Baylor News
A lecture by Dr. Cornelia Pearsall, professor of English language and literature from Smith College,…
Midland senior Laaron Backry was not always an award winner in the political science field. During her freshman year, Backry was a biology major – a biology major who didn’t like math.
“Ever since I was 8, I dreamed of being a doctor, a surgeon specifically,” Backry said. “And that was what I was going to do and what I was going for, but I got here and I was miserable in science. And then math kicked my butt.”
During a period of indecision, Backry took a class in constitutional development that was suggested by a friend.
Every fall, hundreds of freshman and transfer students arrive to Baylor without knowing how to get around campus. With the redesigned Baylor Campus Navigator app, students can know where to go on campus with free, real-time directions from their smartphone.
The most recent version of the app became available April 18. The new features are a scholarship calculator and a phone number section that provides university phone numbers, including those for the Baylor Police Department, ResTech, the Cashier’s Office and Health Services.
Texas senators on Tuesday advanced modest changes to state gun laws, trading incremental progress across the political aisle as they approved new penalties for those who seek to buy guns for criminals and voted in favor of allowing college students to keep guns in their cars on campus.
Both measures came with promises made to ease suspicions on the floor of the chamber.
Waco News
State News
Texas voters turned out in historic numbers Tuesday, delivering victories for State Rep. James Talarico and forcing a runoff between Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s U.S. Senate contest that claimed national attention. The total early-voting turnout of more than 2.5 million marks the highest ever for a midterm primary election. The results also kicked off the 2026 midterm cycle.
INTERNATIONAL
The Iran war is now in its 46th day. Iran responded by restricting access to Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil, and moving to toll vessels transiting the strait. Waco drivers are already feeling it. The local average hit $3.38 a gallon last week, up 21 cents in seven days and 75 cents year-over-year, according to AAA data.
Gas prices in Texas have surged more than 70 cents per gallon since the U.S. went to war with Iran three weeks ago. The near-total shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has driven oil prices up more than 40%, pushing the national average to its highest point since 2023 and sending diesel past $5 for the first time in three years.
The largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East in decades unfolded as American and Israeli forces struck Iran Saturday, killing its supreme leader and triggering retaliatory strikes from the Gulf to Israel. The White House said the campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s military and toppling its government.
Dr. Joshua Alley, assistant professor of political science, said part of the Trump administration’s interest in Greenland has to do with America’s national security strategy.
