10 04 2007

Page 1

TUSSLE IN TEXAS

A ‘WINE’ TIME

Football back in action against No. 6 McNeese State in SLC opener

Texas toasts ninth annual wine month

SEE SPORTS PAGE 12

SEE TRENDS PAGE 8

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

WWW.UNIVERSITYSTAR.COM

OCTOBER 4, 2007

THURSDAY

VOLUME 97, ISSUE 15

Hispanic high school dropout rates on the rise By Jackie Baylon News Reporter For 18-year-old Ricardo Contreras, working 35 to 40 hours a week has become nothing but a routine. The San Marcos High School Hispanic senior has grown up with the mentality that he must work to live. Schooling is irrelevant. “If I graduate from high school, I will be the second one to do so in my family,” Contreras said. “Since my uncle graduated, no one else has even tried to get an education.” The Hispanic population,

according to the U.S. Census Bureau, comprises 18 percent of the student population in the nation’s schools, but have a disproportionately high dropout rate compared to any other ethnic group in America. Hispanics represent only 5 percent of high school graduates. Raul Gonzalez, legislative director of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., said many people are not aware of the high dropout rate among Hispanic students. In a report written for The

Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, it said misleading and inaccurate reporting of high school dropout and graduation numbers has until recently kept the public largely unaware of a serious educational and civil rights crisis. The report states millions of young people are being left far behind as education requirements for jobs and success in life continue to rise. Gary Orfield, one of the report’s authors, said in the study Texas has an extremely influential role in the making of educational policy. He said

Texas has the destiny of onefifth of the nation’s Hispanic children in its hands and what needs to be done is simple. He said the information needs to be clearly presented through actions such as counseling and showing support for young adults going through adolescent challenges of poor neighborhoods, gangs and families under stress. “We have been working on a statistical analysis for four years now on high school dropout rates,” Gonzalez said. “Our first goal is to let people know that this has become a big issue so that something can be done about it.” Hispanics are underrepresented in advanced science and mathematics high school courses and in gifted and talented education programs as well. “We believe students drop out because they get bored with the school work, or they are not prepared for more challenging material, and some students that have been held back a grade do not find a point in finishing,” Gonzalez said. He said the dropout rate problem is trying to be solved by hiring better teachers, getting more funds for the schools and providing the students with more access to better courses throughout elementary, middle and high school. Spencer Millsap/Star feature photo “There are many things HARD AT WORK: Ricardo Contreras, San Marcos High School senior, works about 40 hours a week in addition to attending school full time. Only 5 per-

Courtesy of MCT

See CONTRERAS, page 4 cent of high school graduates in the U.S. are Hispanic.

CROWDING CONCERNS

Faculty may have to pay for research, grants By Scott Thomas News Reporter

Tina Phan/Star photo Texas State students traveling to and from Austin have experienced overcrowding because of the lack of transport services available for commuters.

By Leslie Ann Cortez News Reporter Texas State students, faculty and staff who ride the bus traveling to and from Austin every weekday say the crowded conditions are posing a safety hazard. Vincent Luizzi, chair of the de-

partment of philosophy and ASG adviser, is a frequent rider on the 5:10 p.m. bus departing from Texas State to Austin. He said at times roughly 20 people have to stand up because there are not any seats available. “I do think, whether it’s justified or not, there is a fairly widespread perception that we’re not safe in

the bus,” Luizzi said. “A number of students make the claim that they feel like they would be in danger if they were in an accident. I’m not sure how much danger is created by people standing.” Margarita Guest, anthropology See ATX, page 4

Some new faculty members may have to cover costs accumulated for their research and teaching materials because of a proposed clause in contracts. Startup fund packages are given to new faculty by Texas State, but now the university may be expecting to get the money back over time. “(Startup fund packages cover) anything that is going to cost money to start your research program,” said Faculty Sen. Debra Feakes, chemistry and biochemistry associate professor. The new policy is in place because of contracts faculty will sign upon receiving the packages. Senators and Faculty Senate liaisons, who are representatives from departments that do not have a senator who are not required to attend meetings, addressed the issue at their meeting Wednesday. Feakes said she talked to new faculty who will not sign a contract with the university because of the clause. “I know senior faculty who have chosen not to (work for

Texas State because of the clause),” Feakes said. “I know several junior faculty who are very concerned about it and are keeping their options open in case they don’t get the funds.” Science, applied arts, liberal arts and health professions are the four colleges Feakes said she knew of that had the contract. She said it would be unrealistic to expect new faculty to be able to pay off the startup package. “I don’t think a junior faculty member can pay it off, on average,” Feakes said. “Our probationary period is basically five years. Most faculty will get their substantial grants in year four or higher.” The Faculty Senators and liaisons were unanimously opposed to the contracts forcing package repayments. “It’s inappropriate to call it a startup package,” said Senate Liaison Sally Caldwell, sociology associate professor. “This sounds like a loan to me.” Other professors were worried about what the contracts could do to faculty recruitment. “This will basically kill our department,” said Senate Liaison Alberto Giordano, geography

professor. “No one will come to our institution.” The startup package issue was put on the agenda for next week’s meeting with University President Denise Trauth and Provost Perry Moore. Faculty and staff drug policy, a recurring topic for the past three weeks at Faculty Senate, was once again on table. William Stone, Faculty Senate chair and criminal justice professor, updated the liaisons on the content and the actions of the previous meeting. “At our senate meeting last week we decided to take the moral position to have faculty and staff treated the same,” Stone said. The liaisons voiced only support for the Faculty Senate’s official stance. “If they’re doing it to staff it seems it wouldn’t be long from where they’d be doing it to faculty,” said liaison Mary Brennan, History associate professor. The drug and alcohol policy will be on the agenda for next week’s meeting with the president. “I promise the drug policy will be a long negotiation process,” Stone said.

City Council deliberates Sagewood Circle concerns of students, residents By Philip Hadley News Reporter A potential system for licensing and permitting rental properties was brought to the top of the City Council agenda Tuesday in an effort to address the problems with Sagewood Circle. The council put together a sevenmember work group to review the system. Councilman John Thomaides suggested they be given a time frame in which to complete their assignment. The council decided to allow the group six weeks to complete the task of evaluating the licensing and permitting system. They voted the group members did not

have to be residents of San Marcos. “I would like to see the group come back to us with a product of a permit system and any additional suggestions they may have in solving this issue,” councilwoman Betsy Robertson said. “The final decision on the permitting system will then be in our hands.” The group appointed to review the system will include Jason Aleem, Michael Flowers, Jim LaSage, Vance Elliot, Rick Tarr, Tom Wassenich and Robert Hernandez. Reagan Pugh, Associated Student Government president, spoke on the issue of complaints regarding student residents living in the Sagewood Circle area.

Today’s Weather

Sunny 93˚

Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 76% UV: 0 Low Wind: WNW 2 mph

Two-day Forecast Friday Mostly Sunny Temp: 91°/ 70° Precip: 10%

Saturday Partly Cloudy Temp: 90°/ 67° Precip: 20%

“We have to trust in one another to open a true dialogue,” Pugh said. “There is not one group at fault here, we are all at fault. We need to sit down and reason together to establish a true dialogue between the school, city, residents and neighbors of Sagewood. In the end we are all San Martians.” Several student residents expressed concern regarding the increased police presence in the Sagewood area as well. New city attorney Michael Cosentino was sworn in to begin the City Council meeting. Cosentino served for the last 10 years as the city attorney for Bryan. The council voted unanimously to hire Cosentino

following former city attorney Mark Taylor’s retirement last fall. City Manager Dan O’Leary announced his resignation, effective Dec. 13, at the meeting as well. “After 28 years of service with the city of San Marcos I have decided to move to Fort Worth to spend more time with my granddaughter,” O’Leary said. “I will be leaving after a fun and great career in this community, and I thank the council for allowing me to be part of this city.” The council then moved to discuss an amendment to the city code that would increase the purchase authority of the city manager from $25,000 to $50,000. The council approved the amendment

and Mayor Pro-Tem Daniel Guerrero discussed its importance. “We need to be able to give the city manager some discretion,” Guerrero said. “There has been several instances where there was a need beyond the $25,000 already in place.” Another item on the council agenda included the desire to increase the single-family home market in San Marcos. “It is important that we increase our single family market as well as make homes more affordable,” Mayor Susan Narvaiz said. “Many corporations that could bring many jobs won’t come if we don’t have enough homes in a range that employees can purchase.”

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

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