VOLUME 103, ISSUE 67
www.UniversityStar.com
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 19, 2014
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
PODCAST | UniversityStar.com
OPINIONS | Page 4
From the Field to the Fans: Odus Evbagharu and his team of reporters discuss Bobcat Athletics in today’s episode.
The Main Point: Attending galleries and exhibits of student artists is a great way to support the university.
BIRDS OF PREY Texas State loses to Rice 14-1 at Bobcat Ballpark
» Alexandra White | Staff Photographer
See Page 5
Junior Chad Young pitches against No. 11 Rice March 18 at Bobcat Ballpark.
TECHNOLOGY
Grande Communications beats out Google Fiber, AT&T as fastest Internet service in Austin area By Scott Allen
News Reporter
A San Marcos-based company has beaten Google Fiber and AT&T in the race to become the fastest Internet service in the Austin area. Google and AT&T were the main competitors last fall for fiber optic cable Internet in Texas. In late February, however, San Marcos-based Grande Communications threw its hat into the fiber ring and surprised Austin residents by implementing the first gigabit Internet service months ahead of its larger counterparts. Grande planned on joining the high speed Internet race all along, said Matthew Murphy, Grande Communications president. The company had to wait for the public to show interest before investing in the new service, he said. “We have always made a dedicated effort to have the fastest Internet speeds in all the areas we service,” Murphy said. “Once competition in the Austin area heated up, we knew we had to be nimble and do things faster and made a conscious effort to beat Google.” In total, Grande is a much smaller
ASSOCIATED STUDENT GOVERNMENT
ASG candidates no longer able to run on tickets By Payton Walker News Reporter
Students hoping to run for position in the Associated Student Government will no longer be able to run on tickets, leaving the duty of campaigning in the hands of the individual candidates. After last year’s candidates for president and vice president ran unopposed, members of the Election Commission implemented changes to the system, said ASG president Vanessa Cortez. Prior elections allowed potential senators to run on a presidential and vice presidential ticket. The filing deadline for those running for ASG president, vice president, senator or graduate house representative is March 21. Cortez said as a result of the changes, candidates will not be able to rely on a ticket’s staff to do their marketing for them, which has occurred in the past. “The T-shirts, social media and any promotional items is all done by the campaign staff,” Cortez said. “Now it’s kind of up to everyone to campaign for themselves.” In addition to recommendations from ASG’s members and advisors, the student organization enlisted the help of W .H. “Butch” Oxendine Jr., managing partner of the SG Consulting Group and executive director of the American Student Government Association. With only three percent of the student body voting in last year’s student government election, the change might engage the student body to vote at a higher rate, according to Oxendine’s recommendations. Student body elections will take place April 1 and 2. From October 21 to October 23, Oxendine evaluated the structure, strengths and weaknesses of ASG. According to Oxendine’s report, Texas State’s large student enrollment should allow for contested races in all positions for future ASG elections. Martin Gutierrez, business marketing freshman, said he hopes the modifications will lead more students who are active in clubs and organizations to run in elections. “It will also allow a more diverse group of voters to come out due to the necessary contact with the entire student body, not just a select few,” Gutierrez said. Cortez said she believes by changing the election process, more students will want to run for senate positions, and it will encourage the student body to vote in favor of their desired candidate. “I think this will help the underdogs,” Cortez said. “Those who maybe didn’t want to run because they didn’t have the ticket to support them.” Cortez said she will continue to work toward per-
See ASG, Page 2
Danielle Charles | Staff Photographer company than Google and AT&T with 150,000 customers around the state, according to a Feb. 9 Austin360.com article. The company plans to expand its gigabit service to the San Antonio and San Marcos areas, although no official timeline has been released.
“We are focusing our efforts on making sure our current 1G areas are receiving the best possible Internet experience,” Murphy said. “Then we will assess our expansion plans for other
See GRANDE, Page 2
Alexandra White | Staff Photographer Associated Student Government candidates are no longer allowed to run on tickets for elections.
FUNDRAISING
Alumni fundraising becomes focus after capital campaign ends By Carlie Porterfield News Reporter
The Pride in Action fundraising campaign may be complete, but administrators say they are using creative techniques to encourage new donations to the university . Pride in Action, a capital campaign to raise funds for the university, ended in February after eight years, raising $151 million in donations and pledges. The initiative surpassed its original goal by $41 million. Administrators have since put more emphasis on the call center to raise alumni donations in order to garner more money for merit scholarships.
The campaign began in 2006 and will continue to raise money for the university despite its completion, said Barbara Breier, vice president of University Advancement. “It’s created momentum,” Breier said. “We’ve raised over $60 million in the past two years of the campaign, and those donors are giving because they see the success of the university.” One priority for future fundraising is creating new merit scholarships to attract higher-level academics to Texas State, said Provost Eugene Bourgeois. “I think a number of new additional merit scholarships for
students, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level, will definitely improve our chances at recruiting higher quality students,” Bourgeois said. Highly qualified students help “raise the bar” in every course they take and improve the overall learning climate on campus, said Michael Hennessy, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, in an email. The school hopes to attract new students by reaching Tier One status, a designation awarded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Bourgeois said. “Now that we are an Emerging Research University, the next
step for us was to create a plan for research that would better position us for becoming eligible for National Research University funding in about ten years or so,” Bourgeois said. One criterion that must be met in order to be eligible for the funding is for 50 percent of the incoming freshman to have graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school class, Bourgeois said. “In terms of raising scholarship funds, especially toward the merit end in reaching out to prospective students, that will help us get to that milestone and push us over it,” Bourgeois said. Texas State is “competing” with
the University of Texas-Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston to attract those top-tier students, Breier said. The university needs to have the same scholarship funds available as the competing universities to attract those students. A focus on national media commercials will play a role in future fundraising at the university, particularly in reaching out to alumni. “We are trying to get an expanded media coverage,” Breier said. “There’s lots more we’d like
See FUNDRAISING, Page 2