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THE DAILY TEXAN Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
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FOOTBALL
Longhorns gear up for next season with coaching changes
LEGISLATURE
Session reconvenes, expected to tackle major issues
EDITION
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NEWSPAGE PAGEXX7A XXXX Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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Program seeks fewer faculty, gives bonuses for retirement
TODAY Calendar Gubernatorial inauguration
By Matthew Stottlemyre Daily Texan Staff
Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will be sworn in for Perry’s third term. Begins at 11 a.m. on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol.
‘The Real Country’
Mike and the Moonpies play an unplugged show at Mohawk, with doors opening at 5 p.m. 21+
‘Wishful makeuping’ Alamo Drafthouse Ritz will show Pretty in Pink. The show begins at 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $8.50.
Potluck The Austin Teapot Party will meet to discuss reforming drug laws. Begins at 7 p.m. at 3109 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Campus watch ‘Honey don’t run’
San Antonio Parking Garage Two UT students reported an unknown male ran up behind them and dropped his pants to the ground. The students stated the subject was standing there with his pants on the ground exposing himself to them. As they ran away, the subject yelled, “Honey don’t run” as he lunged at them.
Today in history In 1957 A trio of B-52’s completed the first non-stop, round-the-world flight by jet planes
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Quote to note
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Austin Police Department Officer Patti Robinson walks with Taisier and Alaiha Briggs down Chicon Street during a march to commemorate the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday morning. UT’s connection with Dr. King goes beyond his statue on the East Mall. In March 1962, he spoke at the Texas Union to a crowd of 1,200 and spent the night in a guest room on the fourth floor.
Celebration of civil rights leader attracts students, community to East Mall
MARCHto
REMEMBER
By Allie Kolechta
Spoken word poetry, gospel songs and prayers could be heard across the East Mall on Monday morning as students from UT, Austin Community College, St. Edward’s University, Huston-Tillotson University and members of the Austin community gathered at the UT’s statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday’s celebration marked the 17th annual MLK Community March. Participants marched from the statue to Huston-Tillotson University in honor of King’s legacy and to promote the ideals he fought for.
SPORTS PAGE 1B
MARCH continues on PAGE 2A
ON THE WEB: Check out a video and picture slideshow of the day’s events @dailytexanonline.com
BUYOUTS continues on PAGE 2A
Students travel to Israel with Birthright program By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff
Amid thousands of shoppers preparing for their Sabbath dinners, a few dozen UT students took in the sights, smells and sounds of the Machne Yehuda Shuk, Jerusalem’s largest open-air market. Thirty-eight Texas Hillel students, like thousands of others, traveled to Israel over winter break as part of the Taglit-Birthright Israel program. The program began in 2000 and offers 18to 26-year-old Jewish people the opportunity to take an all-expenses paid
Senior Media Support Tech Richard Stimpert makes one last adjustment to equipment in the legislative assembly room before today ‘s opening of the new Student Activity Center.
trip to Israel for 10 days with the financial support of philanthropists and the Israeli government. “The program is a way for young Jewish people to strengthen their Judaism and connect to the land of Israel,” said Texas Hillel Rabbi David Komerofsky, who traveled with the group. In Israel, Hillel students said they experienced a sense of belonging and a familial connection to the people they met there. Broadcast journalism senior Samantha Unell
ISRAEL continues on PAGE 12A
Corey Leamon Daily Texan Staff
Student Activity Center opens for business Building planners attempt to accommodate students, incorporate sustainability
“[The new offensive coordinators are] anxious to get started, and we can’t wait to watch what they do.” — Mack Brown Texas head coach
Government freshman Cortney Sanders opened the rally before the march with her original poem, “A Peculiar Man Who Took a Stand.” King traveled, she said, singing, shouting, praying and preaching to give others the freedom to dream. “I find myself asking, ‘What is wrong with daring to dream?’ Allowing my heart to sing, dancing carefree, shouting for glee, believing one day that all will truly be free,” she read.
By Ahsika Sanders Daily Texan Staff
Erika Rich | Daily Texan Staff
UT students Elaine Hirsch and Samantha Unell decorate soldier Idan Porat with artwork created by school children.
The College of Liberal Arts will feel the effects of a retirement incentive program, which offered buyouts to 87 tenured professors that 27 professors accepted. The initiative will save the college about $2.4 million annually, an administrator said. James Southerland, assistant dean for business affairs, said 87 professors in Liberal Arts received buyout offers in the summer of 2010, and 27 accepted the offer. In order to qualify, Southerland said faculty members had to satisfy the rule of 93 — their age plus years of service had to equal at least 93. The college compensated those who agreed to retire at the end of the semester with the equivalent of two-years’ salary. “Our plan over the next few years is to let the number of faculty decline as people leave,” Southerland said. Southerland said the college offered buyouts to prepare for coming cuts in funding from the state legislature. He said the college is preparing for a 10-percent cut on top of last year’s $3.3 million 5-percent cut. He said the buyouts will also help the college pay for its new building. Six faculty members in the College of Fine Arts and three in the College of Communication took similar retirement incentives, spokespersons for the colleges said. Daniela Bini, the French and Italian department chair, said the administration decided on the retirement incentive plan democratically.
The product of years of planning will debut today with the opening of the Student Activity Center. The $68 million building features a black box theater, auditorium, study lounges, meeting rooms, dance halls and new food options, including a Taco Cabana and Zen. Former Student Government Vice President Marcus Cisner-
os, who was in office in 2006-07 when students passed a referendum to add the $65-per-semester tuition increase that will pay for the center, said it was important that the center reflect what students wanted. “We asked ‘What do you want, what do you like, and what do you need?’ And we tried to put that together to make the best building possible,” said Cisneros, who was on the planning committee. The students involved in the planning process worked with the Campus Environmental Center and the Students with Disabilities Agency to make sure the
Benefitting the Austin Sunshine Camps
building was both environmentally sound and easily accessible to all students. “We worked INSIDE: with stuCheck out dents with an interview with disabilities the SAC director. to make see the sure that Longhorn Life every space insert was accessible by wheelchair and accommodating to students with different needs,” Cisneros said. “We also wanted our building to have elements of sustainability
CENTER continues on PAGE 2A
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