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THE DAILY TEXAN LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12 LIFE
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
All eyes on the Aggies
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Low number of thefts may break record Campus initiatives propel students to be proactive toward thwarting semester’s prior PCL crime-spree By Vidushi Shrimali Daily Texan Staff The University is on track for the lowest number of thefts in four years. If there are less than 19 thefts on campus between now and De-
cember 31, 2009, UT will have the lowest theft rate since 2006, when the police department recorded 486 thefts. UT Police Department Officer William Pieper said thefts are classified as the taking of proper-
ty without breaking into a property or using weapons or force. The highest amount of crimes recorded between 2006 and 2009 was in 2008 with 613 crimes. “If you stole a penny from someone, that’s still a theft,” Pieper said. Pieper said two of the most common areas for thefts to occur are the Perry-Castañeda Library
and Gregory Gym. UT Libraries spokesman Travis Willmann said about 29 thefts occurred in the PCL in October alone. The police department worked with staff at the PCL to lower the crime rate in the library after a spike earlier in the semester, placing signs and posters around the library that warned students to keep eyes on their belongings at
all times. Willmann said the PCL also used their PA system to alert students to the risk of theft five or six times every day. Additionally, employees leave cards warning of possible thefts on unattended bags and books they find in the library. Jennifer Speer, associate director for the Division of Recreation-
‘Double, double, toil and trouble’
Photos by Erik Reyna | Daily Texan Staff
Above, students gather annually at the Hex Rally to place a curse on Texas A&M. The annual tradition began after an 18-season losing streak to Texas A&M that ended in 1941 after the first Hex Rally took place. Below, Texas head coach Mack Brown delivers a speech before igniting his candlestick at the rally.
Longhorn football fans put ‘hex’ on A&M during annual tradition By Hannah Jones Daily Texan Staff Hundreds of Longhorns filled the Main Mall in front of the UT Tower to light their red candles during the annual Texas-A&M Hex Rally on Thursday night. During the pep rally, head football coach Mack Brown said that it was the biggest and most crowded Hex Rally he had attended. The tradition started in 1941, when a local fortune teller named Madame Augusta Hipple came up with a “hex” against the Aggies and told UT students that burning red candles before the game would put a curse on them. Red candles were burned all The fortune teller also said around the city that year, and the hex helped the Longhorns beat that the “Eyes of Texas” should the Aggies in College Station for be sung three times in a row in order for the hex to work. At the the first time in nine years, 23-0.
Austin strategist forecasts better economic weather Official anticipates likely conclusion to country’s recession at yearly event By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff Although the federal debt continues to grow, the nationwide economic recession has likely come to a close, said an official with an independent equity firm. Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services, evaluated the nation’s economic condition and gave predictions for 2010 on Monday at the Austin
Chamber of Commerce’s annual Economic Forecast. “The upward intermediate trend will remain,” Stovall said. “The recession probably ended in August or September, but we won’t know for another six months or so.” Stovall said the gross domestic product rose 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009, and a slight growth is expected for 2010. He also predicts that une m p l o y m e n t w i l l d e c re a s e slightly between 2010 and 2011. “Our belief is that we are likely to see an improvement around
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Strength and conditioning coach Jeff Madden also spoke to the crowd and led the “Texas Fight” chant with the UT football team. Texas Cheer and Texas Pom performed with the UT band. Master of ceremonies and former Texas football player Ahmad Brooks of AM 1300’s The Zone said the competition between UT and Texas A&M is the third longest college football rivalry of all time. “This Thursday will be the 110th game between the teams, and our record is 74-36-5,” Brooks said. The Hex Rally comes just days after Texas A&M marked the 10th anniversary of the collapse rally Monday night, fans sang of the school’s traditional bonfire along with UT’s Ransom Notes Nov. 18, an accident that killed 12 acapella choir and Intervisions Gospel Choir. HEX continues on page 5
al Sports, said police officers patrol Gregory Gym and ask students to put their belongings in a locker or safe place if they see them unattended. She also said that the gym recently installed cameras trained on all the lockers in the facility to increase security. But Gregory still has issues with students leaving
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UT expands resources by adding global affairs project By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff In the spring, the University’s Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law will get an infusion of new talent from the Next Generation Project, a network of thinkers from diverse backgrounds that discusses U.S. foreign relations. The project, which has been based at The American Assembly at Columbia University since 2006, will move to the center after completing a series of three one-day visioning meetings in Washington, D.C. The project is an initiative intended to bring together interested people from sectors normally ignored in policy discussions, including journalists, business people, academics and religious leaders, for weekend-long meetings that revolve around intense debate and discourse about the future of U.S. global policy-making. The project’s network of alumni currently includes about 300 members. “Most people who discuss these things are ‘the usual suspects’ — professors and policy makers in the Northeast,” said Francis Gavin, the project director for the Next Generation Project and director of the Strauss Center. “It is our belief that the national debate will be greatly enhanced if a greater diversity of voices is included. Bringing in the ideas of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur or a Montana cattle rancher makes for a much richer, fuller and better discussion that will lead to better policy outcomes.” Next Generation Project meetings have featured discussions on a range of issues, including war and international trade. The project began at Columbia as a three-year endeavor with funding from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Ford Foundation. With the term of the fund nearly over, the time was right to explore a new base for the organization. Since it has always had strong ties to UT — several founding members are at the University — it was a logical fit, Gavin said. Retired Adm. Bob Inman, interim dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, is chairman of the project’s senior advisory council. He said he hopes the move to UT will bring a wide range of resources to both the project and the University. In the past, the project has centered around discussion, but there has been no outlet for implementing new ideas, something Inman expects to change at UT. “Its principal advantage to UT is to give us access to people and ideas spread across the country that we would not have under most circumstances,” Inman said. “We’ve got a new center for politics and governance at the LBJ school, and we’d like to have that [center] develop to the point where they help take [Next Generation Project]
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Officers step up traffic safety during holidays By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Family, friends and the aroma of a good meal will drive millions of Texas residents anxiously across the state’s roads for the Thanksgiving holiday. But with growing holiday excitement sometimes comes a decline in driver awareness and safety, urging law enforcement officials to begin several traffic enforcement programs over the next few months. The Austin Police Department will begin the third annual “Home for the Holidays” traffic safety initiative on Friday, which aims to reduce the number of crashes and injuries in the city by increasing
police presence on roads. The initiative will run through New Year’s Day and will put nearly every rank of officer on patrol, searching for reckless drivers. “Treat that vehicle as what it is, and that is a deadly weapon when not driven properly,” APD Chief Art Acevedo said. “For the remainder of the year, you are going to see a lot of Austin police officers, from the chief of police on down to the newest rookie on the road. Everybody will be out working shifts to keep you safe.” In 2008, the initiative had Photo Illustration by Lauren Gerson | Daily Texan Staff 478 officers log a total of 4,362 additional hours enforcing State law enforcement officials will enact tougher traffic safety policies during the holidays. The Austin Police Department will begin the third HOLIDAYS continues on page 6 annual “Home for the Holidays” initiative on Friday.