08-13-09

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TH HE DAILY TEXAN SPORTS PAGE 6

LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8

Final Thrifty Thursday date a bat idea

Practice makes perfect Thursday, August 13, 2009

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

Karina Jacques | Daily Texan Staff

By Ben Wermund Daily Texan Staff Black and white tarps, taped together and covered in dust and dry paint, create the stage for hundreds of cardboard boxes. Wearing yellow safety jackets and leather work boots, a few workers take a lunch break on top, as thousands of empty seats, clothed in clear plastic, look on. Soon, these 6,700 seats will look down on major musical acts that normally make Austin a stop on their tours, who instead will be playing at the new Cedar Park Center, just north of the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Troy Dillinger, founder of Save Austin Music, said the new arena, which has already booked a George Strait show in September and a Wilco show in October, will likely provide major competition for other music venues in Austin and for the city itself. “We have really failed as a business community to encourage this kind of new growth within the city proper,” Dillinger said. “I think

that our recent failures with the city choosing not to create a music department, the community’s inability to come together as an industry — those things have conspired to kind of make it fair game.” Earlier this summer, City Council postponed a vote on the creation of a music department, which would have been a coordinated effort between the city, local artists and venues to focus on the continuing importance of live music for Austin. At last week’s meeting, City Council removed the department from their list of agenda items. According to a 2001 report commissioned by the city, which looked at the impact of live music on Austin’s economy, more than $616 million in economic activity and almost 11,200 jobs can be attributed to influence of music in the local economy. Veronica Ruiz, Cedar Park Center spokeswoman, said the arena, which opens next month, will provide capacity for up to 8,700 concert attendees — larger than Stubb’s, which can hold about 2,500, but smaller than the Frank Erwin Center, which has a capacity of 17,000.

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Edmarc Hedrick | Daily Texan Staff

Clayton Jennings Jr. and Jared Beall work on one of the new Cedar Park Center’s glass doors Wednesday morning.

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Simplified FAFSA may affect aid for college

Sudden sideways rain surprises UT economics lecturer Helen Schneider, speech pathology senior Andrea Howland and radio-television-film senior Julie Pietak while crossing Guadalupe Street on Wednesday.

Suburb aims to attract music performances away from Austin bars

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Rain, rain, go away

New Cedar Park Center competes with city venues

TOMORROW’S WEATHER

By Yijiao Zhuang Daily Texan Staff Ongoing simplification of the FAFSA may impact students and financial offices at both state and federal levels. Filled out by almost all incoming college students who hope to receive federal aid money for college tuition, the form has been extensively revised over the years to include many questions that may not apply to certain students. Federal aid agencies and congressional committees have been working to simplify the FAFSA process by specifying questions collected about applicants and tailoring the information to applicants’ need with less reliance on expected family contribution, said Marie Bennett, director of the Washington office of the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs. A concern raised about decreasing the emphasis on expected family income is it might hinder state aid from being allocated proportionately to the students who need it most, causing state funds to be spread across a larger pool of applicants who would now qualify for aid. “Lots of students are deterred from applying for

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Practiced workers fix Andrews Dormitory has wiring replaced as contractors rush to complete work

By Hudson Lockett Daily Texan Staff Ivan McCoy, a mechanical technician with the Division of Housing and Food Services for 21 years, said he and others at the department are constantly working on different facets of dorm rooms to repair wear and tear before students returned. “Ceramics, floor tiles, ceiling tiles, carpets, locks, doors, framework, remodels — we do it all,” McCoy said. The father of five and grandfather of 10 said that, outside of a five-year stint in law enforce-

ment with the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, he has been at UT since 1984. He said that while he considered himself a carpenter, the tendency these days is toward multiple skill sets instead of any concentration. “You’d almost want to say it’s a dying breed,” he said. McCoy is one of the mechanical technicians working to finish construction on Andrews Dormitory before students move in Tuesday. The bustle inside the dormitory has been constant for both sides of the renovation effort as they work around one another. The retrofitting of Andrews’ interior is part of a larger project

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Edmarc Hedrick | Daily Texan Staff

George Morriss, general superintendent of Jamail & Smith Construction, examines the piping systems in the Andrews Dormitory basement Wednesday evening.

Live from space on the Bullock’s IMAX screen Students and dignitaries gather at event to speak with orbiting astronaut

ments involving gravity and Newton’s laws of motion, rocket building, live demonstrations by the Boosting Engineering and Science Technology robotics student team, hands-on inspection of NASA planetarium. Timothy Dillon, a museum spokesman, said all 400 seats of the IMAX theater were occupied by students from the Knowledge is Power Program, local Boy Scout troops and several other middle schools. The “Knowledge is Power Program” is a national, free, openenrollment, college — preparatory public school geared toward underserved communities.

Dillon said students submitted 30 questions to Kopra and discussions with astronauts are pivotal for class curriculums. “Teachers can build lesson plans around the questions that were asked,” Dillon said. “And even the questions that are asked, students have to research what experiments are being conducted at the space station [that relate].” Zeke Reyes, a 10th grade student from Austin, said he seeks a career in engineering and that NASA has sparked his interest. “In preparation to today’s event, my teammates and I ex-

By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Visions of floating in space and peering down upon a pensive blue Earth were ignited within the minds of Texas students participating in a live discussion hosted by The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, which included NASA astronaut Col. Tim Kopra aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. To commemorate the first live station downlink to Austin, the museum charged no admission for the day and organized a series of speakers and activities for students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said it was a historic day and that students should cling to their dreams tightly. “Neil Armstrong, when he came back from the moon said, ‘You know, mystery creates wonder, and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand,’” Dewhurst said. “So your achieveKarina Jacques | Daily Texan Staff ments in life are going to be based on wonder, all your imagination American astronaut Col. Tim Kopra, on board the International Space and hard work.” Station, interacts with audience members at the Bob Bullock Texas Activities included experi- State History Museum on Wednesday morning.

ecuted our own rocket-launching experiment,” Reyes said. “We are excited to learn about the research being conducted on Expedition 20.” Richard Garriott traveled with Space Adventures, a space tourism company, to the station as the sixth private astronaut. He said the downlink provides inspiration for students in science, technology, engineering and math. “[The downlink makes kids] come to the realization that ‘Hey, this is something I can do,’” Garriott said. “It’s these kids that are going to be the ones that are going to be taking the first steps on Mars — so it’s an important group to inspire.” Museum President Bill Jones said Kopra graduated from McAllen High School in Austin and that his goals have always been far reaching. “I am certain that he had his eyes set on something bigger than Austin, Texas, and bigger than McAllen High School, and indeed we are about to experience his dream,” Jones said. Carson Jones, a Boy Scout, asked Kopra what his first spacewalk was like and if he encountered any unexpected difficulties. Kopra said maneuvering in zero gravity was difficult and

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