The Daily Texan 03/12/10

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SXSW stays course, continues growth

Mary Heard | Daily Texan file photo

Brothers Alejandro and Javier Escovedo reunited with the other members of True Believers at South By Southwest in 1994.

Founders of entertainment festival reflect on past as Austin gears up to host events Joe Buglewicz | Daily Texan file photo

worker Roland Swenson and booking agent Louis Meyers. The four of them worked together to put on the first SXSW in March 1987. Although they were only expecting around 150 people to participate, Black said more than 700 came. “It was meant to be a regional event for five or six states,� he said. “But it was national almost immediately.� Black suggested they name the festival after Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,� though he gave no reasoning behind his decision. Although Meyers left Austin in the early ’90s to head the Folk Alliance in Nashville, Tenn., the other three are still involved with the event. Swenson, who The Beginning had previously managed bands and Louis Black, editor and co-founder of music clubs, became the managing diThe Austin Chronicle, launched SXSW rector for SXSW and continues to be one with Chronicle publisher Nick Barbaro SXSW continues on page 6 in 1986. The men got the idea from coBy Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff Hundreds of people will hit the streets of downtown Austin this weekend for South By Southwest, the 10-day festival showcasing music, film and interactive conferences held in mid-March. What started as a music-only festival has since expanded to include film and interactive events. People and artists in the three industries can mingle and learn from each other during the conferences held in the Austin Convention Center and showcase their work at the festivals held throughout Austin.

Irish dancers ‘step’ toward St. Patrick’s Day festivities By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Daily Texan Staff Donning black jazz pants and a T-shirt with a Celtic design, microbiology senior Katrinia Donnellan practiced her dance steps with 15 other people Thursday evening at the Irish Dance Center. Her mother, who is also the instructor, guided them through the rehearsal, her Irish accent resonating in the studio.

Donnellan, the president and founder of UT’s Inis Ealga Irish Cultural Organization, said Irish dancing has always been a part of her life, thanks to her mom. Every St. Patrick’s Day, performing traditional Irish step dancing makes up most of her holiday festivities, and next week will be no different.

IRISH continues on page 2

Above, Kathryn Calder of The New Pornographers performs at Stubb’s BBQ during SXSW in 2006. Below, Jack Antonoff, lead vocalist and guitarist of Steel Train, plays the last song of the set at Auditorium Shores during SXSW in 2007.

How it all started... November 1986 Friends Roland Swenson and Louis Jay Meyers approach Austin Chronicle editor Louis Black and publisher Nick Barbaro with the idea of holding a music conference and festival.

March 1987 Swenson, Meyers, Black and Barbaro hold the first SXSW on Thursday, March 12. Thanks to an advertisement and story in Billboard magazine, 700 people show up — 550 more than expected.

Check out more SXSW history on page 6 Jason Sweeten | Daily Texan file photo

Drilling technique may cause quakes By Aziza Musa Daily Texan Staff A plausible connection exists between the oil-drilling wastewater disposal processes and a series of 19 earthquakes that occurred nearly a year ago in northeast Texas, according to a study released Wednesday. Four researchers, two from UT and two from Southern Methodist University, studied the earthquakes, which occurred near

the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area. The earthquakes took place between October 2008 and May 2009. Residents could feel the impact of eight earthquakes, the other 11 were “non-felt.� The strongest earthquake recorded had a relatively small magnitude of 3.3. The disposal process refers to water used after drilling for oil. In order to extract oil from the ground, engineers use hydraulic

fracturing, in which a high-pressure fluid — usually water — is pumped into a well. After the high-pressure water is pumped in, it will push fluids such as oil and gas back up to the well, said Paul Bommer, senior lecturer in the UT Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. Bommer said wastewater from oil wells is composed of fresh and salt waters as well as residue from gas and water

mixtures. Because the wastewater is too salty to drink and would be considered pollution if dumped into rivers, engineers have drilled other wells in geologic formations that already have saltwater and dispose of it at these formations. In more than 150 years, there have been no local earthquakes felt by the people of Dallas in

OIL continues on page 2

Senate withholds support on 10-semester limit

Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff

Middle school students Kimberly Corser, left, and Emma Matus practice dance drills during a performance rehearsal at the Irish Dance Center on Thursday.

By Rachel Burkhart Daily Texan Staff The Senate of College Councils voted unanimously Thursday to not support a task force recommendation that would impose a 10-semester limit on students pursuing most undergraduate degrees. In December, the Second Task Force on Enrollment Strategy was charged with finding ways to improve the University’s graduation rate. The task force presented its recommendations to President William Powers Jr. in February. The University currently has no policy regarding the number of semesters a student may take to complete a degree. The average time for degree completion at the Universi-

ty is eight and a half semesters whereas the national average is only eight semesters, according to a 2003 report. The University’s six-year graduation rate of 70.5 percent is equivalent to the four-year graduation rate of its best competitors, according to the Senate resolution. Lauren Ratliff, president of the Senate, co-authored the Senate resolution with Senate Policy Director Drew Finke and Curriculum Committee Chair David Liu. She said most of the resolution’s language was generated by presidents of the University’s 19 college councils. Maxx Scholten | Daily Texan Staff “We acknowledge that there’s a problem with the graduate Yijiao Zhuang, administrative director of the UT Senate of College Councils, addresses Senate members in the Glenn Maloney Room of LIMIT continues on page 2 the Student Services Building on Thursday.

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Associate dean appointed to fill provost position

THE DAILY TEXAN Volume 110, Number 168 25 cents

CONTACT US Main Telephone: (512) 471-4591 Editor: Jillian Sheridan (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor: Ana McKenzie (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Web Office: (512) 471-8616 online@dailytexanonline.com

Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff

Geophysics junior Jane Hornsby dances under the watchful eye of her director, Eimir Ni Mhaoileidigh. Hornsby helped co-found the Inis Ealgon Irish Cultural Organization at UT.

Sports Office: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com

IRISH: Groups ‘tap’ holiday traditions

Life & Arts Office: (512) 232-2209 dailytexan@gmail.com

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Come Wednesday, Irish melodies will fill Sixth Street. Dancers will show off the fast rhythm of their steps, and both the Irish and non-Irish alike will clink their beers together in celebration of Ireland’s patron saint. Although St. Patrick’s Day is considered an excuse for many Americans to start drinking at noon, it is also a day for Donnellan and other Irish-Americans to get in touch with their heritage. Donnellan and fellow dancer Jane Hornsby, a geophysics junior, coincidentally founded their organization on St. Patrick’s Day last spring. “When [Hornsby and I] came here, we were expecting more Irish cultural groups on campus since there are some pretty big organizations in Austin,� Donnellan said. “There really weren’t any, so later we decided to start one.� Every other Tuesday, members try out Irish dance steps, but Donnellan hopes to expand the scope of the meetings by bringing in someone to lead a Gaelic workshop and local Irish music artists. Donnellan and Hornsby have performed at past UT events, including Madrigal Dinner and World Unite. “When people think of Irish dancing, they think of some type of Lord-of-the-Dance river dancing,� Hornsby said. “It’s not like that at all.� Hornsby, who has been dancing since she was 6, described traditional Irish dancing as a high-energy activity that is mostly legwork with no arm motions. In contests, competitors dance in either hard shoes — which make the tap sound — or soft shoes.

THE DAILY TEXAN Permanent Staff

This newspaper was written, edited and designed with pride by The Daily Texan and Texas Student Media.

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jillian Sheridan Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ana McKenzie Associate Managing Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin Mulvaney, Sean Beherec, Erik Reyna Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremy Burchard, Dan Treadway, David Muto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lauren Winchester, Roberto Cervantes News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blair Watler Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pierre Bertrand, Lena Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claire Cardona, Viviana Aldous Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerald Rich, Audrey White, Alex Geiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shabab Siddiqui, Bobby Longoria, Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nausheen Jivani Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cristina Herrera, Vicky Ho, Matt Jones Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Olivia Hinton Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shatha Hussein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Veronica Rosalez, Mustafa Saifuddin Special Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thu Vo Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Young Associate Photo Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bryant Haertlein, Peter Franklin Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Kang,Tamir Kalifa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peyton McGee, Daniela Trujillo, Bruno Morlan Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben Wermund Associate Life&Arts Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Genuske Senior Entertainment Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rob Rich, Frankie Marin, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Ross Harden, Lane Lynch, Kate Ergenbright Features Entertainment Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gerald Rich, Audrey Campbell, Mary Lingwall Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blake Hurtik Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Sherfield Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Hurwitz, Laken Litman, Austin Ries, Chris Tavarez Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carolynn Calabrese Multimedia Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juan Elizondo Associate Multimedia Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rachael Schroeder, Blas Garcia Senior Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlos Medina Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug Warren

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aziza Musa, Hannah Jones, Rachel Burkhart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shamoyita Dasgupta, Karishma Hossain, Collin Eaton Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Heimsath, Danielle Villasana, Bobby Longoria, Maxx Scholten Sports Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Betori, Sameer Bhuchar, Kate Guerra Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Meller, Katherine Kloc, Carlo Castillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Royall, Madeleine Crum Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justin Sedgwick, Emily Grubert Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varangi Vora Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elyana Barrera, Nolan Hicks, Sydney Fitzgerald Life&Arts / Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Morgan Wire Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Megan Gottlieb Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edgar Vega, Katie Carrell, Claudine Lucena, Hannah Chung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Bowman, Victoria Elliott, Connor Shea, Ryohei Yatsu Videographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alan McQuinn

Advertising

Director of Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jalah Goette Retail Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brad Corbett Account Executive/Broadcast Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Goss Campus/National Sales Consultant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Bowerman Assistant to Advertising Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.J. Salgado Student Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathryn Abbas Student Advertising Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ford, Meagan Gribbin Student Account Executives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anupama Kulkarni, Ashley Walker, An Ly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameron McClure, Daniel Ruszkiewkz, Lauren Aldana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laci Long, Tommy Daniels Classified Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teresa Lai Special Editions, Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elena Watts Web Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danny Grover Special Editions, Student Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kira Taniguchi Graphic Designer Interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Thomas, Lisa Hartwig Senior Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felimon Hernandez The Daily Texan (USPS 146-440), a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78705. The Daily Texan is published daily except Saturday, Sunday, federal holidays and exam periods, plus the last Saturday in July. Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710. News contributions will be accepted by telephone (471-4591) or at the editorial office (Texas Student Media Building 2.122). For local and national display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified display and national classified display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified word advertising, call 471-5244. Entire contents copyright 2009 Texas Student Media.

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Texan Ad Deadlines

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Female dancers often wear bright, billowing dresses and voluminous, curly wigs for performances. The bouncing curls add to the aesthetics, she said with a laugh. Donnellan said Irish dancing is an art that has been passed down through her mother’s side of the family. Her grandfather, MaitiĂş Ă“ MhaoilĂŠidigh, founded the World Irish Dancing Championships in 1969 in Ireland. The Inis Ealga Irish Cultural Organization is named after the dance school her grandfather opened. “Inis Ealgaâ€? is a poetic name for Ireland meaning “the noble isle,â€? Donnellan said. After spring break, the organization plans on hosting a cĂŠilĂ­, or Irish dance party. In the meantime, both Donnellan and Hornsby, along with other dancers in the organization, will perform at several events next week, including the St. Patrick’s Day festival, hosted by FadĂł Irish Pub and Restaurant. For the 13th year in a row, the pub will shut down a section of Fourth Street for 12 hours of music and celebration. More than 3,000 people showed up last year for craic, which is an Irish term for laughter and good fun, pub manager Keith McGrory said. Many of the present-day traditions originated in the United States, not Ireland, said Donnelle McKaskle, the founder and artistic director of the Celtic Cultural Center of Texas. Originally on St. Patrick’s Day, people attended Mass and then had a feast, McKaskle said. The Irish pride parades began with immigrants in New York, and many popular Irish songs were born in American pubs and vaudeville shows, she said. Even the signature dish of corned beef and cabbage, a common dish eaten on the holiday, has an American twist, McKaskle said. While bacon was traditionally eaten in Ireland, poor

St. Patrick’s Day Events: March 17 Fadó Irish Pub and Restaurant Where: Fourth Street, from Colorado to Lavaca streets When: Pub doors open at 6 a.m.; street festival begins at noon What to expect: Two stages, Celtic rock bands, a U2 cover band, music and dance performances from both local groups and groups from Ireland, pints and traditional food Cover: Free Celtic Cultural Center Where: Cover 3 restaurant and sports bar When: 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. What to expect: Gaelic workshops, children’s storytelling, Irish dance troupes, hurdling and Gaelic football with the Celtic Cowboys Sports & Social Club, musicians from Ireland and traditional food Cover: $8 online, $10 at the door; children under 13 free of charge Irish Dance Center Performance Schedule 3 p.m.: Mother Egan’s Irish Pub, a benefit for St. Baldrick’s Foundation 4:30 p.m.: Fadó 7:30 p.m.: Cover 3

Irish immigrants who lived in the U.S. could not afford bacon, so they adopted corned beef from the Jewish-American community as a cheaper alternative, she explained. “It’s not really a secular holiday in the U.S.,� McKaskle said. “Everyone here gets to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, luckily.�

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By Hannah Jones Daily Texan Staff Daniel Slesnick, associate dean for research, facilities and information technology in the College of Liberal Arts, was appointed the University’s new vice provost of resource management Wednesday. Current Executive Vice Provost Stephen Monti, who has worked at the University for 43 years, announced his retirement last week. He will work closely with Slesnick to ensure a smooth transition. Monti said Slesnick’s appointment was an excellent choice made by the institution, and they have already started working together. Slesnick will work half the time in the provost’s office while still teaching through May. During the summer, he will work full time in the provost position. “He has a desk set up right next to mine in my office,� Monti said. “We will work to-

gether on things and he will come to all the meetings that his schedule allows to immerse him in the process.� In his new position, Slesnick will deal with budget issues as well as facility and space development. “[Slesnick] is a good administrator,� Monti said. “He has worked with facilities and budgets and has good common sense.� Slesnick received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of Washington and his doctorate in economics at Harvard University. In 1982, Slesnick started at the University as an assistant economics professor and became an associate professor in 1986. Slesnick has been a tenured professor since 1993. In 2007, Slesnick became associate dean for research, facilities and information technology in the College of Liberal Arts.

OIL: Causal link can’t be seen,

but relationship is ‘plausible’ From page 1 part because of the lack of active faults in the region, said Cliff Frohlich, UT’s associate director of the Institute for Geophysics and one of the authors of the study. He said that while a connection between wastewater disposal and a higher number of earthquakes is plausible, there is no way to prove the causal link between the two. “All we’ve really shown is in a place where earthquakes shouldn’t have occurred, they have been near a disposal well,� Frohlich said. “It’s possible they were related [as the quakes were] close in time and space to the disposal well, and people have seen these types of earthquakes elsewhere. If [a magnitude 3.3] earthquake happens right under your house, it might have knocked something off of your wall.�

Bommer said that if underground conditions met criteria to induce an earthquake, the creation of a man-made quake is theoretically possible. “[In the Dallas-Fort Worth area], the way the reservoir is accessed is by a long, horizontal well,� Bommer said. “A horizontal well may have up to 10 fractures, and for any one fracture, I might pump 1.5 million gallons of water.� Of the hundreds of disposal sites in the area, however, only this one has produced manmade, harmless earthquakes because the amount of water is so large it can fill two Olympicsized swimming pools. “If earthquakes are occurring, if you know they’re small, it’s not a bad thing, [and] you live with them,� Frohlich said. “We want to understand them better to be sure that they’re not dangerous or to avoid them.�

LIMIT: Semester cap does not

solve rate issues, Senate says From page 1 rates at UT,� she said. “But we don’t think that a strict punitive rule is the best way of addressing that issue.� The task force recommended that all students meet with an adviser at least once per semester, but Ratliff said the University does not have enough resources to fulfill the mandate. The resolution asked for clarification regarding the appeal process, expectations for student

progress and options for corrective action. “This is a good initial response,� Ratliff said. “We’re going to follow this up by asking more specific questions and putting pressure on the provost’s office to really address these questions.� The Senate of College Councils supported all of the task force’s other recommendations, including those that maintain the student-faculty ratio and review the financial aid application process.

campus watch So they cut to the chase Burdine Hall, 2505 University Ave. Theft: A silver Marin mountain bicycle was stolen from a building sign located on the south side of the building. The owner was able to find her cut lock laying near the building sign. Loss value: $750.00. Occurred on: 3-09-10, between 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM.

Unscheduled photo shoot DKR Texas Memorial Stadium, 405 E. 23rd St. Criminal Trespass Warning: A non-UT subject refused to heed several warnings from a UT staff member about taking pictures during a closed practice session. The subject then entered onto the playing field

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and ran towards another UT staff member asking to have his picture taken with that staff member. The subject was intercepted. During the investigation, the subject was issued a written Criminal Trespass Warning and was escorted from the area. Occurred on: 3-09-10, at 5:47 PM.

Triple-ply pillow is soft enough Perry-Castaneda Library, 101 E. 21st St. Public Intoxication / Criminal Trespass Warning: A non-UT subject was reported as being “passed out� inside a third-floor men’s restroom. Officers discovered a subject resting his head on a roll of Charmin toilet paper. Officers detected a very strong odor of alcohol on the subject’s breath. After being awakened from his slumber, the subject informed the officers that he was inside the Austin Public Library and had taken some prescribed medication that had made him sleepy. The subject admitted he had been drinking, but could not remember how much he had consumed. The subject was taken into custody for public intoxication and was transported to Central Booking. During a search, the officers discovered the subject was in possession of a halffull 370 milliliter bottle of whiskey and a 16-ounce can of lager. Compiled by UTPD Officer Darrell Halstead

3 W/N

Wire Editor: Megan Gottlieb www.dailytexanonline.com

WORLD&NATION

3

Friday, March 12, 2010

T HE DAILY T EXAN

WORLD BRIEFLY Mayor officiates Mexico City’s first legalized gay marriages MEXICO CITY — Two glowing brides in white gowns made history Thursday as they wed under Latin America's first law that explicitly approves gay marriage. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was officiating five same-sex marriages in one day, despite harsh criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and a campaign against the measure launched by President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party. Mexico City's legislature approved the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The legislation also allows same-sex couples to adopt children. Thursday's weddings follow several other gay marriages in Latin America, although they're the first approved under legislative authority. In December, two Argentine men were wed in a civil ceremony by a sympathetic governor and with court approval. In 2007, a couple in Mexico City celebrated a "samesex union." The legal approval has been closely watched in the U.S. where samesex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Iowa, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Federal prosecutors are attempting to overturn the law, which Mexico City legislators argue simply gives same-sex couples the rights that heterosexual couples have.

NATION BRIEFLY Mysterious crash leaves pilot dead, hangar engulfed in fire CHANDLER, Ariz. — A World War II-era plane crashed Thursday while attempting to land at a small suburban Phoenix airport, killing the pilot and catching a hangar on fire, authorities said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the single-engine P-51D Mustang crashed at about 1:20 p.m. at Stellar Airpark. Gregor said the circumstances of the crash were unclear, but FAA investigators were en route to the airport. Authorities evacuated nearby hangars after one caught fire following the crash. The blaze was quickly extinguished, and fire crews sifted through the debris to determine if there were any other victims. None were found. Witnesses said the plane appeared to be coming in too fast for its attempted landing. It touched down short of the runway and cartwheeled into the hangar, they said.

Massachusetts rescuers attempt to save 16 beached dolphins WELLFLEET, Mass. — Rescuers have been hip-deep in mud in a desperate effort to rescue 16 whitesided dolphins stranded on Massachusetts' Cape Cod, but at least two of the animals have died and the outlook for eight others is grim. The International Fund for Animal Welfare says 10 of the dolphins became stranded in an area of Wellfleet known as Drummer Cove. Six others beached just south of there at Lieutenant Island. Atlantic white-sided dolphins are common in the waters off the Cape. Scientists are not certain what causes marine mammals to become stranded, though one leading theory is that the animals become confused after chasing prey into shallow waters. Compiled from Associated Press reports

Athenian youths riot, demand ‘real jobs’ By Elena Becatoros The Associated Press ATHENS, Greece — Clashes between riot police and rock-throwing, masked youths broke out during a demonstration Thursday in central Athens by tens of thousands of striking workers protesting austerity measures that the Greek government has said it has no choice but to implement. The debt-ridden country is under intense pressure from both markets and the European Union to reduce its deficit from 12.7 percent of economic output in 2009 to 8.7 percent this year. Last week, Greece introduced a harsh $6.5 billion austerity package that cut civil servants’ wages, froze pensions and raised consumer taxes. The new cutbacks, added to a previous $15.24 billion austerity plan, sparked a wave of strikes and protests from labor unions whose reaction to the initial measures had been muted. Thursday’s 24-hour general strike grounded airline flights, halted public transport, suspended news broadcasts and left public hospitals working with emergency staff. Demonstrators took to the streets of Athens, banging drums and chanting slogans such as “no sacrifice for plutocracy,” and “real jobs, higher pay.” “The fight must be constant until the stability pact — these unpopular measures passed by the government — is overturned,” demonstrator Olga Raptou said. An unofficial police estimate put the Athens crowd at about 20,000; organizers said the actual number was much higher. Clashes broke out soon after the march began, with riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse masked youths who smashed pavement, marble steps and building facades to use as projectiles to throw at police.About 200 black-clad youths in crash helmets and ski masks fought sporadic street battles with the police

Nikolas Giakoumidis | Associated Press

Rioters clash with police during a demonstration in Athens against the Greek government’s austerity plan Thursday. Street riots have erupted as more than 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike. through central Athens, smashing shop, bank and hotel windows and bus stops, setting trash bins on fire, and punching and kicking motorcycle police. While public anger has grown, it has been mitigated by a general understanding that something must be done to pull the country out of a crisis that has made its cost of borrowing skyrocket. An opinion poll published last weekend, just after Parliament approved the measures, found Greeks split — with 47 percent opposing the austerity package and

46 percent supporting it. “It is to be expected that there will be reaction to these measures. We took very difficult decisions that were very unpleasant, and they personally upset me a great deal,” Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Pangalos said Wednesday. “But we cannot do anything differently.” Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Socialists enjoy a comfortable majority with 160 of Parliament’s 300 seats and easily pushed the measures through Parliament on March 5.

“We have made a choice which could lead the country to a radical clean up of the past,” Pangalos said on Mega TV. “We will find the way forward and we will not turn back. And no one can obstruct this given that a large section of Greek society supports us.” The government says the cuts are its only way to dig Greece out of a crisis that has hammered the euro and alarmed international markets, inflating the loan-dependent country’s borrowing costs. But unions say ordinary Greeks are being forced to pay

a disproportionate price for past fiscal mismanagement. “They are trying to make workers pay the price for this crisis,” said Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of Greece’s largest union, the GSEE. “These measures will not be effective and will throw the economy into deep freeze.” Papandreou, who has been on a four-nation tour to drum up support for his austerity package, said that he understood the reactions to the measures, but that demonstrations could harm Greece’s image abroad.

School board sets early fall deadline for ‘drastic’ plans

By Maria Sudekum Fisher The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City school officials promised Thursday to shut down nearly half the district’s schools by the start of classes in the fall without offering details of how they intend to implement the complicated plan in just a matter of months. The drastic project also calls for cutting hundreds of jobs and shuffling thousands of students — changes that officials say are needed to keep the district from using up what little is left of the $2 billion it received as part of a groundbreaking desegregation case. The school board narrowly approved the plan Wednesday night, which calls for closing 29 of the district’s 61 schools, eliminating about 700 of its 3,000

jobs and moving students from the shuttered buildings to other schools. Superintendent John Covington has said the district would be bankrupt in 18 months without the cuts. At a news conference Thursday, Covington thanked the school board for approving the plan and said he would give the board details about putting the plan in place in about a week. He added that the transition plan itself would cost $25 million, and that he would “be looking at ways to generate” that money “from additional savings that we will be recommending to the board.” Covington said transition teams would be in place in the schools that are closing to help children and staff deal with the

Ed Zurga | Associated Press

Members of the Kansas City school board listen to citizens during a meeting in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday. The school board voted to close nearly half the district’s schools.

changes. He said the changes would likely involve staggered start times and class times for middle school students attending school with high school students in the fall.

Some of the district’s buildings, including its downtown headquarters, would be sold. Other would be “repurposed,” and used as parks, he said. “We have until August to get

this done, and there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s enough time between now and the opening of the school year to make it all happen,” the superintendent said. “We’re confident it will work.”

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OPINION

4 Friday, March 12, 2010

Editor in Chief: Jillian Sheridan Phone: (512) 232-2212 E-mail: editor@dailytexanonline.com Associate Editors: Jeremy Burchard David Muto Roberto Cervantes Dan Treadway Lauren Winchester

T HE DAILY T EXAN

GALLERY

OVERVIEWS

VISIT OUR NEW WEB SITE

Preserve free parking

The Daily Texan Online will get an entire new look over spring break. The site will launch on March 17. The site was built and designed by UT students and will be entirely controlled by Texan staff. The site will have increased capacity for multimedia content such as photoblogs and videos. Check it out at dailytexanonline.com.

The various businesses, property owners and churches that make up the University Area Partners want to get rid of the estimated 500 free parking spots. Under its plan, 400 of those spots would be paid parking while the remaining 100 would require a permit. Some of the funds would be used for improving West Campus streets and sidewalks, but according to the Austin American-Statesman, 70 percent of revenue from parking meters will be used to pay for and maintain the meters. That leaves a paltry 30 percent for improving and beautifying West Campus sidewalks. So far, it’s not clear how much money the meters would generate. If enacted, the parking changes in West Campus will force students to park in private garages or move their cars to neighborhoods farther north. Both outcomes would benefit only the members of the UAP. The landlords and apartment managers who would directly benefit from increased usage of the private parking garages that are currently not at full capacity sit on the UAP. It’s no surprise that students opt for free street parking when they can find it, considering that parking in a garage can cost up to (and sometimes more than) $100 a month, parking anywhere at UT requires a permit and rows of parking meters already dot Guadalupe and Dean Keeton streets. Good thing the external Student Government members on the UAP, Rebekah Mata and Santo Brocato, are encouraging feedback. In his column Thursday, Brocato offered an e-mail address (uaprepresentatives@gmail. com) for feedback, and in a March 10 Daily Texan article, he mentioned the possibility of student forums. The plan has not been approved or finalized, making now the perfect time to speak out. After all, students should be vocal about what they want for their neighborhood.

EDITOR’S NOTICE The editor’s e-mail has been down for the past several days. It should be fully functioning within two days. Since the Texan will not be publishing over spring break, the e-mail should be fully functioning in time for you to contribute firing lines and guest columns. The e-mail is editor@dailytexanonline.com.

Texas’ unpredictable energy system

Keep diversity in Texas curriculum The State Board of Education continued deliberating amendments to state social studies curriculum Thursday. The Republican-dominated board — which has made national headlines recently for its shameless attempts to correct what many of its members perceive as a liberal bias in public education by flooding curriculum with references to conservatism and Christianity — is expected to vote on a slate of proposals today before a final vote in May. The board has most notably sought to counter the inclusion of the American progressive movement’s accomplishments, such as the New Deal, in Texas curriculum by adding references to — as one of its guidelines states — “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s.” But Thursday’s discussion turned to the subject of race, with a majority of the board — led by the sevenmember conservative bloc — pushing back against five members’ attempts to include specific references to Hispanic and black Medal of Honor recipients. “I think we need to realize that America has come a long way, and we’re not trying to single out by gender or by race or anything like that. I think we should look at what these people have done that is historically significant,” said Barbara Cargill of The Woodlands, one of the archconservatives who has helped characterize the board as eager to block anything hinting at the richness of cultural diversity in America from appearing in curriculum. We applaud the students from a coalition of groups who marched to the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the board’s attempts to whitewash Texas public education, and we hope voters — who booted conservative firebrand Don McLeroy in last week’s Republican primaries — keep the future of Texas schoolchildren in mind when casting votes for positions on the board in November.

By Emily Grubert Daily Texan Columnist Texas has been doing the energy thing for a long, long time, and a lot of the kinks in the system have been worked out — or at least considered. Compare this situation with what happens in states that have newly commercial energy and don’t have a history of dealing with it: It’s kind of like handing a puppy a Nintendo. Fun, but the puppy isn’t equipped to understand how or why. Texas, on the other hand, is experienced enough and enthusiastic enough about energy that it’s well-positioned to harness its many resources. Not only does it have oil and coal; it has gas, shale gas, tight gas, offshore gas, proximity to deep offshore gas and mindblowingly exciting opportunities to take advantage of these. Then there’s nuclear. The South Texas Project Electric Generating Station, a nuclear plant located in Bay City, is trying to add two new reactors to its complex. You may know that the U.S. hasn’t built new nuclear in a long time — the South Texas Project’s application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was the first such application in 29 years. Carbon capture and storage is also a popular topic (not with me, because I don’t like the side effect of increased coal mining). Texas not only has many oil fields that could benefit

from carbon dioxide flooding, but it also has a lot of rock and salt formation that are suitable for storing carbon. Then it has solar, biomass, algae opportunities and wind – oh my, does it have wind. And maybe even offshore wind! And a program for building transmission systems that can actually support this wind! Indeed, Texas’ approach to building transmission meant to enable greater wind penetration is exemplary and has been imitated a few times across the country. In 1999, Texas became the first state in the country to adopt a Renewable Portfolio Standard, a requirement that the state derive a certain amount of its energy (usually as electricity) from renewable sources. Because the wind industry has taken off so dramatically in Texas, the standard has been revised upward over time, and the current goal of 10,000 megawatts of installed renewable capacity by 2025 looks almost silly compared with the 2009 year-end 9,410 megawatts of installed wind capacity and 320 megawatts under construction. And all of this overlies a backdrop of a massive experiment in competitive electricity markets. In most places across the country, people are unable to choose their electricity supplier. Actually, this is true in Austin as well, since we have a municipal utility. In much of Texas, though, electricity supply has become competitive. Utilities offer green-only electricity, cheap-only electricity or electricity that comes with a chocolate on your pil-

low on Sundays and so on. The interesting part? People are actually responding. A few other experiments in competition have taken place in the U.S., but Texas is unusual in the number of citizens who are actually switching away from default providers. So, the experimentation continues. In isolation, many of Texas’ initiatives are massively complicated and interesting. Together, they are the type of system you kind of want to watch from between your fingers. Many of the technologies and structures being played with are incompatible with each other: Building nuclear plants that need to run at a minimum level all the time doesn’t really help provide the grid flexibility wind needs. But it’s a whirlwind of (hopefully) creative destruction, with new systems being tested in a giant, furiously stirred pot. Sometimes Texas’ approach of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks seems crazy and entirely untenable, particularly when things fail that might stick if there were fewer things in the air. But we keep throwing. And some things do stick, and people seem to like picking the fallen pieces up and throwing them back. So keep an eye on Texas, with its pumpjacks and windmills, carbon-capture-and-storage research and lawsuits challenging that greenhouse gases pose health threats. It can simultaneously be an infuriating and amazingly vivacious system. Grubert is an energy and earth resources graduate student.

Health care options are important to graduates

GALLERY

By Justin Sedgwick Daily Texan Columnist

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My to-do list following graduation: Backpack around Europe, finish my theater adaption of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and find a job to pay off my thousands of dollars of student debt. This list had been set in my mind ever since my first class here at UT (except for the Bueller musical, which was inspired during sophomore year with the revelation that “Twist and Shout” would be excellent for a theatre-in-the-round-type setting). I was unaware that another crucial task had been excluded from my list: Find suitable health care after I would no longer be eligible for my University and parental coverage. It is crucial that college students begin planning for health care before they find themselves in an unfavorable situation that threatens their well-being. For those at UT, University Health Services provides an extensive range of facilities catering general medical appointments, minor surgical procedures, mental and emotional counseling and numerous other options pertaining to whatever need you have. I took these services for granted since I luckily encountered few health conflicts in the past. The UHS facilities are still open to recent graduates who are in the process of finding postcollege employment or trying to attend some sort of graduate school. But once your path is set following graduation, these services will be long gone. The majority of my health care coverage is provided through my parent’s employers. And, like many upperclassmen, I will soon be completely independent, lacking adequate health coverage until I find a program that fits my needs. Like many students, I have no idea what types of programs will best suit my needs.

Students could rely on whatever post-collegiate options follow, whether it be immediate employment or graduate school. This may be futile, however, since graduate school or employer plans have the tendency to fall short, especially when compared with the superb services provided by UT. The seemingly eternal socialized health care debate in Congress is still only a prospect and with partisanship dividing congress, the issue could not be resolved in a timely manner with students’ graduation timeline. There are numerous privatized health care options that college graduates can pursue as well. It is though that these options that students can immediately afford the premiums, deductibles and co-payments involved with such plans (let alone know what these terms actually mean.) After researching my post-collegiate health coverage situation, I became frightened that I might find myself in the emergency room with no plausible method of being able to afford whatever procedures I need to undergo. Thus it is crucial for students to support the proposed socialized health care system that has been long debated. This federalized coverage isn’t communistcontrived or whatever claims the opposition may attach to the issue. Rather, it is a great option for those who do not have any sort of graduate, employer or privatized opportunities. I applauded my friends who hail from Canadian provinces on their country’s lower drinking age. They insisted that I be jealous of their socialized health options. UT students, and all college students alike, need to be aware and prepared for whatever health coverage conflicts they may face in the real world following graduation. It is second on my to-do list, only surpassed by my need to justly adapt Mr. Rooney’s tyrannical disdain over Ferris’ kindred spirit for the stage. Sedgwick is a UT student.

6 S/L

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“I definitely thought that there would be some kind of void, just of the front men while Black and because those shows are so fun Barbaro mostly deal with logis- and have become a standard,� Hopson said. tics, Black said. Hopson bought a bus ticket to Through the years, SXSW has had an array of celebrities give Monterrey with her friends for the conferences’ keynote speech- Saturday, March 20, the first day es. This year’s interactive con- of the Mexico festival. Since then, ference will include a keynote Patrick announced that he would interview with Evan Williams, be putting on unofficial SXSW CEO and founder of social-net- shows next week leading up to the working site Twitter — which music festival in Mexico. he launched at SXSW Interactive in 2007 — and soul singer-song- International Appeal writer Smokey Robinson will As free shows gain popularity, speak at the music conference. so does international interest in SXSW-sanctioned events. Interactive Growth The event now has offices in Black said the music and film Ireland, Germany, Australia and events have grown substantially Japan to help people register for since the festival’s inception, but SXSW in Austin. Tracy Mann, spokeswoman for the most interesting and profound growth has been with SXSW Inter- MG Limited, the public relations active, which showcases online in- firm that markets SXSW internanovations and video games from tionally, said overseas interest began to increase in 2000. Friday to Tuesday. Mann said about 5 percent of “Interactive, in the last three years or so, has probably been the the current registrants are from biggest of its kind in the world,� outside of the U.S. She said they come to SXSW to make conBlack said. Beth Krauss, spokeswoman for nections for potential Amerithe Austin Convention and Visi- can record releases, find booking tors Bureau, said registration for agents for U.S. tours and to meet the interactive conference is up al- the best in the business. “Austin has a lot of elements most 40 percent from 2009, surpassing the 10-percent increase of what foreigners think of as American, like the movies and from 2008 to 2009. “It used to be that music was the American cowboy,� Mann the biggest, but now interactive said. “But then they come here, is growing much more,� Krauss and they find out Austin is a super progressive city and people said. She said people have begun to are friendly and outgoing.� use personal media for professional purposes, such as marketing them- Today’s Festival selves to companies, which has conDespite drawing attention across tributed to the heightened interest. the nation and around the world, According to a 2009 report by independent consulting firm Grey- Black said SXSW has stayed true to hill, SXSW events injected $98 mil- its original purpose of helping artists showcase their work and learn lion into the Austin economy. more about the business. To help accommodate the music Unofficial Shows segment of the festival, City CounElizabeth Skadden, an artist and cil changed the outdoor-venue perUT alumna, said she started going mit ordinance Feb. 11, said city to the music portion of SXSW in planner Clara Hilling. Hilling said 1997 because she was too young the permits, which normally exfor most of the music showcases pire the day after an event, are now held in bars. After turning 21, she good for four days. She said she said she started going to the music has received 33 requests for a pershowcases but began taking more mit for next week. The permit orof an interest in the free, unofficial dinance will expire June 30 unless City Council votes to continue it. music shows that SXSW attracts. SXSW Interactive will be held “I like the free shows because the bands play for longer, and Saturday through Tuesday; SXSW there were more bands that I liked Film will be held today through in a row,� Skadden said. “It was Saturday, March 20; and SXSW a lot of friend’s bands, and they Music will from Wednesday to Sunday, March 21. Every Sunday would all play the same day.� Todd Patrick, an organizer and following the music conference of promoter of independent music SXSW, industry heads, entrepreshows in New York City, has put on neurs and festival badge holders the best free and unofficial SXSW come together in a vicious softball shows for the past four years, said game, full of cheating and barbeGeneva Hopson, a studio art fresh- cue, Black said. “From the very beginning, it man at UT. Earlier this year, Patrick announced that he would be put- was one of the smartest things we ting on a three-day show in Mex- did,� Black said, referring to the ico, dubbed the MtyMx All Ages barbecue. “We are bringing toFestival of Art and Music, as an al- gether all these people in a unique circumstance.� ternative to SXSW.

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Sports Editor: Blake Hurtik E-mail: sports@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2210 www.dailytexanonline.com

7

Friday, March 12, 2010

T HE DAILY T EXAN

TEXAS 67

SIDELINE

BAYLOR 86

Sports Over the Break

Horns eliminated from tournament By Laken Litman Daily Texan Staff Texas and Baylor’s bad blood reached its boiling point Thursday night. In the Longhorns’ 86-67 loss — their fourth straight to the Bears — players on both teams broadcast their internal feelings for one another. Four minutes into the game, Damion James got into a verbal altercation with Tweety Carter. LaceDarius Dunn intervened in an attempt to break them up, but that just ruffled more feathers. J’Covan Brown, who was on the bench at the time, started mouthing off at Baylor players, and he and Dunn were each handed technical fouls. Dunn had accumulated a total of three fouls at this point, so Baylor coach Scott Drew was forced to bench him for the rest of the half. Despite Dunn’s absence, the Bears were able to handle Texas quite nicely. Ekpe Udoh was unstoppable, leading Baylor with 12 points in the first half. The rift between the teams continued when James and Carter exchanged a few more words before each team went into their locker rooms at the break. Dunn only picked up one more foul, and Baylor surged in the second half. By the end of the first three minutes of the half, the Bears were up 51-41. The Longhorns were rattled and couldn’t string passes together. They gave up two turnovers in those first few minutes and ended the game with 11. Texas was down by 15 points when Brown made his first official appearance, and things looked like they were about to turn around for the Horns. Brown took hold of the reigns, moving swiftly through traffic and shooting good jump-

Baseball March 13: Doubleheader vs. Iowa, 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. March 14: vs. Iowa, 1 p.m. March 16: at Rice, 6:30 p.m., Houston March 19: vs. Nebraska, 6:05 p.m. March 20: vs. Nebraska, 2 p.m. March 21: vs, Nebraska, noon (All games vs. Nebraska at Disch-Falk Field) Softball March 16: at North Texas, 2 p.m., Denton March 18: vs. Arizona State, 1:15 p.m. vs. San Jose State, 5:45 p.m. March 19: vs. Cal State Fullerton, 8 p.m. March 20: vs. Michigan, 1:15 p.m. March 21: vs. Louisville, 11 a.m. (All games in Fullerton, Calif.) Men’s Track March 13: NCAA Indoor Championships, Fayetteville, Ark. March 19-20: Hurricane Invitational Miami, Fla. Amelia C. Warden | Associated Press

Texas forward Gary Johnson, right, and Texas center Dexter Pittman, left, battle for a rebound in Thursday’s 86-67 loss to Baylor in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. ers. He cut the lead to 10 points with 14 minutes left. Brown then helped get Texas within five points of Baylor as he drove inside for layups and passed inside to Dexter Pittman. With 8:11 to go, Texas had closed in

on Baylor’s lead, 64-59. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, Udoh and Dunn had no time for a Texas run. The two responded, and a killer trey by Dunn widened the Bears’ lead, 74-63, with five minutes left.

Udoh ended with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds. Dunn finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Texas’ loss will have important implications on its NCAA tournament seeding, which will be announced Sunday.

Longhorns outlast Tigers, advance to second round

Extra-inning heroics send Texas past UTA

Ed Zurga | Associated Press

Junior guard Kathleen Nash, right, defends Missouri forward Amanda Hanneman in Thursday’s 64-59 tournament win. Those pieces all brought just enough to the board to get the win. Every player on the active Longhorn roster scored at least two points, and all but one posted a rebound. Leading the Texas charge was senior Brittainey Raven. Raven, sporting a No. 13 on her jersey in honor of freshman Lauren Flores, who is out for the season with an injury, had a solid performance with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals for the night. Fellow senior Earnesia Wil-

liams scored nine points and became the 35th Longhorn in history to record 1,000 career points. “Erni is our warrior, and she was again tonight,” Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors said. “I’m really happy for her. I wanted her to end on a good note.” The Tigers countered the Longhorns’ team-oriented play with a single-player charge led by the hot hand of Amanda Hanneman. She kept the Tigers in the game,

OUTLAST continues on page 8

By Kate Guerra Daily Texan Staff After slingshotting their way through Wednesday night’s doubleheader against UT-El Paso, the No. 14 Longhorns barely escaped the grasp of the UT-Arlington Mavericks on Thursday night, winning 3-2 in 10 innings. Erin Tresselt allowed two runs on four hits in four innings of work for Texas. A shaky start for the Longhorn defense allowed the Mavericks to score on an error with the bases loaded, followed by a walk with the bases loaded. Third baseman Nadia Taylor was able to gun down a runner at home, and Tresselt got the final two outs of the inning. Though the offense sputtered through most of the game, it certainly didn’t lose its power. Designated hitter Lexy Bennett hit her sixth home run of the season, pushing the Longhorn’s home-run streak to 18 games. Senior pinch hitter Tallie Thrasher also banged one over the fence in the second inning. “I’ve really tried to embrace the role the coaches have put me in this season,” Thrasher said, speaking of the limited number of at bats she’s had in the 2010 season, which has resulted in tremendous offensive production.

Freshman right-hander Blaire Luna (9-2) allowed only one hit in six innings, and senior Loryn Johnson hit what ended up being the game-winning RBI with a double in the top of the 10th inning to score outfielder Courtney Craig. No doubt, Texas is happy with any win, but the rigorous away schedule might be catching up with the team. Head coach Connie Clark, however, said the tough schedule only prepares her team more. “It is a challenge, especially with schoolwork and trying to balance your time,” freshman outfielder Taylor Hoagland said. “I think we’re getting a little bit more acclimated to it. We all know what we need to get done, and we do it.” The good news is that the student aspect of the players’ workload will be lightened for the next week with the beginning of spring break. And it gets better — after a stop in Denton to play North Texas on Tuesday the Longhorns will be spending their break in Fullerton, Calif., from March 18-21. Depending on how you look at it, the good news might end there. Texas will have to compete against highly ranked teams such as No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Arizona State and No. 20 Louisville. For the

EXTRA continues on page 8

BASEBALL

Horns continue to struggle at the plate “Offensively we want to be confident and hit like our pitching staff,” first baseman Tant Shepherd said after Sunday’s win against Missouri. “They come out every day and know they are going to do good and throw strikes.” Still, the Longhorns haven’t been able to consistently perform at the plate over the past week and a half. They needed a pair of bases loaded and two out balks to beat UT-Pan American 3-2, and they had to have some late-inning heroics from pinch-hitter Paul Montalbano on Tuesday to take down Texas State 4-3.

Women’s Track March 13- NCAA Indoor Championships, Fayetteville, Ark. March 19-20- USC Trojan Invitational, Los Angeles Men’s & Women’s Swimming March 12-14: NCAA Zone Diving, College Station Men’s Tennis March 13: vs. Michigan, 4 p.m., March 21: vs. Pepperdine, noon (All games at Penick-Allison Tennis Center)

SOFTBALL

By Austin Ries Daily Texan Staff As expected, the Longhorn baseball team has relied heavily on pitching this season to take control of games while waiting for hitting to follow along. It happened in Houston last weekend after the Horns failed to muster a single run to accompany Brandon Workman’s near-flawless eight innings on the mound. They came back Sunday against Missouri with a 12-hit, eight-run performance, trying their best to imitate the Horns’ pitching staff in their success.

Women’s basketball March 13: Big 12 semifinals March 14: Big 12 championship game Selection Sunday March 20: NCAA Tournament begins First/second rounds at Frank Erwin Center

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

By Sameer Bhuchar Daily Texan Staff The fine line that separates the best of the Big 12 from the worst got even thinner for the Texas Longhorns. The No. 5-seed Longhorns suffered a scare from the No. 12-seed Missouri Tigers on Thursday but managed to squeak out a 64-59 victory in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The feisty Tigers came into the tournament with an embarrassing 2-14 Big 12 record and an undersized lineup. By all accounts, Texas was faster, stronger and taller than its opponent. Somehow, though, the Longhorns blew an early 14-point lead and were down by one at the half. “ We k n e w t h e y ’ d p l a y hard,” junior Kathleen Nash said. “We didn’t come in here ready enough.” The Longhorns found themselves in a scoring rut for the beginning of the second half. Texas clumsily tried to establish an inside game against the smaller Tigers, but as a result they turned the ball over 19 times. In the end the Horns pulled everyone on the team together to win. “Coach said before the game that everybody has a role on this team,” sophomore Ashley Gayle said. “This team is 10 pieces, and everyone has a job.”

Men’s basketball March 13: Big 12 championship game March 14: Selection Sunday March 18: NCAA Tournament begins

“They found a way to grind it out and fought against adversity,” head coach Augie Garrido said. “We’ll find our niche hitting and have a run at the plate, but right now these close games are about building confidence.” Texas’ pitching staff is leading the way right now with a combined ERA of 2.10 and a defense that has only committed six errors in 12 games. “We all knew it was about pitching and defense,” Garrido Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff said. “Disch-Falk is a defensive First-baseman Tant Shepherd walks back to the dugout after striking out in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over Texas State at UFCU DischPLATE continues on page 8 Falk Field.

Women’s Tennis March 19: vs. Kansas State, 1 p.m. March 21: vs. Kansas, noon (All games at Penick-Allison Tennis Center) Men’s Golf March 12-14: Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, Las Vegas March 17-18: National Invitational Tournament, Tucson, Ariz. Rowing March 19-21: Longhorn Invitational, Lady Bird Lake

SPORTS BRIEFLY Men’s golf team takes a break before Las Vegas tournament Heading into this weekend’s Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, head coach John Fields just wants his team to relax and have fun. After all, it is spring break, not to mention the fact that the tournament is being held in Las Vegas. “We need to enjoy ourselves on the course this week, and I really mean that. Don’t get stressed, just go play,” Fields said. This mantra of playing with a clear mind has been the theme and backbone of the team’s success all season long. Another common theme, as Fields can attest, has been the incredibly tough competition in all of the events that the Horns have participated in thus far. “If you’re going to win in the postseason, you need to go against the best teams in the country on a regular basis — teams whom you will be competing against at the NCAA Championships,” Fields said. “So, to do anything other than that for this team would be counterproductive, and our guys know that.” In Vegas, some of the competition that the fourth-ranked Longhorns will be going up against includes No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 12 UCLA. They will be looking to notch back-to-back firstplace tournament finishes when they hit the road for Nevada, with the Puerto Rico Classic title from a couple of weeks ago already under their belt. In recent years, the course at Southern Highlands hasn’t been too friendly to the Horns. Four players, including junior Bobby Hudson, have gotten familiar with it and are looking to capitalize on this experience. A little bit of fun along the way couldn’t hurt, either. – Andy Lutz

8 SPTS

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SPORTS

Friday, March 12, 2010

MEN’S & WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Teams battle at championships Girls look forward after disappointing finish in Big 12 championships By Ryan Betori Daily Texan Staff Two weekends ago, the Longhorns placed a disappointing seventh at the Big 12 championships. With five conference championships to their name since 1996, the poor performance was uncharacteristic. Now, as Friday’s NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., approach, the team is looking to get back into its usual championship form. “Whatever happened yesterday, you have to move on,� head coach Beverly Kearney said about the team’s outlook. Although the Big 12 championship may be in the past, some of the problems that hindered the team at that meet linger. The Longhorns are still short on depth — only four individuals and one relay team will make the trip to Fayetteville. “We just have less room for error, so we’re going to have to maximize on what we’ve got,�

Relay team, five Horns compete in Fayetteville for track championships By Jim Pagels Daily Texan Staff After two grueling months with meets every weekend, the Texas men’s track and field team will put it all on the line today at the NCAA National Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. After dominating the indoor season for four years, the Longhorns lost a lot of their key contributors and came into the 2010 season ranked outside the top 50. As the season progressed, the Longhorns have proven that they belonged in the title hunt, but their work was not enough to

Kearney said about overcoming “At nationals, it’s about qualithis shortage of competitors. ty, not quantity,� Jimenez said. Luckily for Kearney and the Jimenez, a distance specialLonghorns, history is on their ist who will be competing in the side. The team is currently rid- 3,000-meter and the mile, missed ing a seven-year streak of top- all of the 2009 season due to in10 finishes. More importantly, jury. If this weren’t enough, a rethey have finished fourth the cent illness forced her to miss a past two years with teams that week of practice prior to the Big only consisted of three individ- 12 championships. With her illuals and one relay. ness now under control and This past success, which has her health intact, Jimenez says come without a she’s ready to let lot of depth, can loose. partially be at“When you tributed to the battle all these difference in obstacles, it just Whatever happened scoring systems makes you want between the na- yesterday, you have to i t t h a t m u c h tional and conmore,� Jimenez move on.� ference meets. said. “I’m ready According to — Beverly Kearney to go out and redshirt junior have some fun.� Head coach Betzy Jimenez, Joining Jimethe conference nez will be semeet awards the nior shot putter most points for Jordyn Brown, placing a lot of athletes, but the junior long jumper Chantel Manational meet awards the most lone, and sophomore sprintpoints for placing these athletes er Angele Cooper. Malone and in top positions. So, the Long- Cooper, along with Judy Nwosu horns’ concerns about depth and Stacey-Ann Smith, also can be overcome if each individ- make up the 4x400-meter relay ual places well. team that will be competing.

‘‘

overcome the stiff Big 12 competition. The team finished in a disappointing sixth place at the conference championship last week. “I hate to use the term ‘rebuilding’ because we’ve been very competitive all year,� coach Bubba Thornton said. “But there are certainly plenty of [freshmen] that are scoring points for our team.� The Horns will send five athletes and a relay team to the meet. They look to extend their streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes at the indoor national meet. Pole vaulter Maston Wallace, shot putters Jacob Thormaehlen and Hayden Baillio, long jumper Marquise Goodwin and Keiron Stewart in the 60-meter hurdles all qualified. Wallace will make his third appearance at the indoor nation-

al meet after finishing third as a freshman and 10th last year. Others have not had as much experience. This marks the first appearances in a national meet for Thormaehlen and three qualifying freshmen on the team. One team member representing the class of 2013 is Stewart, who produced a 7.95 qualifying time in the 60-meter hurdles in January but missed almost a month to deal with a hamstring injury. Back at 100 percent, Stewart clocked a 7.71 to finish fourth at the Big 12 Championships, moving him into eighth place on the national list. The five individual athletes will be joined by the distance medley relay team of Logan Gonzales (1,200 meters), Danzell Fortson (400 meters), Tevas Ever-

WHAT: NCAA Championships WHERE: Fayetteville, Ark. WHEN: All day Friday & Saturday WEB: TexasSports.com

Brown, the team’s only individual All-American, will bring the most experience to the meet. She heads into the meet ranked 13th, but she placed fourth at last year’s national championship. Though not as seasoned as the senior shot putter, Malone and Cooper have also been tested on the national stage. The two were both members of last year’s outdoor 4x400-meter national championship team. Malone will come in as the reigning Big 12 long jump champion, and Cooper placed second in the 400-meter at the conference championship. “We can’t hold ourselves back by thinking too much,� Cooper said. “We’ve been practicing everyday for this. Now it’s just time to go out there and fight for Texas.�

WHAT: NCAA Championships WHERE: Fayetteville, Ark. WHEN: Friday at 10 a.m. & Saturday at 11 a.m.

PLATE: Pitching continues to

dominate opposing batters From page 7 ballpark. The offense will catch up as it moves along.� Texas will have its chance at the plate this weekend with a fourgame series against Iowa. The Horns play a game tonight, a double-header Saturday and finish up with a game Sunday afternoon. The Hawkeyes are coming to Austin swinging the bat well, hitting .320 as a team with a .469 slugging percentage, seven home runs and 66 runs scored. The Horns hope to continue their dominance on the mound, starting with Taylor Jungmann tonight. Jungmann (2-0) leads Texas with a 0.83 ERA in 21.2 innings and 26 strikeouts. Jungmann’s last start was a no-decision in the Horns’ 2-1 victory against Rice.

“Taylor is a thinker and has his own style,� Garrido said. “He picks the hitters he wants to face and pitches he wants to throw. He has a plan and he knows how to use it.� With the double-header, Cole Green and Brandon Workman are scheduled to start Saturday with freshman Hoby Milner finishing up the series Sunday. Texas is 2-0 all-time against Iowa, but the two haven’t played each other in 80 years. And like Tuesday — and almost every other opponent Texas has faced this season — the Hawkeyes are coming in with something to prove. “Everyone we play doesn’t have much to lose, and there is a great advantage in that because you play so much more relaxed,� Garrido said.

OUTLAST: Horns face ‘physical’

Texas A&M in second round

thing less but a Cindy Stein team.� With the victory, the Longhorns making a career-high seven 3-pointwill play their archrival, No. 4-seed ers for 21 points. Texas A&M, today — a team that Goestenkors said she didn’t put Goestenkors has never beaten. it past the scrappy Tigers to give “[Texas A&M’s] athleticism and the Longhorns a run for their monphysical style of play will take you ey. They were playing with heavy out of your sets,� Goestenkors said. emotions as this was their coach’s “They’ve let their style of play frusfinal game. “I feel for Cindy [Stein], I real- trate us in the past, and they are goly do,� Goestenkors said. “She is ing to be really tough. We have to a great coach. Her team kept fight- handle their pressure and physicaling, and I would not expect any- ity and take care of the ball.�

From page 7

WEB: ESPN360.com

EXTRA: New season begins for

ON AIR: ESPN2

ett (800 meters) and Patrick Todd (1,600 meters). The medley is just one of 11 teams that advanced to the national meet. Being on the national stage has its perks. For the first time this season, the Horns will be broadcast live as ESPN360.com streams portions of the meet. ESPN2 will also air a 90-minute highlight show at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Longhorns with a big win

day] but then, right away, focused on ending the segment and finishLonghorns, it is just the next seg- ing strong.� ment of their goal-oriented season. The Longhorns take the win “We segment our year out, and against the Mavericks into a fourthis will end a segment for us,� day break. Tuesday’s game against Clark said. “We talked about a North Texas in Denton will begin few items in the games [Wednes- at 2 p.m.

From page 7

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Friday, March 12, 2010

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Replacing the stale room and peeling wallpaper of my expectations was an incredibly fashionable suite, which upon further examination contained all the real versions of what IKEA furniture pretends to be. I marveled at the irony of such fine objects existing in this barren place. Poking around the room, I discovered distinctively arranged tubes of vegan bodywash, a minibar complete with hyper-hip American Spirits and a flat-screen television. There was even an iPod radio on my nightstand. I eased into the comforts of stylish living and stared up at an abstract art print hugging the wall — finally, some confirmation of what I had come for.

Marfa happens to be an elite cultural hub, known internationally for its art museums, galleries and film festivals. Marfa got its start as a fine-arts destination in 1971 when Donald Judd — a famous minimalist artist — bought the Marfa Army Airfield and converted it into his home, studio and exhibition space. Judd’s initiative attracted a steady stream of followers and quickly converted the dying community into a well-kept secret of privileged social circles. Since his death in 1994, the Chinati Foundation carries on his legacy and is considered to be Marfa’s fine-art headquarters. Awakening with some confidence, I ventured to the Chinati Foundation, which is located at the

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downtown Marfa is in order. The downtown square displays some awesome West Texas architecture harking back to the ‘20s and ‘30s. Many of these buildings are occupied by pristine art galleries that keep completely random hours. Look for Fancy Pony Land, Galleri Urbane and Ballroom Marfa. Eventually you’ll discover some galleries so cool they don’t even have a name. When approaching an unnamed gallery, simply knock and wait to be received by an attendant (probably wearing Ray-Bans) to show you around. If you’re a fan of literature, be sure to stop at one of the best bookstores I’ve ever seen to date: the Marfa Book Company. Nightlife in Marfa is a stretch unless you’re visiting during the Marfa Film Festival or the Chinati Foundation Open House, or you’ve found out Ben Kweller just so happens to be playing a show at some warehouse next door. But never fear — the town is famous not only for its arts and music but also its supernatural phenomena. The “Marfa lights,� which are little glowing spheres of green light zooming across the horizon, have been seen dotting the barren landscape for decades. Scientists have been unable to determine the cause of this marvel, and skeptics continue to debate its existence. Scout’s honor: The Marfa lights are real. If you don’t believe me, ask for the testimony of a local who will direct you 10 miles out of town to a designated viewing spot. Gaze into the distant sunset, and behold the unexplainable. Visiting Marfa is quite a surreal experience and is certainly worth traveling the extensive ribbon of road it takes to get there. Though the irony of a cultural center existing in the womb of the Texas desert is Marfa’s punchline, the town offers a variety of unique experiences. Just be sure to wear your RayBans.

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site of Judd’s home and studio, to catch its morning tour departing punctually at 10 a.m. The Chinati Foundation consists of a series of barracks and warehouses primarily housing the works of bigname minimalists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and Claes Oldenburg. Touring the museum is quite a commitment; visitors are encouraged to tour the first half of the exhibition, break for lunch and return for another round. For the average visitor, minimalist abstractions of artwork intended to be “meaningless� (as profoundly explained by my tour guide) can seem redundant after a few hours, so I’d recommend high-tailing it for the second half. Your newly found free time

Weekly Rates: $100 – Large would be best spent eating in Marfa. Lunch or dinner here affords a $50 – Medium number of incredible options. The Brown Recluse, offering $25coffee, – Small

Illustration by Thu Vo | Daily Texan Staff

breakfast and brunch, is tucked away into an adorable, tidy house. Come here expecting to engage in lively conversation with young art connoisseurs, and be sure to bring a dog-eared sketchbook of some kind just to fit in. If you’re looking for something fashionably fast, check out the Food Shark, a mobile trailer delivering tasty “Mediterranean-by-way-of-West-Texas� cuisine. Don’t count on it, though — the Food Shark is a sporadic event, long awaited by locals who seem to be the only ones to know when it will appear. After lunch, a good stroll around

Contact Joan at 512-232-2229 or email joanw@mail.utexas.edu

CLASSIFIEDS THE DAILY TEXAN

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Ballroom Marfa 108 E. San Antonio St. ballroommarfa.org

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Thunderbird Motel 600 W. San Antonio St. thunderbirdmarfa.com

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Galleri Urbane 203 E. San Antonio St. galleriurbane.com

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The Brown Recluse 111 W. San Antonio St. brownreclusemarfa.com

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Editor’s Note: This is the second in a weekly series exploring day-and-weekend trip destinations across Texas. By Emily Royall Daily Texan Staff “Greetings from Marfa!� I lowered the glossy postcard from my eyes, the vintage block letters decorated with kitschy illustrations of small-town monuments dissolved to reveal the real setting of Marfa, Texas: nowhere. A tumbleweed lethargically rolled by. Marfa, with a population of roughly 2,121, occupies the high desert plains of Presidio County in West Texas. Its curious name supposedly comes from Marfa Strogoff, a character in Jules Verne’s novel “Michael Strogoff.� Originally established as a railroad water stop in the 1880s, the tiny Texas town bloomed in the early 20th century, and was home to the Marfa Army Airfield during World War II. But the war’s end left a vacancy in Marfa, and the town deteriorated with old age and crippled infrastructure. I shoved the postcard back day, month day, 2008 into a cramped glove box, and a feeling of disappointment crept through my shoulders as the dust settled around my trail-bitten Honda. The dryness of this place E steel frame started to sink TISthe Rinto E V D ENT of my A and Tthe of my car UDmarrow S R Cheetos-fed bones. OU IZATIOSoN!I quietly Y N parking lot of the pulled into ORGAthe first neon-lit sign I saw: the Thunderbird Hotel. An attractive 20-something was manning the desk. He nonchalantly glanced at me from behind his Ray-Ban sunglasses, sporting a trendy V-neck shirt and polished smirk. It was clear that this kid was not from the boonies. Instead, he appeared to be an educated young hipster, here, smacking his gum behind a hotel desk in the middle of the desert. Slightly miffed, I signed my receipts, exchanged formalities and carried a little white key to what I thought would be a musky West Texas room.

Marfa

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REDUCED! Available June 1st. PERFECT for Graduate students. 2/2 Condo. GREAT VIEW! NEWLY DECORATED paint/carpet, NEW appliances, W/D, pool, 5mins UT/shuttle.1000sq, $1250/mo. water pd. Call 352.284.0979

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REAL ESTATE SALES

130 Condos-Townhomes

CLOSE TO CAMPUS 3/Bedrooms, 2.5/Baths, Two-Covered Parking. Over 2000sqft, nicely updated, quiet complex, great roommate plan. 1st time homebuyer taxcredits, FHA Approved, $129,999 Call Ritch Haenke, REALTOR, Realty Austin 512.633.3909, www.sunchasecondo. com x ID 2901438

DailyTexanOnline.com

130 Condos-Townhomes

UT AREA CONDO BY OWNER For Sale by Owner! Condo located in the UT area. Here is the link to the virtual tour: http:// www.studio12austin. com/2101NLamar1/. Roll your mouse over the thumbnail photos at the bottom to see the “360 tourâ€? photo of the living room and the photo gallery. It is roughly 2000 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms, 2 Ί baths. All bedrooms are located on second floor. Only 7 units are in this charming complex called La Terraza at 2101 N. Lamar Blvd. This condo faces Pease Park and is situated just north of MLK on Lamar Blvd and just south of the Caswell Lofts on Lamar which are sold out. Exterior Ăą dark green and dark red colored stucco walls and red tile roof. Interior completely refurbished in 2007. Jen Air appliances, granite counter tops, maple wood floors downstairs/ stairs, carpet and terrazzo tile upstairs, new ceiling fans, new lighting fixtures, new sinks and hardware, new front door with speakeasy window, 5 different paint colors chosen by one of Austin’s top interior designers, plantation shutters on all windows, glass enclosed bath in master bedroom, slate porch, new AC compressor and evaporative heating unit. Two parking spaces come with this condo. Please call for an appointment. 512-263-5544. $485,000. IMPORTANT. REALTORS - do not call me to get a listing. I am selling this as the owner. Realtors should only call with a bona fide, qualified buyer who is actively seeking a home to purchase. x ID 2898199

ANNOUNCEMENTS

560 Public Notice

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD (as we’ve come to know it) Very soon, one titanic person prophesied by all the major world religions will speak to everyone. He will inspire humanity to see itself as one family & to rebuild the world based upon the principles of cooperation, sharing, justice, brotherhood, & love. He will not endorse any religion over any other, nor will He work as a religious figure. Under His inspiration, mankind will wipe the scourges of political corruption, war, hunger, poverty, & environmental degradation, from the face of the Earth. Read all about it! www. Share-International.org

KEYBOARDS & FEMALE VOCALIST needed asap for RECOVERY band. Music/Comedy rehearse weekly 512442-9511

EDUCATIONAL

590 Tutoring

CAN YOU TUTOR a child of 13yr Old? I seek an experienced teacher to tutor my 13yr old daughter, She’s home schooling 7th grader, shy but well behaved. All classes would begin between 9AM - 7PM, each lesson last 60 mins and All Instructions will take place at the local library or my home, 3 days a week within flexible hours. Subjects include: Mathematics, English Reading & Science. “$45 per hour�. If Interested, send your resume by emailing to “bmills190@ aol.com

All Transportation, Announcement, Services & Merchandise ads are 50%off regular rates and appear online at no charge unless you opt for enhancements which will incur additional nominal charges. For more information or assistance please call Classified Clerk at 512-471-5244 or email classifieds@dailytexanonline.com

610 Misc. Instruction

BUSINESS CHINESE Learn Business Chinese or Chinese in Chinese Business Law Summer Program in Beijing www.studyabroad-china.org

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766 Recruitment

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ACCOUNTING TRAINEE Walk to UT. Bookkeeping tasks, tax-related projects, clerical. Type 30 words/min. Accounting experience or classes a plus. Flex hours, $11 PT, $12-$12.50 FT. www. LawyersAidService.com Apply now!

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Donors average $150 per specimen. Apply on-line

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11 ENT

MOTHER: Ensemble members

consider recording live album From page 12 Akiko Meyers in the College of Fine Arts, as well as her time spent practicing in her childhood, have been beneficial while playing in the band. “I’m studying in the music school, learning performance with Anne Akiko Meyers and playing with her,” Brill said. “But funnily enough, I started playing violin when I was 5 years old with ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’” Brill said that the “chamberpop” nature of Mother Falcon is its big draw — a group of classical, mostly string instruments, playing pop songs in an unexpected way. “I think we’ve tried to take [the music] in a few different directions, and I think we’ll be experimenting even more in the future,” she said. Rita Andrade, Brill’s roommate and violist for Mother Falcon, said that she has known Gregg since she was 10 years old and was reunited with him once she moved back to Austin after her high school years in California. “I was in Cali all summer long and then went out with the guys to record for Still Life near the end,”

said Andrade, who is also a music performance junior. “But I’ve been playing with Mother Falcon since summer ‘08.” She said that despite the sheer number of people in the band, they typically don’t have arguments because they try to communicate creative differences before it becomes a problem. “We’ve never gotten into headon arguments, but I think we are all very subtle when we want to say something,” Andrade said with a laugh. “But we’re really good at communicating things and not leaving things unsaid. It’s also hard for us to write music because there’s so many opinions and people want to improvise and not maintain a structure, so what we started doing is splitting up into smaller groups.” But before all the seriousness sets in, the band is sure that this will be a perfect weekend to let loose. “We’re going to play some really fun music. We haven’t discussed the set list yet, but we’ll be in a good mood, and we’ll give an inspiring performance,” Brill said. “Mostly, we’ll just have fun.”

Friday, Ma

By John Meller Daily Texan Staff Every day for the music portion of SXSW, there are hundreds of free parties, concerts and events that don’t require any official pass to the music festival. You just have to know how to find them. Here’s a list of our top-five day shows requiring an RSVP beforehand (all 21 and up, unfortunately). After RSVPing, just show up early enough and you’ll be on your way to enjoying free music, food and booze. This list is just the beginning — check out more complete lists of SXSW parties at Web sites such as Do512.com, the Austinist SXSW Party Guide (austinist.com/sxswist), and donewaiting. com’s SXSW blog.

Levi’s Fader Fort The Fader Fort has established a reputation as SXSW’s most consistently great day party. They have free drinks and great music all day, every day, during SXSW Music. Most importantly, those “special guests” could be an unexpected surprise. Last year, Kanye West played an unan-

this week (by order of the film’s the complications faced by real heroes shortly afterward. This cofirst screening): medic journey is certainly going to be a large hit, not only during “Kick-Ass” SXSW but throughout the nation As this year’s first premiere as well. headlining the film festival, “Kick-Ass” will be premiering at “Kick-Ass” is ideal for starting Paramount Theatre tonight at 7 p.m. the film festival on a good note. The movie chronicles the adventures of a typical, nerdy teenag- “Leaves of Grass” When the red carpet rolls out er as he refuses to abide by societal norms and pursues his pas- for “Leaves of Grass” tonight, sion for fighting crime, just like you’ll be surprised at who will the heroes on TV. However, he be walking down it as part of the has no superpowers. Through a cast of this year’s stoner comedy. series of random incidents, the Starring Ed Norton, the film tells self-proclaimed teen hero, Kick- the story of two estranged brothAss, creates a national phenom- ers (both played by Norton) who, enon of average people realizing after an unusual murder claim, their dreams of becoming super- are brought together in a small heroes only to be confronted with Oklahoma town. What transpires

Be Sure To Pick Up Your COPY OF THE TEXAS TRAVESTY ON STANDS MARCH 23

12

Free parties bring music to pass-less nounced, two-hour show on the barbecue every day at 11 a.m. last night with Common, Erykah Badu and Kid Cudi. We’re excit- Austin Carniville ed to see who they’ll bring out This party is at an especially inthis time. teresting location – the Mexican American Cultural Center south The PureVolume House of Cesar Chavez Street. The lineThe PureVolume House is also up is heavy with respected DJs a venue well known for its free and hip-hop, so if you want to drinks, and this year, their lineup dance, this is the place for you. is pretty good as well. Taco Bell will be providing free catering, so WHAT: Levi’s Fader Fort if you’re into 99-cent tacos, you’re WHERE: 1101 E. Fifth St. in luck. But hey, free food is better than no food at all. WHEN: Wednesday through

Stereogum Rangelife This party features the only day-show performance of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. Combined with the perfect pop of Morning Benders and the fantastic folk Wye Oak, this party has an outstanding lineup.

Filter Magazine’s Showdown at Cedar Street Filter Magazine’s three-day concert series will be held at a fantastic SXSW venue, Cedar Street Courtyard, featuring a terrific lineup. Show up early for free

‘Kick-Ass’ film headlines diverse movie lineup By John Ross Harden Daily Texan Staff Throughout the 10-day festival, South by Southwest will feature roughly 300 films entered in various categories, ranging from bigbudget headliners to music videos. The films, which are slated to run at seven theaters around the city, were selected from thousands of entries to create what is to be, according to the Web site, the “most exciting lineup yet.” Whether a film is a highly anticipated blockbuster making its world premiere, or a single person’s accumulation of tiresome hours behind a computer screen, SXSW is sure to bring unforgettable films to Austin. Here are some of the films that should be making a lot of noise

11

LIFE&ARTS

Friday, March 12, 2010

next is fairly similar to the story in “Pineapple Express”: angry drug lords, twisted humor and, of course, lots of pot. “Leaves of Grass,” directed by Tim Blake Nelson, is also boosted by performances by Keri Russell and Susan Sarandon, both of whom are able to provide occasional laughs to a giddy audience. “Leaves of Grass” will be premiering at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar tonight at 9:30 p.m. All films playing at SXSW give screening-entrance priority to: first, a badge holder; second, the film-pass holders; and lastly, to “walk-up” guests. If you plan on being a “walk-up,” arrive at your selected film screening at least 45 minutes early and expect to pay a $10 admission fee.

Saturday, March 20; Noon-9 p.m. RSVP: apps.thefader.com/pages/ rsvp/levi-s-fader-fort-2010 PERFORMERS: Harlem, A-Trak (with special guests)

WHAT: Stereogum Rangelife WHERE: The Parish, 214 E. Sixth St. WHEN: Saturday, March 20; 1-5 p.m. RSVP: stereogum.com/rangelife PERFORMERS: Ben Gibbard, Wye Oak, The Morning Benders WHAT: Filter Magazine’s Showdown at Cedar Street WHERE: Cedar Street Courtyard, 208 W. Fourth St. WHEN: Thursday through Saturday, March 20; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. RSVP: filtermagazine.com/sxsw PERFORMERS: Dr. Dog, Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit and others

WHAT: The PureVolume House WHERE: 504 Trinity St.

WHAT: Austin Carniville

WHEN: Friday through Saturday, March 20; various times RSVP: purevolume.com/ thehouse

WHERE: The Mexican American Cultural Center WHEN: Thursday through Saturday, March 20

PERFORMERS: Jakob Dylan and Neko Case, Andrew W.K., The xx (DJ set)

PERFORMERS: Major Lazer, Diplo, GZA and others

RSVP: austincarniville.com

12 LIFE

LIFE&ARTS

12

Friday, March 12, 2010

Life&Arts Editor: Ben Wermund E-mail: dailytexan@gmail.com Phone: (512) 232-2209 www.dailytexanonline.com

T HE DAILY T EXAN

Lo-fi singer anticipates Whole Foods, shopping

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series on lo-fi, female-focused groups out of Los Angeles playing at SXSW. The third part will be published online. By Francisco Marin Daily Texan Staff Dum Dum Girls front woman Dee Dee (real name Kristin Gundred) isn’t nearly as intimidating as she might seem on her recordings. On “Hey Sis,â€? for example, Dum Dum Girls sound like an English-speaking, female version of Les Rallizes DĂŠnudĂŠs, the hollowed-out vocals echoing with malice across negative space. But tonight, Dee Dee sounds ree ally sweet. She is sleepy, soft-spomerican ken and asserts she is tired. She’s also incredibly nice. gh She and her bandmates — Frankie Rose, Jules and Bambi — make the sort of scuzzy-yet-melodom ic lo-fi pop that’s become a staple Lazer, in Los Angeles, as evidenced by the blown-out popularity of The Smell and artists such as Nite Jewel and Best Coast. The Daily Texan spoke with Dee Dee before her SXSW shows about her take on Austin. Daily Texan: Where are you speaking from, and what have you been up to today? DeeDee: Today, I did some work, and now I’m at Kinko’s — my husband is making a flier for a show he’s [disc jockeying]. DT: What show? DD: It’s a band called Dirty Beaches, from Montreal. DT: Awesome. I think they’re playing at SXSW also. Speaking of SXSW, are you excited to come to Austin? DD: Yeah, I’m so excitON THE WEB: e d . We ’ re leaving FriCheck out more day night. SXSW coverage D T: S o @dailytexan what do you online.com usually do while you’re

Group carries pop to new level

Austin’s Mother Falcon hopes to impress at South By Southwest

WHAT: Other Music Party WHERE: Thursday at 5 p.m. WHEN: French Legation Museum WRISTBAND?: No WHAT: New York Night Train Party WHERE: Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m. WHEN: Spiderhouse Cafe WRISTBAND?: No here? DD: Well, every time I’m in Austin, it’s so hot I want to head to — I think it’s a river, but I tend to go vintage shopping. And I always end up at Whole Foods getting lost for three hours. DT: You might be talking about Barton Springs. It’s perfect when the sun’s out. So, I saw a recent feature in the L.A. Times about you and a few other bands. How do you feel about the “Queen of L.A. Lo-Fi� title being bestowed on you? DD: Yeah, that was really funny. I was so flattered that they even had me on some part of their radar, but I mean I’ve always tried to play out to people — you can lump me in with L.A. music and the lo-fi scene, but I really only existed in my house. And now that we’re a live band, we’re not totally L.A.-centric; we’ve played more in New York now than L.A. I’d like to say we’re more of a tricoastal band. DT: What’s the third coast? DD: Well, Austin’s not really on the coast ... but you know what I mean. For the rest of the interview with Dee Dee, including a discussion on tube amps and Patti Smith records, check out dailytexanonline.com.

By Francisco Marin Daily Texan Staff Before the SXSW madness fills the streets of downtown Austin with public relations agents, bloodthirsty bands and faux American Apparel models, at least one band will be taking the opportunity to chill out this weekend. Austin’s very own Mother Falcon makes charmingly sweet indie pop somewhere on the spectrum between Beirut and Calexico, rivaling them in emotion and depth. Their most recent album, the Still Life EP, was released Feb. 20 and featured five effervescent, jangly tracks that combine the virtuosity of Andrew Bird while embracing the pop sensibilities of Sufjan Stevens. The band will play alongside other luminaries of Austin music this weekend at the Skanky Possum publishing house in East Austin, and — in the true, laid-back style of our fair city — there will be barbecue, beer and plenty of live music to relax with. “[The Still Life EP] turned out to be totally awesome, much more than we could even imagine,� said Isaac Winburne, an English sophomore at St. Edwards University and saxophonist for Mother Falcon. “There were so many people, it was hard to get it done in that amount of time. Me and [Mother Falcon saxophonist] Matt Puckett spent the majority of last semester producing it and mastering it. The cool thing is, we did everything — even the artwork — which is why it’s even more exciting for us.� Mother Falcon’s live shows are typically extravagant and

Bobby Longoria | Daily Texan Staff

Mother Falcon is a symphonic group that plays an eclectic mix of orchestra and pop music. The band tries to embody surreal emotions and nostalgic feelings. sonically rich, and bandleader and Mother Falcon founder Nick Gregg said that it would be nice to see what a live album would sound like. “[Still Life] came out pretty awesome,� Gregg said. “But we do want to try a live recording because we haven’t tried that yet.� Guitarist and recent high school graduate Claire Puckett shares Gregg’s goal of recording a live album. “There’s no way to capture the way we sound live, I think,� she said. “I think some of the energy might be lost, but some really great composition is brought out in our recordings.� Yun Du, a violinist in Mother Falcon as well as a business senior at UT, said there are about

19 people who are in constant rotation in the band. The number of people in the band makes it a necessity to keep track of their whereabouts. “I basically handle the administrative tasks in Mother Falcon — booking shows, keeping track of sales, taking care of money, making sure members get to practice,� Du said. “And in terms of who plays at shows, it depends on who’s in town and who’s available. There is sort of a core songwriting group: Nick Gregg, Tamir Kalifa, Claire Puckett and Isaac Winburne.� Clara Brill, violinist and UT music performance junior, said that her experiences working with the world-renowned Anne

MOTHER continues on page 11

WHAT: SXSW/Pregnancy with Mother Falcon, Sip Sip and Speak WHERE: Skanky Possum, 2925 Higgins St. WHEN: Saturday at 2 p.m. WEB: j.mp/motherfalcon TICKETS: Free; donations suggested WHAT: Austin Music Awards with Mother Falcon, Black Joe Lewis and Will Sexton WHERE: Austin Music Hall WHEN: Saturday, March 20; doors at 6:30 p.m. WEB: austinmusichall.com

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