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THE DAILY TEXAN LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
SPORTS PAGE 7 Bring on the Cornhuskers
Brownies get a holiday twist Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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Economy afflicts holiday charities
UT System combines student Web sites Budding partnership to allow students simple, more secure database log-ins
Photos by Erik Reyna | Daily Texan Staff
Above, veteran Dave Burney belongs to The Salvation Army Employment Services Program that assists homeless men and women in preparing to re-enter the workforce, obtain stable employment and make a successful transition from shelter to affordable housing. Below, Salvation Army kitchen volunteer Hailey McCracken and employees Janet Guevara and Veronica Chavez serve food to needy families.
Gap grows between needed services, available funds to help applicants By Rachel Platis Daily Texan Staff Toothbrushes, rather than toys, are on the wish lists of some Austinites this year. As the holiday season approaches, charities are adjusting to meet demands associated with the downturn of the Central Texas economy. Organizations including Orange Santa, The Christmas Bureau of Austin & Travis County and The Salvation Army are coping with an increased need for services while seeing a decrease in funds received. Peter Frumkin, a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, said that the recession has put a lot of stress on nonprofits and increased the need for necessities. “At the same time, a lot of pressure has been put on the donor side,” he said. “As the market went down, people lost a fair amount of wealth, so we’re seeing a combination of increased need and reduction in charitable funds.” UT’s Orange Santa is one organization that has generally been able to provide toys and resources to most of its applicants, said Susan Clagett, the associate vice president for the Office of Relationship Management and University Events.
School of Architecture ranks fifth in journal By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff The School of Architecture’s undergraduate and graduate programs received a fifth-place national ranking by the journal DesignIntelligence. The journal’s rankings judge which schools best prepare graduates for the workplace with a series of surveys filled out by architecture firms and private con-
tractors throughout the world. The ranking is the most recognized by employers and universities, said James P. Cramer, the journal’s editor and publisher. “The rankings help hiring groups compare notes about where quality is being delivered, and quality matters,” Cramer said. “All schools are not
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The program takes donations that disadvantaged families can “shop” for at the Orange Santa Holiday Store. Last year, Orange Santa served 498 Austin families. So far this year, 550 applications have been received. Clagett said that people donate in a myriad of ways, whether by giving a toy or working at the store. The 500 volunteer positions are currently filled. “We certainly hope to meet the needs of all the families that have applied,” Clagett said. “But you never really know until the Holiday Store opens if you have enough gifts for each age group and gender.” Other local charities have heard from donors that they may not be able to give as much this year. The Christmas Bureau of Austin & Travis County matches donor families with families in need to build a relationship and provide a holiday for them, said director Cynthia Colpaart. By the end of the season, 6,000 to 7,000 families will be up for “adoption.” “There is a horrific need in Austin for this kind of service,” Colpaart said. “This year and last year, we’ve come to serve families who have woken up one morning and
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By Lena Price Daily Texan Staff A new UT System partnership will help protect student and staff identities by allowing them to log in to a variety of research databases with one University-issued username and password. The InCommon Federation, an organization that streamlines access to service Web sites, will act as a liaison for all UT System universities and Web sites that want to make their services available for students and faculty. It creates a terms-of-use policy that both parties agree to, and students will not have to release personal information to each individual service. The goal of the partnership is to improve privacy and security for people who use service Web sites, said Lois Brooks, director of Academic Computing at Stanford University and chairwoman of the InCommon Steering Committee. The user will no longer have to divulge personal information such as social security numbers, addresses or dates of birth for services like the National Institutes of Health. The service will eventually give students complete control over what pieces of their identities will be released. Instead of creating separate account information for the NIH Web site and those of other services, students will be directed to a general page which requests the University-issued ID and password. At UT, the log-in page will look like that of UT Direct. “This solution provides campuses, both large and small, much greater control over users’ personal information,” Brooks said. “At the same time, it provides a more scalable way for campuses to provide a richer, easier to use [and] safer online experience for students, faculty and staff across the board.” Clair Goldsmith, UT System senior advisor for information technology, said the partnership will allow students to work across UT System institutions more easily. He said this is important because research foundations tend to award grant money based on how well the university system can collaborate with other institutions. “This partnership creates an infrastructure to foster that collaboration,” Goldsmith said. The new infrastructure created by the partnership already exists, and each UT System campus will be able to take advantage of it. UT’s Information Technology Services will be in charge of authorizing which students have access to which resources and setting up log-in information.
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UHS waits to acquire H1N1 vaccine H1N1 Flu Clinic Schedule
• Thursday, Dec. 3, 1 – 6 p.m. Delco Center, 4601 Pecan Brook Drive • Friday, Dec. 11, 1 – 6 p.m. Toney Burger Center, 3200 Jones Road • Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1 – 6 p.m. Delco Center • Thursday, Dec. 17, 1 – 6 p.m. Toney Burger Center Source: Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services Department
By Nehal Patel Daily Texan Staff Although H1N1 flu shots will soon be available through the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, University Health Services is not yet confirmed to receive any doses. UHS may receive approximately 1,500 doses by Dec. 14 at the earliest, but it is unlikely the vaccine will be available on campus before students, faculty and staff leave for the winter holidays, said UHS Associate Director Jamie Shutter. Michael Baldon | Daily Texan Staff “From our end, we’ve done A UT alumnus holds back his sleeve to receive a bandage after getevery single thing [the Texas ting his H1N1 flu vaccination. His position as an Austin public librarian made him eligible to get the vaccination. FLU continues on page 2
Arrested football player possessed 4.5 Xanax pills Ann-Marie Huff | Daily Texan Staff
Architecture senior Jeff Watson designs layouts for final review in a Goldsmith Hall studio on Monday afternoon.
By Bobby Longoria Daily Texan Staff Another freshman UT football player will be watching the team’s visit to the Big 12 Championship game on TV in Austin this weekend. Freshman defensive back Mar-
cus Davis was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance later determined to be Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, early Saturday morning in Pearland — only days after UT’s win against Texas A&M Univer-
sity at College Station. “It doesn’t affect the team at all,” said UT head coach Mack Brown at a press conference Monday. “We had two young men make a poor decision, and they are being punished for it.” Brown suspended 18-year-
old Davis for the remainder of the season and said that he will not be allowed to make the trip to Dallas with the team. Davis is the second UT football player to be arrested this month.
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