Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio
03.03.2011 Vol. 45 Issue 8
The
Paisano
PARKING WOES
Dan Rossiter
P6: Land a job
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net
P10: Baseball
P8: Hip-hop conference
Although construction on the new East Garage is scheduled for March 1, re-designation and removal of some 360 parking bays started a week ago. According to Business Auxiliary Services (BAS), approximately 300 student bays, along with 60 Faculty B parking bays, were lost in the preparation. Faculty A parking spaces, though relocated, have not been removed. The limited parking will last until July 2012, at which time the new, 1,200-space garage should be complete. The garage will house faculty, staff and student parking, along with paid daily visitor and special event parking. The East Garage will be home to a new customer service center, coffee kiosk, a “spirit shop,” Visitor Center and the Alumni Center. Erika Esquivel, senior kinesiology major, worries that the new parking restrictions will further hinder the already limited parking for students. Though she
would usually park in lot eight, the change in parking bay designation forced her to park out on the street. Other students, who would normally be able to park within walking distance of their classes were forced out to lots 11 and 13. When Patricia Wilson, a student working towards her physician’s assistant certification, was asked what she thought of the parking, she simply responded, “Oh my God!” She went on to say that, though parking is not too difficult to find early in the morning, on days when she has a later start, parking is nearly impossible to find. Ariel Armendariz, junior history major, agreed, stating that Tuesdays and Thursdays, when her classes don’t begin until 11 a.m., parking is horrible. For some commuter students, however, the new parking situation creates no additional burden. “I park out by The Paisano office and I walk pretty much as far as if I had a parking permit,” said Brianna Roberts, junior sociology major.
City wide race promotes wellness and community support in a family environment
Eileen Achorn, a Psychology and Statistics faculty member since 1989 bought a Faculty B parking pass at the beginning of the school year. She found out about the planned construction through the school website. “One of my office mates called asking if they were going to send out an email giving a chance to upgrade. They said, ‘no,’” Achorn said. She said that though the option to upgrade was available, BAS was just not going to in-
Matt Dargan
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net
Burk Frey/ The Paisano
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net
See DASH, Page 3
Construction for the East Garage is causing Faculty/Staff A to move, leaving students with an even bigger loss in parking spots.
form the faculty of such. Achorn fears that the move to more covered and less ground parking is part of an overall university scheme to force faculty and students to pay the significantly increased fees of covered parking. Looking out across the parking lot, Achorn comments, “there are three rows of open As. Where are we going? I’m parking in the closest student parking I can find.”
HSS building renamed McKinney Humanities
Ramsey R. Rodriguez
HSS renamed after Mary McKinney donated $22 million to UTSA.
Texas celebrates 175 years
Stephen Whitaker/ The Paisano
Over 2000 participants, ranging from local business owners to middle school athletes laced up their running or walking shoes this past Saturday morning for the 28th Annual Diploma Dash City 5K Championship. As some people warmed up and stretched at the starting line, others leashed up dogs for a morning jog or pushed baby strollers to the back of the crowd. Hosted by the Alumni Association, the event received a proclamation from the city of San Antonio making it an official city-wide event. “I like to run all San Antonio 5Ks but this is my first Diploma Dash,” runner, Ina said about the race. Several firsts happened this past Saturday due to a change in the course outline. “This year the course has changed because of the parking garage that is being built,” said Alumni Association Director Jim Mickey. “If they finish top three in their age group, they’ll set a new course record.” The top times for males this year were Jeremy Daum with 15:47, Jose Munoz with 15:31 and Chass Armstrong with a winning time of 15:27. For females it was Devin Clark with 19:06, Denise Reus with 18:13 and Emily Loeffler with a winning time of 17:47.
Marie Ullrich/The Paisano
Students affected unequally by garage construction
Stephen Whitaker
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net They sat in an unfinished building on a bitterly cold day. The moment that would change history was approaching. On March 2, 1836, 44 men would sign two documents that would mark a turning point in history. The delegates had come to Texas from the United States, Europe and Mexico to a convention to draft a government in a town aptly named Washingtonon-the-Brazos. They were meeting to draft a Declaration of independence. That cold March day was just
one in line of events that has come down through History as the Texas Revolution. “The key is that [the revolution] is the moment when Texas goes from under the rule of a spanish speaking government to an english speaking government,” said professor of Texas History Dr. Patrick Kelly. To continue reading this please visit paisano-online.
Already relabeled, the Humanities and Social Sciences Building (commonly known as the HSS) is newly tagged: McKinney Humanities Building. In response to Mary McKinney’s recent death and gift of $22 milliion to aid dedicated students in tuition payment, UTSA renamed the building in her honor. To some students the HSS holds the general significance of a core-class prison stack synonymous with mundane, required coursework, while to others it passes relatively unnoticed as a rudimentary freshman-year dwelling.
“I hate the HSS”, student Eric Chapa said. “There was never any real connection with the building for me, it seems more like a continuing attempt from the university to attach many fauxprestigious name drops on its buildings, but the gift in and of itself requires a response, that’s how gifts work in America so it’s to be expected. Others question the decision in regards to the effectiveness of the name itself. “Well it’s a good way to remember her contribution, but it doesn’t really roll off the tongue as well”, student Josh Seiwert said. “The ‘HSS’ was a common building with a common name, simple and stress free.”
See MCKINNEY, Page 3
Young Democrats collect signatures to lower tuition Nina Hernandez
paisanonews@sbcglobal.net In an effort to support state representative Mike Villarreal’s petition to fight budget cuts, Young Democrats gathered signatures last week. The petition is protesting against Governor Perry’s proposed budget cuts, which Rep. Villarreal said in a press release, will raise college tuition by $1,000. “I don’t think many people actually know about the tuition increase, or about the budget cuts in general,” freshman political science major Crystal Poenisch said. “We thought we would let everyone know about the issue.”
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Should 100 percent of the budget cuts pass the legislature, tuition will rise by $1,023. “It’s going to be almost impossible for low income families to attain an education,” Poenisch said. “I’m a single mother and grants and financial aid are helping me get an education.” “I want to contribute to the economy after I graduate, but I might not be able to do that if I’m in debt,” Poenisch said. President of Young Democrats, Charles Wilkinson explained that Texas’ Rainy Day fund could drop the deficit to $5 billion. The Rainy Day fund is about $9.4 billion that the state has saved from natural gas and oil tax revenue. See TABLING Page 4