Daily Texan 11/10/09

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Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

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Some dorms lack recycling

By Vidushi Shrimali Daily Texan Staff Although all UT campus dorms have a comprehensive recycling policy, only half of University-area off-campus dormitories have recycling programs.

The Division of Housing and Food Service, which handles recycling for UT’s on-campus dormitories, used a $45,000 rebate from the city to install energy star washing machines in campus laundry rooms and to pay for green recycling bins for aluminum and plastic in all their dorms.

“It was the right thing to do,” said Meagan Jones, a Facility Services administrative associate.

Prior to this, dorm rooms on campus were outfitted with blue paper-recycling bins. Dorm residents, such as business freshman Veronica Becerra, are required to dump their recyclables from the bins into larger bins in their laundry and trash rooms.

“Since I do buy a lot of bottled water and drinks, it’s convenient,” Becerra said. “If the bins weren’t in my room, I would try to recycle, but I’m sure a couple of

bottles would slip away.”

Off-campus dormitories are in charge of developing their own recycling policies. The city offers “courtesy recycling” — one or two large recycling bins per property.

Currently, only The Castilian can opt for this service, as it is the only off-campus dorm that falls within the city’s jurisdiction, according to a city of Austin spokeswoman. Resident assistant Briana Gardner said The Castilian has not chosen to go with the service for the past three years she has worked there.

“I’ve had students ask me where

[they can recycle.] I just refer them to on campus,” Gardner said.

The Castilian and Dobie Center Dormitory do not have recycling programs. Dobie manager Tommy O’Dell did not return a call asking why the building chooses not to recycle.

Representatives from the other three off-campus dormitories — The Goodall Wooten Co-Ed Dormitory, Scottish Rite DormitoAnne-Marie Huff | Daily Texan Staff ry and Hardin House — said they all maintain some sort of recycling Michelle Godson, a pre-nursing and pre-med junior, studies in Jester Center dorms. Recycle bins are available on every floor in Jester as well as in common areas.

DORMS continues on page 2

UT breaks down barriers, again

Caleb Bryant Miller | Daily Texan Staff

Rebecca Levitt holds a candle in front of the Main Building during a remembrance ceremony for Jewish casualties of the Soviet regime in East Germany. The somber ceremony was part of a larger reenactment of the Berlin Wall’s historic fall 20 years ago Monday.

Students commemorate fall of Berlin Wall with cardboard replica

By Hannah Jones Daily Texan Staff Decorated cardboard boxes with graffiti and German phrases saying “Unify Germany and families,” were stacked on the plaza in front of the UT Tower on Monday night to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The departments of Germanic studies, history and government, as well as the centers for European, Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies in the College of Liberal Arts or-

ganized and sponsored the event to honor the revolution that brought down the Berlin Wall and celebrate the anniversary of its fall The event also included a memorial to Kristallnacht, which marks the night of Nov. 9, 1938, when the Gestapo and Hitler Youth carried out the torching of Jewish communities in Germany. It was the most shocking night for German Jews in the 1930s, said professor Robert Asbin.

News reels of the eviction of Jews from German neighborhoods and Nazis handling

crowds played while students, community members and faculty viewed the studentmade wall.

“Kristallnacht and the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolize the worst and best we can see in history,” Asbin said. “Even though there are echoes of the past in Neo-Nazi demonstrations, wounds are healing.”

Challah for Hunger, a program within The White Rose Society, a Holocaust remembrance

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Survey finds transfers less involved in campus life

By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff A recent survey found that transfer students receive less exposure to internships and research positions on campus, but specialized courses at UT are working to solve this problem.

The 2009 National Survey of Student Engagement, released Monday by a team of researchers and professors at the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, collected data on transfer and non-transfer students from hundreds of universities across the country.

Although UT has participated in the past, the UT System did not participate in 2009 and thus did not influence the results.

The survey found transfer students, both those moving from community colleges to four-year institutions and between four-year colleges, are less likely to participate in campus engagement activities, including study abroad programs and seminar courses.

Survey Associate Director Robert Gonyea said transfer students don’t readily connect with their peers or faculty members without extra attention, like that given to entering freshmen.

“Tranfer students are coming to a campus that they are not familiar with yet, and they will know fewer faculty members,” Gonyea said. “They are still trying to figure out how to get around.”

UT offers specialized classes, or signature courses, intended to ease the confusion and discomfort of new students. The courses, offered both to freshmen and transfer students, introduce them to the University and help build a relationship early on to increase student retention.

Signature courses, which focus on a student’s major and are designed to highlight related resources at the University, are required for first-year and transfer students in the College of Liberal Arts, and will be required for all entering students starting in fall 2010.

Paul Woodruff, dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies, said these courses are meant to make transfer students feel more at home at the University.

SURVEY continues on page 2

Research finds mice grow to like alcohol

By Viviana Aldous Daily Texan Staff Jessica Tan didn’t like the taste of alcohol the first time she tried it at the age of 19.

“I was at a party where everything – including beer and Jell-O shots – was gross,” the chemical engineering senior said.

Despite this experience, she gave alcohol a second try. Three years later, she now considers herself a social drinker Pharmacy professor Rueben Gonzales, who said he drinks on occasion, has studied alcohol consumption and its effects on chemicals in the brain for more than eight years. After consuming a drink with 10 percent alcohol, the rats in his research had a similar response to Tan’s gradual affinity for alcohol.

“We know 90 percent of people and 90 percent of rats, when

they’re first exposed to alcohol in a voluntary manner, they will go back to it,” Gonzales said. “They will choose to drink it on a regular basis — we’re talking social drinking, not alcoholism. This behavior is then maintained for quite a long time.”

“The first day [the rats are given alcohol], they’re very surprised because the taste is very different, and they don’t drink very much,” he said. “The next day, they double their drinking [and] drink enough to really feel buzzed. The equivalent would be like sucking down three margaritas in a row.”

Gonzales’ latest discovery, presented last month at a neuroscience conference, suggests that on the second day of exposure to alcohol, there is a spike

DRINKS continues on page 9

Local officials seek upgrade of patrol car cameras

By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Austin officials with differing sentiments toward a 6-monthold police shooting, in which an Austin Police Department officer failed to record the fatal incident, gathered Monday at City Hall advocating the digital upgrade of the department’s car camera system.

Officials said a digital platform for APD vehicles will be more reliable than the current VHS system and will help the agency gather evidence and hold officers accountable for their actions.

The May 11 shooting of 18-yearold Nathaniel Sanders by APD Officer Leonardo Quintana sparked controversy because Quintana and his two back-up officers failed to record the incident, which resulted in Austin residents questioning his use of force that led to Sanders’ death. Quintana was given a 15-day suspension by APD Chief Art Acevedo Wednesday for violating camera policy, which

Caleb Bryant Miller | Daily Texan Staff

Citizen security specialist Art Stone explains to Keevin Thompson the digital camera system slated to be installed in APD patrol vehicles within months. dictates that all stops must be recorded.

“Digitized cameras are no silver bullet for all our society’s evils,” said Councilwoman Sheryl Cole.

“But they are one step in bringing the fabric of our community back

together and restoring confidence in our law enforcement officials.”

Cole said City Manager Marc Ott assembled a task force, including Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald and Acevedo, that is assessing all options

prior to presenting a system to City Council for approval.

“People of this community deserve the best, and the more we can do to remove the human factor in the use of these technologies, the better off we will be as a community,” Acevedo said.

“What we are looking at is to use the best of the best, making sure that it’s scalable and making sure that we can maximize efficiency and effectiveness.”

Acevedo said the department should have a proposal within a month. He said the system will run 24/7 and will record three minutes prior to activation, “so it will be almost nearly impossible to not have a critical incident on the camera.”

Currently, APD has 700 patrol cars equipped with VHS systems.

APD officers have been involved in other unrecorded shootings prior to the Sanders incident.

Among those is the June 14,

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The Daily Texan Volume 110, Number 110 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 Web Office: (512) 471-8616 online@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.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Forum calls for overhaul of aid

By Lara Berendt Daily Texan Staff American foreign assistance programs that have long been plagued by inefficiencies, wasted funds and poorly defined objectives are in need of comprehensive reform, said a panel of experts on Monday.

The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law partnered with global poverty alleviation groups CARE and RESULTS to host the Foreign Aid Reform forum. As Congress prepares to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the panel of four experts discussed fundamental problems with the country’s foreign aid system and suggested reforms that could advance current and future policy goals.

In an early step toward improvement, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, introduced a bill in April calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

The bill focuses on monitoring, evaluation and transparency in foreign assistance. “The crux of this is that the number of agencies involved has become a bureaucratic mess,� said Kate Weaver, the discussion’s moderator and assistant professor of public affairs. “[The bill] calls for the Obama administration to come up with a plan to streamline and prioritize U.S. foreign aid.�

Weaver said there are currently more than 60 government units distributing U.S. foreign aid, and this causes problems of overlap, inefficiency and corruption within the agencies. She said reforms must focus on how aid is structured and evaluate the conditions under which aid successfully creates tangible improvements throughout the world.

Panelist Dara Francis, a Strauss Center fellow and consultant on international democracy promotion, said the overall interest in securing a unified strategy for

survey: Smaller

class sizes a plus on big campuses From page 1

Erik Reyna | Daily Texan Staff

RESULTS spokeswoman Jennifer Fox reads prepared statements by State Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Michael McCaul at the Foreign Aid Reform Forum hosted by the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, CARE USA and RESULTS. U.S. foreign aid is nothing new. “The question of reforming foreign assistance comes up in every administration,� Francis said. “You can come up with the greatest strategy in the world, but if you don’t have the tools to implement it properly, it’s not going to work.�

Francis said the Berman legislation’s call for improved monitoring and evaluation of foreign aid is crucial. Without practicable ways of tracking the actions and effects of foreign aid agencies, it’s difficult to find links between money spent and changes overseas, she said. “The problem is that most of these programs are tracked by outputs, not by outcomes,� Francis said, referring to the monitoring of short-term production results instead of long-term improvements.

While development goals should be long-term, Francis said,

it’s important to keep in mind that short-term imperatives arise and can seriously impact the effect of foreign aid. “Unfortunately, there are political issues and humanitarian crises that force practitioners to change course,� Francis said.

Panelist John Fawcett is the global legislative director for RESULTS, a grassroots organization working with citizens and the media to compel politicians to take action against global poverty. Fawcett said that while most of his colleagues tend to focus on changing the structure and delivery of foreign aid, he stresses the necessity of establishing a clear objective for U.S. foreign aid policy. “One fundamental question is that of adequate resources,� Fawcett said. “Do we actually have enough money to achieve what we want to achieve?�

Fawcett said U.S. foreign as-

sistance should focus primarily on the alleviation of poverty, and money should go to the poorest countries first. He stressed the importance of seeking input from community members about their needs so that aid distribution reflects the priorities of the recipients, not the agendas of Washington, D.C. bureaucrats.

Panelist Kate Phillips-Barrasso is a senior policy advocate for CARE, a Washington D.C.-based organization that actively implements foreign aid distribution overseas. She said increasing public support for poverty alleviation campaigns throughout the world will force government officials to take action. “What I don’t think that people realize is that this is the absolute bedrock of all of the global changes that we’re trying to accomplish,� Phillips-Barrasso said. “The ‘how’ is just as important as the ‘how much.’�

“The signature courses have special requirements, but they are all designed to acquaint students with special resources and to help entering students meet professors,� Woodruff said.

While many signature courses have only 15 students, those composed of 50 to 75 students have much smaller discussion sections, Woodruff said.

Pauline Strong, director of the Humanities Institute at UT, has taught seminars in the past and currently teaches Research and Writing About Culture, a signature course for freshman. She said her students are asked to write ethnographies several different aspects of life at UT. “What they appreciate most is how small the class is and that they’ve gotten to know a professor early in their college career,�

Strong said. “They enjoy getting to learn about some aspect of the University in depth and getting to hear what their fellow students know.�

She said the specialized courses help UT seem more manageable to entering and transfer students and helps them get a sense of what programs are offered.

Government junior Samantha Vetrano transferred from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey last fall after she felt like she wasn’t getting a good enough education. In her first semester at UT, she took a signature course centered on American foreign policy — one of her favorite classes so far.

Vetrano said the course attempted to teach students better study habits, and the discussion sections of nine to 10 people helped her meet fellow students interested in a similar field. “I feel like I have gotten a quality education here already,� Vetrano said.

dorms: Residents’ recycling opinions vary From page 1

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program. University Towers and The Goodall Wooten both have four recycling bins outside for students to use, but do not have recycling indoors.

Scottish Rite dorm recently increased the number of bins on each floor in an effort to step up their recycling program. Administrator Mary Mazurek said the building would increase the number of bins if it could fit in their budget. Off-campus dorms often have to pay for recycling

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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 Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Richard Finnell

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Alex Geiser, Vidushi Shrimali, Lara Berendt, Hannah Jones Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelley Neumann, Anne-Marie Huff, Kari Rosenfeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Erik Reyna, Bruno Morlan Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Cox, Susannah Jacob Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire Cardona, Molly Nesbitt, Megan Gottlieb Sports/Life&Arts Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Hicks Page Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tarrah Miller Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jermaine Alfonso, Gabe Alvarez, Rachel Weiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emery Ferguson, Nam Nguyen, Claudine Lucona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Smith, Miles Luna Wire Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dylan Clement Web Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordyn Davenport

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, Darius Meher-Homji 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

programs out of their own budgets, and UT pays for the recycling costs of on-campus dorms. “There is a cost involved. Would you be willing to pay $50 more a month [to recycle]?� Mazurek said.

Dobie residents differ in opinions about recycling. Chemical engineering sophomore Stephen Dauer said he would not go out of his way to recycle. “It would be cool if [Dobie] did, but I’m not going to go do it,�

Dauer said.

Economics sophomore Bradley Romeo, a Dobie resident, collects re-

camera: Updated technology can

prevent officer errors, say police From page 1 2003, shooting of Jesse Lee Owens by officer Scott Glasgow, who was suspended for 90 days, and the June 9, 2005, shooting of 18-year-old Daniel Rocha by officer Julie Schroeder, who was fired after the incident.

Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the DPS began its digital transition in 2003.

UT Police Department Lt. Dennis Chartier said all 12 of the department’s patrol cars have digital cameras that cost about $7,500 apiece and can hold up to 60 hours of data, but entire days are not recorded because it would create too much data, which would be impossible to sort through.

DPS and UTPD’s digital system and APD’s VHS system all use a method that records only when the car’s overhead lights are on or when the officer manually activates the camera.

In the case of the Sanders shooting, video evidence still was not captured because Quintana did not activate his overhead lights, nor was his camera positioned with an adequate view of the incident.

“We have antiquated technology, and it’s putting police officers in a position — especially in real stressful situations — to have to think about that camera and sometimes we are human, we make mistakes,� said Wayne Vincent, president of the Austin Police Association.

Acevedo said the blame for the delay in the implementation of digital cameras should not rest on City Council’s shoulders, but is the fault of previous APD administrations. “I don’t think [the upgrade] was ever presented, it was never formalized, and to blame the political leadership for our failure as a police department I am not sure is fair,� Acevedo said.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin branch of the NAACP, said controversial officer shootings will not be prevented without prosecution of officers who disobey police guidelines. “No matter how much technology we get in this city, we have to consider that these are human beings,� Linder said. “Until we make the right decision based on the right evidence, this issue is going to continue.�

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11/10/09

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cyclable materials from friends and neighbors in the dorm, which he then takes home to recycle in Plano, Texas, every three to four weeks.

Romeo is applying to be a resident assistant next year and said he hopes to use his position to push for a recycling system based on volunteer drivers who would collect materials and drive them to city or campus drop-off points. “You would think that in a green city like Austin we would recycle,� he said. “A greener image would give Dobie a competitive advantage.�

TREY KALIHER, DDS

Accepts most major insurance 5 minutes from campus

3 W/N

Wire Editor: Dylan Clement www.dailytexanonline.com

World&NatioN

3

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

T he Daily Texan

Court suit hopes to bar slaughter of Yellowstone’s bison

By Matthew Brown The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — A coalition of environmental and American Indian groups sued two federal agencies Monday to stop the mass slaughter of bison that migrate outside Yellowstone National Park in search of food.

During the last decade, federal agencies working with the state of Montana have captured and shipped to slaughter more than 3,300 bison to prevent the spread of an animal disease to cattle.

The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court, asks for the National Park Service and Forest Service to be barred from participating in the slaughter program.

The plaintiffs contend the two federal agencies are ignoring their responsibility to preserve the animals. It also says claims the threat of the disease, brucellosis, has been overstated.

“It’s crazy for me to think that in a state like Montana, where we are rich in wildlife and wildlands, that we don’t have room for bison,” said Tom Woodbury with the Western Watersheds Project.

Woodbury’s group is one of nine plaintiffs in the case, which is likely to be heard by Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula.

Yellowstone’s 3,000 bison comprise one of the largest concentrations of the animals in the world.

Bison once roamed North America by the millions before being largely wiped out in the late 1800s.

Today about half the animals in the park test positive for exposure

Travis Morisse | Associated Press

A bison stands just outside its pen after being released on to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve on Oct. 30, near Strong City, Kan. to brucellosis, a reproductive disease that can cause pregnant animals, including cattle, to abort their calves.

During severe winters and

when bison numbers are high, thousands of the animals try to migrate to lower elevations outside Yellowstone in search of grass for grazing. But under a 2000 agree-

ment between Montana and the federal government, the animals can be killed to prevent any contact with cattle.

In early 2008, when the bi-

son population had topped 4,000 animals, more than 1,400 bison were captured and shipped to slaughter.

That same year, the Govern-

ment Accountability Office released a scathing report admonishing federal agencies for failing to preserve Yellowstone’s bison.

As a result, state and federal wildlife managers promised to be more flexible on the issue.

They’ve since allowed some bison to linger outside the park in areas where cattle no longer graze. And last year, with financial backing from several conservation groups, the agencies leased a corridor through a private ranch adjacent to Yellowstone, allowing a small number of bison to access Forest Service land outside the park.

Federal officials said they were keen to expand where bison could go — but not at the expense of raising risks of brucellosis transmission.

“We need to learn from those baby steps to see if we might apply those at a broader scale,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Marna Daley with the Gallatin National Forest.

Bison control used to be carried out largely by the Montana Department of Livestock. Under the 2000 agreement, management of the animals has been coordinated by a group of five federal and state agencies, including the Forest and Park services.

Brucellosis first came into the Yellowstone region through the cattle of early by European settlers. It has since been eliminated in the livestock industry and is now found only in Yellowstone’s wildlife.

New Cabinet breaks Lebanese deadlock

Edgar Romero | Associated Press

El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes, center, looks at homes that were destroyed by flooding in Verapaz, El Salvador on Monday.

Salvadorans search for survivors from landslide, at least 130 dead

By Marcos Aleman The Associated Press VERAPAZ, El Salvador — Tears streamed down Elsy Portillo’s badly bruised face Monday as she walked behind coffins carrying her mother and only child in this town buried by a landslide, one in a series that killed at least 130 people in El Salvador.

Days of heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides across this mountainous Central American country Sunday.

No place was harder hit than Verapaz, a poor, farming town of 7,000 people on the slopes of the Chichontepec volcano, about

30 miles east of the capital, San Salvador.

Boulders, many weighing more than a ton, littered the cobblestone streets Monday. Cars and homes protruded from mounds of mud. Bloated dead cows lay on rooftops after being hurled into the air — attesting to the force of the deluge that turned the normally picturesque coffee-growing town into a disaster zone.

Soldiers and townspeople continued digging through rock and debris to search for the 60 people who remained missing Monday.

Collapsed walls and downed

power lines prevented heavy machinery from entering. Many people used their bare hands.

Hopes of finding survivors dimmed with each passing hour.

President Mauricio Funes flew in to survey the damage.

He urged federal lawmakers to approve millions of dollars in loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, saying some of the funds would be redirected for reconstruction.

TSM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING Friday November 13, 2009 2pm The University of Texas Texas Union Eastwoods Room #2.102

Visitors Welcome We encourage any community member who has any kind of temporary or permanent disability to contact Texas Student Media beforehand so that appropriate accommodations can be made. Anyone is welcome to attend.

By Hussein Dakroub The Associated Press BEIRUT — Lebanon’s prime minister formed a Cabinet Monday that includes the militant group Hezbollah and its allies, ending a political deadlock that left the deeply divided nation without a government for months and threatened to ignite violence.

Saad Hariri unveiled the 30-member Cabinet after more than four months of tough bargaining with his rivals in the Hezbollah-led political coalition over who would get which portfolios.

Hariri’s Western-backed bloc narrowly defeated the Hezbollahled group in June’s parliamentary election, enabling it to retain a slim majority in the 128-member legislature. But Hariri’s need to include his powerful rivals in a unity government set the stage for the months of wrangling.

Hariri, whose father, a former prime minister himself, was assassinated in a 2005 truck bombing in Beirut, pledged to work with “open doors” and cooperate with all factions in Lebanon’s combustible mix of ethnic and religious parties.

In the Cabinet breakdown, Hariri and his partners get 15 seats. Ten go to Hezbollah and its allies. That denies either side outright control.

The other five seats were chosen by Lebanon’s president, who is considered a neutral figure, giving him the tipping vote. One of those seats went to an ostensibly neutral Shiite, but some believe he could be tapped by the Hezbollah-led grouping to block

any Cabinet decision.

One of Hezbollah’s two representatives in the Cabinet, Mohammed Fneish, sidestepped a question about whether that meant the group had veto control.

“This formula achieves the principle of real partnership in political decision-making on key decisions,” he told The Associated Press.

One of the most contentious points was a demand by a key Hezbollah ally, Christian leader Michel Aoun, to retain for his bloc the Telecommunications Ministry, an important position to guard because of Hezbollah’s private communications network and other security issues.

A government threat in 2008 to shut it down triggered sectarian clashes in which Shiite Muslim Hezbollah fighters and their allies

overran Sunni Muslim neighborhoods, defeating armed supporters of the pro-Western government in street battles.

Under the new Cabinet, Aoun, who heads the second-largest bloc in parliament with 27 legislators, will keep that sensitive portfolio after Hariri dropped his objections.

Besides the fractious mix within Lebanon, the tough negotiating over the government’s formation also reflected the influence of outside powers backing rival sides, a legacy of years of civil war when Lebanon also became a proxy battleground for other countries.

Two of those powers, Syria and Saudi Arabia, reconciled last month during a visit to Damascus by Saudi King Abdullah, helping clear the way for a deal in Lebanon.

Hussein Malla | Associated Press

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, prays at his father’s grave Monday.

S ’ O V BE LIST H S I W

on stands Dec 19st DEC.

e k a TThe Survey e n i l o@ndailytexanonline.com

OPINION

4

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

T HE DAILY TEXAN

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

GALLERY

VIEWPOINT

Closed doors hinder tuition transparency

In these times of skyrocketing tuition rates, it might surprise some to learn that a group of students on campus does, in fact, have a say in the tuition-setting process.

Four UT students, along with five administrators, currently sit on the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee, a panel that meets each fall to analyze higher-education costs and present recommendations to UT President William Powers, who then presents recommendations of his own to the UT System Board of Regents. The regents set tuition rates every two years. The four voting student members are Student Government President Liam O’Rourke; Lauren Ratliff, Senate of College Councils President; Daniel Spikes, president of the Graduate Student Assembly; and government senior Cecilia Lopez.

The committee — which was formed after the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition in 2003, allowing public universities to set their own rates — also presents recommendations to the student body in open forums. Committee meetings leading up to the release of recommendations, however, are closed to the public. “[Opening meetings] will inhibit discussion, and having these meetings are all about encouraging honest dialogue,” said Kevin Hegarty, UT’s vice president and chief financial officer and an administrator on the committee. “Having a reporter there or having people in a gallery watching naturally will cause people to, I think, not say things that they might otherwise express.”

Hegarty’s concerns are understandable. The presence of The Daily Texan — which was denied access to a committee meeting Thursday night — at discussions might cause members to hesitate before speaking frankly on financial matters that could draw controversy.

But the committee was formed in the interest of students. And the interest of students, who are accustomed to news of rising costs, is served by open discussion — both good and bad news — concerning tuition rates. UT’s involved student body, for which The Daily Texan is just one voice, should be involved in this deliberation.

“We need, as an institution, to do a better job of communicating our institutional priorities, how we generate them and how we meet them,” said Liam O’Rourke, president of Student Government and a committee member.

Although we appreciate O’Rourke’s argument for better communication, the tone of his comments is troubling. O’Rourke notably groups himself into the institutional “we.” He should not forget that he was elected to represent the concerns of students to the administration, not those of the administration to the students. It is thus his responsibility to inform the student body of his influential committee’s activities, and unless The Daily Texan is allowed access, he and other committee members are the sole representatives able to inform students and solicit their input.

O’Rourke has also stressed the importance of the committee’s Web site, which he said is in need of a redesign, and has pointed to measures underway to increase overall student representation on student budget committees.

We applaud the move to increase student voice on such powerful committees, but focusing on a Web site overhaul seems like an easy way out for elected student representatives who could better serve the student body by challenging administrators looking to control broad discussion on one of the most important issues affecting students.

“We really do a good job,” O’Rourke told the Texan. “But we need to do a better job.”

Opening these meetings — and airing the deliberations of a committee whose four student representatives are speaking for 50,000 — would be one step toward that.

— David Muto for the editorial board

Fund charter schools

By Rebecca Counts Daily Texan Columnist Texas’s public school endowment is looking into funding charter schools, the Austin American-Statesman reported last week. The money would be used to reward charter schools with high educational outcomes and help them expand.

The endowment’s board has stepped in because the Texas Legislature has been wary of providing more support for charter school experiments, in spite of strong outcomes from charter schools.

Charter schools provide an invaluable service for low-income students, the community they most often serve, helping to close the achievement gap between these students and their more affluent peers. A study from Stanford University recently found that New York City charter school students were able to almost match the performance of their peers in affluent suburban communities in math and close 66 percent of the gap in English.

We’ve seen those results from charter schools in Texas, too. YES Prep in Houston was named one of the top 100 public schools in the nation by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. According to their website, 100 percent of graduating seniors have been accepted into four-year colleges and universities. Here in Austin, the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter school shows higher-than-average TAKS scores in spite of serving the poorest area in the city, according to their Web site.

Opponents of the investment argue that the public school endowment should only make investments that generate the most money possible for the state’s public schools, a narrow view that ignores the benefits a strong charter school sector provides public school students. The Wall Street Journal points

to a recent study by the Manhattan Institute showing that even students who do not attend a charter school benefit academically when their public school is exposed to charter competition. The study showed that as more students leave for a charter, the students left behind show an increase in reading proficiency. In the worst-performing public schools, typically found in low-income areas and districts with a large number of minority students, charter competition helped the most. The Wall Street Journal argues that this effect is due to public schools responding to competition for state attendance-based funding.

Investment from the endowment would go a long way toward helping charter schools achieve financial security. Unlike traditional school districts that pay for capital costs like buildings with bond packages, charter schools do not have taxing authority. All public funding for charter schools comes from the state based on student attendance.

But the Statesman points out that charter schools are not even eligible for attendance-based facility funding, a difference that means they are paid about $1,000 less per student per year than traditional districts. As a result, most charter schools rent their buildings and operate with the risk that they could one day lose their schools to a higher bidder.

Some opponents of the endowment’s board’s actions have argued that it is the duty of the Legislature to respond to the needs of charter schools. I couldn’t agree more. But while the Legislature defeats bill after bill because it is unwilling to raise taxes to support proven educational outcomes, the board’s investment is sorely needed. Texas students can’t afford to lose the most promising educational experiment in generations.

Counts is a plan II honors and history senior.

LEGALESE

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE

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

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

Combat dropout rates by rescheduling school

By Joshua Avelar Daily Texan Columnist One particular problem plaguing the nation, and especially Texas, is being widely overlooked: Kids are getting dumber.

The state dropout rate for the class of 2008 was at 10.5 percent and at 11.6 percent in 2007, according to the Texas Education Commission. Nationally, the Department of Education reports that only half of the students in America’s larger urban areas are completing their high school education. According to NationMaster.com, a Web site devoted to compiling important statistics by country, the United States is listed as 20 th in the world for literacy and 18 th for mathematical literacy.

There is obviously a cause for concern in regards to the primary and secondary school systems in this country. The White House has recognized the severity of this crisis, and according to ABC News, have set an advocacy agenda for longer school years as well as longer school days. In March, President Barack Obama said, “I’m calling for us not only to expand effective after-school programs, but to rethink the school day to incorporate more time — whether during the summer or through expanded-day programs for children who need it.”

More school seems like a great idea on paper. Practice makes perfect, and the more time students spend in school, theoretically, the more they will learn. After all, the much more educationally successful Japan sends its kids to an average of 240 days in school as opposed to the United States’ standard of 180 class days.

However, adding more school days is not practical.

Teachers are severely underpaid to begin with in this country, and an extension of work hours would detrimentally affect any chance of an increase in salary given Americans’ frugality when it comes to public education (the U.S. is ranked 38th in the world for education spending based on the percentage of total government expenditures). Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and author of the book “Jefferson’s Children: Education and Promise of American Culture,” told ABC News that a policy with a longer school year and class hours would be ineffective, given that kids

THE FIRING LINE Defending SG’s resolution Student Government passed a resolution calling for health care reform. While there are many good reasons for reform, I wrote A.R. 16 to emphasize a clear economic incentive, which received broad support in the Texas Legislature last session: extending health insurance benefits to graduate students on fellowships.

The bill had stumbled on a technicality, despite having already passed in the Senate and House overwhelmingly.

That failure left a number of graduate students — many of whom have families to support — without any health insurance until 2011.

My constituents are not paid enough to purchase private health insurance. Further, those sufficiently qualified to be on fellowships could transfer out-of-state (where insurance is offered) easily. We owe it to Texas to do what we can to keep our best and brightest here and healthy.

SG Rep. Tyler Rosen, who I hold in the highest regard, argued in his Nov. 9 firing line that the Student Government and Graduate Student Assembly supported health care reform will affect all students, not just graduate students on fellowship.

I agree. That’s why we passed it. I see no reason for limiting the ability to purchase health insurance to fellowship recipients. Everyone needs health insurance at some point, but most students are denied insurance by its absurdly high cost.

To fulfill the terms of the resolution, SG representatives and Longhorn Legislative Aides spent Friday and Saturday calling Congress. Those efforts were rewarded: On Saturday, Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) added himself to the list of those supporting reform. Late that night, reform narrowly passed the

are generally bored at school in the first place.

Given that the extension of the hours and days seems implausible, the perfect compromise has been suggested by the National Association for Year-Round Education. The the NAYRE’s Web site has a set of two pie charts containing 180 total in-class school days.

The first represents the traditional school calendar that most students walking this campus likely had during their primary and secondary school days, containing consecutive in-class school day periods of 70, 15, 55, and 40 days, interrupted by such short intermissions as spring break and the Thanksgiving holidays.

The second pie chart represents what the NAYRE calls the “balanced calendar,” containing shorter consecutive in-class school day periods of 30, 15, 45, 45, and 45 days. The proposed calendar by the NAYRE lives up to its “balanced” name given that only the three days set aside for the Thanksgiving holidays separate the 30-day and 15-day aforementioned periods. The reasoning behind the shorter sessions is that students will not get overwhelmed by an extended period of uninterrupted school throughout the year.

Every grade seems to get a touch of “senioritis” by year ’s end in the traditional schedule, so this proposed calendar seems to be a solution.

One main concern that is sure to arise with the NAYRE’s proposed calendar is the frequent intercession periods: Two 15-day periods, two 30-day periods and the aforementioned three-day period for Thanksgiving. The case for these frequent breaks in the school year is that it gives ample time for students to catch up on lesson plans without the school year progressing beyond the point of no return. Also, the intercession periods would be short enough not to cause the poor summer retention that teachers see in their students after traditional 60-day summer vacations.

Concern over summer vacation for the nation’s school children seems to be based on uncommon, anecdotal evidence. Not every family can send kids to summer enrichment classes for the duration of the 60-day summer vacation period, and a 30-day summer is sufficient for traditional summer memories like camps.

We need a true transformation in our school system’s calendar. Texas could really benefit from such a transition.

Avelar is a government senior.

U.S. House.

When SG receives less coverage in the Texan, students decry the Assembly as accomplishing little of importance.

When SG receives more coverage, it comes in the form of complaints that we’re doing too much. Either way, I aim only to represent my constituents; but I believe fully that SG can and should push for things that change the world.

— John Woods Biology graduate student Graduate school representative

Thanks to Loyd Doggett After months of partisan division and massive lobbying from special interest groups, health reform finally came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Powerful interests from the health care and insurance industries pulled out all the stops to defeat this landmark bill. But, with the help of Austin’s own Rep. Lloyd Doggett, it passed.

This bill will help Austin’s local economy and its citizens. It will provide real health care options for small businesses and their employees, who currently suffer serious disadvantages and are sometimes charged up to 18 percent more than their large competitors for the same plans.

The passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) means one simple thing: Help is on the way.

We all owe a big round of thanks to Representative Lloyd Doggett for standing with us and not with the powerful interests in Washington.

— Melissa Cubria Advocate Texas Public Interest Research Group

5 UNIV

5

State&LocaL

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Austinites focus debate on possible vaccine mandate tions, but all had simultaneBy Priscilla Pelli ous bacterial infections.

Daily Texan Staff “You have a lot of state law President Barack Obama’s recent declaration that the that has been put in place H1N1 virus constitutes a pub- that is triggered by declaralic health emergency has be- tion of public health emergun to fuel a debate over the gency,” Rochemont said. “You effects of vaccine mandates could say that unless people rise up, there is nothing that throughout the country.

Pierre de Rochemont , direc- could stop the government tor for the Travis County Re- from determining your health publican Liberty Caucus, or- for you.”

There will be one policy exganized a forum that will be pert speaking held today to in support of emphasize the vaccine manconcerns of acdates durtivist and citizen groups in I do not believe that i n g p u b l i c health emerAustin about m a n d a t o r y government should be gencies and involved in deciding two speaking public vaccinaagainst the tions. The fedwhat is in the best forced inocueral declarainterest of your lations. Dawn tion of a pubhealth. You should be R i c h a rd s o n , lic health emergency opens the one determining president and co-founder the door for loand you should be of PROVE or cal and state P a re n t s R e governments to given all the facts.” questing Open mandate H1N1 — Pierre de Vaccine Edvaccinations.

Rochemont Rochemont ucation, will said that those director of the Travis speak against the vaccine who have died County Republican m a n d a t e s . from the H1N1 virus had preLiberty Caucus She said the public health existing health issue plays an problems that important role make it uncerin the freetain whether the virus was responsible for dom of university students to take or refuse vaccinations. their deaths.

“There is a much deeper The Obama administration story here,” Rochemont said. has not disclosed the ingredi“I do not believe that govern- ents in the flu vaccine.

“It’s important for people ment should be involved in deciding what is in the best to realize that their freedom interest of your health. You to choose health care is slowly should be the one determin- being eroded away,” Richarding and you should be given son said. “This is not just an issue of whether or not they all the facts.”

A recent study by the Cen- want to take the vaccine but ters for Disease Control and also who should be in charge Prevention found that of the of making their health care de36 children who have died cisions.”

The debate will be held today from H1N1 between April and August of 2009, only six had from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Art no pre-existing health condi- Building auditorium.

‘‘

Anne-Marie Huff | Daily Texan Staff

Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, and City Councilman Bill Spelman discuss a possible Capital Metro fee increase at a Transportation Policy Board Meeting on Monday night.

Cap Metro approves fare increase

By Rachel Platis Daily Texan Staff Starting in January, Capital Metro bus riders should pack some more change after a fare increase of 25 cents.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board decided Monday to allow the singleride base fare increase that the Capital Metro Board of Directors approved last week.

CAMPO had 60 days from the Capital Metro board decision to decide on whether to raise objections to the single-ride increase that raised fares from 75 cents to $1.

The planning organization has the power to block increases in the single-ride base fare for bus riders.

Although CAMPO board members unanimously voted to allow the decision and let the increase go into effect Jan. 18, concerns were raised over how increased prices would affect Capital Metro ridership. The

board also requested more information about the impact of such increases from Capital Metro.

“The fare increases are necessary for operating costs,” said Doug Allen, Capital Metro’s interim president and chief executive officer. “But as we consider fare increases, we still want to make sure that fares remain affordable.”

He said that fares are well below the standard of what families should spend on transportation, which is typically 18 percent of a family budget, and that Capital Metro fares are among the lowest in Texas and across the nation.

Capital Metro also held several public meetings throughout October and conducted outreach to customers and neighborhood organizations about proposed fare increases, including a proposal that would have charged a small fare for the elderly and disabled, who

currently ride for free.

Capital Metro did approve a package of fare increases last week that includes raising the local month bus pass from $18 to $28 and the express bus monthly pass from $36 to $63.

The price of a Capital MetroRail 31-day pass will increase from $36 to $70. UT students use Capital Metro services for free through an agreement between UT and Capital Metro paid for by student fees.

CAMPO does not have the power to approve price changes for the monthly passes.

“Increases are never an easy thing to do, especially during an economic downturn,” said City Councilman Chris Riley, a CAMPO board member. “It makes it challenging both for an agency and those in the community who are dependent upon public transportation to get around.”

Capital Metro will evaluate and

LAST CHANCE OF THE SEMESTER

track ridership after the change takes place in January to gauge effects of the increases.

Allen said that ridership loss will vary depending on the season and price of gas.

Journalism graduate student Fred Badlissi attended the meeting and caught the Intramural Fields bus after the meeting to his car parked off-campus.

He said that he hoped Capital Metro and CAMPO board members had done their research on the fare increases in order to make accurate assessments of where Austin stands in comparison to bus fare rates across the nation.

“It seems to be a necessary evil,” Badlissi said. “I don’t necessarily like it, and I’m sure I wouldn’t like it even more if I wasn’t a student.”

Badlissi also said that he has often had to rely on public transportation as his main way to get around.

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News

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Nursing professor named fellow

By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff A UT nursing professor was rewarded last week for her work teaching asthmatic children and their families to manage the lung disease.

Sharon Horner, who focuses primarily on teaching minority and rural families to manage and control asthma, was named a 2009 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

With $3.4 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, Horner created an organizational method to keep subjects on track with their treatment and medication. Horner said a number of her patients’ symptoms quickly improved as families learned more about how to treat the disease.

‘‘

Looking at having faculty that are identified by their peers at a national level is an indicator of quality.”

— Sharon Horner, American Academy of Nursing fellow

“Children improved their management, and the severity has decreased,” she said.

The nursing academy, which works to improve the health care system by gathering and distributing medical information, has more than 1,500 members chosen by other fellows specializing in education, management and research. In the application process, Horner — like the other members of the academy — was nominat-

ed by a current fellow and then received recommendation letters from two fellows.

The academy then chooses the most qualified applicants to receive the fellowship, said Laura Thornhill, the manager for policy and development at the American Academy of Nursing.

“To receive the fellowship, you need to demonstrate excellence in your field,” Horner said.

“Looking at having faculty that

are identified by their peers at the national level is an indicator of quality.”

Horner was the ninth active faculty member to be added to the fellowship from the School of Nursing.

Nursing professor Lynn Rew attended the induction ceremony last week in Atlanta with Horner. She said Horner’s role in the nursing field benefits the Austin community.

Rew said bringing top health care professionals together creates an opportunity for them to influence health care policy.

“The recognition by professionals as something prestigious and as something to aspire to or attain, is further evidence that our faculty is well regarded on a national basis,” Rew said.

wall: UT remembers cruelty

of Kristallnacht in ceremony the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to after the fall of the wall in 1989.

Ivanova said through protests from East Germans, people saw others could bring change. This caused a wave throughout eastern Europe, which eventually caused the end of the communist bloc.

Judith Atzler, a Germanic studies graduate student, said she thought of the idea for the event to bring a part of Germany to UT students.

“The fall of the wall symbolized freedom of speech and to move around, because people in East Berlin were not able to travel,” Atzler said. “We can all work together and change the world like the people of East Berlin.”

From page 1 and genocide awareness group, provided bread for the event.

“It is also a night to remember what happened at Kristallnacht,” said biology junior Jason Meschin, co-chairman of the UT chapter of Challah for Hunger. “We need to recognize the fact that genocide is not just in the past, and there are still atrocities that need our immediate attention.”

The event began with a candle-lighting ceremony and ended with students tearing down their wall of change.

Mariana Ivanova, the instructor of the class called Tear Down This Wall!, had her class prepare a timeline spanning from before

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

Tuesday, November

T he Daily T exan

WoMEn’S GoLF

McCoy two wins shy of record

Freshman paving her own path to golf stardom

NCAAM Top 25 Florida International 72 No. 4 UNC 88 Alcorn State 60 No. 17 Ohio State 100 Albany 43 No. 25 Syracuse 75

NFL

By Shabab Siddiqui Daily Texan Staff The Mannings have their Super Bowl rings, last-minute heroics and well-documented games of off-season Jenga. The Williams have their Grand Slam titles, electrifying wins and an insatiable taste for McDonalds. But what about the Pressels? “[Morgan and I] love to shop,” said Texas freshman golfer Madison Pressel. “We also love to work out. Spinning, Zumba and Pilates, we love it all. A lot of times we just hang out. We can do nothing and be just fine.”

The Pressels, big sister Morgan and younger sibling Madison, also happen to be pretty good golfers.

Madison has been the Longhorns’ top scorer since arriving on campus in August, leading the team in three of the four fall tournaments. She carded a school-record 6-under-par 65 in the first round of the Stanford Intercollegiate last month, earning Big 12 Player of the Month honors for October.

Meanwhile, Madison’s older sister Morgan is one of the topranked female professional golfers in the world. Forgoing a college career, Morgan became the youngest player in LPGA history to win a major golf tournament after taking home first place as an 18-year-old at the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship in California. She also tied for sixth place at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open.

Madison said she is unaffected by her sister’s status as an international star.

“Honestly, I don’t think of her as anything other than my sister,” Madison said. “She’s been in this kind of position since she was 12.

When I go home and play against my sister and my cousins, I don’t think about any of that. I’m just trying to beat them.”

Texas coach Martha Richards continually talks about Madison’s competitiveness, which drives her to use her sister’s status as a tool for motivation on

Pittsburgh 28 Denver 10

NBA Toronto 124 San Antonio 131 Phoenix 119 Philadelphia 115 Utah 95 New York 93

Big 12 sTANdiNgs North

Kansas State (6-4, 4-2 Big Nebraska (6-3, 3-2) Colorado (3-6, 2-3) Iowa State (5-5, 2-4) Kansas (5-4, 1-4) Missouri (5-4, 1-4)

south Photos by Derek Stout | Daily Texan Staff

Above, colt Mccoy leaps over a central Florida defender during Saturday’s game against the Knights. texas’ win puts Mccoy one win away from tying the all-time record for career wins. Below, receiver James Kirkendoll tries to break through a tackle during texas’ 35-3 win over UcF. Kirkendoll’s big performance helped him regain the starting position at receiver.

McCoy unconcerned with accolades, focused on winning games

By Michael Sherfield Daily Texan Staff Colt McCoy doesn’t care about records. All the senior quarterback cares about is winning. So it’s a good thing the next record McCoy is poised to break is about just that.

In his 49th career start, McCoy is one win away from tying Georgia starter David Green with 42 wins, the most for a quarterback.

But don’t expect McCoy to claim too much credit.

“It’s a team award,” he said.

“That’s very special. That’s one of the coolest things for a quarterback. I’ve said that since I was a freshman, I just want to win. I want to be the best I can be when I step out on the field.

That’s still my goal today — to go out there and win.”

PRESSEL continues on page 8

intERnAtionAL SoccER

Shipley. “I’ve said time and time again, Colt’s the best quarterback out there. No one else can do what he does.”

Two more wins and history will have to agree.

Kirkendoll catching on It didn’t take long for James Kirkendoll to resurface after being buried in the depth chart. Two weeks after being demoted from his starting position, the junior receiver had his best game since topping 100 yards against Wyoming in September.

Kirkendoll scored his first If things go as expected, Mc- awards and records McCoy has Coy will have a chance to break received over a sparkling four- touchdown since that game the record at home the follow- year career in which he has re- while making five catches for ing week against Kansas. With written the Texas record books. 40 yards. His reward is a rea perfect season, he could move “That [wins record] is one turn to the starting lineup, but it all the way to 46. of the biggest things you can It’s just the latest in a series of have,” said receiver Jordan TEXAS continues on page 8

BiG 12 FootBALL

United, Chelsea match fails to live up to hype

By Rishi Daulat Daily Texan Staff With all the firepower on offense between Manchester United and Chelsea, you wouldn’t think there would be only one goal scored in their match, especially by a defender.

Unfortunately that was the case as offensive fireworks were clearly lacking in the much-anticipated fixture between first-place Chelsea and second-place United.

The match was a stalemate until the 76th minute, when centerback John Terry headed in a goal off Frank Lampard’s free kick to put the Blues ahead 1-0.

It was the only goal in the match, though United striker Wayne Rooney did have two opportunities earlier that could have put the Red Devils in front. In the 66th minute, Rooney squandered a great chance at goal from the right side of the box after a per-

SIDE

fect set-up pass from Antonio Valencia. Less than a minute later, Rooney hit a brilliant curling shot from the left side of the box that was tipped away by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

It was a chippy game between the two Premiere League powerhouses; there were multiple harsh tackles and six yellow cards handed out.

After the weekend fixtures, Chelsea remains in first place, while Manchester United fell to third, behind Arsenal. Although both teams have 25 points, Arsenal has a game in hand.

Tottenham sits in fourth, following a 2-0 win over Sunderland, while Aston Villa, after their 5-1 thrashing of Bolton, is in fifth. Big spenders Manchester City, who have recorded an

SOCCER continues on page 8

Tom Hevezi | Associated Press

chelsea’s John terry celebrates after scoring the only goal in chelsea’s

Scott’s departure comes as a surprise to Colorado staff

By Austin Ries Daily Texan Staff In one of the most legitimate and mature methods of delivering news, the pride and joy of Dan Hawkins’ 2008 recruiting class, Darrell Scott, texted his position coach last Tuesday telling him he had decided to transfer.

And this wasn’t an “I saw it coming” text message, either. In fact, it was all breaking news for Colorado running back coach Darian Hagan.

“He has to do what he has to do, but I wish he had done it a different way,” Hagan said. “I had no idea he was even thinking about it, so it was a total surprise for me.”

After sitting out the rest of this season following arthroscopic knee surgery, Scott plans on joining his uncle, former Colorado wide receiver Josh Smith, at UCLA next year.

“They have a really good program,” Scott said. “I’ve been watching them for a while.”

And while Scott’s career at Colorado was not as stellar as most expected from a player who was, two years ago the top-ranked running back recruit in the nation, the shockwaves from his departure will shake the Buffaloes’ recruiting image for some time.

Because of injuries and other circumstances, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back spent most of his time on kickoff returns instead of the backfield where many thought he would dominate. Scott started only four games in two seasons with the

David Zalubowski | Associated Press

Darrell Scott talks to reporters during media day at the beginning of the season. Scott announced last week that he plans to leave the colorado program and will try to follow his uncle to play for UcLA for the remainder of his college career. end Christopher Lyle. “That’s what happens when you get out of your gaps, you give up a lot of rushing yards.”

The Cyclones forced eight turnovers and stole a 9-7 victory at Nebraska three weeks ago in an impressive defensive iowa state’s effort, but has recently retractsputtering defense ed, forcing only two turnovers After settling into a midsea- and three punts in their last son groove, Iowa State has sud- two games. denly lost its defense while suf“They were hanging on to fering two straight Big 12 beat the ball no matter what,” said downs to the hands of Texas safety James Smith. “We were A&M and Oklahoma State. trying to strip the ball from Part of the problem has been behind, but they were pretty defending the run. The Cy- tough.” clones allowed 267 rushing The Cyclones will have a yards in a 35-10 loss against chance at redemption Saturthe Aggies and 331 yards to the day against Colorado in their Cowboys last Saturday. home finale.

Still, Scott doesn’t have any regrets about coming to Colorado.

“You can’t turn back the hands of time,” Scott said. “You’ve got to do what you got to do, and I chose to come here.”

No. 3 Texas (9-0, 5-0) No. 19 Oklahoma State ( Texas Tech (6-3, 3-2) Oklahoma (5-4, 3-2) Texas A&M (5-4, 2-3) Baylor (4-5, 1-4)

QuoTe oF The dAy

“I walked into Oscar G fice and tried to get [M Williams] off the kickoff age team, and it was like steal a child or someth — Texas head coach M

nFL

Kansas Ci cuts Johns after secon suspensio

By Doug tucker The Associated Pre KANSAS CITY, Mo. — good blocking and a fre Larry Johnson might sti power-running Pro Bow had back-to-back 1,700-y sons for Kansas City.

Are you listening, Seatt do you think, Indianapo cago? Houston?

Or, he might be a declin content who’ll only cos and cause trouble.

To that, every coach an al manager in the NFL is The Chiefs released Joh Monday, the day he was from his second suspensi past 12 months.

Any team with a falter ning game is bound to b ed by Johnson, despite gage and his age (he tur Nov. 19).

“Any player that’s avai look at,” said Bears coa Smith. “That’s been our policy throughout. That case with Larry.”

Houston coach Gary agreed.

“When a name like th on the free agent marke day, we’ll obviously go b take a look at him just other player,” Kubiak sa viously, he’s been a goo in this league and I’m s get a lot of interest from people.”

Johnson has been hig tenance since the Chiefs him in the first round ou State in 2003. Unhappy he thought he was goi taken by the Pittsburgh Johnson brooded while behind Pro Bowler Pries es. He even prompted th Dick Vermeil to say it was him “to take the diapers His last brush with co sy came two weeks ago posted on his Twitter a gay slur, insulted follow questioned the compe head coach Todd Haley.

He was suspended weeks, but Haley said decision to cast him aside made until early Monday “We decided it was in

8 SPTS

8

SportS

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

texas: Brown tried to learn

BCS system, still confused From page 7 in a new spot. After being converted into a makeshift slot receiver as Shipley moved outside, he’s returned to his more natural outside position. Kirkendoll will replace freshman Marquise Goodwin as the starter at the Sub B position, playing alongside Shipley in the slot and Malcolm Williams on the opposite side.

“James has been working really hard,” McCoy said. “He’s finding his role. We watched a little film together, and I told him where I wanted him to be. I feel confident throwing to him.”

Kirkendoll was part of a bigger wide receiver rotation system on Saturday. All the wide outs, except for the tireless Shipley, rotat-

ed on every possession.

“Kirkendoll is playing much better inside. I think James’ natural position is outside, but he’s done a good job of jumping in there because that’s where we needed him,” said offensive coordinator Greg Davis. “We’re going to move James to the outside.”

BCS watch Mack Brown still has a hard time understanding the Bowl Championship Series system. After completing a convincing win over Central Florida Saturday, Brown saw Texas fall to No. 3 in the BCS. That came despite being ranked second in the human polls because of unfavorable results in the computer rankings.

“I’ve called the computers,” Brown joked. “They have not an-

swered my call. I invited them to games. I don’t think they’ve been to any. I don’t even look at [the BCS]. There’s nothing I can do about it. I sat there this spring, had two conversations and came away more confused. All we can do is win.”

The Longhorns are still distrustful of the system that kept them out of the national title game last year. So Brown has preached to his players to take care of their games and control their own destiny.

“Everybody’s told me ‘If we do what we’re supposed to do we’ll play in the last game,’” Brown said. “If it doesn’t happen, someone will ask me and I’ll say the system’s not good.

I’m glad I’m not in the BCS system; I wouldn’t sell.”

johnson: Former Pro Bowl back

was hoping to set rushing record From page 7 interests of the Kansas City Chiefs organization to move forward at this time,” he said.

Behind a poor offensive line this year, Johnson has averaged a paltry 2.7 yards for the Chiefs (17) and appeared not to have the quickness and punishing power that enabled him to rush for more than 1,700 yards in Pro Bowl seasons in 2005 and ‘06.

Since rushing for a team-record 1,789 yards on an NFL-record 416 carries in 2006, Johnson has never been quite the same.

In 2008, then-coach Herm Edwards benched him for three straight games for violating team rules and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for a fourth game for violating the league’s player conduct policy.

Johnson was later sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to two counts of disturbing the peace. One woman accused him of throwing a drink on her and another said he had pushed her at a Kansas City night spot.

After his huge year in 2006, Johnson stayed away from training camp, demanding more money. He got it, ina six-year deal worth $45 million, including $19 million guaranteed.

But hampered by a foot injury, he wound up with only 559 yards and three touchdowns. In 2008, he ran for 874 yards as the Chiefs sank to 2-14. Still, Johnson was only 75 yards away from breaking Holmes’ team rushing record.

“A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful,” his agent, Peter Schaffer, told The As-

sociated Press. “There’s a lot of feelings going on right now. It’s analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens.”

Getting benched for three games last year and suspended by the league for one cost him big. And this year he lost another $315,000 for the gay slurs and tweeting. Last week, an online fan petition was started asking the Chiefs not to let Johnson become the team’s all-time leading rusher — a record Smith said Johnson had been looking forward to.

“He wanted to get the record.

I know that,” said running back Kolby Smith, who saw his first action Sunday after undergoing knee surgery last year. “Whenever someone has a chance to break a record, it means a lot to them.”

Nati Harnik | Associated Press

Oklahoma’s Chris Brown is tackled by Nebraska’s Phillip Dillard during Oklahoma’s 10-3 loss in Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday. Oklahoma’s three points were the fewest in the Bob Stoops era.

big 12: Big 12 defenders earn recognition From page 7

Big 12 North back to old ways Both Kansas State and Nebraska are going old-school with their resurgence atop the Big 12 North and battle to become the division’s representative.

In fact, the Wildcats and Cornhuskers combined for the first five Big 12 North titles from 1996 to 2000 with two Big 12 Championships, but have struggled over the past eight years.

And with the Wildcats’ longawaited victory over Kansas and the Cornhuskers’ win over Okla-

named semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award last Wednesday: Oklahoma State cornerback Perrish Cox, Kansas senior safety Darrell Stuckey and Texas safety Earl Thomas. The Jim Thorpe Award is given to the best defensive back in college football.

Cox, the senior from Waco, Texas, leads the nation with 1.86 passes defended per game with 24 tackles and one interception.

Thomas has six interceptions Big 12 defense with two touchdowns on the seaon national scene son and is averaging 3.78 tackles a Who says the Big 12 can’t play game while the Jayhawks’ Stukey defense? has just one interception but also Three Big 12 defenders were has 62 total tackles on the season.

homa Saturday, their Nov. 21 meeting in Lincoln could decide who goes to Arlington to play for the Big 12 Championship.

They have to get through this weekend first.

With inconsistent play from week to week, Nebraska has a tough road test at Kansas and Kansas State takes on Missouri, the reigning division champions, at home.

pressel: Floridian uses sister as motivation From page 7

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the golf course.

“I see her in the LPGA and I want to be there,” Madison said. “She didn’t go through college, but she knows how to play through tough competition. She knows what it’s like to be in contention.”

Raised in Boca Raton, Fla., the sisters lived with their parents and little brother Mitchell until 2003, when their mother Kathy lost her life to breast cancer. Morgan then moved down the street with their grandparents, who helped her advance her golf career by taking care of the logistics that come with being an amateur competitor.

Their mother’s death inspired both sisters to take a proactive role in breast cancer awareness and prevention. Morgan holds an annual charity event which raises money for cancer research, as well as providing funding for free mammograms.

Madison was an active member of the Breast Cancer Walks community service club while in high school, and led the Longhorns in the 2009 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Austin last month — despite having an injured foot.

And though apart now, Madison said her relationship with her sister is stronger than ever.

“We’re really, really close,” Madison said. “We talk all the time. She’s in Korea right now, and even the time difference doesn’t stop us.”

Morgan paid her younger sister a visit on the 40 Acres last month, giving the rest of the team a chance to hang out with a pro.

“It was really cool,” said sophomore Nicole Vandermade. “You forget she’s only two years older than me. We got to know her more on a more personal level.”

Madison said despite her sis-

Courtesy of American Junior Golf Association

Freshman Madison Pressel watches the ball on her follow through.

Pressel leads the UT women’s golf team in scoring. ter ’s successes and fame, she never feels pulled into the pressure of being Morgan Pressel’s little sister.

“I know a lot of people expect that I would [feel the pressure], but I go out there and play my own game,” Madison said.

“And I feel like I play well myself, rather than having to worry

about her out there. I [want] to use these four years to practice and really get my game ready and do the LPGA after college.”

And judging by the way Madison has started her college career, it won’t be long before the Pressels join the Mannings and the Williams as the next sibling duo in the Oreo-eating contest.

soccer: Inter Milan’s lead over Juventus shrinking Or stop by the William Randolph Hearst Building 2500 Whitis Ave. – Rm. 3.210

In Italian Serie A, leaders Inter Milan came away with just a 1-1 incredible five straight draws, draw against perennial underis sixth and Liverpool, who fac- achievers AS Roma. Inter Milan es Birmingham tomorrow on is now only five points clear of ESPN2, is seventh.

Juventus, who beat Atalanta 5-2

From page 7

this weekend.

In Spain, Barcelona beat Mallorca 4-2 to keep their slim lead atop the La Liga table while Real Madrid kept pace, defeating Atletico Madrid 3-2.

9 CLASS

9

News

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

drinks: Professor

receives grant funds to expand research From page 1

Bruno Morlan | Daily Texan Staff

Soledad O’Brien talks to students in the Union Ballroom on Monday night about her experiences with diversity throughout her journalism career and while filming her “In America” documentaries. The event was hosted by the Distinguished Speakers Committee.

1

Texas Union hosts CNN anchor CLASSIFIEDS

day, month day, 2008

Campus

O’Brien confronts ethnic discrimination, stresses TISE T R E V N AD TUofDEdiversity importance

When applying for one of her first broadcast journalism jobs after graduating from Harvard University, Soledad O’Brien said the station manager asked her to change her name to something a little less difficult to pronounce.

Very upset, she called her mom, who told her matter-of-factly that she probably didn’t want to work for someone so stupid.

“And, ultimately, she was right,” O’Brien said.

The CNN anchor and news documentarian addressed the importance of diversity to a group of UT students in the Tex-

uns ad irne for onl

E! E R F ad s

really strong ethnic beliefs on you,” Alvarez said. “When you’re still surrounded by American peers, it can be very difficult.”

O’Brien emphasized that when people talk about diversity, the discussions aren’t always easy.

She said she had to fight to tell some of the stories she included in her documentaries.

“Our editorial sessions were scream fests at times,” O’Brien said. “I’m not interested in telling PR stories.”

In “Latino in America,” she told the story of Luis Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was kicked to death by three white teenagers.

“His identity cost him his life,” she said.

O’Brien said people need to think about incorporating diversity into businesses and me-

dia coverage in different ways.

When Hurricane Katrina first hit New Orleans, most of CNN’s initial coverage was done in the studio. But the most meaningful coverage was done when her team actually went to the city and saw the ghost town it had turned into, she said.

“When you saw the storm just blow through, it illuminated a lot of the problems that already existed in New Orleans,” O’Brien said.

Because of O’Brien’s work with CNN, pre-journalism freshman Jasmine Powell said O’Brien was the reason why she wanted to go into the magazine industry.

“She’s one of my role models,” Powell said. “She’s one of the most hands-on journalists, especially when I see her working with children.”

CORKBOARD

R S ATION! YOUBy Lena IZ Price GANTexan Staff ORDaily

d wor

as Union Ballroom on Monday.

The Student Events Center hosted O’Brien as a part of its Distinguished Speakers Series.

Since she joined CNN in 2003, O’Brien has covered everything from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. She is also known for her investigative documentaries, including two installments of “Black in America” and “Latino in America.” The films tell the stories of individuals who have to cope with the challenges of living as minorities.

Karla Alvarez, a communication sciences and disorders senior, has only seen some of O’Brien’s work, but said “Latino in America” resonates with her.

“I like that she touched on how hard it is for children to grow up with parents who want to impose

on l y

in dopamine, a neurotransmitter that responds to predictive cues in the environment.

“We’re still testing whether or not there’s a dopamine response the first day [of exposure],” he said.

Gonzales published a finding in 2003 that said dopamine spikes within five minutes of consuming alcohol.

“We saw that the dopamine goes up before, essentially, the alcohol gets to the brain,” Gonzales said. “When alcohol was peaking in the brain, the dopamine response was gone. Then the question is ‘What’s causing that?’ Our data suggests that it’s a physiological response.”

Gonzales received news in September that the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded him a Method to Extend Research in Time, or MERIT, award of $2.8 million over a 10-year period. While researchers do not apply for MERIT awards, when they apply for

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Pharmacy professor Rueben Gonzales talks about his research on the physical effects of alcohol on neurochemicals, while Dr. Regina Mangiari prepares a brain sample for examination. Professor Gonzales has recently been given an extension on his grant to continue research.

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a renewal of their grant, members of the institute may pick them to be among the investigators to whom the awards will be given.

“The MERIT award provides long-term, stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner,” according to the institute’s Web site.

Gonzales said he was always interested in the effects of drugs on chemicals in the brain.

“Growing up, and during high school particularly, I had become fascinated with people taking drugs,” he said. “I was always curious: What about that experience would make them want to do it again and again, particularly when we know it can cause problems?”

Tan said she usually stops drinking when she “feels good,” and that she never gets drunk.

“I don’t drink just to drink,” Tan said. “If I drink something, it’s because it tastes good, but I’m not going to get a margarita at 3 p.m. I know when to stop.”

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11 ENT

11

Life&Arts

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

CD REVIEWS

Port O’Brien, Brazos undergo sonic metamorphosis Port O’Brien Threadbare When Port O’Brien released their first full-length album, All We Could Do Was Sing, in 2007, the band’s founding members were self-sufficient recluses living in a seasonal fishing community on the coast of Alaska.

In the two years since the album was released, the single “I Woke Up Today” became an unofficial freedom anthem for the indie youth. As a result, Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin, the isolated couple that started the band, left their reclusive existence in Alaska for lives in a tour van.

Transitioning from lovers toying with acoustic instruments while tucked away in a tiny outpost of fishermen to seasoned musicians performing around the world with the

likes of Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse has undoubtedly changed the group’s music in terms of thematic focal points and lyrical content.

Threadbare, Port O’Brien’s latest album, is a compilation of songs that explore the lifestyle opposite the one captured so beautifully on All We Could Do Was Sing. Threadbare’s songs deal with becoming a vagabond and celebrating the hope that comes from open spaces.

The heart of the band’s music is still the same; Pierszalowski’s raspy and endearingly imperfect Brian Wilson post-cigarette binge voice accompanied by waves of Goodwin’s ghostly falsetto is just as gorgeous as it was two years ago.

Whimsical, almost lullaby tunes like “Tree Bones” — one of the few songs on the album that features the mixed vocals of Goodwin and Pierszalowski — keep Port O’Brien

steadily grounded in multi-instrumental folk. Filled equally with heavy and light sounds, “Tree Bones” in many ways sets the tone for the album as a whole. While upbeat, hopeful songs like “Oslo Campfire” and “Sour Milk/Salt Water” pepper the album, darker undertones show up in songs like “In the Meantime” and “(((Darkness Visible))).”

The ever-changing pace of Threadbare gives Port O’Brien instant cache as a band that can do more than record catchy indie-folk pop songs.

— Mary Lingwall

Brazos Phosphorescent Blues Austin’s resident poster band for minimalist, folk-inspired rock music, Brazos has finally released its debut LP, Phosphorescent Blues.

In the two years that it took to record the songs on the album, a lot has changed.

In short, Phosphorescent Blues is a rearranged and heavily produced version of the songs that made Brazos so addictive in the first place.

Brazos’ 2007 EP, A City Just as Tall, and frontman Martin Crane’s solo album, Bed of Roses (which includes earlier versions of many of the tracks on Phosphorescent Blues), were both minimalist in approach and almost never featured production theatrics.

Phosphorescent Blues starkly contrasts these earlier impressions. A City Just as Tall only briefly ventured out of the basic arrangement of Martin Crane’s vocals with steely, jazz drum beats and a humming bass, but Phosphorescent Blues is packed with heavily layered sounds.

For example, album opener “My Buddy” features snapping, a crowd

of yelling children, doubled vocals during the chorus, wailing “ohhhs” in the background, piano, the already booming sounds of a three-piece band and what sounds like a Greek flute.

Throughout the album, anywhere Brazos can fit in some ambient guitar and piano fluttering he does.

Although first impressions of Phosphorescent Blues left an overwhelming longing for the older, less complex version of Brazos, it starts to sound like a piece of work detached from the earlier versions of the band after a few runs through the album.

While the overworking of many of the songs on Phosphorescent Blues detracts from what makes Brazos unique — namely Crane’s voice and

the eclectic combination of folk-lyricisim and jazzy musical arrangements — the production frenzy doesn’t completely overshadow the power of Brazos’ sound.

— M.L.

Book: Video

exhibit bears little relation to rest of show

Feed your future

From page 12 “Roadside Picnic,” “The Possibility of an Island,” and “Seeing” — to put the books into a uniform sort of collection in the vein of publishers such as Penguin.

It takes up nearly an entire wall and is stark, simple and aesthetically pleasing, but probably the least challenging of any of the pieces shown.

Romero’s “Untitled Shaman Dance #1” is a video of a performance piece based on “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.” It features the artist acting out his representation of the story alone in front of the camera. Its relation to books is probably the least obvious of any pieces shown.

“It’s sort of the monkey wrench,” Rios said. “Everything else looks like books.”

Everything does look like books. Which is a good thing, because as Okay Mountain’s exhibit shows, books and art mesh quite well.

Learn how we can help jump-start your professional career.

Begin at www.pwc.tv

Bus: Noisy rides

a symptom of poor manners From page 12

illegal to have “odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system.”

After some pungent words of protest from the American Civil Liberties Union calling the proposal “vague” and based on “unconstitutionally subjective judgments,” the council members dropped the proposal. But the message — that tolerance of bad odors is remarkably low — was clear.

Children, specifically “crying, screaming babies” do not inspire charity either, said freshman Patricia Harris.

“Wailing babies give me migraines, and I don’t even get migraines,” she said.

Beerland: While

releases linger, show to deliver From page 12

“I’m not that good at selling my own records,” he said.

One project, however, looks much more optimistic. “Jay Reatard and I are talking about starting a band and writing songs together,” Novak says.

Cheap Time and Novak’s upcoming releases may linger in uncertainty, but, for now, he and his band can be counted on to deliver a searing set of infectious rock ’n’ roll tonight at Beerland.

WHAT: Cheap Time WHERE: Beerland, 711 Red River St. WHEN: Today, 10 p.m.

TICKETS: $5

© 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved. “PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a Delaware limited liability partnership) or, as the context requires, the PricewaterhouseCoopers global network or other member firms of the network, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity. We are proud to be an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer.

12 LIFE

LIFE&ARTS

12

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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

T HE DAILY TEXAN

Exhibit deconstructs book culture

Band frontman relays history as indie artist Singer shares sources of inspiration, remembers years as solo songwriter

Shelley Neuman | Daily Texan Staff

Johnny Gibson watches a video art installation at “Booksmart,” an art show at Okay Mountain Gallery.

Okay Mountain challenges artists to reimagine function of literature

By Benjamin Wermund Daily Texan Staff The 13 pieces that make up Okay Mountain’s new “Booksmart” exhibit, running through Dec. 7, are intended to “re-order, deconstruct or alter books as a cultural system, either for critique, humor, formal investigation or all three,” What they do, at the very least, is make the observer think.

The pieces range from visual to video art, with some resting in between. All are simple and pleasing in their approach.

The exhibit starts with what is probably the most serious of its pieces, socially at least — “Mellon Homes” by Neva Elliott. It’s a book of designs for low-income housing in South Africa. Sitting next to it is another piece by Elliott, “The Elliott Condensed Bible,” a small, white, leather-bound book with gold-lined pages that boils the Bible down into dos and don’ts and shalls and shall nots.

Curator Josh Rios explained the concept.

“If you have limited time and need to know

what to do to get into heaven, pick up this book,” Rios said.

Many of the pieces focus on commercialism and the state of the art industry. William Hundley’s “Art Now on Cheeseburgers” is a simple, well-composed photograph of an edition of Taschen’s “Art Now” book resting on a bed of cheeseburgers. It draws an interesting comparison between one of the world’s most widely circulated art publications and fast food.

“The book is sort of the range of what art has been boiled down to now,” Rios said. “I don’t know, maybe it’s saying something about a lack of nutrition.”

The critique of mass-produced art continues in Erick Michaud’s series of “Altered Magazines,” wherein the artist essentially decorated the covers of various art magazines. Rios explained it as a way for the artist to reclaim the materials by interjecting himself into the covers. Some of the time that succeeds, other times it ends up looking more like snide commentary scribbled on a magazine.

Still, some of the comments are pretty cool.

“Johnny Cash is dead, that really bums me out,” “Texas is hot I need snow” and “I don’t really have much to say … today” all showed off the artists humor with a hint of self-deprecation.

Gareth Long’s primarily video-based piece “Platoon/Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada” is one of the most interesting pieces, despite its obvious “give peace a chance” message. It replaces the subtitles to the film “Platoon” with the text from the “Manual for DraftAge Immigrants to Canada,” creating a depressing, but effective, aesthetic.

The last two series of pieces, Herman Chong’s quintet of book covers and Anthony Romero’s “Untitled Shaman Dance #1,” stuck to the exhibit’s theme the most and least obviously, respectively, of anything there.

Chong’s series of five book covers uses the artist’s visual representation of the books — “The Stranger,” “The Futurological Congress,”

BOOK continues on page 11

Cravings prompt early celebration of winter holidays

Turkey stuffing can include different vegetables like onion and celery along with bread or cereals. It can be cooked separately from the turkey and inserted after the turkey is cooked.

Stuffing suggestions start seasonal series inspired by home-cooked meals

Bruno Morlan Daily Texan Staff

Tasty Tuesdays

turkey stuffing or dressing Ingredients 4 cups bread cubes ¼ cup butter ½ cup chopped onion ½ cup chopped celery ½ tsp salt 1 pinch of pepper ½ tsp poultry seasoning ½ cup chicken broth

Directions • Slice bread into cubes, and then toast. Put aside.

• Melt butter in a frying pan, and then add chopped onion and celery. Simmer until vegetables are softened • Add seasonings to vegetables. Place bread cubes in a saucepan. Then pour vegetables and seasonings over cubes and add chicken broth.

ON THE WEB: Tasty Tuesday video @dailytexanonline.com

By Lisa Holung Daily Texan Staff With November upon us, it is hard to stay focused on schoolwork when thoughts of plump turkeys and sleeping in over the Thanksgiving break cross our minds nearly every day.

To curb your craving for Thanksgiving favorites early, enjoy the recipes that will be featured in the next few Tasty Tuesdays. The series starts off with this week’s recipe for turkey stuffing or dressing.

Stuffing is the traditional accompaniment to holiday poultry, and like the name suggests, it is typically roasted within the meat to absorb flavor.

This particular recipe yields

only enough stuffing for a small bird, so double the ingredients in order to stuff a family-sized one. Luckily, poultry is not necessary to enjoy this recipe, as stuffing can be eaten by itself (in which case it is referred to as “dressing”).

I used fresh, toasted French bread cubes for this recipe, and, as a result, enjoyed a soft stuffing with accents of crispy crust.

However, regular white or wheat bread can also yield delectable results.

Don’t restrain your creativity when it comes to stuffing either; I have seen variations that include nuts, cornbread, different vegetables and even meat.

No matter which way you prefer your Thanksgiving favorites, don’t let the turkey get in the way of a classic, comforting side dish that can be enjoyed even after the holiday season ends.

By Ben Cox Daily Texan Staff Since releasing its first LP and garnering the support of friend and current punk kingpin Jay Reatard, Cheap Time has brought its whirlwind of glam and punk energy to increasingly larger audiences.

“We did a tour with Yo La Tengo a few weeks ago, and we were playing to sometimes 1,500 people,” said Jeffrey Novak, the band’s singer and guitarist.

“Playing things like that are kinda weird ... there’s more of a separation between the band and the audience, but they’re fun.”

Just a few years ago, Novak’s performances were confined to his bedroom; he started off as a one-man band, playing guitar, drums and singing simultaneously. Since his earliest self-releases, Novak has written prolifically, a trait he ascribes to a combination of working alone and writing on the go.

“Most things I’ll just write in my head and then put it together later,” he explains. “I can write songs when I’m on tour, just sitting in the van.”

Though higher-profile tours have brought bigger audiences to Cheap Time, Novak remains levelheaded about the touring life.

“We still play shows to nobody all the time,” he says. “But I feel like those have been the shows when we’ve played our hearts out the most.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, Cheap Time’s touring, Novak claims to prefer the comforts of vinyl to crowded bars. “I don’t really go to that many shows,” he said. “I’m more of a person who stays home and listens to records.”

Listening to any of Novak’s music, the record obsession shines through. From Cheap Time’s mining of obscure punk and glam riffs to late-60’s baroque pop influences in his recent solo album, Novak has incorporated the sounds of his heroes into his own personal blend. Of the various eras and styles of rock ’n’ roll that seep into his music, Novak considers the music he writes more a result of internalizing the albums he loves than conscious imitation of a particular era or artist.

“A record will sound like something I was into the year before, something I’m not really thinking about anymore,” he explains.

The near future holds an array of projects and impediments for Novak and Cheap Time; while the band just finished recording its second fulllength album, trouble with an unstable producer forced the band to flee the studio without their new recordings.

“We’re still kind of in shock,” Novak admits.

“We’re crossing our fingers that the tapes don’t get destroyed and [our producer] doesn’t hurt himself.”

Despite the mounting success of Cheap Time, Novak has doubts about his music, including his second solo album, due out next year. “I’m happy with the record ... I don’t know if people will like it or not. Jay [Reatard, who is working with Novak on the album] said people are gonna think that I’ve just lost it.”

He shrugs some of the doubt off to his own selfdeprecation.

BEERLAND continues on page 11

Courtesy of Cheap Time

Jeffrey Novak, frontman of Cheap Time, talks with the Texan about touring and problems with their producer. The Tennessee-based band brings its combination of glam-rock style and punk energy to Beerland tonight.

Bus riding experiences lead to etiquette suggestions for new, unfamiliar students Frequent riders suggest helpful tips about seating issues, talking on phone

By Susannah Jacob Daily Texan Columnist I take the bus at least once a day — downtown, across campus or to and from work in South Austin. “I thought only the British interns took the bus,” a colleague recently jeered, after learning of my daily dependence on mass transit.

However, lots of people in

Austin, including many of the non-European variety, ride the bus. Even people with cars ride the bus — it’s a free way (for UT students) to get around without the hassle of parking.

For the most part, bus rides pass as unremarkable experiences. Austin busriders, friendlier than they might appear, keep to themselves. But when bus riders breach bus etiquette, horror stories can ensue.

The majority of bus complaints have to do with understandable, if annoying, behav-

iors of fellow riders.

Freshmen are quick to defend their inability to swipe their identification card in the right direction.

“A student identification card can swipe four ways and swiping it the right way isn’t intuitive,” said one campus newcomer.

As the weather gets cooler bus riders — and people in general — wear more clothes, have more stuff and are in more of a rush to get in from the cold.

But regardless of the weather,

proper bus etiquette should be practiced year-round.

Here are a few tips to keep you out of bus riding horror stories.

“What do I think about people who talk on their cell phones on the bus? They should be killed,” says freshman Nick Feronti. He was only half joking. “The person with the audacity to have a full-on social conversation, as opposed to one where he’s actually gaining vital information, is the same person who speaks so loud that everybody on the

bus can hear him. Nobody cares about what a great eggplant he had for dinner.”

Opinions rarely stray from Feronti’s in message or strength of conviction. Using your cell phone on the bus is a major faux pas.

Seat choice also ranks as a divisive issue that carries potential consequences. No one is riding the bus as a real social experience.

“Buses have these two-seat benches, [but] you should never sit next to someone on the two-

seat bench unless all the other ones are full,” Feronti said.

The malodorous bus rider stands out as the source of the sharpest complaints. The memory of his or her smell stays with people days later. Body odor, cat urine and alcohol seem to be the best words to describe repeat offenders.

People feel so strongly about this issue that the Honolulu City Council recently considered a proposal that would make it

BUS continues on page 11