10 09 2012

Page 1

VOLUME 102, ISSUE 20

www.UniversityStar.com

Defending the First Amendment since 1911

TUESDAY

OCTOBER 9, 2012

GO NE ONLI NOW

Pet Fest

The Pet Fest 5K walk is an event held to raise funds for Prevent A Litter, which helps fight pet homelessness and pet overpopulation. For more, visit UniversityStar.com.

UPD hiring new officers

PAWS FOR A CAUSE

Kathryn Parker, Staff Photographer

Sgt. Robert Campbell, emergency management coordinator, will resign from the University Police Department, causing the need for a replacement. Three new officers will also be hired. Austin Beavers, Staff Photographer

Andrew Mitschke and Sara Basha run with their dogs Tillie and Shiloh Oct 6. during the annual Pet Fest 5k fun run.

By Nancy Young News Reporter The University Police Department is hiring additional officers for the first time in 15 years in response to rising student enrollment. The number of UPD officers has remained the same since 1997 while the student population has been increasing for years. UPD Capt. Daniel Benitez said there will be three officers and one emergency management coordinator added to the current staff of 33 officers. The student population in 1997 was 20,652, according to an email from Joe Meyer, director of Institutional Research. Texas State welcomed 34,229 students this fall. Benitez said the additions are necessary for security and safety purposes because of the influx of students There are currently 0.9 police officers for every 1,037 students. Benitez said the police officer-student ratio needs to be fixed in order to provide the services students, faculty and staff need. Benitez said the hiring of additional officers is not in response to recent bomb threats at University of Texas and other schools. He said UPD was already holding interviews when the UT bomb threat was made. There are two officers currently undergoing psychological and drug testing, and they could be hired within the next week, Benitez said. He said it will take about two months to fill all three officer positions. Sgt. Robert Campbell, the current emergency management coordinator, said he anticipates his position being filled either in December or during the spring semester. Campbell is part of a search committee reviewing applicants. Benitez said the emergency management coordinator is in charge of assessing incidents such as gas leaks, active shooters, natural disasters and bomb threats. “Emergency management is the person that comes out and assesses that threat or that incident and says ‘What kind of resources do we need? Where do we get those resources from?’” Benitez said. In cases such as natural disasters, the emergency management coordinator is responsible for obtaining funding from the federal government and making sure the necessary paperwork and forms are filled out. Campbell said the emergency management coordinator has an important role on campus. “Their purpose is to take the community and campus as a whole and look at what could be threats that could be impacting the campus,” Campbell said. “There’s no way to plan for everything that could happen during an emergency. But you can create a basic emergency management plan that defines what everyone’s jobs are.” Campbell said whoever is hired as the new coordinator will have to begin working on an emergency plan. “(Their job) is to start a plan, work the plan, continue the plan, revise the plan and rework the plan,” Campbell said. “This is a never-ending process.” Campbell said he thinks the community will be pleased once a full-time emergency management coordinator is hired. Whoever gets the job will create plans for the community to utilize in times of emergencies.

READ UPD, PAGE 2

Pet Fest celebrates animals, owners Kristen Lefebvre, Staff Photographer

READ THE FULL STORY, PAGE 4

Candidates debate environment, city’s future By Andrew Osegi News Reporter Candidates for mayoral and city council seats met at the San Marcos Activity Center Oct. 4 to face off in the Council of Neighborhood Associations’ debate. San Marcos citizens gathered to question candidates about neighborhood development, environmental issues, green space conservation and the future of the city. Mayoral incumbent Daniel Guerrero debated with challenger Thom Prentice. Councilmember Shane Scott, Place 6, and challenger Greg Frank debated with Place 5 write-in candidate Melissa Derrick because Place 5 incumbent Ryan Thomason was absent from the event. During the mayoral debate, Guerrero opened by proclaiming his responsibility to San Marcos is to be a moderator and listener for his constituents. Prentice began by passing around pictures of Earth’s atmosphere to the audience, outlining his stance on the

READ DEBATE, PAGE 2

Carlos Valdez, Assistant Photo Editor

Thom Prentice, mayoral candidate, and Mayor Daniel Guerrero debate environmental issues Oct. 4 at the San Marcos Activity Center.

Hays County considers effects of proposed voter ID law By Natalie Berko News Reporter Local political officials are considering whether a potential new law could affect Hays County voters in the upcoming general elections. A proposed law requiring Texas voters to present a photo ID card at the polls was blocked in late August by a federal judicial panel. The panel members found the law discriminatory toward minorities and the poor. The decision stops Texas from implementing the photo ID card requirement under the Voting Rights Act. However, the state plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Joyce Cowan, Hays County elections administrator, said the county may implement a plan to provide assistance to those without photo ID cards if the law is passed. The county may provide transportation to Department of Public Safety locations, but

nothing has been planned since the proposed law was struck down. Shawn Blakeley, chairman for the Hays County Republican Party, said the intent of the law is to protect voter integrity. It attempts to ensure one person’s vote is not neutralized by another made by someone who should not be voting. Jon Leonard, secretary of Hays County Democratic Party, said it has not been established whether there is pervasive voter fraud in Texas to the extent requiring legislation of this magnitude. Cowan said there have not been major problems with voter fraud in Hays County in the past, but election processes are always changing. Leonard said he does not think it is likely the Supreme Court will make a decision before the November general elections. He said he does not believe the Supreme Court will uphold the law because it is a solution to a nonexistent problem.

Blakeley said the voter ID card law would not impact minority groups in San Marcos. He believes most of those groups will already have some form of ID card necessary to drive or apply for a job. Leonard, however, said this law would affect Texas minorities and elderly who do not have immediate access to places providing photo ID cards. “If you do not have a driver’s license and you need to get one, you may have to travel 200 or 250 miles to get an acceptable form of ID from DPS,” Leonard said. “(Polling sites) will accept a United States passport, but you cannot just go downtown to the post office to get a passport. It takes time.” Leonard said the law would place an undue financial hardship on a voter who has never had to have a photo ID card before, and that it becomes in essence a poll tax. In order to vote in Hays County, a per-

READ VOTING, PAGE 2

Vehicle hits crossing pedestrian at The Square By Megan Carthel News Reporter A car hit a pedestrian at approximately 2 a.m Sunday in The Square. Jack Baker, 24, was driving westbound on Hopkins Street when he hit a pedestrian crossing the street. Chris

Tureaud, sergeant of the San Marcos Police Department, said the victim, 23-year-old Chelsea Davis, failed to yield to a “do not cross” sign. Davis was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Charges will not be pressed against Baker, but Davis may be facing citiations, Tureaud said.

Davis was leaving a bar at the time of the incident, but it is not known if she was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Baker was not intoxicated. Tureaud said most accidents involving pedestrians downtown have been caused by citizens not walking on designated crosswalks.


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