2 | Tuesday, October 3, 2017
The University Star
NEWS
Shayan Faradineh News Editor @shayanfaradineh
UniversityStar.com @universitystar
FROM FRONT SHOOTING Trinity Building 203 Pleasant St. San Marcos, TX 78666 (512) 245 - 3487
Editors Editor-in-Chief: Denise Cervantes, stareditor@txstate.edu Managing Editor: Bri Watkins, starmanagagingeditor@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, starsocial@txstate.edu
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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 once 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, October 3, 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.
People tend to victims outside the festival grounds. PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES
Across the boulevard, 22,000 country-music fans were unaware of the gunfire when it began. Country artist Jason Aldean and the audience did not realize what was happening at first and claimed they thought the noise was firecrackers or audio problems. The Shooter has not been linked to a terrorist organization, although ISIS is attempting to claim the devastation. Police believe that the shooter acted alone. President Donald Trump addressed the nation Monday morning, calling the mass shooting “an act of pure evil.” “In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one and it always has,” Trump said. “We call upon
the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family and our shared values.” Trump said he would be traveling to Las Vegas Oct. 4 with First Lady Melania Trump. The president will meet with law enforcement, first responders and families of the victims. Jose Banales, director of the University Police Department, encouraged all students, faculty and staff to become familiar with the standard response protocol, located on University Police’s website. “Most Texas State University police officers have received training on active shooter response by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training
Murphy said plaques and monuments that express history and preservation are important, but in appropriate spaces. “We don’t want to erase the fact that we erected these statues and that we had these ideas,” said Murphey. “That’s history in and of itself. But I think that what a lot of people have proposed is to take these statues and put them in a museum and say this is how people were interpreting history for a while. But don’t put them out there as memorials.” Kerry Traore, journalism sophomore and Hip Hop Congress member, supports Straus’ call to remove the plaque. “I believe that the plaque should be removed, even if they were going to put it back up later with accurate information,” Traore said. “I feel like if we’re going to remember history, whether it be the good or the bad, it should be accurate. Because we all know that slavery was an underlying cause of the Civil War, and the plaque was put up in a manner of disrespect towards the Civil Rights movement. It should be taken down. Why would we teach new generations the wrong information?” Julian Davis, marketing sophomore and member of Hip Hop Congress, ex-
A plaque inside the Texas Supreme Court builing. PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY CORONADO | HOUSTON CHRONICLE
pressed a similar concern to the removal of Confederate plaques and monuments around the country. “It definitely needs to be in a museum, because we aren’t trying to cover it up,” Davis said. “We need to make sure that people know that the Civil War happened, but I don’t think that it should be out in the public like we are proud of it.” Straus’ call for the plaque's removal is part of a much larger conversation about
how Americans interpret and depict history involving Confederate monuments. After the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, which began as a protest to defend a Robert E. Lee statue, Confederate monuments around Texas have quickly come down. The University of Texas at Austin has removed three Confederate monuments, and a Robert E. Lee monument has been removed from Turtle Creek in Dallas.
FROM FRONT IMMIGRATION Even when organizations for undocumented immigrants like the Student Community of Progressive Empowerment try to assist the undocumented community, they struggle to put on events like DACA clinics because of the lack of immigration attorneys and immigration-related resources in San Marcos. Yunuen Alvarado, journalism sophomore, serves as SCOPE’s president. Alvardo said the city has a lack of resources for this community. “It’s embarrassing to have to ask people to come to help when San Marcos has nothing,” Alvarado said. “This attorney would serve all students, just like the other attorneys. We all have questions. Student Government serves all students
regardless of status.” In response to the resolution, Shivers and one member from the public proposed more funding go towards the international office to support the work it does for students instead of hiring an immigration attorney. Molina defended his piece, stating the immigration attorney would function using the same model as the attorney for students and the resource could be utilized by all students on campus. Prior to this legislation proposal, if a student had immigration status-related questions and turned to the Office of the Attorney for Students, they would be redirected to an immigration attorney in the Austin area. An F-1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa in-
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ALERRT Center here at Texas State, and we have also jointly trained with our local law enforcement partners and emergency responders and have their resources available should the need arise,” Banales said. “The ALERRT Center at Texas State University was created in 2002 as a partnership between Texas State University, the San Marcos Texas Police Department and the Hays County, Texas Sheriff ’s Office to address the need for active shooter response training for first responders.
Jacqueline Merritt, Student Body Vice President, and Connor Clegg, Student Body President, listen attentively Oct. 2 as a student addresses his concerns at a student government meeting. PHOTO BY LARA DIETRICH | MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
ternational students must file to attend their respective institutions. Students must file F-1s on their own, but if they do it wrong, their visa will likely be denied. F-1 visas have been compared to the FAFSA of immigration. “If we’re not offering these resources or services to help graduate them (undocumented or international students), there’s obviously a gap in services,” Molina said. “Bringing in these international resources, faculty and students will help us become more of a Hispanic Serving Institution, help our students and help take us to the next level like Texas A&M and The University of Texas at Austin.” Eli Miller, criminal justice junior, sponsored the legislation and criticized the body for not representing 35 percent of the university. “We pride ourselves on being a Hispanic-Serving Institution; now it’s time to walk the walk,” Miller said. At the end of the meeting, a group of students came in to protest the vote’s result. They shouted at the body and called for Student Government to better represent its constituency. The following morning, on Sept. 26, Clegg released a letter to students concerning the legislation and chartered the Student Government Subcommittee on Serving International and Immigrant Students. “I will be chartering the Student Government Subcommittee on Serving International and Immigrant Students, which will be tasked with the responsibility of working together towards a practical and tangible solution to the concerns we all share,” Clegg said.