Decals may Fix Sunwatcher Parking Woes
Awgust Schuman | Staff Reporter

The housing department is trying to figure out new ideas for the future to help Sunwatcher residents find parking spots next to their apartment.
Michael Mills, complex coordinator for Sunwatcher village, said that parking in Sunwatcher can be a problem. " We are looking at having different colored parking decals," Mills said. This will be easier for the police to check for un-registered parkers in Sunwatcher. " In the fall, we are also thinking about putting in a sliding or an iron rod gates, Mills said.
Many Sunwatcher residents are unable to find a parking spot behind their apartments late at night and are forced to walk in unlighted areas. Sallie Austin, political science major, has a hard time finding a parking spot after 9 p.m. on the weekdays. "It’s late. It’s dark. I am a girl, and I have a problem with that," Austin said. All my roommates make sure and park behind Sunwatcher before 7 p.m., so we can have a parking spot and not have to walk late at night, she said.
"It is a privilege to live in Sunwatcher because of the gates," Mills said. "Unfortunately sometimes it is taken away when someone breaks the arm." Ninety-nine percent of the complaints from residents are when anyone can access the parking lot because of broken gates. Many problems occur when Sunwatcher residents let non-residents park in Sunwatcher by using their key card. Also, non-residents cut residents off when driving underneath the gate to enter the parking lot.
According to the number of decals registered with the police station there is enough parking for every Sunwatcher Resident. " If everyone brought a car it would be a problem," Mills said. There are 325 Sunwatcher residents and about 252 parking spots.  There are eight extra parking spots in front of the north gate.
" When Sunwatcher was built it was not built to a one-on-one ratio," said Michael Hagy, chief of police.  At the time it was built, 70 percent of students on campus drove. " There is 68 percent available one -on -one parking in Sunwatcher," Hagy said.
The MSU police patrol Sunwatcher Village and give tickets to un-registered parkers. Many students have mixed emotions about the issue, explains Hagy. "If a resident has someone to come visit them, then they have their friend park in residents parking, so residents have to park down the street in non-resident parking and they don’t have a spot. It is a self-perpetuating problem," Hagy said. The police encourage residents of Sunwatcher to have their visitor’s park across the street and walk.
The Mercantile parking lot is an overflow parking lot. Residents should park in this area and not park in non-resident parking to avoid tickets. " We all live in a me world. Someone is going to have to sit down and explain what is going on to the students," Hagy said. There is enough parking down there at the Mercantile building, he explains. " Park down there and ride the shuttle bus. We are on a walking campus. Get your spot and walk," Hagy said.
Robin Bellingham, a nursing major, does not think the police are doing anything about the problem. "I do not even see the police when I have to park and walk a long distance," Bellingham said. She hopes housing is trying to figure out a solution but has not heard of any yet.
" It is something we can not police all the time. I can’t have someone standing at the gate making sure they have an access card," Hagy said.
"I am from New York and my parents have always taught me to be aware of my surroundings. I am not from around here. I don’t know who is behind me, its dark, and I have to park far away," Austin said. 
Students can call the dispatcher and have them escort them to their apartment or keep an eye on them. "Only with manpower this is available," Hagy said. 
There is enough indirect lighting on campus. "Lighting has never been an issue on this campus," said Hagy. "You are not walking in a total pitch black area on this campus."
" The campus police expect us to use the Mercantile building parking lot. At night the parking lot is totally pitch black," Bellingham said.

Campus Plague with Dorm Theft and Vandalism
Paige Dickerson | News Editor

Vandalism and thefts across campus have left housing and police without many suspects.
In the seven burglaries that occurred during the holidays, identifying suspects can be difficult because most of the stolen goods were not clearly marked and serial numbers were not retained.
Five of the burglaries involved electronic items such as Playstation units, DVDs and a webcam.
“I think someone was going home for Christmas and gave some of them as gifts. They could also come back with one and say, ‘I got one for Christmas.’ It is a lot easier to explain that just showing up with one in the middle of October or something,” Chief of Police Michael Hagy said.
In McCullough-Trigg at least eight DVDs, two Game Cubes, a Playstation, a Playstation 2 and numerous games were stolen between Dec. 8 and Dec. 13.
Protecting electronics or high-dollar items begins with basic common sense, Hagy said.
“We suggest that people always secure their rooms,” he said.
Also identifying them with unique numbers is important.
“Find some place on them, not like the battery cover, but somewhere permanent, and engrave your Texas driver’s license number. That way, if they go and try and pawn it they can check and see if it matches,” Hagy said.
It is also important to take pictures and retain serial number for future references.
“A lot of things that are stolen we can’t find because there is no way to say who’s it is unless you have your ID on it. A while back we had someone steal a memory card from a Playstation 2 and we were able to identify that it was theirs because they had saved some games on it with their names,” Hagy said.
Another thing students should watch out for is people who are familiar with what items are in their rooms.
“A guy we dealt with a while back, he said he would carry a 12-pack of beer around, and he wasn’t a student but he would find out who was having a party and would go knock on people’s doors. Ninety percent of the time he would be let in,” Hagy said.
While he was at the party the man would find out what was around the apartment and steal it then if he could or go back later for larger items, Hagy said.
“A large percentage of the time burglaries are committed by an acquaintance who knows where stuff is,” Hagy said. “I’m not saying that all your friends steal, but most of the time it is maybe a friend of a friend or something like that.”
An instance of vandalism in McCullough-Trigg has left the elevators inoperable until the end of the week.
An unknown person urinated in the elevators and the wires were also ripped out of the control panel, according to Casey Case, director of housing and residence life.
“We don’t know who did it. We are trying to find out, trying to get students to report who did it because we know it is frustrating for students when the elevators are down,” Case said.
Because of privacy laws, no cameras are in the elevators. However, the action could have happened with other people present, so Case hopes someone will report it soon.
“They probably didn’t just do this by themselves. They had an audience at the time,” Case said.
Tips can be anonymously reported to the housing office by phone or e-mail.



Local Firm gives TLC to Wild West headgear
Rachel Jacobs; Photos | Ya-Rei Chan | Graphic | Sunkyu Yoo-Norris

They come in many sizes, shapes and colors. Without doubt it sets the cowboy apart from the common man. It’s his hat. A cowboy hat.
For almost four decades the Huskey Hat Company at 1125 E. Scott has adorned many cowboys’ heads with a clean, crisp and creased hat.
 “We renovate hats,” said Stanley Rater, the 60-years-young woman who owns the store along with her husband Johnny. “We really clean dirty cow pooh-pooh hats,” said Stanley, who mainly runs the store.
Huskey’s can also resize a hat, so that you can wear a relative’s hat after he/she dies. It’s happened, Rater said.
If your head grows, shrinks or you just want a smaller brim, Huskey can make it happen. You can also keep up with the changing cowboy styles and never discard your hat. Such as in the “Urban Cowboy” days when tall hats were in vogue.
“We can change almost any part of a hat,” Rater said. “The only thing we can’t do is make the brim bigger.”
Rater can also patch-up holes in hats, which she claims no one else does. “This will allow a cowboy to wear his hat for a few more years,” Rater said.
“I say a man always needs three hats…a work hat, dress hat, and a knockabout [everyday] hat.”
September through January is when the squeaking, sloshing, banging and steaming of the antique machinery, dating back to the early 1900s runs virtually non-stop. The time-worn equipment makes one conjure up images of Jessie James and meetings at high noon. Parts are hard to come by. Rater mainly relies on relatives to make needed repairs.
After going through the cleaning process, Rater paints on her secret Smear, which gives the hat that extra bit of character.
 “It just gives the hat a pretty finish,” Rater said.
She acquired this recipe from Eddie Huskey, the original owner of the shop. Huskey and a chemist created the concoction from special ingredient only Rater can tell you about.
But she won’t.
In 1976, the Raters bought the store from Huskey after he asked the couple to buy him out. Johnny Rater had been a partner in the business with Huskey. At the time they didn’t sell merchandise, but eventually started a few years later.
Of the Rater’s five kids, none of them want to learn the trade. She might part with the Smear recipe if she had to “get rid” of the business. Otherwise it might be hard to duplicate.      
The month of August trots by like an old worn out horse for the Raters.
 “If it wasn’t for the Ranch Roundup in August we would probably close and go fishing and I don’t even like to fish,” Rater joked.
Rater does like her customers though, treating them like close, personal friends.
 “My customers are number one around here,” she said.
Rater even takes the extra step to make friends with her competition, The Cow Lot that resides down the street.
 “I’ve sent flowers for things like his mother’s funeral or I’ve sent cards,” Rater said.
She will even send her customers to The Cow Lot if she is unable to help them.
Huskey’s also doubles as an outlet for local talent. Rater sells CDs of local poets and musicians, all cowboys of course. They sit on the counter near the front door.
 “I don’t keep any of the profits,” said Rater. “I give them right back to the person whenever they come back in. I just like to help out.”
Thomas Franks, a prisoner at the Huntsville Correction Center, also sends her drawings. Rater admits she doesn’t know anything about him or how he found her.
 “I received a typed letter one day. He just wanted me to hang the pictures up. He said I didn’t have to do anything to them and I could keep some of the profits if I wanted to. He’s very talented.”
Franks’ black and white, cowboy-themed paintings adorn the walls of the store. When Rater sells a painting, she send the money to an account at the prison. 
In addition, pictures of rodeo queens line Huskey’s walls. Huskey Hat Company sponsors many rodeo queens. Rater always gives them a hat because she said it is very expensive to be a first-year rodeo queen and she likes to help them out. She recommends that the girls have a black hat because it goes with everything. If the queens are going to have a second hat, she recommends red because it stands out. 
Huskey’s has also become a tack store. When a friend came to Rater and wanted to move his tack store in with her hats she welcomed the idea.
 “I’m learning about that stuff. I just hope people come in knowing what they want to buy,” Rater said with a laugh.
Rater has seen some famous faces come through her door.
 “My very favorite was Meg Ryan,” Rater said. “She was so excited about getting a real cowboy hat from Texas and she was so sweet.”
Ryan was given a hat when she came to the opening of Century Plaza but it didn’t fit so they brought her to Huskey’s to resize it.
When Hank Williams Jr. moseyed in from his tour bus, everyone had to pool their change together to buy a $3 item.
David Allen Coe has also visited Huskey’s.
 “He’s a jerk,” Rater said. “He is very arrogant. He drove up on a Harley and looked like Hell’s Angels.”
Huskey Hat Company was featured on Texas Country Reporter in 1991. Rater said people still come in and ask if this is the place that was on the show.    
Rater enjoys it when the Italian Air Force families venture in. Buying a cowboy hat really excites them, she said.
“They all have cameras and take pictures and have lots of fun or buy hats to take back home because everyone wants a cowboy hat from Texas. It’s really amazing,” Rater said. “Those are the fun customers.”