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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
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TODAY
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Students protest state budget cuts
82ND LEGISLATURE
Calendar Vote
Today is the last day to vote in the campuswide Student Government elections. Go to http://www.utexas.edu/ studentgov/ and enter your UT EID and password to vote.
Erika Rich | Daily Texan Staff
President William Powers Jr. testifies Wednesday at a Senate Finance Committee meeting to discuss a bill that would cut millions from UT’s 2012-13 budget.
Kinesiology & Health Education Job Fair
Powers, UT groups lobby government to retain funding
The College of Education Career Services Center will host a Kinesiology and Health Education Job and Internship Fair in Bellmont Hall 528 from 11 a.m. - 2:30p.m.
By Melissa Ayala Daily Texan Staff
Black Light Bash
“For the Love of the Arts” is the final event of the UT Arts Week which will be a black light dance party on the Bass Concert Hall stage from 7 - 10 p.m.
Tiger Darrow
Tiger Darrow will play with guest Jason Poe at the Cactus Cafe at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 and $6 with a UT Student ID.
Liza Minnelli
The Long Center for the Performing Arts will host Liza Minnelli at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $39.
Today in history In 1845
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Campus Watch Where did I park my DeLorean?
600 Block Colorado A non-UT subject was discovered staggering and using sign poles to maintain his balance and prevent him from falling. During the investigation, the subject informed the officer that he had been to a downtown establishment, but due to the effects of the transporting elixir he believed it was Feb. 1, 2010. The officer detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject’s breath and noted other signs of intoxication. The subject was taken into custody for Public Intoxication and was transported to Central Booking.
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Quote to note “We do a lot of damage control on our site because of ‘Twilight.’ But we just consider it a fun challenge ... There are, like, a thousand books that are way more romantic, way better written and don’t have creepy stalkers.” — Sarah Pitre Creator of Forever Young Adult blog LIFE&ARTS PAGE 10
Liberal Arts Dean Randy Diehl is meeting with different departments and centers before finalizing the cuts in a few weeks, Flores said. He said it will be hard to make cuts that the Legislature is asking the University to make without hurting the students. Flores said the centers are not seeing the worst impact of the budget shortfall. Many departments already lost funding last semester, he said. The Students Speak coalition, which organized the ral-
President William Powers Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday to explain how the budget cuts will hurt UT while students both inside and outside the committee room made their voices heard. The Senate budget bill would cut UT’s budget by $65 million in the 2012-13 biennium. That would force UT to eliminate 90 faculty and 200 staff positions, among other major cuts, Powers said. “We at the University of Texas understand it is a very tough recession,” Powers said. “We’re all tightening our belts and I’m here to say the University of Texas needs to do its part and we’re ready to do that.” Students from advocacy organization The Students Speak testified against the proposed cuts. Members of legislative lobbying group Invest In Texas also attended to hear Powers’ testimony. Student Government President Scott Parks, a member of Invest In Texas, said he fears tuition will increase if UT loses formula funding. The lobbying group includes members of SG, Senate of College Councils, Graduate Student Assembly and other student leaders.
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Ryan Edwards | Daily Texan Staff
Warren Moore, chemistry and African Diaspora studies senior, leads a rally of students and community members in a chant aimed against proposed budget cuts to the Liberal Arts centers on campus Wednesday, who marched to the Capitol. By Huma Munir Daily Texan Staff
Activist group The Students Speak dedicated their full attention and energy to UT administrators and state legislators in a rally on Wednesday to protest budget cuts. About 100 students participated in the rally, which started at the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and ended at the Capitol, where President William Powers Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee. Throughout downtown, they chanted “They say
cut back, we say, ‘fight back,’” and wore red T-shirts with “No Budget Cuts” on the back. Their posters boasted slogans such as “Budget Cuts have Faces” and “Save Our Staff.” The College of Liberal Arts will lose $3.5 million in funding over the next three years, said Richard Flores, the college’s senior associate dean for academic affairs. The first $1 million cut will impact Liberal Arts centers, including those for Women’s and Gender studies, Asian American Studies and Mexican American Studies, ac-
cording to a recommendation plan released by the Academic Planning and Advisory Committee. The committee includes faculty from nine departments, and its proposals are part of the college’s considerations in cuts. “We are being realistic, and we understand that cuts will have to be made in some fashion, but we are waiting to see what final decisions will be made by the dean of liberal arts,” said Luis Guevara, program coordinator for the Center for Mexican American Studies.
City Council to vote on ordinance Rally at Capitol venerates lives to increase parking meters hours of fallen construction workers By Allie Kolechta Daily Texan Staff
Parking may be even more of a pain for students and Austin residents if the City Council approves an ordinance in today’s meeting that would increase parking meter hours. The Downtown Commission and the Urban Transportation Commission reviewed an ordinance that would amend the city code concerning parking meter hours. The council will vote on it today. If it passes, parking meter hours downtown will run
from 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and all other parking meter hours will last from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Currently all parking meters operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during weekdays. Since Austin is the 15th largest city in the nation, it has significant congestion and parking problems, said Matt Curtis, communications director of the mayor’s office. “We’re working to address all of these problems,” he said. “This is one method the city staff is presenting as a potential parking solution and we look forward to the discus-
sion tomorrow on the dais.” The ordinance will most likely pass through council, said Dustin Lanier, chair of the Urban Transportation Commission. Lanier voted against the ordinance. “I find just as many concerns on the policy level as I do positives,” he said. “To me it just feels like a revenue thing, and I think revenue issues should be dealt with as part of the overall budget, not something separate.” The intent of the ordinance is to prevent long-term
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Graduate student utilizes flora to create compostable flatware By Yvonne Marquez Daily Texan Staff
A design graduate student hopes people will use a more natural alternative to environmentally harmful plates and containers. Amr it a Ad hi kar y designed a system to make compostable dinnerware out of fallen areca nut palm leaves, which are native to India. She said she wanted to create a solution to the waste from the culture of high consumption. “We do need a disposable option because of our lifestyle; we are always on the go,” Adhikary said. “We need to take food when we
travel or pick up food at fast food restaurants.” She said Styrofoam and plastic containers are environmentally hazardous because they don’t degrade or decompose. The waste from these products occupy massive amounts of space and can potentially harm ground water, she said. “Using leaves [to make plates] ensures that the plate is a totally environmentally-friendly product from the start to the finish,” Adhikary said. Although there are more biodegradable products on the market now, people are not consistently composting them, Adhikary said.
She said biodegradable and compostable items that get thrown in the trash will not benefit the environment because they need air and moisture to decompose. They end up being like any other piece of plastic, she said. Associate design professor Gloria Lee, Adhikary’s adviser, said her design is remarkable because she did not just design dinnerware. “It’s a design project that looks at an entire system, Lee said. “It’s not just a compostable set of dinnerware but continues through its life cycle and beyond.”
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Erika Rich | Daily Texan Staff
Austin construction worker Pablo Ortiz carries one of 138 coffins symbolizing every Texas worker and laborer that was killed in 2009. Hundreds of workers and citizens marched demanding legislation for better training and compensation from employers. By Molly Moore Daily Texan Staff
Cardboard coffins lined Congress Avenue until all 138 of them filled the front lawn of the Texas Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. The coffins were painted black and represented the 138 Texas construction workers and laborers who lost their lives on the job in 2009. Their memories served as the rallying cry for the roughly 600 people who gathered at the Capitol in support of new legislation on workers’ rights and safety. The Workers Defense Project organized the rally and gathered lawmakers, clergy members and activists with the families of those who had died. “The cause we’re here for today is not just a good one, but a sacred one,” one member of the church said at the beginning of the rally. Political commentator Jim Hightow-
er spoke at the rally to state the activists’ demands. “We’re not just here to honor the memory of the workers,” Hightower said. “We’re here for just a little bit of justice. We’re not asking for the whole thing. If we were, we’d be asking for Wall Street salaries and benefits — now that would be justice.” This justice comes primarily in the form of mandatory workers’ compensation, which would require every employer to provide wage replacement and medical benefits to any employee injured while on the job, said Billy Yates, an intern at the Workers Defense Project. As it stands, Texas is the only state that does not require such compensation, he said. He also cites simple things, such as required breaks, as important preventive measures.
FALLEN
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