VOLUME 103, ISSUE 60
www.UniversityStar.com
TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 25, 2014
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
VIDEO | UniversityStar.com
OPINIONS | Page 4 The Main Point: Students and residents will finally be able to rest easy without the blaring of train horns .
Pete and Megan Thompson recently opened their business, The Hungry Gamer, which they say is an alternative to the bar scene at The Square.
OUT
OF THE
PARKING
Special event visitors to be charged $5 parking garage fee
PARK The Texas State baseball team came away with a three-game sweep at Bobcat Ballpark against California-Riverside over the weekend, improving its record to 5-2 on the season.
Cory Geisler,
sophomore outfielder Allison Brouillette | Photo Editor
Page 7
Fees are expected to take effect for the Edward Gary Street Parking Garage and LBJ Student Center Parking Garage.
By Rebecca Banks News Reporter
Parking Services will implement a new fee in specific garages for community special events to raise revenue from attendees and the university department sponsors. The special parking fee will be $5 per car in both the LBJ Student Center Parking Garage and Edward Gary Street Parking Garage next to the Performing Arts Center during events. The department holding an event will have the option to either pay for the fees or have its guests pay in cash, said Nancy Nusbaum, interim director of Transportation Services. Parking Services officials are currently working to update the department’s University Policy and Procedure Statements, which will include procedures for the fee, Nusbaum said. “We’ve got first aid classes, job fairs and different things like that where people are bringing
See PARKING, Page 3
FACULTY
TECHNOLOGY
Community honors late associate professor Free Office suite
offered to campus
By Traynor Swanson News Reporter
By Maggie Montes
A pianist played a jazz rendition of “Amazing Grace” as colleagues, friends and students of Sally Caldwell entered the United Campus Ministry-Wesley center Friday afternoon, setting the tone for the late faculty member’s memorial service. Caldwell, who was an associate professor of sociology, died Jan. 31 from complications of a double lung transplant last June. Susan Day, professor in the sociology department, met Caldwell in 1975 when they were both beginning their professional careers at Oklahoma City University. Day described Caldwell as the kind of teacher who often caused students to say, “I know I got an F, but I really loved the class.” “She was a professor who let students form their own goals—she wasn’t pushy or demanding, but she simply offered the possibilities for success,” Day said. “We’ll miss Sally. She saw teaching as a calling, not as a necessary evil in order to do more important work. Like all good teachers, she will and she does live on in her students’ appreciation and successes.” Geography professor Lawrence Estaville told his favorite stories about Caldwell and spoke of her two best-known published books, “Romantic Deception” and “Statistics Unplugged.” Estaville described Caldwell as a “fine scholar” and as someone who cared about her community. Caldwell was a political figure in Wimberley and involved Estaville in her initia-
An agreement between the university and Microsoft now gives Texas State students, faculty and staff access to all Office 365 ProPlus programs free of charge. Through the Microsoft Student Advantage program, the company has provided products to be used by the Texas State community, said Jose Rodriguez, director of Technology ResourcesBusiness Services. Because of these partnerships, the university has been allowed to participate in programs to offer Microsoft to students at no cost, he said. “The suite comes with all the essentials,” Rodriguez said. “We find that for most students, this is more than sufficient to what they need for their studies.” According to a Microsoft News Center article, Office 365 ProPlus includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and other applications that can be installed on up to five devices. Students will be able to access assignments in shared spaces and synchronize notes. Students can access the link to download the programs on the ITAC website, Rodriguez said. “We as a university, more specifically our vice president, Dr. (Van) Wyatt, work closely with these corporations to be able to bring in these kinds of programs to our students,” Rodriguez said. “We always continue to ask what is out there that we can provide for our students.” The programs will help prepare students for future careers by providing software experience before entering the job market, Rodriguez said. “We know that Microsoft Office and some of their other tools are certain requirements that are needed in certain positions,” Rodriguez said. Suparno Banerjee, English assistant professor, said the free Microsoft Word is very beneficial to students. “I think Microsoft Word is the most userfriendly word processor, so students’ access to such a software is necessary,” Banerjee said. “It is an essential higher education tool, especially for students composing longer documents.” Mackenzie Belcher, education freshman, heard about the new offer through a campus-wide email. “Most college students are on budget, so to be able to save about $80 on something as needed as Microsoft Office is pretty great,” Belcher said.
News Reporter
Allison Brouillette | Staff Photographer A memorial service was held Feb. 21 in honor of Sally Caldwell, sociology associate professor, at The United Campus Ministry-Wesley. tives, he said. “Sally Caldwell is irreplaceable,” Estaville said. “Sally Caldwell was a high intellect. She had a fantastic humor and could make anybody laugh— and she did, a lot. But the most important thing about Sally is that she was a person of unwavering integrity.” Est aville recently announced plans to establish an undergraduate scholarship for the Department of Sociology in honor of Caldwell. The Texas State University Development Foundation requires at least $25,000 in order to establish a scholarship fund, Estaville said. One sociology student could be awarded a $1,000 scholarship each year. “Susan (Day) and I think that this is the best way to
honor Sally at Texas State— to give back to the students,” Estaville said. “Because that’s what she did her whole career. The other day I said to Susan, ‘Hey, I’ve got $5,000.’ And Susan couldn’t be outdone, so she said, ‘I’ve got $5,000, too.’ We’re already almost halfway there.” Kelly Mosel-Talavera, senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, read comments at the service about Caldwell written by students and colleagues. Some students’ comments described their respect for Caldwell, and others thanked her for making them face their fears, laugh and love statistics. “I feel like I’m disproportionately sad about her death,” Mosel-Talavera read from a
student’s statement posted on Facebook. “We weren’t particularly close, but she had an undeniable effect on me.
See CALDWELL, Page 3