2016-06-06

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SUMMER EDITION

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

@thedailytexan

Monday, June 6, 2016

EX-GAMES The X Games finish up their final summer in Austin. Page 4

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Monday, June 6, 2016

NEWS

CITY

APD cracks down on rock-throwing, apprehends suspect

By Catherine Marfin @catherinemarfin

Volume 117, Issue 1

CONTACT US Main Telephone (512) 471-4591 Editor-in-Chief Alexander Chase (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor Cat Cardenas (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising (512) 475-6719 lhollingsworth@austin. utexas.edu

The Austin Police Department and local partners are offering up to $25,000 in exchange for any information that results in an arrest or conviction as they investigate the mounting number of rock-throwing cases along Interstate 35.

Since 2014, 83 rock-throwing incidents have been reported. Thirty-three of these cases occurred this year alone, causing vehicle damage and injury to drivers, including a broken collarbone and brain damage, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

“I’ve never heard of this incident happening on such a large scale before,” finance junior Zahra Jaffer said. “The cases

reported have already had the potential to cause multiple deaths.”

In response to 13 cases that occurred the weekend of May 20, the Greater Austin Crime Commission offered a $10,000 reward in the case. This was added to a $6,000 reward from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office in conjunction with the Capital Area Crime Stoppers and $9,000 to APD in anonymous donations, raising the total reward to $25,000.

“The resulting effects of rock-throwing can not only lead to damage of vehicles, but it can cause accidents between cars who are not hit by the rock,” recent UT graduate Nadine Ginithan said. “I can’t believe this is happening on such a big highway. People [are going to have to] learn to be

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incidents, those responsible could be charged with aggravated assault and, potentially, attempted murder.

“While I can’t provide details regarding the cases, what I can tell you is this — thousands and thousands of man hours have gone into this investigation,” APD Assistant Chief Chris McIlvain said at the press conference. “We are working diligently to solve the case and find the person or persons committing these heinous acts.”

In order to ensure the safety of travelers, APD has discussed posting signage, temporarily closing the deck during target hours (between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) and creating a specialized task force for the investigation, but no immediate plans have been made.

APD has advised drivers to

check out

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more aware.”

Last Friday, police arrested Marquel Raymond Boone, a man suspected of throwing rocks and other objects off of I-35. The 44-year-old has been charged with attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — a third-degree felony punishable with up to 10 years in prison — according to the Statesman. His bail is set at $50,000. As of last Friday, it was unclear whether the witnesses in this case will receive any of the reward money, according to the Statesman.

According to a press conference held the weekend after the May 20 cases, APD is currently unsure if the perpetrator is a group of people or a single person. APD is still investigating cases dating back to 2014, and because of the gravity of the

Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alexander Chase Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janhavi Nemawarkar, Mubarrat Choudhury Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cat Cardenas Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lillian Michel News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Estefania Espinosa Associate News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nashwa Bawab News Desk Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ellie Breed Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine Marfin, Anusha Lalani Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vera Bespalova Associate Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Colin Traver Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Smith Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Jones, Sammy Jarrar Multimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Daulton Venglar, Corey Cave Associate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Guerra Senior Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zoe Fu, Stephanie Tacy, Mary Pistorius Senior Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisseth Lopez Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Megan Hix Associate Life&Arts Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elizabeth Hlavinka Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chris Duncan, Charles Liu, Anna McCreary, Elena Mejia Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akshay Mirchandani Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra Siegel Senior Sports Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael Shapiro, Leah Vann Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melanie Westfall Associate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Perry Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert Lee, Victoria Smith, Jaqueline Tovar, Rachel West Social Media Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akshay Mirchandani Editorial Adviser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Chen

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be aware of their surroundings, use the outside lanes of the lower deck if possible, or travel on the upper deck and scan all surrounding areas when driving, and find alternate routes during target hours. Victims should pull over and call 911 as soon as possible, McIlvain said, and avoid moving any potential evidence — including the rock or other objects.

As the investigation into these cases continues, citizens can provide tips through APD’s mobile app or by calling 512-472-TIPS. “We know someone out there knows something,” McIlvain said. “Before someone dies, we are encouraging and pleading for that someone to come forward and provide any additional information.”

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NEWS

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Monday, June 6, 2016

BIOLOGY

Superbug indicates futility of antibiotics, scientists argue

By Laura Zhang @_the_laurax3

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Not quite — it’s another superbug.

Doctors recently detected a new type of superbug in a patient during a routine urinary tract infection checkup.

While not a new problem, this superbug acts as another indicator of the path toward the potential futility of antibiotics.

A superbug is any type of bacteria that is resistant to the use of common antibiotics. This specific superbug is a strain of E. coli.

Richard Meyer, molecular biosciences professor in the College of Natural Sciences, said this superbug is resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic that has been effective against superbugs in the past.

Dr. William Tierney, chair of the Department of Population Health at the Dell Medical School said the bacteria’s quickly evolving resistance to antibiotics stems from the prevalence of unnecessary antibiotic usage, especially in medical prescriptions and agriculture.

Oftentimes, patients feel like they are not being treated if they do not get medicine, said Meyer. Tierney said that to solve this problem, patients ought to listen to their doctors when they suggest that an antibiotic will not help fix the patient’s condition.

“If [physicians] are giving an antibiotic, we need to ask, ‘Do we really need this? Will it help?’ rather than just assuming it will help,” Tierney said.

“All medicines have harm, so you really ought to have some likelihood of benefit if you’re going to take the risk

Illustration by Amber Perry | Daily Texan Staff

of harm.”

Meyer said that antibiotics used in the agriculture industry have also contributed to the rise in antibiotic resistance. While the American agriculture industry does not specifically use colistin, livestock are given other antibiotics to promote growth and fend off infections while in farms.

“A year ago in China, scientists noticed that there was resistance in the bacteria of the pigs to colistin, and this resistance appeared in the human population,” Meyer said.

“It did not raise a lot of alarms, although it should have.”

Normally, humans have a symbiotic, or mutually helpful, relationship with bacteria.

“You probably have over 7 billion E. coli living in your colon right now, and it’s part of the normal floor of the colon,” Tierney said.“If you didn’t have gut bacteria, you wouldn’t clot blood.”

Bacteria with antibiotic genes on their plasmids replicate extremely quickly. Plasmids are genes not encodable in their chromosomal DNA and can be copied from one strain to another through a

process called conjugation.

Jeffrey Barrick, molecular biosciences professor in the College of Natural Sciences, said the evolutionary battle between humans and superbugs will continue. However, new advances in bacterial genome sequencing allow doctors to better track infectious spreads in certain hospital bacteria outbreaks.

“I think it’s really exciting that we have a lot more information about ‘Oh, you got this bacteria from this person,’ even when the bacteria have picked up a mutation between you and me that’s given it an additional resistance,” Barrick said.

Tierney said a radical and coordinated global movement is necessary to contain the prevalence of antibiotic resistance.

“Where we’re going, we are going to have to isolate every patient in the hospital, which makes it really hard to care for them. I’m going to have patients who are suffering these terrible infections that I can’t do anything for,” Tierney said. “As a hospital physician, nothing scares me more than this. Because I can see it coming.”

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Monday, June 6, 2016

COVER STO

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FAREWELL, X GAMES 1. Nyjah Huston competes in the Skate Street Men’s Final.

4. The 2016 X Games brought in over 100,000 fans for the four-day event.

2. Rich Kearns flips his bike in the Moto X Best Trick competition.

5. Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker of Blink-182 perform at the X Games on Saturday night.

3. Dennis Enarson competes in the BMX Park event.

6. James Foster attempts a stunt in the BMX Dirt competition.

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan Staff

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Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan Staff

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan Staff

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VER STORY

Monday, June 6, 2016

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Final X Games leave mark despite poor weather

By Ezra Siegel @siegelezra

BMX professional Kyle Baldock dismounted his bike, tossed his helmet to the side and threw his fist in the air as he pumped up the crowd in front of him.

The Australian native already sent fans into a frenzy after whipping his bike 720 degrees underneath him as he flew high above the concrete.

The stunt earned him the Dave Mirra BMX Park golden bike pedal for best trick. But for Baldock, the award was just the icing on top of the thrill of getting the Circuit of the Americas crowd on its feet.

“We’re not here to do anything but get the crowd

hyped,” Baldock said. “That’s the only must-do thing … Going out there, seeing the fans, throwing my helmet off — that’s all love.”

Fans were hungry for excitement after withstanding thunder, lightning and a variety of weather-related delays throughout the X Games’ final weekend in Austin. Attendees missed out on rappers Logic and G-Eazy, who were scheduled to perform Friday before severe weather ended the night early. Other events like the skateboard and BMX Big Air finals were eventually canceled after several postponements.

“Weather’s been working against us — especially [Saturday]” attendee Chris

Lupton said. “We talked to a bunch of people who drove in from out of town and different states, and they had to go back [Sunday]. They’re missing out on two days’ worth of events.”

Three events were squeezed into Sunday’s lineup after cancellations the previous two days. The packed schedule yielded simultaneous events, causing fans to have to choose between different high-profile competitions, like the Skateboard Park Final and the Intel BMX Dirt Final.

BMX professional Chase Hawk, an Austin native, said he was disappointed to see the weather dampen Austin’s final year as host of the X Games.

However, he felt the X Games staff excelled in handling the

conditions and keeping the event going.

“It’s one of those unfortunate situations where it’s not what anybody wants,” Hawk said. “But it’s awesome how much they’ve been able to accommodate it. They’re always able to dry the course and the dirt, and they’re always still able to run the event — that’s what matters.”

The poor weather conditions put a dent in what was otherwise a largely successful final stop for the X Games.

An estimated crowd of 100,000-plus packed the Circuit of the Americas, and reinstated events like BMX and Skateboard Street drew massive crowds. Additionally, both fans and athletes raved

about this year’s changes to the festival’s layout, which made competitions more accessible to those navigating the venue. “[The layout] makes sure everybody has space,” attendee Gage Olson said. “Everybody can see what they want to see.

The way all these different tracks and courses are set up — it’s pretty cool.”

X Games Vice President Tim Reed said before the festival’s start that he hoped to leave Austin with its best show yet. While weather made its impact early and often, it didn’t overshadow the emotions both athletes and fans felt seeing the festival go.

“It’s hard because I love Austin and I want to continue here,” professional motocross

racer Edgar Torronteras said.

“This place is amazing, the crowd keeps coming and coming, everything is close, the concerts and everything — it’s hard.”

It’s yet to be seen whether the X Games will return to Austin in the future. But the city has undoubtedly embraced the competition during its three-year stint at the Circuit of the Americas. The festival fostered a lively action sports culture and if it returns, it will pick up where it left off.

“I absolutely [want it to return],” BMX professional Jamie Bestwick said. “You have a huge action sports presence here in Austin. What better event to come to Austin than the X Games?”

Date changes, heat concerns among reasons for X Games departure

By Akshay Mirchandani @amirchandani41

After three years at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, the X Games are looking toward the future.

The X Games, an ESPN sponsored event, is accepting bids for a new host city after they mutually agreed with the Circuit of Americas to end their contract a year early.

Last year, the Texas Major Events Trust Fund decreased the state’s funds to the Circuit of the Americas. The Austin AmericanStatesman reported in March that ESPN pulled out partly because of those reductions.

ESPN, however, denied that report. Moving forward, ESPN wants to move the X Games to later in the summer, rather than the

traditional early-June window when the X Games has to compete with the NBA Finals and NHL Stanley Cup Finals for viewership.

“With all of those, the calendar is really busy,” X Games Vice President Tim Reed said. “For us, we want to put ourselves in a position to be in a time of the summer that’s not as challenged with other major sporting events.”

Reed said they want to move the games to the later part of July, which presents one of the biggest reasons for the X Games’ departure — the Texas heat.

An X Games in late July means an outdoor event where fans and athletes have to deal with potential tripledigit temperatures. Even in these final X Games, the courses and event sites have been moved closer together

to help fans avoid walking long distances in the heat.

“If we were in July here … you’re not doing that,” Reed said.

The Statesman reported in March that the X Games are in conversations with cities like Charlotte, Minneapolis, Seattle, Kansas City and Fort Lauderdale as potential new sites. The city of Austin might miss some of the revenue the games brought in, but the athletes will also miss Austin.

“It reminds me a little bit of Brazil,” professional skateboarder and Brazil native Bob Burnquist said. “Some of the events there and the crowd showing up, it’s just got that excitement for sports.”

Illustration by Jacky Tovar | Daily Texan Staff

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ALEXANDER CHASE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorial Monday, June 6, 2016

COLUMN

Texas children deserve more than ‘adequate’ schools

By Janhavi Nemawarkar Daily Texan Associate Editor @janhavin97

On May 13, the Texas Supreme Court found that funding for Texas public schools does, in fact, meet the absolute bare minimum required by the Texas Constitution. Despite the ruling, the onus is on Texas lawmakers to substantially improve funding for Texas public schools.

The plaintiffs, comprised of over half of the public school districts in Texas, alleged that budget cuts enacted by the legislature in 2011 kept schools from meeting the “adequacy” and “suitability” requirements for public education in the Texas Constitution and Education Code. However, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that because the threshold for public schools was “adequate” — and not “best possible” — there was insufficient evidence to find the current school finance system unconstitutional.

Our public schools are “adequate” at most, y’all.

Simply meeting the minimum constitutional requirements was far from a ringing endorsement from the Court. The justices disparaged the convoluted school finance system and urged lawmakers to enact meaningful changes, writing that Texas children “deserve transformational,

top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid.” However, the lack of directives from the Court renders impotent any movement for comprehensive school finance reform in the upcoming legislative session. For a state with a history of education budget cuts, the minimal affirmation of the current system gives the legislators little incentive to entangle themselves in a battle between angering voters by increasing taxes and facing yet another lawsuit from the school districts.

Despite the challenges, lawmakers have no other choice but to reform. While enrollment has surged, public school staffing is down and Texas ranks 38th in the United States in per-student spending. Despite time to adjust to standardized tests with more stringent standards, passing rates on STAAR tests have stagnated. These current levels of funding will quickly become insufficient thanks to Texas’ increasing population of economically disadvantaged students. As Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman noted, just because the court found the system “good enough now,” the ruling “does not mean that the system is good or that it will continue to be enough.”

The merits of a strong public education system easily outweigh any political and economic obstacles of reform. Education has distinct economic benefits, ensuring higher incomes that

Illustration by Jacky Tovar | Daily Texan Staff

translate into less dependence on public assistance and higher standards of living for all.

An “adequate” public education system simply cannot support a state with a burgeoning young population. If lawmakers want to ensure Texas

continues to progress, they have a responsibility to vastly improve public education. The 6 million (and counting) children in Texas deserve better.

Nemawarkar is a Plan II, psychology and government sophomore from Austin.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Find your voice, apply to join The Daily Texan this summer

By Alexander Chase

Daily Texan Editor-in-Chief @TexanEditorial

The Daily Texan is holding summer staff tryouts now through June 15. For every passion you may have, there is a department here to help you explore it, regardless of your major or previous experience.

There are opportunities available for you to get up-close and personal with local events in news and sports, go in-depth on local culture in Life & Arts, explore cutting edge research in Science & Technology and express your take on student issues in opinion. For those who express themselves more creatively, we need photographers, videographers and comics artists to enrich the words we put on the page.

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

If you are more interested in working behind the scenes, we need copy editors and designers to make this entire enterprise possible.

Even if writing here full-time is not a possibility for you, we still value what you have to contribute and have outlets for you to do so.

You can respond to columns and articles by submitting a Firing Line or expand on an issue you care deeply about by submitting an op-ed.

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | E-mail your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

The Daily Texan is a storied tradition that has been in operation for 116 years and won more awards than any other student newspaper in the country. Our alumni have won 19 Pulitzer Prizes and graced the pages of many of the most respected publications in the world.

We hope that you try out. You could be next.

Chase is a Plan II and economics senior from Royse City.

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan.

Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

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MEGAN HIX , LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, June 6, 2016

atx Television festival hits five year mark

By Anna McCreary

Caitlin McFarland, left, and Emily Gipson founded ATX Television Festival in 2011 after discovering a lack of events meant for TV fans.

This year’s festival includes a “West Wing” reunion and 250 panels.

@annamccreary

Before bringing in 2,500 attendees and some of the biggest names in the industry, the ATX Television Festival started with a casual lunch between two former assistants.

Emily Gipson and Caitlin McFarland had both worked in television before — McFarland in production and Gipson for a studio and network. McFarland said when they met in 2006, they were in a transitional phase, wondering where their careers would go next. Six years later, the festival was born.

“We really looked for a television festival to go to or work for, but didn’t really find one — not the equivalent of what they had in terms of festivals for film or music,” McFarland said.

The two women decided to fill in the blank themselves and launched a Kickstarter campaign to create their own festival.

Texas natives Gipson and McFarland said from the moment they began talking about the festival, they knew it was going to be in Austin.

“We wanted it to be a destination, where people could get away from work and enjoy their time away,” Gipson said. “People really love Austin, and so we thought, even if the first festival was a bust, people would have a good time [here].”

Today, the four-day festival includes 250 panels featuring television casts, creators, writers, executive producers and music supervisors. The festival will also feature “The West Wing” and “Ugly Betty” reunions, two of many

Courtesy Allison Rou

reunions for which the festival has become known.

“Last year, we had the ‘Gilmore Girls’ reunion here, and a couple of years ago we surprised our ‘Friday Night Lights’ fans with Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler,” McFarland said. “We like to do things that make us feel like a community, and make it fun.”

Kevin Falls, co-executive producer of “The West Wing,” festival panelist, and member of the ATX advisory board, said the fest is more fan-focused than other industry events.

“When you go to the upfronts, which is when your show is shown to advertisers in New York, or you go to a screening where there might be critics, you’re nervous [about] what people [will] think,” Falls said. “When you go to this festival, it’s really fans and people who love television.”

McFarland said TV itself is a community — which is why she and Gipson were surprised there wasn’t a television festival sooner.

“You spend a lot of time with these characters, more than the two hours you

get in a film,” McFarland said. “The community it creates around these shows is perfectly matched with the community that a festival creates.”

Although the festival is their main event, Gipson said they’re also expanding to year-long programming. For instance, they screened the season three premiere of “The 100” at Alamo Drafthouse in January.

“The festival isn’t always perfect timing for everything, and some people can’t come during that week,” Gipson said. “TV happens all year long, and there’s so many great things happening that we really want to focus on keeping our community active throughout the year.”

Gipson said they continue to be surprised by attendees’ reactions to the event.

“There is such magic that happens on the ground during the festival,” Gipson said. “The conversations that happen on the panel and the conversations after and pieces written about things we talked about — it helps us realize that this is something special, and that keeps us going.”

Three events at ATX Television Festival not to miss “Friday Night Lights” tailgate The “West Wing” Administration “The O.C.” creatives and script reading and pep rally Saturday, June 11 at 11 a.m.

Sunday, June 12 at 1:30 p.m.

Friday, June 10 at 5 p.m.

Catch Aaron Sorkin alongside many Return to Newport, California, with a This free, public event takes place on of the hit series’ actors in a discussion look at the making of the series followed Panther Field 10 years after FNL’s premiere. of the show’s legacy. by a reading of the show’s pilot episode.

‘west wing’ producer discusses new project

By Anna McCreary @annamccreary

Kevin Falls, co-executive producer of the Emmy-winning drama “The West Wing,” will screen his new Fox drama, “Pitch,” and speak on panels such as “Short N’ Sweet: The Single Season” at the ATX Television Festival on June 10. Falls spoke with The Daily Texan about the writing process and making “Pitch.”

The Daily Texan: In the beginning of your career you wrote films, but now you write mostly for TV. What has that transition been like?

Kevin Falls: Well, when you write movies, they take forever to develop. You can write a script and get paid for writing a script, and most times you never see it get turned into a movie. But with television — which I always sort of had my eye on — things happen quicker. You can write a script and get a response the next week, and you see it on the air a month after that. Once I got a taste of that, I never went back.

DT: What does a typical day on the job look like for you?

KF: Today, for instance, I’m doing this show called “Pitch” about the first female baseball player.

We’ve sort of mapped out roughly how we see the season going with our writers. Pretty soon, we’ll have scripts and we’ll launch into production, and then it’s acting and lights, camera and action. But right now it’s eight people in a room drinking coffee and eating candy and popcorn and all sorts of other bad snacks, trying to come up with what the show’s going to be.

DT: What are you most excited about fans seeing in your new show, “Pitch”?

KF: The concept of the show is the first woman pitching in the major leagues. We actually partnered with Major League Baseball on this, so we’re going to great lengths to make the baseball look real. It’s a big buy, to say that women can pitch in the major leagues, and we want to make that real.

But beyond that, it’s really getting to see these characters and look behind the scenes at what it’s like to run a baseball team, what it’s like to be in the locker room, to be a Major League Baseball player.