November 30 2015

MONDAY

NOVEMBER 30, 2015 VOLUME 105 ISSUE 32

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CITY

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

2 | Monday, November 30, 2015

NEWS

The University Star Anna Herod, News Editor @annaleemurphy starnews@txstate.edu

UniversityStar.com @universitystar

BODY FARM, from front students take a Texas State service truck to Freeman Ranch to collect data on the bodies they are studying.

“Freeman Ranch is a beautiful place that allows us to really study firsthand what is going on during decomposition,” Clemmons said. “Once we get out to where the bodies are, we collect data on the progress.”

Since the establishment of the program in 2008, the Anthropology Department has studied decomposition patterns of over 100 people, Meckel said.

The students check the skin color, dryness and moisture of the body along with maggot populations, internal

temperature and other key factors for the research conducted, Meckel said.

“You get used to the smell when you’re out there all the time,” Gleiber said. “It doesn’t really bother us anymore and you can’t really tell.

All in a day’s work.”

One of Gleiber’s jobs when examining the bodies is to take the internal temperature of the carcass with a long thermometer.

Gleiber said the job takes precision and needs to be done to all the bodies for research.

“Some of the bodies out here can mummify because of the weather conditions of Texas,” Meckel said. “They

will have a bit of moisture to them and the skin will turn into a glossy coat over the body.”

Cages protect the bodies on the ranch when the students are not inspecting them. This is to limit intervention in the decomposition process by elements in the environment, Meckel said.

“Being out here is more than just examining dead bodies to us,” Meckel said.

“This is science and this is captivating to understand how we all naturally settle into the earth after death.”

During data collection, Clemmons inspects the maggot count on the bodies. She said the amount depends on

the stage of decomposition of the body.

“After a while, the sun will kill all the maggots on the body,” Clemmons said. “But early on, these decomposers are all inside the body and under crevices eating away.”

Body donations come from different locations in the surrounding, Meckel said. Sometimes students are the ones who get the carcasses from the donors.

She said the anthropology department is happy and grateful to receive bodies from people who donate for scientific research.

“It’s always interesting to see the progress from when we first see the bodies to the

next few weeks,” Meckel said.

“At first you think about how this person was living not too long ago, and how they too had a life just like everyone else.”

Meckel said her experience on Freeman Ranch has taught her to be grateful and humble for the ability to study and learn more about what happens to a body after death.

Once all data is collected, the bodies are covered and the tools are disinfected. The team heads back to a shed near the truck where they pack up and leave the bodies to decompose further before returning the next day.

“We all have class through-

out the day, eat, sleep and study like everyone else,” Meckel said. “Our mornings are just a bit different from the average student, but we love every second of what we do.”

On the truck ride back to the laboratory, the graduate students discuss their classes and the observed data they collected. They spend their days in class only to return the next morning to examine the bodies of the deceased.

“This is a science and we really just want everyone to appreciate what we do here,” Meckel said. “We are doing some great research out here that we really want to show the world what we find.”

LBJ, from front ment was named Claudia Taylor Johnson rather than Lady Bird Johnson because he found Mrs. Johnson actually hated her nickname.

“We made a promise to Luci Johnson that we would name the endowment after her mother,” Mihalkanin said. “We wanted to make sure that the name would be something that Mrs. Johnson would very much approve of and so we were very happy and honored that Luci agreed that the endowment would be named after her mother.”

The endowment was named after Claudia Taylor Johnson to honor the courage and devotion she had

that influenced her husband while he was in office, Garcia said.

Mihalkanin said the museum’s mission is to show how the former president’s experience at Texas State and his teachings in Cotulla affected his public policy and education career.

“He was a student here and he’s our most distinguished alum here,” Garcia said.

“We’re the only university in the state that can say a president graduated from our university. We should be proud of that and embrace that and keep the legacy going.”

SLAC, from front Robinson said working at SLAC has greatly improved her skills, although she has had to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining her own grades while simultaneously teaching others, “Honestly, tutoring helps me as much as it helps other students,” Robinson said.

“I’m able to do tests faster now, after having spent so much time teaching simple math while tutoring.”

Elijah Guerra, literature graduate student, has been a SLAC writing tutor since last spring “Being a writing tutor forced me to learn the solid rules of grammar, as well as more writing techniques,” Guerra said. “It also made me think about how exactly to structure a paper. I’ve grown from it.”

Both tutors have sometimes found it difficult to keep up with their own studies.

“It’s about keeping to a balanced schedule,” Robinson said. “Time management takes effort. Sometimes people have to lower their hours when they get too busy.

Luckily, our supervisors are willing to work with us.”

Guerra said tutoring does

not interfere with his studies and it helps that the lab is not open during finals week.

“Our supervisors are very flexible and understand that we need to focus on our own education sometimes,” Guerra said. “If you have a major project or something coming up, they can always find someone to cover for you.”

Guerra said being an employee does not exempt tutors from the benefits of SLAC, as they also frequent the lab in order to utilize the resources it provides.

“I actually receive tutoring in English here,” Robinson said. “I use the SLAC lab a couple times a year for official tutoring, and I use it to collaborate on homework with other tutors all the time.

I often tutor other tutors. I was just tutoring one of our tutors today, in Calculus III.” Robinson said SLAC harbors a strong community among the tutors.

“My favorite thing about working here is that I have a job that’s on campus and is in the discipline that I want my future to be in,” Robinson said. “I’m able to do math all day and hang out with people who appreciate math, and I don’t even have to commute

ANTONIO REYES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

anywhere.”

Guerra said memorable experiences often revolve around regular clients.

“Once you develop a relationship with your regulars, they really look up to you,” Guerra said. “It’s nice

to see them again, but it’s also nice when you never see them again because it means they understand the material.

When they succeed, you’re proud of them.”

A crucial aspect of being SLAC tutors is that ideally,

employees are supposed to work themselves out of a job, Robinson said.

“It’s exciting when students tell you that they got a better grade on a test because of your help,” said Robinson.

“I once had a nontraditional

student who I worked with almost every morning in one-on-one sessions and it was really satisfying to see her eventually get an A in that class.”

The University Star

Monday, November 30, 2015 | 3

LIFESTYLE

Mariah Simank, Lifestyle Editor @MariahSimank starlifestyle@txstate.edu

UniversityStar.com @universitystar

SCIENCE

On-campus observatory offers free stargazing for students

By Stacee Collins LIFESTYLE REPORTER @stvcee

Texas State students don’t have to travel light-years away to see the stars.

Instead, they can make the voyage to the fourth floor of the Supple Science Building, which conveniently houses an observatory on campus.

Russell Doescher, faculty director of the observatory, said the Texas State Observatory opens its doors to the public every Wednesday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Doescher said students and members of the community are invited to stargaze through the observatory’s 16inch telescope, or they can walk along the observation deck, where several smaller telescopes can be used to view the night sky.

Doescher said the science department was originally offered a choice between a planetarium and an observatory on campus.

“I liked the idea of having a real telescope gathering real light from real stars to go to real people,” Doescher said.

“So, that’s why we chose the observatory.”

Although the observatory was already built into the Supple Science Building, Doescher said it wasn’t until the early 1990s that the telescopes arrived on campus.

“We had to wait for the telescope to be able to build all the infrastructure underneath,” Doescher said. “So, 1994 is when we started that project and six months later, we had the telescope installed.”

Doescher said the infrastructure has remained sturdy for the past 20 years, but technology in the telescopes does have to be replaced from time to time. He said the most recent replacement occurred about four years ago.

Doescher said the observatory has always been open for public viewing, but the building’s Wednesday night tradition did not begin until around 1996 after his former assistant suggested they set a day.

“My assistants are the ones that actually run the big telescope,” Doescher said. “They learn more that way and they are going to, next semester, actually start doing research with the telescope.”

Tyler Long and John Wallgren, physics seniors, said they have been assistants at the observatory since the beginning of the fall semester.

Wallgren said he plans to conduct research on photometry with the large telescope next spring, where they will measure the light coming from stars and watch the changes in brightness.

“They’re measuring stars that change brightness depending on what time of year it is,” Long said. “They try to figure out why.”

Wallgren said the pair is excited to take over the research.

“Tyler and I operate the telescope, basically,” Wallgren said. “So, we’re up there

DARYL ONTIVEROS MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

in the dome showing people cool stuff out in space.”

Wallgren said the observatory welcomes nearly 30 visitors on a typical Wednesday night.

“It’s really cool to see people’s reactions whenever you show them Saturn or Jupiter,” Long said. “It’s relaxing, even if it’s super cloudy.”

Astronomy students have labs in the observatory on Mondays and Thursdays, and

special events also take place at the center throughout the week.

Doescher recalled an elementary school field trip in which all the students dressed in lab coats, took notes and recorded data.

“I had a great time,” Doescher said. “Nobody has to pay me to do that. I love that.”

Doescher said the main purpose of the observatory is serving the public by showing and teaching them about

the sky.

“It’s sharing the sky with people,” Doescher said.

“That’s what I love to do.”

Doescher said McDonald Observatory in West Texas is popular among individuals, but visitors don’t get as much hands-on or exclusive experience as they would at the Supple Science Observatory.

“I would rather (people) look through a telescope for ten minutes, then tell their remembrances of the event

and how it meant something to them,” Doescher said.

“That’s valuable. That’s something that’s worth a visit.”

Doescher said having an observatory on campus that students can easily access and learn from is pivotal.

“Here, it’s your visitation that matters the most to us,” Doescher said. “The second thing we could do is some research.”

4 | Monday, November 30, 2015

The University Star

OPINIONS

Brandon Sams, Opinions Editor @TheBrandonSams staropinion@txstate.edu

UniversityStar.com @universitystar

THE MAIN POINT

Give back this holiday season, and beyond S

preading the holiday spirit brings a smile to the heart of every Grinch this side of I-35, so why not get involved with charity work to spread some hope and joy?

Thanks to Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and the Winter Solstice, there are plenty of reasons to spread good vibes during this holiday season—or just go be a good person. It does not take mass amounts of resources or time to make another, less fortunate person’s holiday a whole lot brighter.

There are inexpensive ways to give back. Simply creating gift baskets, for those artsy Bobcats among the crowd, can go a long way. Knowing that someone put time, effort and passion into a handcrafted creation can bring tears to those with the coldest of hearts.

Those who celebrate Christmas should look into the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. It provides assistance to local families in need of a little holiday cheer.

The Angel Tree program offers gifts for children whose families do not have the privilege of disposable income. Through donors, the Salvation Army can provide the children with some semblance of a Christmas. Spread the holiday cheer, adopt an angel and provide them with a Christmas they can enjoy.

San Marcos is the

temporary home of many Bobcats. It’s only fair for privileged college attendees to find ways to give back to the community that chooses to comfort students through their growing pains.

More locally based nonprofit organizations like School Fuel help provide and package lunches to underprivileged students in San Marcos. While Thanksgiving may be over, coming together to spread the holiday cheer never goes out of season.

Serve San Marcos is a quick and easy tool for those interested in helping, but unsure of where to start. Serve San Marcos serves as a directory and intermediary between volunteers and nonprofit organizations in the Hays County area.

Another place students should think about this holiday season is the Southside Community Center, is a nonprofit organization founded to improve the conditions of those most in need in the San Marcos area.

The center has a program that allows people to adopt a family that celebrates Christmas.

There is also the option of volunteering at the local homeless shelter after the holiday season is over.

Even if the way students choose to give back is just an impromptu session of caroling at a local nursing homes, it’s all done with

AZALIE MILLER STAR ILLUSTRATOR

good intentions, and that is what truly matters. Volunteering at a local hospital, donating to a bank or simply giving a dollar to the nearest homeless person are all inexpensive ways to bring someone happiness.

Students are living out

their college dreams, so why not spread some joy and love? This holiday season, go do something selfless and help put a smile on someone’s face. They’ll never forget it. Even better, don’t stop at the holidays— spread selfless love and joy

year-round.

People are suffering every day and living in a myriad of decrepit circumstances. So remember: self-sacrifice and unity are reason for the season.

Spread that holiday cheer all year—don’t just pigeon-

hole being a good person to November and December.

Happy Holidays, and don’t forget: everyone needs a little light in their lives, every day. Go be good, Bobcats.

The Main Point is the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. Columns are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the full staff, Texas State University Student Media, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or Texas State University.

ALCOHOL

Start drinking now, life gets worse from here

Mikala Everett OPINIONS COLUMNIST @mikala_maquella

When life hands you lemons, make a lemon drop martini because it will only get worse from here.

College provides the perfect opportunity to develop a drinking problem or a drug addiction. Upon exiting college, a dubious young adult can expect the cold, hard realities of becoming a full-fledged adult to pimp slap them into submission.

To deal with the stress of a hollow job, a massive pile of debt, mounds of bills and many other forms of punishment for growing up- one can turn to alcohol to drown out sorrows or a cocktail of drugs to ease pain.

Being a person is gross and unnecessarily complicated, therefore the only solution is to kill oneself in the slowest, most liver-damage inducing way possible.

Who cares about livers

when life is steadily kicking one in the genitals?

A variety of alcoholic beverages await consumption for those who have been kicked in the gut by life. For the classy, sophisticated, several cats-owning individual looms wine. The sport-watching, genitalscratching, taste-less joke making creature can always turn to beer. And the art-making, music-listening, pierced bohemian will unceasingly have absinthe.

Just as there is a variety of liver-destroying beverages to consume that numb the pains of life, one must not forget the mind-inhibiting drugs.

The bountiful array of substances the divine creator has blessed us with range in function and consumption methods.

The drug one decides to take depends on personal choice and amount of free time. For those with little time to develop a drug addiction the old fashioned way- with a good ole’ needle in the arm in a back alley- I suggest prescription pills.

All one has to do is find the nearest “behavior child” to acquire all the medications they need.

By choosing to begin one’s addiction journey in college, that being will be ahead of the game. According to the National Council

The University Star Editor-in-Chief...........................................Kelsey Bradshaw, stareditor@txstate.edu Managing Editor.......................Imani McGarrell, starmanagingeditor@txstate.edu Letters................................................................................universitystar@txstate.edu News Editor........................................................Anna Herod, starnews@txstate.edu Sports Editor..............................................Paul Livengood, starsports@txstate.edu Lifestyle Editor.........................................Mariah Simank, starlifestyle@txstate.edu Opinions Editor..........................................Brandon Sams, staropinion@txstate.edu Multimedia Editor..............................Daryl Ontiveros, starmultimedia@txstate.edu Copy Desk Chief....................................Abby Marshall, starcopychief@txstate.edu

on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, more than 23 million people over the age of 12 are addicted to drugs and alcohol. No one attending a university should be beaten out by a 12-year old in any field— just saying.

As students, we deal with a lot of stress such as unnecessary tests, redundant finals, grating jobs and bothersome significant others. Hitting the bottle every now and then is totally understandable, because most entities at Texas State can’t handle their basic classes, much less life.

Drugs and alcohol are the adult versions of juiceboxes and recess; as soon as someone polishes off those activities they are sure to be naptime ready.

The only difference being that with drug and alcohol induced naps those darned caretakers are less sure of whether or not the person is dead.

There will be those individuals that claim that drugs and alcohol aren’t the answer to your problems but they obviously are on something much better.

Life is highly overrated and the sooner Bobcats realize that, the better off they will be.

—Mikala Everett is a marketing sophomore

DIET

It’s time to abolish red meats

Evelin Garcia OPINIONS COLUMNIST @Eveling285

The World Health Organization has concluded that everyone’s favorite pig pickings, bacon and ham, can lead to cancer.

Recently, WHO has made public its frightening findings regarding red meat. After having extensively reviewed different countries, the conclusion states that eating four strips of bacon will increase colorectal cancer risk by 18 percent. Additionally, the consumption of red meat would increase the risk of pancreatic and prostate cancer.

Scientific findings regarding any type of cancer and the nature of the disease itself are rare. Most of the mystery behind this vicious disease is still hiding in the dark pits of the unknown.

The problem arises when even after incrimi-

nating data points to red meats as a cause of cancer, the products are not taken off the market. At the very least, the government could give a hazardous warning for consumers.

The situation with red meat is a lot like the ongoing cigarette debacle.

Cigarettes have long been known to cause lung cancer, and yet they are still on the market, making profit and killing people.

The same situation will follow this new finding concerning red meat.

The profits companies collect from these cancerous products has proven to be far more valuable than human lives. The North American Meat Institute averaged a total of 25.8 billion pounds of beef and 23.2 billion pounds of pork sold in the US in 2013 alone.

The average price of a pound of bacon and ham sums up to $5.734 per pound. When 25.8 billion gets multiplied by 5.734, one can start to imagine why these companies will avoid any bad publicity that may jeopardize the numbers that are currently falling in their favor.

With research proving the product to be hazardous, the last thing company officials want is to spread the word—even if

that means leaving people oblivious of the true danger of their product. A similar situation happened with cigarettes.

Consumers became fond of the product and it soon climbed to the top of people’s demands, but the danger of using them was not mentioned.

Cigarette companies were making too much profit to risk their pool of buyers by warning consumers of the health risks caused by their product.

In 2014, around 264 billion cigarettes were purchased in the U.S., averaging a total cost of $6.28 per pack. Protecting these mass profits is exactly why companies with such a high demand and health risk do not mix well.

Warning buyers of the danger would put the companies’ profits at risk.

Even though products like red meat and cigarettes put the lives of many in danger, very little is done to educate the public.

The practice of protecting companies from losing profit needs to stop.

Money will never compare to the value of human life, and it is about time action is taken.

—Evelin Garcia is a journalism junior

601 University Drive Trinity Building, Room 101 San Marcos, TX 78666

Phone: (512) 245-3487 Fax: (512) 245-3708

Design Editor...........................................Lauren Huston, stardesign@txstate.edu Web Editor........................................................Emily Sharp, starweb@txstate.edu Account Executive............................................Hanna Katz, starad2@txstate.edu Account Executive.................................Morgan Knowles, starad4@txstate.edu Account Executive..........................Angelica M. Espinoza, starad5@txstate.edu Media Specialist.............................................Dillan Thomson, djt48@txstate.edu Advertising Coordinator...............................Kelsey Nuckolls, kjn16@txstate.edu Publications Coordinator........................................Linda Allen, la06@txstate.edu Publications Director...........................Bob Bajackson, stardirector@txstate.edu

The University Star is the student newspaper of Texas State University and is published every Monday and Thursday of the spring and fall and every other Wednesday in the summer semesters. It is distributed on campus and throughout San Marcos at 8 a.m. on publication days with a distribution of 6,000. Printing and distribution is by the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

Copyright Monday, November 30, 2015. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The University Star are the exclusive property of The University Star and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the editor in chief.

The first five issues of each edition of the paper are free. Additional copies of the paper can be purchased at 50¢ per copy.

Contact The University Star office at (512) 245-3487 to purchase additional copies.

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The University Star

Monday, November 30, 2015 | 5

SPORTS

Paul Livengood, Sports Editor @IAmLivengood starsports@txstate.edu

UniversityStar.com @universitystar

FOOTBALL

KAREE BERRY’S LOVE FOR THE GAME GOES FURTHER THAN THE FIELD

By Matt Gurevitz SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER

There are a variety of personalities on the Texas State football team. Some of the players are quiet, some are rough around the edges and some are outspoken.

Karee Berry, sophomore defensive end, has been the outspoken type his whole life. Keyon Sampson, Berry’s mother, describes him as somebody who has never met a stranger.

“He is very talkative and outgoing and I think he gets it from his grandmother,” Keyon said. “He grew up around her, and she is the same way. They both are very kind and welcoming.”

Berry is not afraid to let someone know what is on his mind, which is an attribute that got him into some trouble while attending Smithson Valley High School in Spring Branch, Texas.

In high school, Berry was kicked off his football team due to immaturity and constant backtalk to his coaches. Berry said he “felt invincible” and the discipline was a humbling moment for him.

“Being kicked off really brought me into focus on if I wanted to be a football player,” Berry said. “When I wasn’t playing football, I found myself missing it and the people I was around. I sat down one day and just decided I wanted to get back into the game.”

After Berry realized this, he went to the head coach, Larry Hill, and relayed his feelings. The coach then allowed him to rejoin the team as long as he would improve himself as a person. This was a powerful lesson by Coach Hill and helped mold Berry to become to the man he is today.

Through the situation, he developed a passion for football, and sports, which helped him decide what to do post-football.

“After I graduate, I want to go to graduate school and gain my law degree. I want to use that in order to become a sports agent,” Berry said. “I feel like I’m the kind of person that can talk and connect with a lot of people, and I like money.

I like making sure people get what they’re due and all of those things sound perfect when it comes to being a sports agent.”

Berry is working on a degree in public relations with a minor in business management in order to reach his goal. He is passionate about his education and tends to be a vocal leader in the classroom.

Before the season, Keith Needham, Berry’s United States literature professor, sent Coach Dennis Franchione a letter commending the defensive end’s ability to “lead the class in scholarly analysis of the

KAYLIN KING STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

content under study.” Berry took this class during the Summer II semester.

A letter from Texas State English professor to Coach Fran praising Karee Berry’s academic excellence.

A letter from Texas State English professor to Coach Fran praising Karee Berry’s academic excellence.

“Within a week, after beginning the course, his hand was consistently the first to be raised regardless

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of the question I asked or the idea that I submitted to them for consideration,” Needham wrote. “Mr. Berry was always ready to offer a response in the rare event that the class just wasn’t at its best; he is a catalyst who turns things around.”

Berry is enjoying his time as a Bobcat. Living near his family members, who are able to come watch him play, is a significant reason behind his decision to at-

tend Texas State.

“My family comes to every home game to cheer me on,” Berry said. “It’s a big deal for my family to come watch and support me.

They’ve always been there for me and been a big part to what I do.”

Berry will play two more seasons for Texas State, so his family will be accustomed to the 45-minute commute.

Since his high school

years, Berry’s maturity has led him to become a better vocal leader.

“He is well-spoken and a conscious thinker,” said defensive coordinator Brad Franchione. “He really thinks about what he’s going to say before he comes out with it.”

The sky is the limit for Berry, and many more lessons will be taught on his path to become a sports agent.

6 | Advertisement | Monday, November 30, 2015

The University Star

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