University Star March 6, 2013

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VOLUME 102, ISSUE 63

www.UniversityStar.com

Defending the First Amendment since 1911

WEDNESDAY GO INE ONL NOW

MARCH 6, 2013

Dancing with film The Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema combines film and dance and will be performed in Evans Auditorium March 7. To see an interview with the festival curator, go to UniversityStar.com.

Texas State, A&M look to share building By Nicole Barrios News Reporter Rather than constructing two similar medical buildings within a close proximity, Texas State and Texas A&M University are looking into combining resources for one shared facility. Both universities have existing medical facilities in Round Rock. Each university has requested Tuition Revenue Bond funding for new medical buildings with cadaver labs this legislative session. Bill Nance is vice president for Finance and Support Services. He said because the institutions’ Round Rock campuses are “probably less than a quarter of a mile apart,” officials are considering sharing Texas State’s proposed

Health Professions Building. Nance said he was present at a discussion between University President Denise Trauth and E.J. Pederson. Pederson is interim president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and interim vice chancellor for health affairs in that university system. Nance said the two leaders discussed a broad outline of a proposal for the shared medical building. Nance said both institutions have verbally agreed the funding from the legislature would go to Texas State. Texas State and A&M would operate under a shared-services agreement allocating space and calculating each university’s portion of the operating cost once the shared building opens, Nance said.

“Opportunities for collaboration between higher-education institutions such as this could be beneficial for students and the state’s taxpayers through greater efficiencies of service, cost savings, leveraged expertise and expanded shared resources,” Pederson said in an email statement. “We are continuing discussions in conjunction with state leadership to determine opportunities on this front.” Discussions on the proposal for the shared building are currently moving forward. Texas State plans to build a gross anatomy, or cadaver, lab, in the proposed Health Professions Building for the physical therapy program, Nance said. A&M’s building proposal additionally includes a gross anatomy lab. Several

Austin Humphreys, Photo Editor

The university is seeking a new health professions building in Round Rock in addition to the St. David’s School of Nursing. Administrators may partner with the Texas A&M Health Science Center to build one facility for the two schools. officials from both schools have met to discuss the possibility of increasing the size of Texas State’s lab to accommodate A&M with additional office space for its faculty, Nance said.

ROBOT RESEARCH

Nance said A&M officials will “throw their political support” behind Texas State’s request to the legislature if the size and price tag of the proposed Health Professions

READ HEALTH, PAGE 3

Board of Regents vote to offer fixed four-year tuition rate By Paige Lambert News Reporter

Kristen Lefebvre, Staff Photographer

Heping Chen, assistant professor at the Ingram School of Engineering, controls a portable robot with an Xbox controller. The robot is programmed to complete repetitive tasks or jobs that may be dangerous for humans.

Professor researches, creates robots for dangerous tasks By Karen Zamora News Reporter Harold Stern, director of the Ingram School of Engineering, is often terrified when Heping Chen’s $100,000 hunk of steel roams the halls of Roy F. Mitte’s fifth floor.

Chen, assistant professor at the Ingram School of Engineering, has worked with robotics for more than 15 years. He spends approximately 20 hours each week researching and assembling them. With the help of Hongtai Cheng, postdoctoral research associate from China, Chen has manu-

factured one semi-automotive and two stationary robots. All three robots are designed to make tasks easier. “Robots can release people from some tedious, dangerous or hazardous work,” Chen said.

READ ROBOTS, PAGE 3

The Texas State University System Board of Regents voted to require its four-year universities to offer a fixed-rate tuition program to students in order to provide more predictability when paying for college. The program was unanimously approved during a the regents’ meeting Monday and will be available for freshmen enrolled starting in the fall 2014 semester, according to a press release from the system. The program will set a four-year, fixed-rate for student tuition. Fees and course charges that exist when a student applies for the program will stay in place for all four years. “The goal isn’t to reduce cost,” said Mike Wintemute, spokesman for the system. “We want to create some predictability for students and parents and give students one more option and more flexibility.” Wintemute said Gov. Rick Perry has expressed his desire for this kind of program, and the Board of Regents thought now would be a good time for its universities to be “proactive.” The system’s four-year universities will draft proposals regarding their respective fixed-rate programs during the November Board of Regents meeting. The proposals will include an academic progress requirement, which will encourage students to keep good grades and finish their degrees within the four years of the plan, Wintemute said. Each university will determine specific details about the progress requirement individually. Wintemute said students aren’t required to apply for the program. They can still pay tuition in the traditional fashion, which has been 15 percent below the state average at the Texas State University System, according to Wintemute. Possible fee increases during students’ education are accounted for when they apply for the plan. Their tuition will be higher than the standard undergraduate cost during the first year, Wintemute said. However, the regents are under the assumption that costs will even out over the course of four years.

Planet K continues fight against city ordinance By Zach Mayer The University Star Attempts to return an infamous car-turned-cactus-planter to Planet K has failed at three court levels over the past six years, but manager Joe Ptak is continuing his battle against the city’s junk car ordinance. Ralph the cactus planter was removed in 2010 because it was in violation of the San Marcos junk vehicle ordinance. Planet K has lost cases against the city in the San Marcos Municipal Court, Federal District Court and Federal Circuit Court of Appeals dating back to 2007. Ptak suffered another legal defeat in February when the San Marcos City Council confirmed Ptak’s petition to amend the junk vehicle ordinance had failed. Ptak gathered 6,849 signatures for the petition in Novem-

ber, but a majority of the signatures were counted as invalid by the city, falling short of the necessary qualifications. Hundreds of signatures were invalid because they were too old or the signers were not registered to vote in San Marcos. Ptak plans to start another petition in the near future. Councilman Jude Prather, Place 2, said he supported Planet K’s cause as a citizen in 2008 and, as an elected official, voted in favor of the store in 2010 and 2011. Ptak said the junk car ordinance obstructs local businesses’ freedom of expression and could hinder attraction of customers. He believes local government restrictions on businesses contradict their statements of support and is disappointed the city has restricted Planet K’s artistic expression.

Ralph is not a typical junk 1988 Oldsmobile. The cactus planter is covered with paintings by local artists Scott Wade and John ‘Furly’ Travis. Ralph is a celebration of San Marcos art and culture and is a cause worth fighting for, Ptak said. “It’s an insult that they don’t allow (Ralph) to be displayed here,” Ptak said. “We’re going to do whatever we can until we can finally bring Ralph home.” Ralph is now located at the Planet K on Stassney Lane in South Austin. It is one example of multiple junk vehicles converted into art in the city. The converted junk vehicles are recognized in Austin as art under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990. City Attorney Michael Cosentino said the San Marcos junk car ordinance would become unenforceable if it were amended

to allow vehicles like Ralph to be classified as art. An amended ordinance would give all residences and businesses the freedom to have a junk vehicle on their property as long as it had an artistic message. No one is denying that artistic work was applied to Ralph, CosenZach Mayer, University Star tino said. HowJoe Ptak, manager of Planet K, continues to fight the ever, Ralph was city’s junk vehicle car ordinance and return Ralph the still subject to enforcement of the cactus planter to his storefront. ordinance because it was smashed first and turned “It’s not about one store at one into a junk vehicle before any location. It’s about letting everybody do the same thing, and art was applied. “There’s a bigger picture is that what we really want the that’s there,” Cosentino said. town to look like?”


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