While many students may use Bobcat Bobbies to receive a safe escort or to score a free ride, the system is not providing as much security as it could beyond campus borders.

Bobcat Bobbies is a group that provides a safe escort via golf carts for students traversing across campus at night. Many students may believe the system is there to provide free rides solely, although the purpose of the Bobbies is to promote safety and allow students to feel safe at night. According to an April 17 University Star article, many calls made to Bobcat Bobbies are for rides to Jones Dining Hall. Students may be abusing the safety system to avoid a hike, since Jones is placed at the top of a steep hill. Although this behavior is somewhat understandable, it should not be encouraged. The Bobbies are already busy enough as it is without extra calls coming in from people who simply do not want to walk somewhere.

Chartwells officials need to revamp services by providing more options for students on restricted diets, allowing students to utilize all of their meal swipes and offering discounts for students without a plan.

There are many problems with the dining services on campus, and students with restricted diets have very limited food options. Few places on campus serve vegan and vegetarian foods, and students with other restrictions such as allergies have to jump through hoops to get food they are able to actually eat. Many students may be worried they are not getting enough for their prepaid meal plans as well. Take-out containers are disappearing from dining halls, and students are limited to only three meal trades per purchase.

Although honor societies can offer significant ways to boost campus involvement, students should make sure these organizations are a good fit for their schedules and pocketbooks before joining and paying dues.

Some students may find their BobcatMail inboxes stuffed to the brim with invitations for various honor societies. These emails usually advertise numerous networking, community service and scholarship opportunities for interested students—at a price. Honor societies may be genuinely rewarding for those who seek to become deeply involved. However, these organizations are relatively useless for students who simply join, do not get involved and then list the group on their resumes each year. Employers may be more impressed with students who have experience through leadership positions or community service hours within an honor society than those who simply list membership only.

A greater number of students at Texas State should consider taking classes or minoring in Mandarin Chinese, a language with more speakers in the world than any other.

The university’s Chinese program has been on rocky footing for a while now. The program was on the chopping block not long ago because of relatively low enrollment and little funding. The Chinese program began in the Office of Distance and Extended Learning. The program was moved to the Department of Modern Languages when the university received a project grant in 2009, according to an April 5, 2011 University Star article. The Chinese courses were then pushed back out of the modern languages department to extension-only offerings after the 2011-2012 academic year.

Although many students see summer as a time to relax, taking classes during the break can greatly increase a Bobcat’s ability to graduate in four years.

For some college students, summer classes could be the extra boost needed to graduate on time. Only approximately 58 percent of first-time, full-time college students attending universities in 2004 attained their bachelor’s degrees within a six-year time frame, according to information from the National Center for Education Statistics. One way students can help accelerate their degree plans is to supplement fall and spring course loads with additional classes during the summer. The summer I and II semesters fit normal 14-week classes into just five weeks, allowing students to quickly get course credits out of the way.

Although earning a college degree is important to students for numerous career plans, the presence of vocational education as a viable alternative should not be discounted.

The number of people pursuing college degrees has steadily been on the rise in recent years, while the number of those pursuing a vocational education during or after high school has greatly decreased. According to a June 17, 2010 Economist article, one-fifth of high school students received technical industry training specialization in 2005 compared to one-third in 1982. Meanwhile, the number of 17-year-olds aspiring to attend a four-year university in 2003 increased to 69 percent, twice the amount from 1981.

University officials must work toward offering a more practical math class instead of only allowing students to take a college algebra or higher-level course for a required core credit.

According to the Texas State Admissions website, the general core curriculum for all students requires at least three hours of math credit at college algebra level or higher. People may debate the usefulness of requiring any type of math credit for nontechnical majors, but there is a significant need for proper math education across the board regarding a variety of student majors. Having basic computational and math skills is an important part of being an adult, without which basic day-to-day tasks may be difficult.

Students must place mental health at the forefront regarding the occurrence of school shootings within the country instead of blaming video games, music or other forms of popular media.

People often accuse violent video games, music or movies as the source of youth violence. Students may look for a scapegoat to take the blame for violence among children, but this first reaction is far from justified. The correlation between consumption of violent media and brutal behavior is weak at best.

Correlations were found between youth brutality and playing violent video games for larger amounts of time, according to a Dec. 26, 2012 article on the MassGeneral Hospital for Children website. However, this was only present in a small portion of children who already exhibited high stress levels and aggressive tendencies, according to the 2004 study in the article.

The university’s recent proposals to hike up the costs of parking permits are unfair, and Parking Services officials should instead opt to increase the prices by a more gradual amount over time.

Parking permit prices are set to go up next fall and will increase anywhere from 8 percent to 135 percent, according to a Feb. 5 University Star article. Nancy Nusbaum, interim director of transportation services, cites debt within Parking Services as one of the main reasons for the proposed rise in permit costs.

Debt has been mounting within the department because of parking garage construction expenditures and a reduction in revenue from permits and tickets. The largest rise in permit costs will be for apartment and dorm parking, which are both proposed to more than double in price. Students currently spending $245 for a silver or green permit may be forced to pay $575 for a pass to park in the same spots during the upcoming fall semester. 

More students should get involved with psychology studies conducted at Texas State, in light of increased campus research initiatives and the creation of a new master’s program in the discipline.

Texas State was awarded Tier Two Emerging Research status Jan. 12, 2012, which made the institution eligible for multiple pools of additional funding, according to a Dec. 5, 2012 University Star article. University officials have announced and implemented more master’s and doctoral programs, with the goal to remain competitive with other tier-one and -two institutions.
A new master’s program in psychological research is slated to become available to students in the fall, according to a Jan. 29 University Star article. Campus psychology studies requiring student volunteers will likely become more prevalent in the coming months, given the recent status change and program addition.