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THE DAILY TEXAN Thursday, March 11, 2010
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Parks, Kabir win top SG seats Strong turnout in runoff marks end of highly charged race for presidency By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff After months of preparation, campaigning and controversy, an intense silence pervaded a conference room in the Main Building on Wednesday night as about 100 students waited to hear the results of one of the most energetic and competitive Student Government elections in recent history. When Election Supervisory Board Chair Charles Maddox announced that the executive alliance of Scott Parks and Muneezeh Kabir had won, half the room erupted into cheers while the other half offered respectful applause. “Before it was announced, we kept saying ‘the next student-body president is Minator Azemi’ to
SG RESULTS continues on page 2
SG Runoff Results Scott Parks and Muneezeh Kabir won the Student Government Executive Alliance race with a 55-percent majority after a weeklong runoff against Minator Azemi and Justin Stein. Votes for Parks/Kabir
4,801
Votes for Azemi/Stein
3,853
Total votes cast
8,654
In last week’s general election, Parks/Kabir received 42 percent of the vote, while Azemi/Stein received 46 percent. Total votes cast in last week’s general election
9,247
Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff
Scott Parks celebrates after being announced as Student Government’s next student-body president Wednesday. After an uncharacteristically large runoff turnout, the Parks/Kabir alliance won the president and vice-president election with a 55-percent majority.
Reporter challenges US media coverage of Iraq By Michael Moran Daily Texan Staff On Wednesday, an American journalist for Al-Jazeera criticized the American news media’s coverage of recent Iraqi elections and warned of a possible civil war in northern Iraq after the U.S. military withdraws most of its troops later this year. Josh Rushing, a UT alumnus, spoke before a crowd of about 40 in the Texas Union. Rushing recently returned from Iraq after reporting on the state of the country prior to its elections Sunday. He said that while there, he saw evidence that a civil war may soon break out in northern Iraq between Kurdish forces and the Iraqi military over control of major oil fields
in the region. “The reason the fighting hasn’t happened already is because the U.S. is there, but the thing is, everyone knows the U.S. is leaving,� he said. Tarek El-Ariss, a Middle Eastern studies professor, said he invited Rushing to give insight into the U.S. involvement in Iraq. “There is obviously great interest in the Iraqi elections for the American audience and the debate about the presence of our troops in Iraq,� El-Ariss said. “Someone who has a firsthand account can help enrich the debate about the war on terror.� Rushing criticized the American news media for portraying the elections as successful. He
said people in Iraq vote based on candidates’ religion and race rather than on policy. “There’s seemingly no protection for the minority in their system, so everyone has to vote for their own group,� Rushing said. “Any vote for someone other than your own group is seen as a vote for your future oppressor.� Rushing enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 18 years old, and in 2003, the military sent him to the Middle East to be one of its spokesmen at the start of the Iraq war. He drew controversy in 2004 after his appearance in a documentary about media
AL-JAZEERA continues on page 2
two meetings averaging about 50 attendees and a Facebook group with approximately 300 members, Texas Quidditch hopes to unite the University through spirited rivalry and capture some of the fun described in J.K. Rowling’s novels. A basic quidditch team consists of seven members: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and a seeker. The chasers try to throw a volleyball — or quaffle, in Harry Potter lingo — past the quidditch goalie, or keeper, into one of three hoops. The beaters throw dodgeballs, or bludgers, at other players to “knock� them off their brooms. Finally, and most importantly, the seeker is responsible for catching the snitch — a flag
By Nehal Patel Daily Texan Staff The “Hold Up for Haiti� fundraising initiative on Feb. 8 raised $56,136, Student Government President Liam O’Rourke announced Wednesday during a presentation at the Main Building. In February, about 600 student volunteers stood at 30 major street intersections in Austin to “hold up� traffic and solicit donations. Volunteers also went to various malls in Austin with laptops to ask shoppers to donate online via PayPal. The initiative was a joint effort between SG, the Student Volunteer Board, Texas Round Table and the Volunteer and Service Learning Center to raise money for the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. About $28,000 was raised, with an additional $5,000 in anonymous donations, said Reilly Milton, a marketing senior and president of Texas Round Table. The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas matched the $28,000 with another $28,000 for a total of about $56,000. “Our initial goal was $12,000, but we raised $23,000 from the hold-up alone,� Milton said The Entrepreneurs Foundation donated the collected money to the American Red Cross, Save the Children and Partners in Health. “We chose organizations that people can trust,� Milton said. “These organizations were doing the most for Haiti.� Initial Haiti relief efforts focused more on awareness, said
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INITIATIVE continues on page 2
Shannon Kintner | Daily Texan Staff
Josh Rushing, a correspondent for Al-Jazeera English, spoke at UT on Wednesday about the impending civil war in Iraq and the lack of exposure of international news coverage.
Popular fictional sport inspires campus group Texas Quidditch becomes first official University league, keeps books’ spirit
Shannon Kintner | Daily Texan Staff
Allison Burton practices blocking the quaffle with her broomstick, which all the players “ride� throughout the entire game.
By Gerald Rich Daily Texan Staff It’s a beautiful day in the Honors Quad, and a crowd has gathered to gawk at students holding brooms between their legs, throwing dodgeballs and chasing someone running around in a yellow jumpsuit. Quidditch has finally come to UT. Texas Quidditch, UT’s first official league based on the popular fictional sport from the Harry Potter series, got off the ground earlier in the spring with a surge of support from students. With the first
UT initiative collects large sum in Haiti relief effort
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