Volume 66, No. 13
THE PAN AMERICAN
December 3, 2009
State of the Student Body Address held Tuition moves forward, provides budget hope
By Roxann Garcia Nevaeh09@msn.com
Students and administrators gathered Tuesday at the Student Union for the 5th Annual State of the Student Body Address hosted by the Student Government Association. The event, initiated in 2005, was designed to encourage student engagement and input on issues facing the university. Students were encouraged to attend the address and a catered reception af-
terward in the Union lobby, to interact with SGA members and Interim President Charles A. Sorber. The event began with SGA President Raghuveer Puttagunta addressing the student body and faculty on the state of the university, accomplished goals, and future projects of the organization. “We as a university have come a long way in the past five years. We’re starting to see more and more students not only from the Valley attending the
university but also those who are from outside as well,” stated the president. “We’re beginning to receive more and more students who have already had advanced placement and rigorous courses. We’ve come a long way over some time and we’ve done a lot in just this past year.” As president, Puttagunta has implemented a number or programs during his term. One is the Textbook Lending Program where students can check
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Daniel Flores/THE PAN AMERICAN
FIGHT THE POWER - Freshman Mellisa Eberlein attempts to rally fellow students outside the COAS Buidling against the new tuition hike that is scheduled to take effect over the next two fiscal years.
Locals react to troop surge for war By Ana Villaurrutia A.villaurru@gmail.com Millions gathered to hear President Barack Obama’s decision on how to proceed with the eight-year war effort in Afghanistan during a natiomally televised Tuesday address from West Point. Many around The University of Texas-Pan American are expressing their opinions on the initiative. Obama announced he will soon send 30,000 more troops to Afghani-
stan to help eliminate the threat of terrorist group al Qaeda. The additional troops would raise the total to over 100,000 soldiers. “We have been at war now for eight years, at enormous cost in lives and resources. Years of debate over Iraq and terrorism have left our unity on national security issues in tatters, and created a highly polarized and partisan backdrop for this effort,” said Obama Tuesday. “We must deny al Qaeda a safe haven. We must reverse the Taliban’s
momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government.” Luis Matus, a recruitment officer with UTPA’s ROTC program, shared his opinion on Obama’s announcement. “I definitely don’t envy his job right now, it’s a tough decision to make,” said the 2009 psychology graduate of UT-Austin. “I’m glad he took his time to make the possible course of action.” Captain Eva Bratschi, a recruit-
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By Brian Silva Brian.silva2@gmail.com The proposed tuition and fee hike, which senior administrators call crucial to the financial health of the university, has passed the key hurdle of the Cost of Education Committee. If implemented, tuition would increase by $140 for 15 semester hours each fall semester for the next two years The measure is designed to help alleviate an already thinly stretched budget, which received even less funding this summer when the Texas Legislature did not adopt a measure increasing “formula funding” to the university. According to Shaney Flores, vice president of the UTPA Student Government Association, the committee opted not to develop a separate additional increase. The second increase, which would have needed student referendum approval, had been proposed by the Division of Business Affairs, but was not OK’d because the committee decided that such a hike represented more expense than area students could handle. Currently it costs $3,048 to attend UTPA for 15 hours, the second lowest in the state. Flores said the next step rests with the Office of the President, which will deliver the proposal to the President’s Council, who will receive feedback from deans and department chairs. After that, the president of the university is to send it to UT System Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs David Prior. The final step will occur in late spring when the student government president and university president present it to the System Board of Regents. The university began the year running in the red, but according to Interim President Charles “Chuck” Sorber, the fiscal year 2009 budget made it into the black for the first time in several years. Preliminary estimates put the budget up by about .9 percent according to Juan Gonzales, assistant vice president of business affairs and budget director. “The proposed tuition increase is fairly nominal,” Sorber said. “All we have is tuition and fees, and we’re limited because of the cap.” Though the budget woes have been addressed the deeply entrenched funding issue may have started eight years ago. Jim Langabeer, vice president of business affairs, said the problem is not
Page 2 - Big business might Page 3 - Jobs after Page 11 - Holiday gift guide Page 14 - Q&A with volleyball Though semester ends with graduation Dec. 19, The Pan American staff scarce will be back at work Monday, Dec. 21, to produce content for the player Web site,Rebecca Panamericanonline.com. The havethe packed their bags, but graduation becoming Toddy university community can expect all sorts of news and features on a daily basis until the spring semester begins Jan. 19, including coverage of Bronc sports and excluding breaks on they never left Christmas and New Year’s. Anyone interested in giving news tips or getting involved with the paper should come by CAS 170 during the break.
with expenditures, stating that, “it’s a revenue problem.” He went on to explain that his division studied comparisons between UTPA and several other universities and that UTPA showed no problems in that area. The lack of revenue and combined budget deficits of 11.1 percent can be traced back to decisions made during the past decade. “This goes back to when designated tuition became a reality, and this institution chose to keep it as low as possible… partly because of the nature of our student body,” Sorber said. “The decision was made, rightfully or wrongfully, to minimize the increases and not get ahead of the game.” Eight years ago the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition and gave the state’s university systems the ability to control how their tuition number was raised or regulated, presenting a significant change in traditional Texas higher education fiscal policy, according to Sorber. “When the Legislature chose to give the regents the authority to increase designated tuition seven years ago, they basically made a conscious decision to shift the burden of higher education from the state to the students and the parents,” he explained. “Once they made that shift the ball game changed. One could say the Legislature chose to defer to the students and parents the cost, instead of the broader tax base. “ In recent years, though, lawmakers and regents have come to an agreement to cap tuition increases. However, formula funding, the way in which the state funds a university, was not changed to accommodate the caps. Sorber said that the university cannot make up for the decision the university made eight years ago. “It’s kind of like a salmon, we’re always swimming upstream,” he said. “You have to get a little dexterous in this business in order to try and continue to swim upstream to get ahead of the game, to keep the lights on and make sure there are faculty in the classrooms.” University officials say the state has a looming revenue problem that will affect the institution. Sorber stressed the importance of preparing for this possibility by getting the finances in order. “It was critical for us to get our budget in the black, from an operating point of view,” Sorber said, adding
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