February 18 2016

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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 18 , 2016 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 43

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GRADUATION

Extra commencement ceremonies scheduled to alleviate crowd density By Rae Glassford NEWS REPORTER @rae_maybe

Family and friends of students may not have to watch their loved one graduate through a television screen anymore if university officials decide to increase the number of commencement ceremonies. As the student body grows in size, so does the number of people attending commencement ceremonies. The overcrowding has prompted university officials to consider hosting additional ceremonies. “Overcrowding poses notable risks,” said Adam Rodriguez, administrative sergeant of the University Police Department. Rodriguez is responsible for coordinating all security measures for commencement. “We don’t want people sitting in the aisles, or roaming around or leaning on the railing areas,” Rodriguez said. “We want everybody who attends to have a seat, so that if there is an emergency event, it will be safe and easy to evacuate.” More students graduate in the spring but the December ceremonies for fall graduates are still large. University officials have added a Friday 10 a.m. ceremony in May and there are now six altogether. University officials are considering adding more ceremonies in 2017, Rodriguez said. “We try to be proactive, to anticipate things that may hap-

See COMMENCEMENT, Page 2

Sudent Body Vice President Candidates, Samantha Martinez and Holly Pavlicek Feb. 17 at the University Star Student Government Debate.

PABLO MEJIA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Election season is in full force after Student Government debate By Bailey Buckingham NEWS REPORTER @bcbuckingham

The Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates debated their stances and platforms, from student involvement and safety concerns to the possible increase in students’ LBJ Student Center fee, Wednesday. Senators Anthony Galo and Andrew Homann campaigned to win votes for student body president at the debate hosted by The University Star. Similarly, senators Holly Pavlicek and Samantha Martinez tried to win support for student body vice president at the event. Homann and Martinez, his running mate, agreed that boosting student involvement and attendance at sporting events will be their main objectives if elected to office. “My first order of business is to start increasing attendance at football games,”

Martinez said. “I would also like to increase the pride for the overall organizations.” Jocelyn Granados, political science sophomore, said she thinks the candidates need to focus on more important issues than raising school spirit. “I’m voting for Holly and Anthony because they are more relatable,” Granados said. “They actually seem like they care about the issues, and I feel like the candidates should focus (on) more than just school spirit.” In her opening statement, Pavlicek stressed that safety on campus is an integral part of her and Galo’s platform. Pavlicek mentioned that the implementation of Senate Bill 11, otherwise known as the campus carry bill, goes into effect next fall. “Some students are not aware of what the new campus carry law is, and what it means for the university,” Pavlicek said. “I think it is important to make sure that everyone on campus is

educated before it goes into effect.” If elected, Galo and Pavlicek said they plan to create a voluntary registry where students with concealed handgun licenses can register. The registry would exclusively be for the use of administration and the University Police Department. Galo said the registry would allow campus law enforcement and administration to easily and quickly determine who is legally allowed to carry a handgun on campus and who is not. Corbin Archer, marketing freshman, believes there is an issue with productivity within Student Government overall, and thinks Homann and Martinez have the plan to fix it. “I really like Andrew’s plan to kind of focus all of his plans and resources under one key thing, which will make for a much more productive term,” Archer said. “We are going to take time to meet with administration

so that we make sure that legislation will follow through,” Pavlicek said. “This coming year, we want to put Bobcats first.” Martinez said students can trust her to be a satisfactory vice president because she sets goals and reaches them. “We’re passionate about what we do and are always looking for bigger and better opportunities for Texas State,” Martinez said. Galo said he would pursue three initiatives if elected student body president. The first of the initiatives would be a Safe Ride Home program, while the second would be to work to get “small breaks” from Parking Services in terms of violation fees and zoning during finals week. The third initiative would be to get students involved in designing the LBJSC as it is renovated and expanded in the future. “I have been very passionate about this Safe Ride

Home program since my freshman year, and I think that we can make it happen,” Galo said. Galo said he envisions the program being run by volunteers, who are essentially an “external branch” of Student Government. “Texas State does not have the resources to have a program like that, and I don’t think that many students would even volunteer for this,” Homann said. “Our money should go to something that could actually impact students on campus.” When Homann said his main goal is to enrich school traditions and increase attendance at athletic events, Galo voiced his disagreement. “He is running for the wrong office if he’s concerned about student involvement,” Galo said. The debate’s moderators cited that from 2013-2015, only 2-4 percent of students

See DEBATE, Page 2

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Q&A with Anthony Galo, Student Government presidential candidate The Student Government elections are quickly approaching. The University Star spoke with student body president candidate Anthony Galo to discuss his campaign. Major/classification: Political science junior Anna Herod: Why did you decide to run for student body president? Anthony Galo: Because I don’t think we’re producing the results we could be producing as Student Government is a great organization. There are so many tools that are available to us that we’re not taking advantage of. I’ve been in this for about three years, and what I see often is that sometimes a student brings a concern to us, we take it to university administration, they hear us, they listen to us, but it’s not really acted on. We don’t follow through and that needs to change. So,

we’re putting Bobcats first. That’s what we’re doing and it’s important that we do that. It’s important that we listen to the issues, the concerns and the initiatives from students. That’s why I decided to run. AH: If elected, what do you hope to accomplish? AG: Three things—main initiatives. I want to ensure that we can get a Safe Ride Home program. It’s overdue. We have to face the reality. This is a college and in colleges all across the nation, there’s partying, there’s drinking. It’s the reality. And it’s part of the college experience, so we need to ensure that we are able to avoid a bad situation. There’s a lot of people who drink and drive. And if we can save a life, if we can save a DWI, we’re all for it. We’re going to continue to work with parking services. Tonight, I just voted for a reduction of parking fees for Texas State

students. Those are the small breaks that students need. We might not have any more convenient parking lots open, but we can find these smaller breaks. Making sure that during finals time, “Hey, don’t worry about parking. As long as you have a Texas State parking permit, don’t worry about the zoning laws or whatever.” You’re stressed enough. We’re stressed enough as students when we’re in finals season. So, we need to work with parking services and make sure that during finals week, hey, don’t worry about it. You’re stressed enough. And finally, I want to focus on this LBJ Student Center expansion, which students will have a chance to voice their opinion on that (in the election). It’s important that we do this now; we’re a growing university. Our population is just through the roof and if we want to accommodate for organizations and space

DARYL ONTIVEROS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Anthony Galo, student body presidential candidate, sits down for a Q&A with News Editor of the University Star, Anna Herod, Feb. 15.

that people need to meet or so they can enjoy their extra curricular activities, we’re go-

ing to do that. We’re going to work with Jack (Rahman), the LBJSC director, on ensuring

the LBJ expansion, should it

See GALO, Page 2

Let all of campus know about your upcoming nuptials by being included in the Star’s 2016 Bridal issue, hitting stands February 25.

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