TUESDAY
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 26 www.UniversityStar.com
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
Lack of winter storm preparation frustrates disabled graduate student SEE PAGE 3
Opinion: Filing taxes is too complicated SEE PAGE 5
Opinion: Texas State should allow emotional support animals in classes
'Get that respect': Men's basketball looks to build off Sun Belt title SEE PAGE 8
SEE PAGE 6
UPCOMING EVENT
Kite festival soars into San Marcos By Sarah Hernandez Life and Arts Editor starlifeandarts@txstate.edu
Lovers of live music, the outdoors and craft beer will find their paradise this weekend at the Wild and Free: Kite Festival and Cave Beer Release in San Marcos. The festival is organized by Roughhouse Brewing and will celebrate its release of a new line of beers called the Underground Series, a line of cave-
aged wild ales fermented from the property's on-site cave. "We've been trying to host larger events out here that kind of entice different parts of our community," Victoria Van de Ryt, Roughhouse's event coordinator, said. "We love being family-friendly, kites seemed fun and then kind of the whole wild and free theme goes really nicely with cave ales and how those are made." Located on a 50-acre family ranch on the outskirts of San Marcos,
Roughhouse Brewing opened in January 2019 and focuses on creating three types of beers: farmhouse ales, traditional lagers and spontaneous caveaged beers. Saturday will see the release of Two and One, the third cave-aged beer from Roughhouse with a wild, sour and funky blend. According to Nazish Pasternak, one of the owners of Roughhouse Brewing, a kite festival is a perfect accompaniment to the debut of the drink.
"We spontaneously ferment this beer down in the cave. So, we'll brew a batch of beer, we'll set it out outside overnight to cool down and let whatever's in the air ... naturally inoculate the beer and then we put it in these barrels and let it ferment in the cave for a year or two," Pasternak said. "I think with the wild fermentation, we were going with a wild and free concept, and it just seems like underground and overhead kind of
SEE UPCOMING EVENT PAGE 2
FOOTBALL
NAVY VET TO BOBCAT TIGHT END VANESSA BUENTELLO, VIVIANA FAZ AND BRIANNA BENITEZ
Tyler Huff’s journey to Texas State Carson Weaver Sports Editor starsports@txstate.edu
Tyler Huff thought his football career was over after his last season at Saddleback College in 2019. It was a season that wasn’t lost on him though; he’d just played what could’ve been his last season as a college athlete alongside his younger brother on the offensive line. While that season lived up to Huff’s expectations and more, Huff was fully ready to move on from football after he received no legitimate interest from D1 football programs. After two and a half months, Huff got a call from Texas State Offensive Line Coach Brian Hamilton. “I thought I was done playing football,” Huff said. “Early signing period was already done, and I didn’t have any offers … then coach called me at the end of February [2020] … I was all over the offer.” Huff entered 2020 fall camp in the best shape of his life — competing in triathlons and training for ironman contests made Huff’s physicality and work
ethic stand out among other players. However, on the third day of fall camp, Huff tore his ACL on a non-contact injury. “It was rough,” Huff said. “I didn’t think it was possible … I felt kind of unlucky.” With the injury, Huff began to question his role on the football field. However, the discipline and positivity instilled in him by his family and his time served in the Navy not only helped carry him through the trials of his injury but throughout his life thus far. Huff was no stranger to the military growing up. His dad served in the Marines after he graduated high school and was a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for 30 years. When Huff was in middle school, his dad put the LAPD on hold and joined the Army National Guard after 9/11. His dad left his family to serve a yearlong tour in Iraq from 2007 to 2008, something Huff said was nerve-wracking. “It was pretty inspiring,” Huff said. “Having a dad be such a good provider and doing the most to
serve his country in a time of crisis … that’s where I get the inspiration from.” Although Huff has a support system from his military family, his decision to join the Navy out of high school can be attributed to a gamer he met playing Xbox Live. The gamer was in the Army and told Huff about his experiences in the military, which inspired Huff to ask his dad about his future career path. “I had questions about joining. He was the one I went through to get all my questions answered,” Huff said. “He kind of laid it out to me … he was definitely the biggest inspiration.” Growing up around the beaches of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the Navy seemed to be the clear choice for Huff. Enlisting right out of high school, Huff didn’t get to experience the freedoms of college. Instead, he learned the order-following and disciplines of boot camp. “When you get into the military and go straight to
SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 7
ENVIRONMENT
Texas State continues efforts for sustainable campus environment By Elijah Cardenas Guest Contributor With concerns of climate change and pollution on the rise, Texas State students and faculty are striving to implement eco-friendly habits on campus through involvement with environmental organizations and initiatives like composting, river cleanups and recycling. Since 2009, Bobcat Blend has been leading environmental initiatives on campus with student leadership opportunities and community involvement. The organization seeks to teach students the importance of food
waste management and composting. Through these initiatives, students gain hands-on experience by helping collect and operate Bobcat Blend’s compost facility. “Sometimes students think that they can't make an impact because they're just a student,” Bobcat Blend Faculty Advisor Tina Cade said. “But you’re at a special window of time in your life where you get to explore all of these possibilities and gain all of these experiences.” Like other sustainable efforts at Texas State, Bobcat Blend is funded through the Environmental Service Committee, a student and faculty-led committee
that seeks to provide funding for environmentally centered projects on campus. Cade was inspired to apply for a grant within the committee to help make use of local invasive species. Food waste, in particular, was the issue that sparked Cade to propose a system that would take pre-consumer food scraps that were thrown away in the process of preparing meals from dining halls and use invasive river plant species, such as the water hyacinth, as a moisture agent that would assist insects and bacteria in the composting process. When mixed with soil, the compost provides plants with necessary nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food waste is the largest single component in municipal landfills, amounting to 133 billion pounds a year. While this is harmful to the environment, it can also be costly, creating gas in the sewer system due to biological decomposition that must be dealt with. Through its composting initiative, Bobcat Blend has nearly cut in half the amount of garbage the university sends
SEE ENVIRONMENT PAGE 3