DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911 @universitystar | universitystar.com
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
TEXTBOOK
Volume 107, Issue 15
FIRE
Community supports victim of house fire By Bianca Beronio News Reporter
“We have had not only students, but faculty ask how they can help advocate for open-source textbooks within their departments,” Clegg said. “Maybe not within my term, but within the year we will see Texas State make school more affordable for a lot of people by cutting the cost of textbooks,” Clegg said the English department had already done the work of creating an open-source book which would be used by the introductory writing classes that, based on communications between Student Government and the English department. The department would ideally implement the book in the fall semester of 2018.
Days before ringing in the New Year, a house in San Marcos with two adults and four animals went up in flames, burning all possessions and leaving the family without a place to stay. Since the incident, the community has rallied around the victim, raising more than $6,000 in 12 days. Chrissy Stewart was away at work when the home she shared with her mother and pets since 2013 began to burn. Stewart had been working on the evening of Dec. 29, when her dogs quickly alerted her mother to the fire, saving all of their lives. Stewart, her mother and the dogs were all safe, however, two of Stewart's cats went missing. “The fire inspector said the fire started in my bedroom, in the heating ductwork,” Stewart said. “My theory is that the ductwork hadn't been cleaned since before the flood and something that was in there got really hot and caught on fire.” Firemen put out the fire before it spreads to neighboring houses, but the damage had left much of the possessions ruined and unrecoverable. Janice Smith O’Brien, a friend of Stewart, created a GoFundMe account to support Stewart and her mother. “Chrissy has been through so much in the last few years,” O’Brien stated. “She has survived a very serious lifethreatening health emergency which left her with unimaginable medical bills. Following this she lost a lot of her possessions when the San Marcos floods of 2015 flooded her home, now she has lost everything she owned.” Due to the health emergency, Stewart was forced to withdraw from the radiation therapy program at Texas State in the Spring 2014 semester.
SEE TEXTBOOK PAGE 2
SEE FIRE PAGE 2
Students visit the Texas State University Bookstore on Jan. 15 to purchase books and access codes in preparation for the upcoming semester. PHOTO BY VICTOR RODRIGUEZ
Free textbooks initiative aims for state legislature By Jakob Rodriguez News Reporter Last semester, Student Government launched an initiative to bring Open Education Resources to Texas State. Initially scheduled to be implemented spring 2018, the initiative now joins an advocacy group as an agenda for the next state legislative session. OERs, such as textbooks, study guides, homework and other academic resources, are defined as freely accessible, openly licensed text, media and other digital assets that are utilized for classroom, homework, research and lecture purposes. The initiative was brought before Student Government on first reading, Oct. 9. Since then, Student Government has
worked alongside other student governments in the Texas Student Government Coalition, an advocacy group comprised of 25 Student Governments and represents over 600,000 students. Texas State Student Government plans to advocate for open-source textbooks during the 86th Texas legislative session. At the coalition’s summit on Nov. 18, representatives from Texas State’s Student Government listed OER programs as their primary focus and managed to get onto the coalition’s fouritem agenda. The agenda for the 2019 legislative session. Student Body President Connor Clegg said working on this piece of legislation is different than working on other campus issues.
CABINET
COMMUNITY
New additions to the presidents cabinet
San Marcos community marches for MLK Day
By Sandra Sadek News Reporter Underway during the break, the President's Cabinet welcomed two new members to its body. The positions of special assistant and chief diversity officer have new representatives for the spring 2018 semester. Lisa Lloyd is the new special assistant to the president, a position that provides senior-level support to presidential activities. Lloyd earned her Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science from Texas State, and her Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. Lloyd joined the university's faculty in 1998 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance. She was promoted to professor in 2014 before serving as Assistant Dean and twice as Associate Dean to the College of Education between 2006 and 2017. "I want to serve Texas State," Lloyd said. "I want to help in any way that I can to advance its strategic initiatives. I want to help President Trauth create an environment that maximizes
human potential. I want to help her continue to build a culture that supports the health and wellness of all members of our university community, one that also cultivates compassion and respect for all." As special assistant, Lloyd's job duties fall within five major areas, such as the State Legislature, the Texas State University System, the Department of Athletics, the Office of Equity and Access and the President’s Cabinet. Her role is to gather data and other relevant information, organize events, review documents, prepare reports and serve as a liaison between the president and individuals in these areas. "I believe that the opportunities offered to me by and through Texas State, first as a student, and then as a faculty member, interim chair, associate dean, presidential fellow and codirector of Total Wellness, have allowed me to broaden my knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to also serve President Trauth in an advisory capacity," Lloyd said.
SEE CABINET PAGE 2
A wreath was presented at the LBJ MLK Crossroads memorial, Jan. 15. PHOTO BY SHAYAN FARADINEH
By Shayan Faradineh News Editor As celebrations continue across the nation, The Dunbar Heritage Association hosted the march with events praising the voice and dream of Martin Luther King Jr. The holiday celebrates the 89th birthday of the historic civil rights leader. Starting Monday’s events, the history of MLK’s legacy was read and celebrated at the LBJ MLK Crossroads Memorial. The memorial honors the
historic efforts of President Lyndon Baines Johnson and King, in forging Civil Rights legislation. From there, pastors, elected officials and residents then marched from the corner of LBJ Drive and MLK Drive to the Greater Bethel Baptist Church. Behind a banner, and in full solidarity, the Phi Psi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority lead the march to the church.
SEE COMMUNITY PAGE 2