April 7 2016 by The University Star

2 | Thursday, April 7, 2016

NEWS TUITION,

The University Star Anna Herod, News Editor @annaleemurphy starnews@txstate.edu

UniversityStar.com @universitystar

from front

“I think when most people hear about tuition increases, the assumption is that we’re on a spending spree,” Algoe said. “And (they think the) reason we need more money is because we spend more.” Algoe said universities have to consider inflation, as goods and services will cost more next year than they did the previous year.

RECOVERY, velopment. The team had plans to return in March, but discovered they would be receiving a $25 million Community Development Block Grant just a week before departing. “It’s almost unheard of to get that kind of allocation,” said Councilman John Thomaides, Place 3. “We’d had our fingers crossed, but very unexpected.” However, it could take several months to a year before the money is made available. The upcoming meetings are part of several requirements the city must follow in order to use the allocated funds. “What we’re trying to do with these grants—what it’s really intended for, is resiliency,” said Kristi Wyatt, director of communications and intergovernmental relations for San Marcos. “The idea is to create projects that will prevent this from happening again.” The first meeting will take place at Hill Country Church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the second gathering will occur from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Fire Station 5. Wyatt said both locations are near areas that flooded in the Memorial Day weekend and Hallow-

The decision between cutting back on services for students or offsetting losses with increased tuition is not always an easy one to make. This generation has seen increases in tuition because the general taxpaying population is paying less while students pay more, Algoe said. Multiple factors can account for why one universi-

ty may have a higher tuition increase than others. Algoe said the growth or shrinkage of a student population is a driving force, as well as whether or not the school is trying to achieve a higher research status. It can also depend on other funding channels. Texas lawmakers are trying to come together and give tuition-setting author-

ity back to the legislature. “This is one issue it appears has united many Democrats and Republicans,” Ellis stated in an email. “Tuition deregulation has backfired, and now we have seen the cost of public higher education more than double since 2003.” Ellis introduced Senate Bill 255 in the last legisla-

RESEARCH,

from front een floods, which is why they were chosen. Wyatt said 800 residents were affected in May. The number of victims rose to over 1,000 during the October flood, and some were hit twice. City officials want to hear from citizens with unmet needs regarding flood recovery. Wyatt said the Blanco River Regional Recovery Team will attend the meetings to discuss services they provide such as emotional support and volunteers. “What we hope is that there is two-way communication,” Thomaides said. “Not just the city to the residents, but residents to the city. What I hope is the residents walk away from this knowing how committed the city is to fixing it forever.” Meetings will be streamed live on the San Marcos website, allowing those who cannot attend to ask questions online. Wyatt said plans to minimize future water damage include buyouts. New construction would not be allowed in certain neighborhoods, lifting homes so they are out of harm’s way and working to change the flow of the river. Thomaides said there

is a proposed engineering project that would create a bypass channel for the Blanco River, allowing some of the water to flow through different routes when necessary. Although a great amount of work has been done to repair the damages caused by the 2015 floods, Hays County residents are still feeling the effects. “I would tell you that a lot of the community is still suffering from (posttraumatic stress disorder),” said Richard Duggan, Wimberley resident. “I think it’s going to be a very long time before they heal.” Duggan’s home was not severely damaged, but he said neighbors close by saw eight feet of water in their homes. Although they had certification stating they were above the floodplain, many had to evacuate and rebuild their properties. In the Memorial Day weekend flood, 400 homes were damaged or completely destroyed along with 12,000 cypress trees, Duggan said. “The community responded better than any (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) had seen,” Duggan said.

“We receive lots of applications from a narrow range of departments, such as engineering, physical science, biology, etc.,” said Mike Blanda, assistant vice president for Research & Federal Relations. Blanda said officials want those majors to apply for money from the fund, but also want to see an increase of applications from art, business administration, agriculture students and any other major. “S.U.R.F. is open to all disciplines, so we would like to see a well-rounded representation of everything the university has to offer,” Blanda said. Some university officials have speculated the lack of awareness of the program in the student body could be attributed to the unexpected death of John Hood, who played an integral role in launching the program. “He was a true champion of the program, and his passing is part of the reason why I believe general awareness of the program is not as high as it should be,” Blanda said. “I had an idea for an undergrad research program for years, but it was John who helped the Honors College launch it and make it a reality.” Hood was instrumental in organizing the S.U.R.F. program in its infancy. His

tive session, which he said would have capped tuition at the amount charged during the 2015-2016 school year and returned regulatory authority to set tuition rates to the legislature. “I wanted a commonsense way to slow down the incredible growth in tuition over the past 13 years,” he said. Schwertner also intro-

duced a bill that would keep tuition increases in check. The bill would have allowed tuition and fees to increase only at the rate of inflation and it would have given students some certainty. Both senators’ bills failed. “It can be changed. It should be changed,” Schwertner said. “And I’m going to keep fighting for it.”

from front interest in the program began when he was employed as the undergraduate research coordinator for the Honors College, Galloway said. The S.U.R.F. program began with a grant Hood and Galloway submitted to an outside private foundation called Mind Science, which showed an interest in cognitive and neurological aspects of research. By now, the program has grown to include financial support from the Provost’s Office, which supports worthy projects from all disciplines, as well as from the Office for Research and Federal Relations. Other contributions come from sources including the 3-M Foundation, which has made an additional donation for a small endowment of $25,000 to help fund student research, Galloway said. Additionally, the individual colleges all contribute funding, though theirs is restricted to students from their college. “Currently, the funding rate for proposals is relatively high because the submission rate is low,” Blanda said. He said the S.U.R.F. program has the potential to add great value to a student’s educational experience at Texas State. “It offers opportunities to work in a team setting and mentor situation, gives students the chance to work on relevant projects and problems specific to their majors, and gives firsthand experience in what it takes to conduct funded research,” Blanda said. Although S.U.R.F. proposals are submitted to and processed by the Honors College, students are not required to belong to the college in order to receive funding. “It’s simply for those who need a way to pay expenses related to their research,” Galloway said. According to the limitations of the S.U.R.F. fund, travel to conduct research is covered. However, travel to conferences in order to present any findings is not. One former student used the money to partially fund

a research trip to Iceland. Another used it to fly to Romania in order to study post-Communist redevelopment. “If you look at which departments are represented by the current grants, they’re very science-heavy,” Galloway said. “One of the things we’d like to see is a broad range of students from a wide variety of disciplines engaging in research and applying for these grants.” Although each grant is limited to a $1,000 maximum, the money can be used to do almost anything. For istance, if a student uses the grant to buy equipment they may need for their research, the equipment belongs to the school after the end of the student’s research. After the research is completed, the equipment can be used at the convenience of other students who may need to conduct similar research in the future. Even so, the lack of student awareness regarding S.U.R.F. has prompted faculty and administration to re-strategize and invent new ways of publicizing the program. “There are number of things that we can do to increase participation,” said Ron Haas, a history professor involved in the Honors College. “We need to work on fostering a community of involvement—research is a social practice; it’s more than just sitting alone at a desk. We need centralized ways to inform students of the opportunities available to them.” Poster campaigns have been used in the past, Galloway said, but none have been launched this year. Blanda proposed S.U.R.F. should be discussed during orientation so students will be aware of the program from the moment they enroll. “It’s this incredible mechanism for undergrads to participate in a research enterprise,” Blanda said. “This culture of discovery and learning we’re nurturing here at Texas State should cover all aspects of the academy.”

ANTONIO REYES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The Ingram School of Engineering continues to do research in the labs of Roy F. Mitte.

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