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TUESDAY OCTOBER 18, 2022 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 10
HOMECOMING ISSUE DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
www.UniversityStar.com
SPIRIT
The Legacy of Boko: Students carry on over 100 years of tradition By Marisa Nunez, Sophie Somoza Sports Contributors
Adopted in 1919, Texas State's beloved mascot, Boko the Bobcat, has been a symbol of school pride, tradition and spirit for over 100 years. "It doesn't matter where Boko is, everyone automatically is like, ‘oh my gosh, the Boko is here,'" former Texas State mascot Blain Blanchard said. "It's just uplifting. Everyone’s got smiles on their faces when he's there. And it doesn't matter who he interacts with. It's always a good time." The search for Texas State's perfect mascot began in 1919 when it was called Southwest Texas State Normal College. Oscar Strahan, the athletic director at the time, fueled the mission to appoint a school mascot and find an athletic nickname to raise school spirit. The idea of using a bobcat came from biology department head, C. Spurgeon Smith, because of its prominence in the local area. The Texas State bobcat was not named until 1964 when Beth Greenless from Luling, Texas, won the "Name the Bobcat" contest against 100 students for her submission, "Boko." She received a $5 prize and bragging rights for winning. Today, a small team of four students carry on the legacy of Boko. The quad consists of a finance student, a nursing student and two theatre education students. Together, they do more than just share the Boko title. The group comes up with new ideas for the mascot every week, brainstorming new mannerisms, signs and dances for games along with skits and videos for Boko’s social media accounts. Although there is no written document that states that the students must keep their identities as Boko a secret, it is mascot code to do so. "I'm very honored and I'm proud to be Boko, [all the Bokos] don't want to be any other mascot," one of this year's Bokos said. “I love it because Boko is the logo incarnate, he's the symbol [of Texas State], so it's nice to have the honor to be that and to showcase my love for the school and school spirit with that costume.”
Texas State mascot, Boko, cheers on the Bobcats from the sidelines during a football game, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, at Bobcat Stadium. PHOTO BY VANESSA BUENTELLO
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UNIVERSITY
Dining halls struggle with overpopulation By Blake Leschber News Contributor
Artist Dana Robinson puts the finishing touches on one of her pieces, "Womens Work," in preparation for the opening day of her exhibit, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, at Texas State Galleries. PHOTO COURTESY OF DANA ROBINSON
Black excellence reimagined at campus galleries By Zachary Scott Life and Arts Contributor Inspired by Ebony Magazine's depictions of Black excellence, artist Dana Robinson shares her own take on Black existence with her exhibition "Just us Chickens" at Texas State Galleries. The 18-piece exhibit features a collection of collages, fabric works and new monoprints that are made using vintage media and found materials to critique idealized versions of Black
life portrayed in the popular media magazine Ebony. “It's a publication full of contradictions that I relate to and see consistently in the world,” Robinson said. “To talk about how complicated it is to exist as a Black person is important to me.” “Just us Chickens” is an idiom Robinson’s mother would say to her and her sister meaning "all of us belong here," or "the regular crowd is here."
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This fall, more freshmen are walking through The Quad on their way to dining halls than ever before as campus welcomes the largest freshman class of 7,573 new students. With this inflated group, it has put immense pressure on the dining halls to serve food timely. While the requirement for freshmen to live on campus continues, a crucial aspect of their daily lives is dining on campus, highlighting adjustments that need to be made. As inflation continues to rise across the country, corporations and businesses have been increasing the prices of their products. This sentiment is no different in buying food for Texas State according to Chin-Hong Chua, resident district manager of Chartwells at Texas State. “Almost every week food and paper prices increases,” Chua said. “With a lot of shortages, this can cause us to have to settle for different food. Sometimes we are sent chicken tenders instead of chicken breast or foam plates instead of paper and despite the fact that we don’t normally use these products, we have to adapt to these changes.” According to Chua, the budget for the amount of food bought
increases by 20% year-to-year, but as inflation has increased by 8.2% this past September, that 20% increase might start becoming more restrictive for the amount of food bought and its quality. “We have to consider inflation when buying food,” Chua said. “We have to account for how the food will be consumed and buy the amount that causes the least waste.” These are thoughts that were addressed differently not long ago due to COVID-19. Dining halls have not been as busy as they currently are for the past two years. Currently, freshmen living on campus are required to purchase a meal plan. On campus, there are two traditional dining halls: Commons and Harris; and various dining centers: LBJ Student Center, Jones Dining Center and The Den. These dining centers are spread out on campus to allow easy access for students. Some students feel the quality of these dining halls doesn’t match up to the number of students. “They run out of the popular food very quickly and then you have to sit and wait for a very long time,” Sydney Polak, a secondary theatre education freshman, said.
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