11/02/2021

Page 1

TUESDAY

November 1, 2021

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 13 www.UniversityStar.com

DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911

Austin Film Festival leaves Texas State Film students inspired

Star Snaps Photo Gallery

Opinion: Texas State Film Production should provide admission to ­Austin Film Festival

UFCU and Texas State Athletics partner to giveaway $100,000 in scholarships

SEE PAGE 3

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 7

HOUSE BILL 25

Texas bill hindering transgender student athletes’ participation sparks concern By Timia Cobb News Editor starnews@txstate.edu The Texas Senate passed House Bill 25, which restricts children's ability to participate in interscholastic athletic competitions unless they compete with children of the same biological sex. The passing of the bill has sparked a commotion of worry among the LGBTQ community and its allies for

the mental health and equal rights of transgender student athletes. The bill passed on Oct. 25, almost a year after its introduction, and intends to be a piece of legislation that supports young women who participate in K-12 athletic competitions. The bill starts with pointing out the “disparity” of participation in athletics between “students who are girls and students who are boys” and claims the bill can be a way to confront the discrimination

girls encounter in sports competitions. Zwiener is saddened that the bill State Rep. Erin Zwiener, who has passed. She explained that as represents Hays County, has protested representatives, they should be making the bill since its initiation. She believes policies that help and accept their the bill is false, stating it is attempting citizens, but instead they are doing the to solve a problem that does not exist. opposite. “It's been dressed up in this narrative “[Transgender] people exist in the about fairness and protecting girls, but world,” Zwiener said. “The choice we that narrative is just a shield from the have is whether or not to build a society truth and the truth is they're trying to make trans kids feel less safe,” Zwiener SEE HOUSE BILL 25 PAGE 5 said.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

ELECTION GUIDE 2021

Hays County General Election 2021 voting guide By Staff

The General Election (constitutional amendment and local jurisdictions) is on Nov. 2. The University Star has compiled a guide for everything you'll need to know before heading to the polls on Election Day in Hays County.

Voting locations Día de los Muertos altar celebrates passed loved ones, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, in the Student Recreation Center. PHOTO BY NATALIE RYAN

Texas State celebrates loved ones, Latinx culture with Día de los Muertos By Sarah Hernandez Life and Arts Editor starlifeandarts@txstate.edu Colorful flowers, intricate papel picado, sugar skulls and picture frames are taking up space on altars across the Texas State campus as offices celebrate Día de los Muertos to honor loved ones who have gone before them. In years past, the number of ofrendas (altars) and Día de los Muertos celebrations on campus has been small. This year, there are 18 altars on campus, from the Student Recreation Center to the annual Honors College ofrenda in Lampasas Hall. The tradition of setting up altars at Texas State began in the early 2000s when Michelle Sotolongo, Honors College advisor, and a friend set up an altar on campus as undergraduate students. Using their own decorations, they created a spot on campus to honor their loved ones and celebrate their Latinx heritage. Now, with more celebrations and ofrendas popping up on campus each year, Sotolongo, who is also the coordinator of the Lampasas Hall ofrenda, said she is happy to continue creating welcoming spaces where the campus community is strengthened. "There's always new people; there's freshmen, there's new faculty and staff, there's transfer students and so there's always a new opportunity to expose somebody to something that they never heard about before," Sotolongo said. "Especially being on a college campus ... there's a nice layer to all the opportunities of learning outside the classroom and interacting with things that you may not be familiar with. And, in turn, that can sometimes help students learn more about themselves or just spark some other kind of curiosity." Last year, the Honors College ofrenda was dedicated to Black and brown lives lost at the hands of police violence. This year, the altar honors Native children who were removed from their families and sent to residential schools and the Indigenous children whose remains were found at a school site in British Columbia,

Canada, earlier this year. By dedicating the altar each year, Sotolongo said she hopes to showcase the human and storytelling element of Día de los Muertos and share the stories of communities that are often overlooked. "I think it's a way of highlighting that we're all tied together in different ways," Sotolongo said. "There are a lot of communities that are not visible or they're, you know, under-recognized. If there's any way that we can contribute to highlighting their challenges and experiences and their needs, I know that we're always looking for ways to do that." Taking a different approach to celebrating the holiday this year is the Office of Institutional Inclusive Excellence-Student Initiatives (IIE-SI) whose faculty and staff created a virtual ofrenda. The office invited students, faculty and staff to submit photos of their loved ones to be displayed in the virtual altar. Sydney Rodriguez, a graduate assistant for IIE-SI, created a video of all the photo and name submissions for the IIE-SI website. She said she hopes the virtual format is something that happens every year so the ofrenda can be shared with anyone in the community. "The whole objective that I personally have ... is honoring those that loved us and honoring those who have made an impact or honoring those who just simply existed but [who] meant the world to us," Rodriguez said. "I want to see that extended to all of Texas State and to the San Marcos community but also turn it into maybe even an opportunity where people can share stories." The goal of Día de los Muertos celebrations on campus is for Hispanic and Latinx students to feel a sense of belonging by seeing a beloved piece of their culture celebrated at school. For Rodriguez, seeing ofrendas on campus and the initiative to create a virtual one shows the importance of making campus a safe space for students of all cultures.

SEE DIA DE LOS MUERTOS PAGE 2

All polling locations are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. San Marcos • Brookdale San Marcos North, 1720 Old Ranch Road 12 • Calvary Baptist Church, 1906 N Interstate 35 Frontage Road • Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, 211 Lee St. • Dunbar Center, 801 Martin Luther King Drive • First Baptist Church San Marcos, 325 W McCarty Lane • Hays County Government Center, 712 South Stagecoach Trail • Live Oak Health Partners Community Clinic, 401 Broadway Street #A • PromiseLand Church, 1650 Lime Kiln Road • San Marcos Fire Station #5, 100 Carlson Circle • San Marcos Housing Authority/CM Allen Homes, 820 Sturgeon Drive • San Marcos Public Library, 625 E Hopkins St. • Sinai Pentecostal Church, 208 Laredo St. • South Hays Fire Department Station 12, 8301 Ranch Road 12 • Texas State University, LBJ Student Center, 601 University Drive Kyle and Uhland • Hays County Development Service, 2171 Yarrington Road (Kyle) • Hays County Precinct 2 Office, 5458 FM2770 (Kyle) • HCISD Admin —Arnold Transportation Building, 21003 Interstate 35 Frontage Road (Kyle) • HCISD Transportation, 2385 High Road (Uhland) • Kyle City Hall, 100 W Center St. (Kyle) • Live Oak Academy High School, 4820 Jack C. Hays Traill (Kyle) • Simon Middle School (HCISD Clothes Closet), 3839 B East FM 150 (Kyle) • Tobias Elementary School, 1005 E, FM150 W (Kyle) • Wallace Middle School, 1500 W Center St. (Kyle) SEE ELECTION GUIDE 2021 PAGE 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.