University Press February 8, 2018

Page 1

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.

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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

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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

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