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THE DAILY TEXAN Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
Break out your hand turkey and check out the video giving special thanks to UT donors
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GILBERT SAYS GOODBYE
Former starting quarterback: ‘Expectations weren’t too high’
TOP 10
Our weekly series, which normally runs Thursday, will return tomorrow with a look at the best bathrooms on campus.
Downward dog
Join the club every Thursday to practice yoga asanas and meditation. Class is free and open to all skill levels. Yogi Dada Nabhaniilananda will join as a guest this week. Club meets from 5 - 6:30 p.m. in the Eastwoods Room in the Texas Union Building.
Go abroad
Ye-Z in Love Sing-Along
Alamo Drafthouse is hosting a Beyonce and Jay-Z sing-along, chock full of 120 minutes of pure hip-hop genius. Event is at 9:45 p.m. at the Village location. Tickets are $12.
Get Punchd!
Google is offering a free food truck lunch in the Co-op parking lot from 12-5 p.m. for early adopters of its new app, Punchd! Download the app online and show up for local wares and live music.
Today in history In 1973
President Richard Nixon utters the famous statement that he is “not a crook” to newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook,” Nixon said. “Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
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Quote to note “When I work with an animal, I’ll get a feeling, or I’ll get pictures, or sometimes I’ll get words. When that information comes forward, I have to trust it and put it out there, [and say] this is what I’m getting.” — Marti Miller Pet psychologist LIFE&ARTS PAGE 10
Looming tuition increase causes student distress By Liz Farmer Daily Texan Staff
TEXAN
Learn about different opportunities for communications majors at the Study Abroad Festival hosted by Communication Council from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the CMA plaza. Admission is free.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Former Longhorn quarterback Garrett Gilbert came to Texas with high expectations but left the program after a 7-7 record as a starter. Gilbert will enroll at Southern Methodist University in January and continue his career with the Mustangs. By Christian Corona & Trey Scott Daily Texan Staff
Feb. 7, 2008:
“I am here to announce my commitment to the University of Texas ... I’m very excited about this opportunity. I feel very blessed ... It’s been my dream ever since I moved to Austin.” Garrett Gilbert was the top-ranked
quarterback in the state and a senior-tobe for the Lake Travis Cavaliers when he committed to play football for the Texas Longhorns. With the Cavaliers, he won two state championships and rewrote the state’s record books. Gilbert was expected to be the next great Texas quarterback. There was no doubt. So how did he get here? How Gilbert, the most prolific quarterback in Texas high school history, finds himself in a
situation deemed impossible — benched, hurt and on his way out of town — is surreal, even to him. “I don’t know why it happened, but for whatever reason, it didn’t work out [at Texas],” Gilbert told The Daily Texan. “All my focus is forward. I try not to get disappointed by the past because I feel like I’ve got a great opportunity ahead of me.”
GILBERT continues on PAGE 9
INSIDE: Gilbert reflects on his career at Texas, looks ahead to SMU on page 9
Student leader faces backlash from comment about Obama By Nick Hadjigeorge Daily Texan Staff
Lauren Pierce, president of the UT College Republicans and secretary of the statewide Texas College Republicans, is facing the consequences of a tweet she posted voicing her opinion about President Barack Obama and referencing the gunfire directed at the White House last Friday. “Y’all as tempting as it may be, don’t shoot Obama,” Pierce said in her tweet. “We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we’ve EVER had! #2012.” Pierce’s tweet followed the news
of the Pennsylvania State Police’s arrest of 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez in connection with the White House gunfire incident. Last Friday, gunshots were reported in front of the White House and bullets were found on White House grounds, according to the Associated Press. An assault-style rifle and empty shell cases were found in a car which were all tied to the suspect after shots were reported. Pierce later apologized on Twitter, saying she regrets publishing the tweet and that it was in poor taste.
TWITTER continues on PAGE 2
Thanks Day event celebrates contributions to UT funding By John Farey Daily Texan Staff
Students participated in Thanks Day outside Gregory Gym on Wednesday by signing a giant thank-you card to be presented to UT’s alumni and donors at a special Texas Exes Thanksgiving dinner next Thursday. Donations are essential to securing UT’s $2.26 billion annual operating budget, said Julie Lucas, assistant director for development at the University Development Office. Student tuition and fees only make up 24 percent, less than half the 54 percent provided annually by alumni gifts. The event, organized by Students Hooked On Texas, was de-
signed to educate UT students on what it takes to create and fund a “Longhorn” education. Students filled in turkey-hand letters, writing the names of anyone they were thankful to on the fingers, to be sent to alumni. Lucas said donations have been very stable year to year despite the current economic climate. Donations were not being sought at Thanks Day, Lucas said. “All we want to do is say thank you to everyone who participates, whether they’re UT parents, alumni, donors, faculty, staff, taxpayers, state legislators and everyone else, for helping to make our students’ education possible,” Lucas said.
THANKS continues on PAGE 2
Students have voiced concerns about possible tuition increases which are intended to improve four-year graduation rates and worry that those goals favor timely graduation rates over quality education. About 50 people attended a Tuition Policy Advisory Committee forum about tuition recommendations for 2012-2014 on Wednesday. TPAC is considering recommending the largest tuition increases that the UT System will allow in order to cover budget shortfalls. The committee will make their tuition recommendations to President William Powers Jr. on Nov. 28 and Powers will recommend his own tuition policies to the UT System Board of Regents on how to set tuition for 2012-2014. The UT System administration set a 2.6 percent cap on tuition increases for in-state undergraduates and a 3.6 percent increase for all other students. The System gave directives that any tuition increase should be tied to improving four-year graduation rates. Business freshman Sunny Das pointed to the proposed 3.6 percent tuition increase for non-resident students like himself. Das said he wondered whether UT would become less-desirable for non-resident students if tuition increased. Student Government President Natalie Butler, a TPAC member, said as a non-resident student herself, she thinks the University recognizes the value of students from outside of Texas, but the state legislature emphasizes educating Texans as more important. “I think the more of us here the better,” Butler said. Social work senior Faith Sandberg said she claimed AP credits for college credit at a much lower cost than the tuition for the same credits. Sandberg asked if TPAC has considered increasing fees to keep the proposed
TUITION continues on PAGE 2
Controversial longhorn will not attend game By John Farey Daily Texan Staff
The “horns down” longhorn that generated controversy in online forums will not appear during the halftime show at the annual Thanksgiving football rivalry between UT and Texas A&M, said an A&M spokesman. Since first being posted online in the forum section of the TexAgs website around Nov. 8, a photo depicting a longhorn whose horns have been purposefully weighed down so that they curl under the chin has spawned animal welfare concerns from Longhorns, Aggies and animal activists. The original photo was removed without explanation, but a post containing the image on the Texas Exes’ Alcalde blog has generated 49,750 hits in just more than 24 hours. Jason Cook, spokesman for the Texas A&M University System, said the photo was not endorsed by A&M, confirming that the longhorn will not be appearing at halftime during the game as originally rumored. “Any rumor of [this longhorn] appearing at halftime is totally false,” Cook said. “Texas A&M has always treated our rivalry with the University of Texas with the utmost respect and dignity, and Thursday will be no exception.” Some fans have expressed concern online that weighing down horns is a form of animal cruelty. Ryan Huling, manager of College Campaigns for PETA, an animal rights group, said he was suspicious that the animal was suffering. “Manipulating horns can cause pain and alter a longhorn’s sense of balance,” Huling said. “It’s our belief that this animal is in pain and all for the senseless purpose of school rivalry. Longhorns are intelligent and gentle animals, and
Photo courtesy of hornsfan.com
A photo of a longhorn with its horns deliberately formed down appeared in a forum several days ago. An A&M spokesman said if the photo was legitimate, the school had no involvement with it.
while we appreciate Aggie spirit, the stunt lacks general sensibility.” Rumors also circulated from fans who believed the picture had been modified using computer software. Laura Standley, editor-in-chief of Texas Longhorn Trails Magazine, the official publication of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, says she believes the photo is authentic. It
is the first case she had seen of a longhorn without horns resembling the distinctive style made famous by the UT trademark. “It is real, but I don’t know of anybody weighing a longhorn’s horns down for any reason,” Standley said. “It doesn’t hurt them. There was no harming the animal in anyway.”
LONGHORN continues on PAGE 2