LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
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TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS
www.UNIVERSITYSTAR.com
NOVEMBER 2, 2005
WEDNESDAY
VOLUME 95, ISSUE 29
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist discusses LBJ, Higher Education Act
A day for the dead Genaro Mendoza Jr., undecided freshman of Sigma Lambda Beta, displays information about Dia de los Muertos in The Quad on Tuesday. The holiday dates back 3,000 years to the Aztecs and is celebrated with lavish ceremonies honoring loved ones who have died.
By Jason Buch News Reporter A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer spoke to students Tuesday night to kick off the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson signing the Higher Education Act of 1965. “I think the fact that President Johnson signed the act here really speaks not only to how he felt about education but how he felt about the university,” said Nick Kotz, the night’s speaker. Kotz read from his book Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Laws That Changed America and spoke to almost 75 students gathered in the Alkek Library Teaching Theater. He also spoke about the HEA and LBJ’s other Great Society legislation and the effects they had on the United States. John Vasser, education professor and nephew of Kotz, arranged the event. “This was part of the University Public Lecture Series,” Vasser said. “It was just a coincidence that it’s part of the 40th anniversary celebration. That surprised me since the book doesn’t really deal with the Higher Education Act directly” Vasser said Kotz’s lecture tied in well with the The Common Experience theme for the 200506 academic year, which is courage. Courage was also the theme of the lecture. Several times Kotz said that it took courage not only for people like LBJ and
Adam Schoenky/ Star photo
Dia de los Muertos celebration honors those who have passed By Adam Schoenky News Reporter Students who witnessed two men dressed in black with skulls painted on their faces on Tuesday may have thought that someone was a day late for Halloween. In fact, the students, Isidoro Cano, history sophomore, and Genaro Mendoza Jr., undecided freshman, were celebrating a lesser-known holiday — Dia de los Muertos. The students, who are members of
the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, tied black and purple ribbons to a tree in The Quad. They also decorated a display that explained the tradition of Dia de los Muertos. Dia de los Muertos is literally translated as “day of the dead.” While the face paint and morbidity of the name make the holiday seem especially dark, it is actually a festive time when participants remember and celebrate loved ones who have died. The tradition dates back for genera-
tions and was celebrated by the Aztec civilization thousands of years ago. The purpose is to honor deceased loved ones and relatives by celebrating their lives. Dia de los Muertos was moved from early summer to Nov. 1 and 2 by Spanish conquerors, in order to correspond with the Christian holidays of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day. Participants celebrate by constructing See MUERTOS, page 3
King, but also for the people that followed them and followed their examples to bring about social change. Kotz said the problems people fought against in the 60s still exist today, but people do not always see them. He said at the time it was young blacks, not the leaders of the country, who brought attention to the need for change, taking to the streets to protest when that was the only option. “What will it take to lead you out into the streets?” Kotz said. After much prodding the audience finally responded to comments comparing the draft during the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq. Most people who spoke said they would serve their country under the right circumstances. One audience member told the people in the theater they should be ashamed of themselves for not being willing to serve their country immediately. She said women in Iraq wanted to fight for their country and for the rights they are denied. Cedric James, political science sophomore, said he had been offered extra credit in his philosophy class attend to the lecture. “I figured I’d come and get his thoughts and views on America and the political system,” James said. “Things got pretty heated in the end. I do believe in signing up for the draft for a just cause. People shouldn’t die based on lies, that’s not cool at all. What needs to change is a lack of respect for our forefathers. From See JOURNALIST, page 3
Electric rates to increase by 34 percent By Emily Messer News Reporter San Marcos citizens can expect a significant increase in their future electric bills. Effective for electric bills after Dec. 15, San Marcos citizens will see a 34 percent increase in what they pay for electricity. The Lower Colorado Advisory Board, which is the electricity provider for the City of San Marcos and other Texas cities, will increase its fuel and power cost recovery factor by $0.0164 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from $0.0478 to $0.0642 during 2005 and 2006.
LCRA voted on Oct. 19 to increase the rates for its wholesale customers by about one-third effective Oct. 25 in response to rising natural gas prices. That price tag will be passed on to people in San Marcos who pay their electricity bill. That means a person with a consistent $100 electric bill will see a $34 spike in their future bills. Dan O’Leary, city manager for San Marcos, said it is normal for organizations to pass their charges onto their customers as prices, such as for natural gas, increase. “They can’t just eat those costs,” O’Leary said. “Energy
prices have skyrocketed all across the board. “Certainly no one wants to see their electric rate go up,” O’Leary said. John Havard, marketing sophomore, is not looking forward to the climbing price. “I don’t see how it’s right that they can just do that,” Havard said. Havard said he paid $130 for his last electric bill and that currently not having a roommate makes paying the bill tougher. He said he currently turns off lights and items not in use to cut costs, but his heating and cooling is what costs him.
Havard said he would not do anything drastic unless his bill increased significantly. “I’d definitely go without heat before I go without (air conditioning),” Havard said. Management junior Neomia Adams said her electric bills during the past three months have been around $100. Adams said she tried to turn off lights and lower or turn off her thermostat when not in use, but she did not see a significant drop in her bill. “It’s too damn high,” Adams said. “It’s like this little city can
Spencer Millsap/Star photo To begin a week of events in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nick Kotz gave a lecture about President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s Great Society initiatives at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in the Alkek Teaching Theater.
See RATES, page 3
Express-News editor to speak about Latest voting tool to make casting ballots as easy as the click of a button search for missing correspondent By Eloise Martin News Reporter
“I was able to go out and reconstruct his life in a detailed San Antonio Exway,” Rivard said. press-News editor Rivard said at the Robert Rivard will be time of his disappearsigning and reading ance in 1998, True from his book Trail had just achieved of Feathers: Searchboth professional ing for Philip True at and personal success. Robert Rivard 5:30 p.m. on ThursHe was married with day on the seventh his wife expecting floor of the Alkek Library. their child. The book follows Rivard and True disappeared after venothers in their search for Ex- turing into western Mexico in press-News Mexico City corre- search of the Huichol Indians spondent Philip True after he where, Rivard said, he was able went missing during an expe- to combine his two greatest dition of the Sierra Madre. passions, journalism and the Rivard said his book began outdoors. as a way to describe the disap“His trip was part journalispearance and death of True but tic inquiry and part wilderness became a book about True’s sojourn,” he said. life. After his disappearance be-
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came known, Rivard traveled to Mexico with others in the hopes of finding True. Rivard said he had an obligation to participate in the search. “True was one of our reporters, and I was his editor,” Rivard said. Rivard also felt he would be of help because he had spent a great deal of time in Mexico and Latin America through journalism and felt he was well equipped in the area. Through researching True’s past, Rivard said he began to piece together the life of True and became fascinated with the many similarities he found between himself and the late reporter. Both had suffered abuse as children and became See EDITOR, page 3
By Suzann Torres News Reporter Casting ballots for the Nov. 8 election is a little different this year. San Marcos has purchased a new electronic voting device called eSlate, and citizens will cast their votes with it during the upcoming election. For approximately $800,000, San Marcos purchased the eSlate devices from the Austin-based company Hart Intercivic, said Hays County Election Administrator Joyce Cowan. They will be used at every polling station throughout the county. According to the text of the Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002, the act was created “to establish a program to provide
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funds to states to replace punch card voting systems.” “I think the punch card did its job and served the city well,” Cowan said. “But because of leg-
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islation, the switch to eSlate was decided by the city.” The eSlate devices are about the size of a clipboard and rest in each voting booth. After showing identification and voter registration to poll workers, voters are given a four-digit access code. After entering the access code into the eSlate device, voters can then begin to cast their ballots. Using a select wheel, “like a dial on an oven,” Cowan said, voters can navigate through choices on the ballot. By hitting enter on their selection, voters will automatically be taken to the next proposition to vote on. Voters get a review sheet before casting their final ballot at the end. See BALLOTS, page 3
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