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Dinner just got sweeter with strawberry pasta
Home-winning streak comes to an end Monday, February 1, 2010
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Debate fuels gubernatorial race
Peter Franklin | Daily Texan Staff
Gus and Kelly Behr celebrate at the finale of the Republican debate watch party Friday evening at Brave New Books on Guadalupe Street. It was the second and last debate before the March 2 primary for the Republican nomination gubernatorial.
Students weigh in on Republican battle for GOP nomination
Perry leads Hutchison in popular support 43 percent to 33 percent, according to Rasmussen polls. The senator lags despite campaign contributions from Ross PerBy Collin Eaton ot and endorsements from Daily Texan Staff Republican gubernatori- former presidents George al candidates dug in their W. Bush and George H. W. heels and traded blows Fri- Bush. day during the second primary debate in Dallas. The race between Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Kay Bailey At the end of the Hutchison and up-and-coming candidate Debra Medina day, the debate is heated up when support for between Coke and Medina rose from 4 percent Pepsi.” to 12 percent in a Rasmussen poll after the Jan. 14 debate. — Geoffrey UT students of all political Geiger stripes watched and reacted to the debate, offering their College Republicans own analysis. treasurer “A memorable moment was when Perry was asked if he would stay in [office] for four years, and he made Fourteen UT faculty mema big deal about it being in bers, including Nobel Prize God’s hands,” said College winner and physics profesRepublicans treasurer Geof- sor Steven Weinberg, have frey Geiger. donated to Hutchison’s Geiger said he does not campaign while two faculpersonally support any can- ty members have donated to didate yet because he be- Perry’s campaign, according lieves there would be little to a race donations database difference in their styles of compiled from information governing. available on the Texas Ethics “At the end of the day, the Commission. debate is between Coke and University Democrats Pepsi,” Geiger said. spokesman Michael Hur-
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Confusion lingers over SG campaign policies By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff An absence of the oversight committee, designed to enforce election regulations, has left Student Government candidates and other SG members in a state of limbo about what constitutes ethical pre-campaign activities. Questions arose last week when external financial director Scott Parks, who has filed as a candidate for SG president, and vicepresidential running mate Muneezeh Kabir held what Parks called a Jan. 28 “supporter rally.” Parks said there were about 70-80 people in attendance. The event was advertised by sending a bulk e-mail to a list of close friends and established supporters of Parks and Kabir. Park said the gathering did not qualify as a political event because, according to the election code, campaigning “has the effect of soliciting votes for an elective office.” “We’re trying to build a support base in private as much as we can,” Parks said. “We are not
By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff Because of her conservative appeal and rise in recent polls, Texas gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina may push the already-heated Republican primary race into a runoff between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. As it stands, Perry currently leads Hutchison 43 percent to 33 percent, and Medina has a 12-percent hold, according to Jan. 18 Rasmussen polls. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent come the March 2 primary, the two leading candidates will be forced into a runoff on April 13. “There is a distinct possibility that given these numbers, we will have a runoff. Hutchison and Perry would love not to have a runoff,” said UT lecturer Sherri Greenberg, who served in the Texas House of Representatives for 10 years. Greenberg said extending the race until April would keep the candidates campaigning, seeking endorsements, spending money and fighting for another five weeks. She said this
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using the word ‘vote.’ Everything is about what we can be doing in preparation for official campaigning season as a team.” This is the first test of a new election code that was developed last year after controversy arose during the SG elections, when both the Election Supervisory Board co-chairman César Martinez Espinosa and then-SG President Keshav Rajagopalan campaigned for executive alliance Liam O’Rourke and Shara Ma. Rajagopalan used his title in e-mails showing support for O’Rourke, which was a violation of the code. University-wide Rep. Carly Castetter, one of the authors of the new code, said the code now has more concrete definitions of campaigning and endorsing and also further outlines the roles and rules of the Election Supervisory Board, an elected body that oversees the election and reviews complaints. In future years, the board will be established by October so questions of pre-campaign
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Medina shakes up GOP race, rise in polls may cause election runoff
ta said Hutchison failed to bring “new ideas to the table.” “[Hutchison] took ideas that Rick Perry had, and Perry hasn’t done that much for us,” Hurta said. “As far as the Republican debate, I think we might just be seeing the Three Stooges again.” After the debate, aerospace engineering junior Tyler Rosen said he appreciated Medina’s candid “yes” or “no” answers. Rosen said he describes himself as a traditional conservative without a party affiliation. Throughout the debate, the candidates dodged direct questions. When asked how many private and government jobs were created in 2009, Perry said, “I can’t tell you how many government jobs [were created]. I can tell you what the percentage is. In Texas, we produce about 5 percent of what the total job market is.” A moderator asked Hutchison whether or not she believed the number of abortions would increase if Roe v. Wade was overturned. “You look at some of the states and their view of life
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Budget cuts force closure of Union cafe By Ben Wermund Daily Texan Staff The Cactus Cafe, one of Austin’s most revered music halls, will close in August after the Texas Union Board of Directors voted Friday to phase out the venue. The intimate 150-seat venue in the Union opened 31 years ago this month and has hosted esteemed musical acts such as Townes Van Zandt, Doug Sahm, Richard Thompson and Lyle Lovett. The board, composed of students and faculty, voted to close the cafe and also to cut the Union’s informal class program, which offers classes on topics ranging from tango to Buddhism for both UT students and the general public. The planned cuts, expected to save the Union $122,000, were drafted after Gov. Rick Perry instructed all state agencies to turn in budget-reduction plans by Feb. 15. UT plans to cut 5 percent of its overall budget. Andy Smith, University Union’s executive director, said the Cactus Cafe and the classes were no longer making money and had fallen out of line with the Union’s mission of serving students. “If the Cactus and the classes were making money, we wouldn’t have had to cut them,” Smith said. “It’s a double-edged kind of thing. They don’t serve students, and they don’t break even or return a profit,
so I have nothing to hang my hat on.” Smith said no layoffs will come from the program cuts. He said backlash from the decision — including the creation of the Facebook group “Save the Cactus Cafe,” which had more than 3,900 members Sunday evening — was not surprising. “We expected there would be [backlash] because the group of people specifically who come to the Cactus have been loyal customers for a long time,” he said. “But we derive our money from students currently going to school here and we have an obligation to them.” Theater and dance sophomore Jon Cook, who has attended shows at the Cactus Cafe and has performed at open mic nights, said he has always enjoyed the venue. “It kind of sucks that they’re closing it because a lot of important acts — at least to me — have played there,” Cook said. “I think it’s one of the coolest places on campus.” He said the board was probably correct in assuming most patrons of the venue are not students. “It’s usually an older crowd that goes there,” Cook said. “Most of the acts they book there are just traditional folk acts, that the age bracket is, like, 50 and up.”
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Callie Richmond | Daily Texan Staff
Raina Rose performs a free show at the Cactus Cafe inside the Union in July 2008.
Suspect at large after bank robbery No injuries reported as man uses undisclosed weapon to steal money By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Police have not yet apprehended an unidentified man who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank on Guadalupe Street near 21st Street on Friday morning. The suspect used a weapon that remains unidentified by authorities. The suspect, described by police as a male in his mid30s with a European accent, walked into the bank at 10:12 a.m. wearing gray sweatpants with duct tape covering the logos, a green and black backpack and a black ski mask, said Sgt. Keith Bazzle of the Austin Police Department. An APD flyer describes the man as 5’10” with a thin build. “The economy is bad,” Bazzle said. “We don’t know why people do it.” The suspect was seen in surveillance footage walking into the bank shaded by a black umbrella.
Peter Franklin | Daily Texan Staff
An armed robbery occurred at the Wells Fargo located at Guadalupe Street on Friday morning. Three customers stood in the bank lobby, and a number of employees stood behind the counter. After stealing an undisclosed amount of cash by threatening employees with the weapon, the man fled the bank, going south on Guadalupe. Bazzle said APD units searched the area. No one was injured, but the bank remained closed
for the rest of the day. “I was just about to get change, but now I’m glad I didn’t go,” said Young McLaughlin, the owner of Alante Salon, which is adjacent to the bank. McLaughlin said as the robbery occurred, she had a few customers in her store, but she was able to see “a tall man with a big nose” pass in front of her
store’s large windows. Her salon has a camera that monitors the area 24/7, pointing directly onto the sidewalk. She said the video will be released to police authorities. Wells Fargo spokeswoman Helen K. Bow said customer funds are secure at the bank, and despite the robbery, they are not in jeopardy of losing capital. Bow said the amount of money held at the bank and its security procedures cannot be disclosed because it may compromise the bank’s ability to prevent future robberies. “Wells Fargo’s top priority in all aspects of its operations is the safety of our customers and team members,” Bow said. “We do not tolerate criminals, and we use the full force of our technology and planning to thwart and catch them.” APD officials said if any member of the public has information about this incident, they are asked to call the robbery tip line at (512) 974-5092. This is Austin’s first bank robbery of the year.