Vol 120 | Issue 29
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Publishing since 1913
Independent Student Newspaper of Sam Houston State University
Senior staff members say their goodbyes, pg.2 & 3
Like us on Facebook: “The Houstonian SHSU”
Texas A&M destroys SHSU baseball team, pg. 7
INDEX Viewpoints ....... pg. 2 News ................... pg.4 Viewpoints........ pg. 3 A&E................. pg.6 Sports.................. pg. 7
4-Day Overcoming adversity in Cuba Forecast for success in United States Information from Weather.com
Thursday, May 3 HI: 91 LOW: 70
Friday, May 4 HI: 91 LOW: 72
Saturday, May 5 HI: 91 LOW: 72
Sunday, May 6 HI: 91 LOW: 71
MEREDITH MOHR Contributing Reporter
Rafael Saumell sits back in his chair, his eyes calm, and looks out the window. For a moment he is silent, and then he says, “To overcome adversity, you have to overcome first your own personal limitations,” Saumell said. “ It is not a matter of philosophy or religion, but also the will. You must have patience, perseverance, and remember your goals. It doesn’t mean that it is easy. It is an uphill battle with many failures. But you will meet people who, in the midst of adverse circumstances will give you their hand, and their heart. That is how you overcome it.” Saumell, a native of Cuba and a Spanish professor at Sam Houston State University since 1992, knows these things from his own experience. Before he came to the United States, he was working in Cuba as a TV scriptwriter and director and in the radio and TV industry. Following the Mariel Boatlift Crisis of 1980 and subsequent exodus of Cuban citizens from the country, Saumell felt it was his duty to write about what motivated these people to leave their country. He published a book of anecdotes,
Photo from Today@Sam.
SAVING SAUMELL. Rafel Saumell is a native of Cuba and Spanish professor at Sam Houston State Unversity since 1992. He came to the U.S. after working as a TV scriptwriter and director in the radio and television industry.
which called the attention of the Cuban political police. On the morning of October 14, 1981, the Cuban secret
The Parking Games: Ticket revenue won’t bring more parking spots lots. Hooten said the total budgeted revenue for 2012 is $1,714,000. A large part of that amount is payment of debt for the parking garage at more than $300,000. Assistant Director for Parking and Transportation David Kapalko said that the money from parking tickets also goes to permit orders, parking garage hardware, software for writing tickets electronically, and a portion of the police budget. Kapalko said that the parking garage is a major expenditure of the university. “When it is built, the university obtains state-issued revenue bonds, which are essentially like a 20-year mortgage,” Kapalko said. “To break even on a new parking garage, we would have to have a minimum of $150 per month, per space. Most people are not willing to pay that kind of money for parking.” Kapalko noted that was discussed at the recent Open University Forum on campus, at
which students could come to the public meeting and ask questions to administrators, the reason they can’t build more parking garages to start to alleviate parking situations is because of that very reason. “The garage is not selfsupporting,” Kapalko said. “We can provide the best parking environment that people are willing to pay for.” Stephen Green | The Houstonian
MEREDITH MOHR Contributing Reporter In the morning as classes start, the campus floods with students – and their cars. Parking on campus is a real problem. And a lot of students find themselves with parking tickets from the University Police Department after parking in the wrong lot or trying to find a space in a desperate measure to get to class on time. But after you pay your parking ticket, what happens next? Where does the money go? According to Al Hooten, Vice President for Finance and Operations at Sam Houston State University, the money goes right back into the program that issues the tickets. Revenue from parking fees and fines is used to support the University’s Office of Public Safety – funding the salaries of SHSU police officers, civilian employees and student workers. Funds received beyond budget go to a reserve which is used to construct and maintain parking
This is part 4 of 4 in a series on SHSU parking tickets.
Check out HoustonianOnline.com for an interactive map of parking lots on the SHSU campus.
police searched his house and arrested him for having “enemy propaganda.” “At the end of the search they
told me I had to come with them, and they took me to a police
NICOLE GABLER Contributing Reporter Seeing a ticket tucked neatly underneath a windshield wiper can ruin any student’s day. But getting ten or more tickets in a year is expensive and becoming more common. There were more than 70 students with vehicles who had ten or more tickets issued from the fall and spring semesters. One vehicle, a Toyota, had the most tickets issued at 24 since Fall 2011. The Toyota driver racked up 11 no permit citations, parked in a faculty/staff lot five times, in the wrong color zone four times, and covered all the bases with a fire zone violation, parking across marker lines, improperly displaying the permit, and parking where prohibited. Sam Houston State University officials said that they are not allowed to release names or license plate numbers of students with tickets. This information is protected under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, or FERPA, according to David Kapalko, SHSU assistant director of parking and transportation.
The Houstonian believes it’s quite a feat to get 24 tickets since the Fall 2011, so the Toyota driver should come forward and claim the honor of being the most ticketed student on campus. Your story needs to be told. FERPA restricted the search for repeat offenders’ names, but volunteers can come forward. If you received more than 10 tickets over the last year, we want you to hear your story as well. Contact the news desk at 936-294-1505, sgreen@houstonianonline.com or comment on the Houstonian’s Facebook page. According to the SHSU Office of the Registrar, FERPA is a federal law that states that colleges and universities will maintain the confidentiality of student education records. This law also affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. The law basically says that no one outside the institution has access to students’ education records nor will the institution disclose any information from those records without the written consent of the student.
—SAUMELL, page 5
Reports show more than 70 students with 10+ tickets in past year
Students create website ‘like Craigslist for Sam Houston’ MEAGAN ELLSWORTH Contributing Reporter The spring semester is coming to an end, which means some students are ready to sell back their textbooks. While the bookstore offers students one option for returns, it does not always guarantee a 100 percent refund. In fact, the bookstore often only gives a small fraction of the original price back. That’s one reason why two Bearkats have teamed up off of the football field to provide a new alternative service to satisfy SHSU students ‘ buying and selling needs. EduMarket creator Matthew Foster and partner Seth Patterson said their new free service site launched for Sam Houston State University in December.
“It is like a Craigslist,” Foster, who is a Computer Science major, said. “The only way it is different is that it is only for Sam Houston.” Users are required to provide a university email address to access the service as a means to provide more security and reduce the risk of fraud and scams that sometimes take advantage of buyers on similar classifieds sites. “Therefore it is safe and exclusive,” he said, adding that this was one of the main reasons the new service was built. The creator is able to ensure that only SHSU students are using the site because the email address shows the user’s domain. “So if you don’t have that email address in there then you won’t be put into the site,” Foster said.
Patterson said the two also created the site because there seemed to be a need for the service since there was not a Craigslist for Huntsville. “I like it because it’s the Craigslist for Sam Houston,” SHSU Business Marketing Major and EduMarket user, Colton “DJ KickFlip” Cornett said. The service has categories ranging from clothing to video games and everything in between, but Patterson emphasized that the service could prove to be useful when selling back textbooks. “Everybody gets screwed when they go try to sell (back) to the bookstore,” he said. “They bought a book for $300 and they sell it back $40. They could sell it to another student for $100, they’d be happy and you’d be happy. You don’t get to negotiate with the
bookstore. ” The service includes internal messaging, so that buyers and sellers are able to negotiate the best price and arrange the exchange. “Payment arrangement is made between users,” Foster said. “I bought a calculator off of there a month or so ago. I was just messaging the seller back forth and then we met in the LSC. I gave her the cash, she gave me the calculator-it was easy.” The two explained that users would be unable to receive replies to messages about their items with an illegitimate email address. “Say you put in MMM001 and that’s a fake (address),” Patterson, who is an —
MARKET, page 5