September 10, 2019

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TURNOVERS COST BOBCAT FOOTBALL IN TOUGH HOME OPENING LOSS

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AWARDED FILMMAKER GAINS ATTENTION WITH SHORT FILM "BABY NICK"

SAN MARCOS RECEIVES GRANT FOR SINK CREEK COMMUNITY FOREST

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 05

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

HAVEN ONLY KNOWS Students left confused after apartment construction delay By Laura Figi Life & Arts Editor Editor's note: While reporting on this story, Life and Arts Editor Laura Figi made numerous attempts to contact Haven management and was refused official comment each time over the course of a week. Each year, students leasing at unfinished complexes have to scramble to find places to temporarily stay after move-in promises fall through. The most recent, Haven on Thorpe Lane, has caused quite the uproar. The Haven apartments, located on 316 N Edward Gary St suite D, management team promised an August 26 move-in for its prospective tenants— even in advertisements placed with The University Star—but when the date came and went, students and parents grew suspicious. Even worse, some students were left without a home, still tied to a lease for an apartment with no concrete answers. After a week of attempting to contact the Haven office via phone and email, PR Director Mark Evans via phone and email, Asset Living Regional LeaseUp Specialist Ryan Soderquist via the Asset Living office phone and via direct phone, The University Star was unable to interview anyone affiliated with Haven. Jerretta Pate, mother of a student who leased at Haven, created “Haven on Thorpe is a Joke!!!” Facebook group so students and parents could convene. The

group now has 71 members. Pate said even though her daughter is not currently living there, the family was still required to pay rent for August and September. They did so in hopes of making it easier to break the lease. “We just want to be released,” Pate said. “I do not understand what they’re getting from this in not releasing anybody. It’s like a game with them.” According to the June Multi-Family Project Status Report, Haven will not be completed until 2020. However, Haven

staff maintains their Sept. 16 movein date. Now, students and parents are waiting to either move in or break their leases. Pate took her daughter’s lease to a lawyer, who reportedly told her it was “the worst lease” she had ever seen. The agreement explicitly states the Haven is "not responsible for the delay" if it is due to construction, repairs, cleaning or previous residents. The lease is 48 pages long. “My daughter is homeless,” Pate said. “When she’s sleeping on somebody’s couch I don’t even know, that she just met because they’re a friend of a friend,

that’s pretty much homeless.” Students who leased were offered a move-in agreement that stated, “You’ll move in on time. We GUARANTEE it.” Students were allegedly told if they were unable to meet that promise, they would receive a refund of signing fees, a check equal to a semester’s worth of rent and the option to break their lease. April Lorenz Burke, mother to prospective resident Keegan LorenzOchoa, said she was continually updated about construction and was told by the complex he would still be able to move in on-time. Both Pate and Lorenz Burke said they were turned away and told separately by Soderquist the move-in agreement was a “marketing ploy” that would not hold up in court. “I can absolutely see how kids would believe them,” Lorenz Burke said. “They’re being offered this move-in guarantee, they’re being told it’s done and all it lacks is permits; here’s this great guarantee. Why would you not believe them?” Instead, leasers were given two options: stick with the lease and be put into temporary housing—which could be at various complexes including The Edge and potentially The Woods—or choose their own temporary housing and Haven will waive two months’ rent. Additionally, leasers could sign a form to allow the unit to be subleased, which still leaves them liable for charges until the unit is filled and relinquishes the right to sue. Furthermore, students were reportedly unable to read the lease agreement before signing it on the payment portal. Both Pate and Lorenz Burke said they were advised by lawyers not to take either

option and instead continue to shoot for the move-in guarantee. Pate has a background in construction and realty and said she does not anticipate the complex to be completed by the September deadline. “It’s just so deceitful,” Pate said. “What (the Haven) is telling us is lies. We’re not signing any forms, we’re not doing anything. We’re going off of our move-in guarantee.” Residents were sent a construction update Sept. 3, which stated floors two, three, four and five were “clean complete.” As of Sept. 6, construction workers could still be seen on the fifth floor and there was trash on at least one balcony from every floor. Lorenz-Ochoa, chemistry senior, is currently living in an RV park because he chose not to take either of the two options. While he said RV life is not bad, he does not have WiFi, which makes it tough to do school work. Living in an apartment would make his studies much easier. “No one is living (at the Haven),” Lorenz-Ochoa said. “There is not a single soul living there because you can’t. It’s unlivable.” Another Haven complex is under construction in Huntsville, Texas, near Sam Houston State University. The building is still unfinished as well and projecting the same problems. Additionally, Asset Living manages a complex called The Ridge in Denton, Texas, which had a floor collapse November 2017 during a party. “I don’t think they realize how crazy it drives us,” Lorenz-Ochoa said. “Someone has to do something because this is just going to keep happening where these companies come in and scam us.”

TEAM USA

EXPANSION

Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center receives $600,000 from Hays County Commissioners Court By Daniel Weeks News Reporter The Hays County Commissioners Court approved a $600,000 donation for the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center to fund the construction of a new housing facility for victims of abuse and violence. The HCWC was founded in 1978 as a professional women’s group hosting workshops for women in the workforce. The center evolved into a shelter for victims of domestic violence as the organization grew, becoming one of the first of 13 shelters and first of six sexual assault programs in Texas. The current housing provided by HCWC operates as a temporary transitional shelter; the new complex under construction will allow victims to reside for longer. The Commissioners Court voted July 16 for the donation to HCWC. The construction of the complex is likely to begin fall 2019 near the original location and is expected to cost over $4 million. Other lesser known programs include educational services provided by HCWC. Full-time educators working for the center educate middle schools, high schools and Texas State on violence

and abuse prevention. The education initiatives cover victimization as well as perpetrator behavior, with an emphasis on forming healthy relationships and teaching consent. Melissa Rodriguez, director of community partnerships at the HaysCaldwell Women’s Center, said she believes Texas education programs generally do not provide sufficient sexual health education, though there has increased awareness recently. “In Texas, there are mandated laws that say schools are supposed to provide sexual health education and dating violence prevention education, but most schools do not know they are required to or they don’t have the means to do so,” Rodriguez said. “They know youth are experiencing these issues; they’re struggling with it and living at homes with it, so we’ve been getting a lot more requests for programming because there’s more awareness.” According to Rodriguez, there are various misconceptions surrounding the HCWC. Qualifications for receiving services from the center solely consist of someone's location. Anyone who lives, works or goes to school in Hays or Caldwell counties have access to the free and completely confidential services provided by SEEEXPANSION PAGE 2

Team USA clinched the gold in the Pan American Games this summer. PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXAS STATE ATHLETICS.

Cat scratches the surface Texas State assistant softball coach Cat Ostermann brings home the gold for Team USA on the road to the 2020 Olympics By Andrew Zimmel Sports Reporter After spending over a decade away from playing the sport that brought her international fame, Texas State's assistant softball coach Cat Osterman has brought her talents back in the circle this summer in her former role as pitcher for Team USA. The team braved the sweltering heat to bring back three gold medals in the USA Softball International Cup, the Pan American Games and the Japan Cup earlier this month. Team USA’s first gold of the summer

came in the USA International Cup in Columbus, Georgia in early July. In one of the first showcases of Osterman’s talents since coming back, she came in hot, pitching two 12-strikeout games and leading the team to three victories. In the team’s first test against No. 8 China, Osterman pulled off a shutout and five 1-2-3 innings for a 1-0 Team USA win. Osterman kept momentum and had another shutout game in 6.2 innings against No. 6 Chinese Taipei to secure another victory, and the pitcher started for another comeback 2-1 Japan win to take home the gold and finish the SEE TEAM USA PAGE 8


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September 10, 2019 by The University Star - Issuu