The Daily Texan November 11, 2009 issue by The Daily Texan

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The Daily Texan SPORTS PAgE 7

The home team leads this week’s top 10 Wednesday, November 11, 2009

LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12

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Obama eulogizes Fort Hood’s fallen

Photos by Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff

Above, Spc. Brian Hill, who was wounded in Iraq, pays tribute to victims of the Fort Hood shooting at the III Corps Headquarters on Tuesday. “It was a shock because it came from one of our own,” Hill said. “When you are at home, you don’t expect things like this to happen.” Below, Angie Hatla and her daughter, Leslie, pay respect to the 13 shot and killed at Fort Hood. Hundreds of families and civilians joined soldiers in solidarity at a memorial ceremony Tuesday.

Somber ceremony acknowledges fallen soldiers in silence By Lena Price Daily Texan Staff FORT HOOD — As Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Felt called out the names of each person shot during last week’s attack on Fort Hood, the wounded soldiers present at Tuesday’s ceremony responded with cries of “Here, Sergeant Major!” But in between the voices of the Army troops who survived the attack, Felt and the 15,000 people attending the ceremony heard 13 empty silences. They represented the soldiers who weren’t able to answer — the men and women who had been killed by alleged gunman Maj. Nadal Hasan — in one of the worst

Council launches site to assist GIs with college search By Shabab Siddiqui Daily Texan Staff A look back at the college application process may remind many students of the hair-tearing, aspirinpopping fall semester of their senior year in high school. That same process probably isn’t any less chaotic for someone serving in the military in Iraq or Djibouti. The American Council on Education launched a Web site Tuesday to help army veterans apply to colleges and obtain education benefits outlined by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Molly Corbett Broad, the council’s president, said the Web site — www.todaysgibill.org — is there to “demystify” the college application process for veterans. The Web site outlines reasons for pursuing higher education, the

steps that need to be taken and the benefits the benefits for which each individual qualifies. It also provides tools for veterans to choose majors and institutions and highlights success stories of other veterans who have taken the college route. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 gives any person who served in the military for 90 days or more after Sept. 10, 2001 the right to 36 months of tuition and fee benefits at any public higher-education institution, as well as stipends for housing, books, counseling and tutoring. Any unused benefits can be transferred to spouses or children. A person needs to serve a minimum of three years to receive full coverage but is eligible for partial coverage otherwise.

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mass shootings on a U.S. military base in history. It was a somber moment for the crowd, most of whom were dressed in military fatigues, who gathered at the III ON THE WEB: Corps HeadquarPhoto gallery ters to honor the from Fort Hood victims. President @dailytexan Barack Obama ofonline.com fered condolences to all of the families in attendance, and shared the personal stories of the 13 people who died in the massacre. “Every minute that an American en-

joys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that is their legacy,” Obama said. Although after the memorial service most of the media will clear out and the shooting will eventually fade from the front pages of national newspapers, some soldiers at the service said the base and the surrounding areas are far from being back to life as usual. Army Spc. Christopher Love, a Fort Hood resident who studies English literature online through UT, said that a visit from the President doesn’t simply erase the memories of last Thursday. “With this, and even in combat, we

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Austin’s veteran employment rate garners praise By Molly Triece Daily Texan Staff The city of Austin was awarded the 2009 National Outstanding Large Employer of the Year award Tuesday by Disabled American Veterans. Austin was the only municipality nominated for the award. The city employs more than 1,200 military veterans, National Guard and service members, 250 of whom are disabled. Other award nominees were mostly corporations or private firms. The award ceremony was held at the Palmer Events Center and hosted around 350 veterans and also recognized five city employees for their individual work in assisting veterans. Police Chief Art Acevedo, Assistant Fire Chief Jim Evans, Fire Battalion Chief William Duncan, APD human resources officer Greg Olsen and the city’s veterans’ consultant Allen Bergeron all received the Patriot Award from the Texas Committee for Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve. “They go above and beyond

Daniela Trujillo | Daily Texan Staff

Korean and Vietnam veteran Ray Dudley tabled at the Veteran’s Luncheon on Tuesday afternoon. Dudley served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot and has 41 decorations, including the Silver Star. what they’re regulated to do,” said Kyle Carvell, city of Austin spokesman. The event also featured Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, who participated in efforts to assist veterans in reintegrating into society. “I’ve been around military my entire life, and I’ve always

been keenly aware of the impact that service men and women have had on my life and the lives of all those in the U.S.,” said Martinez. Texas spends $7,546,051 per year on benefits for the state’s 1,705,311 veterans. The ceremony featured representatives and information from different

programs and services in Austin, including the Texas Veteran Leadership Program. The program links veterans who fought in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with fellow veterans in the community for advice on overcoming various obstacles toward reintegration, according to the Veterans Affairs’ Web site. “We spend three months trying to join the military, but when we discharge [soldiers] there’s nothing as in depth for reintegrating into society as when we send them off,” said Jason Duran, a TVLP board member. Duran said he likes the program because of its community roots. Officers work in a specific community, so they understand what returning soldiers need to adjust, he said. “When [soldiers] meet someone else who served in the Afghan or Iraq war, they’re going to open up quicker because of that shared experience,” Duran said. Veterans of Foreign Wars of the

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News

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Fort Hood: Soldiers encouraged to seek counsel From page 1 try to maintain at least a neutral attitude so that in the long run we can just get back to the job at hand,” he said. Love was blocks away from the Soldier Readiness Center when he heard gun shots. He dismissed them as a routine training exercise. But he soon started receiving phone calls, most of them from his wife. “She always worries when I go overseas,” Love said, “but this was completely different.” O’Bryant McNeil works as a flight control operator and lives close to where the shooting took place. He said that ever since Thursday the “vibe of the base has been off.” “Obama can come, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to set us on the right track again,” McNeil said. The president said that it is never easy to accept the loss of an American soldier, but to experience it at home was exceptionally difficult. “These Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle,” Obama said. “They were killed here, on American soil. This is a fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.” The 13 who died in the shootings ranged in age from 19 to 62. Between them, they had 19 children, and one of them had a baby on the way. Although Obama never mentioned Hasan by name, he did say that no faith could justify such a murderous act. “For what he has done, he will be met with justice in this world and the next,” Obama said. Gen. George Casey, chief of staff of the U.S. Army, said the memorial service hammered the reality of the situation at home — it was “a

Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff

President Barack Obama speaks to soldiers, families and civilians during the memorial ceremony for the victims of Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood. “We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it,” Obama said. kick in the gut.” “Real people are no longer with us on this Earth,” Casey said. “It hurts, and it brings on difficult questions.” The suspected harassment Hasan faced because of his faith was one question on the minds of some at the ceremony. Sgt. David Withun said the Army is one of the most diverse places he has ever worked. “I’ve worked with every ethnic-

support to needy year-round United States is a program that assists returning soldiers and also those currently deployed, through various activities, including fundraising for phone cards and care packages to send overseas. Ray Dudley, a program member, said the organization played a key role in lobbying Congress to pass the G.I. bill and increase funding from the Department of Veteran Affairs. “Everybody supports veterans on Veterans Day, but what

Driskill Hotel to close for three days during electrical repairs The historic downtown Driskill Hotel will be closed from Nov. 22 to Nov. 24 for electrical renovations. Brett Boreing, the hotel’s marketing director, said the improvements are being made to the hotel’s electrical system. Boreing said the renovations apply to the main electrical lines that feed into the building, requiring the closure of the building. The changes are taking place shortly before vacation-heavy Thanksgiving to minimize the loss of business. “We want to make sure that the equipment we have is up to date in a very very old building,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we were proactive in making our mechanical systems up to date.” Located on the corner of Sixth and Brazos streets, the 123-year-old hotel features 189 guestrooms and suites, and is a member of the Historic Hotels of America. “A number of Austin citizens kept this place open during the wrecking ball several decades ago,” Boreing said. “We certainly want make sure their efforts are paid back. We believe [in investing] in the mechanical systems to make sure the Driskill is around for another 100 years.” — Shabab Siddiqui

beneFit: Programs offer key From page 1

NEWS BRIEFLY

we need is support throughout the year,” Dudley said. Last year, the VFW hosted an event for homeless veterans, who the VA estimates number up to 131,000 across the nation. VFW provided backpacks, haircuts, clothes, food and shots to “get them back on their feet,” Dudley said. Veterans Carlos Molina and Jorge Gonzalez said their experience with programs available in Austin were positive. “I used all my VA benefits plus some,” Gonzalez said. “That’s how I got my degree.”

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ity and religion imaginable,” Withun said. “Some of the stuff people are saying makes all soldiers sound like bigots, and that doesn’t jive with me at all.” Withun said the bottom line is that most soldiers are good people. He remembered the line of soldiers out the door of the Scott & White Memorial Hospital to donate blood just hours after the shooting. So many people were present, the

center had to turn some away. John Hurter, an Army soldier who has served for three years, also noticed a change in the way civilians acted toward soldiers. More people approached him, offering prayers and thanking him for his service. “This is making the situation global,” said Donny Bretzinger, a soldier who has served for nine years. “It puts a lot of visibility

on Fort Hood and the issues that soldiers are having with deployments and other problems soldiers are having.” Soldier Jerome Bell said he hopes the incident and the highly publicized memorial service will make other soldiers realize that it’s OK to ask for help when you need it. “With our job comes pride,” Bell said “But sometimes you just have to swallow it.”

College: Most vets apply as transfer students From page 1 Michael Washington, UT’s associate director for admissions and the institutional contact for military-related admissions issues, said the Web site works to link the various admissions stages. “The purpose of the site is to provide a single location for veterans,” he said. “It provides a seamless experience for the veterans coming back [by] finding a way to consolidate all the services in one location.” Washington said the major problems veterans face while applying for college are timesensitive issues, such as application deadlines. He said most veterans have prior higher education experience and apply as transfer students.

The Web site deals only with personnel eligible for benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and not other military-related educational initiatives. This fall is the first semester the benefits are available. Vasanth Srinivasa, UT assistant registrar and director of veteran enrollment and certification, said there are 225 veterans and 74 children and spouses receiving benefits outlined by the bill at the University. Srinivasa said the number increases every day as paperwork filed by prospective recipients is fully processed by the federal government. The biggest difficulty facing the bill is the large applicant turnout. McKee Andrus, administrative assistant to the registrar, said the Department of Veteran Affairs may take several weeks

to verify an application. The delay can lead to problems for veterans preparing for college. Journalism junior Bill Bowman, vice president of the Student Veterans Association at UT, said while he didn’t have trouble receiving benefits under the bill, some of his friends did and had to take loans out to pay for their first semester. Bowman served in Fort Hood and Iraq until early 2007, making him eligible for the provisions under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. He said he feels the Web site will help solve problems regarding timeliness. “It’s pretty much the same process as when you’re applying out of high school,” he said. “But I think [the Web site] would be a good resource for consolidating that all together under one source.”

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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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Jordan Haeger, Molly Triece, Shabab Siddiqui . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Audrey White, Vidushi Shrimali, Israel Perez Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Gerson, Eric Ou, Daniela Trujillo Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Abby Johnston, Layne Lynch,Audrey White, Molly Wahlberg Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vicky Ho, Michael Moran, Kelsey Crow Sports/Life&Arts Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Megan Jones Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Russo Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mustafa Saifuddin, Chris Benavides Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Diamond, Sammy Martinez, Michael Bowman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryohei Yatsu, Katie Smith, Monica Tseng, Emily Ferguson, Connor Shea Wire Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth Waldmen Web Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alice Ju, Nikki Kim Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlos Medina Volunteer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Pressley

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

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World&NatioN

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

T he Daily Texan

American hikers detained in Iran accused of spying By Patrick Condon The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — The mother of one of three detained Americans accused of espionage by Iranian authorities said Tuesday the group is innocent, and she hopes their fates will not get tangled in deadlocked negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Cindy Hickey of Pine City, Minn., said the families are trying to avoid getting pulled into the tense relationship between the U.S. and Iran. Hickey’s son, 27-year-old Shane Bauer, was taken into custody near the Iraqi border in July along with Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27. Their families said the three friends were on a hike. But a senior Iranian prosecutor accused them of espionage Monday, the first signal that Tehran intends to put them on trial. This has raised concerns that they could be used as bargaining chips during negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program. “I’m really trying to keep that out of my focus, personally,” Hickey said. “I have to set myself on the goal here of getting our kids freed, and not be distracted by the politics.” Hickey said her son would “fall on the floor laughing” at the suggestion that he is a spy. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the three were innocent hikers and should be released. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the spying charges baseless. Fattal’s mother, Laura, said

on Tuesday that the families remain optimistic that their loved ones will be cleared. “We are just waiting for the Iranian authorities to think about the case and realize that our kids are totally innocent,” she said. “We believe there has been no interrogation for a month now.” Laura Fattal, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, declined to say whether she thought her son and the others were being used as political pawns. She reiterated that the trio did not intend to enter Iran, noting that Shourd planned to return to her teaching job in Damascus, Syria, the next week. The families have had no direct interaction with their loved ones, but they have been able to pass several messages back and forth through Swiss diplomats who have been allowed to meet twice with the Americans. Hickey said the three sent back word that they appreciate expressions of support from the U.S., including a series of vigils around the country and an online petition. Hickey said Bauer, a freelance journalist who has filed dispatches from numerous global hotspots, is interested not in politics but rather the plight of the poor and suffering worldwide. “There’s no question in my mind that this is just a very false accusation,” Hickey said. “These are peaceful people. This accusation is entirely at odds with the people that Shane, Sarah and Josh are.”

Mohammad Iqbal | Associated Press

Paramedics at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, care for a victim injured in a suicide car bombing that killed more than 20 people at a crowded market in the northwest region Tuesday.

Suicide bomb kills 24 in Pakistan By Sebastian Abbot The Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide car bomber attacked a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing 24 people and illustrating militants’ willingness to target civilians in their war against the government. Taliban insurgents hope the attacks will weaken the army’s resolve to wage an offensive against the the group’s stronghold along the Afghan border. But the indiscriminate killing could backfire by further turning the public against Islamist extremists, as happened in Iraq.

The bombing was the fourth in about a month to target a market in or around Peshawar, the main city in the northwest. The attacks have produced some of the largest death tolls in the past few years, killing a total of more than 200. The van that exploded outside the market in Charsadda was packed with some 90 pounds of explosives, said Liaqat Ali Khan, the senior police chief in the North West Frontier Province. The blast destroyed several stores and caused panic among the vendors and shoppers who were at the market. Three women and three children were among

the 24 killed, said Khan. Another 64 people were wounded. “It was deafening and there were clouds of dust all around. I could not see anything around me,” said Rashid Kaka, who was returning to his shop from the local mosque when the bomb exploded. “Later, I saw many bodies lying scattered.” Three of the recent market attacks in the northwest, including one that killed at least 112 people in Peshawar, have occurred since mid-October, when the army launched an offensive in the northwestern tribal region of South Waziristan.

Prior to the army operation, most militant attacks in Pakistan had targeted security forces or government officials. No one claimed responsibility for the attack and others targeting Pakistani civilians, but the government and independent security analysts say there is no doubt the Taliban are to blame for Tuesday’s incident. The militants have also attacked Western targets as well as army and police officers since the offensive began, and do not shy away from claiming responsibility for those types of attacks in calls to local and international media.

WORLD BRIEFLY

Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. The clash occurred as U.S. officials said President Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for direct talks on the communist country’s nuclear weapons program. No date has been set. “It’s a regrettable incident,” South Korean Commodore Lee Ki-sik told reporters in Seoul. “We are sternly protesting to North Korea and urg-

ing it to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.” North Korea issued a statement blaming South Korea, saying its ships crossed into their territory.

of eastern Afghanistan that American forces left last month following a deadly firefight that killed eight troops. The U.S. military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment. Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a spokesman for NATO forces, said the material in the footage “appears to be U.S. equipment.” He said it was unclear how they got the weapons.

North and South Korean navies exchange fire at shared border

Jeff Baenen | Associated Press

Cindy Hickey, shown in her home on Sept. 22, shows a photo of her son, who she believes is falsely being accused of espionage in Iran.

NATION BRIEFLY Obama considers sending more troops to Afghanistan WASHINGTON — President Obama is nearing a decision to send more forces to Afghanistan, though probably not the 40,000 sought by his top general there. The White House said the president hasn’t made a decision yet about troop levels or other aspects of the revised strategy. Administration officials told The Associated Press on Monday the deployment would most probably begin in January. An Army brigade that has been training for deployment to Iraq that month may be the vanguard. The brigade, based at Fort Drum in upstate New York, has been told it will not go to Iraq as planned. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president would meet again Wednesday with key members of his foreign policy and military team, but was unlikely to announce final plans for Afghanistan until late this month.

FBI reviews previous mental assessment of alleged shooter WASHINGTON — Nearly a year before Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, terrorism investigators conducted an “assessment” of him before deciding he did not pose a threat. After the shooting, the FBI is doing a new assessment. The Army psychiatrist is believed to have acted alone despite repeated communications with a radical imam overseas, U.S. officials said Monday. The FBI will conduct an internal review to see whether it mishandled early information about the man accused in the bloody rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 29. Compiled from Associated Press reports

SEOUL, South Korea — The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage, South Korean military officials said. There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of

Video footage shows insurgents in Afghanistan with US ammo KABUL — Television footage broadcast Tuesday showed insurgents handling what appears to be U.S. ammunition in a remote area

Compiled from Associated Press reports

Op·por·tu·ni·ty

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OPINION

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

T HE DAILY TEXAN

Restricting the right to choose

GALLERY

VIEWPOINT

Postponed justice

The Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice held a hearing yesterday to talk with the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s new chairman, John Bradley. They discussed, among other things, whether or not Bradley is serving as a political pawn for Gov. Rick Perry and whether Bradley plans to resurrect the commission’s controversial investigation into the science used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham. Perry appointed Bradley to the commission this fall, abruptly replacing his former appointees two days before the commission was set to hear a report from nationally recognized arson expert Craig Beyler. Austin criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett, the forensic science commission’s former chairman, says the commission has paid Beyler approximately $30,000 to review the science used in Willingham’s case, according to the publication Texas Lawyer. Beyler had determined that science was used inappropriately to reach a conviction. Bradley promptly canceled the hearing, indefinitely postponing the commission’s conclusion on the Willingham case. Not surprisingly, senators questioned whether Perry is using Bradley to postpone action on the Willigham case, likely until after the March 2010 gubernatorial primary. Bradley’s response: “I don’t see myself as being someone else’s political pawn. And I don’t think you’ve ever seen that I behaved that way.” Yet Bradley is in no hurry to hear from Beyler or to focus his commission on the controversy, though he does promise to take it up again some time in the future. Instead, he is calling those who want to move the investigation forward agenda pushers. In a Dallas Observer editorial, Bradley wrote, “Those with agendas other than the advancement of forensic science have made exaggerated claims and drawn premature conclusions about the case. The commission can only ask that the public be patient and permit the commission to apply a disciplined, scientific approach to the investigation. That kind of work takes time, careful deliberation and is not likely to result in a simplistic report.” But the commission had already dedicated years, and tens of thousands of dollars, to conducting an indepth investigation. Apparently, Bradley is ready to throw out its efforts. The former commission was ready to wrap up the Willingham case. Bassett told Texas Lawyer that before he was replaced, he had asked the governor’s office to allow him to remain on the commission for another two-year term. “I wanted to finish the work we started,” he said. But political machinations are now suppressing that work and the case. Bradley has announced that his first priority will be establishing clear policies and procedures and that he may call a meeting to address housekeeping matters in January. But the commission is unlikely to come to any conclusions on the science that resulted in the Perry-sanctioned execution of Willingham anytime soon — and certainly not before the March primary. And when the commission eventually does consider the case, Bradley will be careful to avoid any suggestions of Willingham’s guilt or innocence. “The commission has to be very careful about the process that it develops so that we keep the focus ... on forensic science and not on the criminal case,” Bradley told The Dallas Morning News. Bradley may claim that he is not a pawn of the administration, but the evidence suggests otherwise. — Jillian Sheridan for the editorial board

GALLERY

By Anna Russo Daily Texan Columnist

During an interview for KVRX student radio, the professor ominously said, “Reality is going to force college students to often reconsider career choices when we see that certain assumptions will no longer hold.” Why will these assumptions not hold? “The ecological crises,” Jensen said. “And I use the plural quite specifically — crises, multiple crises, not just global warming but levels of toxicity in the air and water, loss of topsoil, the reduction in biodiversity, all of these things are part of a global pattern that is marking one, I think, uncontroversial fact, that we are reaching and probably are long beyond the carrying capacity of the planet, and we are drawing down the ecological capital of the planet at a rate that is increasingly threatening, not just in the long term and centuries from now, but in decades.” If Jensen is correct, if the system is unsustainable not just in the long term but in the short as well, we might all be in for a rude awakening. Pondering over such topics isn’t fun, but it is necessary. Jensen urges us to think about the larger issues at hand, like when all of our consumer waste will catch up with us (the average American throws out 1,500 pounds of it a year), what energy sources will replace fossil fuels and how we are going to maintain agricultural production when phosphates and aquifers are scarce. Whether or not Jensen’s view that these ecological limitations will restrict economic growth in our lifetime is correct, the fact remains that our current course cannot be sustained forever. Our economic system is based on unlimited growth. We live on a finite planet. This fundamental flaw cannot be avoided, and it might end up altering our postcollege lives. We would be unwise to label the professor’s dire warnings “insane,” especially considering the inaccuracy of such slander in the recent past. The insanity of today might prove to be the reality of tomorrow.

On Saturday night, the country finally saw success in the struggle for health care reform on Capitol Hill. The House of Representatives passed a sweeping health care bill by a vote of 220-215. How did the House pull out with a majority vote? Simple: It waged a war on Roe v. Wade. The House passed the bill only after adding an amendment that severely restricts the availability of coverage for abortions, an option that many insurance plans already offer. The Stupak-Pitts amendment provides that government money cannot be used to pay for abortion. Furthermore, any woman who receives her health insurance from the government or with help from government tax subsidies will not have a plan that covers abortion. If a woman is receiving health care in one of these two ways, she will have the option to buy extra coverage with her own money. If a woman receives health care through state Medicaid, the state has the option to buy supplemental abortion coverage for everyone it insures, which some states already do. In short, “any part of the costs of any health plan that include coverage of abortion” could not be funded, the amendment reads. These provisions of the amendment may not seem terribly restrictive, but the realistic consequences of the amendment certainly do restrict a woman’s right to choose. If and when this bill is put into practice, there will be three categories of health care consumers: public-option consumers, government-subsidized consumers and private consumers. Government-subsidized consumers will be most hurt by the Stupak-Pitts amendment. The amendment stipulates that if individuals buy into a private plan with a help of a government subsidy, their private plan cannot offer abortion but that they can purchase a “rider” that provides access to an abortion. This is a false promise. The National Women’s Law Center points out that the five states that currently require a separate rider for abortion coverage do not actually offer these riders. In North Dakota, where this policy is supposed to be offered, the private plan that has a 91 percent share of the health insurance market does not offer an abortion rider. Nothing in this amendment would ensure that riders are available and affordable for government-subsidized consumers. Considering that the current estimate for government-subsidized consumers is around 80 percent, the majority of women receiving health care would not have guaranteed access to their full range of reproductive choices. Riders make me wonder if the legislators even understand how pregnancy works and why women get an abortion. Why would women buy a plan for an unplanned pregnancy? Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, points out that “the assertion in Congressman Stupak’s amendment that women should purchase a separate rider to receive abortion coverage is illogical and demonstrates a callous and regrettable disregard for the reality of women’s lives. No woman plans for an unintended or medically catastrophic pregnancy.” Health insurance is intended to cover individuals for life’s unplanned health obstacles, including abortion. The Stupak-Pitts amendment has the potential to also severely limit a woman’s access to abortion as a private consumer of health care. The amendment does not limit private insurance companies from offering a health care plan that covers abortion, but if they do, they must also offer another plan that is identical in every way, except that it does not cover abortion. The reality is that companies will likely take the easiest path and only offer a single plan that does not cover abortion. Thus, the Stupak-Pitts amendment not only limits the scope of government funds but also limits the scope of private funds. This amendment places unprecedented and unacceptable restrictions on a woman’s right to choose. Since the beginning of the health care reform debate, the president and Congress have promised the American people sweeping health care reform that will expand the options and coverage of current health care policy. After Saturday night, I have two words for them: You lie.

Sloan is a government junior.

Russo is a women’s and gender studies senior.

Unlimited growth on a finite planet By Calvin Sloan Daily Texan Columnist It’s assumed, it’s a given, it’s sacred. We all have understandably bought into the belief, as so many generations before us have done, that our career choices after graduating college will be aplenty, that our college education will serve us well and that in the years to come — after accumulating wealth and rising up in corporate, academic and creative institutions — we will be able to provide for our children, ensuring that they will have it better than we ever did. Our experience as students, our investment of our time and money into the University of Texas is based on this belief. The American dream will be upheld, and in the long run, things will keep getting better. But what if we’re wrong? Prior to our current recession, a debate about the vulnerability of capitalism, extractive economies as a whole and endless growth would have fallen upon deaf ears in mainstream discourse. But today, with U.S. households having lost $13 trillion and real unemployment rates heading to pre-1940 levels, the fringe voices that have long criticized the limitations of the current system are beginning to be heard. Professor Robert Jensen in the School of Journalism is one of those voices. Jensen is no stranger to controversy. After proclaiming that the attacks of Sept. 11 were “reprehensible and indefensible” but were “no more despicable than the massive acts of terrorism — the deliberate killing of civilians for political purposes — that the U.S. government has committed during [his] lifetime,” Jensen was subject to an onslaught of criticism from students and faculty alike. The professor held firm to his beliefs, however, and asserted that the war on terror was truly “a war about geopolitical strategy.” As we approach 2010, Jensen’s views, which appeared to many in that jingoistic moment to be literally insane, are by the day more believable than ever. So what other insights might Jensen offer us that challenge conventional attitudes and beliefs?

THE FIRING LINE The American way

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Dan Treadway’s Nov. 9 piece on tea parties showed a disregard for the truth. He took specific examples and formed terrible generalizations around them. His example of Republican Doug Hoffman losing to a Democrat made the tea parties sound like a failure. Does this also mean President Barack Obama is a failure because the governors he campaigned for lost to Republican challengers? No, because that is a stupid argument. When I read Treadway’s spiel, I was sad to notice the overtone was so one-sided. So much so it seems like he is purposely ignorant. Using the word “untruths” made me feel like he is living in an Orwellian society and following the party leadership blindly. As for the tea parties, they are participating in the American way, which is thinking differently from what “the man” expects you to think, live, breath, eat and sleep.

— Jared Camarata Computer sciences junior

Shortchanging The Boss When CNN’s Soledad O’Brien spoke to a less-than-packed house in the Texas Union

Ballroom on Monday, she made a terrible mistake. As she told a story that had something to do with diversity, she mentioned traveling to Cuba to cover a concert by Colombian pop star Juanes. Fair enough. But then, with all the pop-cultural sensitivity of a poison dart frog, O’Brien likened Juanes’ cultural import and popularity to that of Bruce Springsteen. As absurd as the comparison is on its face, she went on to further test the grounds of objective truth by stating as fact that Juanes had “sold more albums” than Springsteen. Of course, Springsteen’s worldwide sales of more than 120 million are 12-1 against Juanes’ respectable but relatively meager 10 million. As a journalist, O’Brien ought to be ashamed of herself. Ashamed not only for failing the test of the truth, but for failing the students here at UT. Perhaps most of all, she should be ashamed for failing to give The Boss his due.

— Colin Kalmbacher UT alumnus

Student Government’s misplaced priorities In Nov. 9’s Daily Texan, John Woods defended Student Government’s A.R. 16, which encouraged the federal government to pass health care reform, as well as the subsequent actions of SG representatives and Longhorn Legislative Aides, making it sound as if they

truly acted for the good of the student body. He claimed, “I aim only to represent my constituents; but I believe fully that SG can and should push for things that change the world.” Nowhere in his article, however, did he provide any examples of the world being changed. His only attempt to justify that claim was when he tried to take credit for Rep. Henry Cuellar adding his name to the list of supporting members. But even if Woods and associates had single-handedly changed the representative’s mind, the legislation passed by five votes, not one. Their actions had no actual effect on the outcome of the legislation. The problem with Student Government is that it is, in fact, not changing the world for the students its members are supposed to represent. While I haven’t had a chance to talk with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, I’m sure that one of her strategies for rounding up votes was not distributing A.R. 16. What I am sure of, however, is that a paper with UT SG printed on it may be more influential down at Austin City Hall or in the office of UT President William Powers. Instead of actually taking on issues on which SG could have a real effect, the organization is too busy playing Democratic Caucus or debating its own computer usage because some feelings were hurt.

— Justin G. May Government sophmore

5 UNIV

News

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Professors dispute employment value of college degrees

Eric Ou | Daily Texan Staff

Carlos Mauricio, a torture survivor and human rights activist, shares his story. Mauricio was a professor at the University of El Salvador when he was kidnapped and tortured for almost two weeks during a CIA-backed 1973 coup.

Anti-torture activist visits UT By Vidushi Shrimali Daily Texan Staff Every November, Carlos Mauricio leaves his family in California to participate in his annual â&#x20AC;&#x153;Journey for Justiceâ&#x20AC;? under the Stop Impurity Project he founded with fellow torture survivors Frankie Flores, Pedro Antonio Cabeza and Amilcar Carrillo. Invited by the UT Oxfam group, Mauricio spoke at UT on Tuesday night. Oxfam, which works for human rights and against world problems such as poverty, injustice and hunger, contacted Mauricio after they heard he would be passing through Austin on his annual drive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something we felt would be interesting to the student body. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t affect change unless you know what is going

on,â&#x20AC;? said Oxfam-UT President Lauren DeAnna. Mauricio and fellow board members of the Stop Impurity Project, which works to promote awareness of torture and prevent future instances of torture, drive from California to Fort Benning, Ga. every November to participate in a vigil mourning the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests at the hands of Salvadoran soldiers. Members of groups such as School of Americas Watch, a group Mauricio works with, stand outside the gates of the military base and protest the existence of the School of Americas, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which they blame for the training of solders who murdered thousands of innocent ci-

vilians in Latin America, among them, the Jesuit priests. â&#x20AC;&#x153;School of Americas Watch members have taken lists of graduates from [the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation] and compared it to human rights abuses and the names are identical,â&#x20AC;? said Hendrik Vofs, spokesman for School of Americas Watch. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I do not believe the army is the correct institution to teach democracy,â&#x20AC;? Mauricio said. Mauricio escaped to the United States in 1983, two months after spending two weeks at the hands of death squads in San Salvador, El Salvador. Mauricio was a professor of agricultural sciences at the University of El Salvador when he was arrested in his classroom by Salvadoran soldiers

working under then Minister of Defense General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova. At the time, El Salvador was experiencing a civil war as extremist left and right factions struggled for power. Mauricio said hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were raped, tortured, murdered and declared â&#x20AC;&#x153;disappearedâ&#x20AC;? during the war. In 2002, Mauricio won a trial against Generals Jose Guillermo Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, two former Ministers of Defense who served during the civil war, blaming them for the torture committed against him and two other plaintiffs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me as a person who has been the victim of such an injustice, I want to talk about why people are tortured,â&#x20AC;? Mauricio said.

By Jordan Haeger Daily Texan Staff With the rising costs of college and the falling number of available jobs, some scholars are questioning whether Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth should be put on a conveyor belt directly from high school to a four-year college. Richard K. Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and an economics professor at Ohio University, said he thinks college is a waste of time and money for most students. Vedder said not everyone who goes to college is qualified, and some of the jobs in highest demand do not require a four-year degree. He said that while most students at UT do belong in college, he believes the majority of students nationwide are not prepared for a meaningful college experience. Many students do not gain much from the college experience or spend more than four years earning their bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree, which can be very costly, he said. Of everyone who attends college, Vedder said 45 percent do not graduate in four years. He said those students should attend a vocational school or community college and perhaps transfer to a four-year university if they excel in those schools. Vedder also said he sees a mismatch between the types of jobs in demand and those in supply. Many graduates will end up with jobs that have nothing to do with their college majors and do not require the critical thinking skills learned in college, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of mail carriers in the United States with bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degrees, and there are a lot with a high school education, and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think the college graduates do a better job of delivering the mail than high school graduates,â&#x20AC;? Vedder said. Of the jobs in greatest demand,

Vedder said the top 30 or so do not require a college degree. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the top 10 occupations with the largest job growth, only one requires at least a fouryear bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree. But UT economics professor Dan Hamermesh said a college education trains students to think, and that is something that will never be irrelevant for a job. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People who say there are too many kids in college are the same right-wingers who say minorities are not smart enough to get into college,â&#x20AC;? Hamermesh said. Hamermesh said that not only does college have a tremendous payoff, but it may be an even smarter investment in the current economic climate. The greatest financial loss in college is not tuition but rather the money students would be earning if they were in the work force, Hamermesh said. He said high school graduates who are not enrolled in college now would not be making money in the workforce anyway because jobs are scarce. Hamermesh conducted a study in April 2002 in which he found that UT graduates of the classes of 1980, 1985, 1990 and 2000 were earning an average of $89,110 annually. Median earnings were $60,000. Hamermesh said he predicts that the median salary for UT graduates would be $75,000 today. Although many available jobs do not require a college degree, Hamermesh believes employers want employees with criticalthinking skills. Simply learning to complete a task is not the point of college, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are not Austin Community College or Texas State University. We should be training the leaders of tomorrow to think,â&#x20AC;? Hamermesh said.

Senate grills forensic science chair By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff The newly appointed chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission was in the hot seat Tuesday, facing tough questions about how the newly appointed commission members will handle a controversial arson case. John Bradley, the newly appointed commission chairman and Williamson County District Attorney, answered questions from the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee at the Capitol. Gov. Rick Perry selected Bradley Sept. 30, two days before the commission was set to review a 1991 arson conviction against Corsicana resident Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for allegedly setting fire to his home, killing his three young daughters. Perry denied Willingham a 30day execution stay after receiving a clemency report on the day of Willinghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s execution. The commission was set to meet Oct. 2 to discuss an August 2009 report written by fire expert Dr. Craig Beyler that cast doubt on the methods used by fire investigators in the Willingham case. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The investigators had poor understandings of fire science and failed to acknowledge or apply the contemporaneous understanding of the limitations of fire indicators,â&#x20AC;? Beyler said in his report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A finding of arson could not be sustained.â&#x20AC;? One of Bradleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first actions as commission chairman was to cancel the Oct. 2 meeting, and the board has yet to reschedule it.

Eric Ou | Daily Texan Staff

State Sens. Juan Hinojosa and John Whitmire listen to a discussion of the Cameron Todd Willingham case at a criminal justice committee hearing. Bradley said he could not comment on the Willingham case because it is a pending investigation. He said the commission is going to attempt to schedule a meeting in January. Senators also asked Bradley about an op-ed piece he wrote for Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Houston Chronicle. In the article, Bradley advocated dramatic expansions of the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power, saying that they were necessary for the commission to deliver authoritative decisions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We intended for the process, the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, to be very transparent and public,â&#x20AC;? said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One way you do that is by talking about [the work] in public.â&#x20AC;? Bradley responded by saying the commission must be careful not to open itself â&#x20AC;&#x153;to be hijacked by others and be used as a forum for their personal missions.â&#x20AC;?

The criminal justice committeee also expressed concern about the adequacy of scientific practices used in fire investigations, in light of Beylerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The real issue is whether or not there are people in jail in Texas where junk science is being used and there is a cloud over this process because of the way people were replaced on this commission,â&#x20AC;? said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. Ellis serves as a board chairman of the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to exonerate wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our principal concern for this commission is not the death penalty, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the issue of Willinghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ultimate guilt or innocence,â&#x20AC;? said Barry Scheck, co-director of the project.

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News

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

City honors fallen police officers Blackboard faces By Israel Perez Daily Texan Staff One hundred and thirty-four years after the first known Austin police officer died in the line of duty, the city will honor the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the residents of Austin. Fellow officers and the families of those killed in the line of duty gathered Tuesday at the Austin Convention Center for the Austin Police Officer Memorial Project ceremony. City officials plan to display 17 fivefoot granite slabs along with two plaques throughout the city at the locations where officers have died in the line of duty. Since 1875, 20 APD officers have lost their lives during active duty, said Wayne Vincent, president of the Austin Police Association, the union for Austin Police officers. Austin police officer Jason Huskins started the project in April 2008 to honor fallen officers. He said he first thought of the idea while training to become an officer. “I was surprised to see how many officers had died in Austin,” Huskins said. The last officer killed in the line of duty was Amy Donovan in October 2004. Donovan was killed when she was accidently struck by a police cruiser while chasing a suspect on foot. Huskins said Donovan’s death, four months after they both graduated from the police academy, reinforced his commitment to making his project a reality. “You really feel like you’re all brothers and sisters,” Huskins said. The project was more difficult to complete than Huskins anticipated because his project conflicted with state and municipal laws. Huskins said he turned to Mayor Lee Leffingwell when he realized he needed help to complete his project. Leffingwell said he was shocked to learn that the law had to be changed in order to honor police officers. After a long legislative process, the state law was changed to allow markers commemorating police officers to be placed in the right of way. “Austin police officers are due to be honored in the same way that state troopers are,” Leffingwell said at the ceremony. “The city of Austin will be the first city in the state of Texas to be able to honor its fallen police officers in this way.” Huskins said all the monuments will be placed at locations where the officers died by February 2010. “It’s an excellent thing anytime we can remember officers who have given their lives for Austin,” Vincent said. “I think sometimes we take for granted our security and our

more competition in online software

Lauren Gerson | Daily Texan Staff

Lt. Nick Wright attended the Austin Police Officer Memorial Project ceremony Tuesday afternoon. The memorials will honor Austin police officers killed in the line of duty. safety. These memorials are good reminders for people that their safety and security does sometimes come at a price.” Roxanne Rodriguez lost her brother Robert Martinez in 1989. She was at the ceremony with her mother and two children. “My brother loved the community he

served, so these monuments are a great honor to have,” she said. Rodriguez said her brother always wanted to be a police officer, just like her father who served Austin for 33 years. “It was a dream for him. My father was very proud of him,” she said.

By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff Blackboard Learning System is the leader in course management among educational institutions, but its dominance may be threatened as other companies develop programs that provide unique benefits to users. A new partnership between Datatel Inc., an administrative system, and Moodlerooms Inc., a division of the free opensource teaching and learning giant Moodle, will join these two areas into a single program called Enterprise Education Platform, a platform that could compete with Blackboard. “We went into this space because of our clients,” said Datatel spokesman Peter Abzug. “Our clients are looking for a cost-effective option to combine teaching and learning with administrative systems.” Blackboard Inc. is an online software company that provides course management resources that links students, professors and course materials, and allows faculty to interact with students in their classes. To control administrative matters such as financial aid and grades, schools have to subscribe to another company’s services. UT uses Oracle, one of the most popular companies, as its administrative platform. Abzug said Datatel and Moodlerooms will handle the component of its expertise, then work to combine the two programs into a unified platform so that universities don’t have to pay more money to subscribe to separate systems. Datatel clients and those who currently use other companies are already expressing interest in the new system, set for release in early 2010. “The level of interest about

this has easily been the highest of any product announcement we have made,” Abzug said. “I can’t say what the future holds, but if the interest is any indication, this should be a very successful partnership between Datatel and Moodlerooms.” Other companies are offering innovations as well. SunGard Higher Education, another teaching and learning platform, has integrated social networking platform Epsilen, which allows students and faculty to create an online portfolio of their work. Blackboard representatives were unavailable for comment about how they are expanding their offerings to compete with competitors. Rob Bruce, associate dean of the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment, which coordinates resources and technology integration for the University, said there are no current plans to replace Blackboard, but the division is researching alternative software companies. “We’ve kept an eye on Sakai and Moodle for a few years and have met with the Epsilen team as well,” Bruce said. “Over the next few months, we’ll do a comparison of Sakai, Moodle and Blackboard for product features, scalability, costs and security, among other things.” Still, he said the University has been happy with Blackboard’s performance and uses its own resources to enhance the platform and customize it for the University’s needs. “We’ll continue to work with Blackboard and peer institutions to implement appropriate building blocks, and we expect Blackboard to continue to enhance its system and release new features that benefit students and faculty,” Bruce said.

UT Campus Waller Creek Cleanup Rain falling on UT campus gets channeled to ‘storm drains’ which direct the storm water (rain) to Waller Creek and ultimately to Lady Bird Lake. Storm water becomes polluted Town Lake. Town Lake is our drinking when itsupply. picks up trash, chemicals, dirtpolluted and other er water Storm water becomes pollutants on up thetrash, street.chemicals, dirt and other when it picks pollutants on the street. Storm water is not treated, so make sure the drain is just for rain: t 1VU MJUUFS BOE DJHBSFUUF CVUUT JO USBTI DBOT t %JTQPTF PG QFU XBTUFT JO USBTI

Call 471 3511, the UT environmental hotline, if you see oil, soil or chemicals going to the creek.

t %PO U QPVS PJM QBJOUT PS DIFNJDBMT EPXO UIF ESBJO

Join the Waller Creek Cleanup Saturday, November 14th - 8:30-11:30AM Saturday, November 15th www.wallercreek.org

Longhorns don’t litter!

Environmental Health & Safety

7 SPTS

SPORTS

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

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

T HE DAILY TEXAN

Horns react to loss with experiment

SIDELINE NBA Orlando 93 Charlotte 81 Washington 76 Miami 90 Denver 90 Chicago 91 Portland 93 Memphis 79 Houston 103 Dallas 121 Oklahoma City 98 Sacramento 101

NHL Pittsburgh 0 Boston 3 Minnesota 5 Toronto 2 Calgary 1 Montreal 0 Edmonton 3 Ottawa 4 F/OT Vancouver 1 St. Louis 6 Nashville 3 San Jose 4

SPORTS BRIEFLY Gingrich snags her first NCAA Swimmer of the Week award Lara Haase | Daily Texan Staff

Senior Ashley Engle jumps to spike the ball in a match earlier this season as junior Juliann Faucette cheers on her teammate from the back line. Both Engle and Faucette have recently been moved around the court to different positions in order to form a stronger offense and provide less predictability for their opponents.

Elliott hopes moving Engle, Faucette will bear good tidings for Longhorns’ attack By Jordan Godwin Daily Texan Staff Head coach Jerritt Elliott is a firm believer that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So when his second-ranked, undefeated Longhorns finally lost their 19th game of the season, Elliott, a mad scientist of his sport, pounced on the opportunity to experiment. Seeing a lack of balance, Elliott changed the lineup before Saturday’s Missouri game to allow senior setter Ashley Engle to play on the attack more often. Engle, who used to play outside hitter for Texas, has been limited in her attack opportunities in the setter role,

so she’ll play outside hitter for half the match, and setter Michelle Kocher will assume the duties for the other half. “No one on our team likes to lose, and we can’t dwell on a single loss,” Engle said. “So we’ve been working hard in practice, and we’re moving some things around, and hopefully it’ll make us a better team.” Engle’s move to outside hitter isn’t the only change Elliott made to help the Texas offense. When she’s not playing hitter on the right side, Juliann Faucette will move to the right to balance the set distribution between herself and senior

Destinee Hooker. Elliott said he expects the moves to benefit the Longhorns on the attack and provide less predictability for opponents. “We now have two potential All-American hitters in Juliann and Ashley on the right side and some great left-side hitters in Destinee and whoever else is there at the time,” Elliott said. “It allows us to utilize our middles more, and I think we’ll definitely see a lot more balance. There’s no other team that has two dominant outside hitters who can play at that level.” In the first game with the adjustments against Missouri,

the Longhorns had five players with double-digit total attacks, all of whom collected at least five kills. And with just five games left on the season before NCAA tournament play begins, Elliott is optimistic that the team will get used to the changes before December. “It’ll take a little bit of time to get used to,” Elliott said. “But we’ve got an experienced, smart team, and they’ll make that adjustment fast.” There’s not a better time to experiment than in tonight’s game against Texas Tech, who ranks last in nearly every major statistical category in the

FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Big 12 Conference. The Red Raiders have lost 16 straight matches and haven’t won a game in Big 12 play. “As a coaching staff, you always put your best foot forward and make the adjustment to try to win a championship,” Elliott said. “These changes will give us more balance and hopefully help us down the road.” WHAT: No. 2 Texas (19-1, 14-1 Big 12) vs. Texas Tech (2-21, 0-14 Big 12) WHERE: Gregory Gym WHEN: 6:30 p.m.

Sophomore Leah Gingrich was selected by collegeswimming.com as the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimmer of the Week after the AllAmerican swept her three individual events and aided the Longhorns in a win over Texas A&M. Gingrich opened the meet by winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9 minutes, 49.06 seconds. She snagged her second victory in the 200 butterfly, where she was victorious with an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 1:58.08. She later added a win in the 500 freestyle at 4:48.19 before anchoring UT’s first-place 400 freestyle relay in 50.64. This marks Gingrich’s first career selection as the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimmer of the Week. Teammate and five-time All-American sophomore Kathleen Hersey earned the honor last week. Gingrich and the Longhorns return to action on Thursday, Dec. 3 when they host the three-day Texas Invitational at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. — Laken Litman

TOP 10

Johnson moving up RB depth chart SEC officials pulling After losing 20 lbs. this season, sophomore tailback is moving piles By Blake Hurtik Daily Texan Staff It’s no coincidence that as Cody Johnson’s weight has decreased, the number of carries he’s had has increased. When the sophomore tailback reported to fall camp weighing more than 260 pounds, he got lost in the Longhorns’ backfield, falling behind Vondrell McGee, Tre’ Newton, Fozzy Whittaker and even D.J. Monroe. But now a slimmed-down Johnson is sitting atop the depth chart for the first time this season as the starting tailback for Texas’ game at Baylor Saturday. His weight? Right around 240. “We were not really pleased with his conditioning shape when he came in,” said offensive coordinator Greg Davis. “But he’s got his weight down now, and he’s always had good vision and good feet.” After opening the season with 15 carries for 70 yards and three touchdowns against Louisiana-Monroe, Johnson had just 18 total carries over Texas’ next five games. He has gotten the bulk of the carries since the Missouri game while splitting time with Whittaker. He leads all running backs with 55 carries but is third in yardage with 207. “The bigger guys need to carry it more than he’s carrying, and that’s what we’d like to do with him Saturday,” said Texas coach Mack Brown. “We’d like to get him 15-20 carries and see

proved he can break longer runs, too. He had touchdowns against Central Florida from 20 and 13 yards. “He broke a tackle on the long touchdown run ... so we think he can help us move the chains,” Brown said.

What flea flicker? Davis hopes you might have missed it, but the Longhorns tried a bit of trickery in the first quarter against Central Florida. Texas ran a flea flicker that seemed to be developing perfectly with wide receiver John Chiles wide-open and deepdown the field — until the pitch. Whittaker’s pitch back to quarterback Colt McCoy bounced off the quarterback’s fingertips and was recovered by Texas for a 13-yard loss, putting the ball inside the Longhorn 5. “Unless you were really paying attention, you probably didn’t know what it was,” Davis said. “It was going to be about an 80-yard touchdown.” Still, the Longhorns won’t erase the play from the playbook. “It worked every time [in practice],” Davis said. Derek Stout | Daily Texan Staff

for a dream matchup By Austin Talbert Daily Texan Columnist

Just in case you have been sleeping for the past few months, let me give a quick rundown of this season. SEC officiating is very bad. I mean Tim Donaghy, “this really can’t be happening by sheer incompetence alone,” BCS conspiracy bad. The SEC will not allow anything to keep their dream match up, No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship game, from happening. Sadly, once this game actually comes to fruition — after at least four more egregious officiating calls to protect the dream

game — the SEC officials will actually be called off the field by the commissioner in order to allow the best possible showdown ever. Without the pesky officials, the true carnage of SEC football will be unleashed. Brandon Spikes will attempt to gouge out Mark Ingram’s eyes for the entirety of the first quarter, during which Tim Tebow will run shirtless through the crowd screaming in an attempt to ensure his reputation as the best leader ever, thus securing his second Heisman trophy. “Meaningful statistics be damned. That Tebow is a leader,” legendary announcer Verne Lundquist will say as Tebow forgoes playing offense during the first half as he works

TCU continues on page 8

Linebackers step up

When senior linebacker Jared Norton went down for the season during the season opener, the Longhorns weren’t sure how they were going to thing that comes in handy with fill the void. the Longhorns’ recent emphaThe job fell to inexperienced sis on a four-yard-at-a-time run- sophomores Emmanuel Acho ning game. and Keenan Robinson, both of And now that he’s dropped BROWN continues on page 8 the weight, Johnson has

Sophomore Cody Johnson trudges over a University of Central Florida defensive back for a touchdown last weekend. Johnson leads all of Texas’ running backs with 55 carries this season. if he can move the pile as the game goes on.” Coaches like his short-yardage success, as he has a teamhigh nine touchdowns and an ability to “move the pile,” some-

John Raoux | Associated Press

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow tries to hold off Vanderbilt linebacker Patrick Benoist as he looks for a receiver to throw to during the game last Saturday’s game.

8 SPTS

SPORTS

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Heisman Watch

BROWN: Acho,

— Dan Hurwitz

1 Case Keenum, Houston

2 Mark Ingram, Alabama

Why not? The Cougar quarterback is more valuable to his team than any other player in the country. Without Keenum, Houston would be fighting to clinch a spot in a bowl game. Even in his team’s lone loss, he threw for 536 yards and five touchdowns. Keenum leads the nation in passing by more than 800 yards and leads the nation in touchdown passes with 28.

3 Colt McCoy, Texas McCoy had a record day against Central Florida last week, throwing for 470 yards and falling only three yards shy of Major Applewhite’s school record — and he did not take a snap in the final nine minutes of the game. McCoy is on the verge of setting another NCAA record with the most wins in a career by a quarterback. So far this season, McCoy has passed for 2,447 yards and 17 touchdowns to lead the undefeated Longhorns to be the third-ranked team in the BCS.

In all of the SEC battles that the Crimson Tide have played in thus far, Ingram has been the lone spark to the offense that has his team undefeated with only three more weeks remaining in the regular season. Ingram’s 144 yards against LSU led the Tide to a win, putting them back at the No. 2 spot in the BCS rankings. Ingram has 1,148 rushing yards on the year with eight touchdowns as well as four receiving scores.

4 Tim Tebow, Florida The Gators continue to win as Tebow continues to get the job done. Tebow has Florida in prime position for another run at a national championship and is the clutch playmaker that can rarely be stopped. Tebow threw for 208 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in the Gators’ 27-3 victory over Vanderbilt. His numbers for the year are 1,531 passing yards, 11 touchdowns in the air and 10 rushing scores.

Big 12 Power Rankings

— Will Anderson

S OUTH :

Texas: Texas controls its own destiny. The Longhorns could clinch the South crown as early as two weeks from now against Kansas. They will have to take care of Baylor first, though. If the best team in the conference can avoid any serious meltdowns in the next three games, Texas will face Kansas State or Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Dec. 5.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys are actually still in the race for the South, but to get there, they will have to defeat Texas Tech, Colorado and Oklahoma and Texas must also drop two of its next three. As a two-loss team at No. 19 in the BCS standings, Oklahoma State will make a mid-level bowl if they can win out. Head coach Mike Gundy has proven his team belongs in the South discussion, and a big test awaits in three weeks at Oklahoma, where they haven’t won since 2001.

Texas Tech: On- and off-field problems have hampered the Red Raiders in 2009, from Twittergate to quarterback injuries. Coach Mike Leach failed to get his team ready for big games against Houston and Kansas, but this Tech squad has a much more balanced attack. The strength of a 6-3 record helps the Red Raiders despite having just one win against a ranked opponent.

Oklahoma: Losing to Nebraska can certainly hurt your national standing, and scoring just three points against the Cornhuskers will do much worse. The Sooners fell out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2005, and their 5-4 record is the secondworst in coach Bob Stoops’ tenure. But Oklahoma still has a potent attack and one of the best defensive fronts in the conference, if not the country (their last two losses, to Texas and Nebraska, came by a combined 10 points). The Sooners get Texas A&M at home before their Bedlam game versus Oklahoma State on Nov. 28, where anything can happen.

Texas A&M: The Aggies are having some identity problems this season. First, Arkansas stunned them, 47-19. Then, they gave then-No.15 Oklahoma State a fight the following week, but after that, collapsed in a 48-point loss to Kansas State. Since then, Texas A&M beat Texas Tech and Iowa State but was upset by a six-loss Colorado team last week. The inconsistency doesn’t bode well for the Aggies, who have both Oklahoma and Texas left on their schedule.

Baylor: The Bears are the only team in the South with an overall record less than .500 and have managed just one conference win. After an early victory against Wake Forest, many predicted a turnaround season in Waco and even the possibility of a bowl game; however, Baylor has been hit hard by injuries, like the loss of starting quarterback Robert Griffin. To reach a bowl, the Bears would have to win their last three contests, a tough stretch beginning this week versus Texas.

N ORTH :

Kansas State: The Wildcats held on to defeat rival Kansas 17-10 over the weekend, keeping their spot atop the Big 12 North secure for the time being. Kansas State is playing well in Manhattan, averaging 11.9 more points per game and posting a 5-0 record — good news, since the Wildcats get Missouri at home next. But, KSU must travel to Lincoln to finish off the season against a resurgent Nebraska team.

Nebraska: Don’t expect the Cornhusker offense to break records anytime soon, but the defense certainly looked of championship caliber last week, holding the mighty Sooners to just three total points. The Huskers are now No. 2 in the country in scoring defense. Nebraska is riding a momentous high that could make them very dangerous in the race for the North.

Iowa State: The Cyclones’ upset of Nebraska two weeks ago lost some luster when Iowa State was crushed by Oklahoma State. Still, the team is 5-5 and has a chance to improve its Big 12 standing against Colorado at home this week. Iowa State will then face a debilitated Missouri on the road and have a chance to finish third in the division, which would be a huge boon to first-year head coach Paul Rhoads.

Colorado: Colorado has the North’s third-best conference record yet sits at 3-6 overall. A number of surprising wins mark the Buffaloes’ resume, including an upset of then-No. 17 Kansas. Yet the Buffs are struggling to find steady offensive producers and will face stiff competition in the final three games against Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

Kansas: The season started with so much promise for head coach Mark Mangino — a Top 25 ranking, two Biletnikoff nominees, a Heisman dark horse — but in the end, a glaring lack of defense doomed the Jayhawks. After starting the season 5-0, Kansas imploded in conference play and has lost four straight by an average of 10 points. Up next is the division’s hottest team, Nebraska, and then a road trip to Austin. The only question left for the season: does Mack Brown prefer his Jayhawk medium rare or well done?

Missouri: Last year’s North champs are precariously perched near the edge of a very dramatic plunge; the slightest nudge could derail them for the rest of the year. This week’s game at Kansas State probably looked like a “gimmie” at the beginning of the season, but now the Tigers will have to fight for their lives on the road for a much-needed win against Bill Snyder’s reborn Wildcats. Missouri’s 1-4 Big 12 record is identical to the Jayhawk’s, but Mizzou boasts the added humiliation of losing to Baylor at home.

5 Kellen Moore, Boise State Moore has been nearly perfect this year for the undefeated Broncos, including his most recent performance against Louisiana Tech in which he passed for 354 yards and three touchdowns. Moore has only thrown three interceptions this year and is second in the nation in touchdowns with 27 and 2,259 yards through the air. Moore has fulfilled his duties by defeating his opponents.

Robinson step up on defense From page 7 whom had just 35 tackles combined and zero career starts between them. But both have been pleasant surprises for Texas. Robinson is fourth on the team in tackles (41). Acho is fifth (38) and has 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. “I’m amazed by the improvement by Keenan Robinson. He and Emmanuel Acho have made some plays that I would not have bet last spring that they’d be making,” Brown said. “It’s interesting when you talk about who you’re losing, and you’re worried about who’s going to replace them ... I do think that, in programs like ours, those kids feel an urgency to step up.”

Williams good to go Nickel cornerback Aaron Williams, who missed last week’s game with a knee injury, has been cleared to play and was at Tuesday’s practice at “full speed.” Brown said Williams could have played against Central Florida but was held out as a precaution and wasn’t needed.

TCU: College GameDay heads

to non-BCS school this week

I bet they would make great up a school-record 711 yards of roommates and even better hunt- offense. A Friday-night showdown with West Virginia is the the Gator fans, and most Bama ing and fishing partners. biggest hurdle for the Bearcats fans into a tizzy. before a trip to Pittsburgh to end In this time, Greg McElFlorida the season. roy will throw no less than Tim Tebow rushed for 5 interceptions, one of which 27 yards on 16 carries Spikes will catch one-handed Georgia Tech against Vanderbilt, and I must without ever interrupting his T h e Ye l l o w j a c k say, it was the most thrilling 27 gouging attempt. ets failed on four key yards I have ever seen. TV ratings will spike midThe Gators need to be on red fourth-down conversions in regway through the third quaralert because after this week’s ulation, but the fifth try, in overter when Tebow’s body slams time, was finally successful and 365-pound Crimson Tide de- game at South Carolina, they enough to set up the game-winwill face two non-SEC teams fensive tackle Terrence Cody on ning touchdown run by quarterhis way to gaining two yards and will therefore not have the back Josh Nesbitt. While Wake superb protection only SEC ofin what will be the game’s inficiating can provide ... NOT. Forrest slowed Nesbitt down a augural first down. bit, Georgia Tech’s offense conIn response, one play later, Florida International and Flortinued to cruise, racking up 412 ida State — who have a comCody will eat Florida running yards rushing in the win. bined total of six wins — both back Jeff Demps — and Mel travel to the Swamp, where, Kiper will immediately proIowa claim Tebow and Cody the as the home team, Florida will top-two draft prospects out have SEC officials. Ricky Stanzi went of fear. down, and so did the After 60 minutes of carnage, Alabama Hawkeyes as Iowa’s improbthere will still be no score, at While Greg McElroy able and sometimes incomwhich time, all six of the BCS tried his hardest to keep prehensible undefeated seacomputer polls and every hu- LSU in the game, the Alabama son finally ended. Stanzi, the man voter will be clamor- quarterback was still the best sig- Hawkeyes miracle-working ing for a Florida-Alabama re- nal caller in the game. Even if shaman of late, might return match for the National Cham- SEC officials had awarded the Ti- for the Hawkeyes’ bowl game pionship. gers their rightful interception, after having surgery. At this moment, the SEC of- does anyone think that Jarrett That game could still be the ficials will return to the field Lee would lead LSU on a game- Rose Bowl if the Hawkeyes can under direction of the BCS winning drive? somehow conquer Ohio State commissioners and postpone in the Horseshoe this weekend. the completion of the game TCU for the BCS National ChamPittsburgh pionship. The Horned Frogs are Things don’t get any When asked why the BCS finally getting some ateasier for struggling postponed the SEC Champi- tention as ESPN’s College Gameonship before overtime could Day program will be traveling Notre Dame this weekend. After decide an actually victor, the to Fort Worth for this weekend’s their embarrassing loss to Navy six computer polls will re- TCU-Utah showdown. It will be at home, the Domers must travs p o n d i n u n i s o n : w e h a d the second time a TCU game has el to face Pittsburgh and Dave to act before “Mack Brown been featured this season. The Wannstedt’s powerful mustache. Good luck, Charlie and Jimmy. [could] get his political ma- Frogs’ matchup with BYU also You’ll need it. chine rolling.” lured the pregame show. “NOOO!” I scream. I wake up, peel my head Utah Boise State off the keyboard and note the The Utes are This weekend is the drool pooling between the b good again. Kyle Broncos’ biggest test left and n keys. “Just another horrible BCS- against, you guessed it, intrastate Whittingham has his team rollSEC conspiracy nightmare,” I rival Idaho. And though the Van- ing, and after last season’s unsigh. “I wonder if I should tell dals have dropped two of their defeated campaign, Utah has last three games, they are still a only lost one game in nearanyone about them.” ly two years. The Utes fell at respectable 7-3 on the season. Oregon by only a touchdown, Texas which, in comparison to USC, Cincinnati looks like a great loss. When I watch Texas The Bearcasts escaped If they can drop TCU this play, it is hard not to noa shootout with Con- weekend, they may be making tice the chemistry Colt McCoy and necticut Saturday while racking another BCS date. Jordan Shipley have together.

From page 7

7 8

Jeter cleans up with numerous awards, including his fourth Gold Glove By Mike Fitzpatrick The Associated Press NEW YORK — Derek Jeter sure is stuffing his trophy case this year. The steady Yankees shortstop won his fourth Gold Glove on Tuesday, joining New York first baseman Mark Teixeira in the group of American League players rewarded for fantastic fielding. “I’ve always taken a great deal of pride in my defense, and being honored with a Gold Glove is an accomplishment I

will never overlook,” said Jeter in a statement. Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter and Seattle right fielder Ichiro Suzuki both won for the ninth straight season. First-time winners included Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria, Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones and Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle. Rawlings has presented Gold Gloves annually since 1957. Managers and coaches vote on players in their own leagues before

the regular season ends, but they may not select members of their own teams. National League winners will be announced Wednesday. It’s been a banner year for Jeter, who combined with Teixeira to help lead the Yankees past Philadelphia last week for the franchise’s 27th World Series title. In addition to his fifth championship ring, Jeter also took home baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award for excellence on the field and in the community, and

his second Hank Aaron Award as the AL’s top hitter. In September, he broke Lou Gehrig’s club record for hits. A 10-time All-Star, Jeter won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 2004-06. But detractors pointed to modern fielding stats that indicated his defense didn’t warrant such accolades. They said it was his bat that brought on the attention — and the New York spotlight. This season, Jeter made a career-low eight errors and matched his personal best with

a .986 fielding percentage, both ranking at the top of the AL charts. He anchored an outstanding Yankees infield as New York set a major league record by going 18 games without an error from May 14 to June 1. “Playing championship-caliber baseball starts with pitching and defense, and I think those two components were certainly the foundation for our success in 2009,” Jeter said. Teixeira played a big part in New York’s title, too.

In his first season with the Yankees after signing a $180 million, eight-year contract, Teixeira impressed with his reliable glove as well as his powerful bat. He saved runs with diving stops, nimble stretches and tough scoops. Teammates and opponents alike pointed to his substantial effect on the club’s overall defense. A Gold Glove winner in 2005 and ‘06 with Texas, Teixeira committed just four errors this year and had a .997 fielding percentage.

9 CLASS

LIFE&ARTS

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Singer-songwriter proffers pumpkin-related opinions

PUMP IT UP

By Ben Wermund Editor’s Note: This is the eighth article in a series about the autumnal obsession with pumpkin. When it comes to pumpkin love, singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins has some unexpectedly deep thoughts. In a recent phone conversation about Perkins’ tour, which started on Halloween and includes a show at the Parish Room Friday, the line grew quiet when the topic took a quick shift from Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble, the first stop of the tour, to pumpkins. “How do I feel about them? Like

carving them, or eating them?” he asked, then paused and took on a decidedly interested tone. “I’m more of an eater than a carver of pumpkins,” he declared. “The more I think about something like that, like carving a pumpkin, it seems like somebody, somewhere really needs to eat that pumpkin, and to carve it and be merry and carefree just strikes me as having something a little culturally off about it ... not to be a downer on anybody’s pumpkin carving.” Perkins said he has never tried a pumpkin milkshake, but he would like to. So much so, that he willingly sat through nearly five minutes of a rambling description of the sickening drink — he even accepted a call back after our first one was dropped and asked me to continue explaining the beverage. I opted out and instead asked him if he was aware of pumpkin shampoo, thinking that he, after having written the song “Shampoo,” must be an expert. As someone who does not use shampoo, he was not aware. “It seems like man will do just about anything to candy up his

Elvis Perkins talks to “Pump It Up” columnist Ben Wermund about his penchant for pumpkins. Photo from Elvis Perkins.

And a Jay-Z song was on

brain and his experience and make it a sensory phenomenon — his life,” he said. “So sure, pumpkin shampoo, why not?” His song certainly would have been different had he known about the pumpkin option prior to writing it, he decided. “It would have been a better song and longer, because there would have to be a verse about pumpkin shampoo,” he said, adding that he may throw in a verse for the Austin show this week. With Thanksgiving fast approaching and Halloween just past, our gourd-related conversation took a turn toward pumpkin-related holidays. As a vegetarian, he seemed less than enthused about Thanksgiving in general. “We’ll be on a break, so we’ll Daniela Trujillo | Daily Texan Staff have access to our loved ones and Jay- Z performs at the Frank Erwin Center Tuesday night. The artist opened the show by asking fans to our houses and homes,” he said. sing “The Eyes of Texas.” Jay- Z recently released his eleventh studio album, The Blueprint 3 on Sept. 8, “However, I’ve put a moratori2009. um on the eating of land and air animals, so I won’t be experiencing a traditional thanksgiving this year.” Regardless of whether his feast will feature turkey, tofurkey emotional moments was the By Jocelyn Noveck They were pardoned in early (which he has seriously mixed award to pediatrician Jane Aron- August after a trip to Pyongyang The Associated Press feelings about) or strictly vegNEW YORK — Even for a ven- son, who works to better the lives by Clinton, who also mentioned gies, he said he feels his chances ue as grand as New York’s Carn- of orphans overseas and founded the ordeal in his remarks, calling of indulging in the most imporegie Hall, there was a pretty daz- the Worldwide Orphans Founda- the day of their release one of the tant part of Thanksgiving — the zling concentration of star pow- tion. She was in tears after Cou- happiest of his life. pumpkin pie — are pretty good. er at Glamour magazine’s Wom- ric introduced her, even more Also honored was fashion de“It’s hard to know what you’re so when surprised onstage by signer Stella McCartney. Her en of the Year awards. getting when you’re getting Pop star Rihanna was there, a group of her “kids,” children dad, Paul McCartney, wasn’t pumpkin pie,” he pointed out. in the most body-hugging of from foreign countries, now ad- there, but Stella was shocked to “Did they just take it from a can, gowns. Tennis star Serena Wil- opted by American families. see three Beatle wives presentand if so, should they be reward“You know I’ve never had a ing her award: Yoko Ono, widliams was there, too, in a bright ed for that? I recently had a nice red, one-shoulder number. Mi- surprise party,” she said. “Until ow of John Lennon; Olivia Harripiece, though. I don’t know who chael Douglas and Catherine Ze- tonight.” son, widow of George; and Ringo made it. Maybe it was heavenShe got a standing ovation, as Starr’s wife, Barbara Starkey. ta-Jones were presenters; so were sent.” 1 Katie Couric and former Presi- did the Iranian women of the Tyra Banks presented the Pumpkin pie is one of the two One Million Signatures Cam- award to tennis champion Seredent Bill Clinton. things he hopes to experience And there were not one but paign, introduced by CNN anna Williams, who also addressed while in Austin. chor Christiane Amanpour. The the young women in the crowd: three Beatle wives. “I would like to be fully LASSIFIEDS subBut the biggest ovation at women are working toward gen- “You can do whatever you want merged in Barton Springs one of Monday evening’s award cer- der equality in Iran. to do. The most important belief these times,” he said. “I’ve only Model Iman, who present- is self-belief.” emony went to the 81-year-old dipped a foot in at one moment poet Maya Angelou, whose soar- ed Rihanna’s award, referred Maria Shriver was honored when I didn’t have the proper ing words on the power of wom- to the singer’s ordeal early this for her work on various wombathing equipment. Instead of eatanhood brought many to tears year, when she was assaulted en’s issues, among other things. ing something, I’d like to be eaten and nearly everyone to their feet. by boyfriend and fellow sing- The first lady of California also by that body of water — and mayWomen, Angelou told the er Chris Brown. Rihanna initial- produced a documentary this be have some pumpkin pie, just to crowd in her speech, “are rain- ly returned to Brown but said last year on Alzheimer ’s disease, tie it all together.” week that she regrets it, because which afflicts her father, Sargent bows in the clouds.” “I am grateful to be a wom- it sent the wrong message to her Shriver. an,” said Angelou, who won fans. Brown has pleaded guilty And actor Michael Dougthe lifetime achievement award. to felony assault. las presented the award to Su“Now I am even more im- san Rice, the U.S. ambassador “I must have done something great in another life.” As for the pressed with her dignity and to the United Nations, who was men: “You have to write your courage,” Iman said, noting that also lauded via video by Presiown poem,” the poet said to Rihanna would serve as a role dent Barack Obama. At a dinner laughter, including from Clin- model to victims of domestic later, Rice said she was inspired ton, the man who had called violence. by many of her fellow honorees, WHAT: Regina Spektor Other honorees recently in and mentioned Aronson, the peupon her to recite poetry at his the headlines were Laura Ling diatrician who works with orinauguration. WHERE: Stubb’s Bar-B-Q The annual Glamour Women and Euna Lee, the American TV phans, whose work she hadn’t of the Year awards always honor journalists who were arrested in been familiar with. WHEN: Tonight a group of eclectic women, and North Korea and sentenced to “We could do some real dam12 years hard labor after briefly this year was no exception. age together,” Rice said with a TICKETS: Sold out. One of the evening’s most crossing the border from China. smile.

Big names receive women’s awards

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SPEKTOR: Desperate students can look

to Craigslist for last-minute tickets From page 12 “I haven’t seen her before,” said Kutner. “Her new album is the only one that doesn’t have at least three songs on it that weird me out. It only has one song that

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CLASSIFIEDS THE DAILY TEXAN

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11 ENT

Life&Arts

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

group: Organization strives to

Wednesday

accomplish cultural immersion last part of the summer will be 25 to 30 students from all over the spend the first week-and-a- country working on all these varhalf without even taking out a ious projects.” camera.” Consequently, this year marks the first in a new era for Students Young people can of the World as they make the shift from solely working with be some of the best non-governmental organizations storytellers in the to focusing on specific social isworld ...” sues important to the students themselves. Sending out three — Courtney teams — one from UT, one from Spence the University of North Carolina and an all-star team comStudents of the World prised of students from all the founder and director other university chapters, SOW will be a full summer internship experience. “We really want to make it a more holistic experience than The recruitment and applicaever before,” Spence said. “We tion process for the upcoming sewill bring the teams to Austin a mester begins this week and will week prior to travel, do our train- last for a couple of weeks before ing session here, go out into the the interview process begins. field for four weeks, and then the Students involved in past sum-

From page 12

‘‘

Courtesy of Trey McIntyre Project

The Trey McIntyre Project will bring its unique spin on dance to Austin tonight at the Bass Concert Hall. Photo from the Trey McIntyre Project.

Classical ballet music, pop fuse in dance performance Choreographer exhibits ‘innovative,’ ‘fresh’ take on traditional dancing By Abby Johnston Daily Texan Staff The “So You Think You Can Dance” generation generally writes ballet off as whirling tutus set to rigid classical music. But, by cutting and pasting ballet basics with innovative art media and a unique style, the Trey McIntyre Project has instilled new hope for the classical dance style. Choreographer Trey McIntyre, who has trained with the Houston ballet, made his project a full-time effort in 2008 when he received critical success with smaller summer tours. In its second year, the nine-member company left its base in Boise, Idaho, for a tour across the United States and overseas. Its innovative and fresh outlook on dance has likewise gained more attention along the way.

This is not ballet just to be appreciated by critics and dance connoisseurs. The Trey McIntyre Project seeks to move the audience and break down the barriers that classical ballet often sets for itself. McIntyre, a young choreographer, uses modern pop music mixed with works from Beethoven, giving a basis for fresh and smart choreography. “He has vast musical tastes, and I really appreciate that because I love music, and that’s pretty much one of the biggest reasons I dance,” said company member Ilana Goldman. “I appreciate the musicality of his choreography.” After training at Julliard and dancing with both the Oakland and Sacramento Ballets, Goldman can appreciate the unique nature of McIntyre’s work. “Just the fact that he calls it the Trey McIntyre Project instead of ‘ballet company’ or ‘dance company’ reflects the fact that he believes that it’s a company where

we embrace art in general and not just dance,” Goldman said. The project has served as inspiration for local artists in Boise with “9+1,” an art exhibit coordinated by McIntyre that features “portraits” inspired and based on the dancers and McIntyre himself. The Trey McIntyre Project is not about impressing audiences with dancers’ technicality or creating the “Prima ballerina” image – so leave the tutus at home. “What the company really tries to put out with the interaction with the audience and the public is that we’re real people,” Goldman said. “There are a lot of things that we do that address that, and I think in the work itself, he just wants us to be real people, and audiences connect to that.” WHAT: Trey McIntyre Project WHERE: Bass Concert Hall WHEN: Tonight

LAST CHANCE OF THE SEMESTER

for yearbook and graduation photos!

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

mers head up the application process, because after going through the program, Courtney recognized that the students not only feel a real ownership of the organization but also have the best understanding of what type of student it takes. “The fundamental characteristics we look for are an innate curiosity — people who are genuinely curious for the sake of learning about others and being very open and warm about that, people who are compassionate and people who are flexible,” Spence said. “Young people can be some of the best storytellers in the world because they have a lot of willingness to completely jump in and immerse themselves into a project.” To see work from past summers go to seechangenow.org. For more information about Students of the World and how to apply visit studentsoftheworld.org.

hump: Male health care typically fails

to address STI protection, treatment From page 12 that hardness and friction are the only things necessary for a pleasurable sexual experience for males. But the most important piece of this puzzle is the recognition that the most common sexually transmitted infections are asymptomatic in men and that the failure of the American public to recognize necessary health care precautions to protect men and their partners from the risks of untreated STI infections is unacceptable. If proper reproductive health and sexuality information was better distributed across the pop- ally transmitted infections, could ulation to all genders, the preva- be decreased. lence of preventable and curable For more information about where illnesses, including many sexu- to access reproductive health in-

Illustration by Edgar Vega

formation and care here on the UT campus, please refer to the University Health Services website, www. healthyhorns.utexas.edu.

12 LIFE

Life&Arts

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

T he Daily Texan

Group allows for students to travel, document change By Molly Wahlberg Daily Texan Staff Euripides once wrote that “Experience, travel — these are as education in themselves.” Courtney Spence, founder and director of Students of the World, agrees. Spence started the organization as a sophomore at Duke University after returning from a summer abroad in London. She wanted to do something internationally and have the ON THE WEB: freedom to take on a lot Check out of personal a video on responsibiliStudents of the ty, as well. World “There @dailytexan were a lot of online.com programs at the time that sent students abroad, but there wasn’t a lot of autonomy and creativity and responsibility as a part of those programs,” Spence said. That was 10 years ago. Today, Students of the World sends university teams to developing areas, where they partner with various philanthropic organizations affecting change and document this change through film, writing and photography. “The service we provide is not building schools or teach-

ing English but capturing peoples’ stories and providing the platform from which their stories could be told to both raise awareness and funding for the organization,” Spence said. “We empower young people to go into communities to learn from and really engage in organizations that are providing very practical but very innovative solutions to social problems, and we are sort of a magnifying glass for their stories and the lives that they change.” Partnered with the Clinton Global Initiative, a non-partisan catalyst for action founded by former President Bill Clinton in 2005 that brings together a community of global leaders from various backgrounds to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, Students of the World has spent its past four years working with CGI members. “Part of what they [CGI organizations] love about us is that we come at it from a youth perspective,” Spence said. “We’re not a professional production company that they pay to go in for three days. We send young people in for a month to really immerse themselves in a community. Quite often they’ll

GROUP continues on page 11

Daniela Trujillo | Daily Texan Staff

Courtney Spencer founded Students of the World, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the media movement nation wide.

Lauren Gerson | Daily Texan Staff

Casserole Queens, Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock run a food delivery service that gets home-cooked dinners on the table by 5 p.m.

Duo offers fresh take on casserole

By Layne Lynch Daily Texan Staff Channeling the 1950s in cute aprons and with delicious casseroles on hand, Sandy Pollock and Crystal Cook are setting the Austin food delivery scene on fire with their unique style and delicious one-dish meals. And with a recent appearance on the Food Network Show “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” the quirky duo is onto something original. The two women, best friends since meeting at work in an ad agency, came up with their business over cocktails after work. They started the business on a wing and a prayer, but both had previous experiences in food. Pollock graduated from the prestigious French Culinary Institute, and Cook learned her techniques from her mother, a caterer. Using family recipes and innovation, the pair created a menu of more than 20 items. It includes breakfast casseroles, vegetarian casseroles, light casseroles, dessert casseroles and classic casseroles such as chicken pot pie and king ranch casserole — all available for delivery in the Austin area. But in planning their business, they didn’t only want to make casseroles; they also aspired to channel the idea of “June Cleaver in the new millennia.”

“We were looking at an old Betty Crocker cookbook, and it had all of these ridiculous tips for housewives,” Pollock said. “It suggested things like lying on the kitchen floor if you got tired, as if [the women] weren’t allowed to leave the kitchen. It said to always put on pearls, have the children dressed and ready for when your husband came home and to not bother the husband with your problems. A lot of it was ridiculous, but it was a time when everything was about the family. We wanted to channel that but put a modern spin on it.” The duo developed their image by delivering food in complete 1950s housewife attire to their hungry customers. Eventually, the two women got a call from the Food Network asking them to submit a demo tape for a series the network was doing on comfort food. Ecstatically, they submitted a tape on their chicken pot pie, positive that they would hear back. “We were so confident we would hear back from them. Everything went perfectly in the video,” said Cook. More than a year passed with no word. At the same time, the business was struggling. “We were almost out of business,” Cook said. “We were just letting things be what

they were and preparing to move on.” Then, more than a year-and-a-half after submitting the demo tape, the Food Network called, saying they wanted to include them on the series. With only two weeks before filming began, the twosome prepared for the network’s arrival. From the start, they were suspicious of what the Food Network was really up to. And after one day of filming, Bobby Flay swung open the doors and challenged them to a chicken pot pie throwdown. “The editing room was so kind to me in editing, because if you look at my eyes on the video, they were literally bug eyes. I was so scared,” Cook said. After a hard fight, Flay judged the throwdown and Flay determined the winner. Despite their loss, Cook and Pollock were looking much more at the big picture: their business was born again. “After that, business snowballed,” Pollock said. Since then, the women have built a customer base in Austin and hope to expand with a cookbook to be released next fall. “We don’t want to be one-dish wonders,” Pollock said. “We are excited to explore other arenas.”

Male sex organ remains mysterious to many Quirky vocals attract fans By contrast, American men do not receive routine health examinations, and the health care that men do receive is almost never related to sexual health.

HUMP DAY By Mary Lingwall

What is, on average, about five inches long and one inch wide? What is the frenulum, and why is it awesome? What is the most common symptom of an STI infection in males?

For many young Americans, the answers to these questions are not obvious. And we can’t really blame them. In popular culture, penises are expected to be much larger than the average (five inches in length and about one in width). Jokes and assumptions about male sexual arousal assume that all a

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guy needs is to get hard and rub against something (ignoring the fact that there are details to his penis’ sensitivity). Men are rarely encouraged to seek out routine medical care, especially regarding sexual health matters like STI testing. Oddly enough, I was struck with this realization after reading Alex Mindlin’s article on gender and loyalty in The New York Times called “The Male Version of Customer Loyalty.” Published in July, Mindlin’s article reported on a study that asserted that males are twice as loyal to hospitals as women, while women are more likely than men to be loyal to one doctor. But more important than who is more loyal is why. The difference is that women are encouraged to seek professional health services on a regular basis with the same doctor, mainly their gynecologists. Gynecological visits usually include not only a physical examination but also discussions on a variety of topics from birth control to cervical cancer screenings. By contrast, most American men do not receive routine health examinations, and the health care that men do receive is almost never related to sexual health. Men tend to go to hospitals for acute

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care, rather than directly to doctors for preventative care. In a study of a sample of males aged 20 to 44 only “48 percent of men reported receiving sexual and reproductive health services in the past year. The testicular exam was the most commonly received service, but half of men who had had a testicular exam had received no other sexual and reproductive health services [including counseling],” according to researchers Debra Kalmuss and Carrie Tatum. “Men who have sex with women are not receiving adequate levels of sexual and reproductive health care, and the care they receive is neither comprehensive nor integrated,” reported Kalmuss and Tatum in the November 2007 edition of “Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.” It is misleading to give the impression that all American women receive proper health care or information on sexual health topics, but it is hardly deniable that women are more encouraged than men to be proactive about their health. This leaves men with anecdotal Dane Cook jokes, Viagra and Levitra commercials and advice from AskMen.com. With this in mind, it is no wonder that it is assumed that penises must be gigantic, that men are rudimentary sex tools whose only function is to get hard and thrust at something and that reproductive health is only an issue when symptoms are acute. In reality, average erect penis size is not that of a Trojan Magnum (nine inches), and considering the size of most bodily orifices, a nine-inch penis is more of a problem for a partner than a highly desired luxury. And surprisingly enough, the male arousal system is just as delicate as the female’s, with sensitive erogenous zones that debunk the idea

HUMP continues on page 11

to sold-out performance Regina Spektor breathes new life into older songs by adding unusual twists

By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff Regina Spektor will play a soldout show at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin tonight as part of a national headlining tour in support of her new album, Far, released June 23. Show attendees can look forward to a lively evening of solid pop music from a songstress who has a reputation for exceeding expectations and spicing up her songs with unusual twists when she performs. Concert-goers can expect a mix of older material, but shows on the tour have put the emphasis on Far. The album sold 50,000 copies

in its first week, hitting the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at number 3, outshining Begin To Hope (2006), which topped out on the chart at number 20. Brooklyn indie-rockers Jupiter One, whose full-length album Sunshower was released in September, will open for Spektor. The band’s synth-based rock should provide a pleasant accompaniment to Spektor’s piano pop performance. Because Spektor’s fresh take on pop appeals to a young audience, many UT students will make their way to Stubb’s tonight. Jenny Kutner, a Plan II and women and gender studies freshman, said she is looking forward to her first Spektor concert after being a fan of the artist for a few years.

SPEKTOR continues on page 11

Courtesy of Regina Spektor

Singer/Songwriter Regina Spektor will be bringing her unique style to Stubb’s Bar-B-Q tonight.