September 5 2013

Page 1

VOLUME 103, ISSUE 7

www.UniversityStar.com

THURSDAY

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Defending the First Amendment since 1911

OPINIONS | Page 4 The Main Point: New tailgate rules are counterproductive to a program that hopes to achieve greater attendance numbers and has bowl game aspirations.

2

ATHLETICS

Mandatory meeting ordered to address student lawsuit Litigation alleges wrongful scholarship amendment after basketball injury

DAYS ‘til KICK

By Taylor Tompkins News Editor

A civil circuit judge has ordered a mandatory meeting between a Texas State basketball player and university officials by Sept. 23 to resolve a disagreement surrounding an athletic scholarship, according to the athlete’s father. The meeting is being ordered by Texas Northern District Court Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn regarding an athletic scholarship of student athlete Basil Brown II, who filed a lawsuit against Texas State and the Board of Regents June 5, according to court documents. “I think that (the meeting) is going to be pivotal because we all have to kind of work together to resolve this problem,” Basil Brown I, the athlete’s father, said. Named in the suit are Regent Donna Williams, Chancellor Brian McCall, University President Denise Trauth, Financial Aid and Scholarships Director Christopher Murr, Athletic Director Larry Teis, Coach Daniel Kaspar, Assistant Coach Robert Flaska and Athletic Trainer Jason Karlic . The lawsuit addresses alleged unpaid medical bills and unrightfully reduced scholarship money, said Basil Brown I. According to a formal complaint sent by Basil Brown II’s parents to Trauth, the athlete sustained an injury to his groin during a mandatory open gym event in 2012. Karlic allegedly told Basil Brown II he could have incurred the injury through a sexually transmitted infection.

OFF Get the PREVIEW

PAGE 6

Breanna Baker | Star illustrator

UNIVERSITY

Regents approve art history bachelor’s degree program By Nicole Barrios News Reporter

Texas State art students will have the opportunity to pursue a new major in the College of Fine Arts and Communication in spring 2013 if proper approval is granted by the end of this semester. A Bachelor of Arts degree in art history through the School of Art and Design was approved by the Texas State University System Board of Regents during an Aug. 15 meeting and is awaiting approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Erina Duganne, associate professor in the School of Art and Design , said the coordinating board should be reviewing the request to create the major this semester, but it may be a couple of months before it is approved. Duganne said she hopes the major will be approved by the coordinating board before the end of the fall semester, and should be available by spring 2013. Duganne said she has worked toward creating the major since fall 2006, and had to demonstrate a need for the program and justify its creation when writing the proposal. Duganne said many students voiced their “dissatisfaction” in only previously being able to earn a degree in art with a concentration in art history instead of having the opportunity to receive a degree in art history itself. She said this student input was the driving force behind the major’s approval, especially since the concentration part of the degree was essentially a major but did not look like one on college transcripts and to potential employers. “I’m really pleased that I could do this for the students and I know the students are really excited that this is happening,” Duganne said. “I think they really feel a sense of

ownership of this degree as well.” Duganne said there is no curriculum difference between the new Bachelor of Arts in art history and the previous concentration. Michael Niblett, director of the School of Art and Design, said if students are looking for colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees in art history, they will see it listed in the curriculum and may choose to attend Texas State over other universities as opposed to when it was only a concentration under the art major. “I think that will mean that we will have not just students who come here and discover art history, but we’ll have students who are seeking art history, so I think we’ll see growth,” Niblett said. Duganne said the bachelor’s degree in art with a concentration in art history grew by 60 percent from 2007 to 2011, and they project the program will continue to grow. Niblett said the Joann Cole Mitte Art Building, which currently houses the School of Art and Design, is “unfortunately” overcrowded. He said the building was designed for 500 majors, and it currently houses about 1,300 majors . Fortunately, the new degree in art history is designed to not require any additional specialized studio spaces but can utilize normal lecture halls, Niblett said. There are two classrooms dedicated to art history in the Mitte building that are also “first call” classrooms other departments can teach in as well, he said. Timothy Mottet, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, said within the last five years three art historians have been hired as faculty members, and approval was recently obtained to hire an additional faculty member who will begin in fall 2014. “Not only is there a student interest there, but the other important

piece is that we’ve got an art history faculty that is emerging and developing,” Mottet said. The art history major requires a “world class library, a world class faculty and lecture halls,” Mottet said. Since Texas State is an Emerging Research University, adding the bachelor’s degree in art history is a “building block” to becoming a research university and lays the foundation for a possible graduate program, he said.

“I think (students) really feel a sense of ownership of this degree as well.”

See LAWSUIT, Page 2 FACULTY SENATE

Administrators address Round Rock counseling concerns By Weldon McKenzie News Reporter

The university president and provost weighed in on a recurring concern about counseling services at the Round Rock Campus during a Faculty Senate meeting Sept. 4. President Denise Trauth highlighted recent efforts to further accommodate the increasing enrollment at the Round

ter at the Round Rock Campus. Barbara Covington, faculty senator and associate professor at the St. David’s School of Nursing, said there is a lack of services offered in Round Rock, most pertinently a dedicated counseling center. Covington said at last week’s meeting the level of stress in the nursing program is high and therefore presents a need for professional counseling advisors.

—Erina Duganne, associate professor Mottet said he has an interest in exploring the possibility of creating a master’s program in art history in the future. He said this is not currently on the university’s strategic plan but thinks “strategic plans can change.” Because of the quality of the art history faculty and growing enrollment, Mottet said predicts there may be an opportunity for a master’s program. In addition, Niblett said Texas State might offer a minor in art history this semester without the approval of the coordinating board since the regents have approved the major. “We’re pretty excited about (the new major),” Niblett said. “It’s an opportunity for scholarly study of the arts because most of our majors now are studio practicing arts so this is an opportunity to have some scholarly study in the school as well.”

Star file photo

Faculty senators discussed the lack of a formal counseling center at Texas State’s Round Rock Campus. Rock Campus, including new food services and the addition of a master’s program in nursing that began this semester. The increase in population has spurred the construction of a clinical facility, which Trauth said will double as an outpost to the San Marcos campus’ Student Health Center. However, questions and concerns of faculty senators at the meeting still centered on the lack of a formal counseling cen-

“The nurse practitioners (who will be working at the clinic) are not mental health counselors,” Covington said. “The students (at the Round Rock Campus) are not receiving the same services as the students (at Texas State).” Provost Eugene Bourgeois said the Round Rock Campus does not have the “full suite of services” offered at the San

See COUNSELING, Page 2


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.