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January 15,1997
Volume 19, Number 14
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New building on campus now open for business
By Robert Mikesh
News Editor
With the first day of classes for the spring semester, the recently completed business building opens its doors to the university, bringing new amenities to the campus and adding many new re¬ sources for the student body.
across the campus. We broke it up into several responsibilities: classrooms, offices, certain technology areas and so on," said James F. Gaertner, dean of the college of business.
Gaertner added, "The committee met with [the architects] once a week for a half day each meeting for about a year and we roughed out every detail so that it would be as close to ideal as we could get it."
After the architects completed the plans, the ^^^^^^ project went out on bid with Bartlett Cocke con¬ struction receiving the
the distance leaming center and televi¬ sion studio."
The building will add many new facilities to the university and supple¬ ment those that already exist. Its four floors encompass 205,000 square feet of floor space, increasing by about one third the university's classroom capac¬ ity by adding over 2,000 seats. Most classrooms in the facility will be equipped with the new integrated teach-
'The college of business is really moving contract. Construction for f^gm ttic tasic mcat and potatocs."
—Paula Vernick, assistant to the dean of the college of business
James F. Gaertner, dean of the college of business
Actual planning for the building started back in 1990. A committee consisting of faculty, staff, students and administration worked closely with the project architect, Ford, Powell & Carson Inc. to design the building. "We had a committee of people...from
the new faciliiy began in
January 1995. According
to a press release from the
College of Business, the
building cost $30 million
with approximately $4
million invested in technology alone.
The money for the new facility came
from tuition revenue bonds and the
Pennanent University Fund (PUF).
"We came in,on time and on bud¬ get," said Gaertner. When asked ifthe new building was going to be com¬ pletely ready for the first day of classes, Gaertner said, "I wouldn't, say 100 percent, but 99 percent. There will be a few things that aren'tquite ready...like
ing stations featuring high-end docu¬ ment cameras, automatic projection screens that scroll down vith the flipof a switch, lap-top computer hook-ups, as well as VCR plug-ins for complete muitimedia presentations. The new teaching stations will be in many rooms, but all classrooms are wired for the technology. Also, all classrooms have the capability of being integrated into thcuniversity'scomputersystem. "The
college of business is really moving from the basic meat and potatoes to a real full service operation," said Paula Vernick, assistant to the dean of the college of business.
The first fioor ofthe building brings to the university the Center for Profes¬ sional Excellence (CPE). "This is ex¬ ecutive training, executive education, and we'll have an executive MBA pro¬ gram. We're talking about specialized training for mid-level . managers on up," said
Vernick. Gaertner added, "It's quite an elite program, the only one in south Texas."
Along with the Cen¬ ter for Professional Ex¬ cellence is the new stu- — dent admission center and the university visi¬ tor center on the first floor. "We consider this the entrance for the external public," said Vernick. "This area will be the starting point for campus tours and will also house re¬ cruitment facilities."
The second floor houses large lec¬ ture halls, as well as' special events rooms, a bistro and a 200 station stu¬ dent computing facility featuring Pentium computers, as well as Power Macintosh systems and Sun worksta-
Recruiters use computers to interview students
By Collene DeBaise
College Press Service
When Ashley Wen strode into Uni¬ versity of Virginia's career center for a job interview, she didn't need to fumble nervously for a resume or extend a sweaty palm for a handshake.
Instead, Wen sat down in front of a computer, stared into a device that looks like a squished Polaroid camera, and started talking. She came face to face with a recruiter in St. Paul, Minn.
"It's neat that they invented this," said Wen, 21, a systems engineering major.
Welcome to the virtual interview, a screen-to-screen get together that's fast becoming the most affordable and con¬ venient way for corporations to go about campus recruiting. With the help of videoconferencing software and spe¬ cially equipped computers, a student and recruiter sitting in different stales can see each other on screen, and talk to each other with only a slight sound delay.
U.Va. and 19 other universities, in¬ cluding Duke, Georgia Tech and Uni¬ versity of South Carolina, recently took part in the nation's first "Virtual Job Fair " About 1,000 students vied for 300 positions—from entry-level man¬ agement spots to highly technical jobs—with 20 major corporations.
"This gives us the opportunity to showcase our students to companies
in the transmission of sound. That was a little disconcerting," said Ida Wooten, a U.Va spokesperson. "If a recruit was asking a question [and] if a student popped in with a question before the recruit was finished [they'd get cut off.]"
Wen, who interviewed with AT&T and 3M Corporation, said she felt -nore comfortable toward the end of her first virtual interview. "It took me a little bit to get used to the system,' she said. "It gets easier as time goes on."
Peter Shannon, 22, a U.Va. systems engineering major, interviewed with AT&T and National Security Agency, both in the Washington, D.C, area.
"It went pretty well," he said. "I was a little skeptical about how the whole thing was going to work."
He watched a seven-minute video and received some tips from the career center staff before sitting down at the computer. "Neither myself nor the per¬ son on the other end had any experi¬ ence," he said. "We were both bumbling though it."
Still, Shannon said he was glad to have the chance to interview with a recruiter. "It gives you the opportunity to see companies you otherwise wouldn't get to," he said. "Some might be too far away to make it out. You have nothing fo lose."
According to Wooten, the technol¬ ogy is great for "small businesses, which of course don't have the time
Gary Wrighl/The Paisano
SHARP program officers are responsible for patrolling the University Oaks on bike and on foot. The programwas imple¬ mented last November.
New crime prevention program targets Oaks
This kind of technology could revolutionize job recruiting and placement." —Allsa Mosley, director of placement for the University of South Carolina's Career Center.
that might not have visited USC," said Alisa Mosley, director of placement for University of Scuth Carolina's Ca¬ reer Center. "This kind of technology could revolutionize job recruiting and placement."
Still, there are technical glitches.
"You have to realize there' s a delay
and money to send recruiters to cam¬ pus."
Also, "there's potential in using this technology to allow students to inter¬ view with firms overseas," she added.
The videoconferencing software is
continued on pg. 3
By Robert Mikesh
News Editor
At the end ofthe fall 1996 semester, UTSAPD implemented a new program at University Oaks apartment complex aimed at increasing crime prevention awareness at the Oaks.
The Safe Haven Atmosphere for Residents and the Public (SHARP) program began Nov. 18, at the Univer¬ sity Oaks after UTSAPD received a $332,000 federal grant under the Com- tpunity Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. According to Sgt. Virginia Paccione, campus crime pre¬ vention officer, "[UTSA] was one of 50 colleges to receive the federal funds."
The SHARP program was designed exclusively to serve the University Oaks apartments which is home to about 1,500 full and part-time UTSA students, faculty and staff, according to Paccione.
The monthly national newsletter. Campus Crime, reported the grant au¬ thorized hiring five new police offic¬ ers to work exclusively at the Oaks. "We will have an officer there 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Paccione.
The grant will provide 75 percent of
the five officers' salaries for the next three years. Thc university picked up the cost of training the officers and the remaining 25 percent oftheir salaries.
"The office itself is in the phase three clubhouse, but usually officers will not be there," said Paccione. The office will be used chiefly as a point of distribution for literature aimed at pre¬ venting a wide range of crimes from bicycle theft to rape.
The officers will be responsible for patrolling the complex on bike and on foot in hopes of increasing informal police contact with the public. The original proposal for the grant from the university stated, "This will allow of¬ ficers to meet with community mem¬ bers regularly and enhance commu¬ nity crime awareness and active citi¬ zen participation."
"We will be doing crime prevention presentations in all the clubhouses," said Paccione. Chief of police Ronald Seacrist told Campus Crime that the university will most likely have higher reporting of crime because "Reporting tends to go up as people become more aware."
Paccione stated that the five offic¬ ers involved were not chosen but re¬ quested to work in the SHARP pro¬ gram.
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Gary Wnuht/Thc Paisano
Roadrunners slamming in the Convo
The men's team is .500 in both conference and non-conference match ups. They bolster a perfect 6-0 record at home. Next matchup Thursday night In the convo vs. Sam Houston State (1-12 overall)..
tions.
"The third floor is the same as thc other buildings in that it's all class¬ rooms. There isn't anything up there that is not classrooms. It actually con¬ nects wilh thc HSS through a bridge, " said Vernick. In two computer class
rooms the instructors have access to each student's compuicr from a master computer "It's kind of like a local network, plus it's connected into the niainconiputersystem. It's an interac-
Continued on page 3
Legislation could allow UC fee increase
By Robert Mikesh
News Editor
When the state legislature convenes in January, one piece of legislation under consideration will be the pro¬ posal from the University ofTexas at San Antonio to change the existing flat rate University Center fee of $30 to a progressive fee structure. Addition¬ ally, the proposal gives the univcrsity the ability to increase the fee 10 per¬ cent annually.
The Nov. 5. 1996 issue of thc Paisano reporied the fee would be in¬
stated Dewinne.
Kai en Whitney. assistant vice-presi¬ dent (or student lite, reiterated her pre¬ vious statement aboutthe lee increase, '"Feedback from students that we have received shows that they do not like Ilat fees. They prefer a progressive fee structure." she said
The proposed fee structure is re¬ ferred to us mdexiny thc tee. Whitney slated. "[IndexingI allows us to keep pace with inodcialc grow ih. We wanted lo make the approach consistent wilh other tecs like thc student services fee."
Other fees that use the progressive
If the legislature approves UTSA's proposal, the university will be the first in the state with a pro¬ gressive fee structure for a university center.
creased to $4 per semester hour and the maximum amount raised from $.M) lo $44 paying out al 1 1 credit hours. The universiiy would have the abihty lo raise the fee 10% annually to a maxi¬ mum of $90 per semester without a referendum from the student body.
"We didn't need a $90 fee-we need a $44 fee-but as the center expands and programs expand...we wanted to have the flexibility to continue to rai.se thc fee if need be and not have to go back and get legislation like we've had to do," said Ernest Dewinne, associate vice presideni for business affairs. Dewinne added, "The legislated maxi¬ mum will be a $90 fee, bul what we are initially going to assess is going to be a lower amouni."
According lo Dewinne, this will be the third lime the U.C. fee legislation has been introduced. 1 he firsl was for a $ 15 fee to fund thc original university center. The second set of legislation was to increa.se lhe fee to $30 to ac¬ commodate for the expansion of the U.C. "Ifthe building fits our needs for the next len years and we have modest pTogram growth and other operational costs, we can raise the fee 10 perceni a year without going back tothe students and having a student referendum,"
fee siructure include the general fee. automated services tec. and the library resources fee.
If the legislature approves UTSA's proposal, the university willbe the firsl in the state with a progressive fee struc¬ ture for a university center.
Inside this issue...
^ pg. 4 The PhD Project recmits minorities for doctoral pro grams
•^ pg. 6 Ray Metzker exhibit at the
McNay
^ pg. 8   Huge men's basketball wrap-up
''  pg. 10 Photo poll: Opinions on UTSA directory