INSIDE
Keep your healthy resolutions
PAGE 2
Improve public school food
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Hill Harper talks to students
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Mustangs lose in overtime PAGE 6
MONDAY
FEBRUARY 4, 2013 monday High 67, Low 45 tuesday High 65, Low 49
VOLUME 98 ISSUE 53 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
CRIME
Student reports attempted off-campus sexual assault STAFF REPORTS A female student reported an attempted sexual assault at her off campus residence by an unidentified male early Saturday morning to University Park police. SMU released a crime alert Sunday afternoon detailing the attempted assault. The student reported she met the male suspect at a bar in Uptown, and then shared a cab home with him. According to the crime alert, when
they arrived at her home in the 3400 block of Daniel Avenue, he forced her into her apartment where he attempted to sexually assault her. The female student fought back, which caused the suspect to leave. The suspect has not been identified as an SMU student and is described as a 23 year old Hispanic male, 5 feet 9 inches tall who weighs about 175 pounds. This is the second crime alert of 2013.University Park police are investigating the attack.
politics
REBECCA KEAY/The Daily Campus
The development of social media such as Facebook and Twitter has caused many changes and challenges in the legal system.
Professors ‘lay down the law’ of social media julie fancher Assignments Desk Editor jfancher@smu.edu The development of technology and the constant need of the world to stay connected though social media has had both positive and negative effects. The law has struggled with the ever-changing trends of social media. Judges, law enforcement officials and lawyers have been faced with new challenges while trying to adapt to the public nature of outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. John G. Browning, an adjunct professor at the SMU Dedman School of Law and a lawyer at Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith in Dallas is doing what he can to help the law keep up the pace with technology. “I’ve been a trial lawyer for 23 years and we didn’t have Facebook and Twitter. In the ‘good ol’ days, I’d use a surveillance tape to prove that someone was exaggerating
his claims and now I don’t have to worry about that because with social media and with people living their lives online, I’ve found a handy resource,” Browning said. Browning wrote his first book, “The Lawyer’s Guide to Social Networking: Understanding Social Media’s Impact on the Law” in 2010, and now he is in the process of writing a case book for law students and a social media practice guide for lawyers, due to the constant changing of social media. Browning began teaching at SMU Dedman School of Law in January 2011. His class observes how social media affects all subject areas on law, whether it be in family law, employment law, or criminal law, in addition to how it is affecting legal procedure. One of the biggest areas social media is affecting law is jurisdiction, or where cases can be tried.
“If someone tweets in Miami defaming someone in Dallas, can Texas courts try them? That’s one of the biggest questions we’ve been looking at,” Browning said. According to Browning, the courts are split. “Some courts say if your online activity is of such a nature that it is targeted to someone in another state you can be subject to jurisdiction, while other courts say if all you have is a Facebook presence, that isn’t enough,” Browning said. Social media has also impacted the First Amendment. One of the most pressing problems is whether the First Amendment protects tweets or Facebook posts. “It’s expressive conduct that is a way people express speech now,” Daxton Stewart said. Stewart is a professor at TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism and editor of the book “Social Media and the Law: A Guidebook for Communication Students
and Professionals.” “It creates a new kind of communication that is friendly and easy, but many people may not realize the amplification this new form of communication may have,” Stewart said. However, some users tend to forget that while this type of communication is much less formal, it is also public. “On Twitter you have very public conversations that can be retweeted, amplified and it becomes public and embarrassing,” Stewart said. Many are wondering whether the courts will be able to keep up with the ever-growing and everchanging social media tools. “The courts have the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, but that was in 1986. And the courts have changed since then, social media wasn’t even a glimmer in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye,” Browning said.
See LAW page 3
Professor Jillson speaks on immigration reform KATELYN GOUGH News Editor kgough@smu.edu President Obama spoke last Tuesday on his plans for immigration and SMU professor of political science, Cal Jillson, broke down the reform structure to give light as to what will likely be happening with immigration in the near future. While in Las Vegas for his address, Obama made it clear to Americans that “now is the time” to move forward with immigration. This would possibly be the first successful immigration reform for the U.S. “The last big reform was achieved in 1986 when Reagan was president and has been tried most recently with George W. Bush in 2006,” Jillson said. But the problem in 2006 and the difference now in 2013, Jillson said, is the fact that Bush’s “own party refused to go along, and Republicans have refused amnesty until the 2012 elections.” It became clear that the increasing Hispanic vote would be essential to presidential
candidates after Romney won only 29 percent of the Hispanic vote, while Obama won with 71 percent. “There’s still differences between the two parties but the Democrats have the Republicans on their heels as a result of the election,” Jillson said. But the Democrats, despite the victory of having the Republicans willing to move forward on immigration, still need to work around gaps in agreement. “Republicans say you’ve got to close the border and secure the border and Democrats say the border is never going to be completely closed,” Jillson said. The question then becomes, according to Jillson, whether Democrats should “force the Republicans to give up their border control for the rest of it or [if] they find a way to let the Republicans get part of what they want.” Regardless of the “what”, the “when” is more anticipated. He explained that many are talking about the bill happening
See OBAMA page 3
academics
SMU pre-health program expands, makes changes Lucy Sosa Video Editor lsosa@smu.edu The first class of SMU students didn’t graduate from the Cox School of Business or the Lyle School of Engineering—they matriculated from the SMU medical school. Obtained from the struggling Southwestern University Medical College in 1911, SMU’s first school, and only established medical school, was suspended before the construction of famed Dallas Hall in 1915. Although it took a century, the health and medicine curriculum is making a comeback. The curriculum, formerly regarded as pre-med, was officially named
pre-health in June of 2012 to accommodate the expanding program and the student demand for a more inclusive title. “Changing the name to pre-health kind of helped let everyone know that regardless of what health profession you want to go in, you can come and talk to somebody in this office,” Caleb Marsh, Director of the Office of Pre-Health Advising, said. Pre-dental, pre-optometry and pre-physical therapy are among the many programs offered through pre-health. “The pre-health office has an extensive amount of knowledge regarding each health care field, and the requirements to pursue such a career,” senior mechanical engineering major and pre-health
student Martin Marak said. Extending advising services to more freshmen has been one of Marsh’s primary goals since joining SMU last June. “I think the pre-health office does a great job of providing support to students. I only wish I had found out about it sooner,” Marak said. Marak received an advisor for his engineering major freshman year, but not for his biomedical specialization. Marsh, who has an extensive background in academic advising and counseling, wants to change the belief that the advising services are only available to juniors and seniors. By encouraging freshmen to start early, he can get to know them while strategizing their
health profession futures. “They may be relieved when they come here, they may be upset when they come here, but they always come back and say thank you for giving honest answers. I want them to feel that this is a safe place from an early point in a college career to come and talk to me,” Marsh said. One of the biggest misconceptions of pre-health is that students have to be biology majors. Unlike some undergraduate programs, prehealth does not require any specific major and welcomes students from all schools. Anyone interested in prehealth can “like” the official SMU Pre-Health Advising Facebook page for information about the
LUCY SOSA/The Daily Campus
The SMU pre-health office provides advising for students of all ages.
program, and for upcoming events like the Health Professions Fair in April. As to whether these
improvements will bring back the SMU medical school, Marsh said, “I don’t think that’s necessary, but I do see this office growing.”
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