relevant teaching, prayer and plenty of fun. Everyone is welcome to attend. A Study Abroad Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the ASB Breezeway. Representatives of different programs will be providing information to those interested in studying, working and traveling abroad. For more information contact the Office of Study Abroad Programs at (512) 245-1967. Women’s Personal Growth Group will meet from noon to 1:30 p.m. For information and screening on groups, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208. FRIDAY Alcoholics Anonymous meeting will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the LBJSC, Room 3.4. Alcoholics Anonymous Newcomer’s Meeting, River Group, will be 9:15 p.m. at 1700 Ranch Rd. 12, Suite C. SATURDAY Texas State volleyball will play Texas-Arlington at 2 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum. MONDAY Sexual Assault and Abuse Survivors Group, a program of the

CRIME BL TTER

Water Wars

In The University Star June 13 issue, the article “From here to Corpus” contains quotes and paraphrased accounts of the Texas Water Safari attributed to Connie Uliasz. This information should have been attributed to the Web site www.race. fit2paddle.com/C1347930755/ E20060505163820/index.html. The Star regrets this error and had no intention of misrepresenting this information. You can help The Star maintain its ethical standards by e-mailing misrepresented and erroneous information to stareditor@txstate.edu.

Bridgette Cyr/Star photo Sean McCourt (left), undecided freshman, waits with Jonathan Gates, ﬁnance freshman, for the next battle during a water balloon war Wednesday afternoon at Sewell Park. The water balloon war was hosted by Brogdon and Beretta resident assistants.

Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center for Texas State Students will meet from 5 to 6:15 p.m. For information and screening on groups, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208. TUESDAY The CSC will have a free lunch for all students from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CSC lobby. There will be a presentation by the Baylor Law School Admissions Oﬃce 5 p.m. in McCoy Hall, Room 119. For more information e-mail as44@txstate.edu. Every Nation Campus Ministries will be holding a weekly campus meeting at 7 p.m. in Centennial Hall, Room G-02. There will be free food, fellowship and a message exploring the person of Jesus. Overeaters Anonymous will meet at 12:30 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church, 130 W. Holland. For more information call Lynn, (512) 357-2049. There will be a one-hour orientation and training session to present how to use the emWave PC biofeedback program to reduce the eﬀects of stress. Orientation is open to university community. Sessions will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in LBJSC, Room 3-11.1. GLBQ Pride Group meeting will be held from noon until 1:30 p.m. For information and screening on groups, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208. Facing the Fear — An Anxiety/Panic Group will meet from 3:30 to 5 p.m. For information and screening on groups, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208. Anger Management: Your Plan for Real-Life Coping will be held from 5:10 to 6:25 p.m. For information and screening on groups, call the Counseling Center at (512) 245-2208.

Nutrition Beat

Health-conscious decisions do not have to mean tasteless ones A salad is a great way to eat something healthy, light and filling. There are some extra calories hidden between the lettuce leaves of a salad that students could be missing. Here are some great tips for a better and healthier salad that will fill a student up and help ward off those extra pounds: •Ask for the dressing on the side and dip the tip of the fork for a little flavor. •Skip the extras such as bacon, cheese and croutons. They might be little, but they pack a

lot of calories. •Instead of a fried chicken breast or ham, opt for a grilled chicken breast and sliced turkey. •Add on more of your favorite veggies, such as carrots, cucumber, spinach and tomatoes that are lower in calories and higher in nutrient value. •Ask for fat-free or low-fat dressing options if possible. A person can use lemon juice to liven up a salad without dressing. •Add some egg whites or a bean salad for some ﬁlling protein.

•At the salad bar, it would be best to avoid items such as fried onions, rice noodles or overloading on nuts and seeds. These will add a lot of calories in no time. •Just remember to eat dark leafy greens and bright orange veggies for greater nutrient value. •Have fun with the salad, and it can still be kept low in calories and delicious at the same time.

Sept. 23, 8:42 p.m. Drug: Possession of a Controlled Substance Group 1/ Medical Emergency/Blanco Hall An officer was dispatched for a medical emergency. Upon further investigation, a student was unresponsive and transported by EMS to Central Texas Medical Center for further evaluation. This case is under investigation. Sept. 24, 12:11 p.m. Criminal Mischief – under $500/Comanche Hills Apartments Parking Lot An officer was dispatched for a report from a student who said his vehicle was damaged while it was parked. This case is under investigation. Sept. 24, 2:39 p.m. Failure to Comply/Striking Roadway Fixtures/Bobcat Village An officer was dispatched for a report of property damage. A non-student reported damage to the property. This case is under investigation.

— Courtesy of the Student Nutrition Organization

Sept. 24, 3:53 p.m. Medical Emergency/Chemistry Breezeway An oﬃcer was dispatched for a medical emergency. A student reported feeling dizzy, was evaluated by EMS and refused transport to CTMC.

Hear books previously banned, challenged read aloud

Sept. 24, 4 p.m. Medical Emergency/Chemistry Building An oﬃcer was dispatched for a medical emergency. A student reported falling down and cutting his hand. He was treated by EMS and transported to CTMC for further evaluation.

Library Beat

What do Maya Angelou, Judy Blume, Stephen King, J. K. Rowling and Mark Twain have in common (besides being enormously successful and respected authors)? At some time, their books have all been challenged or banned from shelves in bookstores and libraries in the U.S. From noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, the Alkek Library invites the campus to participate in a Banned Books Week Reading in the breezeway in front of the library. The reading commemorates Banned Books Week (Saturday through Oct. 6), and students, faculty and staﬀ are encouraged to join librarians to read aloud passages from their favorite banned and challenged books. An exhibit showcasing a selection of the many books that have been banned or challenged in the U.S. will be on the 2nd ﬂoor of the library. According to the American Library Association, “more than a book a day faces removal from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries. During Banned Books Week, thousands of libraries and bookstores across the country will celebrate

a democratic society’s most basic freedom — the freedom to read.” Topping the association’s list of “Most Challenged Books of 2006 are: And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher and Beloved and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. These books join thousands of others that have been banned or challenged over the years, including classics such as Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Native Son, by Richard Wright and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Please take a moment Tuesday to stop by the library and hear some of these works read aloud. Or better yet, check one out and stand up to read from it yourself. For more information about the reading contact Selene Hinojosa at gh14@txstate.edu. To learn more about Banned Books Week, visit www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek. — Courtesy of Alkek Library

Sept. 24, 4:40 p.m. Medical Emergency/Chemistry Building An oﬃcer was dispatched for a medical emergency. A student reported her hand was punctured by a broken glass tube. She was evaluated by EMS and transported to CTMC for further evaluation. Sept. 27, 7:06 p.m. Drug: Possession of Marijuana/Tower Hall Two oﬃcers were dispatched for a suspicious odor report. Upon further investigation, a student was arrested for POM and transported to Hays County Law Enforcement Center to await magistration.

NEWS

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Teachers learn new tricks By Ryan Seater Special to The University Star Teachers will come together to address new ways to connect with their students during the 10th Annual Teachers Conference Saturday at the LBJ Student Center. The event, held in conjunction with the Central Texas Writing Project and the Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading, will focus on sharing new ways to integrate technology into reading instruction. “Our intention is to give experienced teachers (and those who hope to be teachers) a chance to share new, creative and practical lessons that integrate technology into literacy instruction,” said Alina Adonyi, Central Texas Writing Project associate director of conferences and educational technology graduate student, in an e-mail. Workshops will be given on Web logging with students in grades K-12, as well as digital storytelling, methods of literacy integration and social action through multimedia and technology. “Social action sessions at this conference aim to model examples of how literacy and technology allow students to participate in society, stand up for their rights and intelligently challenge the causes of inequality in their lives,” Adonyi said.

Many books have been written on the subject of technological integration in the classroom, and the U.S. Department of Education has allotted $15 million for ongoing research. “When teachers integrate technology in reading and writing lessons, they reach kids on their digital level and are able to help (students) make sense of their worlds using the tools they’re already comfortable with,” Adonyi said. “As teachers use technology, they become more eﬀective, more responsive and more relevant because they speak the students’ language.” Adonyi said this focus reﬂects the changes needed in the modern classroom, and the emerging role of teachers. “Teaching kids to read a textbook and memorize historical events and dates leaves little room for critical or creative thought,” Adonyi said. “Methods of the past rarely capture kids’ attention, almost never motivate them to solve real-world problems and usually don’t require interaction, dialogue or choice. Teachers have a responsibility to tap into the amazing technological tools and multi-media resources available.” Speakers at the conference will include Donald H. Graves, professor emeritus of the University of New Hampshire and author of

Writing: Teachers & Children at Work and A Fresh Look at Writing; Joe Lambert, founding director of the Center for Digital Storytelling, a non-proﬁt organization devoted to assisting people in using digital media to tell meaningful stories from their lives; and David Rice, winner of the American Library Association’s “Best Books for Young Readers 2001” award, author of Give the Pig a Chance and Crazy Loco and Other Stories, Texas State alumnus and former journalist for The University Star. “I love my school,” Rice said. “When I went to college I had great professors, and all I am doing is telling people what they taught me — with experience applied. It reaﬃrms what good faculty we have. When I go to Texas State, or any other university — Yale, Stanford, A&M — I am telling them what the faculty told me at Texas State.” Rice said his aim is not necessarily directed to teaching, but in revealing talent teachers already possess. “A lot of teachers have amazing skills,” Rice said. “I focus on bringing the writer out of them. The byproduct is that you will be a better teacher.” Information about the conference has been sent to school districts statewide. Texas State students are encouraged to attend.

Computer program measures brainwave stress patterns

Jon Clark/Star photo STRESS TEST: Greg Snodgrass, Counseling Center assistant vice president, places a heart rate monitoring device on Dilara Venus, public relations senior, Wednesday in the LBJ Student Center.

By Stephanie Kusy-Wilson News Reporter With the fall semester well underway, it can be difficult to find a balance between school, work and a social life. Stress can drain students physically, mentally and emotionally to the point where concentrating on priorities is an impossible task. A new program sponsored by the Counseling Center called “Body Talk” now offers students a possible solution to dealing with everyday stress. A biofeedback program, emWave PC, helps people understand stress reduction and emotional management skills by learning to change their heart rhythm pattern through relaxation techniques and creating physiological coherence in the body, according to the company’s Web site. Achieving coherence is where all the systems of the body are working together in harmony, which creates control. This is accomplished by placing a measuring device around the finger and using a heart rhythm monitor that measures patterns the

heart produces. The heart rate variability can be smooth or erratic depending on the student. Stress and anxiety cause the pattern to be disordered. Positive emotions such as love and appreciation cause a smooth and rhythmic synchronization, according to an article from the HeartMath Research Center. Once coherence is obtained, a person can overcome emotional hijacking and allow one to “listen to their heart,” said Greg Snodgrass, assistant vice president and director of the Counseling Center. Snodgrass said many students who used the program found it very helpful. He said students see stress as the number one impairment to academic performance. Sebastian Reeve, communication design senior, said he believes biofeedback works. “Everything that happens in your mind has biological responses,” Reeve said. “(The program) shows you how to react to stress.” The makers of emWave PC, which is based on more than 16 years of research, claim the program will help lead to reduced stress, better memory and clearer

decision making, according to the Web site. “You begin to learn how to improve your coherent state,” Snodgrass said. “We teach you how to bring your heart and brain together and generate positive emotions.” The emWave PC program offers four challenge levels to help students sharpen their level of coherence. It further allows students to save their heart rate variability readings, so they can track their progress and review it over time. Stations are set up in the Counseling Center for students who are interested in using the program. Students must first attend a one-hour session, which is held throughout the semester, before using emWave PC on their own. The Counseling Center is presenting other events to help students combat stress. The Destress Fest will offer activities such as massages and yoga for students to help relieve tension. There will also be a five-part series workshop addressing problems college students often face. “It’s an interesting way to learn more about yourself and the way you handle stress,” Reeve said.

The University Star - Page 3

Forensic lab, body farm finds home in Florida

Ronna Gradus/Miami Herald/MCT NO BONES ABOUT IT: Heather Walsh-Haney, far right, a forensic anthropologist, teaches during a human osteology class at Florida Gulf Coast University Aug. 27 in Fort Myers, Fla.

By Audra D.S. Burch McClatchy Newspapers FORT MYERS, Fla. — Heather Walsh-Haney bursts through the door and hurries past the long table where the skeleton of a man who was once a professor lies, past the rows of human skulls, the candles and the old leather-bound books until she stops and takes a breath. “It smells a little like decomposition in here,” says WalshHaney, a forensic anthropologist who hopes to open Florida’s ﬁrst body farm. “Sweet and musty, don’t you think?” At 39, she already spends most of her days working among the dead, mining bones for what they reveal about life stories and crimes, mysteries and clues. Her ability to divine answers to the primal questions of “Who was this person?” and “When did he or she die?” has taken her from the broken ground of New York after Sept. 11 to New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina pushed bodies from their rightful burial sites. And she travels throughout Florida, investigating whether the skulls found in cauldrons have been acquired legally for use in religious ceremonies. Hers is a relentless and complicated postmortem business. Between helping police and medical examiners throughout the state — and teaching at Florida Gulf Coast University — Walsh-Haney works to advance the ﬁeld of forensics. Along with the university, she said she hopes to establish an outdoor research facility in

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which donated corpses are allowed to lie out on the open ground while forensic anthropologists and criminologists study the mechanics of decomposition. “Every body has a different story to tell. Reading bones tells us something about how we live,” Walsh-Haney said. “We are all unique, and the life processes, the food that we eat, the environment that we’re in mark our bones in certain ways.” There are only two body farms in the country, the more famous one run by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, which over the years has held a fast, morbid grip on pop culture. The second body farm is at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. Its most fascinating details inspired crime novelist Patricia Cornwell’s The Body Farm in 1994. More recently, the television series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “The Dead Zone” co-opted deliciously grim scenarios from the farm. Now, in the Lee County (Fla.) Medical Examiner’s Office, Walsh-Haney talks breathlessly about converting four or five acres of cow and sod pasture in Port Charlotte into the nation’s third body farm. “In Florida, with everything being perfect — the weather not being too hot, it’s not too shady, there are just enough insects, it’s not too rainy — we can have a skeleton in one week,” said Walsh-Haney, who consulted on a “CSI: Miami” episode last year. “... That kind of time frame makes it urgent that we study

how the body decomposes. It would go a long way in our eﬀorts to determine time of death.” In March, Walsh-Haney was among the ﬁrst investigators to arrive at a wooded Fort Myers lot thick with leaves, branches and the bones of eight men. Given the task of determining who the men were and how they lived and died, she painstakingly retrieved almost 1,600 bones. Within days of spending time with the bones, Walsh-Haney was before a bank of microphones, describing what she knew for sure: The eight men ranged from 18 to 49 years old. They were white, and one may have been Hispanic. “There are trends that we can read in the skeleton that can tell us that a pelvis is male, and the cranium is male versus a female,” Walsh-Haney said. “We can also look at the nose structure, palate structure that can tell us ancestry and racial groups.” Florida’s proposed body farm would be attached to a $100 million, 3,000-acre Homeland Security training complex scheduled to break ground early next year. The facility, called The Grove and set up like a university campus, is designed to train military personnel and emergency responders. It would include gun ranges, tunnels, a lake and caves, said director Stephen Alexander. Alexander said The Grove would donate the land and help pay for the body farm’s structures and equipment. WalshHaney said she must raise about $40,000 to start the project.

NEWS

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The University Star - Page 4

Bush asks Congress for billions more for Iraq By Renee Schoof McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The Bush administration asked Congress Wednesday for $42 billion more next year for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an increase that would raise spending on the wars to $189 billion in 2008 — and to more than $600 billion for Iraq alone since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. War spending would be higher in 2008 than any year since the Iraq war began in March 2003. The Iraq war’s total cost is approaching that of the 1964-73 Vietnam War’s estimated total of $518 billion, in 2007 dollars. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the total for Iraq did not include indirect costs such as veterans’ care or the ultimate costs of longterm involvement, which the

Congressional Budget Office has said could exceed $2 trillion. “That’s quite a burden this President is leaving to our grandchildren,” Byrd said at a hearing at which top administration officials made their case for more money. Byrd, who’s opposed the war from the beginning, wants Congress to restrict war funding as a way to wind down U.S. involvement there. “This committee will not — N-O-T — rubber-stamp every request submitted by the president,” Byrd said. However, many members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, fear cutting off money for the war would be the wrong way to change course because American troops might be denied the supplies and protection they need. There is strong support in Congress, for example, for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles,

which greatly increase the chances of soldiers surviving huge blasts from improvised explosives. More than a quarter of the $42 billion request — $11 billion — would pay for 7,000 more protected vehicles. The war so far has cost the lives of 3,801 Americans, and more than 27,000 have been wounded, while many thousands of Iraqi civilians and government security forces have been killed. The Pentagon estimated in 2002 that the Iraq war would cost $50 billion, though the president’s then-economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, estimated that costs could run as high as $200 billion. White House ofﬁcials called Lindsey’s estimate “premature,” and he left the administration later that year. Bush requested $141.7 billion in February for the Iraq and Afghan wars in ﬁscal year 2008, which begins Monday. In July he requested $5.3 billion more

SAGEWOOD: Gunshots residents’ newest concern CONTINUED from page 1

at last week’s City Council meeting to try and ﬁnd a long-term solution to the problem. One of the recommendations was a rental property permitting system that would hold landlords more accountable for their tenants. “This plan would ensure the health and safety of the rental occupants and ensure minimum standards and equitable enforcement of the rental structures,” Bell said during the City Council meeting. The most serious complaint made by residents in recent weeks concerned gunshots

fired at Sagewood Circle. A city official said a target was found that appeared to have been shot by an air rifle and a .22 caliber rifle. Many of the complaints have not originated from Sagewood Circle residents, but from the adjacent neighborhoods. Sagewood Circle consists of about 100 duplexes, many of which are rented by students. Many say the problem lies in the zoning of the neighborhood. Sagewood is a multi-zoned complex that is located in the middle of a singlefamily neighborhood. While many of the Sagewood residents are students, city and university officials are saying it is

not a student problem. “Whatever the problem on this street is, two thirds of it is not students, and it’s just not fair to suggest that the only trouble makers in this town are students,” Trauth said. Alexis Dabney, ASG vice president, echoed Trauth’s sentiments, but said some students living on Sagewood may be acting inappropriately. “We’re trying to go about this in the right way because … it’s not directly a student problem, but there have been issues (with some) students not acting how they should,” Dabney said. “It’s going to be a dialogue on all sides.”

FACULTY: Policy affects all employees CONTINUED from page 1

mance-altering substances. “Our problem with 3.03 is it goes as far as food allergies,” Stone said. “Truth be known about 3.03, it probably would be best to disappear.” Faculty Sen. Shirley Ogletree, psychology professor, asked why drug testing was necessary even for employees not doing their job properly.

“The common sense approach is if you have a problem with an employee you just deal with it,” Ogletree said. John McBride, director of human resources, said the university could be liable if someone was injured in a drug-related incident while on the job. “This day and age we live in it’s either you should have known, or did know and should have done something about it,” McBride said. McGee said he disagreed, say-

ing the university is protected from lawsuits on many levels. “A successful lawsuit on the university is almost unheard of,” McGee said. “We might have a moral and ethical liability, but no legal liability.” McBride said the statement would continue to be worked on and he was open to suggestions. “We must get together and work out diﬀerences,” McBride said. “All UPPS go through this. The collegiality is what makes us a university.”

for MRAPs. The $42 billion he sought Wednesday brings the 2008 request to $189 billion. Byrd said Iraq’s costs alone would exceed $600 billion if this request were approved. In a report this month, Steven M. Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a research group, said the Iraq war’s cost would “almost certainly surpass the cost of the Vietnam War by the end of next year.” He estimated Vietnam cost the U.S. $518 billion in inﬂation-adjusted dollars. Byrd asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates what President Bush meant when he said the U.S. might be involved in Iraq for 50 years, just as it had remained in South Korea for ﬁve decades after the end of hostilities there. Gates said Bush was referring to a long-term agreement worked out with the Iraqis that would involve only a “small fraction” of the

number of American forces there today. The length of the commitment would depend on how the Iraqi government develops and on conditions in the Middle East, Gates said. “The purpose of that kind of

longer-term presence would be to continue the ﬁght against alQaida, prevent foreign intervention, and train and equip Iraqi forces,” Gates said. “It would be a very diﬀerent kind of mission than our troops have today.”

Courtesy of MCT

DIVERSITY: Number of programs increases CONTINUED from page 1

State reaches 25 percent, the university will be labeled a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and will receive an increase in federal funds. “It provides a great deal of support from the federal government,” said Gilda Garcia, director of the Office of Equity and Access. “It opens opportunities for grants on campus.” The stated mission of the Office of Equity and Access is to “keep Texas State building toward a quality, diverse community reflective of our constituents … ” Garcia said it is important for a university to reflect the demographics of its surrounding area because it forms a bond between the school and the town it’s located in. “(HSI status) provides a way to acknowledge the community we’re serving,” she said. “Texas State makes a focused effort to reflect the community we serve.” The university is approximately 3 percent short of reaching the 25 percent goal. University President Denise Trauth said in her Fall Convocation speech Texas State is predicted to reach Hispanic Serving Institution status by 2012. But whereas the university receives benefits for enrolling

Hispanic students, the same cannot be said for reaching a certain percentage of black students on campus. Black enrollment did increase 3.3 percent from last year, but because the overall Texas State population increased, the percentage of blacks remained the same. Heintze said the black population is not growing as quickly as the administration would like. “It’s not that we’ve failed in that area, we just didn’t grow as quickly as we did with the Hispanic students where it’s (a 6 percent increase from last year),” Heintze told the University Council Thursday. “So what we need to do is try to get that percent change up around to the ﬁve, six percent level.” There are countless programs at the university, local, state and national levels that aim to help minority students pursue a higher education. One of those programs is Upward Bound, created by the U.S. Department of Education and sponsored by Texas State. The program typically involves the recruitment of students from low-income families who are mentored by Upward Bound volunteers. Pedro Hernández, criminal justice senior, said he has noticed the eﬀort of some of these organizations that help

the latest STRAIGHT TO YOU the university star

minority students. “I feel like there are more resources available for us,” he said. “First generation students have counseling available for monetary or educational (purposes).” According to the equity and access office Web site, it is the job of the Diversity Task Force to “create a system of oversight, assessment and accountability to ensure that the goal of greater diversity is achieved.” One of the force’s eight goals includes enhancing the recruitment of black and Hispanic students. Texas State does not have the same recruitment power as the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. Provost Perry Moore said at the recent University Council meeting Texas State has five recruitment officers roaming the state, while A&M has 40 and Tech has 20. In an effort to increase minority student awareness of Texas State, the university has organized bus trips to campus from Houston and from the valley. Reginald Toussant, public relations senior, said Texas State should reach out to smaller, less predictable locations. “(They) should keep recruiting in areas that aren’t as typical,” Toussant said. “Step outside of the box.”

OPINIONS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

onlineconnection The University Star is in the process of creating a new Web site. Check out www.UniversityStar.com in the following weeks for continued News, Sports, Trends and Opinions coverage.

Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Page 5

Opinions Contact — Bill Rix, staropinion@txstate.edu

THE MAIN POINT

he Texas Constitution has the distinction of being one of the longest state constitutions in the country. When the state legislature convenes every two years, amendments are proposed and voters decide what changes should be made, making the lengthy document even longer.This year there are 12 propositions to amend the state constitution, which voters will decide on Nov. 6. Most of the amendments will potentially have a significant impression on Texas citizens. Proposition 2 would add an amendment allowing $500 million in general obligations bonds to fund student loans, while Proposition 15 would create and fund a cancer research institute. Proposition 11 would require the legislature to take a record vote on the final passage of any bill and have it posted on the Internet in a timely manner for constituents to see how their representative voted. But, there are items such as Proposition 10, which eliminates the Office of Inspector of Hides and Animals. The holder of this office is in charge of inspecting hides and animals for sale and slaughter. Very few people held the office in the ’90s, if any, according to the Texas Legislative Council analyses of amendments. In fact, the powers were stripped from the office by the legislature in 2003. To remove it from the record, it has to pass a statewide vote. The proposition reveals the antiquity of the Texas Constitution and how inefficient it has become to make changes. The legislature is doing its job by attempting to update the constitution to meet the current needs of Texas citizens. It is good people are allowed to exercise democracy and vote on what they believe should be changed or added to the constitution. The problem is when insignificant changes have to be made to the document, it wastes time and energy legislators could be using toward more pressing issues. Many of the proposed amendments would serve best as state statutes. The legislative session is short enough, which is another quandary, and the current state constitution only hinders the process. The last time the legislature proposed to rewrite the state constitution was in 1999, and it failed then as it had 20 years before. Creating a new document will take time and difficult decisions will have to be made. Voters will have to decide if whatever changes made are for the good of the state. Find your legislator at www.capitol. state.tx.us, write to them and insist on another constitutional convention. Time and money should no longer be wasted on proposed amendments that have no real effect on Texas.

AN INCONVENIENT

TEXAS

The Main Point is the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. Columns are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reﬂect the opinions of the full staff, Texas State University-San Marcos Student Media, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or Texas State UniversitySan Marcos.

Claude Dylan Ramey/Star illustration

LEGAL GUY: Getting out of college the Texas way is more complicated than ever There have been articles in one sentence in particular, college newspapers throughout located in Section 51.907(d) of the state concerning Senate the Education Code of Texas: Bill 1231 and what it means, if “An institution of higher educaanything, to students. There tion may not permit a student has even been an article in The to drop more than six courses, University Star describing how including any course a transfer faculty senate discussed the student has dropped at another CARSON GUY ramifications of the bill, but the institution of higher educaStar Columnist question remains: What is it, tion…” exactly? And more importantly, how will This law forbids a school from allowit affect students? ing a student to drop more than six First and foremost, a little research courses unless “good cause” can be on what the legislature has enacted shown. Good cause — as defined in the in the past reveals this law is simply law — is one of the few exceptions in another step in the battle to curb what which a school can allow a student to the legislature seems to think is unwardrop more than six courses. Reason ranted student spending. One of the first enough to be able to drop more than six actions taken by the Texas legislature courses include: service in the National was to introduce a bill capping the numGuard or U.S. military, death of a perber of hours a student was allowed to son close enough to the student in questake before the school could choose to tion to explain their inability to finish charge or not to charge the student outthe course and if the student in question of-state tuition. This is even the same if is caring for a sick or disabled person. students qualify for in-state tuition rates. Obviously these reasons account for Once again discretion to charge out-ofemergencies but not for students who state tuition rested with the university may want to continue exploring their and was not dictated by the state. options. With the new law there are quite a In the end, if a student needs to drop few clauses, stipulations and exceptions more than six courses — or 18 hours in the law as in most others. However, out of a usual 120 — which is admittedly the meat of this debate is focused on quite a few, then Texas State will have

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the discretion to decide which students will or will not be allowed to drop a seventh class unless the student falls in one of the explicit situations. Some people have asked what exactly the penalties are for dropping a seventh course. The answer is Texas State is forbidden from allowing a student to drop their seventh class. There is no punishment to be given to a student dropping a seventh class because it will not be allowed at all. That means the student would have to ﬁnish out the class with a failing grade, try to pass the class, or completely withdraw from the university in order to comply with the new law. With all of the new laws being passed seemingly every session encouraging and sometimes forcing students to expedite their academic stay, the business of getting a college degree has fallen more and more under the auspice of the state legislature. Because all of the changes in the law, it is more important than ever for students to stay up to date on them. If students knew they are limited at all in the number of class they can drop, then they would be much more careful about the classes in which they enroll. Although most students should hopefully be able to plan around the new law, the questions it raises are troubling.

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How much money is the state of Texas losing because of students dropping classes? Is the state of Texas losing enough money to warrant this much legislation limiting a student’s ability to explore their options? How does the amount of money being spent by students compare to the amount of money Texas spends on other projects? Should the watchful eye of the Texas legislature be spending their time keeping students from dropping classes or are there other more important issues to deal with? What do you think?

Carson Guy is a political science senior. His column tackles legal quandaries. E-mail questions to Guy at staropinion@txstate.edu. The content and opinions contained herein are in no way meant as legal advice. All information is general in nature. Do not rely on information within this article when trying to resolve a speciﬁc legal issue. All situations are unique and require speciﬁc legal advice from competent counsel.

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Speaking for the silenced By Sabrina Jennings Star Columnist

“Behold the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord ... you have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure ... you have condemned and put to death the righteous man.” -James 5:4-6 Behold the pay of the custodians who clean your hallways and refill your toilet paper. Their rightful pay has been withheld. The just wage workers deserve has not been given. And they cry out against us and their cries reach the ears of the Lord. Custodians earn between $1,440 and $2,372 a month, according to Texas State Human Resources. This is before taxes and insurance deductions are taken out. This wage is not enough to care for a family and to have decent housing, medical care and clothing. Although the university does provide insurance benefits to workers, this does not cover everything, and the co-pay for medical care can often be more than a custodian can afford. The minimum wage was raised this year, the first time in a decade, from $5.15 to $5.85. Despite this raise, the new minimum wage stands 7 percent below where it was a decade ago in real terms according to United for a Fair Economy. So, accounting for the rising costs of food, housing and other living expenses, the new minimum wage will get you less now than the minimum wage in 1996. The lowest paid Texas State employees, such as custodians and dining hall workers, do earn more than the minimum wage, but even at that level, making ends meet is extremely difficult and many live below what most would consider a decent standard of living. Most of us have a disposable income, even as “poor college students” who have to eat ramen noodles five times a week. We have computers and Internet access readily available and coffee shops where we spend $7 for a drink. We’ll buy a plain white t-shirt with the words “Abercrombie and Fitch” on it for $30. Most students can get the medical care and prescriptions they need and many have money left over for the drugs they do not need. Meanwhile, the people who pick up our trash and clean our toilets cannot afford the new pair of shoes they need to relieve them of foot and back pain. They often have to find more employment and do odd jobs such as yard work and babysitting to make ends meet for their families. We need to listen to their voices. We are not in charge of setting their pay, but we have power to help them and work with them to bring about change. We can work with them by listening to their concerns and adding our voice to those who are pressing for change. If we do not do the good that is in our power, we are in the wrong. If we turn a deaf ear to those in need or if we grow apathetic over the pressing issues hurting our neighbors, we in turn hurt ourselves. These problems are more than statistics and politics. These are their lives and by ignoring the problems we allow them to continue hurting while they serve us.

✯ The University Star is the student newspaper of Texas State University-San Marcos published Tuesday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. It is distributed on campus and throughout San Marcos at 8 a.m. every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a distribution of 8,000. Printing and distribution is by the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Copyright September 27, 2007. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The University Star are the exclusive property of The University Star and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the editor in chief.

TRENDS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

underwhere? Wood Apparel will present its fall fashion show and Undies Only after party 9 p.m. Friday. Bedroom attire is a must-have for those looking to participate in the fashion event. The store features several local designers. Area bands L.A.X and DJ Spi Hop will perform. For more information, visit the store at 119 E. Hopkins.

Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Page 6

Trends Contact — Clara Cobb, starentertainment@txstate.edu

Writing contest gives Texas State students chance to get published By Cheryl Jones Features Reporter New York’s Dorchester Publishing, most notably recognized for its romance novels, is hosting its ﬁrst-ever ﬁction-writing contest. Writers age 18 and older can apply. The winner will have the work published and mass-marketed to stores nationwide in early-to-mid 2009. The Shomi Fiction Creative Writing Contest will continue until April 30, 2008, and is open to men and women. The contest has story line restrictions: the story should feature a dominant female character who develops through a relationship. “Shomi heroines are independent, strong-willed women that do not feel those characteristics are mutually exclusive from femininity. I think they will have great appeal to today’s woman who has a broad range of interests,” said Erin Galloway, the marketing and publicity coordinator for Dorchester Publishing. The contest is meant to shed light on feminine power, but for Kailynn Powell, English freshman, it seems a bit selective. “If it were something to do with African heritage or something to honor women’s rights I might do it, but I wouldn’t do it if it was primarily sex based,” Powell said. Dorchester is one of the oldest independent mass-market publishers in

North America and has published New York Times bestselling authors, Nina Bangs, Cassie Edwards and Christine Feehan, according to the company’s Web site. There are many opportunities at Texas State to get published, but to many student writers it can be difﬁcult to be taken seriously or even read when it comes to ﬁction, said John Blair, English professor. “I’d likely recommend it to my students, though before I did, I’d spend some time on Google and make a few calls to make absolutely certain that there’s no underbelly that I’m not aware of,” he said. Elizabeth Delgado, English sophomore, said she believes this contest may be a good opportunity. “I think this contest is a good idea because I don’t think there’s enough women-focused things,” she said. “I don’t necessarily like that the female has to go through a relationship, though, because I strongly believe women can be independent,” For those interested in applying can visit Dorchester’s Web site at www.dorchesterpub.com. “This contest is a great opportunity for young authors who have fresh, exciting stories because it is a guaranteed contract,” Galloway said. “Hopefully winning this contest would just be the beginning of their publishing career.”

97 YEARS

12 hours

Reels fly as participants rush to make movies for Film Racing 2007 Tour By Hayley Kappes Assistant Trends Editor

Amateur filmmakers in the Austin area will be given the chance to participate in the Film Racing 2007 Tour, vying for cash prizes and the chance to compete with other films across the country Saturday. Charlie Weisman, competition director for the film race, said this is a rare opportunity for rookie filmmakers to display their talent. “We wanted to run something where people didn’t need a lot of money to get their film shown in a theater,” Weisman said. He said he is a co-founder of NYC Midnight, a group aiming to discover untapped filmmaking talent through various competitions. The competitions have been held exclusively in New York City since 2002. This year, the group decided to travel across the U.S. in search of the newest talent in filmmaking. “We’ve been in New York for so long and really wanted to branch into other markets,” he said. “We were curious about the kind of work that’s coming outside of the New York area.” The group sponsors the Midnight Run Competition, which gives participants 24 hours to complete a short film. Weisman said he wanted to challenge the film competitors. “We’ve been doing the 24-hour film competition for so long that people were having an easy time with it,” he said. “We wanted to amp up the challenge a little by giving them only 12 hours to complete a short film.” Filmmakers have from noon until midnight to complete a short film. The films may be no longer than four minutes. Anyone is welcome to join the competition with an acting and production team. There is no limit on the number of members a team may have. At the beginning of the film race, each team receives an e-mail with a surprise element and theme that must be included in the film. “Last week we were in Atlanta where the theme was a lie and the surprise element was brushing teeth,” Weisman said. “The movie had to be about a lie and someone in the film had to be brushing their teeth.” Jarrod Mejia, Southwest Texas State University alumnus, plans on participating in the

competition this Saturday. He co-founded Photophoric Studios with alumnus Gabriel Redondo. Their company, based in Cedar Park, a city near Austin, creates animated training videos and short films for different groups and corporations. Mejia said this competition is out of the norm for his team. “By competing in a race of this magnitude, it allows Photophoric Studios to foster new relationships with different crew members and continuously improve the efficiency of our production processes,” he said. “Not to mention, it’s just a lot of fun.” Mejia, who studied marketing, said he became interested in the filmmaking process during college through his involvement in the Texas State chapter of Students in Free Enterprise. As a member of the organization, he had to create a 24-minute video, compiling the organizations achievements throughout the year. “We took on a challenge to compile this video and from that, Gabriel and I began our studio and dedicated ourselves to making interesting short films for a wide array of services,” he said. All films for the Austin competition will be screened to the public Oct. 4 at the Dobie Theater. The members of the winning team receive a package of film-editing software, $2,400 toward an online screenwriter’s program and the chance to compete for a cash prize against the winners from the other 12 cities participating in the competition. “The films are great. I think people are amazed at how creative they can get in 12 hours,” Weisman said. “We definitely want to keep expanding and add more U.S. and international cities.” Entries will be accepted for the Austin Film Racing Competition until midnight Friday. Weisman said he encourages any student team from Texas State to enter.

✯FYI For more information, visit www.filmracing.com.

Live music calendar THURSDAY Alligator Dave, time TBD, Lucy’s San Marcos Eric Hisaw, 6 p.m., Triple Crown Live Bret Graham, 7 p.m., Gruene Hall Roger Creager, 8 p.m., Gordo’s on The Square Texas Renegade, 8 p.m., Cheatham Street Warehouse Opposite Day, Wailing Walls and Invincible Czars, 9 p.m., Triple Crown

FRIDAY Highly Likely, 6 p.m., Triple Crown John Arthur Martinez, 7:30 p.m., Gruene Hall Ponty Bone, 8:30 p.m., Cheatham Street Warehouse Jesse Dayton, 9 p.m., Riley’s Tavern Aster, Clay Nightingale and Lonesome Heroes, 9 p.m., Triple Crown

SATURDAY *Funkotron EP Release Show, time TBD, Lucy’s Gary Claxton, Eric Hokkanen & Friends, 1 p.m., Gruene Hall Lisa Hayes, 8:30 p.m., Cheatham Street

Joel Hofmann Band, 9 p.m., Riley’s Tyrone Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, 9 p.m., Gruene Hall Green Mountain Grass and Kurt South, 10 p.m., Triple Crown

SUNDAY The Hudsons, 12:30 p.m., Sunday, Gruene Hall Rodney Hayden, 5 p.m., Sunday, Gruene Hall Scotty and the Metaphysics, 6 p.m., Sunday, Triple Crown Luckenbach Cultural Exchange, 8:30 p.m., Sunday, Cheatham Street Triple Tronica with John Dishon, 10 p.m., Sunday, Triple Crown * Indicates CD release party This information is complied from live music venue calendars and emails. If your event does not appear, please e-mail starentertainment@txstate. edu. The deadline for next week’s calendar is Oct.1. Music events must be within a 20-mile radius of the San Marcos campus.

TRENDS

Thusday, September 26, 2007

The University Star - Page 7

Dog day out

Local organization hosts day of fun for pets, good cause By Charlotte Almazan Senior Features Reporter Take a walk to San Marcos Plaza Park this Saturday and the odds of running into a chicken, horse, snake or goat are pretty high. Pet Prevent A Litter of Central Texas will present its sixth annual Pet Fest Saturday. The fundraising pet carnival is designed to celebrate responsible pet ownership and the bond pets have with their owners, said Sharri Boyett, director of the organization and event co-founder. “We are celebrating the roles pets play in our lives,” she said. “We are doing it in a fun environment, but the problem is very serious.” The day-long festival advocates for pet owners to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent and help solve the overpopulation of cats and dogs nationwide. “My special goal is to gain an increased membership and for people to commit to working with us,” Boyett said. “For every spayed and neutered animal, there are fewer cats and dogs that end up homeless and unwanted.” Jennifer Hayes, the festival’s contest coordinator, said the festival is fun and educational, but not preachy. The atmosphere gives pet lovers the chance to interact and show their appreciation for animals. Prospective pet owners have an opportunity to adopt at the event. “Even if you don’t have a pet, you can attend to enjoy other people’s pets,” Hayes said. Those interested must come with information, such as apartment pet policies. “Since you don’t have a pet, maybe you can leave with a pet,” she said. The festival will begin with a 5K run lead by Olympic gold medalist and San Marcos resident, Charles Austin. The 5K will be followed by a fun run for allages along the San Marcos River. Dogs will be allowed to participate in the runs with their owners. “This year, we are having the Chihuahua race for

or every spayed and “F neutered animal, there are fewer cats and dogs that end up homeless and unwanted.”

—Sharri Boyett director, Pet Prevent A Litter of Central Texas

the first time, and we are going to race the winning Dachshund and Chihuahua against each other,” Hayes said. For those interested in volunteering, local rescue groups and shelters will have booths on site to provide applications, brochures and multimedia information. The festival also features contests such as Best Pet Costume, Guardian and Pet Look-A-Like Contest and Best Wag. Winners will be announced at the end of each event. “Last year, a flying squirrel won the Most Unusual Pet Contest,” Hayes said. “ It actually jumped into one of the judges’ shirts. It was pretty funny.” Two new contests, Cutest Pet and Best Smile, have been added to the schedule and the addition of dog races will increase the competition. The photo contest features pictures of pets with shelter donation cups. The winner will be the animal whose photo receives the largest donation. “We started the photo contest last year as a way to involve cats, but this year it’s for the dogs,” Hayes said. “It’s kind of neat, because it’s totally publicdriven, and all the money goes to donations.” The festival’s raffles are also public-driven, because ticket holders choose the drawing for which they want to participate. Jennifer Williams/Star file photo “Instead of all the raffle tickets going into one FESTIVE FEET: Linda Johnson coaxes her two border collies, Jack and Ruby, to their hind big pot, you select which item you want to enter,” legs during last fall’s Pet Fest. The sixth annual Pet Fest is Saturday will include contests Hayes said. “You have a better chance of winning and a 5K run. the prize you want.”

Tourism group aims to immortalize ‘epitome of cool’ By Tom Daykin Milwaukee Journal Sentinel MILWAUKEE — Aaay, Milwaukee. “The Fonz” soon might be part of Milwaukee’s downtown landscape, immortalized in a life-size bronze sculpture that city tourism leaders hope will be a stopping point for visitors. The Fonz, of course, is Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, the character from the long-running TV show “Happy Days,” set in a nostalgic version of Milwaukee, circa the late 1950s and early 1960s. Visit Milwaukee, a nonprofit group that promotes the city as a tourism and convention destination, is leading an effort to raise $85,000 to commission the statue. So far, Visit Milwaukee has raised $45,000, and the group is confident it will meet its timetable of unveiling a bronze Fonz in 2008, said Dave Fantle,

the agency’s vice president of public relations. The agency already has contacted four artists and hopes to choose a sculptor by the end of October, he said. The project carries the blessings of “Happy Days” co-creator Garry Marshall and Henry Winkler, the actor who played Fonzie during the show’s 10-year run, which started in 1974. Winkler confessed he was a bit taken aback when Fantle ﬁrst contacted him about the project. “It’s an honor,” Winkler said. “But it is so bizarre to think there should be a statue. I wasn’t sure it was something that could happen to me.” Or, more accurately, happen to a character brought to life by Winkler, a 61-year-old actor, producer, director and author. Still, Winkler likes the idea and says he would come to Milwaukee for the statue’s dedication. “If it helps the city, a city that has

been so supportive and warm to me over the years,” he said, “then I am so OK with it.” Visit Milwaukee got the idea of a Fonzie statue from TV Land, a cable network that broadcasts re-runs of vintage shows such as “Happy Days” and “M*A*S*H.” TV Land has donated six sculptures commemorating memorable TV events or characters to various cities, starting in 2000 with a New York statue of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason’s character from “The Honeymooners.” Other statues include Mary Richards, the main character from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Located in downtown Minneapolis, it depicts the well-known shot from the show’s opening credits when Mary gleefully tosses her hat in the air. Another is a sculpture of Bob Hartley, from “The Bob Newhart Show,” near

the entrance to Chicago’s Navy Pier. All six sculptures are from shows mainly popular in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, in keeping with TV Land’s focus on its baby boomer audience. But TV Land, owned by New Yorkbased Viacom International Inc., isn’t planning a major role in the campaign for a Fonzie sculpture. The network isn’t planning to donate any additional statues and is re-evaluating the program, said Jennifer Zaldivar, a TV Land spokeswoman. TV Land is planning to revamp its lineup of shows, Zaldivar said, adding newly created programs, as well as “more contemporary shows,” i.e., reruns that the children of baby boomers might recognize. As a result, a program that donates sculptures commemorating older TV shows might not ﬁt TV Land’s new image, she said. But Viacom, which owns the rights to

the Fonzie character, has approved the project, Fantle said. The dedication ceremony for the statue, with appearances by Winkler and other “Happy Days” cast members, would draw media attention to Milwaukee, Fantle said. He said the sculpture would also provide another tourism draw for a city that anticipates an upswing in visitors next year when HarleyDavidson Inc. opens its museum just south of downtown. But what about those umpteen attempts to depict Milwaukee to the outside world as some place other than the home of “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley,” a “Happy Days” spin-oﬀ that some complain has typecast Milwaukee as a stodgy, blue-collar town? “This isn’t a statue of ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ “ Fantle said. “This is a statue of a TV icon who remains the epitome of cool.”

Bring Lassie home: Company creates new GPS tracking device for pets

Monty Marion/

Star photo

By Ashley Gwilliam Senior Features Reporter

Most of us have seen the homemade signs attached to telephone poles, displaying pictures of fourlegged creatures with the words, “Lost.” According to the Missing Pets Bureau, more than 2,500 dogs and 3,200 cats in the U.S. are reported missing each week. According to www.homeagain.com, one in three pets become lost. In response, LovemypetsGPS has created a Global Positioning System tracking collar that allows owners to immediately locate their lost pets using a Web-based system. The device uses cellular signals to track pets based on the location of the collar. Currently, the collar is only available for dogs, but the company said it plans to release a collar for cats in the near future. Jerry Garren, product co-founder, said with the GPS collar equips owners with a proactive pet detection tool. “This option eliminates the owner from having to wait on others to find, identify and try and reunite the pet

“T

here’s something about having a lost pet that makes you feel helpless.”

—Amy Fleming advertising senior

owner with his or her lost pet,” Gerrin said. Heidi Luna, Springfield Veterinary Hospital manager, knows what it’s like to keep track of numerous animals. “I have a Chihuahua/Lab/pit bull mix, two Labs and two cats — I have a zoo,” Luna said. “When you work in this field, it’s hard not to take animals in. She said depending on how attached someone is to their pet, losing an animal can affect a person the same way a death in the family would. Amy Fleming, advertising senior, said when her cat ran away she felt like she had lost a child. “I couldn’t go to school or work because I thought I was losing time on finding him,” she said. “I was in such deep grief that I was getting lost in my own neighborhood.

There’s something about having a lost pet that makes you feel helpless.” Until now, pet owners could ensure a potential lost pet’s return to safety through a microchip tag installed beneath its skin. Scanners at veterinary hospitals and animal shelters detect identification numbers from the microchips, enabling them to reunite the pet with its owner. Microchips do not have GPS capabilities. Luna said she hasn’t heard of the GPS collar, but the hospital is not offering them for sale at this time. Despite the increased benefits of the collar, it is unlikely to completely replace the microchip any time soon. The high-tech collar costs $229.95, has a one-time activation fee of $29.95 and a monthly service fee of $16.95. The Springfield Veterinary Hospital charges approximately $40 for the microchip, which includes installation and pet registration. Luna said regardless of whether pet owners can afford the collar or the microchip, they should always tag their animals. In the event that an animal goes missing, she said, contact a local veterinary hospital and animal shelter.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

TRENDS

The University Star - Page 8

Loud crowd, Bobcat proud By Lora Collins Sports Reporter Proudly sporting their t-shirts, the group enters Strahan Coliseum for the Texas State volleyball match and piles into their designated section labeled with a “Loud Crowd” banner in front of it. The noise level begins to rise as the rumble of hands banging on the railing preludes the opposing team’s first serve. The screeching of shoes and the crowd’s chants fill the stadium as each serve across the net creates a loud reaction. The Loud Crowd cheers hysterically when Texas State scores and creates excitement in the stands to last the entire Monty Marion/Star photo game. BOASTING BOBCATS: Members of the Texas State orgaFounded in 2004 by alumnus Frank Barley and co-founder Michael Strunk, exer- nization The Loud Crowd bring school pride and student cise and sports science senior, the Loud involvement to Bobcat sporting events. The Loud Crowd, Crowd has grown from a small cheering established in 2005, has now grown to more than 250 memsection to one of the largest fan-based bers. organizations at Texas State. Inspired to raise team goes on that we can tease them about.” spirit at the school, Strunk began cheering loudly at In doing so, the Loud Crowd encourages Texas basketball games with friends to hype up the team. State with cheers and positive remarks to pump up “At first it was just me and a couple of friends from the players and promote support for the team. Volthe dorm,” Strunk said. “We would heckle the other leyball Coach Karen Chisum believes the Loud Crowd team and the more we played with it, the more people contributes to the team’s success. would sit on that side with us and kind of feed off our “They have added so much spirit to our home energy. During one of the games that season the radio matches that it’s just amazing,” Chisum said. “With announcer made a comment about how we were prob- just the excitement and the energy that they bring in ably the loudest crowd he has ever had sit behind him. here, I guarantee you that they give us three or four We took that to heart and decided that we wanted to points a game.” start an organization.” Chisum enjoys the Loud Crowd’s encouragement According to Strunk, the Loud Crowd was officially and believes it benefits the team. established in 2005 to inspire students and family “In the locker room, that’s one of the things we talk members of the players to get involved in the games. about. We say whether the Loud Crowd is there (with) “One of the big reasons we started it in the begin- 300 or five people in the stands it doesn’t matter, we ning is because we felt like our campus had the poten- need to play the same way,” she said. “But that’s easier tial to have the same kind of fans as any of the other said than done. So you get out there and those kids see big schools,” he said. “We had to show the fans that we their peers — their student body — out there supporting can be loud and that it’s OK.” them. And hearing them, it definitely pumps them up.” Growing in membership from 2005 to 2007, the Senior middle blocker Brandy St. Francis agrees the total members in the Loud Crowd now exceeds 250 Loud Crowd brings a positive attitude to the court. people. “It always makes a difference to have people in “We changed our approach a little bit this year to hit the seats, especially people that get excited with the the incoming freshmen at orientation,” Strunk said. game,” St. Francis said. “Just seeing them come in, es“We wanted to let them know that we were the organi- pecially when they come in as a group, is really good. zation that kind of sets the mentality for how athletic It pumps up the team, but I guess for the other team events go and it pulled in a lot of people.” it’s intimidating to see all the students come in togethPresident Jonathan Janis, marketing junior, has er. Aside from the motivation that the play gives, hearplaced his focus on recruiting incoming freshmen. ing the fans cheer over something really motivates the “I spoke at convocation at Paws Preview about be- team and can keep us going strong when we are doing ing in Loud Crowd,” Janis said. “We have dramatically good.” changed our point of view from being a small organiAlthough they serve as a cheering section for the zation to being one of the biggest organizations on athletic teams, the Loud Crowd strives to reach out to campus because we want our whole student body to the community through volunteering as a group. The be in the Loud Crowd. That’s the whole point of hav- group has participated in Habitat for Humanity this ing school spirit; because this is where everybody is year, and plans to become a part of Relay for Life and a Bobcat.” Bobcat Build. Because the Loud Crowd has so many members, Janis has found the experience of leadership to be the focus of each game is to intimidate the opposing beneficial. team with their size, shouting and school spirit. “The whole experience I’ve had with the organiza“In volleyball we try to get in their heads by telling tion has been amazing,” Janis said. “We are in college, them they are going to hit the net when they are serv- and college athletics is the whole part of being in coling and make a lot of noise when they do serve,” said lege. There is better competition and better fans and I senior Robert Nelson. “We make fun of little things just love being a part of that. That’s why I put so much they do and we pick up on little things as the game of my heart and time into this organization.”

TRENDS/DIVERSIONS

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Three alternatives to Halo 3 Truth be told, I’m not a Halo fan. My hallmark for FPS excellence has always been Doom just as those born in the late ’80s and early ’90s look back to GoldenEye 007. Although I’ve watched countless hours of Halo being played and have played a few rounds on the PC port, I just never got in to it. Millions have, however, as evidenced by the eager gamers lining up outside 7-Eleven stores across the nation for the release of the (ostensibly) last game in the trilogy Halo: Combat Evolved began. And inside the very same convenience store, you can purchase myriad products bearing the Halo logo. For some of us, books, significant others and nutrition will go to the wayside in order to blaze through the single-player campaign en route to the countless multiplayer rounds. The handful of us who don’t stake grades and relationships on completion of Halo 3 at least have some comfort knowing the gaming event of 2007 isn’t the last release to hit

Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3-by-3 box contains every digit from one through nine inclusively. 9/19 Solutions:

BILL RIX Trends Columnist

shelves for a while. PlayStation 3 owners can pick up controllers and take the role as the — but of course — busty heroine Nariko in Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword. The hack-and-slash adventure draws heavily from the God of War series, so expect epic battles, intense enemies and wild action. Heavenly Sword was released Sept. 12, so it can be picked up at any local Best Buy or Target. Those with Nintendo’s Wii can cop Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the latest in the GameCube-Wii Metroid Prime series. Step behind Samus’ visor one last time as she battles a doppelganger between several planets. This edition marks the last in the Prime

series, a good thing, considering IGN slighted the game for being overly similar to the two preceding games. Although released late August, Retro Studio’s Corruption promises hours upon hours of playtime. Xbox 360 owners feeling left out in the cold while their friends blast away in Halo 3 can kick their blues to the curb with FIFA 08 from Electronic Arts. The game allows players to better their skills, similar to real-world soccer players, in the new Be A Pro Mode. While critical reception in Europe has been warm, staying in the 7.5/10 score region, American fans will have to wait until Oct. 9 to hit the ﬁeld. In any event, if Ronaldinho appears on the cover, you know it’s going to be good. So there you have it: three reasons among many to not let Halo 3 fever get you down. Grab a copy of any of these games and you’ll be in gamer’s bliss for a while, not to mention you’ll avoid preteens shouting invectives across Xbox Live. Or you could, you know, do some schoolwork. Or not.

The University Star - Page 9

CLASSIFIEDS THE UNIVERSITY STAR

Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Page 10

RATES AND POLICIES Cost - 25¢ per word (1–6 days); Cost - 20¢ per word (7+ days) Deadline - 2 business days prior by noon All classified ads must be paid in advance, unless credit is established. Classified ads will be edited for style purposes. We do our best, but please check your classified ad for accuracy. Any corrections to your ad must be made by the second day of publication. As a free service to you, all classified ads will be published on-line on our web site at www.universitystar.com. However, since this is a free service, posting is not guaranteed. While The University Star attempts to screen ads for misleading claims or illegal content, it is not possible for us to investigate every ad and advertiser. Please use caution when answering ads, especially any which require you to send money in advance.

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HELP WANTED PAPER BEAR - A DOWNTOWN GIFT SHOP HIRING FOR THE FOLLOWING SHIFTS: 1-6. Starting pay $6.75/hr. Pick up application in person. Must be able to work minimum 30 hrs. per week, Mon.-Sat.

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TAKING APPLICATIONS AT SMALL COUNTRY STORE for individuals with outgoing personalities. Retail experience a plus. Call (512) 559-2642 and leave name and phone number for call back. WATERLOO ICE HOUSE NOW HIRING FOR ALL POSITIONS for our new location in Southpark Meadows in Austin. Please apply in person from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. or 2-4 p.m., M-F at the following location: Waterloo Ice House, 9600 Escarpment Blvd., Austin, (512) 301-1007. MOVIE EXTRAS. New opportunities for upcoming productions. All looks needed no experience required for cast calls. Call 877-218-6224. TEKA MARKETING is looking for help with light oﬃce work. Starting pay is $8 an hour. Call (512) 805-0020 to set up an interview. UNDERCOVER SHOPPERS. Earn up to $150 per day. Under cover Shoppers needed to judge retail and dining establishments. Exp. Not RE. Call 800-722-4791. MAKE UP TO $75 EACH TAKING ONLINE SURVEYS. www.CashToSpend.com

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PERSONALS LOST YOUR PET? If your pet is lost anywhere in Hays County, please check the San Marcos Animal Shelter (512) 393-8340 which is located at 750 River Road oﬀ of east Hwy 80. All strays from the Kyle, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Driftwood, Uhland and some of Buda (non-city) areas are taken to San Marcos. Hours: Mon. and Fri. 11:30 to 5:30; Tues., Wed., Thurs. 11:30 to 4:30; Sat. 11:30 to 4:30. Please go in person rather than call, you are the only one who can identify and reclaim your beloved pet! Remember, an ID tag is a ticket home! $5,000 PAID. EGG DONORS. +Exps. N/Smokers, ages 19-29, SAT>1100/ACT>24/GPA>3.0 Reply to: info@eggdonorcenter.com

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WANTED USED CARS, TRUCKS, VANS. Any condition, running or not. If you have something to sell please call Willis Mitchell, (512) 353-4511. THE UNIVERSITY STAR STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS! Since 1911, The University Star has served as the main source for information for and about Texas State. As a nationally acclaimed student newspaper, The Star provides reporting of campus and community events; along with coverage of state, national and

WANTED international news. Also included is opinion commentary and sports, entertainment and features, as well as advertisements of interest to the college community. From presidents (Lyndon Baines Johnson) to professional athletes (Reggie Rivers), The Star has been home to hundreds of dedicated student journalists, sales and administrative staff, designers and photographers. Launch your career in journalism, advertising, design or get involved with campus life by building your portfolio at one of the premiere collegiate newspapers in Texas. The University Star is Texas State’s official newspaper, which is created and edited entirely by students. We are looking for individuals to fill openings in many areas areas. News reporters Must be able to report on university and local news, gather information, conduct interviews and come into the newsroom to have stories edited. Trends reporters/columnists Reporters must be able to report on university and local arts, entertainment, social and cultural events, gather information, conduct interviews and come into the newsroom to have stories edited. Columnists must write original columns on specific subjects for weekly publication and come into the newsroom for editing. Sports reporters/columnists Reporters must be able to report on university and local sports, gather information, conduct interviews and come into the newsroom to have stories edited. Columnists must write original columns on specific subjects for weekly publication and come into the newsroom for editing. Opinions columnists Must be able to write thought provoking columns on university, local and state events and come into the newsroom for editing. Illustrators Must be able to work with the editorial staff to create original editorial cartoons and illustrations for stories. Comic artists

Must be able to create an original and entertaining comic strip to be published three days a week. For more information, please contact Maira Garcia editor-in-chief at stareditor@txstate.edu or call (512) 245-3487.

SPORTS

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Wakeboard tour brings extreme thrill to students, community By César G. Rodriguez Sports Reporter Wakeboarding typically takes place behind a boat, but with a rail jam and portable swimming pools, it takes a twist. “We take it out from the lakes, and take it to parking lots,” said Bill Geiger, organizer of the Texas Wakeboard Tour. Bobcat Stadium’s parking lot will witness the thrill of wakeboarders being pulled approximately 20 mph by a winch, sliding and landing in 50,000 gallons of water. The Hot Tamales Rock-N-Ride College Wakeboard Tour will create a splash 7 p.m. Saturday when it promotes one of the fastest growing extreme sports in the nation, wakeboarding. According to American Sports Data, wakeboarding has a top growth sport advancing of 65 percent, about 4.5 million participants. Kirsten LeBlanc, graduate adviser for the Student Association for Campus Activities, said Geiger showed a DVD of talented performers that immediately caught the group’s attention. The extreme performances convinced SACA wakeboarding could be something to bring to students and the community as well. “It’s really neat because it brings us something you can only see at a lake,” LeBlanc said. The Wakeboard Tour brings six performers and includes two Bobcats: Tom Fooshee, Liquid Force Wakeboard pro team rider; and Bret Little, Byerly Wakeskate pro team rider. “Both of these guys have done really well this year in national competitions,” Geiger said. The 23-year-old Little, marketing junior, practices wakeskating. The board is similar to the size

of a skateboard and the feet are interested in the sport.” not attached to the board, which Fooshee, a 22-year-old exallows Little to perform ercise sports science senior, flips and tricks. jumped into deep waters with He began wakeboarding about five years wakeboardago. ing in 1996, Ever since graduating high but in the school, Fooshee said he realized late 90s he wanted to practice some kind he could of extreme water sport. no longer Landing a job at the Texas practice Ski Ranch has enabled because of Fooshee to pursue wakea lack of reboarding, a sport he said sources. has the power to turn his “I didn’t day around. have a boat, “It’s pretand I could not ty exhilaride a whole lot,” rating. Little said. If I had Once Little a bad was employed day, I’ll at the Texas Ski come (to Ranch in New practice) Braunfels, he and make the said he enjoyed day feel better wakeskating. again,” Fooshee He still rememsaid. “It’s an awesome bers his first thought —Courtesy of MCT feeling that always puts you when he started wakeskating. in a good mood.” “The feeling when you do someFooshee loaded up his school thing new, it’s just crazy,” Little schedule Tuesdays and Thurssaid. days, leaving him the rest of the Little practices five times a week for work and wakeboardweek, for three to four hours, ing. Even still, Fooshee manages at the Texas Ski Ranch or sur- to find time to perform a few rounding lakes in the San Mar- flips at the lake every day, three cos area. to four hours a day. He saves some time for schoolGeiger said wakeboarders are work. “I’m always trying to focus good athletes and religiously in school. The extra time, I de- prepare to perform dangerous vote it to riding and trying to get stunts, something that cannot be better,” Little said. seen everyday. Little is eager to start flying “I think what makes an exhigh on his wakeskate. Since treme sport extreme, is the this event is just for fun, he said element of danger,” Geiger there would be no pressure on said. wakeboarders, which may enThe tour’s main goal is for the hance his performance. rising sport to continue to grow, “It’s really cool to let us do targeting 18 to 24-year-olds that this at the Bobcat Stadium,” Lit- enjoy extreme sports and want tle said. “Hopefully, we’ll show to have a good time. people how accessible it is, and “We hope it’ll all turn out like at the end, we’ll get more people a tailgate party,” Geiger said.

Cross country team prepares for uphill battle By Lisa Carter Sports Reporter Texas State’s cross country teams competed in the Ricardo Romo/Six Flags Fiesta Texas Cross Country Classic Friday and continue to improve with each meet. Hosted by Texas-San Antonio, the Bobcat men finished second overall. Among Texas State’s top runners were junior Roel Elizalde, who finished second with a time of 15 minutes, 33 seconds, and freshman Michael Richards, who finished 12th with a time of 15:57. The women finished second overall. Freshman Kelly Butler led Texas State with a time of 19:55. Other teams fielding competitors at the meet included St. Mary’s, St. Edward’s and Texas A&M-Kingsville. Butler said although the course was fairly easy compared to other meets she ran in the past, it did contain challenges. “The majority of the course was grass, which made it harder to have ankle and foot stability,” Butler said. “Also, during the second mile of the 5K, there was a gradual incline

that stretched half the length of a mile.” Richards said the course was more challenging for a variety of reasons when compared to previous meets. “The course had some tough hills and also had a lot of turns to it,” Richards said. “We also ran at about 6:45 p.m. when it was still really hot outside.” Both teams look forward to a much larger meet: the Cowboy Jamboree Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboy Jamboree is the oldest cross country meet in the U.S., as this year marks its 71st anniversary. Over 6,000 runners from across the country will compete on the unique 5K course that includes seven hills, wood chips and three sets of steps. One of the obstacles at the Cowboy Jamboree is the hilly course. Sophomore Heather Bullin, who ran the course for her ﬁrst time last year, recalled the challenges she experienced. “I ran this race last year, and the main obstacle in the course is all the hills,” Bullin said. “I am hoping that at the end of this meet, I can personally say that I ﬁnished with everything I had and

didn’t let the hills defeat me.” Placing in this meet means a great deal to the women’s team. “The team is really pumped about this season, and I think that placing in this meet would really just help build the reassurance that we need for conference,” Bullin said. Junior Whitney Perkins agreed. “This meet is important because most of our conference will be there; so, it’s almost like a mini-conference race,” Perkins said. “It will give our team a good idea of where we stand.” The Cowboy Jamboree will draw many talented university, college and junior college teams. “There will be so many good teams there, and it’s just really an honor to get to compete with them,” Bullin said. Perkins said she hopes the women will at least place in the top three at the meet. “Winning this meet will deﬁnitely help our team pride,” she said. “There’s nothing holding us back. I think it will just show other conference teams that we are someone to look out for this year.”

NFL’s unpredictable nature makes it worthy of consistent viewing

Gabe Mendoza Star Columnist

You have to love how wide open the NFL is this year. You have to love how wide open the NFL is just about any year. The disparity from season to season is what makes people, like me, capable of being NFL fans. It can be tough. One year, your team is a fourth down conversion away from Super Bowl glory; before you know it they’re spending the next six years in salary-cap hell. But there is a reason the NFL campaign is by far the most popular and anticipated sports season in America: you never have to wait too long for your team to be a contender again. Teams can rebuild in a single offseason with a couple free agents and a high draft pick. With free agency and nonguaranteed contracts, player movement can make the offseason even more fun than the regular season. I’m still waiting for an offseason fantasy football league. Just wait; instead

of drafting players, you’d draft general managers, front office people and agents. Instead of L.T. being the No. 1 pick in every league, you’d find Drew Rosenhaus at the top of every draft board. They would earn points based on impact drafts, free-agents, signing bonuses … you get the idea. Besides, where else could you imagine having a conversation with a buddy that begins, “yeah well, Matt Millen cost me last week because he took another wide receiver in the first round.” I know a few of you fantasy junkies would be all over that. But anyway, that’s just part of why the NFL is so great. The Texans, who have never done anything in this league, are being talked about like a legitimate franchise. The Packers were left for dead with Brett Favre contemplating retirement, but now look at them. They’ve started the season 3-0 and Favre has a 93.5 quarterback rating. Not to mention my beloved 49ers, which are, even with Alex Smith not knowing he’s an NFL quarterback, 2-1 and in first place in the NFC West after years of … well, things I’m still not quite ready to talk about yet. That is what makes the NFL so different. In other sports, (baseball especially) you can count on the same teams year-

in and year-out to be at the top of the standings. There isn’t an opportunity for teams at the bottom to move to the top in a reasonable amount of time. There’s no chance the Devil Rays will be a championshipcaliber team in the next 10, even 20 years. Not with the Yankees and Red Sox spending hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll. But, there is not a single team in the NFL that won’t be able to compete over the course of the next 10, or even ﬁve years. The Titans are competing, the Steelers are back to 3-0 and even the Lions are 2-1. Last year’s team to beat, the Chargers, are 1-2 and the Saints haven’t even won a game. My, how quickly things can change in this league. It can get so turned around that when I looked at the NFC standings this morning, I could have sworn I was in 1995. San Francisco, Dallas and Green Bay are all leading their respective divisions and Brett Favre was all over sports-talk radio. One word of advice: If your team is winning right now, enjoy it while it lasts. Because before you know it, they’ll be battling it out for the top overall pick in the draft and dumping veterans to get under the salary cap. But even then, there will always be next year.

The University Star - Page 11

SPORTS Thursday, September 27, 2007 - Page 12

golface Texas State freshman Linn Gustafsson was named Southland Conference Golfer of the Month Wednesday. Gustafsson, a native of Ekero, Sweden, won the Chip-N Club Invitational in her ﬁrst collegiate meet two weeks ago, shooting a three round score of one-under-par. She won the tourney by eight strokes and helped lead the Texas State women’s golf team to a title.

Because of a printing error, Tuesday’s Sports section was inadvertently double-printed. Sports Contact — Scott Strickman, starsports@txstate.edu

Basketball coach a star on and off the court

✯ By George Kiel Sports Reporter

Editor’s note: This is the second segment of a four-part series featuring Bobcat coaches.

Women’s basketball has become one of the more successful programs for Texas State athletics over the past five years. Reaching the conference tournament five years in a row, the Bobcats are beginning to build a winning program. While much credit is given to the players, Coach Suzanne Fox continues to maintain a competitive team year-in and year-out. Fox heads into her 11th season as women’s basketball coach with many accomplishments and accolades. In the last game of the 2006-07 season, she collected the 125th win of her Texas State coaching career, the third most victories all-time in program history. She also coached the ’Cats to a Southland Conference Tournament Championship during the 2002-03 season for just the second time in Texas State’s history. She reached another milestone Jan. 15, 2005, when she notched her 200th victory as a collegiate coach, which included wins she earned while coaching at her alma mater Abilene Christian. Though Fox has many individual accomplishments, she gives a lot of credit to the players she and her staff bring in each year. “I expect my players to, first and foremost, be good representatives of the institution and community,” Fox said. “We ask that our players compete every game and play hard.” Senior Erica Putnam, a leader on last year’s team, believes Fox has experienced success because of her challenging

coaching style. Putnam, who played four years under Fox, credits her for teaching more than basketball. “Coach Fox is very communicative and motivational,” Putnam said. “She has lots of fun, but demands hard work. Playing for her is a great learning experience for any player.” Fox was an exceptional basketball player during her college athletic career. While at Abilene Christian, Fox was named First-Team All-Lone Star Conference, LSC MVP, All-Academic LSC, LSC Defensive Player of the Year and GTE Second-Team Academic All-America. She is currently seventh all-time on the Abilene Christian women’s basketball career scoring list with a total of 1,502 points. In her 16th season as a head coach, which includes five years at Abilene Christian, Fox tries to translate the experience of her playing days to the Bobcats she now coaches on the court. “I try to communicate to the players as much as I can since I can’t be out there anymore,” Fox said. “My competitive nature carries over because I want to win.” Fox’s players seem to understand her competitive nature and have the same attitude about winning. Brooke DeGrate, senior guard, said she clearly recognizes Fox’s thoughts during the games. “Coach Fox is very vocal,” DeGrate said. “When she gets mad, it means it’s time for us to pick it up.” Putnam comprehends Fox’s motives and said she tolerates nothing but the best. “She asks for 100 percent every time,” Putnam said. “Coach Fox can easily tell when a player is giving less than that.” Though competitive by nature, women who have played under Fox have referred to her as a “player’s coach.” A common

theme players have expressed about Fox is her availability. DeGrate said Fox is just as good off the court as she is on it. “I feel that I can go into her office at anytime and talk about anything,” DeGrate said. “From the beginning of my recruitment process, she has made me feel comfortable and that I am needed.” Putnam credits Fox for showing her direction in life and said the coach plays a big role in her academic success. Fox said she looks forward to every day’s challenges and expectations; her passion for student-athletes keeps her drive alive. “I love working with kids from age 18 to 22,” Fox said. “Everyday is different. Some of the kids’ situations are funny and some of them are sad, but working with coaching new players and working with my staff makes my job fun.” This upcoming season is no different for the Bobcats. Fox said she thinks this year’s team is one of the hardestworking groups she has ever coached. “This team has a great work ethic,” she said. “We should be successful if we carry that onto the court.”

Monty Marion/Star photo Matthew Slabaugh/Star illustration

COMING TOGETHER Volleyball team conquers Texas Christian in three-game sweep

Travis Atkins/Star photo

SMACKDOWN: Freshman middle blocker Melinda Cave spikes the ball during the Bobcats’ 3-0 victory over TCU Tuesday night at Strahan Coliseum.

By Travis Atkins Sports Reporter Texas State swept TCU, who entered the match 15-2, right out of the gym Tuesday night in three games, 30-22, 30-19 and 30-28. Four Bobcats finished with double-digit kills and overall, the team had 62 kills to TCU’s 39. Freshman middle blocker Melinda Cave led Texas State with a career-high 15 kills and a .524 hitting percentage. “Every game, me and Shelbi (Irvin), the setter, have connected more and more and I think it just all came together tonight,” Cave said. Everything seemed to come together for the Bobcats. They set a season high for hitting percentage with a .355 mark and had their most kills in a three-game match. Spreading the wealth has been a theme for Texas State this season. During their current six-match winning streak, the team’s longest since 2004, there have been four different leaders in kills. “We are five-dimensional,” said Coach Karen Chisum. “We have two really good setters and we are able to run a three-hitter attack at all times.” The Bobcats fell behind 4-0 in the first game, then fought back to tie it at 16. A.J. Watlington, freshman right side hitter, gave the team a spark off the bench with two thunderous kills and Texas State won the game on a spike by junior middle blocker Emily Jones.

In game two, sophomore outside hitter Jessica Weynand and Cave took over. The two combined for 13 kills, including eight from Weynand alone. “I haven’t been connecting very well; hopefully this is the game that will really help my conﬁdence,” Cave said. Chisum said the game plan was to get Cave and the rest of the right side involved. “They (TCU) don’t block the right side very well,” Chisum

focal point of the offense, but gladly takes a lesser role this year for the good of the team. “It makes us deadly,” Brown said of the emergence of her teammates. “Having the middles, right sides and outsides makes it much easier for our defense if we have the best offense.” Chisum prepared for a tough match, and thought the team made a statement with their domination of the Horned Frogs. “TCU is 15-2 and have played some really quality opponents,” Chisum said. “They underestimated us. When you come here to Strahan Coliseum, you better be ready to play ball. We made a statement tonight, I think to ourselves as much as anything else.” The Bobcats had seven —Karen Chisum aces to just three for TCU volleyball coach and sophomore libero Kacey Wimpy and Weynand had 15 and eight digs, respectively. said. “We wanted to run it quick “We passed extremely well,” with Melinda and A.J. Melinda Chisum said. “I am very proud was blocked twice tonight but of Lawrencia, Jessica and Kacey they were both on high sets and Wimpy. Those kids get the first her strength isn’t her leaping contact almost 95 percent of the ability.” time and they did a great job.” The Bobcats fell behind early LeMeita Smith led TCU in in the third game with four ser- kills with eight and Nirelle vice errors. They fought back to Hampton had 25 assists to lead tie the game at 27 before taking the Horned Frogs. Courtney a timeout. The match ended Edwards, who had 221 kills when junior middle blocker on the season coming into the Lawrencia Brown hammered match, was held to just seven on a kill off a perfect set. Brown the night. finished the match with 10 kills The Bobcats will host Texasand six digs. Arlington (9-6) at 2 p.m. SaturLast season, Brown was the day in Strahan Coliseum.

e are ﬁve“W dimensional. We have two really

good setters and we are able to run a three-hitter attack at all times.”

Bobcat tennis heads to SFA tourney By Charlotte Almazan Sports Reporter In preparation for the Stephen F. Austin Tournament, the Texas State tennis team held back-to-back practice sessions to focus on individual strategies. Because of the demanding schedule at the Scarborough Specialties Classic, where the Bobcats began the fall season Friday, the team practiced only twice this week. “We only had two days of practice because they played

six matches in two days,” said Coach Tory Plunkett. “At this point, they are in excellent condition. We are trying to maintain what they have worked on.” Since the fall season is still young, Plunkett said she would like to use this weekend’s matchups as an opportunity for the team to gain experience. “The fall is our oﬀseason; we use the fall for match toughness,” Plunkett said. “Even with returning players, some still haven’t played in a match since the spring.” The two-day SFA Tournament

should give a good indication of what strategies are successful. “It’s about staying conﬁdent and trusting yourself,” said sophomore Rabea Hartmann, who placed third in the singles bracket last week. “The last time I played was April or May. It’s about coming into the tournament to get back into things.” In Nacogdoches, Plunkett and Hartmann hope to repeat last year’s strong performance. “Last year, we were probably the best school there,” Plunkett said. “This year, it could be something diﬀerent, but I hope we can have the same results.” Hartmann agreed this year’s competition would serve as a tougher obstacle. “We did really good last year. We want to keep up with it and do better. I think that is our challenge right now,” Hartmann said. Plunkett encourages each player to practice a strategy they prefer and learn the remaining strategies to push their play further. “It’s based on individual

performance,” Plunkett said. “Because of their different personalities, it’s about picking a strategy and sticking with it.” With the courts divided into doubles and singles play, the team planned out in practice the approach they wanted to use. During rotations, Plunkett matched up against the players to simulate competition. “They are very good at working on technique, and I’m usually working on the mental part of the game,” Plunkett said. “Before each practice we sit and talk about what we want.” The main goal for the tournament is to prepare for the pressure, something Plunkett hopes to help the team avoid. “Typically, the first thing to go when under pressure is the serve,” she said. Coach Bret Arrant of the SFA Ladyjacks predicted Texas State would be one of the top teams in competition at the tournament. “Louisiana Tech and Texas State will be among the teams that should compete well,” he said. “We have four or five flights

Travis Atkins/Star file photo DOUBLE TROUBLE: Junior Rabea Hartmann, left, and senior doubles partner Ali Gulida won their consolation ﬁnal 8-3 against Texas Tech at the Scarborough Specialties Classic.

that will match up competitively.” Having previously coached against a Plunkett team, Arrant credits Texas State’s success to Plunkett’s coaching style. “Tory is an excellent coach, a good motivator and a pleasure to coach against,” Arrant said. Plunkett gives credit to her

team for understanding the importance of unity for a successful competition. “One thing that we have is team unity, even though tennis is an individual sport,” she said. “This team does an exceptional job with that, and through experience they have made it happen.”

09 27 2007

Published on Sep 27, 2007

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