TUESDAY June 4, 2024 VOLUME 114 ISSUE 1 www.UniversityStar.com
Orientation Issue A new beginning: incoming students on choosing TXST
New program helps h students wit e f i l c i m e d a c a Phillips
By Carlene Ottah Life and Arts Editor
Whether it is the classes, people or education, Texas State has multiple elements that contribute By James orter to its current News Rep ed n latform desig igateTXST, a p r incoming and av N ed ch n u la Texas State ademic management fo ac to streamline ts. ents en d incoming stude for u r st fo 28 l ri current p A ed on ll releas The app launchplans for an additional fu te ta e and Texas S ts on Aug. 5. ore as "Navigat current studen the App and Google Play St eate to-do lists, Available on p enables students to cr appointments ap Student," the with advising centers, makeing to Associate e communicat ersonalized guidance, accord l Preston. and receive p t for Student Success Michae Vice Presiden 3 ATION PAGE SEE ORIENT NG SA GRAPHICS BY
student population. These factors may matter more to newer students who have yet to decide where to go for college or to explore much of the campus. Three incoming students shared their thoughts on how they came across Texas State and what made it their next stop in their educational journeys.
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RAH MANNI
Presidential candidates refuse TXST debate By Lucciana Choueiry News Editor The first of three presidential debates planned at Texas State on Sept. 16 may no longer take place. On Nov. 20, 2023, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced Texas State’s San Marcos
campus as the first host site for the 2024 presidential debates. However, on May 15 the Biden administration sent a letter to CPD refusing its debates. “The purpose of this letter is to provide notice that the President will not be participating in CPD’s announced debates in 2024 and plans to participate in debates hosted by news organizations,” the letter from the Biden
administration stated. Instead, on May 15 CNN announced Biden and Trump will debate on June 27 in its Atlanta studios, and ABC News announced the candidates will also debate on Sept. 10 in New York. However, Texas State said it is working with CPD to mitigate the changes.
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Hays County inmate speaks out on poor medical conditions By Ryan Claycamp Senior News Reporter
his screws to shift. Rodriguez said several weeks after his second injury, Suniga was taken to see a doctor who said a second surgery was necessary. The surgeon was willing to do the surgery but never heard anything from the jail about scheduling it after the initial appointment, Rodriguez said. "As far as I know, one of the guards told [Suniga] 'Well they said that the doctor that was going to do your surgery was too expensive'," Rodriguez said. "Nobody was answering me, so I ended up calling the doctors myself. [They said] 'We're all waiting for [Suniga] to come [for the surgery] we haven't heard anything.'" Rodriguez said after several months Suniga was taken to another doctor for a second opinion. The second doctor said due to the long delay between Suniga's screws shifting and seeking treatment, surgery could result in a bone infection and eventually amputation of his foot. Suniga and Rodriguez reported other issues, such as Suniga recieving insulin injections in the dark, getting the wrong medications and grievance complaint forms vanishing from Suniga's tablet. "[The nurses] can't see anything at night. They have to flash the light because there is no light in the cell," Rodriguez said. "They use a blue light flashlight and they'll just eyeball his insulin."
More than a year after inmates and advocates previously spoke out about poor conditions in the jail in 2023, inmates are reporting no improvement. Inmate Mark Suniga, who is currently detained pretrial on a charge of indecency with a child, is facing the possible amputation of a foot due to what he claims is medical neglect from the Hays County Jail staff. "[The jail] never addressed the problem or tried to resolve it at all. They just ignored me and closed my [grievance] tickets," Suniga said. Suniga was arrested on March 17, 2023. According to Suniga's fiancée Belinda Rodriguez, Suniga has diabetes-related nerve damage and broke his foot three days after his arrest when trying to get off his bunk. "He asked not to be put on the top bunk because he already had to amputate his toes," Rodriguez said. According to Rodriguez, jail medical staff initially told Suniga his foot was fine, only to later have pieces of his bone pierce through his skin. Suniga was then rushed to the hospital for surgery and had screws placed in his foot. After the surgery, Suniga was placed in a medical cell. Rodriguez said the cell had no light, which made Suniga trip in the middle of the night, causing SEE JAIL PAGE 2
INFOGRAPHIC BY SOPHIE PICKERRELL
TXST impacted by possible presidental debate cancellation
GRAPHICS BY SARAH MANNING
By Editorial Board Texas State may no longer host the first presidential debate on Sept. 16. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have refused to participate in any debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which could potentially eliminate all college campuses as host sites in 2024. The Sept. 16 debate on campus would mark the first presidential debate to take place in Texas. A state that is at the forefront of political discourse on topics such as abortion rights
and marijuana laws. A state that only a year ago tried to prohibit polling locations on college campuses with HB 2390. A state where at least 50 students were arrested on college campuses for pro-Palestine protesting. The decision could limit voter outreach, reduce Texas State students from getting as involved in the election and disrupt planned education opportunities. CPD is a non-profit and non-partisan organization that hosts presidential and vice-presidential debates every four years since 1988, specifically to ensure that such debates reliably take place and reach the widest television, radio and streaming audience.”
MAIN POINT
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