10-22-09 Daily Texan by The Daily Texan

2009 OCTOBER 22,

THE DAILY TEXAN Weekend

DT WEEKEND

SPORTS PAGE 7

The young men and The Eastern Sea Thursday, October 22, 2009

In volleyball, bovine trumps feline

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

Prop 4 wins lawmakers’ favor

Sara Young | Daily Texan Staff

Left to right, Texas State Rep. Dan Branch, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, and Forth Worth Chamber of Commerce President Bill Thornton talk after the Proposition 4 press conference held Wednesday afternoon at Molecular Imprints. Proposition 4 will allow for additional tier one universities, and could potentially improve the economy in Texas.

Amendment would increase research benefits, opportunities By Perez James Daily Texan Staff Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, state legislators and business leaders visited Molecular Imprints, Inc. on Wednesday to show support for Proposition 4, touting the economic benefits of additional Tier One universities in Texas. If passed, the amendment will create an independent research university fund that will allow emerging research universities in Texas to “achieve national prominence as major research universities,” Dewhurst said. Dewhurst said that the economic benefits of adding more Tier One universities can lead to huge opportunities for Texas, including more options for higher education, a more competitive workforce and more research and technology. “The University of Texas at Austin is known to bring big revenue to Austin,

Texas,” he said. Molecular Imprints, a high-tech start-up company founded using technology developed and patented by UT, was cited as a good example of the economic benefits of University research. Texas has only three Tier One universities: UT, Texas A&M and Rice. “Statistics have shown nine to 11 thousand students every year go to top universities out of state because they can’t get in other top universities in Texas,” said Steve Cummings, Molecular Imprints spokesman. “Texas is behind. The effort will pay long term, and it will benefit people in Texas. It has a long term effects down the road.” Seven schools that would receive the benefits of the research university fund are listed in the amendment: University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of North Texas, Tex-

Acevedo makes case for aggressive action to city Improved technology, updated equipment to spur police efforts By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff In an effort to address the growing student and faculty population living off campus, the UT Police Department held the 2009 Safety Coalition Forum Wednesday evening. The forum addressed crime prevention and awareness in areas susceptible to dangerous activity. “In many ways [UT is] a city within a city, and with that comes a specific set of challenges that are unique to this campus,” said Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald. The forum included a presentation by the Austin Police Department, the Austin Fire Department and city division managers. They

discussed topics such as sexual assault prevention, city code enforcement, graffiti-based crime and fire safety. “We are growing too fast,” said APD Chief Art Acevedo. “You are hearing about murders, rapes — this city has lost its innocence, and there is nothing worse than a city being idle.” Acevedo said the department needs to distinguish between the severity of crimes that occur, such as in burglary cases, which might be committed by a “young kid that has a little marijuana habit” or a “person that has a real bad drug habit or is a habitual burglar.” He said the department will leverage technology and will monitor public areas in order to respond in a timely manner to medical emergencies and criminal activity.

SAFETY continues on page 2

Shelley Neuman | Daily Texan Staff

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo speaks at the UTPD Student Safety Forum held at the UTPD Headquarters Wednesday evening.

as Tech University, University of Houston, University of Texas at El Paso and University of Texas at San Antonio. In order to access the money in the fund, a school must meet five out of seven quality standards including awarding 200 doctoral degrees a year and having a $400 million endowment. Questions were raised about how the schools would be funded. According to Proposition 4, the money is already in an old account that was supposed to reach $2 billion but has sat dormant for several years. The state created the account, called the Higher Education Fund, to aid campuses. If approved by voters, funds will be given based on three criteria — research spending, endowments and doctoral degrees awarded. Texans will vote on Proposition 4, along with 15 other propositions, on Nov. 3.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER Low

High

www.dailytexanonline.com

Gender gap looms a year after report By Hudson Lockett Daily Texan Staff As University funding remains anemic, the wage and hiring gap for female faculty has seen only limited progress one year after the release of a UT task force report brought the issue into the limelight. Officials from the provost’s office announced at a meeting of reform leaders Wednesday that a followup report will be posted by the end of November with information on salary equity and a female faculty head count for each school and college. About 40 administrators and faculty members — only two of them men — were in attendance. In the next year, UT can expect more female faculty hires, changes in how salary evaluations are conducted and more emphasis on creating a family-friendly environment at the University, said Vice Provost Gretchen Ritter. She said most colleges and schools have already submitted five- to 10-year plans to address gender disparities, and Vice Pro-

vost Judith Langlois noted in the meeting that some departments were cooperating with the office. Langlois, also a psychology professor, said that the reports will be expected annually but that she didn’t expect to see any changes in salary for this year. “I can’t say at this point that I have every dean on board, but I have a lot of them,” Langlois said. She declined to name which deans were reluctant to comply with provost office instructions. The delay of changes like equity pay raises for women, one of the main recommendations in last year’s report, was delayed this year by the economy, she said. But the University has created a program to help faculty spouses find jobs in Austin, and 49 new female faculty members, out of a projected 117, joined UT this fall. The results of the Gender Equity Task Force Report were made public last October. According to

FACULTY continues on page 2

Derek Stout | Daily Texan Staff

Judith Langlois and Gretchen Ritter field questions on Wednesday afternoon regarding gender equity in relation to staff salary.

UT warns about dangers of hazing Board meets to discuss consequences, penalties of student humiliation

By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Dailly Texan Staff When UT freshman Phanta “Jack” Phoummarath passed out from alcohol overconsumption at the Lambda Phi Epsilon house on Dec. 9, 2005, his fraternity brothers left him unconscious on the couch before taking turns marking his face. They found him dead from alcohol poisoning the next morning. Phoummarath was a victim of hazing, a problem that has persisted at the University even after his death. The UT Student Organization Safety Board hosted an interactive hazing discussion panel Wednesday as part of the University’s Safety Month. Speakers at the panel included Melinda Sutton, a UT hazing investigator and assistant to the Dean of Students, Daniel Horowitz, an attorney who worked on the Phoummarath case and Jennifer Jehli, the president of Texas Lonestars, a female spirit organization. The University disciplined 23 organizations for on-and offcampus hazing in the past three years, all of which are listed in an online memo from the Office of the Dean of Students. The majority of the groups penalized were Greek and spirit organizations. About eight to 10 disciplinary actions occurred last year alone, Sutton said. The most common hazing activities organizations were penalized for last year included forced calisthenics, unwanted food and

Peyton McGee | Daily Texan Staff

Attorney Daniel Horowitz speaks to students about hazing as Prianka Singapura, Mindy Sutton and Jennifer Jehli listen at the UTC on Sunday. alcohol consumption, public hu- cieve less than one complaint a miliation and servitude, such as week, she said. forcing a memAlthough hazber to clean aning deaths occur other member ’s more frequently room and drive with men, wompeople around. en have also been Some people think Sutton said the known to haze, o ff i c e t y p i c a l Horowitz said. they can get away ly begins receivThe UT hazwith [hazing].” ing more hazing ing policy defines complaints in Oc— Daniel Horowitz hazing as any intober, as many as tentional act diattorney rected against a twice a week, as some Greek orstudent that enganizations begin dangers the meninitiating their tal or physical pledge classes. In other months, safety of the student for the purit is typical for the office to re- pose of initiating or maintaining

‘‘

affiliation in an organization. The policy lists sleep deprivation, physical brutality and activities that cause extreme mental stress as examples of hazing. Students can report hazing incidents to the Office of the Dean of Students, where Sutton begins investigating the organization or following up on the student in question. “Some people think they can get away with [hazing] because they think there’s no evidence,” Horowitz said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time there’s a picture floating around somewhere.”

HAZING continues on page 2

NEWS

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Austin sweeps into fall

THE DAILY TEXAN Volume 110, Number 97 25 cents

CONTACT US Main Telephone: (512) 471-4591 Editor: Jillian Sheridan (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor: Stephen Keller (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Sports Office: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Photo Office: (512) 471-8618 photo@dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising: (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu Classified Advertising: (512) 471-5244 classifieds@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@dailytexanonline.com.

CORRECTION Wednesday’s story “Austin bridges housing gap” should have stated: There are 156,000 multi family units in Austin, many of which are privately owned. The Texan regrets the error.

COPYRIGHT Copyright 2009 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.

TODAY’S WEATHER High

Low

“Look, it’s not like we make a habit of nipples!”

CHEAP STUDENT S TUDENT PARKING 2 blocks from UT Bus Stop Available by y week, month, semester

474-5300

Peyton McGee | Daily Texan Staff

Guillermo Juarez, a Landscape Services crew leader, sweeps leaves in the Honors Quad courtyard on Wednesday.

FACULTY: Report spurs plan to hire more female staff From page 1 the report, UT lags in hiring women compared to peer universities. Women make up only 19 percent of the full professors at UT, and male tenured professors make an average of $9,000 more than their female counterparts each year. The 22-member task force was formed by the provost’s office in 2007 to investigate inequalities in the work environment of female UT faculty members. Ritter, a government professor, co-chaired the committee and was promoted to vice provost in April. Langlois said one of the costliest challenges in tracking gender equity is updating provost’s rather outdated method of storing faculty data — five-by-seven index cards. “We count your number of years of service by counting the number of red dots on the card,” Langlois said. Langlois and engineering professor Lynn Katz are leading an ap-

THE DAILY TEXAN

This newspaper was written, edited and designed with pride by The Daily Texan and Texas Student Media.

Permanent Staff

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jillian Sheridan Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stephen Keller Associate Managing Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David R. Henry, Ana McKenzie Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremy Burchard, Dan Treadway, David Muto, Lauren Winchester News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sean Beherec Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pierre Bertrand, Austen Sofhauser, Blair Watler Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viviana Aldous, Bobby Longoria, Rachel Platis, Lena Price Enterprise Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Kreighbaum Enterprise Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hudson Lockett Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Green Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cristina Herrera, Nausheen Jivani, Matt Jones Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thu Vo Assistant Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shatha Hussein Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taylor Fausak, Lynda Gonzales, Olivia Hinton Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May-Ying Lam Associate Photo Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bryant Haertlein, Peter Franklin, Caleb Miller Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karina Jacques, Mary Kang,Tamir Kalifa, Peyton McGee, Sara Young Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leigh Patterson Associate Life&Arts Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brad Barry, Francisco Marin Jr. Senior Features Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Audrey Gale Campbell, Lisa HoLung, Ben Wermund Senior Entertainment Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Doty, Mary Lingwall, Robert Rich Senior DT Weekend Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Genuske Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Austin Talbert Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Will Anderson, Wes DeVoe, Blake Hurtik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Hurwitz, Laken Litman, Michael Sherfield, Chris Tavarez Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carolyn Calabrese Web Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annika Erdman Associate Web Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Erik Reyna Multimedia Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juan Elizondo Associate Multimedia Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kara McKenzie, Rachel Schroeder Senior Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dane Hurt Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Finnell

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jim Pagels, Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, Alex Geiser, Perez James Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derek Stout, Shelley Neumann Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kate Ergenbright, Javier Sanchez, Susannah Jacob Sports Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Godwin Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire Cardona, Carolyn Webb, Gabriella Fontes Sports/Life&Arts Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veronica Rosalez Page Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Risa Punzalan Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Diamond, Emery Ferguson, Connor Shea, Kristi Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claude Lucena, Sammy Martinez, Michael Bowman, Ryohei Yatsu Wire Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacue Rauschuber Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Shew, Stuart Sevier Editorial Cartoonist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Murphy Web Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alice Ju, Nikki Kim Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blas Garcia

Advertising

Director of Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jalah Goette Retail Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brad Corbett Account Executive/Broadcast Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Goss Campus/National Sales Consultant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Bowerman Assistant to Advertising Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.J. Salgado Student Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathryn Abbas Student Advertising Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ford Acct. Execs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Aldana, Anupama Kulkarni, Ashley Walker, Natasha Moonka Taylor Blair, Tommy Daniels, Jordan Gentry, Meagan Gribbin, Jen Miller Classified Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teresa Lai Special Editions, Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elena Watts Web Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danny Grover Special Editions, Student Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kira Taniguchi Graphic Designer Interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Thomas, Lisa Hartwig Senior Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felimon Hernandez

The Daily Texan (USPS 146-440), a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78705. The Daily Texan is published daily except Saturday, Sunday, federal holidays and exam periods, plus the last Saturday in July. Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710. News contributions will be accepted by telephone (471-4591) or at the editorial office (Texas Student Media Building 2.122). For local and national display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified display and national classified display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified word advertising, call 471-5244. Entire contents copyright 2009 Texas Student Media.

The Daily Texan Mail Subscription Rates

One Semester (Fall or Spring) $60.00 Two Semesters (Fall and Spring) 120.00 Summer Session 40.00 One Year (Fall, Spring and Summer) 150.00 To charge by VISA or MasterCard, call 471-5083. Send orders and address changes to Texas Student Media, P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713-8904, or to TSM Building C3.200, or call 471-5083. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Texan, P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713.

10/22/09

Texan Ad Deadlines

Monday .............Wednesday, 12 p.m. Thursday.................Monday, 12 p.m. Tuesday.................Thursday, 12 p.m. Friday......................Tuesday, 12 p.m. Word Ads 10 a.m. Wednesday................Friday, 12 p.m. Classified (Last Business Day Prior to Publication)

the sciences, has been an ongoing problem for decades. Assistant chemistry professor Lauren Webb, a tenure track faculty member, said she remembered flipping through packets for the top science programs as an undergraduate at Bowdoin College. She saw very few female faces among the leaflets, a trend reflecting the problems facing women that pursue careers in academic science, she said. “It really strikes you how little diversity there is, either from gender or underrepresented groups,” Webb said. There are other gender-based factors at play for those that have become tenured or are tenure-track. Sociology professor Christine Williams said discrepancies in the number of women and their salA Persistent Problem aries become worse at the upper Inequality between male and end of the spectrum in most unifemale professors, especially in versities’ science departments. plication for a $5 million National Science Foundation advance grant to help implement improvements in gender equity. Ritter said that economic conditions have slowed the progress of reform at UT. “Many of the things that were recommended in the report, including things like salary equity raises, we won’t be able to do at once,” Ritter said. Likewise, a recommended sabbatical policy for faculty would take resources that aren’t currently available, she said. Susan Heinzelman, director of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, recently started a task force independent of the provost’s office to provide a forum for faculty and staff hesitant to approach deans or chairs.

As tenure selection approaches, universities recruit one another’s faculty for the best candidates. Williams said men organize their family lives around work responsibilities while women organize their work around family life. Men thus have more leverage when negotiating salaries because they are more likely to take outside offers, she said. Another recent factor in the gender equity discussion is the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which increases the statute of limitation for pay discrimination complaints. “Now, there’s legal liability if there’s evidence of discriminatory practices,” Williams said. Administrators are taking the issue seriously, she said — if they don’t, they may be liable for a class action lawsuit, she said. Some colleges and schools at UT are actively courting female faculty with equity in mind.

Sharon Mosher, the first female dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences, has hired six female professors at the department with gender equity in mind since her appointment this summer. The hires brought the total to seven out of 47 total tenured and tenuretrack faculty. Mosher took the position shortly before annual meetings between the provost’s office and each department, where she said the issue of equity was addressed. “It’s easier for young female faculty if there are people at various levels for mentoring,” Mosher said. But Langlois said the project to remove gender disparities on campus will only become successful after each college comes aboard. “What I do know is that we have to start with best practices, we have to get deans to make this a priority,” she said.

HAZING: Penalties educate, SAFETY: Most sexual assaults inform members about risks occur between acquaintances From page 1 Sutton said organizations found accountable for hazing face two penalty options: mutual agreement or the traditional disciplinary route. In mutual agreement, organizations must uphold a contract with the University to remain in good standing. The contract usually requires organizations to participate in hazing education programs, such as holding workshops on campus and teaching members about the risks of hazing. In traditional discipline, organizations can face suspension or probation for an indefinite period of time if they engage in hazing. Outside UT’s hazing policy, organizations that engage in hazing can also face criminal charges under state law. Following Phoummarath’s death, three members of Lambda Phi Epsilon pled guilty to criminal charges under Texas hazing laws, although none faced jail

♲

time, Horowitz said. The video that was shown by the Safety Board before the event featured one of the men who pled guilty. Andrew Schnitker, president of Sigma Chi fraternity, said Greek organizations get a bad rap, but fraternities and sororities can raise consciousness about the consequences of hazing. Sigma Chi was suspended in 2004 after the University discovered fraternity members forcing pledges to eat unwanted food, drink alcohol and stay in a confined space for a long period of time, among other hazing activities. The fraternity returned in 2008 to attempt a clean start and is on mutual agreement until May 2010. Although he was not involved with the fraternity during the time of the hazing, Schnitker said it is better for inductees to be aware of what happened. “It’s important we know history so we don’t repeat it,” Schnitker said.

RECYCLE your copy of

THE DAILY TEXAN

tors in each living area. APD Officer Troy Schouest said He said that, despite allegations rape is a pandemic across college of camera systems creating a “Big campuses, where it is one of the Brother” entity, the department most common crimes. “A lot of people that are vicwill be held accountable by open records laws and oversight and tims of sexual assault feel guilty does not seek to infringe upon or blame themselves,” Schouest said. “We try to civil liberties. educate students Assistant Fire about these sitChief Harry Evuations so they ans attended the always remain event and disA lot of people that aware.” cussed equipSchouest said ment and methare victims of sexual 90 percent of ods that should assault feel guilty.” rapes that occur be integrated into daily living. — Troy Schouest are between acquaintances and “ We w a n t APD Officer are not the Holfolks to think lywood version about having of rape that ocan exit stratecurs in darkly lit gy so that if you are in a nightclub or a hotel, alleys between strangers. “The whole point [of the foyou know there is another way rum] is, we have many students out,” Evans said. Evans said the effectiveness of and faculty that are really citizens water sprinkler systems in resi- of Austin,” said UTPD Chief Robdences is unsurpassed and that ert Dahlstrom. “We are trying to they should be installed in all res- give [students and faculty] every idences along with smoke detec- resource to live safely.”

From page 1

‘‘

CAMPUS WATCH

UT Administration Building, 1616 Guadalupe St.

John W. Hargis Hall, 1811 Red River St.

Burglary: 14 handheld 2-way radios, 3 cellular telephones, a light meter, a box of fasteners, a digital camera, a computer keyboard, a cordless drill, 2 laptop computers, a tool set, a computer flash drive and $515.00 in cash was stolen from the 2nd floor of the building that was closed to the public. Loss value: $3,615.00. Occurred between 10/17/09 at 6:00 PM and 10/19/09 at 6:00 AM.

Burglary of Motor Vehicle: An unknown subject entered a UT vehicle and removed the vehicle’s fire extinguisher canister. It was unknown if the door to the vehicle had been left unlocked. The discharged canister was later located in a nearby shrub. Occurred between 10/16/09 at 5:00 PM and 10/19/09 at 11:15 AM.

Compiled by UTPD Officer Darrell Halstead

WORLD&NATION

Wire Editor: Jacque Rauschuber www.dailytexanonline.com

Thursday, October 22, 2009

T HE DAILY T EXAN

Blue whale washes on California shore

Greg Baker | Associated Press

In this Nov. 28, 2008 file photo, a man rides a pedicab decorated with a Google advertisement on a sidewalk in Beijing. A Chinese group is accusing search engine powerhouse Google of illegally copying Chinese-language works for its digital library.

Google accused of violating laws

By Elaine Kurtenbach The Associated Press SHANGHAI â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Search engine powerhouse Google is facing new complaints over its bookscanning digital library project â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from Chinese authors who say their copyrights are being violated. The objections raised by a government-affiliated group called the China Written Works Copyright Society are the latest in the conflict between Google and copyright holders in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere over its ambitious effort to make more printed works available to a wider audience online. The China Written Works Copyright Society is the first public criticism of the project from China â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a country usually under fire for its own problems with rampant piracy of copyright-protected material and oth-

er intellectual property. Google has made digital copies of 10 million books in the past five years, generally through deals with large libraries to scan and index their collections. Google says the project is an invaluable chance for books to get more exposure. Apart from public-domain works, Google typically can let Internet users see only snippets from them because of copyright restrictions. But many authors and publishers argue that the very act of scanning violates their copyrights. Zhang Hongbo, deputy director of the Chinese group, which represents writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; groups but is under the supervision of the national copyrights bureau, says his group found nearly 18,000 works by 570 Chinese authors had been scanned as of Sept. 1. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s digital library

scanned those copyright-protected works without permission. This violates American copyright laws and international treaties,â&#x20AC;? Zhang told The Associated Press. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This also violates the basic principle that they should ask permission from the authors first, pay to use them and then use them,â&#x20AC;? he said. Zhangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s group, based in Beijing, has posted a notice on its Web site urging authors to check to see if their books are listed among works included in a tentative legal settlement between Google and U.S. authors and publishers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We hope many authors will bravely stand up and adamantly defend their legal rights,â&#x20AC;? the group said. It was set up a year ago to represent Chinese authors facing widespread infringements of copyrights in their home market, as do foreign authors, movie

and music makers. Worries over EU copyright laws have held back Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts to scan books in European libraries. Unlike in the U.S., Google is only scanning European books over 150 years of age to avoid infringing copyrighted material. European books within EU copyright will only be added if copyright holders agree, the company says. If there are U.S. editions of the same works, they would be covered by U.S. copyright â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and likely also by the Google settlement deal. Earlier this week, the European Commission said it may revise copyright law to facilitate scanning and distribution of printed books over the Internet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and make it easier to compensate copyright holders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course, we listen carefully to all concerns and will work hard to address them,â&#x20AC;? Google said.

By Sudhin Thanawala The Associated Press A 70-foot female blue whale that officials believe was struck by a ship has washed ashore on the Northern California coast in what scientists are calling a rare occurrence. The whale was first spotted on shore near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County on Monday night, hours after an ocean survey vessel reported hitting a whale a few miles away, said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marine fisheries service. Blue whales are the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest mammals. Students from California State University, Humboldt, examined the whaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massive body Tuesday as it lay on its side in a rocky cove. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was personally jazzed just to see the animal,â&#x20AC;? said Thor Holmes, a lecturer in mammology at the school. He has examined other whale species that washed ashore but never a blue whale. The whale had two gashes on its back â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at least one of which

Larry Wagner | Associated Press

A 70-foot female blue whale that officials believe was struck by a ship washed ashore on the Northern California coast Tuesday.

Study in the most

exciting, vibrant city on Earth. % & & # Undergraduate Courses: w % % w % % w # # % w %

Graduate Programs: w % % % % & w % % % w ' ! %! $ " % ! %

was deep enough to cut through the blubber down to the vertebral column, Holmes said. It otherwise appeared to be in good health. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unusual for blue whales to wash ashore, Cordaro said. Last week, another blue whale washed up in Monterey County after being hit by a ship. Before that, the last time a blue whale washed onto a California beach was 2007. The whales are â&#x20AC;&#x153;usually far offshore, deep water animals,â&#x20AC;? Cordaro said. Although blue whales are considered endangered, experts say they have recently made a comeback and now number several thousand. Some blue whales feed in the waters off Central and Northern California this time of year, then migrate elsewhere to breed, said Dawn Goley, an associate professor of zoology at the Humboldt campus. Researchers have taken skin and blubber samples from the beached animal to see what contaminants it may have been exposed to and what population group it comes from.

OPINION

4 Thursday, October 22, 2009

Phone: (512) 232-2212 E-mail: editor@dailytexanonline.com Associate Editors: Jeremy Burchard David Muto Dan Treadway Lauren Winchester

T HE DAILY T EXAN

VIEWPOINT

GALLERY

UT listens

In these economic times, we’re not too used to encouraging news about the University budget. But on Tuesday we got just that, as Randy Diehl, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, notified faculty members that, in light of opposition voiced at a forum Monday to changes in foreign-language requirements, the current undergraduate foreign language curriculum will go unchanged. Individual departments will instead be tasked with curtailing spending in accordance with University budget cuts announced in September. Since word of the overhaul — which would have ultimately reduced the number of hours of foreign-language credit required for students in the College of Liberal Arts — surfaced last month, Diehl has taken steps to increase transparency in discussions about the restructuring. While he initially received criticism from some alleging a lack of communication with the administration on the matter, we applaud Diehl’s willingness to field faculty and student concerns at such venues as Monday’s forum. At the forum, a proposal to reduce the language requirement from 16 to 12 hours received no support — not even from the proposal’s authors. Deans of other colleges at UT who are trying a less transparent approach to similar budgetary constraints would do well to follow Diehl’s lead. In heeding faculty concerns, Diehl is allowing those working closest with the foreign-language curriculum to dictate its future. Allowing individual departments to tailor these cuts to their needs will also prevent a scenario in which an across-theboard reduction in foreign-language hours could have hamstrung non-Western language programs, such as Arabic or Chinese, that require more class hours to teach basic alphabets and linguistic foundations. But questions remain as to the future of non-tenure-track foreign-language faculty members, who were alerted within the past year that their jobs may be at stake. Despite Diehl’s rejection of the curriculum restructuring, plans to lay off an undetermined number of lecturers and assistant instructors — who teach a majority of lower-division language classes — still stand as the College of Liberal Arts works to reallocate between $10 million and $13 million, to, in part, fund the construction of a new building for the college. Monday’s forum revealed unrest among some faculty members uneasy with the merits of the immediate financing of the new building at what they consider to be the expense of faculty. “I don’t agree with putting a building before teaching,” said Jane Johnson, a Spanish lecturer who says she will likely lose her job — and her $32,000 annual salary and health benefits — under the proposed faculty eliminations. Diehl defended the construction plans, arguing that the college is in dire need of space. Faculty members have questioned this assertion. Diehl also said Monday that if the college does not act now in financing the building, another college on campus could potentially claim the space as its own. It is unclear in this time of cost-cutting how many other colleges would be eagerly awaiting the opportunity to swoop in and spend millions on a plot of land. Delaying construction might also only postpone faculty eliminations, but at least those laid off would hopefully enter a job market less burdened by the recession. We encourage Diehl to act with the same willingness to hear faculty input on the building as he has on other issues. We applaud him today, but — as we’re sure he’s aware — his work is not done. — David Muto for the editorial board

GALLERY

Prop 4 is good for research By Stuart Sevier Daily Texan Columnist The discussion the last few days about Proposition 4 has focused on two issues: economic kickbacks and undergraduate education. Though I agree that the education of undergraduate students should be the top priority for a public university, discussion has completely ignored two other large responsibilities of Texas universities: basic research and graduate education. Graduate students are a significant presence at the University. We have nearly 13,000 of them. They are the next generation of researchers, and their education is crucial to continued technological progress and scientific breakthroughs. A large portion of the money and time faculty members spend on research is used to train graduate students. Graduate students are attracted to institutions because of research esteem, not undergraduate programs. What about their education? Maybe those opposed to research spending at universities have some deluded vision of young Ph.D.s emerging from the private sector. Creating another tier-one research university in the state of Texas means much more than additional research. It means more researchers produced at its universities. Another major research institution means more highly educated individuals going to work in our great state. That means that more innovation and cuttingedge work will be produced across the state at institutions both private

and public. Free markets and the private sector are not the answer to everything. The failure of basic scientific research to emerge through such systems is a good example of this. Government funding allows basic research to proceed in places where the societal impact is difficult or impossible to assess. Commercial benefit is likely to be seen only decades in the future, and the impact the work has on society is often obscure. If societal impact is unrealizable and commercial benefit unclear, one could ask how such research is useful. To respond, I shall borrow a bit of eloquence from Michael Faraday and pose a question: Of what use is a newborn child? The answer is, of course, that a newborn has little use, but no one would dismiss its significance. Sure, it’s just a baby today, but every great musician, author or otherwise awesome individual started out as a baby. It is absurd for us to expect a record company to pay for diapers or a publishing company to pay for formula. The same idea holds true in scientific research. Scientific breakthrough is at the root of every (and I mean every) significant technological change. They are the babies. After painful labor and years of care, these research babies grow up big and strong and become innovators in technology and modern medicine. Though tracing the money from basic science to technological innovation is difficult, tracing the history is not. For example, in the 1930s, Ernest Laurence was busy building cyclotrons at the research-intensive UC-

Berkeley. Laurence and his team were interested in pure physics research. They wanted to probe the nature of elementary particles and nuclear phenomena and had no eye on applications. It would have been absurd for a private company to fund them other than for the sake of exploration. Today, 70 years later, the cyclotrons that Laurence built, and the knowledge and technology gained through his efforts, are used for something entirely different than physics research. Other scientists and were able to figure out how to use proton beams generated by cyclotrons for cancer therapy and to produce positrons for PET scans. Thousands of patients benefit from therapies derivative of Laurence’s original work. Sure, privately funded directed research is efficient and fruitful, but this is because it’s directed. It can only occur when a new direction is identified, and this can only happen through basic research. There is no telling how research being done in labs across campus will affect society a century from now. This whole discussion is sort of silly in the first place. Research universities are symbiotic. Society needs researchers and it just so happens that researchers make the most profound teachers. It seems obvious that research-intensive universities provide world-class educations. Just take a quick glance at any list. Harvard is the country’s largest research university, and last I heard, the undergraduates there were getting a darn good education. Sevier is a physics senior.

My valuable bachelor’s degree By Ashley Shew Daily Texan Columnist

THE FIRING LINE Texas needs public research In his editorial printed on Tuesday, Tony McDonald only cited Texas Public Policy Foundation’s 2008 study as evidence. Given McDonald’s reliance on this one “study,” one may well ask what its cost and rate of return were. The answer is that the study, like most research carried out at universities, was never intended to pay for itself, much less show a profit. Perhaps McDonald is unaware that research funded by grants generally belongs to the organizations awarding the grants and not the university where the research is performed, which would not only explain the results of the study, but also reveal its true value. According to McDonald, 90 percent of research in the U.S. is performed by private companies and independent laboratories. This may or may not be true, but how many of those organizations hire people off the street who haven’t been trained in research tech-

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.

niques at universities or university-sponsored facilities? McDonald asserts that “tenured faculty members spend 78 percent of their time doing research instead of teaching.” It’s surprising that as a first-year law student he hasn’t learned that to get tenure, faculty members are expected to do research — that’s what tenure is all about. McDonald further asserts that non-tenured faculty are “inferior” and “lessqualified” teachers, without presenting any evidence to show it. This looks like a general condemnation of all instructors and lecturers, not to mention adjunct, visiting and assistant professors. McDonald’s thesis is basically that any research performed on campus is worthless and a waste of energy, which should put the law school faculty, any potential employers and the law review on notice (if his editorial hasn’t already) that his papers (i.e., research) are going to be unsupported, sycophantic drivel not worth the paper they were printed on.

— Charles Tolliver UT alumnus

SUBMIT A COLUMN

The editorial board welcomes guest columns. Columns must be between 200 and 700 words. Send columns to editor@dailytexanonline.com. The Texan reserves the right to edit all columns for clarity and liability if chosen for publication.

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me what opportunities I will have with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, well, I could put that money toward graduate school. An increasing number of people seem to be losing faith in the value of the bachelor’s degree. Amidst a recession and rising tuition hikes, it seems reasonable to re-evaluate investment in higher education. A number of my older contemporaries have declared their degrees to be worth less than the fancy paper it is printed on. Is there any truth to the idea that the baccalaureate isn’t worthwhile? An article in 2008’s Chronicle of Higher Education called the bachelor’s degree “America’s most overrated product.” The author, Marty Nemko, argues that colleges admit underprepared high school graduates, give them a shoddy education in a huge classroom at the hands of graduate students and don’t graduate two-thirds of their students within six years. Nemko views higher education as a business, one whose cost is no longer matched by product value. For those who do make it to senior year, Nemko cites a 2006 Spellings report detailing the 9-percent drop in literacy among college graduates. He also mentions a 2006 study supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts declaring

50 percent of college graduates unable to “proficiently” make sense of credit-card offers or newspaper editorials. The same study found many college graduates were unable to estimate if a car had enough fuel to make it to a gas station. A common complaint has to do with the “million dollar” value that has been stamped on a college education since a 2002 Census study. The study by Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Eric C. Newburger reported, “Over a work-life, individuals who have a bachelor’s degree would earn on average $2.1 million — about one third more than workers who did not finish college, and nearly twice as much as workers with only a high school diploma.” But recent analysis by National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges place the value between a college education and a high school degree at only $121,539. While this is still a substantial chunk of change, it is nowhere near the million bucks many college Web sites and insurance companies tout as incentive for higher education. But in terms of investment, Professor Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University told National Public Radio that much of the worth of a bachelor’s degree depends on what you want to get out of it. He stresses that if money is your idea of worth, your major is important. Says Watkins, “So I didn’t go

to college and major in anthropology and philosophy. I went to college and I majored in business because I wanted to get a job.” That sentiment holds true, according to the information on PayScale.com. While business graduates easily make a starting median salary $10,000 more than liberal arts graduates, the champion money-earner is any major that ends with “Engineer.” The worth of a bachelor’s degree can also be linked to whose letterhead it’s printed on. PayScale.com estimates that a degree from UT can land you a starting salary of $50,000 dollars a year — pretty average among other Texas schools listed. But again, the definition of worth complicates the studies. As far as money goes, it is clear that earning a bachelor’s degree is still more helpful than a high school diploma, although it is possible the green isn’t near what the college recruiters promised. Yet if you define worth in terms of learning something you love, then the value of your bachelor’s degree will not be available in the information on the Internet. So while cab drivers, grandparents and classmates may scoff at the employment prospects of my liberal arts degree, the UT letterhead it is written on and the life experience it symbolizes will be ample measures of worth for me. Shew is a psychology junior.

Sewnsational

Attendance falls short at Career Expo

Interest in grad school, poor economy cited as reasons for turnout

By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff Before the doors opened at 11 a.m., they were already waiting outside the Texas Union Ballroom â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a line of fresh-faced, professionally dressed students. They were there for the 2009 Career Expo, and when the doors opened they filed in and began to form lines at company booths, as well as booths for employers like the CIA and the State Department. The career fair, sponsored by Liberal Arts Career Services, was open to all students and included employers from nonprofits, educational groups, service-oriented organizations and local and federal government agencies. Julia Iacoviello, a psychology senior who has been to a career fair once before, said she benefited from the expo because it allowed her to get her name out into the business world, but was also slightly let down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Frankly, I was disappointed at the reception of employers,â&#x20AC;? Iacoviello said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had a few [employers] picked out, but they had pretty long lines.â&#x20AC;? She said most of the businesses she went to were looking for management and retail positions, but she was more interested in customer service jobs. Scott Plowman, manager for recruitment and marketing at the College of Liberal Arts, said the number of employers represent-

Professor links racism, language in guest lecture

By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Daily Texan Staff When Mark McPhail, an interdisciplinary studies professor at Southern Methodist University, asks his students how they know what they know, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looking to solve problems. McPhail asks for the kind of self-realization that he says is key to solving todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social problems such as racism, sexism and other prejudices. McPhail spoke about the relationship between racism and rhetoric in a lecture Wednesday afternoon at the College of Communication. The professor has published several books and essays on the topic of rhetoric, including â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Rhetoric of Racism Revisited: Reparations or Separation?â&#x20AC;? In his lecture, McPhail explained how language creates reality and plays a key part in transforming social injustices. People can begin to engage in the behaviors that others ascribe to them, for better or for worse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we describe people different from ourselves by using terms that are negative, sometimes people accept those definitions,â&#x20AC;? McPhail said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a complex subject that we really need to study to understand.â&#x20AC;? McPhail said it was easy for people to claim to be anti-racist, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the conscious decisions they make on a daily basis, including how they treat others, that should act as a barometer. Much of racism derives from people simply not recognizing their own racism, McPhail said. People also use the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;postracialâ&#x20AC;? to falsely claim that racial problems no longer exist, he added. People cannot hold themselves accountable until they leave the confines of the classroom and have real-life experiences with people who are different from themselves, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;White people have never really acknowledged there are racial problems,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A few have, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s people of color who mostly raise these issues. Just like how mostly women raise issues about sexism and the men believe themselves to not be sexist.â&#x20AC;? Using alcoholism as an example, McPhail said that similar to alcoholics, racists must acknowledge the problem before they can overcome it. The only way to overcome is to face the problem in a real-life situation, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It cannot be solved through education,â&#x20AC;? McPhail said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I suffer from neurosis, I have to go to a therapist. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to a teacher. A teacher canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teach me to not be neurotic.â&#x20AC;?

ed at career fairs nationwide has slowly decreased in recent years because of the economy. As a result, the companies that did attend are more selective and open for student involvement, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ones that are here are here to hire students,â&#x20AC;? Plowman said, explaining that there are still jobs out there being marketed to students. Booths for new and returning companies filled the room representing employers from Target to the U.S. Census to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Although Plowman tried to reach out to Dell, which was represented at the fair in previous years, they were not present. Dell spokesman David Frink did not explain why the company chose not to attend Wednesday but said they are still recruiting. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our absence today does not mean that we are not recruiting anymore from UT,â&#x20AC;? Frink said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;UT is a tool that we have recruited from and that

we will continue to recruit from.â&#x20AC;? Enterprise recruitment manager Jamie Gaertner said the company has been recruiting less because of the new proactive trend in students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They seem to be postponing graduation dates because of apprehension of the current job market,â&#x20AC;? Gaertner said. She said students are applying earlier to get their names out well before their graduation date. Students came and went throughout the four-hour event. Some looked for jobs and internships, while others came for the experience. Jean Kwon, a biology and Spanish senior, said this was the first career fair she had attended and it gave her good experience dealing with professional interviews. She went in hopes of landing an internship with the State Department. Although she isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t set to graduate until May, she said she realizes the importance of searching early. The next Liberal Arts Career Expo is planned for Feb. 24.

Caleb Miller | Daily Texan Staff

Anslee Connell hems a wedding dress for a client at her home in South Austin on Wednesday afternoon.

. ' " %%' ! ,' " - ' " %%' # ) + * ' " ) ) ( ) ! ! $* & $

Thursday, October 22, 2009

EXPOSURE

E-mail: photo@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 471-8618 www.dailytexanonline.com

T HE DAILY T EXAN

Right, Westen Borghesi, also known as “Shorty Stump,” a member of the vaudeville band The White Ghost Shivers, throws confetti into the air at the end of a show at Continental Club on May 1. Below left, Musician and DJ by night, Borghesi’s day job is as a soda jerk at Big Top Candy Shop, a steampunk circus-themed store on South Congress. Below right, When he’s not busy serving sodas and entertaining hundreds of fans, Borghesi likes to spend his time at home practicing his musical instruments. Far below left, Borghesi also likes to spend time outdoors, gardening and playing with his 4-year-old Blue Heeler, Blue. Far below top, Borghesi’s girlfriend of almost three years, Adriene Mishler, dances with friends while Borghesi spins records at the Second Sunday Sock Hop on April 14, 2009. Far below right, Not just a member of a band, but a DJ as well, Borghesi spins records at the Second Sunday Sock Hop at the Shangri La on East Sixth Street. Borghesi single-handedly put together the event three years ago, and has been playing tunes from the ‘50s-’70s the second Sunday of every month ever since. Far below bottom, The White Ghost Shivers are known for their high-energy, interactive shows. Borghesi entertains the crowd by doing high kicks while wearing his customary fake moustache in front of the stage at The Tiniest Bar in Texas during a free show at the 2009 South by Southwest Music Festival.

Hey, what do ya say? It’s Shorty Stump!

Westen Borghesi moved from the dreary, drizzly city of Seattle to Central Texas 10 years ago, and soon after became absorbed in Austin’s thriving local music scene. Known now by the stage name “Shorty Stump,” he is the 7-foot-tall fake-moustache-wearing, banjo-plucking, kazoo-blowing, nose-flute-tooting frontman of vaudeville band The White Ghost Shivers. Since making his move in search of fellow music lovers, Borghesi has played in several bands, toured across the United States and Europe, DJed at many events including the ever-growing Second Sunday Sock Hop, worked as a soda jerk at a local old-fashioned soda fountain and candy shop and found his current girlfriend of almost three years. — Shelley Neuman

SPORTS

Sports Editor: Austin Talbert E-mail: sports@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2210 www.dailytexanonline.com

Thursday, October 22, 2009

T HE DAILY T EXAN

FOOTBALL COMMENTARY

Crimson Tide claim first position in Top 10 By Austin Talbert Daily Texan Columnist For once, story time with Mack Brown: Monday edition was dead-on. Big, burnt-orange hammer, meet nail. Normally, Brown’s rehashing of weekend tales on Monday ranks rather high on the corniness scale. Mack normally treats mediatypes with a mixture of his signature feel-goodisms, a healthy dose of coach speak and never forgets to top it off with a catchy witticism that is succinct yet confusing, enough to get his irrepressable Tennessee drawl a snippet on SportsCenter. Typically, it involves a cute anecdote, a Jordan/Colt fishingbuddies story or a bewildering metaphor only loosely related to real life. But Monday, Brown’s postgame parable was the most accurate observation he has ever made. “I think it’s humorous after 12 years here, and I kind of grew up in the SEC, if our game had been in the SEC Saturday, they would have said what a great, tough SEC game,” Brown said. “This is the way they win down here — they run the ball, they play defense. In the Big 12, they say that’s sloppy. I can’t believe that’s sloppy. So we’re all spread offense and it’s not a tough league. I thought it was two great defenses on Saturday.” I will ignore the “not sloppy” comments, because Saturday’s game — all eight turnovers and 21 penalties — was most definitely a sloppy game. But sloppy is the SEC’s signature style. Well, other than horribly incompetent officiating that to affects the outcomes of hugely important games. Alabama’s 20-6 win over South Carolina was a good game for the Tide, because they are supposed to win “ugly” — with strong defense and a grinding offense — they met expectations. But Texas’ win is no sloppier than Alabama’s. In fact, Texas and Oklahoma combined for three more points than the two SEC teams. And the Crimson

Tide’s four turnovers had Texas beat, and Alabama’s 10 penalties for 113 yards also out-gained the Longhorns. Take away the game’s first score, a 77-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Tide in control of the slugfest — the result of a horrible Stephen Garcia pass — and Alabama’s high powered wildcat offense only scored one touchdown. Yes, the SEC defenses are good, but so is Texas’. Oklahoma’s isn’t bad either. So instead of slamming Texas for being “sloppy,” lets hear it for the Longhorns who may just be the best SEC-style team in the nation.

TEXAS 3

MISSOURI 0

Longhorns tame Tigers in win

1 Alabama

Welcome to the Mark Ingram express. Next stop, Tennessee. While Ingram has been impressive, rushing for more than 140 yards in four games this year, Greg McElroy’s inability to even pretend to be a quarterback is hampering Alabama’s offense.

2 Texas

Colt McCoy was sick again, could hardly talk postgame, nearly lost a thumbnail, but still found a way to lead his team to a win — yet, he gets slammed. If Tim Tebow would have played the same game, under the same circumstances, in the biggest and best rivalry in all of college football, you would never hear the end of how great a leader he was.

3 Florida

Once again, the same SEC officials stunk. The same crew that made quick work of Georgia a few weeks back disposed of Arkansas’ bid to dethrone Florida in the swamp. But you won’t remember when you get No. 1 undefeated Florida vs. No. 2 undefeated Alabama in the most hyped conference championship game in the history of the world.

TIDE continues on page 8

Derek Stout | Daily Texan Staff

Texas’ Destinee Hooker spikes the ball in Wednesday night’s matchup against Missouri. Hooker finished the night with 19 kills, 10 digs and a solo block in the Longhorn’s sweep of the Tigers.

Texas blacks out Missouri in pink game commemorating cancer By Jordan Godwin Daily Texan Staff With a Gregory Gym crowd that was pinker than a flamingo in the Playboy Mansion on Valentine’s Day, the secondranked Longhorns had a special home-court advantage over unranked Missouri. “Everyone wore pink, and the crowd was behind us all the way,” said senior setter Ashley Engle. “But we remembered what happened last year in the pink game against OU, and we didn’t want to let that happen again.” It was “Volley for the Cure” night, to raise awareness about breast cancer, and several survivors were on-hand to witness Texas’ dominating 3-0 sweep of Missouri. For the most part, the Longhorns played like a championship team that had already found the cure. The Longhorns spotted the

Tigers the first point when a “My coach and teammates slightly-rusty Engle missed the have been encouraging me to first serve of the match. But step up on defense,” Hooker from that point, it was all Tex- said. “I’ve been playing with a as. The Longhorns built a five- lot more confidence, and I’ve point lead, and not only main- been able to get some digs.” tained it for In the second the rest of set, Missouri the match, managed to hang but expandaround for much ed it to 11 longer. The TiEvery one wore pink, to close out gers stayed withand the crowd was the set, 25in four points 14. Texas hit behind us all the way.” until the Longan incredihorns started to — Ashley Engle pull away halfble .593 percentage on senior setter way through the the attack set. After going and was 13 down 12-8, Misof 14 from souri called a sideout. Setimeout, a rest nior outside hitter Destinee that Texas didn’t seem to apHooker was off to her typical- preciate. The Longhorns surly-phenomenal start, admin- rendered the lead, tying the set istering six kills but more im- at 13-all, which caused head pressively, five digs in the ear- coach Jerritt Elliott to call a timly going. eout of his own.

Engle not her usual self after missing two matches due to injury

Dave Martin | Associated Press

After beginning the season with seven straight impressive victories, Alabama finally claimed the top spot in this week’s Top 10.

‘‘

didn’t play like her usually dominant self. Engle led the team out of the tunnel right before the start of the match, and again, she didn’t fully participate instead By Chris Tavarez of doing the traditional team Daily Texan Staff After missing the past two routine of spiking the ball at the matches against Kansas and net, Engle stood to the side and Texas Tech, senior setter Ash- high-fived as her teammates ley Engle finally returned to ran on by. “[I was] just minimizing the lineup Wednesday night against Missouri (12-8, 4-5 Big jumps, I’m an old person, so it 12). Even though she was on helps to help me out whenevthe floor for all three sets, she er I can,” Engle joked. “Your

body sometimes doesn’t love you like you love it. I did everything else, just no jumping.” In her first 41 sets of the season, Engle averaged 2.1 kills per set, almost two digs per set and accounted for two and a half points per set. But in her first match back, she was only able to muster four kills, four digs, and only six points for the entire three-set match. Head coach Jerritt Elliott attributes those low numbers to something completely oppo-

“He told us to start playing better,” Engle said. “We had to start focusing less on them and more on how we were playing.” And with that mantra, Texas quickly regrouped. Largely on the wings of Missouri’s poor play, Texas rebuilt a seven-point lead and went on to take the set, 25-20. Hooker continued to torture the Tigers, building her kill total to 11 and dig total to nine. Hooker finished the match, leading the team with 19 kills, 10 digs and one solo block. Texas breezed through the third set and finished the sweep not only of Missouri, but also of its first round of Big 12 Conference play. “We were hitting on all cylinders,” Elliott said. “It was a good win for us, and we played with good balance all across the board.” site of what you would expect from an opposing team playing an All-American just returning from an injury. “I don’t think they attacked her a lot,” Elliott said. “We were blocking the line and taking that away and they were hitting a lot at [senior libero Heather] Kisner and giving her more opportunities than our middle back.” Even though he didn’t say

INJURY continues on page 8

NCAA FOOTBALL

Texas-born players make up vast majority of Missouri’s recruitments Thirty-three Texas high school natives claim spots on Gary Pinkel’s 2009 team By Will Anderson Daily Texan Staff When Mitch Morse made the switch from wide receiver to offensive line before his junior season at St. Michael’s, he didn’t plan on becoming the biggest football recruit in the private school’s history. It just happened to turn out that way. Morse is “an impressive two way lineman,” according to ESPN recruiting analysts, and at more than 6 1/2 feet tall, the No. 6 positional prospect in the state. St. Michael’s Catholic Academy in Austin has an approximate enrollment of 500 students; it has landed football players at Division I programs in the past, like AllWAC kicker Chris Kaylakie at TCU in the ‘90s, but Morse will be the first to play at an FBS-conference school. “I really don’t think there’s a lineman in the state of Texas that I’d trade for him,” said Ed McCabe, the coach at St. Michael’s. And while universities such as Stanford, Vanderbilt and Southern Methodist courted Morse, he plans to make his com-

mitment to the Tigers official on National Signing Day, Feb. 3. His choice to play at Missouri is part of a growing trend of native Texans migrating north. “Early on, Missouri made it be known he was one of their top recruits,” explained McCabe. “He really liked the school and felt like it was a good fit between him and the coaching staff and the environment up there.” Morse won’t have to make the journey alone. Missouri’s 2010 recruiting class has verbal commitments from seven more Texas players, the most from any single state. Players like Coppell High’s Jared Parham, a top 50 linebacker nationally, and Dallas-native James Franklin, who ESPN named its regional player of the week on Oct. 14, will accompany Morse on his trip north to Columbia, Mo. “Texas has been very good to us. We really recruit it very heavily,” said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. “It’s Big 12 country.” Missouri and Pinkel have a history of landing big-time recruits from the state of Texas. Chase Daniel, the school’s all-time yardage leader and a current member of the New Orleans Saints, came from 5A powerhouse Southlake Carroll, located in the suburbs northeast of Ft. Worth.

Some of the team’s top performers this year are from the Lone Star State. Wide receiver Danario Alexander flew under the radar as an All-District star at 2A Marlin High School, but is now first on the team and fourth in the conference in receptions with 7.33 per game. Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon leads the Tigers in tackles and hails from Jasper. “That is an area we want to be,” Pinkel said. “[Missouri] is an alternative for kids from Texas to go to a real high-level school.” The most notable skill-position player to sign with Missouri in 2009 was running back Kendial Lawrence, a Parade All-American from Rockwall. Lawrence was one of seven Texas natives to commit to the Tigers in that class, bringing the total on the roster to 32 this year. In fact, Missouri has the second-most number of Texans on its roster in the Big 12 North behind Kansas, which counts 33. Every team in the division has at least 15 Texans, except for Colorado with just six. Kansas State has 17 and Iowa State has 20. The Cornhuskers have also made space in their locker room for 21

TALENT continues on page 8

Wide Receiver Danario Alexander is just one of the many Tigers who grew up in the state of Texas before taking their college career to Columbia.

Sue Ogrocki Associated Press

SPORTS

Thursday, October 22, 2009

TALENT: Lone Star state well-represented throughout Big 12 Conference From page 7 Texas-born footballers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You need to be able to recruit well, recruit quality players there,â&#x20AC;? said Kansas coach Mark Mangino. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The kids that live in Texas ... Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re attuned to the Big 12.â&#x20AC;? One reason for the large number of Texans on Big 12 rosters is simple geography. High school enrollment for last year was 1,303,363, according to the Texas Education Agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual report. In 2006, the most recent year with data available, Missouriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high schools had 281,606 enrolled, said the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. With more than four times as many students attending three times as many high schools, Texas produces a larger volume of athletes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Texas is a huge state and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great football being played,â&#x20AC;? said McCabe, who compared it to Florida and California for its role as a population center for the Southwest. Pinkel estimated that when he first arrived at Missouri, the team had just 12 players from Texas. Because of that shortage, Inside Texas recruiting expert Jeff Howe said Big 12 North coaches have had to develop more keen recruiting tools. Programs north of the Mason-Dixon line, Howe said, need to identify Texas recruits that have not reached their full potential yet and thus flown under the radar of Mack Brown, Bob Stoops and Mike Leach. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done a good a job as anybody being able to identify those second-tier kids, and identify guys that are still developing,â&#x20AC;? Howe said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been talking to a lot of recruits about their offers, and Missouri always seems to come up.â&#x20AC;? Some small-town stars in Texas just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get attention from the in-state powerhouses, Howe contended, and so they fall to programs like Missouri and Kansas. The influx has helped push a record three Big 12 North teams into the Associated Press poll this season. #81 WR Danario Alexander In the end, the recruitment of Texas players may be Marlin High School; Marlin; a self-fulfilling complex with an outcome of its own ac44 catches; 627 yards receiving; cord â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a tradition so ingrained that it became habit. five touchdowns â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a natural place for college coaches to come,â&#x20AC;? McCabe said. But, he added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I do think we play pretty good football.â&#x20AC;?

#3 DE Jacquies Smith South Oak Cliff High School; Dallas; 16 tackles; 1.5 sacks; one interception

1 #12 LB Sean Weatherspoon Jasper High School; Jasper; 50 tackles; five tackles for loss; 1.5 sacks

anything on Engleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s injury, Elliott alluded to it and her recent absence by making note of her high numbers on the assist game, where

Engle had a match-high 33. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was surprised it was really good,â&#x20AC;? Elliott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I thought there might be some rhythm issues and inconsistencies in that area. Despite the return of Engle,

the Longhorns were still undermanned as they played their second straight match without sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Yogi. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just not feeling well,â&#x20AC;? El-

for yearbook and graduation photos!

monday-friday, 9-5pm HSM building, room 3.302 25th and whitis ave. graduating seniors wanting cap and gown photos must make an appointment: 471-9190. CALL TODAY! all other students can walk in for their class portrait.

From page 7

4 TCU

The Horned Frogs destroyed the best college football team from the state of Colorado, answering two Colorado State field goals with 44 unanswered points. TCUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s defense continues to crush opponents into oblivion, only allowing 182 yards to the Rams, while the Horned Frogs racked up 499 yards of offense.

Watch out Broncos, a scary trip to Hawaii awaits this weekend. The Warriors (2-4) and 86-degree October sunshine await Boise State. Life in the WAC is so tough.

6 Iowa

#32 LB Will Ebner Friendswood High School; Friendswood; 31 tackles; four tackles for loss; one sack

#4 WR Jared Perry La Marque High School; La Marque; 31 catches; 493 yards receiving; five touchdowns

liott said. With such high expectations for the rest of the regular season and the fast approaching postseason, illness and injury are a cause for concern â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they could

CHEAP STUDENT S TUDENT PARKING 2 blocks from UT Bus Stop Available by y week, month, semester

474-5300

cut Texasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; national championship dreams short. The one positive of having to play without his starters: Elliott finds solace in the fact that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s able to get solid game time experience for others who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the court as often as Engle or Yogi, and to put players in spots they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It gives us a lot of opportunities to get some people like [senior outside hitter] Destinee [Hooker] in the serve â&#x20AC;&#x201D; receive a little bit more, to build that confidence,â&#x20AC;? Elliott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about gaining experience, and the last two matches weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had different players gain experience.â&#x20AC;?

Trap game? I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think so. The Iowa Hawkeyes continue to pass their tests â&#x20AC;&#x201D; just barely, I mean a 71 is still passing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; dispatching Wisconsin on the road last weekend. Another road test awaits for the Hawkeyes this weekend, but is there any doubt that Iowa will squeak past Michigan State?

7 Cincinnati

The Bearcats are destined to win another Big East championship since Tony Pike broke his left arm again. The traditional yearly event for Cincinnati also reminds us of just how bad the Big East is again â&#x20AC;&#x201D; another yearly tradition.

8 Oregon

Hopefully, the Ducks learned from the Trojans and can avoid falling to Washington in Seattle. If they can, they remain in the PAC 10 driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; seat.

9 Oklahoma State

Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter, who needs them? The Cowboys rolled over Missouri shorthanded and they are back in the saddle â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as if Halloween night wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already scary enough for Texas fans.

10 Georgia Tech

Josh Nesbitt had a bad game throwing the ball against Virginia Tech, completing as many passes, one, to the Hokies as he did to his own team. But who needs to throw the ball when you rush 23 times, for 122 yards and three touchdowns right over Virginia Techâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly-regarded defense?

DEFINE YOUR

FAIR

cactus yearbookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fall portrait studio is november 2-13

despite â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sloppyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; SEC-style games

5 Boise State

INJURY: Despite previous absence, Engle plays pivotal role in helping Texas stay perfect From page 7

TIDE: Teams excel

" ### !

www.utrecsports.org

NEWS

Thursday, October 22, 2009

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Free Nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fans McCombs hosts bike-safety event sample theater By Jim Pagels Daily Texan Staff The Greater Austin Creative Alliance is giving Austinites the chance to attend a local theater production for free during â&#x20AC;&#x153;Get Your Art Onâ&#x20AC;? month and the fifth annual Free Night of Theater. From Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, hundreds of free tickets will be given away in the Austin area. The goal is to give away more than 75,000 tickets in 700 theaters across the country. Tickets first became available at freenightoftheater.net Oct. 12 and will continue to be open to the public until Nov. 1. Tickets are given away on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to two tickets per customer. While many shows may appear to be sold out online, new free tickets are available daily. Some of the Austin-area companies participating in this year â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event include Austin Shakespeare, The Austin Symphony, Georgetown Palace Theater, the Long Center and Weird City Theatre, along with many other venues. The Free Night of Theater is a nationwide event directed by the Theatre Communications Group, a New York-based arts initiative. Executive Director Teresa Eyring said a professional research firm conducted extensive surveys to see if the program has succeeded. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen a very high per-

centage of people who receive the free tickets and later return for the full price,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Audiences are younger and more diverse, and people from lower income levels are able [to come to performances].â&#x20AC;? When the Free Night of Theater started five years ago, Austin was one of three pilot cities to test the program. The event was such a success that the program has now expanded to 120 cities around the United States. Last year, the Greater Austin Creative Alliance, a nonprofit, community-based organization partially funded by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and grants from state and national endowments, reported that more than 50 percent of Austinites who attended Free Night last year returned to purchase tickets and that 86 percent cited Free Night as the reason they returned. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to use my free tickets,â&#x20AC;? said Carl Bourgman, an Austin resident who plans to see Hamlet Oct. 25 at the City Theatre in Austin. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never really wanted to go to the theater before because of the high prices.â&#x20AC;? Eyring said that many of the companies involved view the promotion as an investment for future profits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most theaters donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t operate at 100 percent capacity all the time, so most of the tickets that are being given away would be unused anyway,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Peyton McGee | Daily Texan Staff

Alex Messenger, a studio art and women and gender studies junior, works on her rear brake at the Orange Bike Project bike shop at the UT Guadalupe parking garage Wednesday night.

Business schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Green Teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; discusses cyclist security, traffic laws

to increase awareness of cyclist safety, including traffic laws that apply to cyclists. The presentation was led by Nadia Barrera, the bicycle and pedestrian proBy Alex Geiser gram project coordinator of the Daily Texan Staff city of Austin. Even though students make The event was organized by The up the vast majority of the UT McCombs Green Team, a volunteer population, a bike safety pre- staff and faculty organization withsentation Wednesday afternoon in the business school that focuses was attended only by faculty on environmental sustainability isand staff. sues on campus and beyond. Members of the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holly Green, an executive membicycling community came to the ber of the team and event organizMcCombs School of Business for er, said this was their first brown the event, which was organized bag lunch event and hopefully the

group will be able to more effectively get information out to students in the future. Green said the team added the program to the on-campus event calendar, Tweeted and sent an email out to all McCombs students, but word just never really got out. As a result, few people attended the event. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The communication part was a learning experience,â&#x20AC;? she said. Despite the lack of communication between students and Green Team event organizers, Wednesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turnout was the best yet, said George McQueen, chairman of

UTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Orange Bike Project. Kyle Rosenblad, a staffer at McCombs, stressed the importance of getting the word out to students because they represent such a big portion of the campus community. Students are so focused on their classes, however, that bicycle safety doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean much to them, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think people are that interested,â&#x20AC;? Rosenblad said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you are a student, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t care about that.â&#x20AC;? The event started with a presentation by McQueen promoting the volunteer bike-building organization. The Orange Bike Project, established in 2006, receives bike donations and fixes bikes to lend out to interested members of the UT community. Any UT faculty, student or staff member is able to rent out a bike free of charge for the semester or year. McQueen said there are about 20 people on the wait list for a bike right now. Those looking to get a bike in a more timely manner are invited to work on fixing a bike at their shop. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;bike cageâ&#x20AC;? is located in the Guadalupe Garage at 16th and San Antonio Streets. Volunteer hours are on Tuesdays from 6-9 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more bikes we can get on the road, the more safe people feel riding bicycles,â&#x20AC;? McQueen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I guess only walking is more sustainable than biking.â&#x20AC;? The project is funded in part by a grant from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and was recently given a $1,000 donation from Wheatsville Food Co-op.

Acevedo conference addresses public worries about privacy, safety issues 3B C LASSIFIEDS

day, month day, 2008

By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo and his public inforTISE Tmembers R mation team addressed E V EN AD Wednesday of the press STUD ION! to disR U cuss changes YO Nwithin IZAT the department,Opress RGA accountability and key issues that are stirring debate among citizens, including APDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investigation into the Nathaniel Sanders shooting. The press participated in an open discussion with Acevedo concerning the Sanders shooting by APD officer Leonardo Quintana and the internal affairs investigation review by KeyPoint government solutions, that determined there was bias inherent in APDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investigation. Acevedo said the special inquiry team APD created will finish their review by the end of October, and he will make a disciplinary deci-

sion the first week of November. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am confident, and despite some of the challenges we have reported on in terms of bias, I am still confident in the comprehensiveness of the investigations,â&#x20AC;? Acevedo said. He said when his decision is finalized, all information will be provided to the public, including an unredacted version of the KeyPoint report, APDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal affairs investigation and a document showing conclusions made by APD and what they are based on. Acevedo also discussed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No Refusalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; weekend initiatives and APDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan to allow officers to draw blood themselves. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you are truly interested in the safety of police officers, then you should be supporting every measure of aggressively enforcing DWI laws,â&#x20AC;? Acevedo said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you really care, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weigh in on the

side of people that are being killed by drunk drivers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we will do everything in our power [to protect the public].â&#x20AC;? In order to better protect Austin residents, Acevedo said he expects to add a new patrol helicopter to the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fleet, which currently includes two helicopters. He said they will be equipped with infrared sensors and will help with potential brush fires and pursuits. They will also reduce the time and resources used to find suspects. To fund the new helicopter, the police chief said he hopes to re-appropriate budget funds. Acevedo said the department has continued to make sacrifices and must do more with less. He said the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resources are spread thin with only 670 officers covering a 300 square mile city. Acevedo and Assistant Chief Patti Robinson said violent crime

Campus

in the city has declined 2.9 percent since last year and that this showcases the quality work APD does in spite of a downturn economy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are being very frugal with our budget,â&#x20AC;? Acevedo said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You give us a dollar and during tough budget times we can stretch that dollar or do with 60 cents more than other agencies [are able].â&#x20AC;? The police chief also announced staffing shifts in the department. Acevedo said he prefers to rotate his assistant chiefs among the different bureaus every two years in order to keep them fresh. Robinson will rotate from her previous position â&#x20AC;&#x201D; commanding the North Bureau â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to the Headquarters Bureau, which was previously under the command of Assistant Chief Al Eells. By Jan. 1 Acevedo will rotate Assistant Chiefs Jeffry Adickes and Sam Holt.

CORKBOARD

UNS AD IRNE FOR ONL

E! E R F d wor

ad s

on l y

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am going to give our officers that are in these divisions the opportunity to showcase their investigative abilities, their excellence in patrolling and in providing assistance to citizens in the city of Austin,â&#x20AC;? Robinson said. Acevedo finished the press discussion with an update on the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, a centralized information unit with participation from Central Texas agencies. He said the privacy policy will be discussed with the Texas Public Safety Commission and will be presented to the public when finished. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My concern is if you listen to the people, everything is always the same thing, either civil liberties or Big Brother,â&#x20AC;? Acevedo said. He addressed peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concerns about public camera systems and likened them to ondash car cameras that capture

Weekly Rates: $100 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Large $50 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Medium $25 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Small

Contact Joan at 512-232-2229 or email joanw@mail.utexas.edu

CLASSIFIEDS THE DAILY TEXAN

not only footage of stops, but officers and the public as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The camera in police cars captures not only the action of people stopping, but people that walk around. If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good enough to keep an eye on the cops itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good enough to keep an eye on the criminals,â&#x20AC;? he said. Acevedo said that with the new center, violent crimes may be prevented by the streamlining of data between agencies. According to the 2008 crime report from CQ Press of Washington D.C., Austin is the safest among Texasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; five biggest cities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the reasons we are one of the safest cities is because of the police officers; they are the people that keep us safe,â&#x20AC;? Robinson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our officers have a vested interest in this town â&#x20AC;&#x201D; this is our future, this is our life and we do our best to make it the best it can be.â&#x20AC;?

ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. In the event of errors made in advertisement, notice must be given by 10 am the first day of publication, as the publishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect insertion. In consideration of The Daily Texanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acceptance of advertising copy for publication, the agency and the advertiser will indemnify and save harmless, Texas Student Media and its officers, employees and agents against all loss, liability, damage and expense of whatsoever nature arising out of the copying, printing or publishing of its advertisement including without limitation reasonable attorneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fees resulting from claims of suits for libel, violation of right of privacy, plagiarism and copyright and trademark infringement. All ad copy must be approved by the newspaper which reserves the right to request changes, reject or properly classify an ad. The advertiser, and not the newspaper, is responsible for the truthful content of the ad. Advertising is also subject to credit approval.

Self-serve, 24/7 on the Web at www.DailyTexanOnline.com HOUSING RENTAL

349 Vacation Rental

VACATION RENTAL PARENTS OR visiting professors coming to visit? Do they need a place to stay? ĂŹHook emĂŽ up with a 3 bedroom house on Lake Austin. Sleeps 10. Nightly rentals. 11 miles from campus call 512.658.3719

351 Sub-Lease

795.00/ MONTH Roomy spanish-style 2/1 for sublet! North central close to Burnet and 45th, no rent until December! Lease until September 2010 melanie.a.crisp@ gmail.com 512.757.4064

370 Unf. Apts.

HYDE PARK / NORTH CAMPUS 1-1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Very spacious one bedroom apartments located at 302 W. 38th St. Available for IMMEDIATE move-ins or for any time in October. Only $695 a month, and rent covers most bills!!! CABLE IS FREE!!! On the UT shuttle, laundry facilities on site, POOL and WOOD FLOORS!!! Available to show any time between 9-5, M-F. Please visit our website at www.wsgaustin.com or give us a call at 512-499-8013

370 Unf. Apts.

$650/MO IN WEST CAMPUS Immediate move-ins for West Campus. As low as $650!!! Studios & 1-1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s available. Located at 2104 and 1911 San Gabriel St. Most bills paid!!! FREE parking!!! Located on the UT shuttle. Close to everything, and a great atmosphere. Call us at 512-499-8013 to set up a time to view the apartments. Office hours are M-F 8:30 to 5:00. Visit our website at www.wsgaustin.com or simply give us a call.

530 Travel-Transportation

420 Unf. Houses

AVAILABLE NOW- LOW

400 Condos-Townhouses

STUDENT CONDOS FOR SALE! 1 block north of UT! New construction, 2/bed-2.5/ bath plus study/optional 3rd bedroom, Hardwood floors, granite countertops, ceramic tile, crown molding, and stainless appliances. Big balcony with view of UT football stadium. Move-in now, Spring 2010, Summer 2010, or Fall 2010 semester. 1150 sq. ft. $329,500. www.speedwaycondosphase2.com Call 512-467-9852 for a showing!

Sharpen your skills with Ambassadorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ink: experienced college writing assistants!

505 Student Org.

SEDS AT UT!

DEEN KEETON 530 Travel-Transportation /RED RIVER Spacious 2BR/2BA Apts. W/D Con. Free Cable, internet, parking. Quiet, Non-Smoking, No-Pets, 2901 Swisher. $1200$1350/month, 512-4773388 goakapartments@ gmail.com

NEED EXTRA WRITING HELP?

ANNOUNCEMENTS

# # Â&#x161; Â&#x161; '$%! & # # Â&#x161; # " ! $

breckenridge

20 Mountains. 5 Resorts. 1 Price.

560 Public Notice

VADO HD STUDENT FILM CONTEST Make a short film exclusively with Creative Labs Vado HD Pocket Cam and compete for cash, internships and prizes valued at thousands of dollars! Vote for your favorite film! www.vadofilmcontest. com

SERVICES plus t/s

762 Health & Fitness

STEPHEN BOYD, LPC Buddhist Trained Psychotherapist MA Transpersonal Counseling PhD English 762-2885

1-800-SKI-WILD Â&#x2122; 1-800-754-9453 600 West 28th St, Suite #102

RECYCLE

All Transportation, Announcement, Services & Merchandise ads are 50%off regular rates and appear online at no charge unless you opt for enhancements which will incur additional nominal charges. For more information or assistance please call Classified Clerk at 512-471-5244 or email classifieds@dailytexanonline.com

790 Part Time

MODELS

610 Misc. Instruction

$ Move-in-- Cute, clean 2-1 w/ study/office. Close to campus and shuttle. 403 W. 44th St. $1095/ month w $500 dep. no rent until November. Ken 512-965-6242

Students for Exploration and Development of Space. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s revive the chapter at UT! Respond by email. hal.fulton@ marsdrive.com

EDUCATIONAL

ages 18-55 wanted for photo productions. $25/ hr. No experience necessary. Contact Marc for details texascastings@ yahoo.fr.

PT RECEPTIONIST

Visit us at www.ambink. com or contact us at either ink@ambink.com or 440-376-4247 for proofing, revision, and tutoring services. Highly competitive student rates available!

Receptionist needed for downtown property mgt office. Flexible hours. Email comm@graniteproperties.com 512469-0925

EMPLOYMENT

PARADIGM IS HIRING

790 Part Time

BARTENDING! $300/DAY POTENTIAL No experience necessary. Training provided. Age 18+. 800-965-6520 ext 113

MUSCULAR MALES ages 18-28 wanted for physique photography. $200-$500. 927-2448.

ATTENTION $20.00/ HR!

Sports-Minded Students Apply, Work Outdoors! Flexible Scheduling, Management Available Top Gun Promotions 512 473 0399

800 General Help Wanted

Paradigm is now hiring outgoing, well-spoken, self motivated campus representatives. Must be a UT student and be familiar with the UT campus. Schedule will be 12-20 hours per week to be worked M-F between 9am and 5pm. Please come by Paradigm to apply or call for more information. 407 W 24th St 512-472-798

STUDENTPAYOUTS. COM Paid Survey Takers Needed In Austin. 100% FREE To Join! Click On Surveys.

SURVEY TAKERS NEEDED:

800 General Help Wanted

FT & PT SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS

Get your education, training and experience now! Work with the BEST at Stepping Stone School! Hiring FT & PT subs at all locations. Flexible schedules, great perks! Apply online or at 1910 Justin Ln. www.steppings toneschool.c om / employment.html

EARN EXTRA MONEY Students needed ASAP. Earn up to $150 per day being a mystery shopper. No Experience Required. Call 1-800-722-4791

COPSD CASEWORKER Intern, Prefer: BA in Social Sciences. Special Training; Experience/ knowledge in Motivational Interviewing and Good Chemistry. Licenses; LCDC, LCDC CI, LPC intern, LMSW Intern. Apply www.atcmhmr.com

870 Medical Seeks College-Educated Men 18â&#x20AC;&#x201C;39 to Participate in a Six-Month Donor Program

Make $5-$25 per survey. GetPaidToThink.com.

Donors average $150 per specimen.

RECYCLE

www.123Donate.com

DailyTexanOnline.com

Apply on-line

890 Clubs-Restaurants

BARTENDER OPENINGS. Earn up to 300/day. No experience require. Will train. Call now 877-7715194 x1002

910-Positions Wanted

HIRING VALETS Must know how to drive standard, be physically fit, and have good customer service skills. Apply online at www.centraltexasvalet.com

FOR SALE

Sell Electronics

UNL. SMARTPHONE APPLICATIONS

$49.00 the newest APPS for Smartphones now!!!!

One time fee Unlimited Downloads Available http://www.appscircuit. com/20382

XBUDI XFFLMZ GPS UIF TVQFS UVFTEBZ

$0610/4

COMICS

7 9 4

9 2 1 7 1

9 5 8 4 3 9 5

Yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solution

6 5 1 9 8 8 2 4

7 6 9 2

6 4 7

7 2 4 5 6 8 3 9 1

8 9 6 1 2 3 5 4 7

1 3 5 9 4 7 2 6 8

2 1 3 8 5 4 6 7 9

9 4 7 2 1 6 8 5 3

5 6 8 7 3 9 1 2 4

6 5 9 3 7 1 4 8 2

3 7 2 4 8 5 9 1 6

4 8 1 6 9 2 7 3 5

#&70 #6$,4 BU UIF DFOUSBM TUPSF 4UVEFOU %JTDPVOU 5IVST 1PTUFST 4BMFT BOE 3FOUBMT 5XP GPS 0OF 5VFT BOE 8FET

t t8FTU UIt t 8FTU &MJ[BCFUIt

t 8FTU UIt t 8FTU &MJ[BCFUIt

Thursday, October 22, 2009

"/48&3 58*/ 1&",4

ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFLY Musicians upset about use of their music for interrogation WASHINGTON — A coalition of mega-bands and singers outraged that music — including theirs — was cranked up to help break uncooperative detainees at Guantanamo Bay is joining retired military officers and liberal activists to rally support for President Barack Obama’s push to close the Navy-run prison for terrorist suspects in Cuba. Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails are among the musicians who have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, which launched Tuesday. On behalf of the campaign, the National Security Archive in Washington is filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking classified records that detail the use of loud music as an interrogation device. “At Guantanamo, the U.S. government turned a jukebox into an instrument of torture,” said Thomas Blanton, executive director of the archive, an independent, nongovernmental research institute. Based on documents that already have been made public and interviews with former detainees, the archive says the playlist featured cuts from AC/DC, Britney Spears, the Bee Gees, Marilyn Manson and many other groups. The Meow Mix

cat food jingle, the Barney theme song and an assortment of Sesame Street tunes also were pumped into detainee cells.

Validity of DNA test argued in Lil Wayne gun case NEW YORK — Lil Wayne’s gun possession case is putting a leading edge of DNA science under a microscope. As the Grammy-winning rapper sat in a Manhattan court on Wednesday, a hearing began on a debated, highly sensitive DNA profiling technique used to tie him to a gun found on his tour bus in 2007. Proponents see the process, sometimes called Low Copy Number DNA profiling, as a powerful tool for closing cases by identifying people from the DNA in just a handful of cells. Skeptics question its reliability. For Lil Wayne, it could be a crucial piece of a case that carries a minimum 3 1/2-year prison term if he’s convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to illegal gun possession charges. The hearing on the scientific status of the DNA technique is expected to extend for days; his trial is due to start Jan. 20. Prosecutors say small amounts of DNA found on the loaded weapon connect it to the platinum-selling artist. Defense lawyer Stacey Richman says the gun wasn’t Lil Wayne’s, and the testing technique is too problematic to prove otherwise. Compiled by the Associated Press

SPRING: Minimalist set, modern

themes depict controversial topic Epstein describes the show as an “anti-musical” and hopes that When performing a play his performance and that of the a b o u t s e x u a l a n d s p i r i t u - cast as a whole opens up a diaal awakening, it’s hard not to logue about one of the world’s have some form of special ener- most natural and yet controvergy, and Epstein appreciates the sial issues – sex. “The show is everything that play’s ever-present motifs. “The play is a period piece, theater is all about. It’s funny and but it’s so effective because the it’s dark. At the end of the day, themes are the same that we go I hope people are entertained through today,” Epstein said. and they are moved by it. A lot “I think it’s cooler to tell a sto- of times parents come and bring ry from a different perspective. their kids, and because of the naThe taboos of sex that existed in ture of the show, I hope it opens up a kind of discussion,” he said. 1891 still exist today.”

From page 12

BOOK REVIEW

Journalist writes story of obsessive book lover

Novel follows the true story of a bibliomaniac turned rare-book thief By Kate Ergenbright Daily Texan Staff For book lovers, there is nothing more intoxicating than the feel of a brand new book in their hands or the earthy smell of its crisp, clean pages. Equally enthralling are the worn covers of frequently read favorites, their used condition symbolic of their owner’s love for the stories within. But an innocent love of books can quickly turn dangerous, an obsession some risk everything for. This obsession is bibliomania, an obsessive-compulsive psychological disorder that drives sufferers to collect and hoard books to a degree that is harmful to health and normal social interaction. In “The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession,” journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett narrates the true story of bibliomaniac John Charles Gilkey, a rare book thief who steals not for monetary gain, but simply for his intense and unyielding love of books. Gilkey views the accumulation of rare and valuable books as a means to elevate his status in society and physically display, through his collection, that he is an educated, valuable member of an elite group that he has never otherwise been allowed to penetrate. Ken Sanders, antiquarian

BIRD: Tour shows off backyard chickens

book dealer and self-appointed Sherlock Holmes of the rare book world, launches a crusade against Gilkey’s thievery and, with the help of a police detective, tracks him down. This leads to the return of thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen books to their rightful owners. Not your typical work of nonfiction, “The Man Who Loved Books Too Much” reads like a unique and thrilling detective novel. Although the novel is thoroughly researched and contains cited bibliographic information, it is not bogged down with reference material. From the very first page of the prologue to the novel’s end, the story grips readers’ attention and leads them on a journey through the intricate world of rare book collecting — a world rarely seen or noticed by outsiders. Rare book theft is an incredibly under-reported crime due largely in part to the refusal of dealers to advertise their losses. According to Interpol, rare book theft is more common internationally than fine-art theft. Bartlett’s use of first person narration not only gives the reader a connection and sense of familiarity with the story, but also offers a glimpse into the effect of researching the story had on the author’s own life. One of the most compelling aspects of Bartlett’s novel is the depth with which she delves into Gilkey’s psyche and her attempts to discern the motives for his crimes, even after multiple prison sentences. The only potentially weak moment in the story is its ending. In fact, there really isn’t one, though it can be argued that this is a symbolic ode to Gilkey’s criminal career even after the book’s publication date. Bartlett also breaks the cardinal journalistic rule of objectivity, although in this case it is not a problem. An example of thoroughly researched journalism, this novel is an in-depth character study as well as a look at the effect that researching a controversial story can have on journalists themselves. This aspect of the work takes readers to an entirely new level of entertainment, creating an incredibly original and thrilling read.

Curt Youngblood | Daily Texan Staff

Laura Travis pushes her daughter Veda Travis and her friend Kirani Martin on swings while Travis’ chickens roam the backyard looking for food in the grass. Travis has had chickens in her backyard for about a year, and half her flock was hatched from eggs laid in her yard.

From page 12 Already, tour organizers have begun enlisting volunteers for the 2010 event. They hope the tour will gather the sprawling Austin chicken-raising community and give individuals an opportunity to show off their coops, gardens and birds with both humble and palatial chicken locales scheduled as tour stops. Skeptics who are still uncertain about chicken ownership can visit the Alexander Family Farm in Del Valle.

“Though it’s a small-scale com- reasons many people are interestmercial operation, ed in raising their Alexander Family own chickens.” Farm in Del Valle One last reason is a local leader in why people are the sustainable, investing in urban Chickens are blind organic farming/ chickens is quite at night, they can’t poultry raising possibly because defend themselves.” movement,” said they can. If you Chris Smith of the can afford a pack — Ixachel Granada of gum, you can poultry meetup group. the chicken whisperer afford a chicken. “They always “They’re only welcome visitors. 60 cents at the This place is repgeneral store,” resentative, in a positive way, of the Granada assures.

‘‘

She bought her two chickens from Craigslist, picking them up from “a man in a parking lot,” she recalls. Her experience isn’t that uncommon, she said. Granada’s advice for wannabe chicken owners: “The most important rule about backyard chickens is that you have to build a coop that protects them from predators.” Granada learned this from experience: She has lost chickens to a possum and a pitbull. “Chickens are blind at night, they can’t defend themselves,” she warns.

LIFE&ARTS

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Life&Arts Editor: Leigh Patterson E-mail: lifeandarts@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2209 www.dailytexanonline.com

T HE DAILY T EXAN

Urban chickens gain popularity Film festival focuses in on screenwriting

By Robert Doty Daily Texan Staff It’s difficult to find the word “director” on the Austin Film Festival Web site, or even the word “filmmaker” without it being accompanied by the festival’s favorite subject: the screenwriter. Founded in 1994 to celebrate the art of screenwriting as the “Heart of Film,” and as an alternative to the tired theory of auteurism — the belief that the director is the true author of a film — the festival has developed into the premier festival for filmmaker and screenwriters attempting to break into the seemingly impenetrable film industry. Its union of discussion panels, meet-andgreets and a week of film showings provides a unique and welcoming experience that sets it well apart from other festivals. For its panels, the festival brings in established screenwriters to discuss everything from titling your screenplay to overcoming writer’s block. These are often exceedingly practical discussions centered around how to best tell your story and, maybe more importantly, how to guide your script through the mythic labyrinth of the film industry. In past years, the festival has boasted heavyweights such as the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson and Oliver Stone. This year, Damon Lindelof (co-creator and writer for “Lost”), Lawrence Kasdan (“The Big Chill,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and Austin’s own Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused,” “Before Sunset”) will lead panels geared toward their particular areas of expertise. In addition to the panels, the festival features more than 100 films ranging from mainstream indies to down and dirty, sell-your-platelets-to-finance-your-picture independent films. Playing all over Austin, some of these films are sure to hit theaters later in the year (”Up in the Air,” “Serious Moonlight”) while this may be your only chance to catch others (”Herpes Boy,” “Harmony and Me”). And luckily for students, the festival offers generous discounts for those taking at least nine university hours. For $195 — almost $200 less than a conference badge — you can gain admission to all panels, all showings and the select parties. So, if you’re interested in bettering that screenplay you’re working on, immersing yourself in films for the next week or just fawning over Damon Lindelof as he muses about character development in the sci-fi genre, check out what Austin Film Festival is all about. The festival begins at noon today with the panels finishing up on Sunday and the films running through next Thursday. To get your student tickets call (512) 478-4795. They are not available online.

Curt Youngblood | Daily Texan Staff

Kirani Martin plays with chickens in their backyard coop. The trend of raising chickens in urban environments for their eggs has seen an increase in popularity over the last few years. By Susannah Jacob Daily Texan Staff The East Side Cafe had two dozen new residents move into the garden this year, causing significant anxiety for the cats who live next door. The newcomers are chickens, who provide lots of clucks and fresh eggs for the cafe, a local restaurant known for its homegrown history and vegetables. Dorsey Barger, who is in charge of all chicken-related matters at East Side, credits her backyard flock’s success to Ixchel Granada. “You have to talk to Ixachel,” she said. Granada is known by her clients — many of whom are her friends and family — as Austin’s premier poultry consultant, the city’s own chicken whisperer, if you will. The New Yorker magazine re-

cently identified the chicken as “the it bird,” citing a surging national interest in backyard poultry. Austin, in its usual fashion, has quietly surged a few years ahead in the urban-chicken raising trend, keeping Granada’s services in high demand. Having grown up in Honduras with chickens in her mother’s backyard, Granada has made an informal career out of helping an increasing number of friends and neighbors interested in building their own backyard chicken coops. She advises people about what to plant in gardens located near the chickens’ homes (comfrey), how to situate the chickens’ perch inside the coop (up high) and how to protect the chickens from predators (with secure and locked coops). “Urban-chicken owners usually start out like I did,” she says. “They’ll buy a couple of hens and

go from there.” Some do it for the fresh eggs. Others, like Granada, have fond memories of chicken-populated childhoods. Garden owners often raise chickens because they provide such effective fertilizer. A few people simply think chickens are neat pets. In addition to advisors like Granada, the Web provides plenty of fodder for urban-chicken owners. Andy Schneider, who trademarked the Chicken Whisperer title, has an online radio show called “Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer” — a nationally broadcast radio show all about “keeping backyard poultry and living a self-sufficient lifestyle.” Schneider has 453 Facebook fans, a blog and has been featured on CNN, HLN, CBS and NPR. Other blogs designate resources for new chicken owners, chroni-

cle the journeys of chicken owners and help organize chicken owning support groups. For Austin, the Austin Backyard Poultry Meetup Group serves that purpose. Listed as having 312 members, the group’s Web site touts a full calendar of events, photographs and an actively updated message board where people write in to discuss poultry shows, egg recipes, local laws and ordinances related to chickens, future meetings and chicken illnesses. Listed on the group’s schedule for this spring is the 2nd Annual Austin Funky Chicken Coop Tour. Set for April 3, 2010, the tour takes participants all over Austin to view backyard chicken coops and gardens. It drew more than 1,000 visitors last spring.

BIRD continues on page 11

TV actor turns to theater Play highlights adolescence, self-discovery

process, eventually was flown to By Robert Rich New York, but didn’t get the role. Daily Texan Staff When the tour came back to ToSome themes are eternal. In the case of “Spring Awaken- ronto, I was doing another play, ing,” a musical based on an 1891 and the cast came and liked my German play of the same name, performance. My name came up those themes are the discovery and with the director again, and they exploration of adolescent sexuali- asked me to come back to New ty and the struggle with angsty in- York to reaudition, and this time I got the role.” tellectual developEpstein is most ment. For Jake Epwell-known for stein, the Toronplaying heartto-born actor who throb Craig Manplays lead characWhatever happens ning on the Canater Melchior Gabor, it’s a one-of-aon stage is genuinely dian series “Degrassi.” He said kind experience. different each night.” he’s always had “The show is so love for theater, raw and unique, — Jake Epstein aa different animal there’s nothing actor than television. else like it that ex“When you’re ists right now,” Epdoing TV, they stein said. “It tells say, ‘Don’t warm a story and doesn’t talk down to its audience. It can be up, we want to see how you are shocking, but it touches people in a in the moment,’” Epstein said. real and personal way. When I first “With theater, it’s like you warm saw it, I had chills the entire time.” up for an hour to prepare. I really Epstein first saw the show dur- love doing theater because there’s ing its Broadway run and imme- nothing like it when there’s a live diately fell in love with it. He soon audience there. Whatever hapwent to an open call in Toron- pens on stage is genuinely difto and almost became the show’s ferent each night. The audience picks up on that energy, and it’s Broadway replacement. “I lined up for two hours in very special.” February, in the snow,” Epstein SPRING continues on page 11 said. “I went through the whole

‘‘

Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Jake Epstein, an actor from the television show “Degrassi,” onstage during a production of “Spring Awakening.”

‘Spring Awakening’ addresses teen societal issues through music

By Javier Sanchez Daily Texan Staff Adolescence is a tumultuous time, filled with confusion and shame. Adults seem to conspire against teens, and isolation can seem like the only way out. The youth of “Spring Awakening” know this. Little ingenue Wendla introduces us into the world of the play, asking her mother about the origin of babies. Her mother, in red-faced embarrassment, glosses over the fine details of the birds and the bees. Thus, Wendla and her peers are forced to wade through their own ignorance in their attempts Courtesy of Joan Marcus at understanding the very adult world around them. The Tony Award-winning musical “Spring Awakening” makes its Austin debut this week at Bass Concert Hall. The glory of “Spring Awakening” is witnessing this search adorned with a hodgepodge of from Degrassi) as Melchior, t o s h i n e . D e s p i t e t h e f a c t of individual self-discovery. items, from butterfly wings to the atheistic intellectual with a that they are all facing simiThe musical focuses on a abstract paintings, which lend tendency to question the social lar problems, their individual group of German teenagers a kind of homemade quality to order. It was surprising to see anxieties are projected in solos in the 1890s who deal with the set. Lighting plays a cru- Epstein in such a dramatic role, sprinkled throughout. The enthe pressures of making good cial role in this production as one with such a wide range of semble as a whole, however, is grades and pleasing their par- well — it helps separate the requirements. He fills out the truly mesmerizing when they ents. Coupled with this stress banal landscape of normal life role nicely, tackling some of all come together in song and are the societal pressures of from the vibrancy of the musi- the most sexual content of the dance. In the number “Touch everyday life, making every cal numbers. It certainly helps play with ease while still man- Me,” they utilize a recurring mistake they make seem like heighten the emotional impact aging a tight falsetto. choreography to signify the a severe moral offense. Nat- of the score. T h e t w o c h a r a c t e r s t h a t exploration of their bodies, as urally, teens have a tendency The music doesn’t attempt to stand out above the rest are the if for the first time discoverto act out. Here, they express match the time period, so dis- anxious, pigeon-toed Moritz ing things they didn’t know their internalized feelings in cussion of items like stereos and (Taylor Trensch) and the bare- were there. Moreover, it exists a series of anachronistic rock telephones are not off-limits. A foot bohemian Ilse (Steffi D). as a kind of ritual for each one songs that speak to the adoles- small band with string accom- Their “Don’t Do Sadness/Blue of them, something that must cent experience. paniment creates interesting Wind” mashup is easily the be done to gain passage into If it sounds bizarre, it is. The sounds — their drums churn best number in the production, adulthood. set is minimalist, and we, as out what sometimes sounds like both an acknowledgement of “Spring Awakening” is sureaudience members, are asked tribal music while their strings the futility of their situation ly one of the most fascinating to use our imagination at times soar. Perhaps the most impres- and an attempt at reconciling things to watch onstage. The to help create the settings. A sive thing about the music is its it. Watching their limbs flail- spectacle of the lighting and small band sits upstage and lyrics, which have the ability ing about, their determined its rock-show quality alone center while the stage is en- to express the inner workings voices shouting out poetic lyr- make it a worthwhile expericlosed by rows of wooden of these young characters with ics as lights shift around them ence. But the simple beauty of chairs, where members of the pinpoint accuracy. is beyond awe-inspiring. the lyrics and compelling story cast and a small onstage auLeading this talented ensemThe musical gives every- will undoubtedly speak to the dience sit. The back wall is ble is Jake Epstein (yes, Craig one in the ensemble a chance adolescent within you.