By Gavin Pugh | Editor-in-ChiefA fire broke out around 1 p.m. Wednesday at Waco Wood Recycling & Material in Speegleville. There were no injuries reported when the Lariat arrived on the scene around 2 p.m., but a few people had been treated for smoke inhalation. According to a Speegleville firefighter at the scene, the fire was at a size that was too difficult to put out immediately. “There’s probably not enough water in McLennan County to touch this thing right now,” the firefighter said. Although multiple fire departments from McLennan County were at the scene, including Waco, Lorena and Speegleville,…
Author: Gavin Pugh
By Gavin Pugh | Editor-in-ChiefBaylor’s tuition rate will stay a set percent increase of 4 percent beginning in the 2018-19 academic year, which completes the tuition step-down plan originally implemented in 2013, said Lori Fogleman, Assistant Vice President for Media Relations and Crisis Communications.The plan, originally proposed by student leadership and implemented by the Board of Regents, has seen a 2.25 percent decrease in tuition hikes over the past four years, Fogleman said. The tuition hikes were at a steady 6.5 percent increase before the plan was implemented. For the 2017-18 academic year, students taking at least 12 hours will…
By Gavin Pugh | Editor-in-Chief San Antonio junior Aaron Cobbs’ passion for super heroes didn’t die with the end of “Batman: The animated series.” In fact, Cobbs’ own comic book series has been in the making since he was seven. And though many comics are moving online, Cobbs is somewhat of a purist. Tell us a little about you. What’s your thing? My name is Aaron Cobbs, I am a junior professional writing major, and I like to write. With so much content being digitized, are you interested in moving your comics online, or do you like hard copies? I…
By Gavin Pugh | Editor-in-Chief A court document detailing several texts exchanged between former head football coach Art Briles and members of the athletic department alleges Briles knew more about criminal acts committed by football players than he previously claimed. The document was filed by regents Cary Gray, Ron Murff and David Harper as an answer to a lawsuit filed by former assistant athletics director of football operations Colin Shillinglaw. Shillinglaw claimed Baylor leaders and others were defamatory in describing him as being a part of the ongoing sexual assault scandal. Other defendants named in the lawsuit are Dr. David…
By Gavin Pugh | Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON – The unseasonably moderate temperature in Washington came just in time for the presidential inauguration – locals and visitors alike find themselves taking to the streets to enjoy the crisp weather. Among those visitors is retired Lt. Col. John Heimburger, a Humble native. This isn’t his first inauguration, however. Heimburger marched in John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade and was later awarded his diploma from the same president after graduating from the Air Force Academy. “We’ve been for Trump from the beginning,” said Heimburger, who has met president-elect Trump in person on four occasions and…
Pageant serves as philanthropy opportunity for young women
Dear readers,First, thank you for reading the Lariat. There is a group of 40 individuals who work into the early hours of the morning to tell good stories – to tell your stories – and we greatly appreciate you taking the time to read them. Last semester made me quite aware of the stresses students face daily. We develop tendencies to allow our perfectionism for school work to take precedence over what we are passionate about. Our relationships become strained – be it due to school work, or maybe fallout from political disagreements. It becomes easy to disconnect from everyone…
Video by Morgan Kilgo | Broadcast Reporter and story by Gavin Pugh | Digital Managing Editor After several hours of negotiations, a man who barricaded himself inside his shed in the 200 block of Garden Drive peacefully surrendered Wednesday evening and is in police custody. He was in the shed from 2 to 6:45 p.m. Robert Elmer Evans has been booked in McLennan County Jail and is facing charges for a parole violation. Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, spokesman for the Waco Police Department, said it was unclear whether or not Evans had a weapon with him. The Waco Police Department…
By Gavin Pugh | Digital Managing EditorBaylor Board of Regents chairman Ron Murff announced Tuesday that the board will begin releasing the minutes of all their future quarterly meetings as well as meeting agendas.“We are committed to taking immediate action to increase transparency such as posting agendas and minutes of our quarterly meetings,” Murff said. “There will be more announcements in the near future toward achieving this goal.” The statement was posted on “The Facts,” Baylor’s website in response to the sexual assault scandal. The announcement comes just days after the Bears for Leadership Reform meeting took place. In the…
Video by Morgan Kilgo | Broadcast Reporter and story by Gavin Pugh | Digital Managing Editor Hundreds of people walked with Natasha “Tasha” Nkhama to class in solidarity in response to a video she posted on Facebook detailing an incident where she was called a racial slur and forced off the sidewalk. Singing songs like “Amazing Grace,” the students and faculty led the event with a prayer and applauded Nkhama before they began the walk. Attendees sported name tags and signs reading: “#iwalkwithtasha.” In the video detailing Wednesday’s incident, Nkhama said she was walking to class from Tidwell to the…
The controversy shrouding Baylor’s athletic program intensified Saturday when shirts sporting former head football coach Art Briles’ initials were sold outside McLane Stadium. The shirts, reading “#CAB” for coach Art Briles, were sold at the tailgate before the Baylor vs. Texas Christian University game.The shirts were sold by Hurley’s Graphics and Boss Hawg Designs, LLC, a Lufkin T-shirt company. The company announced plans to sell the shirts during tailgating at Baylor through a Facebook post earlier in the week, but the post has since been removed. Briles was fired five months ago for his role in the university’s sexual assault…
I wanted to be shocked to read Donald Trump’s lewd comments from 2005 when they were leaked on Friday. I wanted to be horrified to find that the Republican presidential nominee would speak about groping women and kissing them without their consent in such a coarse, degrading way. However, this is the type of behavior I’ve come to expect from Trump ever since he announced his campaign last summer, and I am certain I am not alone in this sentiment. His words prove his misogyny, like when he suggested in graphic detail that Megan Kelly was menstruating during the first…
By Gavin Pugh | Digital Managing EditorDavid McCullough found himself shopping for pecans during one of Boston’s worst blizzard seasons in 2014. The shop attendant assisting him recognized his voice from his commentary on television and told McCullough how his tone cured him of insomnia. McCullough, speaking to a crowd at Waco Hall for this year’s Beall-Russell Lecture in the Humanities Monday afternoon, said this interaction with the attendant was the best compliment ever paid to him. McCullough is a two-time Pulitzer and two-time National Book Award recipient. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest…
I bought a motorcycle before I came to Baylor. It was perfect for the long treks from Rogers to Old Main when I was an engineering major, and it had me convinced I was going to be designing bikes for the rest of my life. That is, until I realized the skills I was hoping to learn as an engineer actually lined up more with industrial design — a degree Baylor doesn’t offer. While college may never provide me the perfect degree, it did give me another opportunity. I went on the Baylor in Budapest trip this summer, and it…
CEO of Blue Scout Media and Baylor Regent Kim Stevens sat down with the Baylor Lariat for a Q & A. Stevens was elected onto the board in May 2015. Most students hear about the board of regents and they think about an entity – you know, it’s just the board of regents. How would you describe a day in the life of a regent so that we can better understand what you guys do on a daily basis? On a daily basis, we’re like a lot of other people you know. You know, we go to work every day,…
Former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott was arrested in 2012 on two counts of sexual assault. Sam Ukwuachu, also a former Baylor football player, was convicted of sexual assault last year. Shawn Oakman, another former Baylor football player, was arrested on allegations of sexual assault last week. And ESPN just released their second “Outside the Lines” feature on Baylor – naming two new players whose cases went under the radar. The words “sexual assault” and “Baylor University” are used in the same sentence now more than ever. These cases are especially emphasized by April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month. President…
The press conference regarding the Title IX suit against Baylor University scheduled for yesterday was canceled due to severe weather in Dallas shutting down flights from California. Zalkin Law Firm, the San Diego based company representing sexual assault victim Jasmin Hernandez, posted the announcement on YouTube instead. Hernandez was assaulted by Tevin Elliott, former Baylor student and football player in 2012. Elliott was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $10,000 in January of 2014 for two counts of sexual assault. Hernandez was accompanied by her attorney, Alex Zalkin, and answered questions from press present at the announcement. Zalkin…
All Baylor students studying in Europe have been accounted for after the attacks in the Belgian capital Tuesday morning, according to Exchange Program and Study Abroad Advisor Bobby Leis. The attacks consisted of three explosions: two at the Brussels airport just before 8 a.m. and one at a metro station at around 9:20 a.m., Brussels time. Colleyville junior Ashton Smyth, who is studying with Baylor in Maastricht, woke up to the sound of alerts going off on her phone from a European transportation email service. She said they were “reports of explosions at first,” but progressed to reveal it was…
A Baylor student was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday evening after a Craigslist deal got heated. Waco senior Daniel Rager said he tried to sell an old phone to two men when they both brandished handguns. They demanded from him his wallet, as well as other electronics Rager had in the trunk of his car. After complying and handing over a broken PlayStation 2 and the phone he was trying to sell, Ranger pulled out his own handgun he had stored in the trunk. Rager said the men fled, and as they rounded the corner of a house, one of the…
In 2011, Texas cut $5.4 billion from Texas public schools’ funding. In the same year, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated 82,500 more people were considered impoverished than the year before. How the cut was passed is beyond me. I work with those impoverished children at La Vega ISD, a school district just 5 miles north of Baylor. I see the meals they are provided: undercooked corn dogs and chicken nuggets. Oh, and pizza, which Congress considers a serving of vegetables. Beyond Texas’ growing obesity epidemic and the malnutrition of children, the misappropriation of funds only continues. How about Greg Abbott’s…
Ken Herman visits campus to talk state of journalism
For the first time, the Baylor journalism, public relations and new media department is sending a group of students to Budapest this summer. Baylor’s Center for Global Engagement has been pushing for students to travel to unfamiliar eastern countries – even tweeting about Budapest on their Twitter page. Journalism senior lecturer Maxey Parrish is leading the students to the Hungarian capital. “Western Europe is low-hanging fruit,” Parrish said in reference to why students overwhelmingly stick to western countries like England, France and Italy. Parrish, who traveled to Budapest in January to scope out the program, has high expectations for the…
Be it the SARS virus of 2003, the Swine Flu of 2009 or last year’s Ebola —viral diseases break out on a seemingly consistent basis. But Zika came a few years early. The Zika virus caught public attention in January with the heart, wrenching images of children born with microcephaly, a brain abnormality closely correlated with the virus. As per its namesake, the Zika virus originated in the Zika Forests of Uganda and made its way to Brazil last year. It was from Brazil that reported cases of the virus exploded, with over a million now logged. A group of…
Starr sits down with New York Times columnist David Brooks
DALLAS – Activists in both the Democratic and Republican parties gathered across Dallas to watch the results of the Super Tuesday elections last night. The Dallas GOP met at Christie’s Sports Bar & Deli at 7 p.m. The Dallas Democratic party convened at several different locations based on the candidate whom the groups supported. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won his own state, followed by Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won Texas with over two-thirds of the votes. Bernie Sanders trailed behind with less than a third of the votes. Voting started 7…
From law enforcement to humanitarian organizations, Waco combats deep rooted sex-trafficking issue
Presidential campaigns have deemed the Syrian refugee crisis a matter of politics. Syrians are either welcome, or not. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sued the federal government on the resettlement of refugees in Texas. Students and members of the Waco community started a petition to allow more refugees into the city. But Damascus, Syria junior Amjad Dabi says it is not a political issue, but a matter of altruism. “Look at the range of this catastrophe that people have been subjected to in Syria.” Dabi said. “I mean, we have 4 million refugees in neighboring countries … half the country has…
Giving someone an even-numbered bunch of flowers in Russia symbolizes death. Differences in tradition and culture in other countries are abundant, and sometimes tricky to catch onto. Baylor alumna Rachel Clark studied abroad in Egypt in the summer of 2013 and learned that even showing someone the bottom of your foot can be considered highly insulting. “I would be wearing sandals, and [people in Cairo] would say, ‘That’s too much skin. How dare you show your toes,’” Clark said. And it did not stop with footwear. More conservative Egyptians would make Clark tuck in her shirt, or roll down her…
As a Texas Democrat, it is easy to get discouraged by the fact that my vote will likely be nullified in the general election on Nov. 8. Texas has been a red state for 32 years, after all, and good ol’ Ted Cruz would have the home field advantage, should he receive the nomination. So why even bother voting? Though Texas cannot be expected to turn blue this election season, students can still participate in the democratic process by showing their support for their preferred candidates in the primaries on March 1. Casting this vote could be the determinate in…
While many were reminded of how much they are loved this Valentine’s Day weekend, Antioch Community Church was filled Friday night with people gathering to learn what they can do to help girls forced into sex trafficking. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) opened up the event by sharing his sadness with the audience, and discussing the recent legislation he authored, called the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. “This will help law enforcement also crack down on trafficking rings, and go after the so called ‘Johns’ who exploit these victims,” Cornyn said. “To make sure that, instead of a…