Papers, books and certificates cover every inch of the office, each containing research and materials relating to the consumer sciences. 

Among the certificates is the Family Consumer Science Research Journal Emerging Scholar of the Year award, presented to Professor Jiyun Kang, who developed a way to define social shopping in five dimensions.
Shopping has been referred to as a type of therapy and social event that plays a major part in all kinds of relationships. However, no clear way of explaining this existed until Kang developed a scale that detailed the different aspects of why people shop.

Part of gearing up for the new semester is students filling their wardrobes with the new fashion trends. Along with gathering all the different styles and patterns, personalizing an outfit is part of this process.

“The key to trends is to take them with a grain of salt,” said Krizia Aponte, FashioNation officer and fashion merchandising sophomore. “Following trends too much just makes you look like everyone else, and you don’t want to do that. Always try to put your own spin on an outfit.” Monochromatic outfits will be everywhere. Aponte said these same-colored styles will come back, but with different, unique colors like burgundy.

Kids of all ages run through Sessom Creek, scanning the crystal clear water for tiny organisms to examine under a microscope. This isn’t part of summer school, but a camp that mixes education and fun in an engaging way.

The Aquatic Science Adventure Camp started in 1988 to educate kids about fresh water science and the waters around San Marcos, created by the Edwards Aquifer Research and Data Center.
The camps are broken up into eight weeklong sessions and two two-day sessions, each catering to a different age group, ranging from 9-15. Students stay in dorms and use the labs on campus, with certified teachers leading the groups.

“That first year was a trial run. We only held one session,”said  Lendon Gilpin, assistant director for education for the data center. “We had a big turnout and kids were wanting to come again, so we expanded the curriculum and amount of sessions.”

Terissa Kelton spends her days around cameras, costume artists and creative geniuses.

Kelton, Texas State alumna, is developing the next set of projects for Twitchy Dolphin Flix, an independent film company in Austin. Her involvement in the theater program at Texas State led her to Twitchy Dolphin.

“Through the classes developing stage acting, I found myself to be a more subtle actor,” said Kelton, 2010 graduate with a BA in acting and mass communication. “I talked to Laura Lane, a faculty member, and started looking for other projects.”

In spring of 2009, Kelton found a casting call for “Look At Me Again,” a film being produced by the company. Even though she only went in as an extra, Kelton was asked to audition for another film. She has been involved in every film since.

One San Marcos artist has found an ocean of inspiration through a medium found right next to the waves — sand.

Mark Lamdbin, San Marcos resident, taught art classes at Fillmore middle school in Austin for 25 years and has been creating sand sculptures since the mid ‘80s.

Mark Lambdin, a retired teacher, has always tried working with different mediums. When a group of friends mentioned they all liked to go to the beach, he decided to stretch his creativity and try his hand at sand sculpture.

“We started with basic sand castles and dragons, easy stuff that’s fun to do,” Lambdin said. “A lot of us were musicians, so after building we would play together and have a party with family.”

Food trailers, a must on tourists’ to-do lists, have been a big part of the Austin scene. That trend has arrived in San Marcos with The Hitch and newly opened Mimi’s Food Trailers.

Jon White, owner of the Cajun Cruiser, tosses and seasons Cajun fries April 23 for a customer’s shrimp po’ boy combo.

Many of the trailers are family businesses or start-ups of former Texas State students. Kevin “KK” Kneese, who now runs Trade Winds Pizza, took it over from his dad.

“This was kinda thrust upon me, so I had to put a few things on halt,” Kneese, music sophomore, said. “But, how often do you get to run a food trailer? I saw it as an opportunity in the making.”

San Marcos citizens can hack down evasive plants, clear up springs and swim with turtles in the Diving for Science program.

The program was established right after the Aquarena Theme Park was purchased by the university for research. It was originally used to monitor the activity of federal agencies and professors in Spring Lake.

“We needed a way to control the amount of people in Spring Lake, but now we are more comfortable with who can enter the lake,” said Ron Coley, director of Aquarena Springs Center. 

“Now people can go through a scuba certification and help with the habitat restoration project.”

Training to become a science diver takes two days, usually during the weekend, and educates people on the Edwards Aquifer, San Marcos River and the plants and animals who inhabit them. After a lecture, students are quizzed on the endangered species and plant life specific to Spring Lake.

Students and faculty joined forces April 12 to present music that stretched conventional boundaries at the Mysterium for New Music.

Mark Cruz performs “Freedom Stomp” during The Texas Mysterium for Modern Music, presented by the College of Fine Arts and Communication April 12 at Evans Auditorium.

The event was a combined effort from the School of Music, the Texas Mysterium for Modern Music, and the Common Experience program.

“Mysterium is an old word for guild, so we are a guild of composers,” said Russell Riepe, music professor. “Our performances are part of a seminar for new composers, so it’s a big collaboration. New music is risky, but we have to stretch our skills and knowledge.”

City programs and regular Joes have banded together to make San Marcos one of the most beautiful cities in Texas.

The Keep San Marcos Beautiful program is an initiative to do just that: keep the waterways and City of San Marcos clean and beautiful. It was established in 2009 when the City of San Marcos became an affiliate to the statewide organization, Keep Texas Beautiful.

“We like to create a three-stool partnership in the city, making sure the local government, businesses and individuals are involved,” said Cathie Gail, executive director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “That way it takes a lot of the community working hand-to-hand to keep it running.”

To help continue these improvement projects, businesses like Green Guy Recycling and organizations such as HEAT and Bobcat Build partner with KSMB by providing time and resources.
The initiative also receives a large amount of help from Keep Texas Beautiful.