TUESDAY May 9, 2023
VOLUME 112 ISSUE 33 www.UniversityStar.com
STATEMENT
ECONOMY
Upcoming graduation A message from President affects job market Damphousse: By Christian Martinez News Reporter
Students are looking to walk the stage this coming week for spring 2023 commencement. Many graduates have a job lined up for their future, but some do not. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in March 2023 the total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000. Nonfarm payroll measures the number of workers in the U.S. except those in farming, private households, proprietors, non-profit employees and active military. From March 2021 to March 2023, the unemployment rate fell from 6% down to 3.5%. Although, William Chittenden, associate professor of finance, said that the job market for students might be slowing down right now. “In the last month [U.S] created about 29,000 jobs, which is about half of what we've been creating every month for the past 12 months,” Chittenden said. “The good news is that we are still driving along down the highway. The bad news is that we might be taking our foot off the gas pedal a little bit.”
Texas state senior Jules Cabrera poses for graduation photos, Sunday, May 7, 2023, near the UAC arch.
PHOTO BY FELICITY GUAJARDO
SEE ECONOMY PAGE 3
Congratulations to the Texas State University graduating class of 2023! What an honor it will be to gather with thousands of you, our newest alumni, to celebrate your achievement. As graduation approaches, I hope you feel tremendous pride for what you have accomplished. Many of you overcame great odds – including a global pandemic – to make it to this milestone. I also hope you feel confident knowing you are prepared for the opportunities and challenges you will encounter as you enter the workforce or continue your studies. All of us at TXST share that confidence in you. We believe in you. During your time at TXST, you have been supported by a community of the most dedicated and talented faculty and staff I have ever met. I am grateful for the knowledge, inspiration, and care they have so generously shared with you. These gifts will serve you well. I am confident you are going to take all the lessons you have learned during your time here to make this world a better place. When you have done that, we will know we have done our jobs. You will show the world that Bobcats not only do well, but they also do good. Nothing would make me prouder as your president. Thank you for choosing TXST to be a part of your journey. On behalf of our Bobcat family, we are so proud of you. And remember: Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat! I hope TXST will always feel like home to you.
EDITORIAL
Thanks to all: Stars of Pleasant St. say sayonara By 2022-2023 Editorial Board The 2022-23 editorial board term has ended and so has a year of achievements, overhauls and laughs. It feels like we just started and it was just a few months ago that we were logging onto Zoom for our first budget meeting. Our term started during the tail end of the pandemic, separated by Zoom meetings and social distancing. Many reporters and editors had never met another member of The University Star. Despite that, it was a collective goal of the editorial board to begin in-person activities again. We talked extensively at the beginning of our term about bringing a “newsroom culture” back to The Star. Our e-board was in charge of leading the organization completely out of the pandemic, and we knew it had to start with us. When all of us met for the first time at Camp Star last August, it was blatantly obvious that we were a roomful of extremely diverse personalities. We owe our director, Laura Krantz, and administrator, Caitlin Mitchell, immense thanks for putting together a three-day bonding and learning experience that brought us closer together. Looking back, it’s amazing how quickly we all bonded. Together we sailed through team-building exercises and shared laughs over the funny memories we were making. Camp Star was our opportunity to get to know one another before embarking on a nine-month journey of spending 13 hours together every Monday to make a
newspaper. When we gathered for long production days, the guard of reservation we had at the beginning of the summer lowered little by little. We discovered each others’ personalities and how each of them fit into our team. Eventually, the newsroom became more than our workspace. It became a hangout spot where we got to know each other and made new friends as we welcomed new editors to our board. We were achieving our goal of creating a “newsroom culture.” Awkward silences were filled by a certain news editor’s projecting laugh and voice and the number of inside jokes we had only grew. Our friendships made it outside the newsroom too. Many of us consider each other lifelong friends. The memories and bonds we made will last long after our graduating seniors leave Texas State. We knew when it was time to work, however. The closeness of our friendships made doing our jobs as editors easier, especially with the new systems we put in place to streamline the production process and even out the workload on Mondays. This editorial is printed on a 14-page newspaper. Days of planning, writing and communicating go into a paper like this. Previously, our design editor would sit at the design desk for 12+ hours designing all 14 pages, which is a grueling process. Staring at a screen for more than half the day is not something we recommend.
SEE EDITORIAL PAGE 8
PHOTO BY VANESSA BUENTELLO
A photo of Texas State University Star's editorial board, Thursday, April 27, 2023, at Old Main.
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