November 30 2015

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MONDAY

NOVEMBER 30, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 32

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Local museum to celebrate endowment By Kasandra Garza @KASGARZA NEWS REPORTER

To celebrate the recent Claudia Taylor Johnson Endowment of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum of San Marcos, the historical venue is set to celebrate next spring. The museum will be celebrating their new endowment at Spring Shindig 2016 at the LBJ Natural Historical Park April 23in hopes of continuing to honor the legacy of former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. The celebration will include a performance from country artist Michael Martin Murphey, an auction and a guitar giveaway, said Rafael Garcia, museum manager. Edward Mihalkanin, board president of the museum, said the idea of developing an endowment stemmed from his research on nonprofit corporations. Endowments are used to protect venues from collapsing during any temporary downturn in the economy or in the case of unexpected situations such as the Memorial Day and Halloween weekend floods, Mihalkanin said. The endowment will ensure the viability of the museum and the board does not want to be dependent on donations, Mihalkanin said. “What we’re trying to do is get a fund that we can draw from to help us maintain the museum for far into the future,” Mihalkanin said. The museum currently receives funding from the city of San Marcos and Hays County. Mihalkanin said with the endowment, the board could afford to bring in additional exhibits to gain more visitors. The last visiting exhibit featured at the museum was called the Tejano Sons of Texas exhibit in 2009. Currently, the auditorium space is being used as a meeting center for board members of the museum. Garcia wants to occupy the auditorium space with other exhibits, including the possibility of obtaining and bringing in items from the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. “If we’re able to get the space suit, we’ll be able to turn the whole auditorium into another exhibit,” Garcia said. “The endowment will make a lot of exhibits possible for the museum.” Mihalkanin said the museum currently has temporary exhibits, one being connected to the Higher Education Act. The board was able to acquire the desk and chair President Johnson used when he signed the legislation. The board plans to invite more guest speakers to the museum as well. Since there is currently no money to pay for the travel expenses of speakers, the museum can normally only draw people in from 50 miles away. Garcia said the endowment will allow him to retrieve documents and photos for the museum archives and develop a gift shop to sell T-shirts, pens and other merchandise. Mihalkanin said the endow-

See LBJ, Page 2

STAR FILE PHOTO

Anthropology students study decomposing bodies By Exsar Arguello ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @Exsar_Misael

Waking up at dawn to study the decomposition of human bodies is an act typically seen on television shows, but this type of activity is something graduate assistants with the Anthropology Department do on a daily basis. The Anthropology Department at Texas State is one of the few in the nation that has a ranch dedicated to the study of the decomposition of human bodies. The Forensic Anthropology Research Facility, located on Freeman Ranch, is a 26-acre outdoor human decomposition center created for the purpose of studying the various decomposition methods of humans under different variables, according to the department’s website. Working with decompos-

ing human bodies exposed to the elements is not foreign to Lauren Meckel, graduate research assistant for the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State. For Meckel and her fellow graduate students, FARF facilitates a way to learn more about anthropology while gaining hands-on experience. “We meet up basically every day to go check out the progress of the bodies used out in the ranch,” Meckel said. “I wake up, come to the Grady Early Forensic Anthropology Laboratory and head on out to the ranch when everyone is ready to go.” GEFARL is another laboratory the Anthropology Department owns located off campus near the ranch. The lab is used to study and store the bones for examinations and research, Meckel said. There is also a 3-D printer onsite used to print

STAR FILE PHOTO

bones for examination. Meckel arrives at GEFARL early in the morning where she meets with sec-

ond- and first-year anthropology graduate students Devora Gleiber and Chuan Clemmons.

Once all members of the team are on site, the three

See BODY FARM, Page 2

UNIVERSITY

Students tutor peers to achieve success By Rae Glassford NEWS REPORTER @rae_maybe

Ellen Robinson, mathematics senior, goes to class, studies and strolls through the Quad. She spends 15 hours each week in the Student Learning Assistance Center—not to learn, but to teach. The SLAC lab is located on the fourth floor of the Alkek Library and currently employs 55 tutors, the majority of whom are students. During her sophomore year, Robinson shared a class with a SLAC employee who encouraged her to apply. She began working at SLAC in the fall of 2013. Robinson said getting the job required a long application process. “Applying to be a tutor is a multistep process,” said Meghan Parker, assistant director of SLAC. “First of all, the applicant must have a minimum GPA of 3.0, although typically we’d like it to be higher.” Parker said applicants must have references from faculty in the discipline they intend to teach. After that, there’s a diagnostic exam and transcript check, which

ANTONIO REYES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Ellen Robinson, mathematics senior, tutors Matt Windham, computer science senior, Nov. 9 at SLAC Lab in Alkek Library.

determines whether an applicant will get an interview. Parker said interviewers look for applicants who

are smart and speak articulately. “They have to be able to work as a team player,”

Parker said. “We’re looking for a well-balanced staff so that we can meet the needs of our diverse student body.

We’re looking for extroverts and introverts—people who are outgoing and reserved.”

See SLAC, Page 2


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