THE
PAN AMERICAN
T h e S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Te x a s - P a n A m e r i c a n
April 12, 2007
Legislature pushes for freshman-year tuition freeze By VERONICA GONZALEZ The Pan American Despite rising tuition rates, Texas legislators are determined to see the cost of a college education come to a standstill. Since tuition was deregulated in 2004, the rates at numerous universities have soared. At The University of TexasPan American, annual tuition for 30 hours of credit rose from $2,984 to
QEP team anticipates SACS visit By LUKE KOONG The Pan American The University of Texas-Pan American is making its final preparations for the visit by the SACS on-site accreditation team next week. On the agenda: the Quality Enhancement Plan. Judy Davidson, director of the Writing Center, has been part of the QEP team since its infancy and said the university hopes students are aware of the plan and what it means for them. “Students should know that your university is doing something to help them,” she said. “They should know that the university puts the students’ needs as their top priority.” Davidson and the QEP team realize it is unlikely the entire student body will know what the QEP is about, but still hope they will know the basics. “It would be great if they knew the title. If they know anything about what we’re going to do, that’d be even better,” she said. Davidson said it is the committee’s hope that news of the QEP spreads widely throughout the campus. “That would be all we could expect. By this time next year, hopefully
$3,152 in 2004, a 5.6 percent increase. This increase was small in comparison to other universities. For example, tuition at the University of Texas-Austin rose 26 percent from $4,550 to $5,735 for 30 hours of credit that same year. Currently, UTPA’s yearly tuition rate is $4,598, according to collegefortexans.com. As a result of the across the board increases, several proposals have been
submitted in an effort to regain control over cost. Two of the various Senate bills proposed during this year’s legislative session have come close to being approved, according to Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa. Hinojosa, along with Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano, has co-written Senate Bill 100, which aims to prevent the rise of college tuition. The proposed bill would freeze the tuition rate a college freshman
entered with for a maximum of four years. In essence, it would ensure students don’t fall victim to rapidly rising rates. “We’re trying to help students get more focused and lock down tuition on whatever they paid freshman year so that they will not pay a higher tuition rate than that,” Hinojosa said. “But they have to graduate within four years.” Hinojosa said tuition has risen too
Did you know? Q
Following deregulation of tuition in 2004, rates rose 5.6 percent at UTPA, 17.3 percent at UT-Brownsville, 23.1 percent at UTSA and 26 percent at UT-Austin in one year.
See TUITION page 11
- www.collegefortexans.com
Student assaulted on campus Police search for man who could have more info By SANDRA GONZALEZ The Pan American Police at The University of TexasPan American are hoping the man depicted in their computer-generated sketch will help lead them to the suspect accused of assaulting a student late in the evening April 4. This “person of interest” was seen in the area by the victim shortly before the crime was committed, according to James Loya, assistant chief of police for UTPA Police Department. “At this time we just want to identify this person and see if he has any information,” Loya said. Around 9:15 p.m., the victim, whose name was not released, was reportedly walking from the library to her car in the small parking lot H, located on the 1000 Block of West Van Week Street, when she was approached from behind by a man who proceeded to assault her with an unknown object. The girl screamed and managed to fight off her attacker. She sustained only a few minor injuries and torn clothes,
Crime on campus
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according to Loya, who added she was not taken to the hospital. The suspect was described to police as a Hispanic male in his early 20s who is approximately 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark baggy pants, according to Loya, and spoke in a heavy Spanish accent Loya admits that while the description matches several people in the area and at the university, it is the police department’s hope that someone will come forward. “Technically, it does fit the description of several individuals, but we hope it will trigger the memory of somebody,” he said. “We’re hoping that information will get to the right person.” Loya added that the photo of the person of interest has generated interest. They received about 10 to 12 leads as a result of the rendering, and he assures they are following up on each one. This is the first time since 2003 that an aggravated assault has been reported to campus police. The most commonly
0
Aggravated assaults
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8
Motor vehicle thefts
UTPA Police Department SEARCHING - Police released this computer-generated rendering of a man they say was seen in the vicinity of an aggravated assault April 3.
12
Simple assaults
18
Burglaries
73 Thefts
* Numbers from 2005 according to the 2006-2007 Campus Safety and Security Report
News
A&E
Sports
Rodent feces causes stir among cafeteria diners, officials take action
IMAS hosts special exhibit to celebrate its 40th year
NCAA ranks university athletic teams academically, mixed results
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