The South Texan The Award-Winning Texas A&M University-Kingsville Student Publication
Thursday, November 14, 2019 Volume 94, Issue 11 TheSouthTexan.com
Veterans Day
Social Justice
Page 3
Page 8
TAMUK honors those who have served in the various branches of the military.
The South Texan
@thesouthtexan
Del Mar College hosts social activists to teach students the art of speaking out.
@thesouthtexan
The South Texan
Greek week filled with fun, friendship TAMUK Greek life comes together for activities and competitions ARYSSA ENRIQUEZ Campus Editor Greek pride shined bright during the week of Nov. 4 to 8. Greek Week is a time to celebrate Greek Life and highlight the talents of fraternities and sororities at the university. Students gained a platform to be expressive and meet different members in Greek Life. Throughout the week students participated in a series of events ranging from sporting events to philanthropic fundraisers. During Greek Week, unity is promoted between sororities and fraternities. A sorority will team up with a fraternity to compete in different events. Sand Volleyball, trivia night and art competitions are some of the events in which Greek Life showcases competitive character. “Greek Week allows fraternity and sorority members to gain new relationships that may have not have happened through the semester. It brings together current and newly initiated members, which allows them to celebrate our values and promotes a fun environment at the same time. It high-
Photo Courtesy of Facebook
Fraternities and sororities come together for a week of activities and philanthropy. lights the different talents and dedication our members have to our campus and the Kingsville community,” Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator
Jessica Montenegro said. Greekeek offers students an opportunity to de-stress after a long semester and create relationships amongst other
Greek members. Although the values
Greek Week continued on Page 12
Students weigh-in on tobacco ban debate Students have mixed opinions on potential ban C.R. NEAL Editor-in-Chief To be, or not to be, a smoke and tobacco free campus: that is the question TAMUK administrators posed to students on Nov. 6 at an open forum. On Oct. 1 Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) Chancellor John Sharp announced that vaping and the use of e-cigarettes will be banned on all properties across the system. That ban has already been implemented at TAMUK. Chemical Engineering major Amy Tuley sees this move to ban vapes as reactionary. “I think this whole vaping ban is a kneejerk reaction. I think it is unreasonable. I think that if you’re going to ban anything it should be cigarettes,” Tuley said. In the wake of this ban, university officials are considering modifying the existing smoke-free rule.
The current smoke-free rule prohibits smoking in all designated non-smoking areas and in all university-owned buildings. The rule permits smoking, but not vaping or the use of e-cigarettes in open-air areas at a distance of 20 feet from doors and windows on campus. The university is considering three options: no change to the rule, ban all tobacco products from all university buildings or ban all tobacco products from campus. Students had mixed feelings on the prospect of banning all tobacco products from campus. Tuley would go for dedicated smoking areas similar to the 20-foot policy already in place. “What I would prefer to a smokefree campus is that people actually adhere to that no-smoking within 20 feet of buildings, because people don’t even listen to that right now. We have tons of international students outside the EC [Engineering College] and they smoke right by the door,” Tuley said.
Photo By C.R. Neal
Karen Royal leading the student forum regarding TAMUK becoming a smoke-and tobacco-free university. They smoke right by the [no-smoking] signs, which is just like a slap in the face. It’s just very disrespectful,” Chemical Engineering major Alex Oliveira added.
Karen Royal, director of compliance and risk management, led the forum
Tobacco-free forum continued on Page 12