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TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

100-member team spend weekend searching for student missing for months

A 100-member team resumed a search Friday for a Texas State University student who has been missing since December 13. Jason Landry was on his way home to Missouri City for Christmas break when his car crashed in Caldwell County, not far from the Texas State campus, police said. RELATED: Missouri City church provides update on search for missing Texas State studentAuthorities said his car was found along with his phone and wallet. Texas EqquSearch was involved in the search efforts in December but later pulled out. AdREAD MORE: Texas State student from Missouri City missing after car found totaled, abandonedThe Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office requested crews, including rescue K-9 units trained in detecting human remains, search for Landry for the next three days.

Dwindling food, flooded halls, unflushable toilets: Texas’ university dorms descend into chaos during winter storm

While some campuses have slowly regained power over the past 24 hours, many dorms still lack access to consistent water and food. Ad“I feel like I’m in hell, like I’m in prison,” said Texas State University freshman Nicholas Ware, who spent three days without heat and power until Wednesday evening. Texas State officials did not return a request for comment. At Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, students have been without water, which has limited their access to toilets. “People have just assumed that that's not something they need to worry about right now.”Disclosure: Facebook, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Republican Texas lawmakers reviving push to end in-state tuition for undocumented college students

Two state lawmakers want to prevent undocumented college students from being able to pay in-state tuition rates. Two freshman Republican state representatives want to stop undocumented immigrants from being able to pay in-state tuition at Texas’ public universities, they announced Friday. In 2001, Texas became the first state to allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition. In his statement, Cason called in-state tuition rates for undocumented students “handouts” from the Legislature that frustrate Texans whose property taxes are rising. AdThis is not the first time Texas GOP lawmakers have sought to repeal the 2001 law that allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition.

Texas State student from Missouri City missing after car found totaled, abandoned

Landry left from Texas State to return home for the Christmas break Sunday night. “He’s alone, he doesn’t have his phone or His wallet, and it’s cold outside,” Jason’s mother, Lisa Landry said. “Maybe he’s hurt.”Her husband, Kent Landry, is the senior pastor at the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Missouri City. The Landry family moved to Missouri City a little over a decade ago. Jason, the youngest of three siblings, is in his third year at Texas State.

Texas voters have to wear masks while voting despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s exemption, federal judge rules

Voters cast their ballots at the Performing Arts Center at Texas State University in San Marcos. Texas voters should be required to wear face masks when casting ballots during the pandemic, a federal district judge ruled Tuesday, invalidating an exemption for polling places that Gov. Greg Abbott had included in his statewide mask mandate. The argument for a mask mandate at the polls was first raised in a much broader lawsuit filed against Abbott and the Texas secretary of state in July by Mi Familia Vota, the Texas NAACP and two Texas voters. “Under these conditions, Black and Latino voters must choose between not voting or risking their lives or the lives of their loved ones to vote.

Texas State University pauses diversity training after Trump executive order threatens federal funding

Nationwide, the University of Iowa has also suspended training while reviewing the order, as well as some corporations that do business with the federal government. Prior to the order, Texas State offered year-round voluntary diversity training which includes discussions about unconscious bias and microaggressions, Texas State spokesperson Sandra Pantlik said. Texas State law professor Lynn Crossett, who has previously taken diversity training from the university, said there’s nothing controversial within the Texas State training, but the vagueness of the order creates a certain amount of risk for universities. While he said it’s a problem that some universities are canceling diversity training, students shouldn’t worry about long term effects because the order will likely be challenged. But for Benbow, at Texas State, the damage by the university has been done.

Texas State coach, accused of racist comments, resigns

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State coach Danny Kaspar has resigned three months after a former player accused him of making racist remarks. Athletic director Larry Teis announced Tuesday that he’s accepted Kaspar's resignation and that assistant coach Terrence Johnson will take over the program for the upcoming season. In June, former guard Jaylen Shead tweeted that Kaspar disparaged players with racist comments in practices. Shead transferred to Washington State last year. Texas State launched an investigation into the allegations.

Texas coronavirus hospitalizations are at a two-month low, but school reopenings pose new risks

People might think we're out of the woods, said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston. The last time Texas coronavirus hospitalizations were this low was in late June. Some Texas schools have begun in-person instruction, while many others are waiting to reopen after Labor Day or later in the fall. School leaders must weigh the public health risks of reopening against the social and developmental harm of keeping kids out of school. In Texas, about 53% of public school students are Hispanic, and about 13% are Black.

Texas State University welcomed students back in person Monday. Campus was a ghost town.

Students walked through The Quad on Monday, the first day of the fall semester at Texas State University in San Marcos. At 9:45 a.m. Monday, Texas State University looked like a ghost town. By lunchtime at Texas State, campus was still quiet. Social distancing markers at the LBJ Student Center at Texas State University in San Marcos on Monday. Disclosure: Texas State University, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Texas biggest public universities will require masks this fall. Enforcement will be a challenge.

Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneDetermined to see students return to college in the fall, some of Texas' biggest universities are requiring face masks as a safeguard against the coronavirus. Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University officials have all announced that masks will be non-negotiable next semester. But along with anti-mask sentiment, state officials are worried that young Texans are accelerating the spread of COVID-19. In Hays County, home of Texas State, people in their 20s accounted for 50.7% of all the cases last week. Disclosure: Texas State University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Texas State University staff member no longer with school after allegedly saying protesters are a bunch of monkeys

SAN MARCOS, Texas Texas State University officials confirmed Wednesday that an employee no longer works at the university after she allegedly called Black Lives Matter protesters a bunch of monkeys." In her comments, Brassell posted racial slurs and threatened to spread COVID-19 if she attends a demonstration, The University Star, Texas States school newspaper, reported. This woman who works at #txst feels comfortable enough to throw out racial slurs and threaten to spread COVID on fb. This woman who works at [Texas State] feels comfortable enough to throw out racial slurs and threaten to spread COVID on Facebook, she wrote. Texas State does not condone these posts and do not reflect Texas States values, the university said in a statement Wednesday.

The Eyes of Texas podcast: Why there's a Body Farm in San Marcos

"We get about 70 to 80 donations per year," Dr. Daniel Wescott, professor, Department of Anthropology, and director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, said. Mother Nature takes over from there: students enrolled in the Forensic Anthropology program study the corpses as they decompose. WARNING: Skeletal remains can be seen in many of the photographsPHOTOS of the Body Farm in San MarcosFull Screen 1 / 26 Skeletal remains at Freeman Center. Vultures, for instance, have the ability to reduce a recently expired corpse to its skeleton within five to six hours, according to Dr. Daniel Wescott, director, Forensic Anthropology Center, Texas State University. SUBSCRIBE NOW:Apple iTunesGoogle PlaySpotifyStitcherMore about Episode 6 of Season 1:To learn more about the Forensic Anthropology Center and why it was created, visit the Texas State University website here.