1A 1
SPORTS PAGE 7: A letter from Colt McCoy
THE DAILY TEXAN Thursday, January 21, 2010
Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
Preview Week attracts crowds
TOMORROW’S WEATHER High
75
Bruno Morlan | Daily Texan Staff
Students fill Gregory Gym to take advantage of free fitness classes By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Daily Texan Staff It’s 9 p.m. Tuesday at Gregory Gym, and 10 to 15 people line up against the wall for a turn on an exercise machine. Students squeeze past one another in the crowded weight room as a swarm of students clusters outside the aerobics room for free TeXercise classes. The combination of Free P re v i e w We e k , r u n n i n g through Friday, with those determined to keep their New Year ’s exercise resolutions seems to have caused a fitness frenzy at UT gymnasiums. But this frenzy is shortlived as most personal train-
ers at Gregory Gym know One of the main reasons they fall short of their lofty that fitness regimes can eas- people tend to drift away goals, said RecSports personily burn out. from their New Year’s fitness al trainer Joanna Williamson. Williamson also said college students, especially at the beginning of a semester, will be realistic when making time in their schedule to exGive it a couple weeks... and the crowd ercise. Once schoolwork, extracurricular activities and starts thinning out.” parties start taking up more — Christina Stylianov, of their time, exercise gets TeXercise instructor the axe, she said. “You have to take it easy at first and build up gradually but consistently,” Williamson said. “Usually, people think “Give it a couple weeks... resolutions is because they they can just pick up where and the crowd starts thin- try too hard at the beginning they left off last time.” ning out,“ said Christina and eventually injure themKerri Brown, an Stylianov, TeXercise instruc- selves, wear themselves out GYM continues on page 2 tor and nursing senior. or feel discouraged when
‘‘
UT students back from Copenhagen By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff In the early days of winter break, three UT students traveled halfway around the globe to sit among heads of state and United Nations members to provide input in climate talks that would lead to the Copenhagen Accord. Geography graduate student M. Anwar Sounny-Slitine, government junior Rachel Aitkens and Emily Grubert, an energy and earth resources graduate student, attended the conference that lasted from Dec. 7 to Dec. 18. The students were able to participate in lectures as well as some meetings open to nongovernmental organizations. “If you get a few handpicked scientists, their solutions might sound good, but at the same time, there may be better solutions out there,” Sounny-Slitine said. “It’s a good thing for academics to be in the audi-
such as reducing global emissions and sharing technology among nations, which would curtail environmental damage caused by less environmentally friendly technologies. Sounny-Slitine was selected to attend the conference by the Association of American Geographers. Aitkens represented the Sierra Student Coalition, and Grubert represented a delegation through Stanford University. Aitkens said that overall, she was disappointed in how the conference in Copenhagen was Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff handled. She said the bureaucracy of the conference made Geography and environment graduate student M. Anwar Sounnyit difficult for an individual to Slitine and government junior Rachel Aitkens attended the 2009 have a voice, particularly durUnited Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, ing the second week, when Denmark in early December. nongovernmental organizaence to ask questions that need accords on Dec. 18, but it is not a tions had limited attendance within the conference due to to be asked.” legally binding document. U.S., China, India, Brazil, The accord outlined several the presence of governmental South Africa and several other actions to take in order to comcountries ultimately drafted the bat destructive climate change, SUMMIT continues on page 2
61
www.dailytexanonline.com
Tuition raise faces mixed commentary More than 50 attendees voiced their frustrations during public discussion
Turbokickboxing instructor Christina Stylianov leads a class at Gregory Gymnasium Wednesday night. The class is designed to keep the heart rate up with constant punches and kicks.
Low
By Viviana Aldous Daily Texan Staff A police officer stood by as some of the more than 50 attendees voiced their frustrations with the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee’s recommended tuition increase during the public forum Wednesday that went 30 minutes past schedule. The committee, which proposed a 3.95-percent tuition increase per year for the next two years, hosted the forum in the Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences Building to gather student input on the recommendation. The committee, comprised of nine voting members including four students, presented tuition recommendations to President William Powers Jr. in December, and Powers will submit his own recommendations to the Board of Regents within the next couple of weeks. The regents, responsible for setting tuition, will vote on the proposal in March. “We’re trying to get the word out to help people understand the logic behind the recommendations,” said Kevin Hegarty, committee co-chair and UT’s vice president and chief financial officer. According to recommendations made by the committee, without a tuition increase, the University would face budget shortfalls of more than $17 million during the 2010-2011 school year and more than $14 million the following year. The funds would eliminate the University’s potential deficit but would leave no extra money to hire new faculty or staff. Powers refrained from offering his opinion about the proposed tuition increase.
Impact on Students The tuition increases, which include a two-time $65 fee for the construction of the new Student Activity Center, would increase tuition for a Texas-resident undergraduate student from $4,468 to $4,709 during the 2010 fall and 2011 spring semesters. In 2011-2012, tuition would cost $4,895. Nonresident undergraduates who entered UT after the spring of 2006 could pay up to $714 more in the fall of 2011. Resident graduate students, who now pay $3,882 on average, would pay $218 more per semester next year and another $162 per semester in 20112012. Nonresident graduate students who enrolled after spring of 2008 could pay an increase of up to $379 in the fall of 2011. Lauren Ratliff, a committee member and Senate of College Councils president, supports the
TPAC continues on page 6
STUDENT REACTIONS
“It’s absolutely conservative, considering the needs and the cutbacks that are already being discussed. I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but I’m dragging my heels and I admit that it’s a necessary disappointment.” Zachary Kinnaird, Chemistry senior
“I have four younger brothers, so raising tuition wouldn’t be good for my family. I understand needing it, but at the same time, tuition is already a lot higher than it used to be. That limits the [number of] people who are able to come here, which isn’t fair at a public university.” Frances Deavers, Pyschology senior
“At first, higher tuition is a little terrifying. However, it’s totally understandable having to raise costs because inflation happens with every product.” Kevin Lindsay, Mechanical engineering freshman Photos by Jeff Heimsath | Daily Texan Staff
Printing press remains on campus, awaits sale Despite lack of offers, groups express interest in purchasing machine By Lena Price Daily Texan Staff The printing press formerly responsible for the production of The Daily Texan and Texas Travesty still remains in the William Randolph Hearst building’s basement almost one year after it was put up for sale. The Texas Student Media Board, the entity that oversees all campus student media, put the printing press up for sale in
March to curb a general downturn in advertising revenue and make way for plans to remodel the basement’s infrastructure. Printing has been outsourced to Austin American-Statesman press machines since June. Though no offers have been made, Jennifer Hammat, interim director of TSM, said between nine and 12 organizations have expressed interest in purchasing the press. “We’ve definitely had more interest in it than I thought we would, but it’s been a challenge,” Hammat said. “We would have had a lot more success if we had
sold it 10 years ago.” Wanda Cash, director of the board’s executive committee, said it has been difficult trying to sell the printing press, considering the current climate of the newspaper industry. “We have had people inquire about it,” Cash said. “A few even came to take a look at it, but most of them have just been tire-kickers.” Tech-Energy Co., a printingpress repair company located near San Antonio that has worked with TSM in the past, came to look at the press but did not make an offer.
Several companies in Latin America have also made calls to the brokerage firm the board hired to oversee the advertising and sale of the press. Hammat said the process of physically moving the 50-by-8foot press out of the basement of the William Randolph Hearst Building can be daunting. If a Latin American company eventually purchases the press, it may need to hire a crane to haul it out of the building and a boat Andrew Rogers | Daily Texan file photo to move it overseas. “The costs just start to add In April, Arnold Wiggins organizes editions of The Daily Texan produced by the printing press, which has been up for sale for almost one year. PRESS continues on page 2