An Event for a Future

SAN MARCOS- Texas State University’s Career Services department hosted a bi-annual Job and Internship Expo Wednesday, March 24 at Strahan Coliseum.

The expo is hosted by Career Services twice a year to get Texas State University students and alumni together with potential employers.

According to LaTonya Henry, assistant director of Career Services, 700 invitations to attend the expo are sent to corporations and businesses. Of these 700 invited companies, 71 attended.

“The ones who respond are the ones who are looking to actually hire,” said Henry. “Most of them come here because they want to recruit Bobcats.

Many of the recruiters at the expo were Texas State alumni themselves. Keri Mitchell, district manager from Ryder Logistics, graduated from Texas State University and found his job with Ryder at a past expo.

“I was on the other side of all this 12 months ago,” said Mitchell. “I seriously came to the event thinking I could just hand out some resumes and maybe make a contact or two, but no, I actually got a job.”

The expo is organized in full by the Career Services department. The directors send out information about the event to all the employers on the Jobs4cats database.

The other side of Career Services job is reaching out to students and alumni. The expo depends on the students and alumni showing up. The more students, the more inclined companies are to attend future Texas State University events.

Chris Jones, career advisor with career services, is one employee who participates in this outreach. “I send out emails, make phone calls and host events like the one we had in the quad yesterday to get people to show up,” said Jones.

Jones said his goal was to get 1500 students and alumni to attend the expo, but usually 900 is the most that will show up.

The success of the expo also depends on student acceptance. Kyle Hinojosa, 24-year-old Electronic Media major, didn’t get what he expected but still enjoyed the event.

“There weren’t as many media outlets as I wanted,” said Hinojosa. “I was expecting more newspapers and PR firms. It seemed like an over load of finance and business oriented jobs.”

Hinojosa went on to express satisfaction in getting his name out amongst the employers at the expo. Handing out resumes was a popular practice for the evening.

The event called for professional attire, although not required.

Fraternity, Police Officers Sponsor Carnival

San Marcos - It is 8 am as a rabbit hides goody-filled eggs while carnival games, moon jumps, and barbeque pits spring to life.

Every March, Omega Delta Phi Fraternity holds their annual Easter Egg Hunt in San Marcos the Sunday before Easter to give the children of the city a day of free fun, food and games.

The Easter Egg Hunt takes place this Sunday, March 28^th, 2010 at the San Marcos city parks, and lasts from noon until five p.m.

Salvador Mena, president of the organization said from August to March, members of Omega Delta Phi plan the event and devise ways to improve it.

“We fundraise by selling food in the quad, we go out to local businesses and request either funding or we ask that they donate items that can be used during the event,” Mena said. “We even ask other Greek organizations for help. Some give us money or they volunteer for the event.”

Community Service chair Conrad Reyes said the first Easter Egg Hunt took place in 2003 at Chapultepec Homes in San Marcos and had less than 20 volunteers and served only a small group of children. The goal was to give underprivileged children a chance to have fun free of charge. Since then it has grown to a large scale event with over 50 volunteers and hundreds of people attending.

“It’s good to see how much our event has grown,” Reyes said. “It shows how much people like our event and are willing to come out to it. Our event is so big the mayor even came one year.”

Reyes said the organization also gets help from the San Marcos Police Officers Association. The SMPOA helps Omega Delta Phi by supplying volunteers and donating resources to the event.

“They have been helping us with the Easter Egg Hunt since 2007,” Reyes said. “The work they do for us is really great. We will continue to work with them in the future.”

Albert Lopez active Omega Delta Phi member has been participating in the Easter Egg Hunt since 2006 and has seen first hand how the SMPOA has become a key factor in making this event a success.

“During one of our Easter Egg Hunts, we weren’t able to get any power for our moon jumps,” Lopez said. “That’s when the officers called up the fire department to bring us out a generator. It saved us from embarrassment.”

Vice President of the organization Lorenzo Davila has been working hand in hand with Reyes and the SMPOA to make this event as fun and entertaining for the children as possible.

“There’s going to be carnival games, moon jumps, barbeque and several East egg hunts,” Davila said. “The first egg hunt will be for one-three year-olds, the second will be for four-eight years-olds and the third hunt will be for nine-12 year-olds.”

The plastic eggs which were donated by the SMPOA will be filled with candies and toys and several of the “golden” eggs will have tickets the children can redeem for special prizes.

“We give away bicycles, Easter egg baskets, razor scooters and other toys we think the children will enjoy,” Davila said.

By five o’clock the children will have gone home, the games will be packed neatly in their containers and the food will have run out. The Easter Egg Hunt took months to plan and cost thousands of dollars, but only took hours to execute. “It gives me a good feeling inside to know that we gave these children something that they can remember,” Mena said. “It’s not everyday these children can experience something like this.”

SXSW MADNESS FEATURES CONCERT AND SHOPPING DUO

The IHeartComix+Jelly+Mad Decent Carniville partnered with the American Apparel Factory Flea Market tour for a one-of-a-kind event at the Mexican American Cultural Center held on March 18 -20th, the last 3 days of the SXSW week long music festival. It was a free event that only required an RSVP to garner you a spot in the action-packed event loaded with free goodies ranging from carnie food to rides. As an added bonus, they included complimentary beverages to encourage the flow of good vibes despite the chilly 40 degree weather. Tommy Rodgers, a freelance writer, considered it to be SXSW heaven. “There are very positive vibes going on, with lots of people expressing themselves. This is what concerts are all about anyway; what brings people out here. But this is better. This is more than a concert, and it’s all free!” said Rodgers. The line-up of artists that graced the stage didn’t hurt either. The big kid 'round the block was Major Lazer, who the LA Times says birthed the “bandanna jah, dancehall spaz” subgenre. Major Lazer is a British collaboration between DJs Diplo and Switch, both of whom are known to supply major artist, M.I.A. with spine-chilling beats. As big as the band was however, they weren’t able to damper the crowd’s enthusiasm for other bands who all share similar genres and sub-genres with Major Lazer.

A lively crowd and The Very Best

The Very Best who performed right after Major Lazer also has had past collaborations with M.I.A. and features strong African, and dancehall influences mixed with electronic beats. Their current most popular song, Warm Heart of Africa, features Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig who is known for his weird, ad-lib vocals, and popularity amongst the hipster crowd.

DJ Mo-laudi, a South African singer was on tour with the band.

"The Very Best’s heart is in Malawi. That’s where (main singer) Esau [Mwamwaya]’s from. But with Radioclit, now they’re afro punk.” says DJ Mo-laudi.

This type of music genre seems to coincide perfectly with another popular attraction that lured crowds to Carniville—The American Apparel Flea Market, a nation-wide tour bringing factory prices that, according to its facebook events profile, has inspired “more than 50,000 people” to a spending spree extravaganza.

American Apparel, deemed sweat-shop free, is the Mecca for US manufactured clothing explaining their usual sky rocket prices. The lure of discounted price tags brought determined shoppers like Law Woods, a Texas State student, to the aisles despite the freezing 40 degree weather.

“It’s hard not to pass up this opportunity. I’ll probably be spending close to $200, but it’s worth it cause they’re all 50-85% off!” says Woods.

ElJohn, a staff member turned bouncer for the event, described the frenzy and intensity inside the active tent, “I see all these people wearing these tags come in here, spend 3 hours going up and down the stalls, and come out with both hands full of clothes. “ says ElJohn. “Sometimes it gets so crazy there’s a line formed to get in, and it can get really muddy. We had to put all these cardboard flooring to protect everyone from slipping. Some people have also been drinking before they even came in here, so it can get pretty crazy.”

http://ragstoreverie.blogspot.com/2009/10/prepare-yourself-american-apparel-flea.html - A Blogger shares her American Apparel Flea Market tips. IHeartComix - Follow IHEARTCOMIX Records on twitter for future and current event info.

by Katria Pamatmat

Spring Break For the Other Side of the School

By Mike Patterson

Everyone has heard students’ stories about their spring break a million times. People go to Cancun, South Padre or South by Southwest. However, what about the people that make their educations possible: teachers staff members and the like? What do they spend their breaks doing?

At Texas State University, faculty and staff use their time away from the worries of work in different ways. Some of the professors like to take it easy or work on personal projects. Members of the staff take vacations that are more typical of the students they serve.

In the department of anthropology, Dr. F. Kent Reilly worked diligently on his new book, Visualizing the Sacred, which is set to be released in the fall. Over the break he was glad to be left alone. “I wasn’t pestered by students and other faculty always knocking on my door,” said Reilly. (Image Right from Texas State Website.

Reilly attempts to “open the portal to the ancient American past.” He has spent several years, and written two other books about the symbolism of past civilizations of the North American Continent. Reilly believes that by understanding the symbols used by these ancient people, we begin to see how they saw their world.

Another professor also spent time working on a book over the break. Marilynn Olson is a professor in the English department, and over the course of the spring break, she finished the third of five chapters to her work. Her book shows the connection between a vanguard painters and the children’s literature of the time.

She points out facts on how the painters innovated and brought new things to the books that had never been seen before. An example would be Pablo Picasso’s work titled “The Golliwogg” was the first black hero in a children’s story. “He wasn’t the first ‘true’ black hero because he was in fact a doll not a person,” said Olson. (Image left from Loco Roco)

In addition, Olson also spent some time in her personal garden, planting flowers.

Staff members took advantage of the break to get away and relax. Robin Woodside, 49, is a worker for Chartwells, the university’s dining service, since the start of this semester.

She and her husband loaded up their RV and left for the beaches of South Padre island. “We were there from Saturday to Saturday,” said Woodside. Woodside collected many starfish, hermit crabs and seashells. They took the sea critters home to the kids and painted the seashells all bright colors. (Image left from Tshirt Magazine)

In the end, everyone has to come back to their normal routines after spring break. Great experiences are clearly had by people on all sides of college life. The funny part is when other students realize that their professors and staff workers have lives outside the school.

After returning to her work at Commons dining hall, Woodside that she saw her on her trip to the same place. “She told me, ‘I knew it! I told the guys that was you!’”

COLLEGE STUDENTS TURN TO UNIVERSITY FOR SEX EDUCATION

Sex.

Americans love sex.

Americans love thinking about sex, talking about sex, and most of all, having sex.

As much as Americans preoccupy themselves with sex, few actually know much about the most important part about sex: sexual health.

The rising number of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies on American college campuses especially illustrates this, but people disagree about how to solve the problem.

Lauren Williams, a manager at the Texas State University Bookstore and a mother of two young women, believes that parents should be the ones who primarily educate their children about sex.

“It is the parent’s responsibility, not [a] school’s,” Williams said. “I think we live in a time when parents don’t parent anymore. People should not rely on schools to educate their children about sex.”

Emma Cyrocki, a sophomore at Texas State University, described her sexual health education experience at school as limited, but had parents who informed her about sex at home.

“In high school, we had assemblies [about sex], but I skipped them because I was educated [by my parents] and it wasn’t mandatory to go,” said Cyrocki. “We are a very open family; I didn’t feel uncomfortable talking about sex with them. It was never really an issue. I remember we had sex education in health class, too, but I learned more from family and friends.”

Ashlee Dozier, the Health Education Coordinator at the Texas State University Student Health Center, agrees that parents should educate their children about sex, but because many don’t, emphasized the importance of sexual health education in schools.

“Research has shown that about 96% of high schools in Texas do not teach comprehensive (non-abstinence-only) sex education,” said Ashlee Dozier. “A more comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health education has shown to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.”



Dozier also feels it is insufficient to rely on friends and family for sexual education and said that students still need to get facts from a reliable source, such as the Texas State University Health Center, the San Marcos Family Planning Center, or sexual health websites such as goaskalice.com, smartersex.org, or plannedparenthood.org.

Still, although students have these resources, many do not use them, and since many college students did not receive comprehensive sex education from neither school nor parents, they have an incomplete grasp of sexual health upon entering college.

Joe Teneyuque, a junior at Texas State University, suggested that Texas State counter this by implementing more sexual education on campus.

“Maybe [sex education] could even be included in the curriculum for University Seminar or make a health class or two a requirement to graduate, like History and English,” said Teneyuque. “The student health center should also hold classes and seminars.”

Cyrocki agreed with Teneyuque and suggested more ideas for the university to inform its students about sex.

“To attract students, the university should offer an incentive, like free food and condoms or something, to go to meetings about [sexual health],” said Cyrocki. “I think giving some sex education classes or something at orientation would even be a good idea, too. I mean, that way, they’d be informed right from the beginning, you know?”

Fans go mad for Burton- Depp collaboration

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland earned over $116 million opening weekend after premiering March 5, 2010 in U.S. theaters. The collaboration of director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp drew in some movie-goers; however, the memorable team is also what turned people away.

The dark and quirky style of Tim Burton's movies are celebrated by many, but some find them a little too weird. The thought of taking Lewis Carroll's novel and Disney's famed Alice in Wonderland (1951) and adding a Tim Burton spin makes some fans absolutely mad, in both a positive and negative sense.

Erika Strayhan, fan of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton admits that Disney's 1951 version of Alice in Wonderland is the one that "creeped her out" when she was little.

"I love Tim Burton's movies. I love how he takes the darker side, but still adds comedy and romance. I also love Johnny Depp's versatility as an actor," Strayhan said.

Karen Sterner who saw the movie with her family and really enjoyed it in 3-D believes that Johnny Depp is the one who brings in the viewers.

"I am a Johnny Depp fan, but all the actors did a great job. I had fun watching and so did my daughter. The visual effects made you feel like you were there because everything was so colorful and alive," Sterner said.

Although many fans rave over the Burton- Depp team coming together again for Alice in Wonderland, it has received poor reviews from many noted articles such as the New York Times and Rollingstone.

David Sanchez, 31-year-old father of two, saw the movie, but does not recommend seeing it.

"I am a fan of Tim Burton's and love Johnny Depp, but I thought the movie was too slow and don't think they did a good job with the 3-D. I went because my daughter kept bugging me to take her to see it, and I found out I like the cartoon version better," Sanchez said.

Unlike Sanchez, Yvette Escalera who is not a fan of the familiar Burton- Depp team knew to stay away and does not intend on seeing the new Alice in Wonderland anytime soon.

"I am a fan of Johnny Depp and liked Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951) when I was a kid, but I'm not excited about seeing Tim Burton's movie in theaters. When it comes to Redbox or HBO, maybe," Escalera said.

Burton and Depp's past movies have proven to be successful, but with mixed reviews for this collaboration it is truly up to the viewer whether or not to join Alice for a cup of tea.

South Florida - The Perfect Spring Break Destination

Pristine beaches, sunny days, good eating and warm water are some of the ingredients that make South Florida one the most attractive destinations for Spring Breakers.

Many bloggers have rated Florida beaches amongst the finest in the world. South Beach on of those beaches. South Beach is the best spot to view the city lights at night. Tourists, however, are drawn to South Beach for the culture. South Florida is like an international playground. People from all around the world are captivated by Florida’s beauty.
Florida Atlantic University student Joe Pascale has a personal preference for his choice of Beach locations. “I chose to stick around for spring break,” said Pascale. “I live just outside of Fort Lauderdale and I really like the beaches. During the day I spend most of my time at Fort Lauderdale Beach. Most people would recommend South Beach but Fort Lauderdale Beach is just as beautiful.”

As a South Florida local, Pascale says that Coconut Grove is also one of the places he loves most. “The beach is very pretty and there are a lot of great little bars and neat places to go,”said Pascale.

College student Daniel Casas agrees that Fort Lauderdale is a great place. “South Beach is really popular but really far away from me,” said Casas. “I love everything about South Beach. It has great restaurants and bars, but if I had to choose I would rather enjoy the night life in Fort Lauderdale. The bars have great music and it’s just a lot closer to where I live.”

South Florida local Chucky Savery has different reasons for loving South Florida. “I love the Hard Rock, “said Savery. “I love to eat and gamble. The Hard Rock has all of that to offer. The interesting thing about the Hard Rock is it’s owned by the Seminoles and it is built on a reservation. The Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, has a certain culture to it that I really like. Somehow, I feel drawn to it.”

University of Florida student Jason D’Souza is attracted to the culture of South Florida. "I love that there are so many different kinds of people here," said D’Souza. “South Florida is so diverse. I meet people from so many places. The food here is also wonderful. There are so many kinds of food to eat, from Cuban to Moroccan. It’s amazing.”

All pictures taken by Ashley Coke-Mendez