OPINION
LIFE & ARTS
SPORTS
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TXST FAILS TO PUNISH HAZING
ART EXHIBITION SHOWCASES TXST TALENT
JUNIOR THROWER’S HISTORIC YEAR
TUESDAY
March 18, 2025 VOLUME 114 ISSUE 25
Alamito, Cibolo halls residents face unresolved electrical issues
“Texas State Housing and Residential Life, and Facilities, Planning, Design and Construction are aware of issues within Students at Alamito and Cibolo Alamito and Cibolo Halls and are actively Halls quickly began reporting numerous working with the contractor to correct maintenance issues, such as malfunctioning the issues,” the representative wrote in an outlets and recurring elevator outages, after email. fall move-in. Additionally, Vaughn Construction, the According to records obtained by The company that built the dorms, refused to Star in a public information request (PIR), comment and said in an email they were the first outlet outage was reported on Aug. instructed to direct all questions to Texas 7, with similar outages occurring during State Facilities. move-in week starting Aug. 17. According to records from the As of March 7, at least 2,580 total PIR, the cause of the electrical issues is maintenance requests were filed for malfunctioning arc fault circuit breakers Alamito and Cibolo Halls, according to the purchased from Siemens, a global PIRs. Since the start of the academic year, technology company. electrical problems made up 39% of all Kyle Estes, director of Housing requests. However, since Nov. 3, they have Facilities Services at Texas State, accounted for 63% of reported issues. MEG BOLES | ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR acknowledged the widespread breaker Construction on Alamito and Cibolo Alamito Hall sits on 102 Russel Circle, Thursday, March 6, 2025, at issues in an email obtained via the PIR. Halls, also known as Hilltop Housing, By Jacquelyn Burrer News Reporter
began on June 28, 2019. Texas State paused Texas State. Alamito Hall is apart of the Hilltop Housing which opened to construction in 2020 due to COVID-19 and students in August of 2024. health, safety and wellbeing of students, faculty resumed in May 2022. and staff but did not specify how the university is A university representative wrote in an email addressing the issues. that the university is committed to ensuring the
SEE HOUSING PAGE 2
City launches Remembering Walter Wright for lasting tool for public impact among family and friends feedback on budget By Sydney Seidel
Life & Arts Contributor
By Ryan Claycamp
Assistant News Editor
The city of San Marcos is offering an additional way for the public to engage with the city’s annual budget process. The new budget interaction opportunities come in two phases. The first phase was the Balancing Act budget prioritization tool, which closed on March 17. The second phase, which will be open from May 1 to 15, will allow residents to propose how money should be allocated.
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Walter Wright, associate professor of political science, had a stern side according to many of his students, but he was also a “teacher to all” who made everyone feel welcome. His impact made him a driving force in the legal studies department at Texas State. His students and his field remember his dedication even after he died of a heart attack on Dec. 28, 2024. The Texas Association of Mediators held a memorial service for Wright on March 3, bringing together past colleagues and students to celebrate his life and legacy.
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SYDNEY SEIDEL | LIFE AND ARTS CONTRIBUTOR
A man speaks at a podium, Monday, March 3, 2025, at the JCK Ballroom.
Inside the Capitol: House Bill 2548 Texas lawmakers seek to restrict DEI courses By Arabella Dichristina News Contributor
“Inside the Capitol” examines key bills from the 89th legislative session that impact the Texas State and San Marcos communities. The session began on Jan. 14 and ends June 2. Courses focusing on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) topics are at risk of getting restricted or banned under a new bill in Texas’ 89th legislative session. State Rep. Cody Harris, R-Austin, introduced House Bill 2548 (HB 2548) that would prohibit colleges from requiring students to complete courses that contain DEI topics. What is the bill proposing? According to HB 2548, any course required as a degree requirement or general education containing any listed topics will no longer be
mandatory. Some banned topics include: Critical theory, whiteness, gender identity and systemic racism. An exemption to HB 2548 would include DEI-focused degree plans and history courses, which will be allowed to discuss historical events related to racial hatred or discrimination. According to HB 2548, general education cannot include theories that claim the U.S. was designed to maintain inequalities. For Texas State, some classes that are at risk of being canceled if the bill becomes law are Negotiating the Color Line, Global Issues in Diversity and Gender, Sex and Power.
SOPHIA GERKE | ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITOR
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