UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Newspaper of Lamar University
Vol. 94, No. 15 February 8, 2018
VITA helps LU students with taxes Cade Smith UP staff writer
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will be assisting LU foreign students with their taxes at the Neighborhood Resource Center and the Catholic Charities in Beaumont starting today. “VITA, sanctioned by the Internal Revenue Service, has been in existence for over 40 years and this will be our 10th year of operation in Beaumont,” Jon Kore-
jwa, Lamar VITA director of training and operations, said. “It is a free-of-cost program that provides free tax filing services to residents and non-residents with income under $54,000.” In 2017, VITA prepared 529 returns system-wide, including 65 foreign student returns. “We help students with their form 8843 to maintain their exempt status and be able to file the form 1040-NR (non-resident),” Korejwa said. “The 8843-form return will be prepared with the
student and reviewed by another VITA person, electronically filed with the IRS, then the form is mailed and refunds can be expected in eight to 10 days if direct deposit is available.” Korejwa emphasized that the service is available for all Lamar students. VITA site coordinator and LU alumnus Pavneet Singh is one of the members that assists with international student returns. “I have been with VITA since the tax filing year 2015, and I
have done between 500 to 600 tax returns for VITA,” he said. “I, along with a team of other tax preparers from VITA, help with the student taxes, mostly with international students.” Singh said that using VITA is easier for international students who struggle with filing their taxes. “Most of the students are from Asia, and since I am from there it helps the students have less of a hassle in communicating,” he said. “All of our volunteers are
Finding her voice LU classes help local woman transition Sierra Kondos UP staff writer
Charity Goodwin was on the path to becoming a cosmetologist when she began experiencing backlash from her teacher and peers because of the sound of her voice. The traumatic experience led Goodwin, who is transgender, to take matters into her own hands by taking a voice class to “feminize” her voice. Lamar University Speech and Hearing department offers a “Voices in Transition” program free to the public. The program recognizes the needs of specific and culturally diverse populations, including assessment and treatment options for transgender, transsexual and mutational falsetto people. “Voice in Transition is what we run under the voice lab and vocology clinic,” Nandhu Radhakrishnan, clinic director, said. “Voice therapy was primarily for people who suffered from any voice problem, such as vocal nodules, polyps and vocal fold paralysis. But recently in voice therapy, we not only treat patients, but also people who have normal voices, so that they can enhance their voice and meet their daily needs.” Radhakrishnan said that speech and voice are areas of transition for the transgender community when conforming to their new gender. “Unfortunately, these clients are less aware about our services and are unaware of the importance of learning to modify their voice and speech in a healthy fashion,” he said. Goodwin, a caregiver in the Beaumont area, utilizes the voice class twice a week. “I quit a Beaumont college last February (because) a student and a teacher both kept mis-gendering me and referring to me as a man,” she said. “I did not register at this school as a man or transgender woman. I registered as a woman and all of my documents reflect this. I never told any of the students I am transgender
certified with IRS certifications and trained under supervision of highly experienced and qualified team volunteers which gives competitive edge over other competitors and assurance of filing correctly.” VITA is also looking for additional volunteers who will assist with preparing student returns. “I encourage any student to join the VITA program, as it could be a resume builder, and since See TAXES, page 2
SGA seeks to push student agenda Trace Cowan UP contributor
UP photo by Sierra Kondos
Charity Goodwin applies makeup before heading to her Voice in Transition class at LU. even though I wasn’t hiding it, but this isn’t the reason I was at school.” Goodwin said she feels that her voice led to people referring to her as “he.” Transgender individuals are addressed by their respective chosen names and the pronouns that correspond to their gender identification. Being misidentified by pronoun is a trigger for emotional distress. “I understand the trigger word thing now, because this is very hard to talk about,” she said. Goodwin struggled at the college for five months before dropping out. “I was polite to these people and I kindly corrected them, but also had to raise my voice several other times,” she said. “They kept embarrassing me by calling me ‘he’ in the classroom while others just watched, stared at me, or just completely ignored the situation all together. “I reported the situation and it got worse. Corporate HR, the school director and the vice president of com-
pliance all told me there’s nothing they can do but ask these people to not misgender me. I was told it would surely happen again so I should accept this because people will do this in the work field. I haven’t had an issue like this before, and I transitioned while working in the plants and refineries. “They also said I sounded like ‘the old me,’ the guy I was before transitioning, so anyone could make that mistake. This did two things. First, it pissed me off because they don’t know what ‘the old me’ sounded like and I told them this. Second, it just made me not want to talk in class or ask questions. I tried so hard to stay, but many (people) know the struggle I had and the tears I shed trying to not let this get to me, but they kept doing it.” Goodwin said she felt out numbered in the classroom and the meetSee VOICE, page 2
Lamar University Student Government Association president, Dillon Nicholson, and vice president, Madison Marino, are pushing to improve everything from Lamar parking policy to student opportunities. Nicholson led SGA House meeting Feb. 1 to discuss the group’s goals for the semester. “We’re pushing for accountability across divisions,” Nicholson said. “We’re meeting with the dean of students to make sure that inter-fraternity counsel bylaws are legitimate and being followed. We’re making sure the Setzer (Student) Center is opening on time and that it has what the students want.” Nicholson said SGA is hoping to improve Gray Library’s hours. “Other universities have their libraries open (until) 3 a.m. — we’ve asked students and they feel the Lamar library should be similar,” he said. SGA is also trying to find solutions to student reported problems with campus parking policy. Marino said the organization takes polls to make sure the things they push for are actually wanted by students. See SGA, page 2
UP photo by Trace Cowan
Madison Marion, right, and Dillon Nicholson host an SGA meeting in the Reaud Building, Feb. 1.
Krewes ready for Mardi Gras party Vy Nguyen UP contributor
UP photo by Vy Nguyen
Kathleen Fuller, left, and Anne Marceaux of the Mardi Gras committee of Southeast Texas sort through boxes of beads.
www.facebook.com/UPLamar
SETX will kick off its 26th annual Mardi Gras celebration at 5 p.m. today. The event continues through Sunday on Procter Street in downtown Port Arthur, with attractions including parades, concerts, carnival, street entertainment, food and arts and crafts. What started out as a casual conversation between friends 27 years ago turned into an annual Mardi Gras festivity attended by thousands of SETX locals. Floyd W. Marceaux Southeast Texas Mardi Gras cofounder and treasurer, said Floyd W. Marceaux. “We have a six-block area filled with vendors coming from all over the United States including music, games and attractions this weekend,” he said. There will also be food booths
www.lamaruniversitypress.com
serving BBQ, kabobs, hamburgers, hotdogs and more. Marceaux said the carnival contains State Fair-quality rides for everyone to enjoy. The first parade will be held Friday beginning at 7 p.m. with a minimum of 20 sponsored parade krewes.-- The Saturday and Sunday parades will feature between 30-40 krewes, Marceaux said. “Sunday is a little different,” he said. “It’s called a ‘truck parade.’ This is where anyone in the community can enter their trucks and automobiles into the parade. Sometimes, we get to around 40 participants.” All Mardi Gras krewes are volunteers who create their own floats. “There’s no salary paid in Mardi Gras,” he said. There will be several concerts See MARDI GRAS, page 8
www.twitter.com/UPLamar