State of the City— Week of 02/21/2023

take place on Wednesday, May 17, in the HEB Student Union Ballroom.

Graduating students will have the opportunity to learn about ordering graduation supplies and regalia for the ceremony, among other things, at GradFest, which will be held on three different dates:

• 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, March 6, 2023, in the Durango Building 1.124 –River Walk.

• 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in the H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms 1.100B.

• 10 am to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in the H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms 1.100B.

More information about commencement can be found at https:// www.utsa.edu/commencement/.

Martinez recognized the freedom of speech within specific parameters of the law.

“You do not surrender your right to free speech and to petition your government as state employees,” Martinez said. “However, there are restrictions.”

Those restrictions include avoiding the exercising of free speech using a state resource such as email or UTSA letterhead. Additionally, Martinez urged that when expressing their viewpoint, it should come from a personal place.

“You really should not represent that you are representing UTSA,” Martinez said. “Only the president of the university and the board of regents can represent the university.”

Kerry Sinanan, assistant professor in the Department of English and chair of the Academic Freedom, Evaluation and Merit Committee, expressed the uncertainty of the guidelines put on to faculty.

“It is not very practically helpful for the situation that we are in right now and the job we are being asked to do as faculty,” Sinanan said.

Martinez returned to the point that no state resource can be used to support or oppose any legislative measure. Meanwhile, Rene Zenteno, the faculty senate’s chair, recognized the question’s importance.

Sonya Alemán, an associate professor in the Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department, posed questions on UTSA’s plan and the “wait and see” approach being taken

Continued SGA

With the spring 2023 election cycle approaching, PaquetDurand Ford addressed this low turnout.

“We are always trying to get students to vote during our elections,” Paquet-Durand Ford said. “Every single year [we do] programming to try and increase student turnout in that voting process, and we learn from previous years, so we try [to] take that [and] adapt for the next year.”

A lot of the strategies mentioned above, like tabling and social media campaigns, are utilized to encourage students to vote. SGA also has an election commission, whose primary goals include increasing student turnout.

Changes to Constitution

The creation of an election commission is one of the changes that was made as a part of SGA’s new constitution, which was adopted in the spring of 2022. The process of drafting the constitution was undertaken by by the university. Furthermore, Alemán asked what UTSA’s plans were for the academic offices and faculty affected by the proposed bills.

“I do not think it is wise to speculate,” Martinez said. “We have not seen any language whatsoever.”

Martinez reiterated the importance of UTSA’s work in creating a productive and supportive environment for faculty. He further argued against the “wait and see” approach, while recognizing some of the events happening in Florida’s education landscape.

Sinanan pushed back on his comments around speculation and posited that examples of the language could be seen through legislative bills passed in Florida and Georgia. She noted the passing of SB 3 — which targeted the teaching of CRT in public schools — as an example.

“It is not speculation; there’s a playbook to these bills,” Sinanan said. “This is deeply political and ideological.”

Sinanan would go on to urge the necessity of a plan of action.

“If the administration will not [have a plan], then we as the faculty senate need to have a plan for advocating,” Sinanan said.

Mary Dixson, a professor of instruction in the Department of Communication, presented a caution around thinking of faculty as “a monoculture socially and politically” ...

Read the full article at paisano-online.com the members of SGA at the time and members of other organizations that SGA works closely with. A committee was formed to rewrite the constitution. What followed was several months of “collaborative, back and forth feedback [and] discussion,” engaging with the committee and members of SGA’s legislative and executive branches.

In the end, the final draft was signed off on by the Dean of Students — LT Robinson — and President Taylor Eighmy. Furthermore, according to Article XIII, Section 2 of the Constitution, titled “Ratification,” a new constitution is ratified upon approval of the 2/3 majority of the SGA General Assembly, Chief Student Affairs Officer of UTSA, simple majority approval of the UTSA student body and the UTSA President.

Paquet-Durand Ford explained that the reasoning behind the decision to undertake this long and tedious process boiled down to efficiency.

By Gauri Raje News Editor

The San Antonio City Council voted to place all six provisions of the Justice Charter on the May 6 election ballot under a “policy-focused measure” titled Proposition A. This will allow San Antonio residents to vote on measures like the decriminalization of marijuana and abortion and other local law enforcement reforms within city limits. Council members Manny Pelaez (D8), John Courage (D9) and Clayton Perry (D10), walked out and were not present when the measure was approved to signal their opposition.

San Antonio Airport officials unveiled a model for a new terminal at the San Antonio International Airport. A rendering of the new terminal includes “up to 17 gates, lengthy passenger departure and arrival lanes, spacious waiting areas and club lounges and a lushly landscaped, open-air courtyard,” the San Antonio Report explained. The plan is part of the $2.5 billion airport strategic development plan. Pre-construction projects will begin in 2024, and a target completion date of 2028 has been set.

The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office released video footage, witness accounts and 911 calls leading up to the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Andre “AJ” Hernandez by San Antonio police on June 3. All of this evidence was part of a written review that was presented to the Bexar County grand jury. The jury chose not to indict officer Stephen Ramos, who fired the shot that killed Hernandez. According to the San Antonio Express-

Under the new constitution, SGA has an expanded team with more positions in an effort to allocate duties that have remained unassigned so far. There was also an effort to equalize obligations and responsibilities allocated to positions. The roles of the Vice President and the Speaker of the Senate also changed under the new Constitution. Furthermore, the organization now has an internal affairs committee for attendance disputes and overseeing in-house elections among other things.

Bridging the Gap

As the SGA President PaquetDurand Ford is faced with the responsibility of accurately representing students to university officials.

“It is a constantly evolving process,” Paquet-Durand Ford said. “I am constantly re-evaluating how to ger better feedback and to communicate that effectively. One thing that I do not take lightly is the fact that I do have access to these in- dividuals, and a lot of my work is informal conversations with influential people. Just sharing student experiences. I have to have my ear to the ground and have my thumb on the pulse of the student population.”

News, the DA’s review of the shooting states that Ramos had reason to believe that fellow officer Espinoza was outside his vehicle and threatened “with deadly force” as the red Toyota Corolla driven by Hernandez accelerated towards him. Body cam footage for Espinoza and dash cam footage from Espinoza and Ramos’ vehicles was released, but no body cam footage for Ramos was included. This footage shows that Espinoza pulled his leg back into the car before the red Toyota Corolla hit his police vehicle.

A University of Incarnate Word (UIW) track and field athlete has been accused of “kidnapping a 3-year-old child and stabbing his mother with a screwdriver,” KENS5 reports. The incident took place on Thursday, Feb. 16, in the northeast side of the city. The athlete, MyRajah Rankin, stabbed the mother as the latter tried to get a hold of her son. Rankin then carried the child away until a nearby man grabbed the child. Following this, Rankin ran and hid inside an apartment closet, where police found her and took her into custody. Rankin is jailed on bonds worth $150,000 total. Her initial court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 28.

Several shooting incidents were reported this week in San Antonio. One of these took place in the city’s Eastside after a fight at a bar escalated, spilling into the parking lot and leaving two men injured. Another incident occurred on Saturday, Feb. 18, when a friendly gathering turned into a “verbal altercation” that culminated in a 17-year-old being shot, NEWS4SA reported.

Given UTSA’s large student body, Paquet-Durand Ford acknowledged the difficulty of the process, adding that she ensures she is available to engage with students and listen to their experiences.

“I heavily rely on my team and organization also to expand [the] network of feedback that we are getting,” Paquet-Durand Ford said.

One of the most common ways for students to engage and get in touch with Paquet-Durand Ford or any of the other SGA members is through the organization’s general assemblies every other Thursday.

Read the full article at paisano-online.com