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SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
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Graduate students kick off semester By Viviana Aldous Daily Texan Staff Graduate students hoping to increase their voice both on and off campus attended the first Graduate Student Assembly meeting of the semester Wednesday evening. The meeting familiarized new representatives with the purpose and procedures of GSA. “As the Graduate Student Assembly — obviously we all have our own special niches — we advocate for graduate students, and that’s the ultimate goal,” said GSA President Daniel Spikes. Spikes briefly mentioned GSA’s goals for the year, but the graduate assembly must approve them before they become official. “We want to capitalize on some of the momentum that was created last year, such as increasing involvement of graduate students in student governance and raising awareness of services available to graduate students,” Spikes said. GSA hopes to address a variety of issues related to graduate-student funding, particularly in light of plans to cut the size of graduate-student enrollment and reallocate funding from graduate-student seminars to undergraduate education. “We want to attract more graduate students,” Spikes said about general graduate-student funding.
GSA continues on page 5
Tara Haelle | Daily Texan Staff
William Liechty, a chemical engineering graduate student, introduces himself at the first GSA meeting.
Peyton McGee | Daily Texan Staff
Lt. Scott Hembree and John McKinney of Austin Fire Department Station 2 drain foam out of the water tank of a fire engine on Wednesday.
Firefighters balk at cell phone rules By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Austin firefighters are concerned their FirstAmendment rights may be compromised by an Austin Fire Department code of conduct that limits the contents of any electronic communication between firefighters and anyone outside the department. Firefighters will no longer be allowed to share information or send images from cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants or social networking sites under an amendment to the department’s code of conduct that takes effect Aug. 11. The code has been effective since Aug. 28, 2008, and it seeks to “define the platform of the acceptable set of behavior within the organization. Its main objective is to further promote a higher standard of practice within the organization,” according to the code. The addendum, which refers to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, states, “any written, auditory, and/or visual messages ... are the sole property of [the Austin Fire Department].” The new
clause is part of an older regulation that took effect roughly 30 years ago, said AFD Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr. The new policy as a whole states that an AFD employee “shall not criticize or ridicule the department, its policies, its officers or other members by speech, writing, or other expression” when the criticism is slanderous and interferes with AFD discipline and damages the reputation or efficiency of another member. “The explanation was that the [criticism rule] has been there forever. That may be the case, but it still seems to be far-reaching and we think [it] may be crossing the line on First Amendment, and we think the language should be revised,” said Stephen Truesdell, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, the firefighter’s union. Truesdell said the procedure is composed of rules so outdated that they are referred to as “muttonchops” and that the department has recently begun to consolidate old “largely ignored” rules, regulations and guidelines to publish them online.
UT researcher links economics, health By Rebecca Goldstein Daily Texan Staff Students who eat small and frequent portions of food throughout the day may be on their way to better health, suggests a study conducted by economics professor Daniel Hamermesh. According to Hamermesh’s recent research, eating several small meals throughout the day while completing another task can contribute to better health. Hamermesh dubs this activity “grazing,” which can range from eating a cookie while reading the newspaper to eating popcorn while watching television. Hamermesh’s findings show that people normally eat three meals a day, spending approximately 2 1/2 hours eating. People given the opportunity to spread these meals throughout the day while also completing another task are more likely to have a low body mass index, an indicator of good health. A high BMI signals obesity. Study results also show that people with higher wage rates grazed more frequently and had better health. People with a higher socioeconomic status tend to work jobs where time is valuable and grazing is necessary. As a result, workers from the upper middle class and above spend more time working and grazing. Results of the study were based on an economic model, which predicted that higher wages lead to an increase in grazing. “The real novelty here is no one has had huge amounts of data before, and nobody has thought about how people’s wages affect eating ac-
Derek Stout | Daily Texan Staff
Professor Dan Hamermesh explains his theory about snacking and its effects on weight. counts,” Hamermesh said. The study shows that a worker who earns $75,000 per year spends five more minutes eating than someone who earns $25,000 per year. For students, Hamermesh suggests attempting to limit portions and to eat little bits frequently. Hamermesh often studies ideas from various fields from an economist’s perspective. In the past, he has researched the application of la-
bor economics to beauty, sleep and suicide. “The best papers are the ones that people look at and say, ‘Gee, I have never thought of that before.’ That is the best compliment,” he said. Nutrition professor Nomeli Nunez said he believes there are compounding factors based on this study that may give a wrong impression. What matters more than when or how you eat is what you eat, he says.
Nunez said more important factors include not overeating, eating small, healthy meals, exercising and remaining aware of the health effects of obesity. But for those of lower socioeconomic status, eating small meals throughout the day is not feasible. People who earn higher wages have more opportunities to buy healthier food, join exercise gyms and buy exercise equipment, he said.
“Now, you are resurrecting this old, archaic set of rules and [are putting] them in this modern format — what does this mean? Does this mean [AFD is] going to start enforcing these rules now that [they] modernized them?” he said. Firefighters understand that disclosure of information regarding an ongoing investigation may endanger it, he said, and that criticism should be delivered through a union because of the hierarchical nature of AFD — which, if undermined, can lead to problems in emergency situations. “I don’t feel — as written — [the rule is] legal,” said union lawyer Craig Deats. “It is overbroad because it can be interpreted to prohibit protective speech. I have been ensured that is not [AFD’s] intent, and we have been exploring ways to try and make the language clearer.” He said that if firefighters feel the need to criticize the chief in matters of public interest that they should do so. “That is a safety issue, and the public has a right
RIGHTS continues on page 5
Flower admirers of all ages turn up for First Bloom By Shabab Siddiqui Daily Texan Staff As the Missouri violet, Fall Aster and Sage Tropicals embellished the entryway to the Boys & Girls Club of East Austin on Wednesday afternoon, the age gap between flower admirers didn’t seem to matter. Representatives from 16 national-park agencies teamed with 10- to 12-year-olds from the club to plant a garden and to wrap up the National Park Foundation’s third-annual First Bloom program at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. “We had parents that came to pick up their kids, and then turn right around when they saw how hard they were working,” said Kelly Ledford, education outreach coordinator at the wildflower center. “The kids learned and had a great time.” The First Bloom program pairs national park agencies throughout the country with young urban student organizations in their respective areas. The partners are educated about plants native to the area, and from September to the following summer, the student organizations frequent the national park and assist with replanting and cultivating the native wildlife. The Boys & Girls Club of East Austin is paired with the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park, one of the two Texan parks to partake in this year’s program. “[The Boys & Girls Club of East Austin] is a model of what we want from our other national park agencies and their student partners,” said Matt Ferris, program director for youth engagement at the National Park Foundation. “Later on in the year, these fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders are going to go to the LBJ National Park and apply what they learned.” A total of 26 national parks and their student partners are enrolled in this year’s program, with the first 10 groups having their session in mid-August. The
FLOWERS continues on page 2