Emma O’ConnellInternnews@paisano-online.com

Since the launch of Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006, social media has permeated online society. Forums such as Facebook have increased human connectivity and the spread of information in un-precedented ways, but they could be having negative effects on their users.

In early September, St. Mary’s University graduate student Jessie Smith concluded research on Facebook use and how it could negatively affect relationships. The study fol-lowed 205 Facebook users, ages 18 to 82, using a 16-ques-tion online survey. Relationship length was used as an indica-tion of success.

In an interview with KSAT News, Smith stated, “Constant-ly looking at other people’s pro-files, and ex-partner’s profiles is going to strike up any jealousy that was there to begin with.

The more likely you are to use Facebook, the more likely you are going to run into conflict because of that Facebook use, and that conflict itself is what leads to that negative relation-ship outcome.”

To help prevent this result, Smith suggests that couples “set boundaries and limits on their social media usage and stick to them.” Smith’s findings can be found in her contributing pub-lication, “Cheating, Breakups, and Divorce: Is Facebook Use to Blame?”

Social media has become an outlet for couples to announce big life events such as the “in a relationship,” “engaged,” and “married” status updates. The idea that a couple’s relation-ship is not really “official” until it becomes “Facebook official” (FBO) is a 21st century trend.

Earlier this year, the Journal of Social and Personal Relation-ships published the article, “The role of Facebook in romantic relationship development: An exploration of Knapp’s relation-al stage model.”

In the study, researchers “sought to discern the interper-sonal and social implications

of publicly declaring oneself as ‘In a Relationship’ with an-other person on Facebook and ‘becoming FBO.’ College stu-dents consider ‘FBO’ to be in-dicative of an increased level of commitment in relationships. Typically, relationship exclu-sivity precedes a discussion on becoming ‘FBO,’ which occurs when the relationship is con-sidered “stable.”

A further change in how peo-ple establish the beginning and end of their relationships is that now couples break up through Facebook rather than through a discussion face-to-face as evi-denced by the many “how to” breakup etiquette blogs online.

More and more, social media is defining how we form rela-tionships with others; electron-ic communication is quickly replacing one-on-one contact.

Humans have the ability to communicate both verbally and nonverbally. Psychology To-day estimates that 93 percent of communication is perceived through body language. How-ever, with the advent of social media, personal connections get lost in cyberspace, hinder-ing the ability to bond on deep-

er levels. Social media and Internet

use may also affect children’s development of social skills and their ability to interact with other people.

According to The Daily Mail, Oxford University neurosci-entist Susan Greenfields was interviewed about the effects of social networking and child development. She feared that Internet use is changing not only the development of brain functions but also “rewiring them.” Greenfields also makes a

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

Volume 49 Issue 21 {WWW.PAISANO-ONLINE.COM}{SINCE 1981}

} {

UTSAStarting this week,

the UTSA Employee Occupational Health

and Wellness Cen-ter will be relocated under the Bauerle Garage Suite 1.10

San AntonioSan Antonio’s

Legacy Farmers Market and Hill

Country Farmers Market Associa-

tion will enter into a merger on Oct. 5,

doubling in size.

TexasDuring an interview

on Saturday Sept. 28, First Lady of

Texas Anita Perry described the deci-

sion to have an abor-tion as a woman’s

right saying, “...you can believe what you

want to believe.”

U.S.Beginning Oct. 1,

the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will be implemented nationally, regard-

less of a government shutdown.

WorldPresident Nicolas

Madura of Venezu-ela expelled the top American diplomat

and two embassy officials under sus-

picions of economic sabotage.

SportsThe San Antonio Rampage will begin the 2013 season on Friday Oct. 4 in the

AT&T Center at 7:30 p.m. against the

Chicago Wolves.

UTSA loses 58-29 after Saturday game with the UH Cougarspage 7

New organization

offers printmaking to

all studentspage 5

October 1, 2013

UTSA

See FACEBOOK, Page 2

Is Facebook making you depressed?

For new couples entering into a relationship, Facebook can have negative effects, such as expediting the level of committment and jealousy over viewing an ex-partner’s profile.

Rafa

el Gu

tierr

ez &

Lind

say

Smith

/ Th

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isano

Streetcar system on track for city

Rohit ChandonContributing Writernews@paisano-online.com

Expansive highways and au-tomobiles have historically been the only efficient way to travel throughout the San Antonio. An above-ground rail system is the newest method through which San Antonio is hoping to modernize transportation.

As the nation’s largest city with a bus-only transit system, San Antonio’s municipal gov-ernment has been working to alleviate the need for automo-biles.

San Antonio is the seventh most populous city in the Unit-ed States. Since 1990, the popu-lation has grown from 1 million to more than 1.36 million. How-ever, San Antonio’s public trans-portation system is struggling to keep up.

Initiatives such as the ‘B-Cy-cle’ program, which allows peo-ple to use bicycles downtown more frequently, have been implemented in the hopes of al-leviating congestion.

This desire to create more comprehensive municipal transportation has spurred the move to construct a streetcar system in downtown San Anto-nio.

In January of 2010, the VIA Board of Trustees unanimously approved preliminary routes for the rail system under the project name Smart Way SA.

Dr. Romo delivers university address

“Facebook is very deceptive, people only share things that make themselves look better.”Mary McNaughton-CassillUTSA Psychology profes-sor

LOCAL

See STREETCARS, Page 2

Sarah Gibbens News Editornews@paisano-online.com

“Everything we do must be about our students,” began

Ricardo Romo in his address. On Sept. 24 at 3:00 p.m.

President Romo delivered his annual State of the Univer-sity Address. The speech was meant to highlight what UTSA has achieved in the past year and to introduce plans for the future. Provost John Frederick

and Student Government Association (SGA) President Zack Dunn introduced the address.

“Last year we graduated more than 5,800 students, the largest class ever,” claimed Romo as one of the most prominent achievements of UTSA.

Romo also said that, in the year to come, the university will be saving more than a million dollars by consolidat-ing cyber security functions in an on-campus building. “We’ll be bringing all these

functions into one building.” San Saba Hall has also been

a major stride made at UTSA, adding more than 6,000 bed spaces and facilitating a more active college environment.

In the past, San Antonio has been written off as a city sub-jected to ‘brain drain’ in which a talented and educated work-

force leaves to pursue opportu-nity in other cities and states. Romo presented a challenge to this assumption by claiming that, in a study sponsored by

Rackspace Hosting, “San Anto-nio is a destination for college educated young people seeking jobs,” even rivaling Austin in the number of young profes-sionals it attracts.

Romo went on to recognize that UTSA’s Capitol Campaign

Fund has reached its goal of raising $120 million before 2015 and will continue to seek $55 million more in the next two years.

Other changes that students can look forward to include a restructuring of the advis-ing system. Rather than being grouped by college, students will be clustered with advisors by major. With this overhaul, Romo and UTSA estimates that 80 percent of students will stay with the same advisor through-out their college career, even accounting for change of major.

President Romo concluded his speech by saying that UT-SA’s efforts to become a Tier One university are being recog-nized.

“Our students deserve the best because, in my opinion, they are the best.”

President Ricardo Romo delivers his annual address to discuss the state and future of UTSA.

UTSA

Cou

rtesy

pho

to

“I believe we be-come a top tier university when we act it, when we believe it and when we live it.”Ricardo RomoUTSA President UTSA

2 NEWS October 1, 2013

correlation between autism and Internet use. She hypothesizes that either widespread Internet use among children could cause the development of autism, or the spread of information has made the disorder more well known. Either way, she believes it is something that should be studied.

Conversely, according to an article in The Atlantic, “Is Facebook Making us Lonely?” by Stephen March, “Social me-dia use can be linked to Patho-logical Internet Use (caused or exacerbated by social network-ing), which is associated with feelings of loneliness, depres-sion, anxiety and general dis-tress.”

There is a general consensus among researchers that people feel worse about themselves after an hour of “Facebooking,” which then can lead to feelings of inadequacy, and possibly de-pression.

Mary McNaughton-Cassill, a professor of psychology at UTSA, has looked at some of the psychological effects of Facebook.

“Facebook is very deceptive; people only share things that make themselves look bet-ter. Picture yourself at home on a Saturday night studying, and you see a ton of posts on Facebook about how much fun people are having tonight.

“These posts are just a way

to get attention from others, which in turn will make you feel bad about staying in,” says Cassill.

For students balancing work, school and social life, Facebook can be overwhelming. “The problem with social media is that people don’t limit their use; it’s like they are on-call 24/7, and I find that a lot of stu-dents become stressed, which is probably due to too many texts and too much stimulation.”

Facebook is good and bad for different reasons: it is bad be-cause it interferes with relation-ships but good because it helps people stay connected with friends they would otherwise lose due to distance.

“When I was in college, it was harder to maintain friendships,” said Cassill. “We didn’t have a phone with us all of the time. All we had was a landline in the dorm room, and even then you had to wait till the evening to call; otherwise, it was very expensive to phone during the day. But now it is easier to keep in contact.”

As a still-new phenomenon, more research is being con-ducted to ascertain the full ef-fects of social media on mental health and overall well-being. “I don’t think social media is going anywhere. People like the convenience and the con-nection, but they need to set boundaries,” said Cassill.

Smart Way SA has become the outlet with which VIA, along with the Downtown Al-liance of San Antonio, has sought to expand innovation initiatives. The Lone Range Comprehensive Transporta-tion Plan was established by Smart Way SA to study the feasibility of an inner-city rail streetcar system.

While the VIA board of trustees has not yet approved a final route, it is likely that the streetcar will run along Broad-way, St. Mary’s and Navarro streets going north to south;

and on Martin and Pecan and César E. Chávez Boulevard go-ing east and west, along with connecting routes.

Not to be confused with a rail system, the streetcar system works by laying tracks on the ground that will carry around trolley cars. It is unclear how fast the streetcar will travel, but it will match metro speed lim-its. The streetcar project would cost approximately $280 mil-lion, and will have roughly six miles of track.

The high cost has sparked de-bate because VIA is one of the most underfunded public tran-

sit systems in Texas– a result of a .5 percent transit tax rate as opposed to a one percent tax rate seen in other cities. The VIA board of trustees believes federal and state grants can en-sure that the San Antonio local government will not be paying the full amount.

As San Antonio continues to gain a higher population, the city faces congestion and a ne-cessity to improve infrastruc-ture.

Various ways of improving the transportation dilemma (more VIA buses, expanding highways and streets, building

a light rail system) have also been proposed with mixed public support.

Even though the route plan can still be changed, some San Antonio residents feel uneasy about the proposed routes.

“The amount it would cost for the streetcar is not efficient, and it could take a long time for the cost to be offset by tourism. It would be better to use that money to improve the current transportation infrastructure,” stated Haley Garcia, a senior UTSA computer and electrical engineering student.

STREETCARS: transportation changes

FACEBOOK: the effect on relationships From Page 1

From Page 1

The UTSAPD recently released its crime statistics for the past three calendar years. The highest offenses were relating to drugs and alcohol and most incidents occurred on UTSA’s Main Campus. The Annual Security Report is prepared by the UTSAPD in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Crime Statistics Act. In a statement from UTSAPD, Chief of Police and Direc-tor of Public Safety, Steve Barrera stated that UTSAPD is “committed to ensuring the safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors at the UTSA campuses.

NEWS October 1, 2013

3

Sarah Gibbens News Editornews@paisano-online.com

On Sept. 27, 2013 The Texas Tribune Festival hosted a talk between Senator Ted Cruz and CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Tribune Evan Smith.

Cruz, who gained notori-ety last week after a 21-hour speech in the Senate to delay the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was present for the interview via telecast. Delay over passing a federal budget kept Cruz in Washington where he contin-ued the fight against the soon-to-be implemented universal healthcare law.

Raised in Houston, Cruz re-ceived an undergraduate de-gree from Princeton and a law degree from Harvard. As a prominent figure in the Repub-lican Party, Cruz has been in-strumental in the fight against the ACA.

“It had been my hope that Senate Republicans would unite,” stated Cruz about the movement to defund the ACA. “They were able to fund Presi-dent Obama, and I think that’s unfortunate. The House is go-ing to stand strong and pass a resolution that will make real progress.”

Preceding Cruz’s infamous pseudo-filibuster, rumors cir-culated in Congress that Cruz was counseling members of the Senate to disregard House Speaker John Boehner. Cruz responded to the rumors by saying, “A lot of silly things have been written in this process.”

When Smith asked Cruz ex-plicitly if his answer was no, Cruz responded saying, “You did not hear a yes. At the end of the day, every member of the House is going to have to make a decision. The biggest thing I have been urging people to do is to listen to their constituents.”

The debate over funding the ACA comes at a critical time, as congress must vote on a work-ing budget for the fiscal year, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1. Without this critical vote, the government will shut down, halting all nonessential govern-ment services.

“There is plenty of time to avert a shutdown,” claimed Cruz. “(We) will only have one if Harry Reid and President Obama insist on a shutdown.”

Focusing on the debate over universal health care, Smith localized the ACA by discuss-ing health care in Texas. Over

a quarter of Texans are unin-sured, incurring large debts for emergency care centers. Rather than supplying universal health care, Cruz believes in personal insurance plans that are sepa-rate from employment.

“The best way for them (un-insured) to get health insur-ance is for them to get a good paying job,” said Cruz. “After Obamacare is repealed, I think we need serious reform, such as expanding competition and encouraging patient empower-ment. We should encourage the development of personal health plans. It’s all about encouraging you.”

Cruz has also been active on congressional issues of im-migration. Claiming to be the strongest supporter of immi-gration in the senate, Cruz dis-cussed a recent bill he authored to increase caps on immigra-tion, which was voted down.

“I think that was a real mis-take,” said Cruz of the bill’s fail-ure. However, concerning ille-gal immigrants currently living in the U.S., Cruz stated, “There is no chance the House is going to pass a path to amnesty for those who are here illegally.”

Cruz’s recent fame in the Senate has not gone unnoticed. CNN polls show that Cruz is the leading choice among Re-publicans for the 2016 presi-dential race.

When asked if he plans to run for president, Cruz turned focus back to current issues, he said, “I’m trying to focus on just getting the job done, not the politics.”

Senate on Cruz Control

Wendy Davis gained political fame after filibustering for 11 hours a bill that would restrict access to abortion.

Asso

ciate

d Pr

ess

Sarah Gibbens News Editornews@paisano-online.com

Since 1994, no Democrat in Texas has been elected in a statewide election. In the years following, Texas has become notoriously conservative, cut-ting taxes and attracting capi-tal enterprise, but often at the expense of social welfare pro-grams.

On Sept. 29, The Texas Tri-bune hosted a panel of Demo-cratically aligned political ex-perts to answer the question: “Will Texas turn blue?”

The panel consisted of Jere-my Bird, senior advisor for Bat-tleground Texas, a Democratic voter mobilization group; Le-ticia Van de Putte, Democratic state Senator from San Anto-nio District 26; and Bill White, 2010 Democratic nominee for Texas Governor. Senator Pete

Gallego D-San Antonio, who beat Republican nominee Fran-cisco Canseco in 2012, was not in attendance due to budget issues in Washington. Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune Evan Smith served as the mod-erator.

The panel began by discuss-ing methods with which Demo-crats plan to turn the state. “We need to break down barriers to voting and personally reach out to non-voting citizens,” said Bird.

Texas has the lowest voter turnout nationally, ranking 51st when including Washington D.C. Bird believes that with “voter registration, turnout and persuasion,” the Texas Demo-cratic Party can capitalize on an untapped voter base.

White also supported a grassroots approach to moti-vating a Democratic voter base. “I started out in politics going door-to-door and registering voters,” claimed the former Houston mayor.

Van de Putte cited conflict within the Republican Party as instrumental to instituting a strong Democratic candidate, saying, “I think the Republicans are helping us a great deal.”

While Wendy Davis has be-come the likely Democratic nominee for governor, there has also been buzz for Van de Putte to run opposite David Dewhurst in the race for Lieu-tenant Governor.

In an interview the previous

day, Dewhurst received back-lash for a comment he gave in which he said, “We have uni-versal healthcare– it’s called the emergency room.”

When asked directly if she plans to run for Lieutenant Governor, Van de Putte re-vealed, “It’s a very personal de-cision that I’m not taking light-ly. I’m looking at the analytics.”

The senator did make it known that she plans on mak-ing a change in Texas politics. “I want different leadership for this state so badly. When De-whurst thinks universal health-care is walking into an ER, that’s a problem. There’s a disconnect between the people and their elected officials.”

While Democratic Party leadership remains hopeful in its commitment to changing the politics of Texas, conservatives remain confident of their Re-publican majority. When asked if he thought Texas would ever become a Democratic major-ity state, Dewhurst responded by saying, “Texas will turn blue over my cold dead body.”

Turning Texas Blue

“Texas will turn blue over my cold, dead body.”David DewhurstLt. Gov. of Texas

“We need to break down bar-riers to voting and personally reach out to non-voting citizens.”Jeremy BirdSenior Advisor for Battle-ground Texas

“After Obam-acare is repealed, I think we need seri-ous reform, such as expanding com-petition and en-couraging patient empowerment.”Ted CruzU.S. (R) Senator Sarah Gibbens

News Editornews@paisano-online.com

On Sunday, Sept. 29, The Texas Tribune concluded its three-day political festival with an interview with Demo-cratic State Senator Wendy Davis, D-Ft. Worth.

Davis gained notoriety af-ter her infamous 11-hour fili-buster on a bill that restricted women’s access to abortion. Since her speech, there have

been rumors that the senator will run for governor in 2014 against Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott.

While she isn’t scheduled to announce her decision until Oct. 3, her political behavior has been indicative of a run for governor.

Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune Evan Smith in-terviewed Davis on what she would change in the Texas legislature, whether in anoth-er run for senate or statewide.

Among her political agenda is a plan to invest in public education: “If we don’t start investing in our children, it is going to hurt our economy.”

When asked about the cur-rent trend of rising tuition, Davis said that grant-in-aid is not keeping up with rising costs, saying, “We’re pricing people out of the opportunity to access higher education.”

Run for Governor?

August 26, 2008 The Paisano Opinion 5

{The Paisano}Editor-in-Chief: Matthew DuarteManaging Editor:J. Corey FrancoNews Editor:Sarah GibbensArts Editor:Janae RiceSports Editor:Mario NavaWeb Editor:Jennifer AlejosSpecial Issues Editor:Erin BorenBusiness Manager:Jenelle DuffSenior Copy Editor:Beth MarshallInterim Photo Editor:Rafael GutierrezSenior Photographers:Vicente CardenasLindsay Smith

{Staff Writers}Jackie Calvert, Alex Camacho, Nick Castillo, Christina Coyne, Shelby Hodges, Randy Lopez, Crystal Poenisch, Paulina Rivero-Borrell, Council Royal, Mark Zavala, Sara Flores

{Staff Photographers}Alyssa Gonzales

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{Contributing Photographers}Scott Cochran, Katherine Kish, Craig Garrison

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The Paisano is published by the Paisano Educational Trust, a non-profit, tax exempt, edu-cational organization. The Paisano is operated by mem-bers of the Student Newspa-per Association, a registered student organization. The Paisano is NOT sponsored, fi-nanced or endorsed by UTSA. New issues are published ev-ery Tuesday during the fall and spring semesters, exclud-ing holidays and exam peri-ods. All revenues are gener-ated through advertising and donations. Advertising inqui-ries and donations should be directed towards:

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{Letters to the Editor}Letters must be less than 400 words and include the writer’s name, classification or title and telephone num-ber. The Paisano reserves the right to edit all submis-sions.

Editorial

Anyone taking a basic Amer-ican politics class can tell you that we have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Our elected of-ficials are sent to the Capitol to represent the best interests of the constituents they serve. It is in this regard that our govern-ment is currently failing us.

When the House and Senate could not vote on a budget with bipartisan approval before the fiscal year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30), the government immediately shut down. Many Americans now have to question the se-curity of their jobs or govern-ment-funded services.

All nonessential government services effectively came to a halt as early as 12:01 Tuesday

morning. To prepare for the potential shutdown, bills had already been passed in the House to fund military spend-ing and continue payroll for those enlisted in active military service — but what about the rest of us?

The immediate halt of non-essential government services will have effects both varied and far-reaching. Services such as small business loans, passport requests, national parks, trash collection, federal employee payment, scientific research and the processing of govern-ment applications of any kind will be put on hold. According to CNN, more than 783,000 government employees will be forced to sit at home, waiting

for the government to reach an agreement.

Why would the federal gov-ernment jeopardize the liveli-hood of so many of its people? The inability to reach an agree-ment can be linked to the Af-fordable Care Act, or Obam-acare as it is colloquially known. Senate Democrats are insisting that the budget include funding for Obamacare while House Republicans are just as insistent that it not.

A group of Republicans led by Texas’ own Senator Ted Cruz, recently famous for his 21-hour speech last week against Obamacare, are pushing to defund Obamacare even at the expense of government day-to-day operations. Paychecks for

members of Congress are con-sidered mandatory, however, and will not be disrupted. In an interview on Sept. 27 with Evan Smith, Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune, Senator Cruz was asked if he would give up his paycheck in the event of a government shutdown. Cruz responded by saying, “I don’t think we should shut down the government. I will confess it is not a question that I will give thought to.”

The possibility of a govern-ment shutdown is a manufac-tured crisis born out of Wash-ington politics. Whether or not citizens agree with the passage of Obamacare, a government shutdown should at no point be an option. We the people elect

representatives to aid in gov-ernment efficiency. No one ex-pects the government to agree on everything — or anything for that matter — but the ability to compromise and manage a working government is a basic job requirement for elected of-ficials. Threatening a shutdown is not only inefficient, but also extremely irresponsible.

In a speech that took place minutes before the shut down Monday night, President Obama iterated the services that would end and made it clear that Obamacare would continue unaffected. “One fac-tion of one party of one branch does not get to shut down the government.”

I’ll Just Sit Here. by: Christopher Breakell

October 1, 2013

Comic

4 OPINION

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State lawmakers use discretion to park funds elsewhereThe San

A nto n i o Parks and Recreation D e p a r t -ment op-erates the city’s recre-ational and c u l t u r a l

programs and maintains, accord-ing to its website, 244 city-owned parks, including swimming pools, gymnasiums, cemeteries, sports facilities, recreation centers and the Botanical Garden and Conserva-tory. The department is responsible for the maintenance of 14,524.83 acres of park land, including more than 118 miles of walking, hiking and biking trails.

A 2013 statewide poll conducted by Hill Research Consultants shows that 84 percent of Texans see state parks as essential to healthy, active lifestyles, and 85 percent of Texans acknowledge a need to protect our natural areas.

Despite this large showing of

public support, the State Legisla-ture has left the park system strug-gling to gather funds to adequately maintain and operate these integral facilities.

Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) requested an additional $11.2 million for the operation of state parks in the 2014-2015 bud-get. Senate and House budgets ulti-mately allocated only an additional $6.9 million in funding. Staff at the Legislative Budget Board interpret-ed these figures to mean seven state parks could close.

In 1993, state lawmakers passed a measure that devoted a portion of sporting goods sales tax to the parks system. This measure seemed to be a move in a positive direction for TPWD, but, in 1995, lawmakers put a cap of $32 million per year on parks spending while revenue from the sporting goods tax rock-eted past $100 million. This funding also fell short as state appropriators maintained ultimate discretion in the allocation of the sporting goods tax.

In a Texas Tribune Festival panel on Sept. 28 Carter Smith, execu-tive director of TPWD, noted that, “In 2007, the legislation called for

Texas Parks and Wildlife to receive 94 percent of sporting goods sales tax, (but) the legislature reserved that authority for themselves, and we receive typically 30-60 percent.”

State Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, has fought in the legisla-

ture to stop this funding diversion and allow the parks to receive the funding that they need to operate. “We’re getting closer to utilizing the full amount of money allocated for parks.” Rep. Larson stated in the Sept. 28 Texas Tribune panel. “We are trying to eliminate the diver-sion.”

Texas Comptroller of Public Ac-counts Susan Combs projects this sporting goods tax fund will gener-ate $265 million over the coming 2014-2015 biennium, more than enough money to adequately fund our state park system.

TPWD only received approxi-mately one-quarter of the sporting goods sales tax revenues for the 2012-2013 biennium. Also at the panel, George Bristol, Chairman of the State Parks Advisory Com-mittee, stated, “2 billion dollars has been raised by the sporting goods tax since it began and only 600 mil-lion has been used for parks.”

The 2013 Hill Research poll also shows strong support for using the sporting goods sales tax to fund

state parks. Seventy-six percent of respondents support using revenue from the tax for “Acquiring, main-taining & operating state & local parks.”

As Texas lawmakers wade through budgetary issues that have much more divisive implications, it seems unfortunate that they have failed to follow through with such a widely supported allocation that would only improve Texans’ stan-dard of living.

The State Legislature should be embarrassed that Texas ranks last nationally per capita in both state park land and funding for state parks, and TPWD officials are many times left to search for private funding in order to keep state parks open.

J. Corey FrancoManaging Editor

Commentary

A manufactured crisis

“2 billion dollars has been raised by the sporting goods tax since it began and only 600 mil-lion has been used for parks.”George BristolState Parks Advisory Commitee Chairman

Sara FloresStaff Writerarts@paisano-online.com

This summer, while giving myself a break from taking classes, I decided to reform my diet. I gave myself a very regu-lar schedule. I stuck to specific eating habits that gave me en-ergy (and didn’t leave me starv-ing) and noticed an overall change in the way I felt.

I felt a change in my energy level, my relationship with food and even my body image. It’s so easy to fall into bad eating hab-its during stressful times, but once I found my groove with a

diet that worked for me I kept up with it quite easily.

And then school started.When I become frazzled,

I try to remain poised on the outside and keep my anxieties deep within; but when it came to keeping up with my diet, I couldn’t pretend to have it to-gether. While during the sum-mer I was able to snack a little and make decent (not remark-able) choices, keeping up with a diet during school is an en-tirely different animal.

In case you’re wondering, I do abide to practically all of the college clichés; I’m not a break-fast person, I hate packing my-

self lunches and prefer to as-cribe to a cupcake-based creed as often as possible. That being said, I do have a stronger sense of self-control than most four-year-olds. The demanding na-ture of school, however, makes it easy to falter with anything that doesn’t come naturally.

Though I am not a believer in depriving oneself of the wicked joys in life, I think once we be-come adults we learn to form our own healthy routines that shed the urge to give in to bad habits. Yet, attending a univer-sity with a rigorous curricu-lum can make self-discipline extremely difficult. When the

better part of existence is self-disciplined, small joys can become much larger entities, even burdens, in our lives.

Five-minute lunches be-tween classes or an almost-meal at 4 p.m. does not a healthy human make. There-fore, when we are given oppor-tunities to treat ourselves, the possibility of going overboard is looming. When my day is over and I’ve settled down with some good television (depending how busy the night is), far be it from any-one to tell me a snack is out of the question. Yet when it becomes a habit and then the highlight of the day, it can become a problem.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my energy level de-creasing as I pushed my diet further back in my mind with each passing day and decided an overhaul was in order. Dieting is by no means a matter of depriving yourself of things you love, but regulating food to ad-here to your life and tastes.

Forget all those com-mercials depicting women choosing a bowl of cereal over a cookie in a grocery store. Even if you’re not a “dessert person,” there is something you deserve to eat that various nutrition-

based outlets try to tell you to avoid. My philosophy is not to reject these things completely but learn to love them casu-ally and continue to love them completely and totally.

On that note, don’t let your relationship with food affect the way you see yourself. If you are anything like me — that might be a good mantra to keep in mind. When I noticed myself feeling sluggish I de-

cided not to take the easy, more immediate route and beat my-self up but calmly acknowledge that I needed a change.

I believe the key to personal change is to start from the top and first acknowledge your limitless self-worth. Once you have that on lockdown, every-thing else becomes secondary.

ARTS&LIFETuesday, October 16 p.m. UTSA National Night Out The UTSA Police Department will host an event at the University Cen-ter Paseo on UTSA’s main campus as a part of National Night Out. From 6 to 9 p.m. the free event is open to the public and includes snacks, drinks and activities. A live band and kid’s corner will also be available. For more information, call (210) 877-4006.

Wednesday, October 27 p.m. Contest: The Gong Shorts Film ContestAlamo Drafthouse with Bunny Hat Productions will host The Gong Shorts Film contest at Alamo Draft-house Westlakes (1255 SW Loop 410). Films will be played in the order they are received, and every film is guaranteed three min-utes of play. Audience members can call the “gong” if a film is not approved. Once the gong is struck, the next film will play. The audience favorite will win $100; runners-up are given tickets to the LOL Comedy Club. Admission is $9.50. For more information, visit facebook.com/gongshorts.

Thursday, October 34 p.m. Exhibit: Cut! Costume and CinemaThe McNay Art Museum (6000 North New Braunfels) will pres-ent an exhibition displaying 40 intricate costumes from films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Sense and Sensibility.” These costumes were worn by stars Keira Knightly, Johnny Depp, Uma Thurman and Daniel Craig. Ad-mission is free on Thursdays from 4 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit mcnayart.org.

Friday, October 47:30 p.m. Film Screening: “Gigi” San Antonio Botanical Gardens (555 Funston) will host an outdoor screening of the 1959 Academy Award-winning film “Gigi” pre-sented by Slab Cinema. Admis-sion is free and lawn chairs and blankets are encouraged. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. For more infor-mation, visit slabcinema.com.

Saturday, October 58 p.m. Theater: “The Haunted House”The Overtime Theater (1203 Camden) will present “The Haunt-ed House” by Roman Playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. This ancient farce set in Athens centers around a slave, Tranio. Admission is $10-$14. Visit theovertimetheater.org for more information.

{Local Events}

B.A.T Printmaking Club historian, Madison Cowles works on a project for class.

5October 1, 2013

COLUMN

Printmaking club is first edition on campusJennifer AlejosWeb Editorweb@paisano-online.com

On Friday afternoons, in the Arts Building on the Main Campus, a close-knit group of students discuss their favorite hobby – printmaking.

The Bon A Tirer, or B.A.T. Printmaking Club, is a new organization on campus dedi-cated to the art of printmaking — a specialized craft where an image is replicated onto a dif-ferent medium with ink using techniques such as silkscreen or woodcut prints.

Printmaking has been a pop-ular art form in modern culture

and has been traced to prehis-toric times. Today, the art form is still widely practiced in ma-jor cities. Some contemporary artists — such as U.K. street artist Banksy — have gained worldwide fame. The popular street artist was the subject of the 2010 documentary “Exit Through The Gift Shop.”

Bon A Tirer, coming from the French phrase “Fit to print,” gives students of all majors the opportunity to explore this art form and participate in activi-ties on and off campus.

This semester, the club plans to have construction projects, charity events, participate in Best Fest and enter local and national art shows. Members

will also be able to sell their artwork while enriching the art community.

Senior fine arts major Madi-son Cowles says, “We wanted to spread our love of printmak-ing. A lot of people, even if they’re art majors, don’t know what printmaking is until they get into the basic printmaking class.”

For others, the organization is seen as a good introduction for anyone interested in print-making but may not be an art major.

Junior kinesiology ma-jor Bryan Gonzalez says, “It seemed like a great opportu-nity since it’s a different art form. I wanted to see what it’s

all about.”The B.A.T. Club was inspired

by an idea Professor Juan de Dios Mora had when talking to senior Alan Serna about the types of organizations offered on campus.

Serna, who is the president of the club, says, “Juan kind of had this idea for it; there’s al-ways a lot of controversy about printmaking being a dead art form.”

Members felt that UTSA was lacking a club that specializes in one art technique while oth-er organizations, such as the Fine Arts Association (FAA), are generally broad.

Serna says, “Our goal is to bring printmakers together and

people who want to know how to print make together and have a community, but at the same time it’s open for other artists.”

Meetings are held in the Printmaking Studio (2.01.12) in the Arts Building at the main campus. Times and dates are posted on the B.A.T. Facebook page. The club is open to every-one, and membership dues are $5.

For more information on the B.A.T Printmaking Club visit their Facebook page or find them on Instagram and Twit-ter at @batprintclub.

John Flores / The Paisano

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ARTS&LIFE6October 1, 2013

S e x , D r u g s a n d P o e t r yPatrick MartinezContributing Writer arts@paisano-online.com

Sex, drugs and poetry are just some of the many topics performed at Puro Slam, the weekly poetry spot in South-town.

Every Tuesday at 10 p.m., the gloves come off and the rules go out the door as some of the rowdiest crowds — and some the best poets in San Antonio — battle it out in this “survival of the fittest” type of poetry competition to become the champion, at least until the following Tuesday.

The poetry slam consists of three rounds. Anybody can sign up if they arrive at 10 p.m. for sign up. Audience mem-bers can volunteer to be one of five judges who critique the po-ems on a score from one to 10, one being the worst poem, and 10 being the best poem.

The top six poets go on to the second round, and the top three authors battle it out in the third round. Each poet reads an original of his or her own with no props, no costumes and no animal acts. Each per-son on the stage has three min-utes to recite a poem; every five seconds after, the lyricist gets deducted points.

Puro Slam, in its seventh venue since 1999, is still not

for the faint of heart. What makes Puro Slam unique is that it is one of the few places in Texas that actually encour-ages heckling.

Heckling is a form of taunt-ing that is (properly) done by yelling obnoxious, funny, encouraging or even offen-sive things at the poet who is performing. Some think it’s a form of art, while others dis-agree. With the exception of some new poets, most of the performers see the heckling as adversity to overcome as they rise above the audience and finish their poem.

Anastacio Palomo, one of the premium poets at Puro says, “Some [poets] improve with heckling because they rise to the challenge. Others seem to crumble under the pressure. When done right (listen first, then respond) heckling is quite entertain-ing.”

One of the signature types of heckling at the venue is the “carwash-clap.” This refer-ences is the clap done at the beginning of the 1976 song, “Carwash” by Rose Royce. When the carwash clap is done, it means the audience collec-tively thought the poem was not good. Typically, more ex-perienced poets — or the ones who just don’t care — power through this powerful state-

ment of noise and finish the poem. However, others get too distracted, fumble their own words and give up and leave the stage. Both acts are seen as

powerful statements on what being a poet is all about.

The “Slam Master,” Shaggy, is the host on most nights. Other famous, colorful personalities

that grace the stage with their lyrics are known as Anasta-cio, Rooster, Travis S., Rayner Shyne, Diamond, J. Alejan-dro, Chris the Haiku Bike Guy and many more. Each writer brings something unique to their poems that everybody loves.

Whether it be Travis’ “Poem about Poetry” or “Whataburger,” J. Alejandro’s “Rebel Poetry,” or Chris’ au-dience-participated haikus, patrons may never leave Puro Slam feeling disappointed.

Palomo, who has been writ-ing poetry for 27 years, says, “I keep going because it makes me nervous when I get on stage, and I like that feeling. The first time I went to Puro Slam, I saw a poet who, in my opinion, was horrible. He got low scores and it immediately drew me in.”

When asked about his fa-vorite aspect of Puro Slam, he responds, “I love that on any given night anyone could get up there. There is no telling who might read or what they might say. It’s never a given.”

Any aspiring poets should know the dos and don’ts of slam. As recalled by Anasta-cio, “Read a poem of your own construction with confidence. Remember, you have the mi-crophone and three minutes. Be entertaining. If the subject

matter of your piece can’t hold your attention, don’t expect it to hold the audience’s. Do not be boring or too nervous. You should not be showing that. Don’t read into your page, or muffle your words, don’t rush through and skip lines.”

Also, don’t forget to finish the poem, no matter how bad or good it may be. Poets who finish their poem all the way through the heckles notice a level of appreciation among the other poets.

Any aspiring poets who are curious or looking for a place to kick back, want to drink or even want to bring a date can come to Puro Slam. Puro Slam is located in Southtown, 101 Pereida St., 78210. Sign up opens at 10 p.m. and closes at 10:25 p.m.

Other poetry venues are Sun Poets at Barnes and Noble on San Pedro Ave.; Second Verse, every second Friday at Conti-nental Café on I-35 and Ritt-man (7-9pm).

Jazz poets at Expresso Gal-lery 529 on San Pedro, Tuesday nights from 7-10 p.m.; Blah Blah Blah Poetry Spot at Deco Pizzeria on Zarzamora and Fredericksburg, every first and third Wednesday; and Poetic Seduction in Converse on FM 78.

Puro Slam meets every Tuesday at 10 p.m. in Southtown.

P u r o S l a m o f f e r s S a n A n t o n i o p o e t s a v e n u e t o p r e s e n t t h e i r d i v e r s e w r i t i n g s

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SPORTS 7October 1, 2013

UTSA FOOTBALL

Chaney ShadrockContributing Writersports@paisano-online.com

Ryan Werre heads into his se-nior season with UTSA golf as a leader who has been far from home for some time now. Orig-inally from Redcliff, Canada, Werre has fallen in love with the hot Texas sun and year-round golf facilities.

“I found the summers to be super-hot, but I love it,” Werre said. “I can’t imagine a better place to play golf year round, really.”

Werre made his move from chilly Canada to steamy Texas three years ago as a freshman. Dealing with harsh and long Canadian winters, Werre had to work twice as hard as any

student-athlete in order to land a spot on a Division I team in America.

“There are no real golf schools in Canada. There are little golf programs and universities,” Werre said. “In my mind, to be a professional golfer you have to get somewhere where you can play all year round. I don’t think it’s very reliable to just kind of live five months out of the year and play golf and then expect to compete.”

So just how did this Canadian golf-sensation find his way to UTSA? It was thanks to Louis Chon, a fellow Canadian and UTSA golf player who helped make it happen.

“Basically, me and Louis (Chon) had the same swing coach back when I was a junior

in high school. I told my swing coach, ‘I’m looking at playing golf down in the states and I want to go to a university,’ and he just let the director of golf know about me. When I con-tacted Coach (John Knauer), he had already heard about me and had been watching me. So I came down for a visit and that’s how it started.”

Now, four years later, Werre has his sights set on a successful senior season as a Roadrunner.

“Every year we have been here, we’ve gotten a lot better. I’m really looking forward to this year,” Werre said. “I wish I had a couple more years to spend with the guys.”

{For more UTSA golf cover-age please visit paisano-online.com/sports}

Jade CuevasContributing Writersports@paisano-online.com

The UTSA women’s golf team is a dedicated group who spends the majority of their time either on the greens practicing or in the classroom learning.

It is no surprise that soph-omore Brogan Townend is consumed with only two things — playing golf and graduating.

The process for Brogan can be difficult at times, re-quiring her to put in the ex-tra time needed to succeed.

“We obviously have school to keep up with, and then we have workouts and practice. That’s probably the hardest

thing is time management,” Townend said.

Carrie Parnaby, UTSA women’s golf coach, under-stands the effort her players have to make in order to be a part of the team.

“Golf is really time con-suming,” Parnaby said. “Brogan doesn’t have a car, so she gets rides with other girls, and anytime she wants to do extra practice she has to work a little harder to get there.”

Recently, Townend led the golf team with nine birdies and a seven-over par score of 223 (78-73-72), leading to a tie for 17th place. She also helped UTSA achieve an eighth place overall fin-ish at the “Mo”Morial Tour-

nament on Sept. 11 held in College Station, Texas at the Traditions Golf Club.

“Brogan definitely played really well,” Parnaby said. “She competed a lot over the summer and was men-tally ready.”

Originally from Blackburn, England, Townend’sthe ad-justment to playing and living in Texas has been difficult, but with time it has become easier.

“Where I’m from, it’s a typical English village. It was at first really hard, but it’s been good this year and last year,” Townend said.

Whether it’s at the San An-tonio or other United States golf courses, Townend has grown into a student-athlete who is loving her time here.

“Yeah, I love it. San An-tonio. Americans. It’s just great,” Townend said.

From Canada to Texas, a golf story worth telling

Cougars pounce Roadrunners in 58-29 loss in the Alamodome Jakob LopezContributing Writersports@paisano-online.com

The frustrations continued for the UTSA Roadrunners (2-3) this past Saturday as UTSA suffered their second blowout defeat at home this season, in front of 32,487 fans.

After keeping pace with the Houston Cougars (4-0) for most of the game, UTSA went into the fourth quarter trail-ing, 31-28. Unfortunately, that’s when things began to take a turn for the worse, as the Road-runners turned the ball over on five straight possessions, result-ing in 28 unanswered points for the Cougars.

“The fourth quarter was a disaster. When you turn the ball over five times, you are not going to win. I don’t care who you’re playing,” UTSA head coach Larry Coker said after the game. “Where we are, we do not have a lot of margin for error. We don’t have to play per-fect, but we have to play better than we did today.”

Before their costly turnovers, UTSA had an opportunity to take the lead in the third quar-ter. With Houston leading 24-21, the Roadrunners put to-gether a 7-play, 50-yard drive

to force their way into the Cou-gars’ red zone. Junior wide re-ceiver Kam Jones threw a pass to senior quarterback Eric Soza in the end zone on a trick play, but the ball was inches short of Soza’s fingertips and perhaps inches away from changing the outcome of the game.

“We ran that play in practice and it was perfect,” Jones said af-ter the game. “But today I think I got a little anxious. When I let it go I knew it was short.”

The Roadrunners elected to take a field goal from the 29-yard line, but Houston blocked the kick and ran it back for a touchdown. The missed op-portunity would be a notable momentum swing in the game, and although UTSA fought back with a touchdown late in the third quarter the Cougars would go on to blow out the Roadrunners.

“I am very proud of the way the guys fought. Down by 10, we had the blocked field goal,” Coker said. “We came back and cut it to three, but we could not hang with them in the fourth quarter.”

UTSA started the game against Houston with a strong opening drive on the efforts of Soza and Jones. Soza connected with Jones for a 28-yard catch

downfield, and subsequently found Jones again a few plays later on a 12-yard slant route for a UTSA touchdown.

Houston responded as their prolific hurry up offense started to find a rhythm with freshman quarterback John O’Korn at the

helm. UTSA didn’t help them-selves when a 15-yard pass in-terference penalty by corner Andre Brown led to a 15-yard touchdown pass from O’Korn to running back Ryan Jackson three plays later to tie the game at 7-all.

Both teams had successful scoring drives in the second quarter as each team matched the other with both a rushing and passing touchdown. At the half, the Roadrunners were tied with the Cougars 21-21, in good position to pull off the upset.

“It was a 0-0 ball game and we were going to go win it in the second half,” said Soza after the game. “Our motto is to start fast and finish strong, and we didn’t finish strong today. We made mistakes and they made plays.”

Perhaps the most telling thing of all was UTSA’s issues with turnovers. In the fourth quarter alone UTSA had five of their six total possessions result in an interception or fumble. Through five games this season, the Roadrunners have a 10-1 turnover ratio.

UTSA travels to Huntington, West Virginia next Saturday to take on Marshall (2-2) in their second Conference USA game of the season.

UTSA

Cross Country (Men and Women)

Friday, Oct. 4 @1:45 p.m.

Notre Dame Golf Course—South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame Invitational

Football

Saturday, Oct. 5 @1 p.m.

Joan C. Edwards Stadium—Huntington, W. Va.

@Marshall Thundering Herd

Golf (Men)

Monday, Oct. 7-8

@Old Overton Golf Course — Birmingham, Ala.

Jerry Pate National Invitational

Soccer

Friday, Oct. 4 @6 p.m.

TransAmerica Field Complex—Charlotte, N.C.

@Charlotte 49ers

Sunday, Oct. 6 @1 p.m.

Soccer Complex—Norfolk, Va.

@Old Dominion Lady Monarchs

Volleyball

Friday, Oct. 4 @7 p.m.

Convocation Center—San Antonio, TX

vs. FIU Panthers

Sunday, Oct. 6 @12 p.m.

Convocation Center—San Antonio, TX

vs. Florida Atlantic Owls

San Antonio Sports

Rampage (AHL)

Friday, Oct. 4 @7:30 p.m.

AT&T Center—San Antonio, TX

vs. Chicago Wolves

Saturday, Oct. 5 @7 p.m.

AT&T Center—San Antonio, TX

vs. Rockford IceHogs

Scorpions (NASL)

Saturday, Oct. 5 @7:30 p.m.

Toyota Field —San Antonio, TX

vs. Atlanta Silverbacks

This Week in Sports

Thursday, October 3, 7:00-8:00 p.m. University Center 2.01.30 (Magnolia Room) Info: Omid Ghasemi (e-mail) - qys128@my.utsa.eduor Call Justin: 832-244-6502 www.HearHU.org

Sponsored by the Eckankar Student Organization - visit the bulletin board in MH2-5C for info on ongoing activities.

HU, Most Beautiful Prayer Free HU chant and discussion

The Roadrunners were outscored 28-0 in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s home loss.

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UTSA had a total of five turnovers for the game.

Before becoming a Roadrunner, Townend was a member of the English National Team.

UTSA GOLF

Townend: a student-athlete on the riseWerre is planning to play golf profesionally once he graduates.

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UTSA

Ath

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Vicente Cardenas / The Paisano

Jeff

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UTSA

Ath

letics

Vicente Cardenas / The Paisano

Soza threw for a school-record 316 yards.

ADVERTISEMENT8October 1, 2013

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