1A 1
News Page 7
Fossils predating oldest known dinosaur uncovered sPORTs Page 8
LIFe&aRTs Page 14 ‘No business like show business’
Baseball team builds confidence
The Daily Texan Friday, March 5, 2010
Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
Coalitions protest budget cuts
Danielle Villasana | Daily Texan Staff
Macha officer Naomi Caballero speaks about feminism and being proud of her Mexican-American culture during the budget cut and tuition increase protest Thursday.
Campus rally part of nationwide movement against tuition hikes By Rachel Burkhart Daily Texan Staff Chanting student protestors were bringing their demands to President William Powers Jr.’s office on the fourth floor of the UT Tower on Thursday when they ran into a locked stairwell doorway. The march through the Tower was part of a Stop the Cuts Coalition rally against University-wide budget reallocations and the rising cost of student tuition. The rally took place in conjunction with other student protests against tuition hikes in California, New York City and Detroit. For two hours, close to 200
students, staff and faculty congregated in the West Mall and led chants and cheered for speakers like Rep. Elliott Naishtat and assistant English professor Snehal Shingavi. At least 10 UT Police Department officers were present at the rally. Officer Tim McGill said they were making sure “that everyone stays safe.” Journalism junior Kelsey Lawrence, who is not a member of any of the groups, said she came to the rally after receiving a group invitation on Facebook. “I think it’s cool,” she said. “It’s our generation getting active about something.”
Several student groups formed the coalition in early February to address controversies over the Cactus Cafe, tuition hikes and budget cuts. Some of the rally participants included the Anthropology Graduate Students Association, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, University Workers, ¡ella pelea!, the Texas State Employees Union and the Socialist Worker. In January, Gov. Rick Perry asked all state agencies, including the UT System, to prepare for a possible 5-percent reduction in state funding. In a separate request, Powers asked all colleges and entities at the Uni-
in the dormitories, a violation of Division of Housing and Food Service policy; and using a mail merge spreadsheet to send a message to 10,000 students via e-mail using addresses obtained from the UT directory, violating the Information Technology Services policy against spamming. The campaign’s appeal questions the fairness of the ESB’s punishment, an 84-hour moratorium on campaigning from noon on Friday to 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. Although the e-mails violated ITS rules, Azemi and Stein said the board should not have punished the campaign because ITS has not ruled they were against policy. Stein and Azemi said they
made a “good-faith effort” to follow all University rules in regard to the fliers because they asked Bobby Jenkins, president of the University Residence Hall Association, for permission two to three weeks ago. Jenkins denied giving permission to hang or distribute fliers in dorm hallways until after Axemi actually requested it Tuesday afternoon, hours after the first complaint was filed with the ESB about the fliers. Even if Jenkins had given permission, the association does not have jurisdiction to supersede DHFS rules. “It has never been our intention to violate University policy,” Stein
COURT continues on page 5
MARCH continues on page 2
Low
High
52
67
www.dailytexanonline.com
Friends recall Rodriguez at funeral mass
By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Mourners gathered for a funeral mass at the St. Louis Catholic Church in Austin on Thursday to commemorate Maximiliano Rodriguez, the 21-year-old government junior who, according to police reports, fell from a fifth-floor balcony at the Jefferson 26 student housing complex and died Sunday morning. “He was positive and outgoing and always smiling, ever since he was in diapers until now,” Max Rodriguez, Maximiliano’s father, said at the funeral. “He ultimately wanted to make some type of change, to make some type of impact. He was kind and generous, open and smiling.” Maximiliano Rodriguez, known as Max to his friends, was a government junior bound to change the world, his father said. Rodriguez fell at approximately 3:00 a.m. Sunday at the West
versity to look for ways to cut a recurring 2 percent of their budgets. The University INSIDE: submitted More on the a plan to nationwide student UT Sys protests tem Board on page 3 of Regents in February outlining a plan to save money. The plan reported that the University would save money from the fall 2009 reorganization of the Information Technology Services and from drawing more funding
Executive alliance appealing SG ruling on code violation By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff Minator Azemi filed an appeal with the University’s Appellate Court on Thursday afternoon regarding the Election Supervisory Board ruling that determined the executive alliance of Azemi and Justin Stein violated the election code on two separate counts. The ruling came hours after an announcement Wednesday night that there would be a runoff election between the AzemiStein campaign and the alliance of Scott Parks and Muneezeh Kabir on Tuesday and Wednesday. The board ruled the Azemi campaign violated University policy in two ways: by distributing campaign fliers door-to-door
TOMORROw’s weaTHeR
Campus apartment, said Austin Police Department Corporal Scott Perry. The death is being considered accidental, but the investigation is still ongoing. A toxicology report could take up to eight weeks to be released, Perry said. Rodriguez Maximiliano was a member Rodriguez of the Longhorn Hellraisers, a UT-sponsored pep squad, and he always encouraged his friends during UT sporting events, said Hellraisers President Shane Pearson, a computer science senior. Pearson said Rodriguez was spending time with other Hellraiser members
FALL continues on page 2
Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff
Lance Demonteiro lifts his horns with other Longhorn Hellraisers at a memorial for Maximiliano Rodriguez on Thursday night.
Quake taxes Chilean students, staff By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Daily Texan Staff Chilean students and faculty members at UT are pulling together their resources to send aid to the southern part of the country after Saturday’s earthquake, which claimed 800 lives as of Thursday. But many still feel helpless as they can only sit and watch the aftermath unfold from more than 4,500 miles away. Alvaro Quezada-Hofflinger, a public policy graduate student who has family in Chile, began receiving text messages Saturday morning from concerned colleagues in Austin. He initially brushed off the news because he was used to hearing about earthquakes in Chile. “I thought it was whatever, just another one,” Quezada-Hofflinger said. “I was thinking it was no big deal because Chile has a lot of
earthquakes, and they are usually contained within a small portion of the country.” He began to worry when he tried calling his brother in Chile and was unable to reach him. When he heard of the devastating effects of the earthquake in Concepción and cities where he had family, Quezada-Hofflinger realized the severity of the situation. The National Earthquake Information Center lists the quake as the fifth-largest in the world since 1900. It was not until a few phone calls with friends in Chile on Sunday that he learned his brother and two cousins were safe — although their homes were without electricity and running water. Quezada-Hofflinger and others in the local Chilean community are hosting Chile en el Corazón, or With Chile in Our Hearts, a benefit Saturday evening meant
to raise money for victims. The earthquake was a magnitude 8 on the Richter scale in Santiago and a magnitude 8.8 in Concepción — the most powerful since Chile’s world-record-setting 9.5 magnitude in 1960. Since the Richter scale is
HELP continues on page 2 WHAT: Chile en el Corazón, a benefit event for the victims of the earthquake in Chile WHERE: Esquina Tango, 209 Pedernales Street WHEN: Saturday, March 6 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. MoRE INfo: There will be Chilean food, music and other activities. Please bring your own drinks. Suggested donation of $10. Donations also accepted through www.austinhelpschile.org
Board of Regents designates first-ever chairwoman By Rachel Burkhart Daily Texan Staff The UT System Board of Regents elected Colleen McHugh of Corpus Christi as its first chairwoman at a meeting INSIDE: Wednesday. A profile of the She was a student regent lawyer before serving on page 6 as vice president, compliance, risk management and privacy officer for CHRISTUS Spohn Health System. The board also elected Paul Foster of El Paso and Janiece Longoria
of Houston as vice chairs. The chair position became available when James Huffines of Austin, who has served twice as chairman and once as vice chairman, announced his decision to resign late in 2009. UT System spokesman Matt Flores said Huffines did not offer an explanation for his resignation. Huffines will continue to serve as a member of the board until his term expires on Feb. 1, 2015. McHugh said in a statement that she was “deeply honored” by the regents’ decision. “I will work hard to be worthy of the trust they have placed in me,” she said. “I know the
board is committed to following through on the initiatives [started] during the last several years and reaffirming its shared commitment to transparency and excellence. Our work remains unchanged — ensuring that the University of Texas System serves our students, the people of Texas and the nation well.” Gov. Rick Perry appointed McHugh to a six-year term on the board on Oct. 11, 2005. Since then, she has served as vice chairwoman of the Board of Regents, chair of the health affairs committee and member of the academic affairs committee. In a statement issued after her
election, Perry said that McHugh “has again made history.” “As the first woman on the Texas Public Safety Commission and the first woman to chair the Texas State Bar Board of Directors, Colleen has been a true trailblazer for dedicated and talented women throughout Texas,” he said. “In every facet of her public and private career, she has established a record of success and leadership, and I have every confidence that will continue in her position as chair.” Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff Since the board’s inception in 1881, Texas governors have ap- Newly appointed chairwoman Colleen McHugh speaks at a UT Board pointed 216 different regents, but of Regents meeting Wednesday. She is the first chairwoman to be only 18 have been women. elected by the Board of Regents.