VOLUME 103, ISSUE 16
www.UniversityStar.com
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
SPORTS | Page 7
OPINIONS | Page 4
Conference play begins: Texas State volleyball will start conference play Friday with the best home record in the Sun Belt.
The Main Point: Texas State dining halls would do well to partner with local businesses rather than fast food giants.
POLITICS
Place 2 councilman seeks reelection
Texas State received
in royalties from the CLC last year.
Special to the Star
Councilman Jude Prather, Place 2, is hoping to continue serving the San Marcos community by running for reelection Nov. 5. Prather, a Texas State alumnus, said his main goal if reelected is to continue improving the infrastructure of the city by keeping finances sound, increasing the quality of the city’s roads and sidewalks and continuing city development. Several entities have endorsed Prather including Protect San Marcos, San Marcos Neighborhood Pact and San Marcos Board of Realtors. Prather said his voting record on development, including his dissenting vote on Cape’s Camp, shows both his versatility and attention to the city’s natural areas.
It is currently ranked 68th in the CLC’s top-selling universities and manufacturers list. The University Bookstore’s most popular licensed items are rainbow tees. Jude Prather
“I take each vote case by case, and I do what I think will be wise for the city,” Prather said. “I’m not one to build apartments right one the river. The river is the soul of our city.” Prather said along with ongoing road construction, the city is working on other things like replacing piping. “Orange cones are com-
See PRATHER, Page 2
CONSTRUCTION
Overpass construction on schedule following environmental study By James Carniero
Assistant News Editor
Construction on the Loop 82 Overpass will begin on schedule despite the fact that environmental studies on the project took more time than predicted to complete. According to the project proposal on the Texas Department of Transportation’s website, department officials are working with the City of San Marcos to construct an overpass on Aquarena Springs Drive, also known as Loop 82. The overpass will be built over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, allowing drivers to bypass delays from trains, the proposal says. The goal of the project is to eliminate traffic and improve safety in the area of San Marcos, said Chris Bishop, public information officer for the Austin TxDOT district.
Madelynne Scales | Staff Photographer
$258,166.90
By Alexis De La Garza
of time was because the San Marcos River is an environmentally sensitive area containing critical habitats, so extra precautions were taken. Bishop said TxDOT’s previous construction projects in San Marcos were run with “due diligence” and have never caused any damage to the environment. Garcia said residents should expect to start seeing construction activity in the near future, but “full-blown bridge construction” will not begin until next year. The diversion of traffic away from the construction site will not happen until later next year as well, he said. Bishop said the estimated time for construction to begin is winter 2014. The construction will last about 24 months before being completed. The contract for the project will be “put out for bid” in May 2014, Bishop said.
University reaches all-time high in merchandise, licensing sales By Rebecca Banks News Reporter
T
he Colligate Licensing Company (CLC) announced Texas State ranked 68th out of 75 institutions on its list of top selling universities and manufacturers for the 2012-13 academic year. Bill Nance, vice president for Finance and Support Services, said the CLC rankings are determined by the reported merchandise sales from the university and different vendors licensed to sell Texas State products. The university received $258,166.90 in royalties from the CLC based on the amount of total merchandise sales last year. “(This year’s ranking is) the highest (one) we’ve had and I have been here 22 years,” Nance said. The CLC helps universities manage and protect its brand and logos on the market, said Bryan Miller, director of Athletics and Marketing and Promotions. The company works with vendors to permit licensing rights for logo printing on items. “Definitely the University Bookstore plays a role in that because they sell a lot of merchandise for the university and on campus,” Miller said. “That is just one retailer out of everybody who sells for us, so there is (also) Academy, HEB, Walmart and Walgreens.” The University Bookstore collected $1,302,918.58 in total
sales during the last fiscal year, which occurred Sept. 1 through Aug. 31, said John Root, director of Auxiliary Services. Miller said any vendor that wants to sell merchandise with the university’s logos will need to first become licensed through the CLC. Once a vendor is licensed, they are able to produce and sell items with Texas State logos through retailers and report sales to the licensing company. All designs by the vendors are also required to have approval from Miller and the licensing company, he said. “Improving our brand, increas(ing) enrollment, becoming an FBS program and working with CLC to increase the number of licensees and retailers for places that carry our products is probably the reason for the increase (in Texas State’s ranking on the CLC list),” Miller said. Root said an estimated $60,000 of merchandise was sold at the Texas Tech opening weekend last season, which coincided with the opening of the Strutters Gallery and the Fan Shop. “The Tech game last year had the most fans we ever had come to a game, so there was a lot of enthusiasm and that game alone is probably the reason why we had our best year (with the CLC ranking),” Root said. Miller said the university hosts events throughout the year to inform retailers of Texas State merchandise sales in areas sur-
rounding San Marcos. “We will work with New Braunfels—there is a Dick’s Sporting Goods that opened up there,” Miller said. “We work with Academy. There is an Academy location here, but there is also another one in south Austin.” Root said the Supercat logo is the most desirable merchandise as well as the “rainbow T-shirts” in the university bookstore. Students are able to select from about 32 different colors such as pink or green opposed to the traditional maroon and gold colors. “Students like simple (items,) and that shirt is just Texas State,” Root said. “It seems like they don’t like the things that are all gaudy—they just want it simple.” “Bobcat Day” and summer orientation are some of the University Bookstore’s biggest times for merchandise sales, Root said. “We had our best summer orientation this year,” Root said. “We had more student orientations, which gave us more opportunities to sell to more people.” The university sells more merchandise during the football season, summer and graduation periods compared to other times during the year. The university’s merchandise extends to every item that has the trademarked logo such as class rings, apparel, paperweights and mouse pads, Miller said.
RESIDENCE LIFE
Higher number of freshmen living on campus By Nicole Barrios News Reporter
Star file photo
The Loop 82 overpass will begin construction as scheduled in winter 2014. Environmental studies on the project began in August 2011 to ensure the project would not cause harm to the environment, Bishop said. The studies were completed last month and have taken longer than expected, Bishop said. Project Engineer Rey Garcia said it took two years to complete environmental tests for the project because of various government agencies the city must work with. Each agency has its own particular process for projects, he said. Garcia said the tests also took an extended amount
The “window” for preliminary construction on the overpass to begin is three months after May 1, 2014, Garcia said. Bishop said the estimated construction cost for the overpass will be $2 to $3 million. Garcia said the city’s financial contribution to the overpass construction is still being negotiated, but will probably be a small percentage of the total funds required. He said the final costs will “hopefully” become available to the public within the next couple of months.
See OVERPASS, Page 2
As enrollment continues to rise, the number of freshmen living in dorms has grown as well, with an increasing amount of local students choosing to live on campus. This year approximately 5,000 freshmen, or 92 percent of the freshmen class, live in residence halls, according to Rosanne Proite, director of Housing and Residential Life. Last year approximately 4,000 freshmen lived on campus, she said. “That’s just incredible numbers,” Proite said. Proite said for the last three to four years, between 90 to 92 percent of freshmen have chosen to live on campus. She said the percentage this semester is not a “record high,” but the number of freshmen students living in the halls is. Proite said the housing requirement states if a student lives within a 50- or 60-mile radius of the university with a parent or legal guardian, they are not required to live on campus. “And what we found is that more and more of our local students want to live on campus,” Proite said. “And we think part of that is both parents and students have begun to understand the benefit of living on campus.” Proite said Texas State requires freshmen to live on campus because university officials believe there is an “educational benefit to residing on
Star file photo
campus.” “They want our students to have that significant edge,” Proite said. Joanne Smith, vice president of Student Affairs, said parents have increasingly wanted their students to live on campus and take advantage of the resources available. She said the university tells parents that students who live on campus tend to have higher GPAs and better utilize available resources. Proite said students who begin school living on campus “persist all the way to graduation in larger numbers” than those who began school off campus. She said this is trend does not just occur
See DORMS, Page 2