THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 25
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POLITICS
Chalkboard Campus Tour starts at Texas State By Madison Morriss NEWS REPORTER @themorrisscode
Students scrawled phrases like “equal pay for equal work” and “legalize all drugs” on a board on Tuesday, using a piece of chalk to voice what they want to see from the next United States president. Party Politics partnered with Texas State’s Organization of Student Social Workers from Oct. 26-30 to conduct The Chalkboard Campus Tour. OSSW members set up a chalkboard in the mall between Alkek and the LBJ Student Center to give students the opportunity to write what they want the next president to do for the country. “Our goal is to get people re-interested in politics,” said Michael Hart, president of OSSW. “The whole reason that it is called Party Politics is to have ‘party’ in front of politics and make it fun and get people excited about politics.” Hart said Party Politics is taking The Chalkboard Campus Tour project to campuses across the country and Texas State was the first stop on the tour. The project is intended to educate future and current voters in a unique and interactive way so students can express what they want to see in the nation’s next president. Chalkboards, historically, are associated with education and that is what the group is trying to do— get people interested and educated again, Hart said. According to the Party Politics website, the nonpartisan organization is determined to unite political and sociocultural communities by providing entertaining platforms, formats and projects. “There is a lot of pessimism and cynicism that is surrounding politics right now and it is keeping people from being involved,” Hart said. “(People) don’t think that they have a voice, so the overarching goal isn’t to put what you’re interested in, but to get people more interested and re-interested in politics.” On the first day of the project, 600 to 1,000 students stopped to write on the chalkboard, he said, mentioning he overheard a lot of excitement from students. “Everything I’ve heard has been, ‘This is a super cool idea,’” Hart said. “You can see people walking by and they will kind of glance over, then stop when they realize what it is and they will come over to the chalkboard and write something down or stop to read it.” With the 2016 presidential candidacy race in full swing, students are analyzing contenders to see which ones share the same views as they do. Some students simply drew a check mark on the chalkboard next to alreadywritten issues they agreed with. Lexi Shorey, criminal justice law enforcement junior, said her attention is on Ber-
See CHALKBOARD, Page 2
The plaque to commemorate the Higher Education Act of 1965 signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, found in the Music Building. | Image courtesy of University Archives Pedagog online exhibits.
ANTONIO REYES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Fifty years of the Higher Education Act By Kasandra Garza NEWS REPORTER @KasGarza
President Lyndon Baines Johnson returned to his alma mater Nov. 8, 1965 for one very important job— to sign the Higher Education Act. Now, 50 years later, the Higher Education Act continues to give Americans the chance to receive federal financial aid in order to go to college which is something Texas State officials are celebrating this upcoming week. Margarita Arellano, chair of the planning committee and dean of students at Texas State, said the 50-year anniversary celebration will be Nov. 3-4. Before the signing, Johnson spoke about how the legislation would open the door to education.
He said the Higher Education Act would allow high school seniors anywhere in the country to apply to any college or university, regardless of financial status. “The answer for all of our national problems, the answer for all the problems of the world, comes down, when you really analyze it, to one single word—education,” Johnson said. Kelly Frels, student body president from 1965 to 1966, said he had the honor of sitting on the platform with Johnson as the act was signed. The act was signed in Strahan Gymnasium, then housed in what is now the Music Building on campus. “He came back to his university where he graduated from to do it out of respect for what he received from the university and because
of his rapport and relationship with the institution,” Frels said. Frels said during the signing process, he was able to get one of the pens Johnson used to sign the bill with. For Frels, the experience was a surreal moment. “It was absolutely amazing how he filled the room,” Frels said. “He commanded absolute attention and it was another one of those unique moments.” According to the university archives, Johnson began school at Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1927 and gained a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate in August 1930. During his college career, Johnson taught children at the Welhausen School in Cotulla, Texas. Jaime Chahin, member of the planning committee and
CRIME
DWIs take spotlight as Halloween approaches By Erik Kiluk NEWS REPORTER @ErikKiluk
As Halloween weekend approaches, so does the typical spike in DWIs and other alcohol related crimes. Local police have begun preparing for the holiday. Otto Glenewinkel, University Police Department crime prevention specialist, said the department expects the holiday weekend to bring an above-average amount of DWI arrests. “We are always looking
for DWIs,” Glenewinkel said. “It’s the nature of a college town, and they are easy to spot.” Glenewinkel conducted research in 2012 for UPD to find ways to combat DWIs. His studies revealed San Marcos as having the highest number of alcoholrelated fatalities per capita than any other Texas city with fewer than 50,000 residents. Bob Klett, assistant chief of police-operations at the San Marcos Police Department, said Halloween week-
end increases the demand for police presence. The local law enforcement agency will increase the amount of patrols on roads and in the downtown area. SMPD officers will be “vigilant” in their search for drunk drivers, and Klett suggests students do not take a chance by getting behind the wheel after drinking. Although police will be on the look out for drunk drivers, Klett said many of the alcohol-related arrests
See HALLOWEEN, Page 2
KAYLIN KING STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Staff reporter Erik Kiluk, mass communication sophomore, talks with Otto Glenewinkel, University Police Department crime prevention specialist, on Oct. 21 to find out what UPD will be doing the weekend of Halloween to prevent people from driving while intoxicated.
dean of applied arts at Texas State, said while Johnson was teaching in Cotulla, the school consisted primarily of Mexican-American students. “That’s where he began to understand poverty and discrimination and the implications poverty and discrimination had on the opportunities and choices that you had to better prepare yourself,” Chahin said. According to the archives, the former president said he would never forget the faces of the children at Welhausen School. “I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor,” Johnson said. “And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could
never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.” Chahin said the act provided financial resources for students to gain higher education, such as access to the Pell Grant “That is a very significant transformation because before that, the only way you could go to college is if you had money or if you would borrow,” Chahin said. As a result of the act, Title IX, financial aid and work studies became available to students across the nation, Chahin said. Mary Brennan, member of the planning committee and chair of the history department, said the act helped institutions of higher education build infrastructures.
See EDUCATION, Page 2
COUNTY
1115 Waiver helps fund hospitals in Hays County By Autumn Wright NEWS REPORTER @autumnwright697
The 1115 Waiver program has federally funded public hospitals in Hays County for the past five years and will most likely continue to after this year to pay for uninsured and Medicaid patients. HHSC has received federal approval of a waiver, allowing the state of Texas to expand Medicaid-managed care while preserving hospital funding, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission website. The program uses money from federal taxes so hospitals can manage to compensate for the millions of dollars they’re losing due to treating patients who don’t have medical insurance or Medicaid. “It’s the doctors’ and health professionals’ obligation to help these people in the community so they’re not going to turn them away if they don’t have insurance or the money,” Shell said. In order to pay these funds, each hospital gives a small percentage, which is matched by giving $1 for every $1.40 that is given by the federal government, Shell said. They are required to give quarterly payments during the year to continue having these funds. It has and never will affect the
citizens’ taxes or patients’ medical bill. “It is all from federal taxes that everyone in the United States pays for, but it will not raise the citizens of San Marcos’ taxes,” Shell said. Laureen Chernow, communications manager of Hays County, said the program is important because it allows local hospitals to use the funds as compensation for money that was lost. “Now we have doctors that specialize for illnesses like TB and other illnesses to provide that need for the community,” Chernow said. Chernow said this is the final year of the five-year project, but Hays County will not stop the funding and instead will most likely rearrange some small issues to make it better. “They’ve been having meetings with state and federal government officials to see what will change,” Chernow said. According to an article in County Magazine, the project had two main goals: provide supplemental federal funding to Texas hospitals for Medicaid patients and improve the health care delivery system for everyone. Texas submitted its extension request to the Center for Medicaid Services and the state requested to continue at the $3.1 billion in annual funding, according to the magazine.