2 | Tuesday, August 29, 2017
The University Star
NEWS
Shayan Faradineh News Editor @shayanfaradineh
Universitystar.com @universitystar
The University Star
FROM FRONT UNIVERSITY
Trinity Building 203 Pleasant St. San Marcos, TX 78666 (512) 245 - 3487
Kristi Wyatt, communications director for the city of San Marcos, said the power outages were related to the fallen trees and debris effecting power lines. The wet conditions and high wind speeds lead to downed trees, and the city increased the number of tree trimming crews Monday. Due to weather conditions, the first day of sorority recruitment was canceled. The recruitment registration was extended until Aug. 30. Students living on campus experienced flooding Sunday morning. Matt Flores, university spokesperson, said custodial and maintenance staff responded to the flooding concerns in residence halls. “The most affected is College Inn,” Flores said. “Our residence life staff has been responding to work orders, and crews have been working on cleaning up and trying to eliminate leaks. In some cases, we have relocated affected students to other residence hall rooms.” Ahead of landfall, Gov. Greg Abbott request President Donald Trump to la-
Editors Editor-in-Chief: Denise Cervantes, stareditor@txstate.edu Managing Editor: Bri Watkins, starcopychief@txstate.edu News Editor: Shayan Faradineh, starnews@txstate.edu Lifestyle Editor: Katie Burrell, starlifestyle@txstate.edu Opinions Editor: May Olvera, staropinion@txstate.edu Sports Editor: Lisette Lopez, starsports@txstate.edu Copy Desk Chief: Claire Abshier, starcopychief@txstate.edu Design Editor: Vivian Medina, stardesign@txstate.edu Multimedia Editor: Lara Dietrich, starmultimedia@txstate.edu Engagement Editor: John Lee, starpromo@txstate.edu
Advertising Staff Director of Media Sales: Christina Castro, christina.castro@universitystar.com Account Executive: Marisa Campbell, marisa.campbell@universitystar.com Account Executive: Carina Cruz, carina.cruz@universitystar.com Account Executive: Folee Hall folee.hall@universitystar.com Account Executive: Matthew Harrington matthew.harrington@universitystar.com Graphic Designer: Stephanie Cloyd Marketing and PR Manager: Ashley Lujan ashley.lujan@universitystar.com
Full-Time Staff Director: Laura Krantz, Lek46@txstate.edu Media Specialist: Dillan Thomson, djt48@txstate.edu Publications Coordinator: Linda Allen, la06@txstate.edu
About Us History: The University Star is the student newspaper of Texas State University and is published every Tuesday of the spring and fall and one a month 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: Copyright Tuesday, August 29, 2017. 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. Print Copies: The first five issues of each edition of the paper are free. Contact The University Star office at (512) 245-3487 to purchase additional copies. Deadlines: Letters to the Editor or any contributed articles are due on Monday the week prior to publication. Corrections: Any errors that are in the pages of The University Star and are brought to our attention will be corrected as soon as possible. Visit The Star at universitystar.com
Road closed sign knocked down by wind at Five Mile Dam Aug. 26. PHOTO BY S HAYAN FARADINEH
bel Hurricane Harvey as a major disaster declaration. The declaration would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist Texas in disaster prevention and post-storm rebuilding. The White House Press Secretary told reporters President Trump would be in Texas on Tuesday to Austin according to Austin American Statesman. Although Hurricane Harvey was
downgraded to a tropical storm, Houston has received severe flooding and rainfall. Abbott issued the full Texas National Guard in response, making the total deployment 12,000. Six fatalities have been confirmed, one in Rockport and fifteen in Houston. The effects of the storm are still unfolding.
on-campus housing, a new residence hall, Hilltop, will provide 1,025 beds. Approximately 2,000 parking spots and 200 dinning seats were presented in the plan. The Round Rock campus, an hour north of San Marcos, seeks to expand the library, add collaborative work space and build onto the Testing Center for Disability Services in the Avery Building. The expansion will ultimately result in moving majors such as physical therapy and respiratory care to the Round Rock campus. In addition to expanding the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses, the plan calls for upgrades to the Science, Technology and Advanced Research Park, located at 3055 Hunter Road. These upgrades include adding on to lab, office and work space. STAR Park is dedicated to promoting and supporting innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship. In Nov. 2015, Texas State hired SmithGroupJJR, an architecture, engineering and planning firm, to assist in the development of the master plan. Doug Kozma presented the plan to the Board of Regents prior to approval. “We believe that Texas State has a
great path forward for the next decade,” Kozma said. Every 10 years, the university president along with his or her delegation proposes a master plan to the Board of Regents. Trauth was accompanied by Dr. Eugene Bourgeois, provost; Eric Algoe, vice president for Finance and Support Services; Kenneth Pierce, vice president for Information Technology and Dr. Joanne Smith, vice president for Student Affairs. Nancy Nusbaum, associate vice president of Finance and Support Services Planning, was another contributor to the master plan. Nusbaum has been at Texas State for three decade-long master plans, and will be the director of the innovations to come. The Texas State University System supports eight institutions by providing services such as legal counsel, accounting, audit, academic program planning, contract administration, government relations and communications services. Among Texas State, the institutions include various campuses of Lamar, Sam Houston State and Sul Ross State.
FROM FRONT BOARD Eric Algoe, vice president for Finance and Support Services, was among four vice presidents that joined Trauth to the Board of Regents meeting. Algoe said the plan was built and constructed by community input. “We depended on community input from town halls, website submissions, a committee, the mayor, the city manager, staff and faculty,” Algoe said. “It’s difficult to plan for the next decade, but this plan is a good balance between practicality and vision.” The goals of the master plan include increasing academic and research capacity, enhancing student experience and strengthening pedestrian corridors. The San Marcos and Round Rock campuses will have an accumulative increase of 1.45 million square feet. Currently in greater need of space are classrooms, teaching labs, offices, study and research spaces. Over the decade, the budget for research is to expand from $47 million to $86 million. It is projected that Texas State will host 46,274 students by 2027 compared to 38,808 in 2016. The San Marcos campus will be adding housing, parking and dining spots. The plan calls for renovating Blanco, Bexar, Sterry, Lantana and Elliot hall. Burleson, Hornsby, Arnold, Smith and Butler will be demolished and rebuilt. In addition to the renovations of current
FROM FRONT EMPLOYEE “I am so honored and proud to hear about her award for the communities represented by the SDI,” Rose-Hernandez said. The Employee of the Year award is chosen from a committee within the Division of Finance and Support Services. Nancy Nusbaum, chair of the Staff Employee Recognition Committee, has helped select candidates for nearly nineteen years. The award recognition program has been in place for nearly 30 years. Every month, the selection team comes together to review nominations coming from Texas State faculty. “In Michelle Aguilar’s case, we had a lot of information about what she does outside of her job,” Nusbaum said. “Her volunteer work made an impact on the committee.” At the end of the fiscal year, Nusbaum and the committee gather up all the Employee of the Month winners and begin the nomination for Employee of the Year. “You have to be Employee of the Month to win Employee of the Year,” Nusbaum said. The committee then submits a recommendation to President Denise Trauth with an alternate selection, and a decision from the president is made. Aguilar was surprised her off-campus service was taken into consideration. “Something that stuck with me was what the president read,” Aguilar said. “She spoke about how I help with our office program here, but how I am also linked to outside organizations, helping students and people in need. When she read about what I do outside of campus, it got to me and made me feel honored. I didn’t know anybody knew what I did outside of my daily work here.” The Employee of the Year recipient receives a monetary award and a parking space for the year, wherever they would like. Aguilar credited her fellow colleagues for her award. “I could not have achieved my successes without attributing a thank you to Dr. Sherri Benn, Dr. Stella Silva, Jonnie Wilson, Jesse Silva, Robert Garcia and Jasmin Valdez,” Aguilar said.