WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2014 VOLUME 104 ISSUE 44 www.UniversityStar.com
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President’s special assistant retiring after 45-year career at Texas State By Nicole Barrios ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
PRESLIE COX STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Erin Cambridge, the only female cadet commander for AFROTC, poses Nov. 19 in The Quad.
Female student serving as wing commander in male-dominated AFROTC By Houston M. York NEWS REPORTER
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he Air Force ROTC wing commander at Texas State wears a skirt, heels and sometimes a “power bun” all while maintaining the responsibility, welfare and training of 75 fellow student cadets. Cadet Wing Cmdr. Erin Cambridge, environmental management senior, is the chief leader of the AFROTC. The program has 20 student cadets as part of the professional officer corps (POC). The corps is made up of upperclassmen who have completed field training. Only five of the 20 cadets are
female, one of whom is Cambridge. The remaining AFROTC is made up of freshmen and sophomores or the general military corps. Cambridge said she first considered joining the military at the age of 14 when she attended an awards ceremony for her grandfather, retired Col. David Cambridge. A veteran at the ceremony asked her male cousin if he would join the Air Force but did not ask Cambridge. “I was left wondering why the colonel did not ask me if I was going to join,” Cambridge said. “I was not offended, but I still thought I could do it,
Robert Gratz, special assistant to the president, is retiring to spend more time with his family, his Bobcats and his Spurs after a 45-year career at Texas State. Gratz’s career included working with five presidents, guiding the creation of six graduate programs, watching the development of Emerging Research Institution status and witnessing too many construction projects to count. He wouldn’t have wanted to work anywhere else. “I can’t imagine a better place to have spent a career,” Gratz said. Gratz began his career at Texas State in 1969 as an assistant professor of speech. He was promoted to associate professor in 1973, and in 1984, he became a professor. In 1973, Gratz became the chair of the then Department of Speech and Drama. Gratz taught undergraduate and graduate communication, speech and leadership courses. Gratz wishes he could have taught a class in one of Texas State’s large lecture halls. “That’s one regret I have,” Gratz said. “I never got to teach in one of the teaching theaters. That would’ve been fun. I never got to teach one of the really big classes.” Gratz became the associate dean of the Graduate School in 1975. He was acting dean of the School of Applied Arts in 1977 and dean in 1978. In 1981, he became associate vice president for academic affairs and then, in 1986, dean of the university. From 1990 to 2004, he
See AFROTC, Page 2
served as vice president for Academic Affairs and in 2000 was acting president while Jerome Supple was off campus doing research. Gratz became special assistant to the president in 2004. “Texas State was a university that was interested in moving forward from the time I arrived,” Gratz said. “The year I arrived, Texas State became a university.” In 1969, the university changed from Southwest Texas State College to Southwest Texas State University. “I guess I feel like ever since, throughout my entire history here, Texas State has always been in the process of moving forward aggressively to the next stage of development,” he said. Tamara Alejandro, senior administrative assistant in the president’s office, has worked with Gratz for over ten years. Alejandro said starting an administrator position and having a mentor like Gratz is rare. New administrators on campus go to Gratz for guidance, she said. “People flock to him because he’s very knowledgeable, and he’s always very, very generous with his knowledge,” Alejandro said. “Some people are so stuck on job security they want to hold what they know so that they keep their job, but he’s willing to share anything he knows with everybody.” Alejandro said Gratz’s positivity and humility made working with him enjoyable. Michael Heintze, associate vice president for Enrollment Management, has worked with Gratz for nine years and
See GRATZ, Page 2
Austin real estate group purchases Springtown Shopping Center By Benjamin Enriquez SPECIAL TO THE STAR
DENISE CATHEY ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
The developers of The Domain in Austin have purchased the Springtown Shopping Center in hopes to revamp the space. ume store when there was more (businesses) here.” Cantu said customer traffic is not as high as it was in the past, but the store still meets company expectations and has loyal customers. Bath and Body Works is expected to do better than before with more shopping options, she said. Gaby Springli, sales lead at Bath & Body Works, said she would be happy with more customer traffic. “I’m super excited,” Springli said. “I feel like it’ll boom and bring a lot more people in.” The center is located alongside Interstate Highway 35, making it a great location in San Marcos for those who want to avoid the “craziness” of the outlet mall, she said.
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University contributes $2.2 billion to state, doubled since 2006 By Nicholas Laughlin NEWS REPORTER The economic impact of Texas State on the surrounding community has more than doubled since the last survey in fall 2006, with an annual state impact of $2.2 billion. James LeSage, the Fields Endowed Chair in Urban and Regional Economics in the Department of Finance and Economics at McCoy College of Business Administration, authored the university’s economic impact study. The study has been in the works since August. The university released the new economic impact study on Nov. 18. The study measures pending by university students, faculty and staff. “I was surprised in the economic impact of the university in such a short period of time,” said Provost Eugene Bourgeois. “It more than doubled (from the previous study).” The university’s economic impact was $2.2 billion and created 29,000
San Marcos is an attractive place to live and work in a college town. If the trend continues with the upscale apartments and students willing to spend more money, the economic impact of Texas State University is going to grow.” —James LeSage, Fields Endowed Chair
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Officials with Endeavor Real Estate Group from Austin purchased the Springtown Shopping Center located off Thorpe Lane and Springtown Way Nov. 4. Twin Liquors, Bath & Body Works and RadioShack are currently in the center with a few vacant buildings where Target was previously located. Officials plan to revitalize the shopping center, said Buck Cody, principal of retail development and acquisition for Endeavor. “I think we envision it being a more traditional retail shopping center,” Cody said. “Our plan is to build something that serves the student body of Texas State and the population of San Marcos.” Cody said Endeavor officials will not rebuild the shopping center until they know which businesses will occupy it to better serve their prospective clients’ needs. The goal is to “completely stabilize” the center in the next 30 months. Cody said the Endeavor team is excited about the recent purchase and hopes to deliver. “We believe it’s the best large piece of real estate in all of San Marcos,” Cody said. “We hope it’ll be a great place to eat or to shop at.” He said the opening of new stores and restaurants will create jobs and lead to sales tax generation for the city. Lydia Cantu, store manager at Bath & Body Works, said she welcomes the change. “I’m looking forward to a center that’ll have more foot traffic coming through here,” Cantu said. “We were a higher vol-
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Tara O’Brien, Bath & Body Works sales associate and general studies senior, said she hopes Endeavor officials will do more than the previous owners did, such as fix the lighting in the parking lot. “It’s really scary walking to your car sometimes, and I hope that the new management will be able to make the shopping center a little more inviting,” O’Brien said. She said even the lights in the back of the store do not work at times. “There’s definitely loyal customers that come, but sometimes people don’t even know we’re here,” O’Brien said. “I think it’ll be beneficial to have other stores here because it’ll be good for business.”
Alex Barreto, computer science sophomore and phone repair technician at RadioShack, said, according to his manager, his store used to generate the highest revenue in the region for the company. However, things started to go downhill after Target left. “If they open new stores, we’ll start getting more business here,” said Barreto. “Business is below average right now and not doing too good. We’re kinda just forgotten about over here.” Barreto is hopeful for what the future might hold for the shopping center. “It’s gonna make a lot of people come in, more sales for the sales associates and more phones for me to repair,” Barreto said.
jobs in the surrounding community, according to the study, which measured data from the 2013 fiscal year. Of the $2.2 billion, $1.4 billion of the total impact is the result of direct, indirect and induced spending by the university’s students and visitors. The remaining $822 million is spent by the university and its employees. “The fact that it doubled within six or seven years is what is surprising,” Bourgeois said. “I think that is a short period to have our economic impact doubling.” The economic impact on Hays County from direct spending by Texas State, its employees and students is $1.1 billion per year, according to the study. LeSage said more students are choosing high-end living. “There has been a 30 percent increase in enrollment since 2007,” LeSage said. “From 2012 to the fall of 2015, there will be an additional 4,000 units with 11,000 beds in San Marcos.” Eight hundred of the units are still under construction and will not be completed until fall 2015, LeSage said. “San Marcos is an attractive place to live and work,” LeSage said. “If the trend continues with the upscale apartments and students willing to spend more money, the economic impact of Texas State University is going to grow.” Bourgeois said student spending created the biggest increase in community impact, partially because of the larger student population and local spending. “There is a big increase in willingness of students who are living off-campus to spend money,” LeSage said. The study is timely because the university has had “tremendous growth” in the last seven years, Bourgeois said. “The economic impact study is measuring a number of things,” Bourgeois said. “This includes the construction spending that has been taking place on the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses. We have hired a significantly greater number of faculty over the last seven years, and our enrollment has also increased since the last study.” The state of Texas’ impact numbers show the influence of the Round
See IMPACT, Page 2