April 4 2016

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MONDAY APRIL 4, 2016

VOLUME 105 ISSUE 53 www.UniversityStar.com

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CONSTRUCTION

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Hays County named fastest growing in Texas

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By Bailey Buckingham SENIOR NEWS REPORTER @bcbuckingham

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GoFundMe page to raise money to grow their business. With little knowledge of where to begin, their courage in stepping out and talking to banks began to make business progress. The day they received funding, the building which formerly housed Los Cucos opened up. “Our dream turned really quick into a reality and our vision is to give that to anyone who wants it,” Henry said. They used the school resources to make personal experiences in the business world.

Texas State may be the Rising Star of Texas, but the university slogan can now be applied to all of Hays County as it is now the fastest-growing county in Texas. According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Hays County has experienced a 23.9 percent increase in population since 2010. There are now 194,739 residents in the county, compared to 157,107 in 2010. While Hays County holds the No. 1 slot for fastestgrowing county in Texas, it also claims the fifth spot in the national ranking. Laureen Chernow, communications manager for Hays County, said all of Central Texas is in a period of rapid growth, but Hays has been on an incline for years for several reasons. She said the county is a lovely place to live, but its economic growth also attracts residents. Texas State is another big draw for the county. “Hays County is also close to large cities such as Austin and San Antonio, but has a lower cost of living than larger cities,” Chernow said. “This attracts individuals who are looking for a lower cost of living and a small-town atmosphere that is not always found in the more crowded areas.” Chernow said the county has been taking steps to prepare for a growth increase for years by developing infrastructure such as roads, and updating development rules and regulations. Debbie Ingalsbe, Precinct 1 commissioner, said she has lived in Hays County the entirety of her life and has seen the rapid growth in San Marcos as well as the county over the years. Growth in counties can bring benefits and detriments alike, but it is the county’s job to collaborate in order to alleviate any issues that may occur. “With growth comes a lot of opportunities,” Ingalsbe said. “But with growth, there can also be factors that can be challenging for any city or county.” Ingalsbe said Hays County has worked continually over the years to ensure adequate water supply for the future. “Water is such a precious commodity,” Ingalsbe said. “Without it we cannot make it. This is one of the issues that the county is open to any discussion that will contribute to the conservation of our area and our natural resources.” The county has been very active in developing an on-

See BAD HABITS, Page 2

See GROWTH, Page 2

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UNIVERSITY

Quizlet users may be violating Texas State’s Honor Code By Richard Dray NEWS REPORTER @RichardDray

Students who use the popular studying network Quizlet could face steep consequences by unknowingly violating Texas State’s Honor Code. U n a u t h o r i z e d collaboration between students and use of university materials without the consent of faculty members are a breach of code. The issue lies in whether or not faculty specifically permit students to post returned class materials and assignments on Quizlet, said David Wiley, chair of the university Honor Code Council. “If the instructor is fine with the student posting all of (their) class notes on (the site) then there will be no honor code case,” Wiley said. John Blair, English professor, is not only okay with students using Quizlet, but encourages it. Quizlet allows students to upload questions and answers or terms and definitions to study using digital flash cards, games and practice tests. “I think it does help,” Blair said. “It helps them understand what sort of questions to expect.” However, Blair says if students are willing to study Quizlet posts, they might as well read the book instead. “I’ve definitely obtained better grades from using Quizlet,” said Ryan Pittman, geography junior. This situation is not always the case, however, as not every faculty member shares Blair’s perspective. If students do not know their instructor’s policy, they should ask before posting anything to Quizlet, Wiley said. “It is up to the student to make sure he or she understands the collaboration that is allowed by the faculty

See QUIZLET, Page 2

Texas State Student Dre enjoy hookah on March 23,2016 at Bad Habits Hookah Lounge

CASSANDIRA ALVORADO STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BUSINESS

How a college dream came true for three Texas State students By Bri Watkins NEWS REPORTER @briwatkins17

From full time students to dream-chasing hearts, three Texas State students turned their aspirations into a reality when they opened the doors of Bad Habits Hookah Lounge. Texas State seniors Taylor Henry (exploratory professional), Ericksen Stewart (management) and Ryan Castillo (management) met each other in high school, and are now owners of the newly developed hookah lounge in San Marcos. Bad Habits Hookah Lounge opened Feb. 22,

but its development was a journey which required hard work for these undergraduate students. Henry said their business started when they entered the 3 Day Startup program. 3DS is an event where students team up to pitch ideas, choose which idea they wanted to pursue and present their business plan. “This is what fueled us, what absolutely 100 percent made (Bad Habits) happen,” Henry said. Nobody ended up joining their team, but they did not let that stop them from working toward their goal.

CEO of Limestone Networks, Inc. Gary Kendall mentored them during this time by asking challenging questions. Stewart said Kendall’s advice motivated them to test the waters which led to the idea of catering hookah. Once the three entrepreneurs received advice from mentors, they presented Bad Habits to San Marcos for the first time at a pool party at The Avenue. From that moment, new doors began to open for the business as the students began networking. Henry, Stewart and Castillo created a

SCIENCE

Q&A with Dr. Kim Rossmo, Canadian criminologist By Rae Glassford NEWS REPORTER @rae_maybe

Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist who pioneered the field of forensic geographic profiling, and now works as a research professor at Texas State’s Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigation. Rossmo sat down with The University Star to talk about his experience in uncovering the identity of street artist Banksy, what geographic profiling actually entails, and the future of the field. Rae Glassford: A study was done by Queen Mary College of London in 2016, which used geographic profiling to identify Robin Gunningham, a probable candidate for being the true identity of the street artist Banksy. You were part of that academic team? Kim Rossmo: Yes, we

had one of the team’s doctoral students collect data on Banksy artworks in England, and we started analyzing those by looking at all the different credible Banksy suspects. The only viable candidate turned out to be Gunningham. That doesn’t prove that he’s Banksy, it simply provides strong evidence to that effect. So, he was a good suspect before; now, he’s a better suspect. RG: How long does it typically take to conduct a study of this nature? Is geographic profiling particularly timeconsuming? How much data, on average, do profilers have to sift through in order to find what they’re looking for? KR: The process of identifying the graffiti from Banksy’s website, and then visiting the location of each artwork to geo-code their positions, took time because it required the student involved to travel between London

JOSHUA CASTELLANO-DAVILA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Dr. Kim Rossmo, research professor, March 23, in his office in Hines Academic Center.

and Bristol. You can input all the necessary data into the computer in half an hour, so it’s quick. The software is much more tractable now than it was in the early days, because technology has advanced so far. Nowadays, you can run it all on a laptop. There are two forms of data. The first is input data, for

creating the profile. We recommend a minimum of five locations—for the Banksy case we had 140. Then, there’s what you want to do with the profile, which will depend on the case. RG: It was stated by the Queen Mary academic team that the purpose of the study was to demonstrate broader

uses for geographic profiling. Was Banksy chosen as the subject of this study because he’s a public figure, or for other reasons? KR: He was chosen because he’s a source of graffiti. In earlier studies done at the University of Maryland, we went to Turkey to look at the geo-spatial structure of terrorist cells. And one of the things we noticed is that there was a lot of antigovernment graffiti in areas where supporters of terrorist groups could be found. So we suggested that it might be worthwhile to compile databases on the locations of this graffiti because it would help focus prioritization efforts. So, the idea was that this study was an exercise in geocoding graffiti. What might analysis of graffiti locations tell us? From what we have seen, this method works very well in terms of making inferences about where someone

is living. RG: Which investigative challenges is geographic profiling intended to target, specifically? KR: Information overload. There’s something like a million people on the United States terrorist watch list, so it’s about how you focus limited resources. For example, the attack in Brussels—the perpetrators were known, but they weren’t being focused on. The degree to which we can develop evidence-based prioritization tools will allow intelligence agencies and law enforcement to know who to focus on, so that they can be more effective. RG: I understand that you have developed and patented a mathematical formula for geographic profiling? KR: Yes, the algorithm was the product of my PhD research. I came up with it

See ROSSMO, Page 2


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