Porterfield communicates 140 characters at a time

By: Rachel Nelson
www.universitystar.com

Local government has found a place in the growing social networking phenomenon.

City Councilmember Kim Porterfield, Place 1, utilizes Twitter to get the word out about issues in San Marcos.

“I think it’s a good way to communicate with people,” Porterfield said. “It’s a way to draw attention to issues and hopefully get people engaged in the community. I tweet about things that happen at City Council, and about volunteer opportunities on campus and in the community.””

Mayor Susan Narvaiz is on Facebook but said she has never considered using Twitter. She sees the benefits of tweeting in local government.

“I think each member finds the methods that work best for them,” Narvaiz said in an e-mail. “I like to meet my citizens face to face and have coffees at City Hall, walk neighborhoods and have ‘Monday’s with Mayor’ events.”

Narvaiz recognizes Twitter’s capacity to reach the masses.

“I think government needs to use the methods that reach the majority of their citizens,” Narvaiz said. “As their communication habits change, so will the government’s habits.”

Porterfield uses her iPhone to update Twitter and has embraced the “re-tweeting” feature to forward the messages of others to her followers.

She said news of the recent closing of Commons Dining Hall because of a rat infestation spread on the site.

“That got re-tweeted all over the place by lot of different people,” Porterfield said.

Jordan Stewart, geography graduate student, is among Porterfield’s 117 followers on Twitter.

“I followed her because she is an active figure at Texas State and in San Marcos,” Stewart said in an e-mail.

Stewart said she created her Twitter account three years ago.

“I only updated it sparingly for a while because I looked at it as simply being the equivalent of a Facebook status without Facebook,” she said. “But, as it has grown, and as news organizations, bands and millions of people began using it, (Twitter) has turned into a revolutionary method of global communication, in my opinion.”

Porterfield can be spotted on Faceboook, which she began using first.

“I’m really trying to stay up with the times,” Porterfield said. “It was a natural progression from Facebook to tweeting.”

Porterfield, who has been tweeting for about a year, now uses the two sites simultaneously.

“My tweets update my Facebook status, and so a lot of times people start responding to my Facebook status from the tweets,” she said.

Re-tweeting scores during Texas State’s first football game this season was something Porterfield said generated several responses, including a “thank you” from a person who was traveling and could not follow the game other wise.

Porterfield said she also tweets for entertainment value.

“I’m kind of a very nosy person,” she said. “It’s a little creepy sometimes, but I really enjoy reading what other people are tweeting.”
Porterfield said she tweets about issues, such as the noise ordinance, directly from City Council meetings.

“There are U.S. congressmen who tweet during their sessions,” Porterfield said. “I’ve found that it’s difficult and might be inappropriate, so I try to do it before and after meetings.”

Stewart said Twitter has “changed the global communication landscape” and feels it’s a good idea for local governments to stay in touch on social networking sites.

“(Twitter) is becoming a good way to quickly disseminate information, especially in the case of an emergency,” Stewart said. “It also allows people to be more directly involved with their city and its’ leaders.”

Stewart has mixed feelings about Twitter’s limit of 140 characters in length.

“I still don’t like the brevity required to post on Twitter because it seems to water down communication in some ways,” Stewart said. “But on the other hand it forces people to be concise and not drone on about everything, so I see it as a positive too.”

E-mailing and text messaging have provided convenient ways for people to keep in touch, but Porterfield said lately “it seems like tweeting is the way to go.”

“It’s a great way to communicate with people who you other wise wouldn’t communicate with and trying to get people involved in local government, in volunteerism and in the community,” she said. “It’s another way to get the word out, and it’s free.”

Twitter users intertwine the social networking media with their cell phones.

“Perhaps the best thing is being able to communicate with people with Twitter no matter where they live, even if I don’t have their phone numbers,” Stewart said.

Porterfield notes she is among many who are embracing Twitter and other social networking tools.

“I definitely see it as a trend for communication amongst government, non-profits and within organizations,” Porterfield said.

Administration plans to reopen Commons Hall next semester

By: Rachel Nelson
www.universitystar.com

Rats were discovered in Commons Dining Hall in late June, but closure did not take place until three months later.

The information caused Sarah Ross, undecided sophomore, to ask the question, “Why did they wait so long?”

Ross said she normally does not eat at Commons during the school year, but her soccer team ate at the dining hall three times a day during the summer.

“We didn’t notice any rats, but I’m creeped out now,” Ross said.

John Root, director of auxilary services, said university officials initially did not realize how bad the situation was.

“At first we didn’t know the extent of the problem, so naturally our first instinct was to do what we could do while remaining open,” Root said.

Root said Commons was closed for a short period during the summer, and service was shifted to Jones Dining Hall.

“We reopened in August, then it was good for a couple of weeks,” Root said. “We basically gave it every possible chance we could without closing. We tried more aggressive ways of trying to use the extermination processes. Every time we would get to a point where we thought we had it under control, they would come back. It became obvious (closing the dining hall) was the only way to take care of it once and for all.”

A 10-week process began this week to rid the building of rats.

“(Commons) is expected to be a full-service dining hall by the beginning of next semester, considering no unforeseen issues arise,” Root said.

Root said the university has contracted Town Lake Construction of Austin to seal the building of entry points for rodents.

“The company is going to do whatever necessary to seal up all the penetrations to the building including cracks and the tiniest of holes,” Root said. “That’s the first part. The second part is getting rid of what’s already there.”

Root maintains the rats did not get into the food at Commons, but found their food source in the trash. He said the rats would chew through soda lines that originate in the basement. The lines would be immediately replaced because they stopped working once damaged, he said.

There were talks of closing the dining hall for good when Commons was shut down in August. The university considered using the space for other campus endeavors but has now decided to maintain it as a dining hall.

“We really need that dining hall back,” Root said. “It’s such a central location for students for primarily lunch. When we looked around, there wasn’t a good alternative compared to where it sits right now.”

Since the closing, Root said customer service has not been affected.

“The students basically distributed themselves between The Den, Jones and the Student Center food court,” he said.

Rachel Purswell, interdiciplinary sophomore, said she will not be in a hurry to eat at Commons after the rats issue is resolved.

“I wouldn’t want to go because of knowing they had rats and didn’t tell anyone,” Purswell said. “I probably would after a while, but I think I’d wait to hear what other people say.”

Root said he hopes students will not be skeptical to give Commons another chance but concedes “that’s an individual decision for each student to make.”

“We would not re-open it if we were not sure about the safety and sanitation of the kitchen area,” Root said.

Stadium expansion will continue

By: Rachel Nelson
www.universitystar.com

The Jerry D. and Linda Gregg Fields Bobcat Stadium West Side Complex opened last month, but the over all expansion is far from finished.

"We built it with expansion in mind," said Derek Grice, assistant athletics director. "We have the ability to put another level on top so we can in the future bring the press box up to that level and put a couple additional suites on that level. Everything we've done has been done with the idea that we are going to continue to expand the stadium."

A master plan was laid out in 2008 to expand the stadium from 15,000 seats to around 35,000. Completing the West Side Complex was the first step of that project, Grice said. The second part of the project includes relocating the current track facility to make room for a north end zone expansion.

"Relocating the track facility allows us to enclose the north end zone -- adding about 8,500 seats -- which allows us to get the fans closer to the field, giving us a more intimate setting," Grice said.

A new track location has not yet been settled.

Grice said all future construction is to be determined, but tentatively includes the north side expansion, a south end zone expansion, additional luxury suites and club seats, a new press box and an upper deck on the east side.

Another step in the expansion process includes bridging Bobcat Stadium's east parking lot with the former location of the Hidden Village apartments.

Texas State real estate specialist David Bisett said Texas State purchased the property for the purpose of expanding the stadium. The apartment complex was demolished, which Bisett said could provide a new track location or additional parking spaces.

Bisett said the city recently granted an easement on a .07-acre piece of property that will allow for better connectivity.

"Now the city has better options on how to connect that Hidden Village site to Bobcat Stadium," Bisett said. "They're continuing to look at their options."

Funding for the projects is being derived from several sources, said athletics director Larry Teis.
"The funds to finish the stadium will come from ticket sales, private donations, other outside income such as corporate sponsorships, and student service fee money," Teis said.

Teis said he thinks expanding the stadium will have an over-all benefit on Texas State.
"It will help the department move the football program to division 1 status with the rest of our sports," Teis said. "This increased exposure, as a marketing tool, will benefit the entire university."

A time table has not been set for the remaining projects, but Grice said they are expected to be a work in progress for the next several years.

"We are looking at locations and what it's going to take to do this," Grice said. "We have started the feasibility process, so the wheels are in motion. So as we continue to look at these options, the more clear a definitive timeline is going to be."

Teis said several factors, including the current economic climate, have an impact on the date of completion for the stadium.

Amnesty period over for municipal court warrant roundup

By: Rachel Nelson
www.universitystar.com

Students with outstanding warrants may soon find themselves in handcuffs for neglecting to take action on past offenses.

A one-week amnesty period which allowed persons with pending cases to appear before a judge without posting bond ended Friday, meaning officers have put forth special efforts to seek out and arrest persons with outstanding warrants in San Marcos Municipal Court.

A press release sent out by the City of San Marcos states, “People with outstanding warrants for traffic violations, city ordinance violations and other misdemeanor charges filed at Municipal Court are urged to contact the court immediately to avoid arrest at home, work or school.”

UPD Officer Otto Glenewinkel said serving warrants on campus or tracking students down at their residences is not an uncommon practice. Police sometimes wait outside of a classroom to arrest a student with a warrant.

“Warrant roundups happen all the time, and there are constables who come up here to serve warrants,” Glenewinkel said. “They usually publicize it two or three times a year to get people to come in voluntarily.”

It is unlikely a student would be served a warrant during class, Glenewinkel said.

“Usually as a rule we don’t pull students out of class for someone to serve a warrant,” Glenewinkel said. “We can wait 50 minutes to serve them when they are coming out of class. We have served warrants when people have been in class, and the only reason why we do that is if we think they may be violent. Usually if we do it while they are in class, they have a tendency not to be violent.”

Glenewinkel said one reason for the warrant roundup is to boost money for the city.

“There’s a lot of revenue that they don’t get because people don’t pay their citations,” Glenewinkel said.

A list of people with outstanding warrants can be found on The Municipal Court’s Web site.

“We urge anyone who has delinquent cases in San Marcos Municipal Court to contact the court to take care of the matter immediately,” said Rusty Grice, deputy marshal with the San Marcos Marshal’s office.

Glenewinkel encourages people with warrants to take care of them promptly to avoid future problems.

“It’s hard for anyone to go though life and not make contact with a law enforcement officer at one time or another,” Glenewinkel said. “Eventually I would think everyone sooner or later gets contacted by the police.”