September 21 2015

Page 1

MONDAY

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 14

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ALKEK TURNS 25 UNIVERSITY

LESLY DE LEON STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sept. 23 marks the 25th anniversary of Alkek Library. By Kasandra Garza NEWS REPORTER @KasGarza

Students can look forward to a series of events hosted by the university this semester in celebration of Albert B. Alkek Library’s 25th anniversary, as well as renovations for the future. Alkek staff will kick off the event-filled semester with the Book Pass Reenactment on Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. in the Quad.

The event is intended to recreate the symbolic move that occurred on Alkek’s completion day when the library was moved from the JC Kellam building to the newly completed library in its current location, said Joan Heath, university librarian. During the original book pass event in 1990, a human chain was formed from the third floor of the JC Kellam building to the top steps of the newly completed Alkek

UNIVERSITY

Coffee troubles brewing in the honors college By Lexy Garcia NEWS REPORTER @lexytg

An “existential coffee crisis” is brewing among those who rely on the honors college coffee shop for their daily dose of caffeine. The coffee shop, housed in Lampasas Hall, provides free caffeine for the university’s faculty and students. The honors college recommends consumers make a donation of 50 cents per cup of coffee, said Heather Galloway, dean of the honors college. Galloway said the 50-cent donation guideline has been in practice for a decade, but may now increase to 75 cents. “The coffee is here to promote interaction in the honors college,” Galloway said. “We hope we can continue to be able to offer that.” She said some of the funding issues derive from faculty members’ use of large thermoses to take coffee on the go as opposed to visiting the shop and enjoying a single cup of joe. “I think the crisis is people taking more than their share,” said Melanie Liddle, senior administrative assistant of the honors college.

“THE COFFEE IS HERE TO PROMOTE INTERACTION IN THE HONORS COLLEGE.” ­—HEATHER GALLOWAY, DEAN OF THE HONORS COLLEGE

Due to the looming threat of having to increase the suggested donation price or discontinue the coffee service all together, Galloway asks that students and faculty enjoy the coffee in “more reasonable” serving sizes. Galloway and Liddle said they both agree the goal of the coffee service is not to “break even” in monetary terms. “We’re providing a service (and) we would like to get some of it back,” Liddle said. “We use the funding to buy the sugar

See HONORS, Page 2

SAM KING STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The honors college offers free coffee to all students on a voluntary donation basis.

library, according to university archives. Four books were passed along the human chain that began with Jerome H. Supple, former president of the university, Heath said. She said the book passing signified giving a new home to the university’s library collection. This year’s book passing reenactment will begin at the plaza in front of Old Main, where President Trauth will

begin the event and commemorate its significance, Heath said. Heath said the celebration of Alkek’s 25 years of existence is a milestone for the campus and the library as a whole. “What’s most important about the celebration of Alkek is it presents a good opportunity to focus on the library and how central it is to the campus community,” Heath said. According to university archives, the library was trans-

ferred to 4 different campus locations, including Old Main, the Chemistry building, Flowers Hall and the JC Kellam building. These shifts continued from 1903 on, until the collection found a permanent home following Alkek’s 1990 completion. University officials decided to construct a building solely dedicated to serving as

a library after the collection maxed out the allotted space in JCK, Heath said. John Martinez, library facilities assistant, said he was shocked by the enormity of Alkek. “When you walk into the library, everything is open—it’s huge,” said Martinez. “That’s never been the case with JCK. It had low ceilings and was

See ALKEK, Page 2

CITY

Local poverty rates cause concerns amid growing student body, development By Kambiz Shabankare SPECIAL TO THE STAR @kambizshabankar

As San Marcos grows and continues to attract large corporations, some residents fear the economic disparity between the middle class and poverty will increase. Stephanie Foster, Texas State graduate student and researcher at the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center, said she foresees conflicting interests as development increases. “By growth in population, poor neighborhoods are starting to exhibit some sign of evolution,” Foster said. “The backlash of the development will make the

neighborhood expensive and then poor people have to move out.” According to U.S. Census Bureau, the average income per capita, in past 12 months of 2013, in San Marcos has been $15,916, while people in Austin have earned nearly twice their neighbor town ($31,990). In cities with comparable city populations, New Braunfels, with 66,394 people shows $25,584 for the average income per capita, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The percentage of individuals below poverty level in San Marcos from 2009-2013 was 37.3 percent, while 17.6 was the overall percentage for the state of Texas.

Foster said due to the surge in rent rates while average income remains stagnant, it is possible the town will start to attract people that can sustain a higher standard of living. So far, evidence supports her claim. According to a research by Eric Tang, assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, the population of AfricanAmericans in Austin began declining in 2010. Frank Arredondo, Place 5 city council candidate, said he does not deny the possibility of a decline of minority populations. He said city officials can try to deflect it through policy change. “We drew some attention

to San Marcos,” Arredondo said. “Amazon is coming to San Marcos, and other companies as well, but we need to make sure that this kind of development will profit all of our neighbors in San Marcos.” He said the university has done a great job of bringing awareness about diversity and tolerance, but the council holds some responsibility regarding the issue. “I am a Latino candidate, but I am not going to be in the city council only for Latinos,” Arrendondo said. “I know we have had some difficulties in the past, but we had a great progress as well and I see the future so

See POVERTY, Page 2

UNIVERSITY

New policy for teaching theaters to be implemented By Autumn Wright NEWS REPORTER @autumnwright697

As freshman enrollment numbers rise, university professors increasingly seek out teaching theaters.. Univer sity of f icials formed a committee to determine which core curriculum courses will be scheduled to conduct class in the theater facilities in Alkek, Centennial Hall and the LBJ Student Center for the next two years. The committee is comprised of several department chairs from the university, said Mary Brennan, chairperson for the history department’s

council of chairs. Teaching theaters for core curriculum classes such as English, political science, math and natural science are in high demand since they are required classes for freshman and will inevitably have more students per class, said Sheri Mora, associate chair of the political science department. Brennan said the modification is a small change from the original policy for teaching theater utilization. “Before (scheduling) was just up to the registrar’s office, struggling to kind of deal with all the different departments coming in and

saying their needs for the theaters,” Brennan said. Brennan said in the past it has been difficult for the registrar’s office to determine which departments needed a teaching theater’s capacity for their courses. “We thought the simplest thing to do was to modify the policy so that we could get the people who are actually using the theaters to make the decisions,” Brennan said. Brennan said the committee made a joint decision about which courses will meet in the teaching theaters for the next two academic years. Mora said she believes

teaching smaller classes is ideal from an educational perspective. However, she said hosting teaching theater size classes is more efficient and cost effective for the university. Smaller classes require the employment of more faculties, Mora said. Brennan said the committee based its scheduling decisions on which courses have higher student registration numbers and which teachers can handle large classes. In order for a course to be designated to a teaching theater, student enrollment

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