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THE DAILY TEXAN Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
Horns make quick work of Red Raiders at home
Calendar Rally for higher ed
A group of faculty, staff and students will meet on the West Mall at noon to rally for more public funding of higher education.
Gail Collins
The New York Times columnist will discuss her recent book on women’s struggle for equality over the past 50 years. The event starts at 7 p.m. at 5604 Manor.
KirkLee Bicycles builds custom, award winning bikes
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Go online to check out DT comics artist Betsy Cooper’s “It’s Dark In Space” bit.ly/dtcomics
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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 14
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Students offer input about tuition changes Liberal arts college survey finds support for allocating funds to student resources By Allie Kolechta Daily Texan Staff
A newly formed student committee submitted recommendations to decrease tuition and increase the quality of UT’s liberal arts education to the college’s dean on Wednesday. The College Tuition and Budget Advisory Committee for liberal arts compiled information from a survey of more than 400 liberal arts students and urged the college to improve faculty, career services and advising and guarantee smaller classes.
According to the recommendations, 65 percent of students are against any kind of increase in tuition, but if a hike is unavoidable, the money should first go toward the resources students feel the most strongly about. Once approved by the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, the committee’s suggestions must be approved by Tuition Policy Advisory Committee. TPAC is a nine-member committee made up of four UT students and five Randy Diehl faculty and staff members, including vice provost Steve Leslie Dean of Liberal Arts and chief financial officer Kevin Hegarty. If TPAC approves timately sets tuition. the recommendations, they will The college will implement be reviewed by President Wil- CTBAC’s recommendations, liam Powers Jr. before going to the Board of Regents, which ulCTBAC continues on PAGE 2
Advisory committee holds first public forum, receives outside input about policies By Liz Farmer Daily Texan Staff
Students voiced concerns over potential tuition increases at the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee’s first open forum of this tuition-setting term Wednesday. This is the first year the committee has held a public forum more than a month before it makes tuition recommendations to President William Powers Jr. Committee members explained the tuition-setting process the University has used since 2003 when the state legislature handed its pow-
Fire volunteers
er to set tuition rates over to state universities’ governing boards. TPAC gets input from each of the colleges’ and schools’ College Tuition and Budget Advisory Committee. TPAC will take this input and make tuition recommendations to Powers, who will then recommend tuition policy to the UT System Board of Regents later this semester. However, tuition policy for the next two years will ultimately be set by the Board of Regents. Student Government President Natalie Butler said the UT System suggested that any tuition increase must be tied to an effort to improve four-year graduation rates and should stay within a 2.6 percent increase.
TPAC continues on PAGE 2 Ezra Masch plays a song in the Visual Arts Center Wednesday night. His performance, a fusion of music and lights, was part of the “Music of the Spheres” exhibition the center is hosting.
Stop by the Bastrop Volunteer Reception Center all day to learn about ways to support victims of the recent wild fires. The center needs all types of workers.
Under the Sea
The UT Scuba club will meet in SAC 1.118 at 7 p.m. Members receive discounts on gear and classes.
Today in history In 1981
Egyptians elect Hosni Mubarak president.
Inside In News:
First openly gay Texas House member speaks page 6
In Opinion:
Quotes to note from the TPAC forum page 4
In Sports: A look at Fozzy Whittaker’s season page 8
In Life&Arts:
Everybody cut ‘Footloose’ page 14
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Quote to note “Gene regulation has the promise of treating and curing almost every disease out there that has a genetic basis, that’s the tantalizing and exciting prospect of it.” — Chad Mirkin Northwestern professor NEWS PAGE 7
Amanda Martin Daily Texan Staff
Art performance impresses with character commitment By Kayla Jonsson Daily Texan Staff
As studio art graduate student Ezra Masch tapped the buttons on his keyboard, 73 colorful lights corresponding to the notes flooded the Visual Arts Center. The keyboard performance was only
one element of Masch’s show, “Music of the Spheres,” presented at the center on Wednesday. At the visual and musical art display, Masch arrived in a procession of drummers wearing Victorian style clothing with skeleton painted faces. Girls in gold robes, who also had skeleton-painted faces, threw rose pedals as Masch, dressed like the drummers but with
a white, curly wig, danced to his seat behind the keyboard. “I traveled across reality to get here,” he said while still in character, opening his show. “Eventually everyone is going to die, but what I want to know, what I really want to know, is what are we going to live for? We’re all going to live tonight.” The performance included a variety of
music including classical, blues, jazz and rap. The audience was encouraged to clap, dance and sing along. Masch became silent at moments as he listened to spectators echoing his notes. “It was really interactive,” said fine arts graduate student Shalena White.
PERFORMANCE continues on PAGE 2
Shops on the Drag open after careful planning Young Texans try to correct
flaws in higher education
By John Farey Daily Texan Staff
Business on Guadalupe Street near West Campus appears to be booming with new restaurants opening this fall, despite slower economic conditions nationally. Qdoba owner Kortney Otten, who opened a Mexican restaurant for the first time Wednesday, said locating her business next to the Drag was a critical decision in the two-year planning process. “It’s tough, but we’re hoping that this location gives a little bit of a buffer zone from the economy,” Otten said. “It’s tough for restaurant and small business owners all over the country right now. Austin in general has been pretty competitive. It would be a lot easier if there was someone down at Austin City Council to work with us on getting everything approved.” Verts Kebap co-owner Michael Heyne said adequate planning was the key to getting restaurant plans
By Jody Serrano Daily Texan Staff
John Smith | Daily Texan Staff
Cody Gatlin prepares a kebap for a customer at Verts Wednesday afternoon. Verts is one of several new restaurants that have recently opened on Guadalupe Street despite the difficult national economic situation.
approved. Heyne and fellow UT “It was complicated with many McCombs almnus Dominik Stein steps, but we never felt left alone opened two locations for their through the process,” Heyne said. German-style fast food in August “It doesn’t need to be difficult.” this year, one on Guadalupe and the other in the Dobie Center. QDOBA continues on PAGE 2
Current UT student leaders and alumni launched a group to call upon elected state officials to support the UT and Texas A&M dual missions of education and research. The Young Texans for Excellence in Higher Education formed in response to the June efforts to reform the higher education system by measures that included massive enrollment expansion, separating the teaching and research bodies of the University, increasing class sizes and expanding online courses. In addition to launching on Wednesday, the group publicized their “Our Degrees Matter” campaign — a campaign for UT degrees to grow in value over time instead of being dragged down by negative reforms.
Natalie Butler, a founding member of the Young Texans and current Student Government president, said one of the main goals of Young Texans is to make students pay attention to the issues surrounding higher education and get them involved in the conversation. Butler added she is not in Young Texans as the UT student body president but as a concerned student. “This is just a group of students coming together,” Butler said. “We think students deserve a seat at the table, and this group hopes to provide that.” Young Texans currently has 133 members, mostly current UT students and recent graduates. The group welcomes all current and former students. Keshav Rajagopalan, another
EDUCATION continues on PAGE 2