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KTRK anchors Katie McCall (left) and Elissa Rivas (right) talk to students about world of news, getting started in the business at ‘Mingling’ event
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Bearkats to face-off against Texas A&M, Indiana in two sports
Volume 122 / Issue 23
Mears: Cyberbullying never okay, no excuses for the online aggressors
www.HoustonianOnline.com
Thursday, November 15, 2012
THECB proposes cuts to TEXAS grant ‘Retooling’ of program eligibility to combat growing number of students with need MCKINZIE BROCAIL Senior Reporter The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has proposed a retooling of the Towards EXcellence, Access and Success Grant Program (TEXAS) for the next legislative session. The THECB’s recommendation is to alter the grants, so that they are for less money, but would reach more students. The proposal is to leverage TEXAS Grants to cover academic charges for more students, and in turn would hopefully encourage more students to attend college. Across the state, 18 out of 100 students who apply for TEXAS Grants receive the maximum amount to cover academic charges. For public universities, like Sam Houston State University, the maximum amount
is $7,400 per year. “Today, we try to maximize the award amounts to help cover tuition fees, textbooks, room and board, transportation, etc,” Dominic Chavez, THECB spokesperson, said. “If we continue to operate this way, we’ll only be able to serve 18 out of 100 students, meaning 82 percent won’t even receive money.” Over the last five years there has been an 88 percent increase in the number of TEXAS grant eligible students. Based off the projected funding, $1.4 billion is needed over the next two years to fully fund all eligible TEXAS Grant students, which is three times the amount that is currently available. “We want to make it to where students get more moderate award amounts to cover academic charges,” Chavez said. “This
would cover up to 95 percent of needy students.” A student’s eligibility for a TEXAS Grant is determined by the university’s financial aid office. We’re proposing to work with universities,” Chavez said. “The universities would make local decisions. Their financial aid offices make the decisions to accommodate students and give them the flexibility to dictate students’ award amounts.” In 2011, the Legislature cut funding for TEXAS Grants for the first time in its history and established a model for distributing the awards that favored high-performing students. “The bottom line is: To sustain TEXAS Grant money long term, we are going to have to rethink how we use it due to the diminished funding,” Chavez
said. During the Fall 2012 semester, a total of 1,666 SHSU students received TEXAS Grants. “I agree with the proposal to an extent,” Bob Hoadley, political science sophomore and TEXAS Grant recipient, said. “Maybe in later years they can experiment to where students get more money or more of what they deserve, but for now I say we try this out.” The requirements for those eligible would become somewhat stricter. If the proposal passes, in order to be eligible, students would have to take 12 hours per semester instead of the current nine. Also, the lifespan of the grant would be capped at eight regular semesters rather than the current 150 credit hours. Under the recommendation, the TEXAS Grant Program would become a program that
is exclusively for university students. Funding for community colleges would come from other sources and eligibility pathways for transfer students would also be opened up. “This is a good thing,” Rosa Lopez, senior psychology major, said. “The economy is bad. People are in need of money, but what can we do? We can either be greedy or share the wealth. It will be a good thing [if it passes] because it is help, and any help is good.” To find out their eligibility, students should check their Banner Self Service requirements. For more information on TEXAS Grant eligibility, visit: www.shsu.edu/~fao_www/fa_ intro/grants.html#Texas. The SHSU Financial Aid Office failed to respond to repeated attempts of contact.
Secession talks uncover myths, misconceptions of Texas law JAY JORDAN Staff Reporter Micah H., of Arlington, created a petition on Nov. 9 asking that President Barack Obama to “peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.” Five days later the petition has received over 103,000 signatures, which is well over the 25,000 required to garner a response from the White House. The fact that Texas, or any other state, has the explicit ability to secede is a myth. Many students across the state are taught to believe that due to Texas’ unique history and previous independence, the state is allowed to leave the Union whenever it pleases. “That’s a false assumption,” political science professor Michael Smith said. “Texas can break up into five states if it chooses, but as far as secession, no.” Texas is among more than 40 states whose citizens are calling for secession. Most of the petitions have a relatively small number of —
PETITIONS, page 6
NATION & WORLD
0-1,000 signatures 1,000-5,000 signatures 5,000-10,000 signatures 10,000-20,000 signatures AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
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40,000+ signatures
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Eric Fite | The Houstonian CALLING IT QUITS Texas is among more than 40 states whose citizens are calling for secession.Five days after its creation, the petition has received over 103,000 signatures, which is well over the 25,000 required to garner a response from the White House.
All in the family
University member’s birthday helps him match world record CODY MILES Staff Reporter Sam Houston Alumni Wayne Frosch may have a bid for a title in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most siblings born on the same day who are also twins. Guinness declined the application, however, to award Frosch with the five other families who are listed as having incurred the same incidental circumstances. “They’re looking for someone to break the record. The chances of this are very slim. The odds of this happening are 17-million-toone” Frosch said. Frosch and his brother were born June 1, 1945 and his two younger siblings, also twins, were born on the same day in 1949. “We were approved as having equaled the record. I’m from a family of 13, I was number 10 and number 11 was my twin who
President Barack Obama says the economy cannot afford a tax increase on all Americans and is calling on congressional Republicans to support an extension of existing tax rates for households earning $250,000 or less.
Cody Miles | The Houstonian WORLD RECORD. Alumnus Wayne Frosch may have a bid for a title in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most siblings born on the same day who are also twins.
died at birth,” Frosch said. Perhaps, there is yet room for Frosch and his family. Frosch tied with the existing record holder, Laura Shelley, who gave birth to
a set of twins in 1990 and 2003 on Mar. 25. The four other families who tied with Shelly also gave birth during the 1990s and early 2000s.
“The people who won were born in the 90’s. They could have used fertility drugs or induced labor. We were born in the 40’s. The doctor might not even have been there when we were born” said Frosch. Frosch remembers the doctor, who lived 15 miles from their farm, coming to the house to help deliver his younger siblings. “I am not saying the other parents listed used fertility drugs or induced labor,” Frosch wrote to Guinness, “but these options were available, since they were born in the 1990’s or later.” “Both of our sets of twins were born at home and these options were not available to our parents.” Frosch graduated in 1969 from Sam Houston State with a degree in business. His wife, Ferne, also graduated from Sam Houston in 1989 with a degree in Accounting. He currently works as the property manager at Sam Houston.
The exhumation of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat began Tuesday according to state officials. The late leader’s body is being retrieved as part of an investigation into his death, which happened more than eight years ago. Leaders say the process could take more than two weeks to complete because of the delicacy of the artifacts. Follow us today! @TheHoustonian
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China on Thursday revealed the elite group of leaders who will set the agenda for the country for the next 10 year on Tuesday.The seven members of the committee now in charge of China’s political system were led by Xi Jinping, who takes over from Hu Jintao as head of the Communist Party, which has ruled China for more than 60 years.
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Florida teenager was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail after he was convicted of four felonies linked to his impersonation last year of a physician’s assistant in a hospital emergency room. Matthew Scheidt, 18, will then spend a year under house arrest, followed by eight years’ probation.