Oct 1 2014

Page 1

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2014

VOLUME 104 ISSUE 23

D efending the First Amendment since 1911

www.UniversityStar.com

CITY

VIDEO

Football: Coach Dennis Franchione talks about the triple overtime win against Tulsa and the impending Homecoming game.

Go to universitystar.com

UNIVERSITY

Officials to use strategic growth plan with freshman Backyard gardening on rise as enrollment MADELYNNE SCALES PHOTO EDITOR

Over the past fifteen years, large-scale farmers have suffered from droughts, causing food prices to rise.

large-scale farming suffers By Alexa Tavarez NEWS REPORTER

M

any large-scale farmers located along the IH35 corridor have been increasingly affected by the ongoing drought over the past fifteen years, sometimes unable to yield their quotas during harvest season. The ongoing drought has strained farmers’ dependence on rainwater to grow crops, thus

causing food prices to rise. While the prominence of large-scale farming is diminishing, a new subculture of backyard farming is emerging in San Marcos. J.W. Ottmers, owner of Oma and Opa’s Farms, began farming in 1968 and currently grows 18 different crops on his five acres of land. “(Farming) was the only thing I knew how to do,” Ottmers said. “First I did it commercially, and then I went to the farmers market. I wasn’t happy with the

COUNTY

wholesale market. It’s aggravating when you’re selling jalapeños for a quarter and they turn around and sell it for a dollar.” However, water has never been an issue, Ottmers said. Ottmers uses drip-lines, small emitters with water ducts every eight inches, to irrigate his crops. “I get my water out of a well, which the state is trying to take away from me, and I told them it’s none of their business what I do with my well,” Ottmers said. The drought hasn’t affected

any crops so far, Ottmers said. However, the drought has had an effect on Ottmers’ livestock. In an effort to keep his livestock alive, Ottmers has had to buy hay and supplements. “This year has actually been a very wet year from an agricultural perspective,” said Kevin Adams, owner of Cascabel Farms. “The drought’s effects on municipalities has to do with over-pumping and overuse of treated water.”

See FARMERS, Page 2

UNIVERSITY

Commissioners debating Faculty Senate discusses going campaign signage at polls digital with course evaluations By Mariah Simank NEWS REPORTER Hays County Commissioner Ray Whisenant, Precinct 4, proposed Sept. 25 the number of signs posted by candidates at county polling places be limited during the upcoming campaign season. The regulation was not passed and is currently being reviewed by a group of officials including Commissioner Whisenant, Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe, Precinct 1, General Counsel for the Commissioners Court Mark Kennedy, County Elections Administrator Joyce Cowan and members from all three Hays political parties. The group held its first meeting on Sept. 25 and will reconvene in November. “Without any kind of a policy, most of the time the advantage goes to the person who is not willing to follow the rules as well as someone that is,” Whisenant said. “The thing about so many of these county voting locations, like Precinct 4, is that the areas are so limited, and a lot of the land space is taken up by parking and pedestrian walkways, so we have to consider that and do what is necessary.” The regulation is currently under review, and Whisenant hopes to see it

brought back to court for consideration as soon as possible, he said. “Hopefully by the end of the year or very early in January, we will be bringing a recommendation back to the court for consideration,” Whisenant said. “I think when we do that we will have followed as many points of due process as can reasonably be considered necessary.” Some residents spoke against the regulation at the Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, Sept. 25, because they felt the regulation would infringe upon their first amendment rights. “They swore an oath to uphold the constitution, and we have to hold them accountable to it because when they start listening to people who are established in politics, their morals start to fray, and they think they can justify new spending or new regulations such as this one,” said Will Taff, vice president of the Hays Constitutional Republicans. “Our job as informed citizens is to go to these meetings as much as possible and make sure they’re hearing our voices whenever they are trying to pass a regulation like this.” Jon Leonard, county chair for the Hays County

See REGULATION, Page 2

By Mathew Zuniga NEWS REPORTER University officials are advocating for end-of-course evaluations to be moved online. For the past five years, students have filled out the end-of-course evaluations on physical Scantrons. However, certain members of the Texas State University Faculty Senate are pushing for the biannual evaluations to be done online and no longer with pencil and paper, said Susan Weill, associate professor of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “I am pushing for the change in format of evaluation forms,” Weill said. “I am on the faculty senate, and I am advocating for it. I just think it’s the way of the future and we ought to do it.”

The Student Perception of Instruction, or SPI, measures a professor’s effectiveness in a given semester. The difference between this measurement and other student evaluations completed at the end of a semester is SPI's are required by state legislation and use the same five questions each time, Weill said. Most colleges within the university create and distribute their own unique evaluations with the SPI's at the end of the semester. The School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been doing its student evaluation forms online for a while now, but not the SPI's, Weill said. The school saves “thousands of dollars” by moving forms online. “There are a lot of reasons why I believe the SPI's should be taken online,” Weill said. “We'd save mon-

See EVALUATIONS, Page 2

MADELYNNE SCALES STAR ILLUSTRATION University officials are proposing to move end-of-course evaluations online.

Want to work at The Star?

By Naomi Lovato NEWS REPORTER Although university officials will not cap total undergraduate enrollment, they will use strategic growth to control the number of incoming students. The goal is to grow while still managing the influx, said Eugene Bourgeois, provost and vice president of academic affairs. No actual enrollment number targets exist, but there is an ideal, Bourgeois said. The university must continue to provide resources equally to every student. Fewer students were admitted this year than last according to the quality of completed applications because the university is growing nearer to capacity and the applicant pool continues to rise, said Michael Heintze, associate vice president for enrollment management. “It’s a matter of managing enrollment,” Bourgeois said. “That way, we can continue to offer all the educational experience for all our students, especially for our freshmen.” According to the Admissions office, 24,217 people applied to Texas State in 2014. Of those, 13,423 were admitted and 5,365 enrolled at the university. Although the university admitted fewer people, the school still experienced a 3.6% increase in enrollment. “There are a lot of freshmen, and it’s kind of obnoxious,” said Manda Wheeler, psychology freshman. “I don’t think it would be such a bad idea if they capped it. If there’s too many freshmen running around, they’re not going to have enough things to take care of us. We’re the future of the university.” Bourgeois said enrollment numbers affect the school. There are teachers who teach undergraduate and graduate classes, so keeping an eye on both of those numbers is important, he said. “I think in general, the freshmen class is just one part of our overall enrollment management plan,” Bourgeois said. “We also have to look at the projected size or target for our new transfer student cohort.” In 2014, 3,850 transfer students enrolled at the university, according to the Admissions office. The transfer student numbers have increased slightly, but they stay steady overall, Heintze said. University officials are trying to implement the Pathway Program, Heintze said. A portion of freshmen study parttime at Texas State and part-time at Austin Community College through the program. Students can live on campus at Texas State and take one three-hour course and the University Seminar class. Most of their classes are at ACC. Pathway students must complete their core courses and have a 2.25 GPA before they can transition into full-time status at Texas State. “A&M and others have had great success with this program, and we wanted to experiment with it to see if it would

See ENROLLMENT, Page 2

Come by 101 Trinity and fill out an app. All majors welcome!


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.