Author: Elisabeth Thomas

By Elisabeth Thomas | ReporterSeveral local artists and freelancers joined forces Friday night to create a Marvel-inspired free concert at Common Grounds. Ryan Thomas, a Baylor alumnus and local rapper and songwriter, performed songs from his album “Domicile,” artists sold their work based off the album, photographers and videographers recorded the event and the Tribe of Judah opened. The most notable artist collaboration was the complete comic book “Rhema,” based on the songs in “Domicile.”Paris Beauchamp is a local teenage digital illustrator. She mostly designs characters, but she completed a 40-page comic book with chapters based on each of the…

By Elisabeth Thomas | ReporterAs the generation that bridged the digital revolution and the advent of social media, many millennials — individuals born between 1981 and 1996 — have struggled to find their identity as a generation. Everyone has an opinion about millennials, and oftentimes the term is used in a derogatory way toward all young people when in reality, millennials are all the young people in their 20s and 30s. The very youngest millennials are graduating college now. According to Shelton Sears, a roaster at Common Grounds Woodway and born in 1993, when he sees someone address millennials in…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterA while back, an addiction expert I was interviewing said something along these lines: “It’s great that there’s reduced stigma around mental health and people feel alright being public about it, but I want that for addiction, too. I don’t want people to feel isolated.”But what happens when the public thinks they’re entitled to that information?Over the past few months, I have seen two relatively public figures address questions about their sexuality. Both were straight and both brought up the fact that if a person is not publicly sharing that information, it’s invasive to ask…

By Lizzie Thomas | ReporterIn the spirit of Mental Health Week, the Baylor Counseling Center held a day-long event Thursday in the Baylor Science Building called Peace Hope Love. Booths with games and food brought attention to different aspects of mental health, which was the theme for the day. Students attended a showing of “A Beautiful Mind”, a talk on sexual minorities and a talk on eating disorders in students.According to Erin McGinty Fort, the eating disorder specialist at the Baylor Counseling Center, American culture has many misconceptions about people with eating disorders. It is widely believed that only rich,…

By Lizzie Thomas | Reporter Approximately 500 students gathered in the Barfield Drawing Room to celebrate Lunar New Year on Friday. The Lunar New Year or sometimes referred to the Chinese New Year, is a celebration centered around the new year of the traditional Chinese calender. All Asian student organizations participated in the event, hosted by the Asian Student Association (ASA), presenting booths with different games common to their culture and representing their own characteristic traits. Lion dancers performed and some students sang medleys in different languages. Crystal Nguyen performed English and Vietnamese songs and Aaron Nguyen performed Korean songs.According…

By Lizzie Thomas | ReporterStudents gathered to hear several women perform spoken word pieces in honor of Black History Month Thursday night.According to Grapevine senior Kennedy Dendy, vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) at Baylor, the organization’s purpose is to increase the number of minority journalists in newsrooms across the country.”[We] provide a place for everyone to get together and talk about — not just journalism — but what’s happening in and around the world,” Dendy said. “For NABJ, you don’t have to be black, you don’t have to be a certain race or ethnicity, but…

By Lizzie Thomas | ReporterBaylor is hosting the Interfaith Regional Gathering dubbed “Interfaith Heroes” this weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Mayborn Museum. Other schools from all over the southwest region are coming to the Mayborn Museum for a conference featuring shining examples of interfaith literacy, which means having competency in multiple religions. Better Together BU, Baylor’s interfaith organization, is a part of the Better Together network. The conference includes a keynote address from Mohammed Al Samawi, trainings, breakout sessions and cultural food. According to Sharyl Loeung, coordinator for outreach and inclusion in the Department of Multicultural Affairs, the…

By Lizzie Thomas | Reporter Student Activities held an exclusive showing of the documentary “Social Animals” which was apart of “Movie Mondays” at 7 p.m. in the Bill Daniel Student Center (SUB). The movie was shown before it is released to Netflix this coming March in partnership with Baylor Wellness to raise awareness of the addictive properties found in social media. The documentary, which focuses on the lives of three teenagers who have grown up on Instagram, brings to light the changes social media has brought on coming of age in the last generation. Staff from the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery…

Lizzie Thomas | Staff Writer Judge Ralph Strother accepted former Baylor fraternity president Jacob Walter Anderson’s plea to the lesser charge of unlawful restraint this morning at the McLennan County Courthouse. However, it was not a typical day in the courthouse, as Strother spoke about the outrage around the case and the victim was allowed to speak afterwards.”I have a few things to say. Normally I do not do that, but not much about this case is normal,” Strother said. “There’s a lot of intensive interest around this case fueled by the engine of social media.”Strother said that although he…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterThe Magnolia Foundation jumped into Giving Tuesday with the largest gift The Cove, an organization for homeless teenagers in Waco, has been given in its three-year existence.“To see how prominent youth homelessness is in our very own backyard is truly heartbreaking,” said Lyle Mason, Magnolia Foundation executive director. “Our hope is that our friends and neighbors will join us in supporting The Cove and the most vulnerable youth in our community.”Kelly Atkinson, executive director of The Cove, said in a press release that the gift would help meet the needs of the students they serve…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterChip and Joanna Gaines announced on The Tonight Show Friday they will be starting a “lifestyle-oriented” TV network, yet to be named.In addition to releasing Joanna’s book, “Homebody,” this weekend and signing a contract with the city to purchase a large downtown building from the county this week, the couple will be refocusing their role in the TV business. On the show they told Jimmy Fallon that the majority of the network will be filmed in and around Waco.“We’re excited to share that we are currently in the early stages of talking with Discovery about…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterAshley Millerd, executive director of Keep Waco Beautiful, a local affiliate of the national environmental organization Keep America Beautiful, aims to be completely paperless in promotion of the organization. Newspapers and mail-outs are not very effective and can be expensive, according to Millerd. Social media is a cheap and effective way to reach a wide variety of people in the community quickly and consistently. “I try to follow along with the changes,” Millerd said. “I get more of a response on Facebook. Financially, it makes sense because Facebook allows Eventbrite and has a nonprofit strategy.”…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterWithout the advent of social media, the enormous scale and grassroots reach of activist movements like Black Lives Matter and the Women’s March may not have been possible.San Francisco junior Shevann Steuben is the president of the NAACP at Baylor. Though she has no direct involvement in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, in terms of leadership, she saw the power of social media in action as it grew.“I believe in it, but it’s not a movement I surround my life with … The mission [of Black Lives Matter] is connected to NAACP, and obviously as a black…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterHow identities are represented in the media and entertainment industry has been a subject of study for some time, but one Baylor professor explored how it’s changing with social media.Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez, associate professor in the department of journalism, public relations and new media, as well as graduate studies director and director of American Studies, released her book in September, “Blackface to Black Twitter: Reflections on Black Humor, Race, Politics and Gender” about the roots and fruits of comedy which is by, for and about black people.“Black comedy, the authors suggest, is often an Afrocentric…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterBaylor Free Farmers’ Market offered 33,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to all students Thursday, serving around 600.This event occurs once a semester. The other free food events Baylor hosts is the mobile food pantry, which happens about once a month. Both are intended to take the stigma and shame away from students who lack fresh, nutritious food by making it a campus-wide event, according to Sarah Madsen, the graduate coordinator for Student Success Initiatives. More information about these services can be found here.”[Food insecurity] is taking place at Baylor, which is partly surprising…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterWhile many students were picking up large trash residents can’t handle on their own with Keep Waco Beautiful or packing up the Art Center to move downtown Saturday, others helped individual residents.2,100 volunteers served at almost 70 locations, the largest number of service sites in Steppin’ Out history, according to a Baylor press release.Steppin’ Out exposes students who are not already serving in the community to the value of those opportunities, but regardless of whether organizations retain their temporary volunteers, residents benefit from the biannual burst of help.Susan Barnes is a family friend of Maxine…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterI’ve heard people joke more than a few times that a freshman rite of passage is tweeting about how much Baylor waters the sidewalks. We collectively suffer whenever there’s a sprinkle of rain because of the immediate flooding on campus. The river is so near and the drainage is so poor that within moments, there can be calf-deep puddles.Monocultures of shrubbery and grasses are not only harmful to Baylor’s environment, they are expensive. I won’t pretend I know more than the Facility Services team and all the people who work hard to keep Baylor ecologically…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterIn McLennan County, the voter results are in with the Republican Party taking County Judge and Comptroller and the Democratic Party taking County Commissioner. COUNTY COMMISSIONER:McLennan County Democrat Patricia “Pat” Chisholm-Miller won the seat of county commissioner, Precinct 2, by 29.85 percent after about 22 years of serving in county commissioner’s office as the administrative assistant, defeating Donis “DL” Wilson.Of 243,394 McLennan County residents, 139,837 are registered voters and 74,398 voted. In 2014, 44,982 voted of 128,120 registered voters. The voter turnout for 2014 was 35.11 percent and for this year was 54.16 percent.Chisholm-Miller could…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterThe relationship between Baylor and Waco is demonstrated when Waco supports Baylor Homecoming and when Waco is represented in the Baylor Homecoming Parade.Though homecoming traditions — including the parade — date back to 1909, floats were only introduced in 1915, according to Baylor records. By the 60s, almost every float carried a slogan taunting the opposing team. Now, floats are one of the attractions of the weekend, showcasing everything from elaborate themed competition floats to horses for the equestrian team or pedal tours for local businesses to home-made signs for dance companies.The float tradition has…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff Writer The Board of Regents convened Thursday and Friday to discuss the progress of and to fully launch the university’s campaign, “Illuminate,” as well as to review Title IX progress from the Big 12 and the beginnings of a spiritual study. “We’re proud to announce that we had raised in gifts and pledges from the silent phase of that campaign $540 million,” Baylor President Linda Livingstone said at a press conference Friday. “So that’s exciting because we’re almost halfway to that goal.” Joel Allison, Chair of the Board of Regents, said the Board of Regents…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterAlumni make the trek back home to Baylor from all over the country — or just across town — for a variety of traditions and nostalgic experiences. Members of the Baylor family enjoy different parts of the Baylor Homecoming weekend experience. However, many students and faculty have struggled with having Baylor pride as sexual assault lawsuits and Big 12 fines due to administrative negligence loom in the background, and the university attempts to move past it.Emily Times, ’18, described coming into Baylor as an idealistic freshman before all the news about Baylor’s mishandling of accusations…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterNominations for potential alumni-elected regents are open for this year for the first regularly scheduled regent election, as of Oct. 24 when nominations opened on social media. Since 2016, alumni have had an opportunity to be heard as to how Baylor University is run by the Board of Regents. The terms for regents are three years, but in 2016, the Board of Regents installed their appointees with one, two and three year terms so they could implement the alumni-election process in a timely manner. Daniel H. Chapman, an alumni-elected Regent and vice chair of the…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterLove on Locals (LOL) is a young nonprofit preparing to dramatically expand its capacity to serve and train the homeless community in Waco by fundraising individually through relationships this upcoming year. Chronic homelessness in Waco has decreased over the years by half, but the problems that keep people homeless have not. Travis McWhorter, founder of Love on Locals, has developed a strategy to meet the individual needs that must be met so those in extreme poverty can maintain their employment. “We are a faith-based charitable organization, and we focus on the homeless — people who…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterDistrict 19 Judge Ralph Strother will decide Dec. 10 whether he will accept a plea bargain by Jacob Walter Anderson, former president of the Baylor fraternity Phi Delta Theta. The date for the decision was pushed back after the victim filed a formal objection to the plea bargain.Robert Callahan, a local defense attorney, said he heard the alleged victim had filed an objection but he has never before seen a formal objection to a plea deal filed. He was surprised to see that the victim had formally moved to postpone the judge’s decision on the…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterBillie Wayne Coble, a former resident of Axtell, a town northeast of Waco, will be executed Feb. 28, 2019 for the murders of three members of his estranged wife’s family.The sentence, handed down by 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson on Oct. 17, makes Coble, at 70-years-old, one of the oldest inmates on death row in Texas. He will be executed about 30 years after he abducted his estranged wife and murdered three members of her family. J. R. Vicha is now a local attorney, but in 1989 he went to his aunt’s house after…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff Writer Incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz held a rally Friday in Waco at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Cruz compared himself to his opponent, Congressman Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, on every issue, saying he was proud of his own track record in each arena, stressing the stark contrast between them. “Seems to me Congressman O’Rourke is getting a little rattled,” Cruz said. “He was in the midst of a long and slow dance with me. Suddenly the man encountered his record, and it ain’t a record that looks at all like the state…

The Waco Immigrants Alliance has been constantly protesting the detention of Estela Briceno Fajardo, an illegal immigrant and contributing member of the community. She has been in jail without a trial for three years, where the Waco Immigrants Alliance claims that she has been abused. In June, the Waco Immigrants Alliance released a petition to the media for external investigation of the jail in front of the sheriff’s office and has recently renewed their fervor. Sheriff Parnell McNamara has agreed to reopen the investigation into the guards’ conduct, but Hope Balfa Mustakim, executive director and community organizer of the Waco…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterMcLennan County has more registered voters this year than it has in a decade, with 138,509 residents ready to vote. In the 2014 joint general election, 44,998 residents voted — less than 19 percent of the estimated population that year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, McLennan County had 234,901 residents in 2010 and estimates a seven percent increase since then. However, Texas has more registered voters than it ever has, as of National Voter Registration Day, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos announced in a press release. There is a whopping 15,624,871 registered voters.…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterAll 15 dioceses, which are Catholic districts under the pastoral care of a bishop, in Texas will release their lists of credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors by clergymen in January. The hope is that victims who have not come forward have time to do so, according to KENS 5, a local TV news station in San Antonio where the Archbishop is located.The Archbishop of San Antonio Gustavo Garcia-Siller held a press conference on Oct. 10 to address the release. “We have to address this horrible sin of sexual abuse of minors. I cannot…

By Lizzie Thomas | Staff WriterThe United Nations laughed at President Donald Trump during his speech to other world leaders… They understand how laughable his international vision is.World leaders see Trump’s delusion as just that — delusion. In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 25, he claimed to have done more than previous presidential administrations.”In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” Trump said. “America’s — so true. (Laughter.) Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.”Trump claimed that the United States is a stronger, safer…