TUESDAY OCTOBER 4, 2022 VOLUME 112 ISSUE 8 www.UniversityStar.com
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
Life and Arts: Performing Arts
Life and Arts: Campus Gallery
Opinions: Transfer Portal
Sports: Wakeboarding
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ATHLETICS
Baseball begins fall practice
CAMPUS RESOURCES
By David Cuevas Sports Contributor The road to Omaha has officially begun for the Texas State baseball team as it opened fall practices for the 2023 season in September. The Bobcats are coming off the greatest season in program history, in which they achieved the most wins in a single season by Texas State baseball with a 47-14 record. For head coach Steven Trout, it feels good to return to the diamond with his squad after a long summer. “It’s awesome to get them back and get back into team practice where they start competing for jobs and start competing to find a way to get wins," Trout said. "It’s great to be out here at the yard and have my guys back and to get after it with them.” Trout, the 2021 Ron Maestri Sun Belt Coach of the Year, has been utilizing fall practice for the team to improve in the areas he felt hurt them in 2022, starting with defense. “Just from a fielding percentage number I think we were somewhere in the middle to the bottom three-quarters of the Sun Belt," Trout said. "That’s one thing we really emphasized on this fall.” Texas State’s historic 2022 season ended with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Stanford in the NCAA Regional Finals. For junior pitcher Tony Robie, the feelings he had after that loss are something he will never forget, and he believes the experience will serve as motivation for the club heading into the season. “I think a lot of it brings an edge to a certain extent because we’ve done it before," Robie said. "We’ve sustained success to a pretty extreme extent, so there’s no more of a question." For Trout, carrying the momentum the team established in 2022 into the 2023 season will be vital if the Bobcats want to make a second consecutive deep postseason run. Trout said that the extended period of success last season built confidence within his squad, and he thinks his returning players will continue to sustain that success. “You got to wake up very hungry and find a way to get better every single day," Trout said. "So far to this point, I feel like this group has done this.”
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Pawficcer Brady lays out on the steps outside Old Main, Friday, June 24, 2022, at Texas State. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SCHULZ
Meet Pawfficer Brady: TXST's first therapy K9 By Haley Velasco Assistant Life and Arts Editor From getting used to a new environment away from home, taking exams or tackling difficult courses, college life can be difficult. To ease stress, the Texas State University Police Department (UPD) has welcomed Pawfficer Brady, Texas State’s first therapy K9, to be a furry companion for students. The plan to start a therapy K9 program was led by Matthew Carmichael, the director and chief of police at UPD. Prior to joining Texas State UPD, Carmichael served on city and university levels in the roles of a police sergeant, lieutenant and chief of police. Through all of his experience, Carmichael never had any experience with a canine therapy program, but he was ready to tackle it head-on as he knew Texas State students could use a resource like Brady. Since his arrival on campus in June, Brady and his handler, Kendra Marsteller, have already made an impact. "Brady has changed us as an organization, as corny as it sounds," Carmichael said. "It’s hard to have a bad day with Brady. I think a lot of the work that Kendra does, too, is just phenomenal, because she’s working with members on
campus whether it’s students, faculty or staff who have been in crisis that are now being taken care of." After he was surrendered when he was a couple of months old in Brevard County, Florida, Brady was enrolled in the Paws & Stripes College at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to learn obedience training by selected and trained jail inmates. After completing training, Brady was selected to participate in the advanced eight-week training course to serve as a Law Enforcement and Multidiscipline Crimes Against Persons Therapy Dog. UPD filled out an application for a therapy K9 and the Paws and Stripes College matched them with Brady. Marsteller, UPD's mental health officer and Brady’s handler, traveled to Florida to bring Brady to Texas. While in Florida, she caught a glimpse of his capabilities in a shopping mall. "I saw in Florida, he walked up to two girls at the mall we were visiting," Marsteller said. "I had no inclination that they were having a bad day until I started talking to them, but he already knew and went straight to them."
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REMEMBRANCE
Veteran honors fallen brother-in-law during 500-mile running journey By Nichaela Shaheen News Editor Texas State exercise and sports science graduate student and recently retired Marine veteran Tim Barrientez honored his fallen brother-in-law who was killed in action by running 500 miles in one month. The campaign's goal is to create traction for a scholarship he and his wife founded in his brother-in-law’s name. U.S. Army Private first class (PFC) Rey David Cuervo was killed in action on Dec. 28, 2003, while serving in Iraq. He left behind family members who have made their mission to keep his name alive. Tim, Cuervo's brother-in-law, began a journey of running 500 miles in one month at the beginning of September. The campaign's goal is to match every mile ran to dollars for a scholarship that will be awarded to Port Isabel High School students in their hometown of Port Isabel, Texas. “I had some ideas and I spoke to my wife [who] is his sister, I was like, ‘you know, I'd like to create a scholarship in his
name and raise money to then turn around and give back to our hometown for the high school,' and that was the idea,” Tim said. Even though Port Isabel named a street in honor of Cuervo, the scholarship was another way to keep his legacy alive, and Tim's vision became all about the execution. The Rey David Cuervo Memorial Fund scholarship will be awarded to two Port Isabel High School students who show leadership qualities, community involvement and a fitness factor. Applicants will write a ‘thank you' essay to U.S. Army PFC Rey David Cuervo for his service and discuss what winning the scholarship would mean to them. Tim and his wife Valentina Cuervo Barrientez, Cuervo's sister, will be the ones to read the applications and ultimately decide who will receive the awards. His main concern was about bringing awareness to the scholarship in hopes of sparking interest for donations. The 500 mile journey is the idea he landed on.
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