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THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2020 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 26
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DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
OPINION: COVID-19 COVID-19 exposes a dysfunctional outbreak challenges American system Texas State art community’s success
OPINION: COVID-19 is also a subconscious epidemic
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NEWS
COVID-19 UPDATE AS OF APRIL 8, 2020:
SAN MARCOS
HAYS COUNTY
TOTAL CASES
TOTAL CASES
16
77
LIFE & ARTS
Local animal shelter leans on community support By Brianna Benitez Assistant Life & Arts Editor Puppies, kittens, dogs and cats are feeling the love as the local community steps in to foster and adopt animals in response to the public closure of San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
San Marcos citizens stand outside the Council Chamber with signs advocating for a new cite and release ordinance Tuesday, March 3, 2020, and the City Council meeting at City Hall. PHOTO BY REBECCA HARRELL
City council passes cite-and-release ordinance during first reading, now pending second vote By Gabriella Ybarra News Reporter The San Marcos City Council passed an ordinance encouraging the use of cite-and-release during its first reading on Tuesday, April 7, with four members voting in favor and three opposing it. The reform will need to be voted on twice in two separate city council meetings. If passed during its second reading, it will be the first cite-andrelease ordinance if its kind in the state of Texas. The ordinance, originally proposed by local advocacy group Mano Amiga, seeks to guide the San Marcos Police
Department officers’ discretion, allowing them to issue citations for class C misdemeanors and some cases of class A and class B misdemeanors instead of making an arrest. Mayor Jane Hughson and council members Ed Mihalkanin and Saul Gonzales voted in opposition of the ordinance, citing concerns over some of the qualifying misdemeanors for cite-and-release, specifically criminal mischief, graffiti, theft of property and theft of services, as all of them involve damage to citizens or their property. Hughson, Mihalkinin and Gonzales all agreed on the need for increased use of cite-and-release but said they would prefer a resolution, not an ordinance.
“I would fully support a resolution that says to our police department that we want them to use cite-andrelease as much as they can, leaving them with that discretion to make the determination, but as much as I would like to see cite-and-release, I will vote against this particular ordinance,” Hughson said. In a 4-3 vote, the council did agree to remove the word “only” in the ordinance where it lists specific circumstances in which an officer can make an arrest for a cite-eligible offense, as a majority of the council believed it was too limited of officer discretion. CONTINUE READING ONLINE
NEWS
Student Government president vetoes first legislation By Gabriella Ybarra News Reporter Student Government President Corey Benbow vetoed the Department of Freshman Leadership Act, marking the first veto in his term two weeks before the new administration begins. The bill, which is to be paired with the newly ratified Student Government constitution, outlines the policies and procedures of the Department of Freshman Council. According to Benbow, the act gives the Senate too much oversight into Freshman Council. He said it is the job of the freshman leadership director and Senators who play an active role in the council to monitor the freshman government body.
"IT IS MY OPINION, THE SENATE’S POWERS ARE BROADLY AND PROFOUNDLY ESTABLISHED IN THE CONSTITUTION." -COREY BENBOW,
STUDENT GOVERNMENT PRESIDENT
“It is my opinion, the Senate’s powers are broadly and profoundly established in the constitution, and the Senate need not have any additional oversight of programs within the Department of Freshman Leadership,” Benbow wrote in a letter released April 3. In a weekly virtual Student Government meeting April 6, Benbow reiterated his previous statement, adding his concerns over an aspect of the legislation which states only the president has the ability to remove members of Freshman Council. Benbow pointed out that under the constitution, Freshman Council is a program under the Department of Freshman Leadership and not another branch of Student Government. Despite the act requiring Freshman Council members to be sworn in by the Senate as if they were members of Student Government, it would not grant them the same due process procedures as senate members in the event they were to be removed. Instead, Freshman Council members could only be removed by the president. “It makes no sense to me that (Freshman Council members) would need to be confirmed by the senate and then could just be removed by the president for any reason but the logic behind having them confirmed by the Senate is that they are whole members of Student Government,” Benbow said. Benbow said the act is another way for Student Government to be less inclusive and place unnecessary
Student Government President Corey Benbow made the first veto of his term as president just two weeks before his administration is set to leave office. PHOTOS BY KATELYN LESTER
restrictions on first-year students interested in participating in Freshman Council. Senate members have since released a resolution to override Benbow’s veto. If passed, the resolution will be forwarded to the Dean of Students for next steps. Student Government meetings, now being held via Zoom, are open to the public and are held every Monday at 7 p.m. The meeting agenda and resolutions can be found on the Student Government website and the Zoom meeting ID is posted to the organization’s Twitter account.
San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter foster dog Ella cuddling alongside Christina Manley's resident dog Franklin inside Manley's home. Manley has been fostering Ella since Friday, March 27 and said Ella and Franklin get along well. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTINA MANLEY
Once the shelter closed due to COVID-19, the demand for shelter space increased as adoption and foster rates declined. The shelter took their crisis online and asked for the public’s assistance via social media and on the City of San Marcos’ website. Jeanne Saadi, animal services manager, said the community’s response to the shelter’s need for adoption and foster has been fantastic. She said the shelter continues to receive requests from individuals interested in adopting or fostering an animal. “We now have more open kennels in the shelter than we have occupied kennels,” Saadi said. “I think this is the first time in history that that has ever happened.” In total, Saadi said the shelter can hold up to 54 cat and 75 dog kennels. There are currently 30 dogs and 35 cats available for adoption or foster as of Monday, March 30. Saadi said the shelter is expecting an increase in kittens as there are multiple pregnant cats at the shelter. The shelter was already at full capacity when the COVID-19 outbreak began. The shelter responded to the overflow by pausing the intake of stray animals. Saadi said the shelter is only taking in loose animals with aggressive behavior. In order to practice social distancing, pet adoptions are being conducted virtually. Saadi said the shelter sends those interested in adopting pictures and videos of animals they think would be a good fit for the individual. All adoption fees are currently pay-what-you-want. Once the paperwork is finalized, a staff member will deliver the animal to the adopter. Animals available for adoption and adoption applications can be found on the shelter’s website. Foster applications are also conducted virtually. Saadi said those interested in fostering need to submit an online application as well as email foster@ sanmarcostx.gov to notify the shelter that their application was submitted. In their email to the shelter, individuals should include an explanation of what kind of pet they are interested in fostering. CONTINUE READING ONLINE