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UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Newspaper of Lamar University Vol. 94, No. 22 April 19, 2018
Wind damages campus buildings Cardinal View shifts to SSC as result of power outage Strong early morning winds, Saturday, caused building damage, and the resulting power outage forced the scheduled Cardinal View recruitment event to move to the Setzer Student Center. The past two years have been a rollercoaster of extreme weather for the Lamar University campus. Hurricane Harvey hit in late August causing extreme flooding and damage all across the Golden Triangle, and a hard freeze struck Beaumont and surrounding areas in early January. The National Weather Service reported that Saturday’s damage was caused by 100 mph winds that touched down on campus around 4 a.m. The police department and post office received the most damage with a torn roof. “The police department is back to being fully operational,” Brian
UP photo by Hannah LeTulle
A construction worker inspects the damage done to the LU police department building after harsh 100 mph winds tore through the roof and office, early Saturday morning. Sattler, director of public relations, said. “In terms of police force, they are back to 24/7 status. The dispatch is still working
International Cultural Fest set for Saturday Vy Nguyen UP staff writer
Lamar University will host the sixth-annual International Cultural Festival, Saturday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Montagne Center. “The International Cultural Festival has been held every year, where students from different countries perform musical acts, share food from their home country and showcase items that are part of their culture,” Harsh Patel, international student council president, said. This festival is organized by the office of international students program and services, the international student council, and the division of global diversity, inclusion and intercultural affairs. Mustapha Jourdini, the director of international student programs and services, said that the event aims to represent and celebrate diversity at a global scale here on campus. “The festival is perhaps the best opportunity to meet, and get to learn about and from, people of different cultures, races, languages and faiths,” he said. “Exposure to these diSee INTERNATIONAL page 2
and operational, and the emergency line is working.” The new building will be located in the old Human Re-
sources building at Rolfe Christopher and Jim Gilligan Way across from the baseball field. Sattler said they were lucky to have had
an extra empty building to utilize. “The PD are working hard to
See DAMAGE, page 3
FACT OR FICTION? ‘WACO’ MINISERIES ACCURATELY PORTRAYS SIEGE EVENTS Editor’s note: This is the third in a fourpart series about the shootout between government forces and members of the Branch Davidian cult in Waco that occurred 25 years ago. Shelby Strickland UP editor
Twenty-five years ago the Branch Davidians were bombarded at their home in Mount Carmel by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who performed a raid based on minor accusations (not having a $25 license to sell guns). Rather than approaching David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians, and ar-
Taylor Kitsch plays David Koresh in the miniseries, “Waco.”
resting him for the charges, Mount Carmel was caught in a crossfire leaving 76 people dead and devastation for years
to follow. Since the Waco Siege, there have been contradicting accounts of what actually happened in 1993.
Even under-oath testimonies from both the plaintiff and defendant were not in alignment with one another. Movies have been made in an effort to portray the event’s devastation including “Waco: A New Revelation,” “Waco: The Rules of Engagement,” “Ambush in Waco: In the Line of Fire” and, most recently, a miniseries called “Waco,” which is based on two books: “A Survivor’s Story,” by Branch Davidian David Thobodeau, and “Stalling For Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator,” by Gary Noesner. The miniseries is a detailed account of those who were most intimately involved. In the past two issues of the University Press, Stuart Wright, Lamar University chair of the depart ment of sociology, social work and criminal justice, shared the lead up to the siege and what happened during the 51-day raid. The storyline of the See WACO, page 2
Renovated and Improved Setzer Student Center reopens after revamp
UP photo by Hannah LeTulle
The ribbon cutting at the opening ceremony of the newly renovated Setzer Student Center was conducted by, from left, SGA President Dillon Nicholson; LU President Kenneth Evans; Jean Setzer; Vicki McNeil, Vice President of student engagement; Bill Scott, local regent and TSUS vice-chairman; and Brian McCall, Texas State University System Chancellor.
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Hundreds of Lamar University students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members and dignitaries from across the state and beyond gathered under clear skies, April 12 to celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Setzer Student Center, the culmination of an 18-month project that took the facility from dated to stateof-the-art. Described as the “students’ living room” on campus, the new facility boasts new meeting spaces, updated access and technology, dining and shopping options and many outdoor improvements. Fol-
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lowing a ribbon cutting, attendees streamed into the building for a first look at what had been hidden behind construction fencing for many months. “The project has transformed the look, feel and function of both the Setzer Student Center and the campus Quadrangle, the picturesque heart of campus,” said Terry Mena, associate vice president of student engagement and dean of students. Joining in official remarks before a ribbon cutting were Texas
See SETZER, page 5
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