TUESDAY
November 16, 2021 VOLUME 111 ISSUE 15 www.UniversityStar.com
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
H.O.M.E Center seeks assistance to aid homeless community
Students overcome obstacles in Texas State's first Korean translated play
Opinion: Texas State Men’s basketball suffers second loss of needs more hybrid the weekend classes
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VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball enters Sun Belt Tournament on 12-match winning streak By Sumit Nagar Sport Repoter Texas State volleyball grabbed its 12th-straight victory as it defeated the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 3-0 (2624, 25-8, 25-20) on Nov. 12 and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-14, 25-20) on Nov. 13. As they enter the Sun Belt Tournament from Nov. 18-21, the Bobcats clinched the first seed in the conference’s west
division. The Warhawks (5-26 overall, 1-15 Sun Belt) came into the contest sporting a 13-match losing streak. One of those losses was a 3-0 (25-11, 25-7, 25-15) defeat to the Bobcats on Oct. 1. Texas State went ahead early in the first set with a 5-1 lead, highlighted by two kills from senior outside hitter Kenedi Rutherford. The Warhawks put up a quick 6-2 run to tie the set 7-7. Both teams continued to trade blows
before the Bobcats went on a 5-1 run later in the set, taking a 16-12 lead. The run was highlighted by another pair of kills from Rutherford and a kill and a block assist from senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott. Down 19-15 later in the set, the Warhawks launched a 6-1 run to finally take the lead 21-20, forcing a Texas State timeout. Three kills by senior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald put the Bobcats up 23-22.
ULM scored two points forcing set point at 24-23, but Texas State scored three straight to win the first set 26-24. Fitzgerald and Rutherford combined for 12 kills in the set. After a difficult first set, the Bobcats took over the second set to win 258. Where Rutherford and Fitzgerald took over in the first set, the pair were joined by junior outside hitter Caitlan
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DANCE
AUSTIN SYNAGOGUE
BFA seniors bid farewell to Texas State with choreographed routines By Marisa Nunez Life and Arts Contributor
Austin Fire Department on the scene of the fire on Oct. 31, 2021, at Congregation Beth Israel. Investigators say the fire was allegedly set by Franklin Barrett Sechriest, an 18-year-old criminal justice freshman at Texas State. PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Texas State student faces federal charges after allegedly setting fire to Austin synagogue By Staff Trigger warning: This article features discussion of anti-Semitic acts. A Texas State student was federally charged with arson after allegedly setting an intentional fire at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin, according to U.S. District Court records. Austin Fire Department Arson investigators deemed the fire was intentionally set around 9 p.m. on Oct. 31. Franklin Barrett Sechriest, the 18-year-old charged with the crime, is a criminal justice freshman at Texas State. The FBI was authorized to search and seizure Sechriest's San Marcos residence and vehicle on Nov. 10. The report states investigators found a credit card with the same account number as a card used at a sporting goods store in Buda, Texas to purchase a five-gallon VP Racing Fuel utility jug. After searching the vehicle, investigators say they recovered three glass bottles, three bottles of lighter fluid, a lighter and an orange stormproof match case with matches. Investigators also found
three anti-Semitic stickers in the vehicle. Sechriest's journal was also found with a statement “I set a synagogue on fire” under an entry dated Oct. 31, 2021. Investigators identified burn patterns consistent with the use of a liquid accelerant. Surveillance footage overlooking the synagogue's administration office reveals Sechriest wearing a face covering and carrying a container similar to a five-gallon VP Racing Fuel utility jug and a roll of toilet paper, according to court records. That same Halloween weekend, residents throughout Hays County reported receiving anti-Semitic letters in plastic bags with pebbles. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra issued a series of tweets condemning the letters and said the behavior was not acceptable. In a statement to The University Star, Texas State said it will continue to assist the FBI and Austin Fire Department in the ongoing investigation involving Sechriest. "Our university decries this hateful act of bigotry and violence and all the anti-Semitic events perpetrated recently in Austin, San Antonio, and San Marcos. The
Texas State University community stands in solidarity with our Jewish students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members who have been impacted," Texas State said in its statement. Investigators say the fire caused $25,000 worth of damages to the synagogue. The fire destroyed the synagogue's historic doors and caused damage to the building's exterior along with its stained-glass windows. No one was injured from the fire. In a public statement, Congregation Beth Israel Senior Rabbi Steve Folberg said the synagogue is grateful to the Austin Fire Department, Austin Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for investigating the incident. “It gives us some sense of relief to learn of this arrest, but we are staying vigilant. Across Central Texas and beyond, we are seeing a spike in attacks against Jews," Folberg said. "We denounce all acts of bigotry and violence, especially those motivated by blind hatred of any of the proud and distinctive communities that enrich our civic life. We will remain
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As their final year at Texas State comes to a close, senior dance, performance and choreography students choreographed their own piece one last time for the annual BFA performance and choreography showcase. The showcase, "The State of Human Affairs," ran from Nov. 11-14 at Evans Auditorium. Seniors in the Division of Dance were assigned to create their own topic-based piece and exhibit a sense of their own individuality for the showcase. With freedom of artistic ability, each choreographer chose a different but important topic to base their performance on that showcased all the students have learned throughout their time at Texas State. The topics selected by each choreographer were strung into the core of their dances to paint a bigger picture for the audience and show the severity of the chosen subject. Jessica Campbell, a dance performance and choreography senior, tied in her Jewish heritage to formulate a piece based on the Holocaust that relates to society today. "The purpose of my piece at the end of the day is to bring awareness. Awareness to trauma, awareness to grief and loss and inevitably trauma and events that happened in the past," Campbell said. "My piece is kind of bringing acknowledgment to a historical event that is still present today. And [it] kind of shows patterns, whether it's with racism, whether it's being outcast [or] isolated because you're a minority." Campbell did extensive research on the Holocaust to provide the most accurate information in the routine. She not only wanted to show the past and its cruelty but display how the topic is still a serious issue. Every performance in the showcase has a piece of the choreographer's identity embedded into the topic. Ilse Mascorro, a dance performance and choreography senior, wanted to do her piece on an issue she related to. Her piece focused on femicides in Mexico. "What I want to convey to the audience essentially is awareness to femicides in Mexico and the want to learn [and] the want to know if femicides also happen in [the audience members'] hometown, even if it is not in Mexico, even if it is in the U.S.," Mascorro said. Mascorro utilized Folklorico in her piece, a traditional, strict and precise Mexican style of dance. In her piece, however, she purposely choreographed her dancers to break the rules of the style as a symbol of disrespect. She did this as a rebellion against the stereotype in Mexico that women are lesser than men. The showcase also featured recorded performances. Samantha Gross, a dance performance and choreography senior, decided on a multimedia performance rather than a live performance to challenge herself. Her process was much different from the choreographers that decided on a live performance. “This is my BFA. I want to challenge myself. I can make a stage piece in my sleep, so I decided to make a video dance,” Gross said. “It’s been very interesting doing this new process learning how to make a screen dance successfully with so many moving parts. Like, I had to order lighting, and make sure that I had the right software for me to edit and picking locations and gathering my dancers to go film and scouting locations for
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