Tourists are great for San Marcos from an economical standpoint, but, ironically, they can also be somewhat of a burden to residents and students.

San Marcos is one of the most diverse cities in Texas, and that diversity is largely contributed by the student body and tourists. Now that summer is in full swing, the rivers are congested, kids are running rampant at Sewell Park, and parking at the outlet malls is more impossible than ever. These types of frustrations can largely be due to the amount of tourists in San Marcos during the summer months.

San Marcos does not only receive tourists from neighboring Texas cities. According to information from the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the outlet malls are the third-biggest tourist attraction in Texas.

Once again parking services is getting the last laugh after the recent hike in parking permit fees. The increase was addressed in an email sent to students, which attempted to explain why the hike was necessary. As if students do not have enough financial troubles. Parking services is making the financial situation worse. 

Parking services is trying to justify its actions by stating that it is the first fee increase in three years. The email goes on to explain the increase will help the department’s annual bond debt due to the construction of Speck and Matthew Street garages. The permit fees are said to increase from $210 to $245 for Residence Halls and Apartments. Commuters and motorcycle passes will only go up $10, which is not too bad, but is still irritating.

The vote for the alcohol ban is being put on hold at the moment, which means this may be the last ‘hurrah’ for many students and residents. There seems to be an overwhelming favor for the ban amongst city council members because they think it will do some good for San Marcos. This could not be further from the truth. 

Rio Vista was one of the most relaxing and beautiful places in San Marcos, but it has become the new stomping ground for dogs and is now borderline disgusting.  

I consider myself a dog lover, but nothing bothers me more than when people do not know how to control their pets. As of lately, Rio Vista has been treated like a dog park and there have been dozens of dogs running about rampantly. I have also noticed people are not as inclined to wade in the river when dogs are around. Whatever their reasons may be, I think it is pretty disgusting that there could be a possibility of dog waste.

Living on campus can be convenient at times. However, living off-campus is even better, especially in your own house.

I lived on-campus for two years, and found it to be awesome. It is nice to be around the learning atmosphere, but it is even nicer living in your own house a few blocks away from campus.  I live conveniently close, but far enough to where I don’t have to deal with the campus hustle and bustle.

Living in a house means you don’t have to walk up many flights of stairs to reach your bedroom or wait on an elevator. It also means you don’t have to share a shower or restroom. I have been extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to live in a house, because I am able to venture out and meet new people. 

Frustrations with parking services seem to be a reoccurring theme among students. Inadequate parking spots or tickets are usually the bulk of annoyances.  It is easy to point the finger at parking services whenever there is a problem. Most students need to understand the necessity for new lots is not exactly in the hands of parking services. 

The construction of new parking garages is in the hands of Texas State University System Board of Regents. As part of the Campus Master Plan, two new parking garages are slated for completion within the next several years.

The construction at the moment comes with financial restraints. Parking Services has to pay for the facilities that are already in existence.  According to an April 13 University Star article, the department has annual bond debt service payments to make.  The article also addressed that Parking Services had to dip into a reserve in order to start making those service payments.

San Marcos tends to live in the shadow of Austin, which doesn’t sit well with me. I am sick of it, and so are other students, because San Marcos has many attractions to offer.

One thing that could create quite a stir and probably level the playing field would be focusing on our music scene.  An attempt at diversifying our music scene, much like Austin’s, would make San Marcos more welcoming and fun.  Unfortunately, the live music scene has taken quite a few blows—the most recent was Lucy’s shutting down last year. 

Cheatham Street Warehouse, one of the busiest music venues, usually caters to country fans.  However, country music isn’t for everyone. A venue playing only one genre makes people look elsewhere for their musical preference.  I’m not the only who feels this way.

San Marcos may be growing tired of the “party school” stereotype, and our thriving nightlife is not helping.

In 2009, the San Marcos City Council passed a noise law that left a bad taste in many students’ mouths. That bad taste might be coming back now, three years later.

San Marcos is notorious for noise complaints, whether they are on campus or in surrounding apartment complexes. Personally, I have witnessed at least a dozen noise complaints in my time at Texas State. Noise complaints may not seem like a severe problem, but San Marcos will not put the issue to rest. The city is once again trying to regulate noise. This time, their aim is focused on The Square.

A law passed in 2009 authorized police to disperse gatherings they deemed “unruly” and to cite partygoers who fail to immediately leave. The ordinance also included new definitions of “excessive noise.”

It is no secret that San Marcos has a thriving nightlife. More specifically it is the nightlife on the weekends that makes this city notorious for its “fun factor.”  You do not have to be a social butterfly to understand the weekend festivities that take place frequently.  However, San Marcos lacks something significant in its social scene. The city does not have enough late-night restaurants. 

Instead there is an abundance of fast food restaurants, which can get old very quickly and are not always the healthiest. I am surprised the San Marcos nightlife has not been taken advantage of by local restaurants. I realize there are a few restaurants (mainly places like IHOP) but not enough for a proper sit down after a long night of having a good time with close friends. 

I’ve been riding the bus for three years and there is something that typically stands out the majority of the time — the buses are always overcrowded. This has been an ongoing issue that has been on many of our minds. While this remains a problem, I’ve noticed an even bigger one.

Texas State easily has a larger female population but men should be more chivalrous to their female counterparts. The university consists of 56 percent female students and 44 percent male. Therefore the majority of the people who occupy the buses are women. The big problem I noticed is whenever there are a large number of women standing on the bus, men usually don’t give up their seat. This brings about the big question — is chivalry dead?  I understand both men and women have busy schedules. I also understand this could potentially produce the argument no one should receive special treatment.