Hilltop Views S t .
E d w a r d ’ s
U n i v e r s i t y
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Volume 26 | Issue 5
Ragsdale open after flood Tristan Hallman St. Edward’s University is assessing the damage after a flood that closed down the Robert and Pearle Ragsdale Center. The university reopened the building’s third floor last Thursday and its second floor the next day. Jones Auditorium, however, remains closed indefinitely. Workers are still in the process of drying out the auditorium. Classes that were held in Jones will continue to be held in the Maloney Room until further notice. “We’ll have to do some
Eloise Montemayor
The carpet in Jones Auditorium will need to be replaced.
repairs in there,” said Mike Stone, director of Auxiliary Services.
Those repairs include replacing damaged dry wall and replacing the carpet in
the auditorium. The carpet had been replaced over the summer at a cost of approximately $9,800. The full cost of the damage is still being assessed However, none of the technological or mechanical equipment in the auditorium sustained any damage, according to Stone. The flooding occurred when a chiller pipe, which supplied cold water to the air conditioning system in the building, became disconnected in the Ragsdale mechanical room The mechanical room has BUILDINGS, 2
Going green may cost students Katy Johnson Austin Energy has pledged to buy more alternative energy sources, which may raise student utility bills in the future. The Austin City Council has committed to getting 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Austin Energy believes 35 percent is an achievable goal. The Austin-owned energy company predicts an increase in energy bills in the coming years due to a plan to purchase alternative energy sources, like wind turbines, clean coal, nuclear
“The impact on all customers will be higher utility rates...” -Director of Physical Plant Michael Peterson
energy and solar energy. The plan could raise energy bills nearly 22 percent or more by 2020. Michael Peterson, the director of the physical plant at St. Edward’s University said that Austin Energy’s goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electrical generation by 2020. Options to meet City Council climate protection goals in-
Web: See Hilltop Views new online edition on Friday at www.hilltopviewsonline.com
clude 30 percent renewable generation, 100-200 megawatts of solar generation and 700-800 megawatts of energy conservation, Peterson said. “The impact on all customers will be higher utility rates as we pay for wind turbine transmission lines, biomass [wood waste] generation, solar capital improvements and a potential rate hike,”
Peterson said. This could mean higher utility rates for the university, and possibly an increase in tuition and the cost of living in residence halls and apartments. Many students already feel the burden of utility prices and find it hard to pay their current bills, much less a spike in energy costs. But Peterson said that he sees positive aspects of the new policy. Peterson said that the clean energy being bought allows for a share of the Fayette Power Plant to
Entertainment: Read the ACL wrap-up. Page 8.
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World religions celebrated Jacqueline Slanley St. Edward’s University held its first annual “A Gathering of Faiths,” in conjunction with a similar event to be held in Melbourne, Australia in December. The event that inspired the festival, the Parliament of the World’s Religions, occurs every five years in a different international city with the goal of bringing together the world’s religious and spiritual communities. It is the world’s largest interreligious gathering, according to the parliament’s Web site. Similarly, the event at St. Edward’s on Oct. 1 was created to be a celebratory gathering of students, faculty and staff to discuss and explore different world religions in order to encourage understanding and coopera-
tion between faiths. James Puglisi, associate director of campus ministry, said the goal of the festival was to promote religious diversity along with literacy and to build knowledge and awareness. “The more you know about religion the less conflict you will have with religion,” he said. The festival began at 11 a.m. on the Ragsdale Lawn where various stations were set up to highlight different religions and provide students with interactive opportunities for religious exploration. Students who stopped by were able to make prayer bracelets, listen to music with religious influences ranging from Judaism to Buddhism, hear stories, RELIGIOUS, 4
Lucio Manzano
COSTS, 3
Andres Madrid visits the tables set up on Ragsdale Lawn.
Sports: Women’s soccer currently nationally ranked. Page 9.