News

H.E.A.T. Abroad: Costa Rica


This summer H.E.A.T. took 18 members to the jungle in Costa Rica! We worked in an orphanage with the community children, participated in beach clean ups with the municipality, and assisting with eco tourism, the main economic income of this beautiful country. What’s better than cliff-diving, surfing, repelling

Drop Everything and Run


Southwestern H.E.A.T.’s Human division put on a run around campus where students brought all of their old clothes to donate. Students came out layered in clothes, and stripped them off to do a run around the mall. These clothes were donated to the Caring Place

Creek Cleanup


Cause: To rid a natural habitat in our community of litter, trash, and other forms of pollution. The Creek Cleanup was held to bring all HEATsters together at a local community hangout spot to socialize as well as clean up all the trash littering the beautiful

Most Trashed


Cause: Recycling Every couple friday or saturday nights, the fraternities produce a lot of trash. This trash is primarily recyclable, but was not being recycled. H.E.A.T. decided to make a statement and collect the recyclables from the fraternities on Sundays and recycle them ourselves. This promote

Always Pull Out


Purpose: To stop the waste of electricity To inspire the Southwestern community to unplug all electronics when not in use, SU H.E.A.T. put on Always Pull Out. On the way to lunch, students had the opportunity to pose with electronics in hand being unplugged and looking

Undie Sales


Have you ever walked through your college campus annoyed after seeing the same old shirt sales, bake sales, and other boring fundraisers? Members of H.E.A.T. aim to change the face of “service” which can’t be done while following the conventional path. H.E.A.T. has hosted a

Kendalia Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation


For the past two semesters H.E.A.T. has participated in volunteering with the Kendalia Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation center. With so many animals that need to be cared for and with a lot of work that has to be done on the daily, H.E.A.T. has helped

Nets4Nets


The Nets4Nets project aimed to bring the school community together during lunches to raise money for nets to prevent the spread of malaria in Mozambique. By getting both the administration and the majority of the Student Body involved, an incredible amount of awareness was raised

H.E.A.T. and Sights and Sounds


Sights & Sounds is a Christmas tradition held by the city of San Marcos. This four day event includes a carnival, arts & crafts, pictures with Santa, local school performances and entertainment, food court, local vendors, and more. H.E.A.T. has been volunteering the help with

Zest Fest: Invisible Children


Author: Brenna Murphey   There’s a certain conflict occurring in central Africa that has existed for 27 years and despite the combined effort of many different people- it has not been brought to an end. This semester, HEAT members decided to take part in the

Save More Dolphins (SMD)


SMD is a brand new campaign that H.E.A.T. has begun standing for “Save More Dolphins” this project focuses on fundraising money for the organization, Save Japanese Dolphins, and spreading the word about SMD. The campaign started in the spring semester of 2013 with a simple

H.E.A.T. helps with Bobcat Blend


Bobcat Blend is a composting program run completely by Texas State students and faculty. These students collect about 80 tons of organic waste per year in various dining halls on campus, haul it to their composting site, and let nature do it’s work. It i

Pillows for Pups


Cause: Make beds for sheltered animals out of donated stuffed animals and fabric. HEATsters donated their old and unwanted stuffed animals, as well as quilts/fabrics, and the stuffing from the animals was used to make beds for sheltered animals. The squad used their elite sewing skill

H.E.A.T. St.


How many times have you been driving down a highway and you see the signs for “Adopt-a-Highway”? Or better, a sign showing who is responsible for that stretch of highway. H.E.A.T. is not one to sit out on an opportunity to better the community, eve

Takes a Pair to Play


Cause: Convert recycled shoes into playgrounds and sports courts. We held a shoe-drive to collect old, unused shoes that would otherwise be thrown away. The rubber soles of the shoes were converted into sports courts and playgrounds, and the fabric on the shoes was turned into

Spay Neuter Awareness


Author: Kirsten Peek Many people don’t understand the hype behind fixing their pets. H.E.A.T. members became aware of this problem after spending time volunteering at the animal shelter. We saw firsthand the importance of spaying and neutering pets in the equation to diminish overpopulation and

Prom for Adults With Disabilities


Who says that prom is only limited for juniors and seniors in high school? We certainly don’t think that, and we definitely want everyone to be able to enjoy him or herself dancing the night away with their friends. Thus, H.E.A.T. members participated in the

HEATstock – Earthday Concert


H.E.A.T. celebrated Earth day with a concert. The Environmental committee had 14 musicians perform for a total of 10 hours in the LBJ Amphitheater, ranging from rock to rap to folk music. Along with music there were at least 12 Art & Eco vendors including

Play for PAWS


H.E.A.T. has established a great relation with Paws Shelter & Humane Society in always having members spend their weekends with taking care of dogs and cats and doing much more for these guys. Play For Paws was a project where the Animal Committee took i

H.E.A.T. Helps With Student Sustainable Farm


Texas State has a student-run sustainable farm, mainly used for agricultural research purposes. H.E.A.T. was able to spend a day with these researchers planting carrot seeds and learning about sustainable agriculture. Even though it was cold and rainy, we had a blast planting carrot seeds,

Playtoy Calendar


Positive activism means incorporating art, humor and creativity into our projects. Humor, in many cases, is the strongest appeal, and draws in college students much more effectively than depressing pictures and sad statistics. Think of your favorite animal welfare organization… they LOVE to show u

Free Your Meat-Humane Beef on Campus


H.E.A.T. aims to bridge the gap between radicals and average consumers. Our mission targets those who may not already be doing good, but we believe that through positive activism we can attract a larger audience and persuade more people to do better things. Why We

Sustainable House Trip


Author: Ethan Pfeiffer The sustainable house trip was about showing students how we can work with nature and have a positive symbiotic relationship with the environment through exploring intelligent design and innovative thinking. Dr. Larry and Cheryl Fulton’s house is considered the “greenest house in America” for

Tailgate Recycling with ECO


During the Fall of 2012, H.E.A.T. partnered with an environmental organization ECO to create a recycling initiative during Texas State Tailgates. Tailgate is a common part of pride and traditions at most Universities, but can leave recyclables unaccounted for. H.E.A.T. and ECO members came together

Swipes For the Homeless


Students often have negative connotations of homeless people. Some students make an effort to bridge this gap by volunteering at soup kitchens, but H.E.A.T. took another approach. The amount of food our dining halls waste was already a concern for students, so H.E.A.T.sters encouraged all

LBJ Garden


Author: Courtney Eberhard As a part of the environmental committee, I’ve had the chance to be a part of the “Step Two” process in Environmental Activism. For those unfamiliar, there are three steps to the activism process. Saving, Maintaining, Producing. Many times environmental groups focu