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October 21,1997 Volume 20 Number 21
Alumni association sponsors balloon fest
By Rachael Hill StoffWriter
The UTSA Alumni Association will hold its Balloon Fest at Rolling Oaks Mall from Oct. 31st through Nov. 2nd, 1997. Among the attractions sched¬ uled will be thirty hot air balloons of varying shafies and sizes on display (weather permitting). Parking and ad¬ mission to the event will be free.
Brenda DeLeon, the special events coordinator for the Alumni Associa¬ tion, said that this is the first year of the Balloon Fest, but that it will be an annual event from now on. "Balloon Fest is an excellent opportunity for the Alumni Association to build relation¬ ships among alumni, students and the San Antonio community through a unique, family oriented festival, "she stated.
The festival will include a wide variety ofevents. Throughout most of the three day festival, live entertain¬ ment, food and beverages will be of¬
fered. There will also be a carnival, custom car show and sky diving exhi¬ bitions. Events especially for children will include a petting zoo and storytelling. Since the event begins on Hallow- ^'^"^^^ een, the first day will also include a costume con¬ test and trick-OTrtreating.
Various     balloon events are scheduled, yet all are subject to weather conditions, since bal¬ loons arc especially sen¬ sitive to wind.    Each moming of the event will begin with a balloon night leaving from the festival grounds.   Also scheduled are "tethered"   ^^^^^^ balloon rides, in wfiich participants can ride up in hot air bal¬ loons that are attached to the ground by long tethers.
On Friday and Saturday evening, "balloon glows" are scheduled. Sev¬ eral balloons will be tethered to the ground and hover above the festival
grounds, and the gas flames which heat the air inside of the balloons will be Ignited. The multicolored balloons will then glow against the darkening sky.
Balloon Fest is an excellent opportunity for the Alumni Association to build relationships among alumni, students and the San Antonio community through a unique, family oriented festi¬ val.
- Brenda DeLeon, Special Events Coordinator for the Alumni Association
Opening ceremonies forthe three day event will be held on Friday, Oct. 31 at 3:30 p.m. San Antonio mayor Howard Peak and UTSA Presideni Samuel Kirk¬ patrick are scheduled to attend a cham¬ pagne toast for that ceremony.
DeLeon explained that while the event
will be free to the public, the vendors who set up there will pay fees. "Proceeds from the Balloon Fest will benefit student scholarships and alumni programs. Currently, the ^^'^^^ alumni programs office pro¬ vides 20 studeni scholarships and offers programs to both students and alumni on a wide variety of topics.
The Alumni Associa¬ tion also supports the UTSA library, college programs, stu¬ dent recruitment, and numer¬ ous service organizations and charity projects," she stated. A preview ofthe Bal¬ loon Fest was held at UTSA on Monday, Oct. 20,  1997 _^,,,^^   near the business building. People who attended the pre¬ view were able to register for a free balloon ride which will take place dur¬ ing the festival.
For a complete listing of events, see the events schedule in this issue, or visit the Balloon Fest web-site at www.dcci.coin/utsaballoonfest.
Students find class on Star Trek engaging
By Matthew Dougan
Staff Writer
First, it was Star Trek: the Series. Then came Star Trek: the Motion Pic¬ ture. Star Trek: the Next Generation and its spin-offs soon followed.
Now, finally. Star Trek: the Class has arrived at UTSA.
The upper-division honors class, entitled "Sociology of Star Trek" and team-taught by Dr. Richard Harris and Dr. Juanita Firestone, is based on a class first taught by Dr. Deborah King at Dartmouth University. The syllabus explains that "as [King] points out, as an enduring popular culture icon, Star Trek provides an excellent opportu¬ nity for sociological inquiry."
The 14 students in the class use Star Trek as a reference point to explore and discuss sociological issues. "Today's students are more media- oriented than students of the past," says Harris. "[Star Trek] provides a very graphic and visual and intellectu¬ ally stimulating framework for focus¬ ing on very real issues about today's society and about what society might be like in the future."
Then is this a blow-off class con¬ sisting entirely of watching the epi¬ sodes and movies?
"No, it's not," insists sophomore Sam Berrios, Jr., a student in the class. "Ifit was a blow-off class, then I would not be devoting as much time as I've had to. To me, it's probably the hardest class I have because we havi. a lot of reading."
BarbaraO'Connor, another student in the class, agrees. "No, it's very difflcult. very time-consuming, very thought consuming." Harris ex¬
plains that "we (he and Firestone) are both, by reputation, considered to be very demanding professors."
Three ofthe six required texts listed on the syllabus include Star Trek in the title. Two of the four recommended texts are The Star Fleet Technical ' Manual and the Star Trek Sketchbook. The rest of thc texts relate strictly to sociological issues.
Although an honors class, it is not restricted to students enrolled in the
honors program. One student, Berrios, sought the instructors' approval to en¬ roll in thc class.
"I'm not in the honors program," says Berrios. "But she (Firestone) did allow me to enroll in it because I was quite familiar with Star Trek and the Star Trek theme."
According to the syllabus, in addi¬ tion to regular attendance and comple¬ tion of reading assignments, "Students will be required to complete four the¬ matic, analytical response papers. These papers will be based on critical analyses of the sociological themes in Star Trek using course readings and discussions as well as scholarly books, joumal articles and other relevant li¬ brary and internet resources."
A final research paper "based on a relevant sociological theme found in Star Trek" is also required.
Two ofthe four writing assignments have been completed so far. The most common criticism ofthe students' first paper? You guessed it.
"Too into Star Trek and too little into sociology," says Harris.
However, Firestone explains that "their assignments are all continually revisaible. They arc revised for a better grade and they arc averaged as better grades because the goal is to help people leam, not lojust assign grades."
For their first assignment, students were asked to think about and discuss what it means to be human. "And Star Trek," says Firestone, "is particularly wonderful for that particular kind of theme. What is it that distinguishes humans from anything or any species not human?"
She cites a Star Trek: thc Next Gen¬ eration episode entitled "The Measure of a Man" as an example. "Data (an android character) has to go before a judge advocate to determine whether or not he is Starfleet property or whether he is sentient and therefore can define his own fate.
"That, to mc, brings together all kinds ofthings. In particular, it brings in thc theme of humanity: What does it mean to be human? And if you really are a bunch of wires and computer chips, then does that take away your
human-ness?   But Data responds with friendship and responds with the human types of values toothers. So they create this machine (Data) in a human image and then find themselves tom with the idea that you can no longer treat this machine as a machine because it's been built in the human image and then given that ability to leam and think and respond in human ways."
She also describes an episode from the original series entitled "The Devil in the Dark" that challenges our assump¬ tion that all intelligent life is carbon- based. "They (the crew of the Enter¬ prise) are mining and they don't realize that they're killing eggs. And the reason they don't realize il is the being that is guarding the eggs, the mother, looks like arock. The silicon-based versuscarbon- based being. Well, what is it those computers are made of? Silicon chips, right?"
In their second assignment, students were asked to think about a particular issue regarding either race and ethnicity or gender and, according to the assign- mentdescription, "using concepts, analy¬ ses and examples from course readings, course lectures and Star Trek episodes and films, and any olher relevant aca¬ demic materials including course read¬ ings, write a 3 - 5 page response paper."
Besides the texts, episodes and mov¬ ies, students are expected to support their arguments through a computer da¬ tabase called Microcase. Microcase is an easy-to-use statistical analysis pack¬ age available to all UTSA students in all three computer labs (Business Building, MS Building and downtown campus). It compiles the results of research and sur¬ veys conducted among Americans from 1973 through 1996 regarding certain is¬ sues and provides students with a valu¬ able insight into how attitudes regarding those issues have changed over the years.
In her second paper, O'Connor chose to target gender issues and the pay gaps between men and women teachers. She cited infonnation she found through
Microcase detail¬ ing the percentage of male and female teachers and their average pay at the college, secondary, and Pre-K/elemen- tary levels. What she found out sur¬ prised her.
"I was startled to discover the differ¬ ence in pay among teachers in the United States at all levels," she says. "I mean, il's at least over $4,000 annually, across the board between male and female teachers. Why? They're doing the same thing!"
She was then able to take the results of the surveys and compare them with future attitudes as perceived through her observances of Star Trek episodes. Her conclusion? "It appears a. sex change will no longer be necessary to receive equal pay," she writes.
Since only one student in the class is actually a sociology major, Firestone says studenis will be able to "draw on their own partii 'ilar discipline. So, if someone happens to be a Humanities major, then we try to provide enough background in recommended texts that they could look at the philosophical issuer. Ifthey are interested in political science, then they can look at political systems, political stmctures."
"We've got a couple of cornpuler science majors," adds Harris. "In our what-is-human topic, the question of sentience-emergence arises: Where is artificial intelligence in the computing arena going? There are a number of key episodes where the technology base is driving what's happening in the epi-
Continued on page 4
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(iary Wright/ Paisano The UTSA Balloon Fest will be held Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 at Rolling Oaks Mall. Proceeds will benefit student scholarship and alumni programs
Working hurts students' chances at financial aid
College Press Ser\'ice
WASHINGTON—Working to pay for college? It might harm your chances for financial aid, say Wash¬ ington analysts, who want to reform the current eligibility process.
At issue is how the federal gov¬ ernment treats earned income when it delennines eligibility for studcnl aid. So far, the arcane debate has pitted the House of Representatives against the Senate and, in an un¬ usual twist, aid for needy students against programs for thc poor and elderly.
The central issue is the "income protection allowance," or IPA, the amount of money siudents can earn and slill remain eligible for a Pell Grant.
Under current law, a student who relies on parent contributions can earn no more than $ 1,750 a year and still remain eligible for a Pell Grant. This is less than half the $4,250 a student could earn back in 1992 and slay eligible before Congress last changed the formula on how to di¬ vide limited federal aid.
"If you save for college and earn more than $1,750, you lose." said Erica Adelsheimer, legislative di¬ rector for the United States Studeni Association (USSA), which wants to see a higher eai .ings limit. "The current system is a negative incen¬ tive for studenis to work."
Independenl studenis who do not rely on parent contributions and have families fare even worse. They begin to lose Pell Grant dollars once they earn more than $4,000 a year- compared to $6,400 back in 1992. They lose access entirely when their incomes exceed $10,000 — slill by mosl estimates a poverty-level in¬ come.
Because of the tighter income requirements, the number of inde¬ pendent siudents receiving Pell Grants has dropped from more than I million annually to aboul 750.000. Collins said.
Leaders in both political parlies acknowledge the currenl system has problems.
The question is how to correct
it—and ihcn pay ihc bill. "Taking money from one needy group and giving lo anoihcr is not something we      aciivcly      support."     said Adelsheimer.
Bul Ihc government's new budgel framework ollcn requires (Usl such a trade-off: To rewrite the rules for Pcll Grants that would provide up lo $700 million morc grant money forstudenis, lawmakers musl find funds from some¬ where else.
Lasl month. Senate Republicans tried lo fund changes in the income allowance by Lulling home heating aid for the poor and elderly. Traditionally pro-educalion Democrats bristled al the thought.
"Wc should noi bc robbing one pro¬ gram lhal hils al thc poorest lo help other low-income people gei an educa¬ tion." said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-lowa).
The proposal uliimaicly failed amid talk it could force senior citizens to choose between "healing and eating," as some senators noted. But the Senate found no other way lo fund lhe Pell Grant change — and left it out of its .1998 educalion spending hill.
That decision sets up a showdown with thc House ot Representatives, which scl aside S52H million for the change. It did so by allocating more funds for educalion and less for olher. unspecified programs.
The issue now goes lo a House/ Senate conference commitiec for final action. USSA is pushing for the House figure, allhough it acknowledges $528 million may noi solve ihc problem complciely. Thc Chnion administra¬ tion pegs Ihc cost ofa new. niore real¬ istic formula al about $H)0 million.
Underline plan proposed hy Collins, Congress would raise thc IPA to $4,200 for dcpcndcni sludcnls. $6.(X)0 for single independent students and $9,000 for married siudents hefore they lose ground on Pell Grants.
Congress was to resolve ihe issue by Oct. 1. the slarl oflhe government's new fiscal year. Now the topic threat¬ ens lo hold up final aclion on a 1998 spending bill for the rest of the U.S. Department of Educalion.
The departmenl and ils programs have only temporary funds to last through Oct. 23.
A&E:
CC
Devil's Advocate
See page 6
Sports:
Cross Country prepares for Districts
See page 9
Features:
Balloon Fest Schedule
See page 4