Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

Volume 48 Issue 8 {WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM}{SINCE 1981}

San Antoniocelebrates a night of art at Luminariapg 6{

{UTSA}Two members of a suspended UTSA

fraternity have been charged with haz-ing in connection

with partial nudity, drinking “question-

able” liquids and skin burning that required medical

treatment.

{Texas}A UT/Texas Tribune

poll found that re-spondents would fa-vor incumbent Rick Perry to hypotheti-cal challenger Greg Abbott in a gubana-torial primary by a

3-1 margin.

{Nation}Twelve former FAMU

students now face manslaughter charges from the Novebmber 2011 hazing death of Drum Major Robert

Chapman Jr.

{World}Fighting in Syria

spilled into western Iraq, resulting in the death of 48 Syrians and 9 Iraqi soldiers.

{History}This week in 1996,

UTSA’s softball team was ranked by USA Today as one of the top 25 teams in the country for the first

time in program his-tory.

{Science}Initial reports sug-gest that a Missis-

sippi baby born with HIV may have been cured of the disease

under the care of doctors at the Uni-versity of Missis-

sippi.

{Basketball}UTSA will take on Utah State on Sat-

urday, March 7. The men play the Aggies at 6 p.m. in Logan at 8:05 p.m., while the women play in the

Convocation Center with a 6:00 p.m. tip-

off.

March 5, 2013

Student Government Elections are March 5 and 6. See why candidates for theExecutive Board think you should consider them when you vote on ASAP. Pages 2-3

‘Legalize marijuana,’ SGA says to Legislature

Beth MarshallContributing Writernews@paisano-online.com

In the debate over the issue of undocumented immigration in Texas, state legislators are exploring solutions such as in-creasing border patrol and de-laying the amnesty process for illegal applicants.

San Antonio Congressman Pete Gallego said, “Most people don’t really care where the idea comes from. They want action, they want something to hap-pen, and they’re tired of the pro-longed conversation,” according to the Houston Chronicle.

Federal immigration poli-

cies have already been debated and adjusted several times. The most recent “fix” was the Im-migration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The act’s purpose was to provide undocumented immigrants with the opportu-nity to apply for citizenship. To obtain this status, the applicant required a clean criminal record, knowledge of American history and the English language and proof of U.S. residency since Jan. 1, 1982.

Economic concerns are al-ways present when debating il-legal immigration. The San An-tonio Express-News asserted, based on data compiled by the Center for Migration Studies

of New York, that “the number of undocumented immigrants entering Texas has plummeted to its lowest point in more than two decades thanks to the na-tion’s wounded economy and beefed-up border security.”

As of 2010, illegal immigrants make up about 6.7 percent of the population of Texas, according to the Pew Hispanic Research Center. This number not only affects the economy, but also public education.

Paying tuition to go to a pub-lic college is a standard, and stu-dents who are Texas residents pay ‘in-state’ tuition prices. While students coming from other states or countries can

pay double this price or more, tuition and fees for an in-state UTSA student is about $8,400 for 2012-2013. Out-of-state and international students are expected to pay approximately $16,500 in tuition and fees.

As tuition for a college edu-cation increases, financial aid increases in importance as well. According to the Dallas News, “Nearly 2,500 students who are in the country illegally received more than $9.5 million in-state higher education grants in fiscal year 2010.” The Dallas News also noted that “there were 16,476 il-legal immigrant students paying resident tuition rates, meaning more than one in seven get state

financial aid as well.” This affects the aid that in-state residents re-ceive, as well as how much aid other U.S. citizens can receive. State Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arling-ton) said that “for every dollar we give to someone who is here illegally, that’s a dollar less that we’re giving to someone who’s here legally.”

Currently, the House of Rep-resentatives is working on a bi-partisan bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. as long as they have a clean criminal record. In addition, undocumented im-migrants must pay certain tax penalties to gain full citizenship.

Immigration reform has significant impact on Texas economy, students

David GlickmanNews Assistantnews@paisano-online.com

On March 1, President Obama signed into law $85 bil-lion dollars in federal budget cuts for the current fiscal year. The cuts, known as the seques-ter, are part of a provision creat-ed in the 2011 debt ceiling deal. Due to the inability of Congress to agree on how $16 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years would take shape, the sequester went into automatic effect, with half the cuts to the military and half to domestic programs.

President Obama, in a press conference on March 1, referred to the cuts as “dumb” and “ar-bitrary.” He blamed Republi-cans for the sequester, saying, “They’ve allowed these cuts to happen, because they refused to budge on closing a single waste-ful loophole to help reduce the deficit.”

On “Meet the Press” on Sun-day, March 3, Speaker of the House John Boehner countered this argument saying “Over the last 10 months, House Republi-cans have acted twice to replace the sequester… we’ve known about this for 16 months. And yet even today, there’s no plan from Senate Democrats or the White House to replace the se-quester.”

For months, economists have been warning of the negative ef-fects the sequester would bring should it go into effect. While they do not think it will trigger a second recession, there are con-cerns that it will slow the econ-

omy further. As Henry Aaron, senior fellow of economic stud-ies at the Brookings Institution, said, “[The sequester is] push-ing policy in exactly the wrong direction. At a time when the economy still needs a stimulus to promote recovery rather than restrictive policies to prevent overheating.”

Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said, “If the sequester takes affect and stays in effect for the year, I suspect it will lower real GDP growth by .5 percent points and lead to the loss of between 500,000 and 700,000 jobs. No, I don’t think it will lead to a recession, I just think it will lead to slower growth than would otherwise be.”

Texas and San Antonio are ex-pected to be affected by the se-quester due to the large military presence. As the San Antonio Express-News reported, at least 5,000 military personnel will lose their jobs, and furlough days for those at Joint Base San Antonio already being cut. KENS 5 re-ported that Texas’ military could lose as much as $1.7 billion dol-lars by October, and the 80,000 unemployed Texans could see their benefits drop in the com-ing months as well.

Currently, no new bills have been proposed to manage or change the effects of the seques-ter. The cuts are expected to af-fect the national parks, social se-curity, jobs in both the military and public sector and in several other areas, according to the New York Times.

Economy to suffer as Congress fails to prevent sequester

Matthew DuarteNews Editornews@paisano-online.com

On Feb. 21, UTSA Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution calling on the Texas Legislature to legal-ize marijuana and use the sub-sequent tax revenue to offset spending cuts made to higher education.

“Marijuana legalization is picking up a lot of steam,” said COLFA Senator Jacob Lostoski, who authored the bill. “Nine-teen states and D.C. have legal-ized marijuana for medical use. These are numbers that, 20 years ago, would be nonexistent,” Los-toki told The Paisano.

According to the Texas Tri-bune, the National Organiza-tion to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML) contended that de-criminalization of marijuana in Texas would save the state $750 million per year, while also sav-ing 50,000 people from having an arrest on their criminal re-cord.

Proposals in the Legislature to lessen the penalties for marijua-na possession include a recent bill by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), who introduced HB 184 on Feb. 6. The bill would re-classify possession of up to one ounce of marijuana as a Class C misdemeanor, which would mean that individuals caught carrying small amounts of mari-juana would no longer face up to 180 days in prison.

While six states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, Colorado and Washington be-came the first to legalize it for recreational use. Despite the legalization and decriminaliza-tion in many different states, it remains classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law—thus, it is still a federal crime to posses or sell the drug.

On Feb. 26, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department is review-

ing the federal response to state laws that legalize marijuana.

“We are, I think, in our last stages of that review and are try-ing to make a determination as to what the policy ramifications are going to be—what our inter-national obligations are. There are a whole variety of things that go into this determination,” Holder said, according to Po-litico.

The SGA resolution stated that former Attorney General Jocelyn Elders has expressed support for marijuana legaliza-tion. SGA’s resolution also noted that, while 1,200 people in the U.S. die each year from tobacco use, there is no evidence to sup-port the notion that marijuana use is fatal.

“People should have the right to use marijuana if they choose to because they’re not harming anyone else, and a lot of evi-dence suggests that they’re re-ally not doing any major harm to themselves either,” Lostoski said.

The resolution does not solely focus on marijuana, as Los-toski noted. “We are also offer-ing a solution to help fund our schools and get us closer to the funding that we need if we want to become Tier One,” Lostoski said.

From fiscal year 2010-2011 through fiscal year 2012-2013, Texas cut funding to UTSA from $281 million to $260 mil-lion, despite the increased stu-dent enrollment. SGA’s reso-lution anticipates funding for UTSA to drop by 10 percent in 2014.

Compounding the problem of decreased state funding, said Lostoski, is the Hazelwood Act, which “requires state universi-ties and colleges to cover tuition and mandatory fees for up to 150 credit hours for qualified veter-ans,” according to the San Anto-nio Express-News. The program has gained popularity since it was expanded by the Legislature in 2009 to allow those who qual-

ify to transfer their credit hours to a dependent younger than 25. Since 2009, UTSA has gone from waiving $1.5 million in fees linked to the Hazelwood Act to $7.6 million, according to the Express-News. That number is expected to top $8 million next year, Lostoski stated.

According to the Texas High-er Education Coordinating Board, more than $110 million in fees were waived by universi-ties across the state in 2012 as a result of the Hazelwood Act. Because the Legislature does not provide relief to universi-ties for fees waived under the Hazelwood Act, many lawmak-ers have begun to call it an “un-funded mandate,” according to the Express-News.

The SGA resolution con-tended that, according to a re-cent Gallup poll, 62 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds favor mari-juana legalization. However, although the national numbers seem to indicate that the Leg-islature may eventually hear a marijuana bill—that same Gal-lup poll found that 50 percent of respondents favor legalization, an increase from 23 percent in 1985—gaining support in Texas could be an unlikely prospect. According to a 2011 Texas Ly-ceum poll, just 33 percent of residents in the Lone Star State favored legalizing marijuana.

However, Lostoski is confi-dent that the momentum in the national polls will continue to grow. “As the facts are getting out there, and as we’ve studied marijuana more, we’ve learned more about it. And as the public learns, as well, I think popular support will only increase,” Los-toski said.

Although it carries no legal weight, the resolution will be presented by SGA to mem-bers of the Texas Legislature in the coming weeks. All resolu-tions passed by SGA represent the stance of the entire student body.

Resolution asks that increased tax revenue be used to offset cuts to higher education

President Barack Obama signs into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which required Congress to cut $16 trillion over 10 years or face the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

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SGA Election Guide

To help students vote for Student Government, the Paisano contacted each student who had regis-tered to run for a position on SGA’s Executive Board, and each willing candi-date answered an identi-cal questionnaire.

The questionnaire read as follows:

-After you are elected to your position, what do you plan on doing to improve SGA next year?

-What would you do to improve the experience of the typical UTSA student?

-Is there a person, fa-mous or not, who you look up to or whose leadership style you seek to emulate?

-What personal charac-teristics would make you an excellent student repre-sentative?

-What experience makes you qualified to represent UTSA students?

Below are the responses of the SGA candidates.

Zack DunnPresident

I plan on mak-ing SGA

more of an entity that interacts with the community. As we move towards a Tier 1 Univer-sity I believe that it’s important for our students to continue to push UTSA to that next level as well. Whether it’s through our Athletics, Greek Life, Student Activities, or Orientation Pro-grams, I believe that as students we must take up the mantle to get our name out there with the community, alumni and po-tential students. UTSA is truly becoming a campus meant for the future of top scholars and achievers in the city of San An-tonio and the state of Texas. And I plan on making sure SGA is a part of that transformation.

I would like the experience of the typical UTSA student to be inclusive and engaged. Once students get involved and be-come a part of the university, I see a huge change in how they approach their affairs on cam-pus. Getting involved gives stu-dents an opportunity to get out of their comfort shell and expe-rience new things they would have otherwise never have been exposed to.

My father, Patrick Dunn, is the person I look up to the most in the world. He is someone who continually strives for the best in every aspect in his life, and that is something I greatly admire. He is also a man of integrity and courage and that is admirable for any leader to possess. He is someone whom I can look to for advice in any situation and he always pushes me to perform to the best of my ability.

I believe my passion for the organization and this university is something that will help me

serve as a representative to any constituent. I want to see this university achieve Tier 1 status alongside student development and involvement, which will require lots of time and dedica-tion. I look forward to pursuing this initiative and believe that my passion for improvement and excellence will be instru-mental to achieving my goals.

I believe my involvement in Student Government, the In-vestment Society and the Green Society has helped me to grow as a student in my collegiate career. I have also been blessed to be a part of many programs in the Student Leadership Cen-ter in addition to my organiza-tional involvement. I believe all of these experiences, both or-ganizations and programs have provided me with the insight to understand the issues affecting our campus and how to com-municate with students about the changes they want to see.

Adel AlshehriPresident

Adel Mohammed Alshehri was unavailable to comment af-ter attempts by The Paisano to reach him.

Rosalyn HuffVice President

I m p l e -m e n t i n g easier par-l iamentar y procedures is important, because, as Vice President, it will be my responsibility to lead others. Sometimes it is hard to under-

stand the flow of the meeting, but if procedures are clear, the senators and students will not be hesitant to participate.

Another aspect will be to reach out to students that are not involved in organizations. With this, SGA can form better skills to communicate news to students.

We are all diverse and that’s what makes up UTSA. Typi-cal equates to a student who is reaching to obtain a degree. By reaching out and being available to all students, only then can we, as SGA, improve student expe-riences.

I look up to my sister for ev-erything that I do. I look up to my father with his leadership style.

I am very creative, vision-ary and bold. By not sticking to the norm, I know that by being myself, I can represent various people.

Besides being the current Academic Affairs chair of SGA, COLFA Senator and have held positions as an Ambassador, most of my experience started before and during high school.

I was a member of FFA for 5 years where I was trained in parliamentary procedure. I was elected as an officer to repre-sent 4 high schools, and also I was elected Vice President for 2 high schools. During this time, I helped develop and lead many programs such as a Halloween community event for children.

I was also Vice President of my class for 3 straight years. During this time, I helped devel-

oped new cultural aspects of my high school, such as a commu-nity fundraising event for cancer patients.

I was involved on my debate team, FCCLA and my drill/dance team.

In all of these roles, I had to lead and make decisions, which impacted my high school.

AndieWatsonVice President

The ad-ministration this year did an amazing job building up our organization but I would love to help further it in my term as Vice President; I would like to have our admin-istration reach out to organiza-tions on campus to gather their concerns so we can help to see them accomplished.

I would like to bring a Farm-er’s Market to our main campus; this should help make us a desti-nation in San Antonio. It would help promote sustainability, increase healthier food options on campus and help us build a better relationship with our sur-rounding community.

There are several people whose leadership style I try to emulate. Our advisor for SGA, John Montoya, whose passion for the organization and people skills are extremely admirable; and the first lady of the United States Michelle Obama who has been amazing in her support of military children around the na-tion.

I love working with other stu-dents and organizations. I feel I

have strong communication skills that will help in gather-ing the concerns of students and working with adminis-tration to help facilitate those concerns and effectively rep-resent the voice of the stu-dents. I have passion for our organization and I am so in-credibly proud of the work our members have done.

I was elected as a College of Liberal and Fine Arts senator my sophomore year and Sec-retary for this past adminis-tration. Throughout the past two years in Student Gov-ernment I have learned and grown with the organization and I feel that I am very quali-fied to represent the students at UTSA.

Christian Ume-EzeokeTreasurer

As Trea-surer, I will look at the SGA budget and identify strategic ways to make sure those monetary policies are best benefiting UTSA stu-dents. I am interested in supporting the growth of all programs and organizations in whatever ways possible through SGA. As your SGA treasurer candidate, I want to ensure that the student voice will be heard.

Every college student needs a support network to provide encouragement, guidance and accountability on his or her journey. To im-prove the experience of the typical UTSA student I want

NEWSMarch 5, 2013

3

to stress the significance of joining student organization or being involved with the UTSA community. I would enlighten them about the re-sources that are available to UTSA student such as the Student Leadership Center, Career Services and Volun-teer Services, and how to access them. I will also help cultivate the typical UTSA student on the importance of managing time, setting goals and studying effectively.

George Washington was a model of self-restraint. He rarely acted immediately but took the time to weigh his op-tions. When comfortable that he had gathered all the infor-mation and ideas and thought it through, he acted decisively. And then defended his deci-sion and did not back down. Washington’s life shows the importance of clarity of vi-sion, of tenacity of purpose and character and how much can be accomplished in life if you keep your sights on your ultimate goals. These are all the characteristics that I try to emulate in my day to day life as a student leader.

I believe that the charac-teristics that makes me an excellent student representa-tive include trustworthiness, respect, integrity, honesty, clarity, care, enthusiasm, con-fidence, compassion, humil-ity, self-awareness, the ability to think analytically, finally ambition and passion. Every leader or student representa-tive should possess a willing-ness to lead collaboratively whenever possible. I believe that decisions that are made collaboratively usually come from a vision that is shared

and accepted by the leaders’ constituents.

I have gained the leader-ship experience that makes me qualified to represent UTSA students. I am the current Presi-dent of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor So-ciety here at UTSA, a founding member and public relations officer of Eta Sigma Gamma National Health Honor Society, College of Education and Hu-man Development within SGA, a member of Honors Alliance, a member of VOICES (Volunteer, Organization, Involving, Com-munity, Education and Service). I am the current Roadrunner of the Month for December 2012 and January 2013 at UTSA. I ac-credit that these leadership skills and positions will make me an effective representative of the UTSA student body.

Boyd GarriottTreasurer

As UTSA climbs to ever greater heights, I would like to make sure our Stu-dent Government Association has a solid financial base in order to fulfill its basic function: serv-ing the students. With an effi-cient budget, SGA will be able to run smoother, get more student concerns to the appropriate fac-ulty and staff and continue to grow its signature events like University Life Awards and Golf Cart Parade.

I would like to increase the transparency and accessibility of Leaderfund, an opportunity for student organizations to pro-cure funds for events and trips that help the university’s profes-

sional and leadership develop-ment. Also, as stated above, a more financially efficient SGA is tremendously beneficial to all students.

I definitely look up to my dad’s leadership style. His leadership philosophy has always been to work hard, leading by example in close collaboration with a team.

As an economics major and the president of the university’s only economics organization, I am very passionate about eco-nomics and finance, and as the SGA treasurer’s main two jobs are to plan out the budget for the year and run the finance com-mittee, I believe I, not only meet, but exceed these two require-ments. If someone isn’t passion-ate about their office, there is no point in electing them.

In addition to the above quali-fications, I am also an SI leader for macroeconomics–I was an SI for microeconomics last se-mester. I am also currently one of the most active and vocal sen-ators in SGA as a representative for the College of Business.

Nicole NeySecretary

An issue I want to tack-le that falls specifically into the lap of the SGA Secre-tary is the UTSA Giving Tree. Every year the SGA hosts the Giving Tree, and a large holiday tree (UTSA themed of course) is decorated on the main campus. This allows organizations and clubs to have a central point of collection, as well as gain atten-tion for their respective chari-ties. Years ago, the UTSA Giving

Tree was the talk of the campus, however, as of late it has been pushed to the back burner. It is my goal to fully restore this wonderful SGA signature event beyond what it once was.

I plan to continue my work on the Academic Affairs committee and address the many concerns that students have revolving around academic advising. The road map that advisors can help students create is a key tool in being successful and graduating on time.

Bella Abzug is a huge role model of mine. She coauthored the Freedom of Information Act, cosponsored the first world conference on breast cancer and moved the women’s rights movement into the mainstream. “If we get a government that re-flects more of what this country is really about, we can turn the century–and the economy–around.”

All of the roles I have been a part of in organizations revolve around my strong organization-al skills, notable communication skills and abilities to multitask not only efficiently but accu-rately. I have kept a consistent attendance record throughout my time as senator, only missing a single general assembly and I have demonstrated my com-mitment to the organization by volunteering for tasks and put-ting forth substantial effort. I will help enforce accountability and build on to the strong tradi-tions of those before me, as well as form new ones to better our organization.

My leadership roles in or-ganizations on campus have equipped me with strong set of organizational, leadership and

multitasking skills that I think would prove to be an asset to our Student Government and the student body of UTSA as a whole. Some of these leadership roles include: COEHD Sena-tor, Historian of Omicron Delta Kappa (a leadership honor so-ciety), Kappa Delta Pi (an hon-ors society of Educators) and Historian of the International Reading Association and Lead-erShape 2012 alumni.

Jerome ScottSecretary

If I am elected as Secretary, I plan on improve the quality of our representa-tion from the Senators. I would like the Senators to attend the meetings of our academic, pro-fession and social organizations in order to better represent their constituents. I would also like to have the College Senators gain table for concerns and spread news of what is currently hap-pening in SGA once a month.

The great thing I love about UTSA is that it is a very diverse campus ranging in different ages and backgrounds. It would be difficult to define the “typical” student and so I would rather focus on the concerns of stu-dents on an individual basis. As a representative of the student body, I would focus on how I can improve upon the experi-ence for all students and not just the “typical” students.

I have no one particular per-son whose leadership style I seek to emulate, but instead, I believe in having a leadership style of any coach. I enjoy mo-tivating others to be the best

that they can be so that they can do their part in building a stronger community.

I believe that I am a persis-tent person and that would make me an excellent student representative. When a con-cern is brought to me from a student, I will work with the administrators to ensure that the concern is resolved in a timely manner. Being persis-tent would also benefit me as Secretary because many times, I would have to hold the Senators accountable for their duties.

Experience for this posi-tion includes my involvement in over 15 organizations, in-cluding President of the Stu-dent Organization Council, SGA Student Affairs Chair and UTSA Ambassador. My involvement has allowed me to come in contact with many administrators and so I am able to effectively communi-cate concerns from students. I am also familiar with orga-nizational structures and I understand the importance of the Secretary position and ensuring that all members of an organization are knowl-edgeable of what is happen-ing in the organization.

Editors note: although some gram-mar mistakes were corrected by members of The Paisano staff the original intent of the writer has been left intact.

All photos are credit of Will Tallent, The Paisano.

{The Paisano}Editor-in-Chief: Katy SchmaderAssistant to Editor:Erin BorenManaging Editor:Stephen WhitakerNews Editor:Matthew DuarteNews Assistants:Corey FrancoDavid GlickmanPaseo Editor:Sarah GibbensArts Editor: Jennifer AlejosArts Assistants:Wilfredo FloresJanae RiceSports Editor: Sheldon BakerSports Assistants:Delaney MarloweMario NavaPhoto Editor: Will TallentPhoto Assistant:Vince CardenasWeb Editor:Natalie FrelsWeb Assistant:Amanda DansbyBusiness Manager: Jenelle DuffSenior Copy Editor:Alyssa Torres

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4 OPINION Students need to vote in order to be representedEditorial

Remember the veterans during Texas Independence weekH a p p y

Texas In-d e p e n -dence Day y’all!

L a s t Saturday, the state celebrated the 177th

anniversary of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Inde-pendence on March 2, 1836. Wednesday, March 6 will mark the 177th anniversary of the final assault on the Alamo when the Mexican Army finally scaled the walls and killed the entire garrison of Texans and Tejanos.

These men who fought against insurmountable odds were the first Texans to answer the call to arms and fight for

their army but they weren’t the last.

Everyone knows what hap-pened. The Texans won and after 10 years of going it alone on the world stage, agreed to be annexed by the United States. It didn’t take long for Texans to give their services to the mili-tary. Ever since the first Texans fought alongside their fellow Americans in the Mexican War and in every war since, Texans have been ready, willing and able to take up arms for their country.

Speaking of arms, this week-end State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Pla-no filed a bill entitled the “Texas Gun Ownership Reinforcement Act.” This bill would create a new tax-free holiday where consumers won’t be charged taxes on guns, ammunition or

hunting supplies on March 2, Texas Independence Day.

This could be a good idea for the state economically but is it really what we want our day of Independence to be remem-bered for? Our image national-ly is already having a tough time and this bill, coming at a time when gun control is the topic of discussion nationwide, does not help that image. Or do we want to use Independence Day as a time to honor the service and sacrifice of Texans to their nation since 1836?

The week of Texas Indepen-dence is not just a celebration of the men of 1835-36 who took up arms but also of the ones who have come since and served their country so that its people would remain free to have things like a possible tax-

free day on guns and ammo. We are a great state with a

grand tradition, and each year the first week of March be-comes first a celebration of that heritage and then a remem-brance of the price of it. We roll Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day into one week like a bar-b-que plate with brisket, sausage and turkey.

As another year of indepen-dence comes and goes, it is im-portant to continue to remem-ber the contributions our state has made to the country.

It may not seem like it some-times, but we still live in the best country in the world. I am a little biased but we also live in the best state in that country. We must be thankful that there are people willing to defend the freedoms we enjoy. As we re-

member the Texans of 1836, we should also remember all the Texans who have come since and served their country, some falling in that service.

They are just as much heroes as the soldiers who fought at Gonzales, San Antonio, The Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto. Let us remember all veterans as we celebrate another year of independence in the Lone Star State.

It would be a better way to commemorate their sacrifice than by making it a day to buy guns without taxes.

Stephen WhitakerManaging Editor

Commentary

Every semester, a portion of student fees are allotted to fund the UTSA Student Gov-ernment Association (SGA), an organization that serves as the official advocate and voice of the student body. In the 2011-12 school year, this allotment of student fees culminated in an SGA budget of over $47,000 in order to support and advocate for the student voice.

Last year, the SGA elections saw a student voter turnout of

only 1,302 students. Consider-ing the university’s overall pop-ulation, over 30,000, only 4.47 percent of the student body is actually represented through SGA.

When the system works, and students actually vote for their representative, the SGA has the power to voice students’ com-plaints.

But with so many students passionate about their experi-ence at UTSA, why are we not

seeing a larger voting turnout? According to the SGA’s 2012-

2016 Strategic Plans, the SGA’s top priorities are to improve Blackboard and Air Rowdy, to launch an on-campus farmer’s market, to expand the shuttle system, as well as to provide more dining options on cam-pus.

Recently, SGA passed a reso-lution to decriminalize mari-juana. In a true representative democracy, this would mean

that the majority of UTSA stu-dents are in agreement about all of the previous issues. How-ever, the voice of only those who voted, 4.47 percent, can be accounted for in this decision.

But what about the other 95.5 percent? The SGA represents them too, and fees to pay the SGA come from those students’ tuition as well. When such a small fraction of student sup-port is accounted for in UTSA’s student government elections,

SGA cannot be expected to accurately represent the voice of the student body. Participa-tion is paramount in any func-tional democratic system, and as concerned UTSA students, our most effective tool in that participation lies firmly in the votes that we cast.

How can students expect their voice to be heard, if they are not asserting their influence in the voting booth?

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ComicsVulpes Vulpes by: Christopher Garcia

March 5, 2013

{Send letters to}editor@paisano-online.com

Letters must be less than 400 words and include the writer’s name, classification or title and telephone number. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submissions.

The depersonalization of people in everyday lifeI walked into a business the

other day and asked the cus-tomer service representative for help with some minor task. I was directed to a website. “Well, I’m here already.” I said, “Let’s just take care of it now.” He replied, “It’s easier on the website.” I answered, “What sort of customer services do you provide?” He paused for a full minute.

There is a noticeable trend toward depersonalization in today’s world. Whether it is a local bank, a receptionist in a nearby business, a govern-ment agency or even campus offices, more and more people who patronize these agencies are pushed away from the agen-cies themselves into the cold, unintuitive charge of Internet websites.

This transition results in a system that seems, on the surface, to work despite itself. However, anyone who has ever experienced this trend first-hand in what could be com-pared to the “sell your stuff on ebay store” from a comedic film, can understand that ap-parent ease of use does not equate to efficiency. That is an illusion.

The truth is that the deper-sonalization of our business world results in workers with less and less responsibility. This is ironic because people are so much more valuable to a work-force than their supporting technology. Be they websites or simple computer programs serving a hospital or small busi-ness, technologies must always be limited to support, and we

mere humans must always be able to perform at least the same kinds of tasks as the ma-chines that serve us.

Granted, the advocates of technology will argue that there are a myriad of tasks that com-puters or websites can do faster than a simple human. There is truth to this argument, as data storage and processing is done faster, and with less error, than if a person were charged with the task. This is evident in the field of medicine, where elec-trocardiograms, blood pressure machines and computer web-sites serve to record, calculate, and then retrieve the data of multiple patients faster than any human could.

However, machines do not actually think and are not in-stinctive or intuitive like peo-

ple. There is a saying in that ‘the problem with computers is that they do exactly what you tell them to’. Also, it is much easier to correct the errors of a person than an entire computer pro-gram, which requires constant checking, rechecking and re-programming, all while the sys-tem’s functions are halted for maintenance, and all the while require human supervision. And there are always errors.

The truth is that the user is more important than the tech-nology. Because of this truth we must also face the fact that addressing the needs of the user, and doing so as quickly and efficiently as possible, is more important.

Secondary to this are all the perceived benefits of the In-formation Age, which the ad-

vocates of today’s technologi-cal advances can no doubt list verbatim et literatim. Ease of use, as well as staying current with a technology that is always changing, constantly reinvent-ing itself and even the migra-tion to paperless systems to ad-dress environmental concerns of the last two decades, are all secondary.

All of us mere humans must remember how valuable we are to our world, and seek to make it a better place for people, not the machines supporting us. I expect that I am in the minority when it comes to my beliefs, so for any and all disagreements, I will direct you to my website.

Richard MartinezContributing Writer

Commentary

Paulina Rivero-BorrellContributing Writerpaseo@paisano-online.com

The San Antonio River Au-thority (SARA) is one of the many organizations in Texas that focuses on the protection, preservation and sustainability of the San Antonio River.

Since 1937, SARA has been active in maintaining San Anto-nio’s beautiful river and keeping it safe and enjoyable for every-one. The organization was cre-ated after severe floods in 1913 and 1914, when Texans realized it was a necessity to supervise and protect the river. SARA covers all of Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad counties.

A new initiative by the SARA, The San Antonio River Improvements Project (SAR-IP), aims to increase the natural habitats of the San Antonio Riv-er and to make the river even more enjoyable and appealing to San Antonio residents and tourists alike.

The project focuses on flood control and ecosystem restora-tion elements. The San Antonio River Improvements Project is improving nearly 13 miles of the San Antonio River, which includes the original River Walk.

The project will create 15 miles of continuous trails along the river so that San Antonio residents and tourists are able to enjoy hiking and bike rides. The goal is to create bike trails from Brackenridge Park to Mis-sion Espada.

“One of the main goals of the restoration is to allow those eight miles south of downtown to be used for recreation where it is currently not being used,” says Chad Sundol, president of the Green Society at UTSA. “I see this as an opportunity for the area to grow through this effort.”

Although these trails are for biking and hiking, for safety reasons, biking will still be prohibited along the River Walk, more precisely, between Lexington Avenue and Nueva Street.

The project is transform-ing the San Antonio River into “a quality riparian woodland ecosystem,” according to the SARA website. Regarding the ecosystem, SARA is focusing on restoring the river’s natural features, including plants and its aquatic habitat. “It will al-low added filtration of run-off to ensure a cleaner San Antonio river,” Sundol says.

The project is focusing pre-cisely on restoring two types of habitats: riparian woodland and aquatic.

According to the Mission Reach’s website, the ecosystem restoration process will be ac-complished over many years by construction on the river to reconfigure the channel and to create an improved aquatic habitat.

It will also re-establish hun-dreds of acres of native grasses and wildflowers while planting and cultivating native trees and shrubs. It will take approxi-mately 50 years for the entire ecosystem restoration process to be completed.

The non-profit organization is dedicated to maintaining the river at its best. Therefore, this project would not have been possible if it were not for the help of the city of San Antonio.

The city contributed approxi-mately $78.7 million for the life of the project. The money was derived from the city’s capital improvements fund for recre-ation elements.

The U.S. Army Corps of En-gineers (USACE) has also con-tributed about $51.9 million to support the ecosystem restora-tion and recreation and another $2.6 million toward the con-struction on the southern edge of downtown San Antonio.

SARA is responsible for many operations and activities on the river, as well as for the improvements project.

The San Antonio River Im-provements Project will benefit not only the river, but will also provide plenty of benefits for the city. The river will be more eco- friendly and preserved more naturally, making it cleaner and safer for the aquatic habitat.

Improving the river’s natural habitat will “manage the rain water runoff and filter some pollutants before getting to the river stream, and it will include native and drought tolerant landscaping,” says Juan Man-uel Fernandez, owner of CVF homes, a company that builds houses using eco-friendly ma-terials to save water and incor-porate the latest technology in promoting indoor air qual-ity. The river has always been clean, but with SARIP it will be cleaner and healthier for the ecosystem.

SARIP will also improve San Antonio’s tourism and econ-omy. Most people distinguish San Antonio by its exquisite downtown area and its mar-velous River Walk. With its natural plants and flowers, the river will be more inviting for tourists once the trails for bik-ing and hiking are improved. “It will draw more attention to tourism and local residents and will position San Antonio as a more desirable destination,” Fernandez shares.

“It will give San Antonio an image of a leader in improving the quality of life of local resi-dents and interest for tourism.”

In addition to that, it will im-prove San Antonio’s economy by generating employment for the construction and main-tenance, as well as increased tourism once the project is ful-filled.

The San Antonio River Au-thority has partnered with UTSA to house its archive at the Special Collections section in the John Peace Library. UTSA proudly holds the archive in or-der to help commemorate the agency’s 75th anniversary and to make the archive materials more accessible for the public.

SARA’s archive includes pho-tographs and documentation of past floods, reports, project materials, maps, newspaper clippings, SARA newsletters, magazines and brochures.

The archive also includes SARA’s oral history collection, made up of over 30 recordings by the authority board and staff, documenting their experience and knowledge about different topics regarding SARA. The archive is updated every six months.

The gardens will be located in a green space near the Tobin Biology Laboratories.

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“I see this as an opportunity for the area to grow through this effort.”Chad Sundol UTSA Green Society President

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Sarah GibbensPaseo Editorpaseo@paisano-online.com

UTSA has a multitude of eco-friendly projects to im-prove student life around cam-pus, one of which involves fresh produce from the comfort of the UTSA Main Campus.

The Student Government Go Green Committee, in collabo-ration with the Student Leader-ship Center, is working towards constructing a campus garden at UTSA. Merced Carbajal, a senior multi-disciplinary stud-ies major and chair of the Go Green Committee has been in-strumental in bringing gardens to campus.

Carbajal believes the garden could potentially offer “the

benefit of a learning experience with harvesting your own food.” The garden also, “stands as a representation of sustainable progress as an institution.”

Plots of land would be avail-able to registered student or-ganizations and other student/faculty groups to check out and manage per harvest season. The Go Green Committee and the Student Leadership Center will manage garden food pro-duction so that “funds from the profit are able to go back into the garden to keep it self-sustaining,” Carbajal said. It is currently in the organization process.

Details of how it will be con-structed and how volunteers will be managed are being final-ized. Carbajal hopes that UTSA will one day have a farmer’s

market at which the produce could be sold.

Green Spaces Alliance, a lo-cal non-profit organization, works in the community to support sustainability and con-servation in overlooked urban spaces. The alliance has ex-pressed interest in providing a garden-mentoring aid service for participating groups.

According to the Go Green Committee, students have ex-pressed enthusiasm for cam-pus gardens and volunteer opportunities. Members of the Student Government As-sociation (SGA) hope that the gardens will be funded in part by the Green Fund, a portion of tuition and fees specifically allocated for environmental initiatives. It will also be nec-essary to look to outside orga-

nizations for matching funds. Carbajal hopes this initiative will become “a highly active and productive garden that will help gauge community interest in UTSA’s progress to a more sustainable institution.”

As with any public institution project, red tape has slowed the process of bringing the gardens to campus. “Getting anything done requires a lot of process-ing by different departments for approval and measure of feasibility,” explained Carba-jal. Gaining access to adequate funding has also been difficult, as the gardens would call for various architects and contrac-tors to construct the plots.

The Go Green Committee has tentatively projected the completion of the Campus Gar-den project by Spring 2014.

Campus Gardens coming to UTSA

The new San Antonio River:changing a historical landscape

Mark ZavalaContributing Writerarts@paisano-online.com

On Thursday Feb. 28., Blue Star Contemporary Art Mu-seum launched Contemporary Art Month with the CAM Kick-off.

The event began with a rib-bon-cutting that opened the newest installment at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Mu-seum to the public. The gal-lery boasted the works of Gary Sweeny, Lloyd Walsh and Scott Martin.

The event continued through the evening with live music, compliments of Cryin’ DT Buffkin and The Bad Breath playing blues-inspired music. Sponsors, Blue Moon and Pura Vida Tequila served compli-mentary drinks of sangria and beer on tap to patrons.

Blue Moon also had a beer tasting for a new flavor. Choic-es included Cranberry Tart Ale, Gingerbread Ale and Choco-late Mint Ale. Delicious food from local food trucks Chili Queen and Say.She.Ate. served red velvet waffles, tacos, duck fat fries and beef sliders.

Also part of the event selec-tion was the crowning of the 2013 Miss Contemporary Art Month Miranda Fermi, artist

and blogger. Artist Matt Kubo, whose work is internationally recognized, crowned the new winner in a flamboyant display with confetti.

Gary Sweeney, a local San Antonio artist, explores the use of language with signs and postcards that he has sent to friends over the years. His work takes on new meanings, creat-ing visually striking artwork with humor.

Lloyd Walsh’s “Solo Exhibi-tion” and Scott Martin’s “Brake” are equally as striking visually.

Martin’s work explores a railroad crossing, waiting for a train to pass. Still shots of the railroad crossing are pieced together into a time-lapse film and enlarged to be hung on the wall. Walsh’s thought-provok-ing paintings are crafted with painstaking detail.

The exhibit at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum will be open to the public until Saturday, May 11.

Throughout the entire month, galleries all over San Antonio will be showing lo-cal contemporary art. Visit www.contemporaryartmonth.com for a full list of upcoming events.

Robert GiurgeaJennifer AlejosContributing Writer/ Arts Editorarts@paisano-online.com

Set in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Luminaria aims to illuminate the city with art installations and projects set along the backdrop of the city’s lively nightlife.

Luminaria is a free, annual event showcasing music, the-atre, performance, literature, media, dance and visual arts throughout the center of the city—indoors and out.

For one night only, San An-tonio is transformed into a gi-ant canvas for over 100 artists to paint into spectacular mas-

terpieces. Expect inventive, edgy, astonishing and interac-tive contemporary artwork from every artistic discipline.

The festival gets its name from “White Nights,” a similar festival that originated in Paris in 2002. The event has spread across the globe to other cities in Europe as well as in North America, bringing a night of art and creativity to local venues.

Expect to see numerous musical performances—from symphonic to reggae. Multiple styles of dance are also on dis-play throughout the night as well. In fact, last year Lumi-naria started with a large flash mob breaking out into a dance sequence.

Luminaria will feature over

100 artists with new projects in multimedia, visual arts, music and theatre.

This year, Luminaria is ex-panding to different parts of the city including all of Hemis-Fair Park, Alamo Street and several theatres around San Antonio.

Kathy Armstrong, assistant director of Luminaria, says, “The exhibition will continue to go into other parts of the city. Unused buildings will also be part of the action as well.”

Luminaria will be divided into four different zones—“White zone,” “Red Zone, “Green Zone” and the “Blue Zone”—to accommodate all of the participating artists.

Some of the featured artists

for this year’s lineup include UTSA alumna Bianca Pitman, a professional photographer living and operating within San Antonio; Pop Pistol, a popular local band who has recently re-leased their second full-length album, “Animal Prisms”; Mi-chael Garfield, an eccentric musician known for using all four of his limbs to perform; and Anna De Luna, a local per-formance artist who has per-formed for UTSA and other organizations.

“Visitors can expect to see people performing in parks and theatres as well as inter-active projects for families such as the San Anto Cultural Arts printing press,” says Arm-strong.

Guests can also purchase food and refreshments from three different food stations in-cluding food trucks.

“The entire city will be ener-gized with the arts,” says Arm-strong.

Luminaria will be held on March 9, 7 p.m.-12 a.m. at HemisFair Park and the down-town area. Limited parking is available to guests at Hemis-Fair plaza as well as downtown parking venues with fees up to $20.

For a full schedule of artists and events, visit LuminariaSA.org.

Luminaria 2013: Art lights up San Antonio

For the week’s full calendar, visit:

paisano-online.com

C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t M o n t h k i c k s

o f f w i t h a r t , d r i n k s a n d m u s i c

March 5, 2013

6 ARTS&LIFE

Do you like musicals?

ARTS & LIFE wants to know what your fa-vorite musical

is and why.

Win tickets for you and a friend to see Avenue Q at the Cameo

Theatre.

Send your submissions to

arts@paisano-on-

line.com

Tuesday, March 55 p.m. UTSA College of Architecture Presents: “One City”Pasa Studio (400 N. Saint Mary’s) presents work from the graduate students of the UTSA College of Architecture design studio. The event, which is curated by Dr. Antonio Petrov, assistant professor of architecture at UTSA, looks at the project “Public Space, Public Transit, Public Art.”

Wednesday, March 6 6:30 p.m. Exhibit: “The Olvidate del Alamo ‘Untold Stories’”Salud: The Ultimate Coffee and Tequila Bar (8123 Broadway) presents work from artists Raul Servin, Robert Wilkens, Oscar Galvan and others on the history of the Alamo through the eyes of Mexico’s residents.

Thursday, March 77 p.m. Exhibit: “Future of the Future”PLAZMO Contemporary (1101 West Woodlawn) presents “Future of the Future,” an exhibit from Louie Chavez that focuses on the theme of fashion trends throughout the decades.

Friday, March 86 p.m. “Experience the Arts in La Villita”The Historic La Villita Arts Village presents numerous exhibit open-ings as part of its “Experience the Arts in La Villita” event. The openings feature work from Karen Baize, Tom Hicks, Barbra Riley and others. For more information on openings and events, visit lavil-lita.com.

Saturday, March 97 p.m. “Luminaria”The sixth annual Luminaria will fea-ture work in all mediums including visual, theatre, music and dance. The event will be held at Hemis-Fair Park with free admission.

{CAM Events}

Guests wait outside of Blue Star Contemporary Museum for the ribbon cutting of three new exhibits.

Miranda Fermin is crowned Miss CAM San Antonio 2013.

The sixth annual Luminaria festival will be expanding to various venues in San Antonio.

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Sheldon BakerSports Editorsports@paisano-online.com

Two nights after Tony Parker went down with a grade-two ankle sprain, the San Antonio Spurs steam-rolled over the Detroit Pistons 114 – 75. How were the Spurs able to win without Parker, who is average 21 points, 7 assists and 3 re-bounds per game? Spreading the court, passing to the open shooters. They did it by playing tough defense and most impor-tantly – focusing.

“Tonight, I thought that we played defense the way we have played it most of the sea-son. We had good focus,” said Head Coach Gregg Popovich. “I thought we lost our focus for a while for about a week-and-a-half when Timmy and Manu were out and coming back into the flow.”

In place of an injured Park-er, Cory Joseph scored eight points, dished out four assists and had only 1 turnover.

“I thought he did a fine job. He played a good floor game. I like his defense,” said Popovich of his young point guard. “He’s gotten his opportunity and he seems to be taking advantage of it.”

Manu Ginobili scored 17 points while Tim Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Also, the Spurs recorded 35 team assists and Stephen Jackson and Duncan both had 6 assists piece, season highs for both players.

“We moved the ball really well. We have to with the lack of Tony’s (Parker) penetration, the way he does almost every play,” said Duncan. “We’re go-ing to move the ball and use a

lot of pick-and-rolls.” The Spurs not only performed

well on the offensive end, but they played well on the defen-sive end as well, something the Silver and Black are known for.

Three weeks ago, the Pistons scored 65 points in the first half en route to a 119 – 109 victory over the Spurs.

“Three weeks ago doesn’t re-ally matter today,” said Pistons’ guard Will Bynum. “It’s a whole different ballgame, a different story. Today they were the bet-ter team.”

The better team indeed. The Spurs held the Pistons to an op-

ponent low, 32.6 percent from the field, this season and forced 19 turnovers.

“It’s not surprising. I mean, San Antonio is a great team. They were the better team to-night,” said Bynum.

On March. 6, the San Anto-nio Spurs will put their two-game winning streak on the line against the defensive minded Chicago Bulls. Tip-off is sched-uled for 8 p.m. at the AT&T Center.

{For continuing coverage of the San Antonio Spurs visit

SPORTS 7March 5, 2013

The Silver and Black spur the Pistons

Mario NavaAssistant Sports Editorsports@paisano-online.com

The UTSA Roadrunners, on Feb. 28, 2013, battled and then ran away from the Idaho Vandals in a home victory at the Convocation Center, 74-56. The win splits the season series between the ‘Runners and Vandals after UTSA lost a close game back on Jan. 26 in Moscow, Idaho. UTSA, after some poor play earlier in the season, is now playing better. The Roadrunners secured their third consecutive win.

“I had forgotten about it [win-ning],” Thompson said. “It’s been a long one…they [UTSA basketball team] have never, ever quit. They’ve got such great character and always just bounced back every day and came to work.”

Down 40-38 at the half, it was UTSA guard Michael Hale III who helped to push a two point deficit into an 18 point victory. Hale scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half while play-ing all 40 minutes of the game. The Vandals fell flat shooting 24 percent (6-of-25) in the sec-ond and scored just 16 points to match, Hale’s entire second half

output.In his final season with

UTSA, Hale has been one of Thompson’s trusted leaders and scorers. “He’s [Hale] a competi-tor and a warrior…the guy likes winning,” Thompson said.

In the final moments of the game with a win in hand, UTSA fans started chanting for Hale as he buried one last three. Hale, is appreciative of the fans sup-port all season.

“I love our crowd,” Hale said. “I saw one poster that had my name on it and said ‘Hale yeah,’ so I like that. It shows the fans appreciation and I appreciate them.”

UTSA and Idaho exchanged leads 11 times in the first half. The Vandals took advantage early with seven 3-pointers and center Kyle Barone’s 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Right out of halftime UTSA went on a 13-2 run giving them their first double digit lead at 53-42 with 12:14 left in the game. The ‘Runners pushed the lead to 15 on a Jeromie Hill dunk, but the Vandals answered with a 7-2 run capped by a Connor Hill 3-pointer that cut the lead to 10. It was UTSA that put a final stamp on the game with a to a 12-2 run.

The Vandals finished with only one 3-pointer in the sec-ond half and Barone scored just one more bucket to finish with 13 points and 15 rebounds for the game, a stark contrast to the previous half.

UTSA’s Kannon Burrage had 16 points and Hill added 12 as part of the Roadrunners trio of scorers. Idaho guard Mike Mc-Christian led his team with 19 points.

With the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas around the corner, UTSA is building confidence for a suc-cessful finish. “Hopefully we can be hot going into Vegas and leave Vegas going hot,” Thomp-son said.

UTSA fell flat in the home finale against the Seattle Uni-versity Redhawks, losing 53-37. The Roadrunners, who had a victory over them this year when they went to Key Arena and won 78-75 behind Hale’s career high of 35 points, could only manage a school-record-low 11 points in the first half.

{ For continuting coverage of the men’s basketball team visit www.paisano-online.com }

‘Runners split season series against the Idaho VandalsThe UTSA Roadrunners are gearing up for the Western Athletic Conference tournmament in Las Vegas March 12 - 16.-

Tony Parker will be out for four weeks with a grade 2 left-ankle sprain.

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ADVERTISEMENT8March 5, 2013