LIFE&ARTS PAGE 6B
TOMORROW’S WEATHER
SPORTS PAGE 1B
For design seniors, final collections an expensive endeavor
Baylor breaks Horns’ eight-win streak
Low
High
60
84
THE DAILY TEXAN Thursday, April 9, 2009
Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
www.dailytexanonline.com
Gambling debate comes to Texas
Emily Kinsolving | Daily Texan Staff
As Juan Cruz, Antonio Macias and his son Antony read through programs, jockeys prepare for the next race at Manor Downs on Sunday afternoon. Recently proposed legislation may allow horse- and dog-race tracks like Manor Downs to use slot machines.
House bill calls for construction of resort casinos, slots in metropolitan areas By Erin Mulvaney Daily Texan Staff The odds may be in favor of legalized gambling in Texas. Lawmakers and gambling advocates dealt out plans to build resort casinos and allow casinos at race tracks and on American Indian lands in Texas at the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee hearing Wednesday. The controversial discussion drew a large crowd. One bill would allow the creation of resort-style casinos in metropolitan areas. Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., told the committee that destination resorts are the best opportunities for casino building. He said Texas is a prime attraction spot and that his company
“The beer and alcohol business fails if you don’t have alcoholics. The casino industry fails if there are no pathological gamblers supporting it.” — Stephen Reeves, Christian Life Commission attorney would be interested in purchasing casino licenses in Texas if the bill passed. Don Hoyte, an economic consultant for the Texas Gaming Association, presented research showing that if resort casinos were legalized, they could ultimately generate $3.3 billion annually in state and local tax revenue by 2015. The 12 states with legalized gambling pulled in $5.8 billion in combined taxes last year, according to the American Gaming Association, which represents casinos.
House committee approves concealed carry on campus By Amy Bingham Daily Texan Staff The House Committee on Public Safety approved a bill Wednesday that would allow concealed-handgun-license holders to carry guns onto college campuses. The bill, authored by state Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, passed the committee by a 5-to3 vote. It has 77 co-sponsors, which makes its passage likely when it is debated on the House floor. A similar bill has already passed in the Texas Senate. “Crime happens on campus, and I’m very passionate about people’s right to defend themselves,” said Daniel Crocker, the Texas director of Students
for Concealed Carry on Campus. “The invisible line between on-campus and off-campus doesn’t have barbed wire and metal detectors.” Crocker said he is cautiously optimistic that the bill will pass. UT’s Student Government, Senate of College Councils and Graduate Student Assembly have passed resolutions against the bill. Graduate student John Woods was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech during the 2007 shooting. He authored the SG resolution supporting the current ban of concealed weapons on-campus. “The Second Amendment
GUN continues on page 2A
Opponents of the bills say Texas may be breaking into the casino industry at a bad time for gambling. Nationwide, industry revenue is declining. As least two major casinos, worth $33.5 billion, have shut down in Las Vegas. Nevada Gaming Control Board analyst Frank Streshley said gambling industry revenues are down 9.7 percent since 2008 — the biggest decline in 50 years. The second-largest decline was seen in 2001, when gambling revenues fell 1.3 percent.
“Visitation is down from both visitors to the state and people that live in the state, and it is down substantially,” Streshley said. Christian Life Commission attorney Stephen Reeves said his organization opposes the expansion of gambling in Texas. People throw their money away and become addicted to gambling, he said. He said the goal of the slot machine is no secret: to get people to play longer, faster and more intensely. “A lot more people are paying for the win than are getting the win,” Reeves said. State Rep. Edmund Kuempel, chairman of the committee, said he disagreed with Reeves’ claim. “You can’t save everybody from themselves,” Kuempel said. “Some people drink beer; some
CASINO continues on page 2A
Bill would create UT school, set reading list
By Mohini Madgavkar Daily Texan Staff A House bill to turn a program at UT into an independent school has drawn criticism from faculty members. State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, introduced a bill to create the School of Ethics, Western Civilization and American Traditions at UT during the House’s Higher Education Committee meeting Wednesday. Students in the school would be required to take 18 hours of Western civilization studies, including courses covering ancient philosophy and literature, the Bible and Renaissance and Enlightenment classics. These courses would count for 18 hours of the traditional core curriculum requirement, and students would then have to complete an additional 18 hours of coursework in Western civilization. Kolkhorst said the $5 million project would resemble the existing UT Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas, in which students study history, literature, philosophy and religion through the “great books” philosophy that classics, not curriculum, should guide students. Unlike the center, which has no set canon of study, the new school would establish a core of important texts that would focus exclusively on Western traditions and American ideals. Eli Cox, a business professor who teaches in the center, said he was surprised the Legislature was
BILL continues on page 2A
Andrew Rogers | Daily Texan Staff
Dan Branch, chairman of the Higher Education Committee, listens during a hearing at the Capitol on Wednesday during which testimony on the creation of a new UT school was heard.
Workers rally for benefits on union’s lobby day
Andrew Rogers | Daily Texan Staff
Larry Gomez, an Adult Protective Services employee, holds a banner during the Texas State Employees Union lobby day at the Capitol on Wednesday morning. Demonstrators marched from Waterloo Park to the Capitol chanting and carrying signs.
By Andrew Martinez Daily Texan Staff Thousands of state workers gathered on the south steps of the Capitol on Wednesday to rally for increased benefits and pay. At the Texas State Employees Union lobby day, marchers chanted and held signs as they waited to talk to legislators about their grievances. UT graduate students attended the event to fight for better benefits. “As state employees, we fall into an odd category,” said graduate student Andrew Jones. “We’re not looking for a huge pay raise. We’re just asking for something to stay with the price of living.” The union is made up of 11,635 state workers in 53 state agencies and 24 university locations, as well as workers in local and
county government and several private sector companies, according to its Web site. Jones said that graduate-student pay increases have been overlooked for years and that the system for awarding research fellowships needs to be revamped. “Fellowships give you time to do research and work, but a lot of students don’t take the fellowship because it offers no health care,” Jones said. Jones said graduate students find themselves in a double bind because the University asks them to perform research without benefits. “It’s important for us to be here because we do a lot of work for the University,” Jones said.
MARCH continues on page 2A