Defending the First Amendment since 1911
INSIDE THIS ISSUE NEWS Pages 1-4 First Transit increases lap numbers during peak hours The Office of Auxiliary Services has added additional times to five major routes. Fewer faculty members taking developmental leave
OPINIONS Page 5
Letter to the Editor: President responds to open-door day criticism
TRENDS Pages 6-7 Ceramic artists display work at annual festival ‘Hide and Seek’ isn’t only game for children Powder Puff football teams compete for championship
DIVERSIONS Page 9
SPORTS Pages 10
Bobcats claw Colonels, Lions: The Bobcat volleyball team defeated Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana Thursday and Saturday. Women’s soccer ties for season title Bobcats prepare for homecoming against Lumberjacks
Today’s Weather
73°/50° Sunny Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 56% UV: 6 High Wind: WNW 8mph
Wednesday Mostly Sunny Temp: 80°/64° Precip: 10%
Thursday
Partly Cloudy Temp: 76°/51° Precip: 10%
Volume 99, Issue 26
27
TUESDAY
OCT
www.UniversityStar.com
See the interviews with two San Marcos City Council Place 6 candidates at UniversityStar.com
Early voting has low turnout By Chase Birthisel Assistant News Editor Early voting in San Marcos has had a low turnout, said Hays County elections administrator Joyce Cowan. Texas State held early voting Wednesday through Thursday in the LBJ Student Center. Cowan said the number of votes cast at Texas State, which has a student body of more than 30,000 people, on those days were 55 and 76, respectively. She said for the first-four days of early voting 488 people casted ballots in San Marcos. San Marcos voters are choosing City Council Members in Place 5 and Place 6. Eleven proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution are also on the ballot. Cowan said the 11 proposed amendments are not bringing voters to the polls. The propositions most likely to bring voters are 2 and 3, which involve property tax, she said. Cowan said she is slightly critical of candidates running for election. “With six candidates and 488 votes,” Cowan said, “that is like 70 or 80 people each one of them could have brought out. That’s not a lot.” ASG President Chris Covo said the student government did not arrange an early voter registration drive like in years past because of midterms and other obligations. He said elections immediately after a
Ben Rondeau/ Star photo EMPTY VOTING LINES: The early voting lines were short Thursday in the LBJ Student Center. Out of the thousands of students registered to vote, only a small percentage cast a vote on campus for early elections.
presidential election tend to dramatically decrease in number of voters. “Candidates understand that, and that is just the way it
is,” Covo said. Covo said the candidates have been visible in the city through debates and talking to students. He said voter fatigue
is often the reason for the low outcome. “We’re going to be working through homecoming,” Covo said. “Hopefully we’ll get more
students registered and to vote in the general election.”
By Billy Crawford News Reporter
said. “We currently have a strategy in place to be able to give $150,000 each year in scholarships by 2012.” Currently, Stelos Alliance offers scholarships of $5,000 and $1,000. Stelos Alliance will look to hold fundraising concerts and other events to increase the amount of each scholarship to $15,000 annually. The idea for Stelos Alliance began in 1988, when a memorial scholarship was started in the honor of Bill Hogue, a friend of both Poston and Keller who was killed in Austin weeks after his graduation. “For nearly 20 years Bill (Poston) headed the Hogue Memorial Scholarship by himself,” Keller said. “And then one day we got together and said ‘You know, this isn’t enough. We can do more,’ and so Stelos Alliance was born.” The scholarships that Stelos Alliance offers are directed toward students who are already
enrolled and have proven themselves to be active within the student body and community, unlike other scholarship organizations on campus. “We know there are students out there with a capacity for leadership that need financial aid in order to be a leader on campus,” Poston said. “I would hate to see someone not be able to be a leader because of financial constraints.” Poston said he could relate. While attending Southwest Texas State, Poston worked the graveyard shift in a hotel to pay his tuition. “I believe the leadership experiences I had when on campus provided me with opportunities after graduation that I wouldn’t have enjoyed otherwise,” Poston said. “That’s the sort of experience that we want to be able to support for students today.”
By Lori Jones News Reporter
make sure that there is a philanthropy program up and going and that the officers in place are doing their job.” The requirements include each member maintain at least a 2.25 GPA. The PIKE fraternity has a 2.80 GPA average said Alistair Laing, PIKE public relations head and management sophomore. “Normally, we do an event once each semester,” Laing said. “We’re trying to give back to the community.” Laing said each member “must get” 20-service hours. The PIKE fraternity members are holding a basketball tournament to raise money for muscular dystrophy Nov. 6 in the Student Recreation Center. Laing said the organization adopted a highway and will participate in a cleanup day in November.
see VOTING, page 4
SMPD hinders Stelos Alliance offers scholarships, trust with students, opportunites to student leaders ASG leaders say By Bianca Davis News Reporter
A bill was read stating the disapproval of recent San Marcos Police Department actions at Monday’s ASG meeting. Sen. Matthew Posey, political science senior, authored the bill to show public disapproval of the city’s decision to allow film crews of the upcoming G4 show Campus PD to accompany ride-alongs with the San Marcos Police Department. Posey said SMPD did not properly inform the public prior to allowing the filming. He said students informed him there were cops with cameras, and upon further investigation, discovered no one within the university knew anything about it. “There was very little information disseminated to the university and it was just an act by San Marcos Police De-
partment,” Posey said. “It was an act made without any consultation with the university whatsoever.” ASG President Chris Covo said members of Achieving Community Together should have informed university officials. Not informing the university, he said, goes against what ACT represents. “They knew this was going on and they never told anyone,” Covo said. “No university officials, no UPD officers, no students. That doesn’t coincide with what we’re trying to do with Achieving Community Together and with the community and the relationship we’re tying to build.” Posey said the decision not to communicate with the university hinders the bond A.C.T. is trying to create. “To go out and do this sort of thing really hurts our trust with the city,” Posey said. “A lot
Gordon Taylor assumes many roles. He is the founder of a new student organization, the chief of staff for the Associated Student Government as well as a member of Student Foundation and Black Student Alliance. Taylor’s multiple leadership roles, however, might not have been possible were it not for a gift he received last spring. Taylor received a scholarship from a non-profit organization started by Texas State alumni. Bill Poston and Melinda Keller started Stelos Alliance in June 2008 with the intention of offering 10 full-year scholarships to Texas State student leaders. “Our mission is to support exceptional student leaders and make it easier for them to pay for their education,” Keller
see ALLIANCE, page 4
Pi Kappa Alpha members closer to IFC charter A former Texas State fraternity expects to complete the colonization process early next semester after a five-year suspension for hazing. The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, also known as PIKE, completed two of three phases in the process of obtaining a charter. “We are not considered initiated members,” said PIKE President Myles Burnett, history senior. “As soon as we finish phase three, we will be considered official Pi Kappa Alpha members.” The national chapter will recognize the PIKES when they finish phase three and attain a charter, Burnett said. “The phases are more of a checklist to make sure we’re Allie Moncrief/Star photo doing everything right,” Burnett said. “Phase three is a THEY’RE BACK: Members of Pi Kappa Alpha performed at the Oct. 20 Homecoming talent show on. lot of paper work. We have to
see FRATERNITY, page 4