VOLUME 103, ISSUE 21
www.UniversityStar.com
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 9, 2013
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
VIDEO | UniversityStar.com
OPINIONS | Page 3
Cyber Security: The annual Cyber Security Awareness Day is a conference that teaches students and faculty how to safely and responsibly use computers.
The Main Point: The decision by city councilmembers to cancel the construction of a roundabout at Hunter Road and San Antonio Street was a good choice.
COMMON EXPERIENCE
Former Congressman delivers speech on drug abuse, mental illness By James Carneiro News Reporter
Madelynne Scales | Staff Photographer Joycelyn Myles, elementary education freshman, studies Oct. 8 at Alkek Library. Myles is currently taking 16 credit hours this semester, which is becoming more common amongst other freshman this year.
PRESIDENT’S CABINET
PACE Center pushing freshmen, transfers to timely graduation By Autumn Bernhard News Reporter
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reshmen are enrolling in more hours of classes each week on average than last semester, which some officials attribute to increased efforts from the Personalized Academic and Career Exploration Center. Members of the President’s Cabinet recently discussed how the average number of semester credit hours taken by freshmen has risen 4.9 percent since the previous year, according to Robert Gratz, special assistant to the university president. While the typical semester course load for freshmen is 12 to 16 hours, Dan Brown, dean of the University College and director of the PACE Center, said the center is pushing a “15-4-1 plan.” The plan encourages freshmen to take 15 hours every semester for four years with the main goal of graduating. “Our priority dream is to help students attain an education in what they want to do,” Brown said. “We are here to help students navigate their path and get there the quickest way possible.” Brown said the price of attending Texas State rises about 20 percent past the fourth year of enrollment due to tuition and textbook costs. He said this is part of the reason
the center is pushing for students to complete their degrees on time. At freshman orientation, Brown gave a presentation that depicted the extra costs of staying more than four years in hopes of increasing the financial literacy of students and their parents. “I feel the increase (in average semester hours) could be accounted for (by) the PACE Center doing a better job in helping freshmen register for their classes and making them aware of what they need to take to get what they need done quicker,” Brown said. “Also, we have individual advising in the registration room to keep students on track.” According to Michael Nava, assistant dean and director of PACE mentoring, in the past two years the center has made critical changes that have contributed to the increase of freshmen enrolling in more credit hours. “Our peer mentoring has grown this year,” Nava said. “Eighty-eight percent of University Seminar classes have a peer mentor in them or students can request a mentor individually. The mentors are mainly juniors and seniors who give guidance in registering for classes and show the benefits of taking more hours.” Additionally, academic advising at the center has become more personal, Nava said. During orienta-
tion, each freshman was required to meet with an academic coach who provided a mock schedule showing ways to enroll in 15 hours of credit during their first semester. Joycelyn Myles, education freshman, is taking 16 hours of classes and feels she misses out on being able to join organizations because of the time she has to spend studying. Myles said she studies three to five hours per weekday and five hours a day on the weekends “I originally did not want to take that many hours, but at NSO (New Student Orientation) my dad heard the PACE Center was pushing for 15 hours and said I was at least doing 15,” Myles said. “In the beginning, I hated having so many hours because I had no time to do fun things, but now I am learning to balance my time.” Nava said PACE is not intending to tie students to a career but wants to help give them adequate information so they do not have to change majors their junior or senior years. “We wish to get freshmen to take the right courses for their first year, so they do not feel like it was a wasted year,” Nava said. “We want students to make connections in their future career, so they do not have to change their mind later in their college experience when it becomes a change by default rather than desire.”
CITY
Study to examine reclaimed water usage By James Carneiro
Assistant News Editor
Officials will conduct a Water Reuse Feasibility Study in the coming years to determine if portions of the city’s drinking water can be substituted with a reclaimed version to lower costs and help create a “drought-proof” resource. The $22.1 million study will be performed within the next two years in conjunction with Texas State and the Texas Water Development Board, according to Steven Jenkins, a representative from RPS Group, a municipal consultant agency. The purpose of the study is to extend reclaimed water service to the Texas State chill plants. The plants supply the steam, chilled water and electricity to the university. The study will identify other potential users of the service and project supply and demand for recycled water. According to an Oct. 1 city council presentation, the primary uses of replaceable water are in park and athletic field irrigation, manufacturing and cooling towers.
Certain thermal and chill plants at Texas State will hold the water tested during the study, Jenkins said. Once the study is completed, the city’s water will be substituted with its reclaimed counterpart in a series of expansion phases. The first phase will take place in 2015, sending reclaimed water to the university’s chill plants, according to the presentation. Phase two will take place in 2017, providing water to city and university parks and Texas State facilities. School, commercial and the San Marcos Gary ball fields will receive reclaimed sources in place of drinking water in 2020. The northern portion of San Marcos will receive the reclaimed water in 2035. A benefit of using reclaimed rather than potable water is affordability, Jenkins said. He said switching to reclaimed water would cost $1,083 for the supply treatment, storage and distribution of one acrefoot of water. The cost is $1,910 for drinking water, so switching would mean an estimated $900 reduction, he said.
Patrick Kennedy had much on his plate as the youngest member of the U.S. Congress at the age of 27. Kennedy juggled his responsibilities as a Rhode Island congressional representative along with his issues with drug abuse, alcoholism and mental illness during his eight terms in office. Kennedy discussed his life and advocacy for ending the stigma surrounding addiction and mental illness at a Common Experience event Tuesday as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Kennedy mixed humor with personal facts in his speech detailing his time in Congress from 1995 to 2011 and his ef-
Kennedy said it was “tragic” he was the only sponsor of the bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives in 2008 after being stalled in the Senate, he said. During his time in office, Kennedy said he plowed into a police barricade in D.C. while under the influence of drugs. He was forced to enter rehabilitation and word spread of the incident, he said. People from his district told him to resign, but he decided to stay in Congress, Kennedy said. When he retuned, members of Congress who had never spoken to Kennedy held a private meeting with him, telling him of friends and family members who had also struggled with mental illness and addiction, he said. Kennedy said the incident
Kathryn Parker | Staff Photographer Former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy speaks to students Oct. 8 as part of the LBJ Common Experience.
forts to pass a bill addressing mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, which he was diagnosed with. Kennedy said he felt uncertain when he first arrived in Congress. “I didn’t know what I was going to champion at first,” he said.
and support he got from colleagues gave him renewed hope for the bill. He said the bill was finaly passed after it was attached to a larger banking bailout bill. Kennedy said some members of Congress voted against the bill because conservative constituents did not see mental ill-
“(When) I got to put my name on that bill I was so happy.” —Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy
Chris Motz | Staff Photographer Texas State aims to use reclaimed water in university chill plants for a more cost effective cooling method for campus resources.
Jenkins said the study can receive funding from a variety of sources. The sources include the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and an Edwards Aquifer Authority water conservation grant. The switch to using reclaimed water instead of drinking resources makes sense financially, Jenkins said. “We’re replacing a source we get nothing from,” Jenkins said.
In his speech, Kennedy recalled his problems with drug addiction, which he was seeing a doctor for at the time. None of his fellow representatives were aware of the problem, he said, and was so afraid of them finding out about his addiction that he parked his car three lots away from his doctor’s office in Washington, D.C. Kennedy said he was able to begin coping with his fear surrounding others finding out about his addiction when he became the sponsor of a mental health parity bill. As part of the bill, insurance companies have to treat mental illness and addiction the same as other diseases, he said. “(When) I got to put my name on that bill I was so happy,” Kennedy said.
ness and addiction as a medical problem, but as a moral failure. The reaction from constituents convinced Kennedy to start advocating for those with drug, alcohol and mental illness problems, he said. Kennedy began his advocacy full-time and has continued his efforts since his term in the House of Representatives ended. Kennedy said he brings his message across the country and founded One Mind for Research, a program for people who suffer from brain disorders. He works with The Jed Foundation, which works to keep youth from committing suicide. “If you stick with it and put one foot in front of the other, you’ll find a whole new life,” Kennedy said.