THE DAILY TEXAN Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
HOME RUN HOPEFULS
BATTLE OF THE DRUNKS
Women’s softball sets sights on playoffs after last season’s lost championship title
Debate about drunkest city rankings waged in website comments section
‘PROUD TO BE SKANK’ Local artist collective showcases art, free shows by popular musicians LIFE&ARTS PAGE 14
SPORTS PAGE 8
LIFE&ARTS PAGE 14 >> > Breaking news, blogs and more: dailytexanonline.com
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Thursday, February 10, 2011
82ND LEGISLATURE
TODAY Calendar Cookie Monster Valentines
From 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. students can make their own valentines at Jester West.
First Softball game this season Texas Softball takes on Louisville starting around 6:30 p.m. at McCombs Field.
‘White Angel’
The Turkish Film “White Angel” will be played in Mezes Hall 2.124 from 6 to 8 p.m. The film is about the journey made by Mala Ahmet and his sons as they make a journey into the heart of the country.
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’
Leaders lobby state Senators for financing in next budget
’Horns fight for UT at Capitol By Ahsika Sanders Daily Texan Staff
By Melissa Ayala Daily Texan Staff
UT President William Powers Jr. was not one of the eight UT System presidents who testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday because he is in the hospital recovering from a pulmonary embolism. The presidents, who represented eight of UT’s 15 system institutions, spoke to encourage legislators to prioritize funding for higher education as they seek to balance a $27 billion budget shortfall. More than a hundred students as well as other educators were also at the meeting. “I am here to underscore the commitment of the board and adminis-
Ryan Edwards | Daily Texan Staff
Senator Jane Nelson, center, turns her attention to Senator Florence Shapiro, left, who clarifies statements made by Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa as he presents a case for additional university funding.
tration of the UT System to continue to provide high quality, affordable education and to be part of the solution of the economic circumstances of the state of Texas,” said system Vice Chairman Steve Hicks. UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa said the system has reduced spending by $1.4 billion the last five years by avoiding costs and
increasing investment earnings. He asked committee members to consider additional university funding to the introduced budget. “The cuts to higher education are deep, they will adversely affect access, affordability and excellence,”
LOBBY continues on PAGE 6
Students kept their promise to walk to the Capitol to attend a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday despite recordbreaking cold weather and President William Powers Jr.’s sudden hospitalization. More than 50 members of Student Government, Senate of College Councils, Graduate Student Assembly and other student organizations shouted “Texas fight” as they marched to the Capitol to kick off the “Invest in Texas” campaign, created to organize students to lobby the Texas Legislature to adequately fund UT, protect financial aid programs and allow the University to stay academically competitive. SG Executive Director Jimmy Talarico said the University budget item was removed from the docket because of Powers’ absence, making student presence all
the more important. “President Powers was going to be our biggest advocate at today’s meeting so without him our presence is that much more necessary,” he said. “We’re not just there for UT. We are there for all students across the state.” Similar to the House’s budget proposal, the Senate budget proposed significant cuts to education, reducing financial aid programs by more than $380 million and cutting about $87 million from state and federal money allotted to UT, according to the Senate state budget released last week. Student Government vice president Muneezeh Kabir said she thought student testimonies were compelling and senators were attentive as students gave personal accounts how the budget cuts would effect them. “I was elected to the privilege of representing over 50,000 students,
CAPITOL continues on PAGE 6
This classic movie freaturing Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon will be shown at Austin Playhouse at 8 p.m.
Comedy
The New Movement Theater has a free comedy show every Thursday at 8 p.m.
Susan Gibson
Playing at the Cactus Cafe at 8:30 p.m., tickets are $10.
On the Web
Local artist Ismael Cavazos talks about his creation, The Old Man in the Peanut @dailytexanonline.com
Today in black history In 1966
Andrew Brimmer is appointed the first black person to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. Erika Rich | Daily Texan Staff
Campus watch Positive voices
Perry-Castañeda Library A UT staff member reported a non-UT subject being very disruptive inside the library. The subject was displaying his ability to conjugate four letter words. He informed officers that he was simply, “having a bad day.” The subject informed the officers that he did hear voices, but the voices were always positive and encouraging. The subject was issued a verbal Criminal Trespass Warning.
‘‘
Quote to note “Now you have a big picture in mind, and it’s [the] Women’s College World Series. I think that helps motivate you, knowing there is that peace at the end of the tunnel.” — Connie Clark Softball Head Coach SPORTS PAGE 14
The National Weather Service reported a record low temperature of 23 degrees today at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, beating the previous record of 24 degrees set in 1979. The Weather Service forecast a low of 18 degrees Wednesday night with wind chills from 5 to 10 degrees. The normal low for Wednesday is 43 degrees.
Parents value different Photographer discusses collection at Center traits in their kids’ mates tation Wednesday about the Harry Ransom Center’s Magnum Archive Collection. Photographer Eli Reed normally Reed, a UT photojournalism prolets his photos do the talking, but he fessor and Magnum photographer, made an exception during a presen- has many of his own photos on disBy Yvonne Marquez Daily Texan Staff
By Donovan Sanders Daily Texan Staff
While parents may not actually greet their children’s partners with a shotgun in hand, that first encounter can still be tense for all involved. A UT study shows that differing values between parents and their children may lead to disagreement about what makes a quality mate. Two-hundred-and-seventeen female students, 100 male students, 121 mothers and 117 fathers participated in the survey, which asked them to identify the key traits they would hope to see in their partner or their child’s partner. All the participants were UT students and their parents. Psychologist and UT doctoral candidate Carin Perilloux, who conducted and co-authored the study, then compiled lists of the top 10 traits for each group. Sons prioritized attractiveness, followed by intelligence, kindness and exciting personality. Daughters’ lists included the same traits but in a different order — kind-
ness was the top trait, then intelligence, exciting personality and attractiveness. Mothers and fathers both desired kindness, intelligence and health for their children’s partners. The students who participated in the survey were given extra credit because the work had to be done outside of class. Perilloux said she wanted to see if the parents had a direct influence on what their children looked for in their partners. “The most interesting aspect was what daughters wanted and what their parents wanted was basically on the same line with each other,” Perilloux said. Perilloux said she hoped to use the study to gather data on how parents and offspring might differ in finding a mate. Perilloux has also done research on daughter guarding, which looks at ways in which parents guard their daughters from early consensual or nonconsensual sexual activity. Both of these studies show how parents’
STUDY continues on PAGE 2
play along with hundreds of others at the center. Magnum Photos is a renowned and innovative photographic cooperative that has cov-
REED continues on PAGE 2
Trent Lesikar | Daily Texan Staff
UT photojournalism professor and Magnum photographer Eli Reed shows a selection of his work to Friends of Photography and Harry Ransom Center members Wednesday evening.
2
2 NEWS
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Professor honored for video research
The Daily Texan Volume 111, Number 143
CONTACT US Main Telephone: (512) 471-4591 Editor: Lauren Winchester (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor: Claire Cardona (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising: (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu Classified Advertising: (512) 471-5244 classifieds@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. I f we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@dailytexanonline.com.
COPYRIGHT
CORRECTION Because of an editing error, a headline on the page-one news story about the hospitalization of University President William Powers Jr. misstated the nature of his ailment. He is being treated for a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in his lung.
TOMORROW’S WEATHER High
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Shereen Ayub | Daily Texan Staff
Electrical and computer engineering professor Alan Bovik is the 2011 recipient of the Scientist of the Year award. Bovik holds two patents and has published over 450 technical articles.
REED continues from PAGE 1 ered major events of the 20th century, according to the Ransom Center website. The Ransom Center acquired and announced the Magnum Archive Collection a year ago. Reed was the first Magnum photographer to be admitted while working at a newspaper. He gave his audience at Wednesday’s talk the history behind many of his photos in the collection, with diverse subjects ranging from the Lost Boys of Sudan to a recent vacation in New Zealand. “Every picture has a story, but I can’t tell you every one because we’ll be here all night,” Reed said. He first attracted Magnum in 1982 through his work for the San Francisco Examiner on death squads in Central America. “I always wanted to see more of the world than what I was allowed to see,” Reed said. “The way I This newspaper was printed with did that was through pride by The Daily Texan and
The Daily Texan
Coleman said having the collection on campus is a great opportunity for students and faculty. “Students and faculty can see the premier photo agency in the world with its famous photographer members’ works,” Coleman said. “It’s an elite organization, and they have covered a huge range of topics and subjects from the 1930s to the mid 2000s.” Karen Kiessling, who attended the presentation, said she admired Reed’s enthusiasm for his photography. She said she is not a photographer but understands the art and beauty behind each of Reed’s photos. “It’s one thing to work on the movies and take pictures of beautiful people, but it’s another thing to walk and look at the rest of us, who are ordinary, and find beauty in those pictures,” Kiessling said. “I loved the [pictures] that told stories even if they were dreadful stories or sad stories. It’s all about emotion, and you really get those feelings.”
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Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Winchester Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claire Cardona Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Cervantes Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viviana Aldous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug Luippold, Dave Player News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lena Price Associate News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Will Alsdorf, Aziza Musa, Audrey White Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Melissa Ayala, Allison Kroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt Stottlemyre, Ahsika Sanders Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sydney Fitzgerald Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ashley Morgan, Austin Myers, Reese Rackets Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Veronica Rosalez Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jake Rector, Martina Geronimo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Daniel Nuncio, Simonetta Nieto Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Heimsath Associate Photo Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lauren Gerson, Danielle Villesana Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Torrey, Tamir Kalifa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shannon Kintner, Erika Rich Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amber Genuske Associate Life&Arts Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, Gerald Rich Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allistair Pinsof, Maddie Crum, Francisco Marin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katherine Anne Stroh, Julie Rene Tran Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Will Anderson Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Hurwitz Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy Lutz, Trey Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jon Parrett, Austin Laymance Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carolynn Cakabrese Associate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Victoria Elliott Multimedia Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joshua Barajas Associate Multimedia Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rafael Borges Senior Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Zimmerman Senior Videographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Janese Quitugua Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Doug Warren
Issue Staff Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allison Harris, Yvonne Marquez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Molly Moore, Huma Munir, Donovan Sanders Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thu Pham, Benjamin Miller, Brenna Cleeland Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexa Hart Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Beth Purdy, Sameer Bhuchar, Stefan Scrafield Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kate Clabby Videographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Bloom Editorial Cartoonist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Thomas Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Riki Tsuji, Lin Zagorski, Danny Barajas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gabe Alvarez, Laura Davila, Rory Harmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claudine Lucena, Aron Fernandez
Advertising
Director of Advertising & Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jalah Goette Assistant to Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJ Salgado Local Sales Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brad Corbett Broadcast Manager/Local Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Goss Campus/National Sales Consultant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Bowerman Student Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathryn Abbas Student Advertising Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maryanne Lee Student Acct. Execs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameron McClure, Daniel Ruszkiewkz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samantha Chavez, Selen Flores, Patti Zhang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veronica Serrato, Sarah Hall, Ian Payne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Feigel, Rachel Huey Student Office Assistant/Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rene Gonzalez Broadcast Sales Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aubrey Rodriguez Senior Graphic Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felimon Hernandez Junior Designers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bianca Krause, Alyssa Peters Special Editions Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elena Watts Student Special Editions Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheri Alzeerah Special Projects Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adrienne Lee
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 2011 Texas Student Media.
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my camera.” Reed said he was scared when he first went into Central America for two months. He said it was a very dangerous job and that he was often mistaken for being Cuban since he is black. He said in El Salvador, they don’t like journalists because some of them do not tell the truth. “The event that will have a lasting impression is always going to be the next event,” Reed said. “You have no idea what it’s going to be.” Reed said he could shoot for an hour in the corner of the room and still find interesting shots to look at. David Coleman, curator of photography at the Ransom Center, said the Magnum collection has been very popular, especially during its first six months. “There’s a general curiosity from the public,” Coleman said. “They’re very interested in seeing the range of work from those photographers.”
2/10/11
Monday .............Wednesday, 12 p.m. Thursday.................Monday, 12 p.m. Tuesday.................Thursday, 12 p.m. Friday......................Tuesday, 12 p.m. Word Ads 11 a.m. Wednesday................Friday, 12 p.m. Classified (Last Business Day Prior to Publication)
Appointments show Republicans’ strength in House By April Castro The Associated Press
The leadership team of the Texas House has been restructured to reflect its new GOP supermajority, with House Speaker Joe Straus releasing committee assignments Wednesday that show a significant reshuffling. The number of Democratic chairmen was reduced from 16 to 11, and one prominent Democrat — Rep. Rene Oliveira — lost charge of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He was replaced by Rep. Harvey Hildebran, R-Kerrville, as head of the tax-writing committee. Straus called the assignments one of the most important functions of his job and said he tried to “make sure geographic and demographic diversity of Texas
is fairly represented.” Straus overcame a speaker’s challenge last month waged by conservative Republicans who complained that he named too many Democrats as leaders in his first term. Republicans make up 27 of the new committee leaders, reflecting the chamber’s 101-49 GOP majority. “I am eager for the committees to begin work on important legislation and for you to collaborate on the issues that matter most to our state,” Straus told the chamber, shortly before releasing the assignments. “Today, I am referring hundreds of bills to the committees, so the House can immediately begin working on these critical issues.” Republican leaders of some powerful committees retained their positions, including Ap-
propriations Chairman Jim Pitts and Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler. Pitts wasted no time, scheduling the first budget meetings for Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning. Former House Speaker Tom Craddick, who was ousted by Straus two years ago, was named dean of the House. R e p. B e v e r l y Wo o l l e y, RHouston, who supported Straus’ re - e l e c t i on bi d, w a s n am e d speaker pro-tempore, a mostly honorary position. Al l repres ent at ives in t he 150-member House are assigned to committees where much of the work of the Legislature is done. It’s where bills get their start and are crafted. Committee chairmen have the discretion to let bills linger and die there, too. Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus SKI SPRING BREAK 2011!
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OPENINGS FOR 2 AT-LARGE POSITIONS WITH TEXAS STUDENT MEDIA BOARD OF TRUSTEES The Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees has reopened their search for two At-Large student board members. These are 2-year terms from June 2011 to May 2013.
Are you still looking for the perfect place? Look no further! We have the location, affordability, and a friendly staff with the best maintenance service in the campus area!
Choose from one of our 8 locations! West Campus • Camino Real • Salado • Seton Square • University Quarters • Vanderbilt Condos • Nueces Oaks Townhomes
North Campus • Castle Arms • 31st Street Condos
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For an apartment, townhouse or condominium in the campus area call
512-472-3816 Or visit at
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This board oversees the largest student media program in the United States. Your job as a board member?
• Adopt annual budget • Review monthly income and expenses • Select KVRX station manager, TSTV station manager, Texas Travesty and Cactus yearbook editors, The Daily Texan managing editor • Certify candidates seeking election to TSM board and for The Daily Texan editor • Review major purchase requests • Time commitment? About five hours per month (one meeting, reading before meeting, committee work).
Pick up an application at the Hearst Student Media building (HSM), 25th and Whitis Ave, Room 3.304, or print a application from our website: http://www.utexas.edu/tsm/board/ The Board will certify applicants at their next meeting.
Deadline is noon on Wednesday, February 9, 2011
TEXASNT STUDDEIA ME
Christi Republican, was named chairman of the House Calendars Committee, which sets the House schedules and determines what legislation makes it to the floor for consideration. Most lawmakers have ambitions of serving as a committee leader. Chairmanships come with a bigger staff, more office space and clout. But only about one in four members gets such a post. Of the 16 Democrats who were chairs last session, only 10 have returned — four lost their reelection bids and two have since switched parties. Each lawmaker submitted a preference card to Straus’ office, naming their top committee preferences and order of seniority. The membership of the committees is partly determined based on seniority.
STUDY continues from PAGE 1 actions and opinions directly reflect the choices their children make in their everyday lives, she said. “The first thing I personally look for is for the girl to be intelligent. Of course, looks come into play, but intelligence is what really matters,” said government freshman Rene Burnias, who did not participate in the study. “This never caused any problems with my parents unless, of course, I dated someone who didn’t have these traits, which did happen a few times.”
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The first thing I personally look for is for the girl to be intelligent.
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Copyright 2010 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.
Electrical and computer engineering professor Alan Bovik received a top honor from two academic societies. The Society for Imaging Science and Technology and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, awarded Bovik the Imaging Scientist of the Year Award for his research regarding image and video quality. “I don’t think of awards as achievements but rather as recognition of achievement,” Bovik said. “This award is nice since it comes from both academic and industry societies, so it recognizes both the theoretical and practical aspects of our work.” He is also the director of the Laboratory for Image and Video Engineering in the Center for Perceptual Systems, where he is involved in many research studies. “We are currently studying human stereo vision to create models that we can use in algorithms that predict or optimize 3D visual quality in 3D movies, television and, yes, your smart phone, which will soon have a 3D display without special glasses,” Bovik said. —Donovan Sanders
— Rene Burnias, Freshman
Esther Gonzalez, mother of advertising freshman Miriam Esqueda, said she had views similar to those of the mothers in the study. “I would want to see a young man that is most importantly kind, followed by honest and intelligent,” Gonzalez said.
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World&NatioN
Thursday, February 10, 2011 | The Daily Texan | Ashley Morgan, Wire Editor | dailytexanonline.com
Mobster arrested in Idaho
Suez Canal Company workers protest as they began an open-ended strike in front of the company’s headquarters in Ismailia City, Egypt on Wednesday. The canal stayed open as several hundred workers demonstrated, demanding the resignation of their immediate boss Admiral Ahmed Fadel, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority. Workers also wanted a pay raise and social equality.
By Jessie L. Bonner The Associated Press
Courtesy of The Associated Press
Workers go on strike in support of Egyptian protests By Maggie Michel & Tarek El Tablawy The Associated Press
CAIRO — Thousands of workers went on strike Wednesday across Egypt, adding a new dimension to the uprising as public rage turned to the vast wealth President Hosni Mubarak’s family reportedly amassed while close to half the country struggled near the poverty line. Protests calling for Mubarak’s ouster have been spreading since Tuesday outside of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where demonstrators have been concentrated for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, protesters also gathered at parliament, the Cabinet and the Health Ministry buildings, all a few blocks from the square, and blocked Prime Minis-
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ter Ahmed Shafiq from his office. Strikes erupted in a breadth of sectors — among railway and bus workers, state electricity staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and at, least one hospital. Workers “were motivated to strike when they heard about how many billions the Mubarak family was worth,” said Kamal Abbas, a labor leader. “They said, ‘How much longer should we be silent?’” Egyptians have been infuriated by newspaper reports that the Mubarak family has amassed billions, and perhaps tens of billions of dollars in wealth while, according to the World Bank, about 40 percent of the country’s 80 million people live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day.
ra a b r Ba ple p o K
For the first time, protesters were forcefully urging labor strikes despite a warning by Vice President Omar Suleiman that calls for civil disobedience are “very dangerous for society.” In Cairo, hundreds of state electricity workers stood in front of the South Cairo Electricity company, demanding the ouster of its director. Public transport workers also called strikes and vowed that buses would be halted Thursday. In the city of Suez, strikes entered a second day on Wednesday. Some 5,000 workers at various state companies held separate strikes and protests at their factories. “We’re not getting our rights,” said Ahmed Tantawi, a Public Works employee in Suez. He said workers provide 24-hour service and are exposed to health risks but
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get only an extra $1.50 a month in hardship compensation. He said there are employees who have worked their entire lives in the department and will retire with a salary equivalent to $200 a month. Organizers called for a new “protest of millions” for Friday similar to those that have drawn the largest crowds so far. But in a change of tactic, they want several protests across Cairo instead of only in Tahrir Square downtown, said Khaled Abdel-Hamid, one of the youth organizers. Efforts by Vice President Suleiman to open a dialogue with protesters have broken down since the weekend, with youth organizers of the movement deeply suspicious that he plans only superficial changes. They refuse any talks unless Mubarak steps down first.
MARSING, Idaho — To his neighbors, he was Jay Shaw, the guy with the vaguely New York accent. He was known for fixing computers, buying everything with cash, raising cows and knowing how to handle a gun. To the FBI, he was a New England mobster who vanished in 1994 after a botched attempt to whack his boss. On Wednesday, the 42-year-old dark-haired man, dressed in a yellow jumpsuit with his hands cuffed behind his back, strolled into a courtroom in Boise, sat down at a table and spoke calmly to a judge. “My name is Enrico M. Ponzo,” he said. After the judge read a long list of charges against him, Ponzo replied, “Not guilty, Your Honor.” Authorities said Ponzo had been living in Marsing under the name Jeffrey Shaw, but they declined to say how the FBI discovered him. During his arrest Monday, agents seized 38 firearms, $15,000 and a 100-ounce bar of gold or silver.
Ponzo faces charges from a 1997 indictment accusing him and 14 others of racketeering, attempted murder and conspiracy to kill rivals. He is also charged in the 1989 attempted murder of Frank Salemme. Known as “Cadillac Frank,” Salemme is the ex-head of the Patriarca Family of La Cosa Nostra. After he arrived in town, Ponzo told some of his new neighbors that he was from New York. To their ears, he had the accent to prove it. He told others that he was from New Jersey. Ponzo told people that his parents were killed when he was young and that he had no other family. He said he was a graphic designer and would work on computers for his neighbors. Otherwise, he would work from home. And he paid for everything in cash. The house wasn’t in his name, but he told some that the house had been paid off. “It surprised me when he said his house was all paid for, because people struggle out here,” Clapier said. On Monday, federal agents arrested Ponzo, neighbors said.
Katherine Jones | Associated Press
A man called Jay Shaw lived for more than 10 years on this farm in Marsing, Idaho. On wednesday, the man was identified as Enrico Ponzo, a man the FBI says is a mobster who has avoided arrest for 17 years.
OpiniOn
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Thursday, February 10, 2011 | The Daily Texan | Lauren Winchester, Editor-in-Chief | (512) 232-2212 | editor@dailytexanonline.com
HORNs UP, HORNs DOWN
Horns up: Conrad documentary PBS is airing a documentary Tuesday and Thursday night about the life of Barbara Conrad Smith, a UT civil rights leader. Smith was a music student in the late 1950s when she was cast as the lead in a University-produced opera. Unfortunately, conservative lawmakers threatened to cut UT funding if a black actress carried the lead role in an opera. The University caved and wound up on the wrong side of history. Like last summer’s controversy regarding the Simkins Hall Dormitory — when students and community members demanded Simkins Dormitory be renamed upon revelations that the dorm’s namesake was a vocal member and supporter of the Ku Klux Klan — the PBS documentary about Smith reminds Longhorns about the school’s horrendous history with race relations. Smith’s story is familiar to some; in fact, during the Simkins controversy, some suggested renaming Simkins dormitory after Smith, but the documentary should introduce a new generation of UT students to her experience. We hope the University continues to assist in promoting a perpetual campus wide dialogue on its history and race relations.
Jono Foley | Daily Texan
Students Against Sweatshops protests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Student Activities Center on Monday.
We will not be silent By Billy Yates Daily Texan Guest Columnist
Horns down: Rick Perry speaks
In his State of the State speech, Gov. Rick Perry proposed a way out of Texas’ higher education funding woes. His solution? “A bold, Texas-style solution to this challenge that I’m sure the brightest minds in our universities can devise.” Typical Perry — strong on rhetoric, weak on solutions. Perry continued by calling for “innovative teaching techniques and aggressive efficiency measures,” effectively silencing advocates of archaic teaching methods and inefficient education policy. Perry’s actual “details” include an increase in online classes, the development of a $10,000 bachelor’s degree program and a four-year tuition freeze. Online classes are reasonable approach, but a bachelor’s degree from a world class institution will never again cost $10,000, and until the legislature reregulates tuition, Perry has about as much power to freeze tuition as we do.
legalese Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.
Surrounded by suits, students and Bevo, UT President William Powers Jr. celebrated the ribboncutting ceremony of the Student Activity Center on Monday. What he did not expect was student activists to show up. Which makes sense. Students at this University are encouraged to speak their minds through the narrow halls of “official” student representative bodies. At the ceremony, students silently stood behind Powers and let their signs do the talking. Since last spring, members from Students Against Sweatshops (SAS) and OxfamUT have worked to meet with the Powers to discuss the working conditions of apparel producers for Longhorn clothing. Students urge the president to adopt the Workers Rights Consortium, an independent labor monitoring organization affiliated with 186 colleges, according to workersrights.org. Its board consists of students, workers and labor experts. Currently, UT is affiliated with the “Fair” Labor Association, but as flawatch.org reports, its board members include corporations such as Nike and Adidas with no student representation. The association has failed repeatedly to report accurately or quickly enough, as in the case of the severance pay for workers by Nike in 2010 and the factory closings in Honduras by Russell in 2009. This is no surprise to those who see that corporate self-monitoring puts profits over the welfare of workers — a case of the fox guarding the hen house. If corporations just want to make profits, then what is the agenda of a monitoring organization that includes students? Students want to know that garment workers
are treated fairly. As consumers, we have a unique leverage to positively impact their lives. Not just an opportunity but an obligation. We want to prioritize workers because we know that if it was our mom or sister working in a factory, we would want the best monitoring system available. Put yourself in their shoes for one minute — what is it like to be locked into a factory overnight, sexually harassed or intimidated at work daily or to know that you were not earning enough to feed your children? That Powers believes corporate self-monitoring works despite numerous reports of its failure — as documented by nonprofitwatch.org — is disheartening. We want to think Powers is not lying when he says he shares our “commitment to human rights,” but why has he failed to meet with students to discuss this commitment? One crucial component to the Workers Rights Consortium is that it empowers students by including them on the board and decision-making process. This is a contrast from how students are treated at UT. A Student Government resolution was passed urging the president to sign onto the consortium, yet he refuses to discuss it. Letters have been sent asking President Powers to meet with students only to be misdirected to other departments. Students have been locked in by security guards while dropping off demand letters, only to be escorted out without a meeting. Hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from students and concerned community members have been made asking that Powers to meet with students. After all this, the president continues to ignore us. On Monday, we decided we would no longer be ignored. The voices of workers that make our clothes are unable to be heard, and when students stood on the podium behind Powers, we had workers and stu-
dents in our hearts and minds. We hope to make the following clear despite being ignored: Although they are not officers in student organizations or donors to your University, we believe that workers’ lives matter. Even though they do not wear a suit to work, their lives matter. Even though they cannot afford to send their children to UT, their lives matter. Even though they are mainly women of color, their lives matter. We believe no matter how poor you are or whatever the color of your skin, human dignity should be respected. These fundamental ideas are systematically and institutionally ignored as long as UT, the largest collegiate apparel producer in the country, refuses to affiliate with the Workers Rights Consortium. While members of the University administration celebrated the opening of another building, students were threatened with removal by the chief of police at UT. We were told that we were being unreasonable. What is truly unreasonable is the way this University disregards workers’ rights and disrespects students. Students pay tuition and pay the president’s salary. He works for us. This university belongs to students, and students should have a say in how it is run. We will not be disrespected, we will not be silent and we will not forget that workers are human beings. Know that students can make change. We desegregated our universities during the civil rights movement. We pushed back during the Vietnam War. And now, in the 21st century, we need to stand up with workers in the global race to the bottom to do not what is easy but what is right. For more information, look up “SAS at UT” on Facebook. Yates is an international relations junior and a member of Students Against Sweatshops.
UT should not promote H2Orange bottled water By Kate Clabby Daily Texan Columnist
This fall, for the first time, UT licensed the image of the UT Tower to sell a product: bottled water. The company H2Orange is partnering with UT by selling water in plastic bottles shaped like the Tower and donating 40 percent of the profits to UT scholarships funds. While I appreciate creative efforts to raise money for scholarships, UT should not be encouraging bottled water consumption. Bottled water is environmentally and socially destructive, and in light of UT’s Campus Sustainability Policy, this project is hypocritical and embarrassing. The most obvious problem with bottled water is the plastic bottle. H2Orange likes to boast that its bottles (like pretty much all single-use water and soft drink bottles — including those used by Ozarka, Dasani and Nestle bottled water — are “100 percent recyclable PET #1 plastic.” But according to the EPA, only 28 percent of these 100 percent recyclable bottles are actually recycled. And take note — the plastic in these bottles is recyclable, but it’s not recycled, as Fox News erroneously reported in July. No, it’s made from virgin petroleum. And nonprofit consumer group Food and Water Watch estimates that manufacturing bottles, extracting, bottling and distributing water requires 2,000 times as much energy as producing and distributing tap water. And it doesn’t address the other problems: H2Orange, like an increasing market share of bottled water, is sourced from a municipal water supply. H2Orange contracts with the Oneta Bottling Company to purify and bottle water that has been treated by the Corpus Christi Municipal Water District. When corporations buy water from municipal treatment centers, they put stress on aging taxpayer-funded water systems. They can also exacerbate low water supplies in times of drought. This should be of particular concern in an area as dry as Corpus Christi, which experienced severe drought as recently as 2009. And according to Food and Water watch, for every liter of bottled water sold, two liters were used in the manufacturing process.
H2Orange argues that people who buy the bottles would be buying bottled water anyway, as if that means that UT is not encouraging bottled water consumption or adding to the problem. Well, if licensing the image of the UT Tower, advertising a product and accepting money from its sale isn’t encouragement to buy a product, I think they should scrap the whole water idea and start selling twistof-burnt-orange vodka in Tower-shaped bottles. It would sell for a whole lot more and be infinitely more popular among students. Hey, kids are going to drink no matter what — we might as well launder their liquor money into scholarship funds! When environmental activists protested the launch of this product in July, H2Orange founder Tim McClure told The Texas Tribune that protesters should instead target large-scale manufacturers such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle. It’s true that they have a much greater negative impact than H2Orange, although McClure’s comment shows that he recognizes the destructive effects of bottled water that his company, however small, is contributing to. But I’m targeting H2Orange because I hold UT, a publicly-funded institution of higher education whose core purpose is “to transform lives for the benefit of society” to higher ethical standards than for-profit, transnational corporations. Funding UT scholarships is a worthy goal because a UT education can help equip young people to come up with innovative solutions to the problems our world is facing. Funding them through the profits of an industry that so obviously contributes to those problems — which include water scarcity, petroleum dependence and climate change – is counterproductive. UT aims to be a leader in sustainability, and bottled water is about as unsustainable as it gets. If they don’t want people to buy it, they should not endorse it. In fact, true leaders are going a step further: Washington University in St. Louis and Seattle University have banned the sale of bottled water on campus. And how to fund scholarships? H2Orange eventually plans to launch a reusable stainless steel water
bottle, and they are looking into the possibility of a collapsible, BPA-free reusable plastic water bottle, both of which are great ideas. But the belief that we need the money from bottled water sales to fund scholarships until then is absurd. Because H2Orange could sell tower-shaped staplers or snow globes or soap or umbrella stands. They could sell notebooks or
backpacks or laptop cases or dental floss. They could sell anything. Let’s make sure what starts here changes the world for the better. UT, get your name and your image off of bottled water. Clabby is an English senior.
5 UNIV
Thursday, February 10, 2011
NEWS 5
DOWN ON THE CORNER Two students face a frigid wind as they round the corner of the newly constructed Norman Hackerman Building.
Date: To: From: Subject:
February 4, 2011 All Students at The University of Texas at Austin Dr. Soncia Reagins-Lilly, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students TEXAS HAZING STATUTE SUMMARY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN’S HAZING REGULATIONS
The 70th Texas Legislature enacted a law concerning hazing. Under the law, individuals or organizations engaging in hazing could be subject to fines and charged with a criminal offense. According to the law, a person can commit a hazing offense not only by engaging in a hazing activity, but also by soliciting, directing, encouraging, aiding or attempting to aid another in hazing; by intentionally, knowingly or recklessly allowing hazing to occur; or by failing to report, in writing to the Dean of Students or another appropriate official of the institution, first-hand knowledge that a hazing incident is planned or has occurred. The fact that a person consented to or acquiesced in a hazing activity is not a defense to prosecution for hazing under this law. In an effort to encourage reporting of hazing incidents, the law grants immunity from civil or criminal liability to any person who reports a specific hazing event in good faith and without malice to the Dean of Students or other appropriate official of the institution and immunizes that person for participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result of the report. Additionally, a doctor or other medical practitioner who treats a student who may have been subjected to hazing may make a good faith report of the suspected hazing activities to police or other law enforcement officials and is immune from civil or other liability that might otherwise be imposed or incurred as a result of the report. The penalty for failure to report is a fine of up to $1,000, up to 180 days in jail, or both. Penalties for other hazing offenses vary according to the severity of the injury which results and include fines from $500 to $10,000 and/or confinement for up to two years.
HAZING DEFINED The law defines hazing as any intentional, knowing or reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed against a student, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in or maintaining membership in any organization whose members are or include students at an educational institution. Hazing includes but is not limited to: A. any type of physical brutality, such as whipping, beating, striking, branding, electronic shocking, placing of a harmful substance on the body or similar activity; B. any type of physical activity, such as sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, calisthenics, or other activity that subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student; C. any activity involving consumption of food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug or other substance which subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or which adversely affects the mental or physical health of the student; D. any activity that intimidates or threatens the student with ostracism, that subjects the student to extreme mental stress, shame or humiliation, or that adversely affects the mental health or dignity of the student or discourages the student from entering or remaining registered in an educational institution, or that may reasonably be expected to cause a student to leave the organization or the institution rather than submit to acts described in this subsection; E. any activity that induces, causes or requires the student to perform a duty or task which involves a violation of the Penal Code. Ryan Edwards Daily Texan Staff
Special election on SG overhaul may lead to constitution reform By Yvonne Marquez Daily Texan Staff
The campus-wide special election to overhaul all three branches of Student Government ends today. Voting for the reformed constitution began Wednesday after the SG Reform Task Force worked for seven months to improve the efficiency and impact of SG’s constitution. Task force chairwoman Cecilia Lopez said there has not been a reform this big for more than 30 years. She said it’s a significant step for SG to move forward and be more productive. Amendments to the SG’s constitution would restructure their external agencies, add first-year representatives to improve new student representation and improve each branch. “We’re hoping with this structure that we can keep Student Government more accountable,” Lopez
said. “It creates a balance between the branches.” Lopez said she is excited about consolidating and restructuring the agencies because it will generate more involvement of students. “We’re hoping they will recruit new members to make it an avenue for students to get involved with Student Government,” Lopez said. There were many agencies that one person oversaw, so it was not manageable, SG president Scott Parks said. He said through the reform, SG would add another layer of leadership between their chief of staff and all agencies. Parks said that hopefully this way, agencies would be more effective to produce more programs that serve students. “With a more compact and refined organizational structure, we’ll be able to find more efficiencies with the way were spending money,” Parks said. “With fewer agencies, we’ll be able to focus resourc-
es on programs that have the highest impact on students.” Natalie Butler, a University-wide representative and one of five candidates who have filed to run for 2011-2012 SG president, said she hopes students will educate themselves on the reform and vote for it. “There is a lot of information available to [students] if they want to educate themselves,” Butler said. “When you log in to vote, you can look at all the changes or a summary. There’s even advertising on Facebook to read.” If students approve the reforms, they will be the governing rules for the SG assembly and executives elected in March. The period in which students could file to run for office ended Feb. 8, except for architecture, geosciences and graduate school representatives. The Election Supervisory Board extended the deadline to run for those three positions to Friday.
Professor impacted culture, education By Molly Moore Daily Texan Staff
Celebrated UT choral director Morris Beachy died in his sleep Feb. 3 due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease at 82. Beachy’s prolific career began in 1947 when he came to UT to teach and finish his doctorate in choral direction. Because he came at a time when Austin was still young, he was one of the first to lay the groundwork for the musical culture of Austin, beginning his first ensemble in 1957. He founded nine ensembles, including the Longhorn Singers, the UT Chamber Choir and the University Chorus, but his legacy extends beyond the choir room. “If you go back to that earlier generation of faculties, a lot of these people came from out of town,” said Doug Dempster, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “Austin was incredibly small back then, and if there was going to be any high-brow culture, they were going to have to invent it. They were people of giant capacity, and Mor-
This law does not affect or in any way limit the right of the university to enforce its own rules against hazing under Chapter 16 of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities. In addition, Rules and Regulations of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, Series 50101, Number 2, Section 2.8, provide that: (a) Hazing with or without the consent of a student is prohibited by the System, and a violation of that prohibition renders both the person inflicting the hazing and the person submitting to the hazing subject to discipline. (b) Initiations or activities by organizations may include no feature that is dangerous, harmful or degrading to the student. A violation of this prohibition renders both the organization and participating individuals subject to discipline.
DANGEROUS OR DEGRADING ACTIVITIES Activities which under certain conditions constitute acts which are dangerous, harmful or degrading, in violation of Chapter 16 and subsections 6-303(b)(3) and 11-404(a)(8) of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities include but are not limited to: c Calisthenics, such as sit-ups, push-ups or any other form of physical exercise; c Total or partial nudity at any time; c The eating or ingestion of any unwanted substance; c The wearing or carrying of any embarrassing, degrading or physically burdensome article; c Paddle swats, including the trading of swats; c Pushing, shoving, tackling or any other physical contact; c Throwing any substance on a person; c Consumption of alcoholic beverages accompanied by either threats or peer pressure; c Lineups for the purpose of interrogating, demeaning or intimidating; c Transportation and abandonment (road trips, kidnaps, walks, rides, drops);
c Confining individuals in an area that is uncomfortable or dangerous (hot box effect, high temperature, too small); c Any form of individual interrogation; c Any type of servitude that is of personal benefit to the individual members; c Wearing of embarrassing or uncomfortable clothing; c Assigning pranks such as stealing, painting objects, harassing other organizations; c Intentionally messing up the house or a room for clean up; c Demeaning names; c Yelling or screaming; and c Requiring boxing matches or fights for entertainment.
DISCIPLINED ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING THOSE RESOLVED VIA MUTUAL AGREEMENTS In accordance with requirements of the Texas Education Code Section 51.936(c), the following organizations have been disciplined for hazing and/or convicted for hazing, on or off campus, during the preceding three years: c Absolute Texxas* Conditional registration is one and a half (1.5) years (Completed November 19, 2009).
OBITUARY
Austin’s music background, choral program directors shaped by teacher’s passion
UNIVERSITY DISCIPLINARY RULES
ris Beachy was a large part of it. He turned Austin into a choir community town.” First and foremost, Beachy was a music educator, said John Dickson, dean of arts and music at Mercer University in Georgia. “Dr. Morris Beachy was my teacher, choral director, mentor and later, friend,” he said. “He inspired my love of language, my understanding of gesture, my tonal imagination and was, perhaps, the single most influential person who shaped the totality of my choral artistry.” But the two didn’t start out as friends. Beachy’s demand for excellence made him difficult for some to work with, but Dickson said the same demand eventually helped Dickson achieve success in his career as a musician and educator. It was this dedication to not only the instruction of music, but to the integrity of the music itself, that made Beachy such an influential mentor, said Jerry McCoy, director of choral studies at the University of North Texas and a former student of Beachy’s. “He never equivocated with mediocrity,” he said. “He stood for doing things right, long hours of study and putting your soul and spirit into the task at hand.”
His former students also head choral programs all over the country including at SMU, UT, Rutgers, the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the University of Miami. Something in his teaching seems to have stuck. “Morris Beachy was a g i ant in his field and had a significant impact on choral mu s i c n ot only in Texas, but also throughout America Morris Beachy because he UT choral director t raine d s o many choral conductors in his tradition,” said Glenn Chandler, director of the Butler School of Music. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Frances Beachy, daughters Sylvia Beachy and Diana Rutledge and grandson Spencer Rutledge. Members of Austin’s Morris Beachy Singers will perform at his memorial at the Unity Church of the Hills at 2 p.m., Feb. 15. The church is at 9905 Anderson Mill Rd. in Austin. The Butler School of Music will hold a memorial for Beachy in the spring.
c alpha Kappa Delta Phi* Conditional registration is three (3) years (June 10, 2013). c Alpha Tau Omega* Conditional registration is two (2) years (May 13, 2012). c Beta Chi Theta* Conditional registration is one (1) year (Completed August 24, 2010). c Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Penalty issued November 10, 2009 (Suspended through December 31, 2009; Probation for 18 months following reinstatement of chapter). c Delta Tau Delta* Conditional registration is two (2) years (September 9, 2012). c Kappa Alpha Order* Conditional registration is three (3) months (Completed December 31, 2010). c Kappa Phi Gamma Sorority, Inc.* Conditional registration is one (1) year (Completed May 12, 2009). cLambda Phi Epsilon Penalty issued December 20, 2005 (Cancelled through December 19, 2011; Suspended through December 19, 2012; Probation through December 19, 2013). c Omega Phi Gamma* Conditional registration is ongoing. c Phi Delta Chi-Pharmacy* Conditional registration is one (1) year (Completed March 5, 2010). c Phi Gamma Delta* Conditional registration is two (2) years (Completed July 15, 2010). c Phi Kappa Psi Penalty issued February 7, 2006 (Cancelled through February 6, 2007; Suspended through March 27, 2008; Probation through March 24, 2010). c Sigma Alpha Epsilon* Conditional registration is five (5) years (April 7, 2013). c Sigma Chi* Conditional registration is two (2) years (Completed May 16, 2010). c Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.* Conditional registration is one (1) year (Completed August 16, 2010). c Sigma Phi Epsilon* Conditional registration is two (2) years (September 1, 2012). c Silver Spurs* Conditional registration is three (3) years (May 19, 2011). c Texas Cheer and Pom* Conditional registration is two (2) years (July 23, 2011). c Texas Iron Spikes* Conditional registration is ongoing. c Texas Spirits* Conditional registration is one (1) year (Completed May 19, 2009). c Texas Wranglers* Conditional registration is two (2) years (Completed October 6, 2010). c Zeta Beta Tau* Conditional registration is two (2) years (August 19, 2012). *Resolved via Mutual Agreement
To report an act of hazing to the Office of the Dean of Students, visit http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/complaint. php. For further information or clarification of probationary member activities, contact Student Activities and Leadership Development (SALD) in the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Services Building (SSB) 4.400, 512-471-3065.
6 S/L
6
82nd LEGISLATURE
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Abortion bill passes committee phase By Huma Munir Daily Texan Staff
The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs voted Wednesday to proceed with a pre-abortion sonogram bill after hearing testimony from supporters and opponents. State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, authored the bill that requires women to go through a sonogram procedure and hear a description of the fetus as well as the heartbeat if it is audible. Seven of the committee’s nine members voted in favor of the bill. It will now go before the entire Senate. “What this bill does is remove the barrier that is placed in front of women now from getting the information they are entitled to,” Patrick said. The committee passed a committee substitute, meaning they made substantial changes to the original language. The bill now requires a 24-hour lapse between the sonogram and the abortion instead of a two-hour waiting period and includes a provision that allows women seeking abortions
in cases of reported rape or incest or when the fetus has an irreversible abnormality to opt out of hearing or seeing anything. It now also gives abortion providers a month to inform the state of a performed procedure instead of only a week. Sarah J. Wheat, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, which opposes the bill, said policymakers should focus on strengthening the economy and combating the extreme budget shortfalls. “I think your average Texan is wondering why the senators are taking their very busy time directing what doctors need to do with their clients,” she said. Wheat said abortion is an intensely private decision that women make with their doctors, their families and their god. But Carol Everett, the founder and CEO of anti-abortion advocacy organization The Heidi Group and a former abortion clinic owner, disagrees. “Let’s not insult women,” Everett said. “I have had an abortion, and it has distressed me and de-
stroyed my life for years.” She said she favors the bill because it protects the rights of women and allows them to gain adequate information on how abortion can affect their bodies. Dr. Margaret Thompson, an obstetrics and gynecology practitioner, testified at the hearing and said sonograms help obtain vital information in specific cases, but not every situation warrants the procedure. “This law requires that physicians perform an ultrasound even if it’s not in the physician’s judgment that it needs to be performed,” Thompson said. Dr. Michele Gilbert, another OB-GYN who testified, said the bill does not contribute anything to the ethical aspect of abortion procedures. She said they go over cautionary guidelines in a booklet given to every patient. “Many patients will say this information has been received plenty of times,” Gilbert said. She also said there is no good scientific evidence to prove that
Erika Rich | daily Texan Staff
Tommy Ademski and Brenda Sendejo testify against the sonogram bill to the State Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The couple said that their experience with a sonogram prior to an abortion was traumatizing.
the procedures in the proposed pictures, we always allow them to ery situation is also unique, said bill can change a woman’s mind. see the pictures,” Gilbert said. OB-GYN Dr. Matthew Romberg, “If someone wants to see the Every patient is unique, and ev- who also testified at the hearing.
LOBBY continues from PAGE 1 Cigarroa said. “Our difficult task before us is to help address this challenge and to mitigate these effects to the fullest extent possible. But, that is not to say that it will not be without pain.” Cigarroa, along with other officials, urged the committee to consider reallocating a greater portion of funds to higher education, citing universities as key generators of working Texans and important research. “If you have the opportunity to allocate more than what the base will represent, it’s my strong opinion that higher education is among the most important investments, even during these difficult times,” he said. UT currently receives $1 in funding for every $10 earned in research grants through the Competitive Knowledge Fund, which is reserved for UT, the University of Houston, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. Cigarroa said the fund is crucial for UT since state funding is calculated based on enrollment rates and UT is near capacity. “For UT Austin, that’s why we pushed for
the Competitive Knowledge Fund, which does emphasize excellence in research,” he said. “The only campus that is growing [slowly] is UT Austin because they are at capacity. If you take a look at all the other campuses, they are having record enrollment growth.” State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said the current funding formula hinders institutions like UT, which is near capacity, adding that there should be an alternative funding formula. Last session, state Sen. Steve Ogden, RBryan, filed a bill that would offer a different funding formula that would emphasize research. “I recommended different formulas for upper-level institutions based on their classifications and had suggested that if institutions didn’t like the formula they were seeing, they would be given incentives to get to the formula they would like,” Ogden said. “It’s an issue that is now ripe because [Shapiro] brought it up, and I think [Shapiro] needs to pursue it.”
CAPITOL continues from PAGE 1 About 50 students from UT student lobbying initiative Invest in Texas gathered at the committee meeting to testify in front of Senate members. Invest in Texas includes lobbyists from SG, Senate of College Councils, Graduate Student Assembly and the student body at large. The Senate’s proposed budget for the 2012-2013 biennium included a 41-percent cut to financial aid. “We just wanted to bring students down and show support and show that students do care about funding,” said Blake Baker, financial director of the Senate of College Councils. “This is the time of times for higher education in the state of Texas and at UT Austin. All of us are going to begin pitching in where we can, talking with representatives from our districts to highlight the importance of all our issues — funding being blatant — but also other things like guns on campus.” Powers’ testimony will take place next week after he is released from the hospital. UT spokesman Don Hale has confirmed that Powers is in stable condition.
but I have never felt more empowered than when I marched to the Capitol this morning with [many] of them,” she said while testifying. “These students walked through the freezing weather to remind you of the gravity of your task.” Kabir closed her testimony by restating the goals of the Invest in Texas campaign. “We urge you to keep us affordable, keep us safe and keep us competitive,” she said. “We don’t want you to just prioritize us — we want you to invest in us and in so doing, invest in Texas.” Chelsea Adler, Senate of College Councils president, told legislators how she and more than 78,000 other students would be personally affected by reducing the number of TEXAS Grant recipients by half. “Without that program from the
state, I would either have to have taken out a large amount of loans, or I would have not been able to attend UT Austin,” Adler told senators. “Receiving the TEXAS Grant and attending UT Austin has allowed me to participate in undergraduate research, serve as a student leader and receive a first-class education.” Adler said students’ perseverance today was a sign that the campaign is getting off to a good start, and she is looking forward to their future lobby day on March 7. “We pretty much had all the odds stacked against us with the weather, the potential snow day, President Powers being hospitalized and even just the 8 a.m. wakeup call, but I think this shows how serious students are about having their voice heard by the Legislature, and I think it’s just a sign of things to come,” she said.
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7 NEWS
NEWS 7
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Budget cuts vex schools By Molly Moore Daily Texan Staff
K-12 schools face $11 billion in cuts as the state attempts to balance a $27-billion budget shortfall. Rather than looking to improve education, educators and policymakers are now wondering whether they will be able to adequately run schools at all. At the Texas Center for Education Policy’s annual Leading the Nation conference, 200 teachers, administrators and legislators met Wednesday to discuss the challenges that the state’s public education system faces over the next two years. “Our priorities are out of order,” said Paul Sadler, the former chairman of the Committee on Public Education in the Texas House of Representatives, in his keynote address. “The day that we as policymakers forget the importance of education, we stop helping our children and begin hurting them.” Former teacher Tori Garcia cited the negative cycle that occurs from not properly funding schools. “Legislators, including our governor, are putting education on the back burner. [Aus-
tin] cannot function economically as a city of Texas, much less of the United States, without proper education for all of our children,” she said. Because more funding is not presently an option, educators are looking elsewhere for possible sources of revenue. “We need to look at the consolidation of costs and resources,” said Laura Alcorta, the director of federal programs for Round Rock ISD. “Look at our school districts — we have over 1,000 [in Texas]. If a single metropolis gets to have 10 school districts, they also get 10 superintendents and 10 administrative offices. All of those extra people could be consolidated and the extra money would go straight into the schools themselves.” Administrative staffers make almost $27,000 more than teachers on average, according to Texas Education Agency data. Austin ISD cut 113 administrative jobs during the past year and aims to cut “We need to start having the conversaanother 50 to 100 over the coming year. Still, the number of jobs to cut remains tion, but the interest is not there, and it is at 485 for AISD, with 421 of those being sad to see that,” Alcorta said. State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, disputed teaching positions, according to the Austhe state Legislature’s dedication to education. tin American-Statesman.
Supporters of educational reform gather Wednesday at the Texas Center for Education Policy’s annual Leading The Nation Conference.
Shereen Ayub Daily Texan Staff
“You, the teachers and administrators, need to act as advocates for education and make sure we provide adequate funding,” he said. “The best investment we can make is ensuring we have the resources needed for
successful schools.” He excused himself shortly after to attend a finance meeting set to focus on the state budget with special emphasis on the allocation of funding for public schools.
Panel discusses solutions to debt issues UT rejects participation in ranking study By Allison Harris Daily Texan Staff The federal government’s rising national debt, which will hit its ceiling of $14.3 trillion this spring, is particularly important for college students, the executive director of a nonpartisan group said Wednesday. The LBJ School of Public Affairs hosted a panel discussion about solutions to the federal debt. Robert Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, said the debt is more than just a financial problem. “It really is a moral issue,” he said. “It’s about the legacy that we’re leaving to future generations, and if we’re saying fiscal policy is unsustainable, we’re saying that your future is unsustainable.” Bixby told the 135 people in attendance that the recession added to the debt as tax revenues were reduced but is not
entirely to blame. “Legislation matters, and for the last 10 years, what we’ve been doing is raising spending and cutting taxes,” he said. David Walker, founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative, said the government must look into restructuring entitlement programs, cut defense spending and increase taxes to begin closing down the debt. “We’ve got to make major changes,” he said. “This is not nip and tuck; this is reconstructive surgery.” Walker also said the government should institute a fixed GDP-to-debt ratio but not until 2013 in order to be able to make cuts, get out of the recession and lower unemployment rates. Alice Rivlin, senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, said fiscal responsibility is not a matter of political ideology. “It’s deciding about how big a government we want and
paying for it,” she said. Rivlin said solutions to the debt may be unpleasant, but debt reduction is necessary. “It’s all painful, but you won’t like what happens if we don’t get on top of this problem,” she said. Public Affairs dean Robert Hutchings said the event is part of the school’s fundamental mission and an opportunity for public outreach. “The two parties have difficulty in coming to terms in a cooperative way,” he said. “This threesome of distinguished, bipartisan scholars and experts are trying to go around the country, including to Austin to help talk about these issues in a responsible non-polemical way.” Business graduate student Eric Machak said he wished the panel had explained more details about solutions to the debt. “I was looking for more concrete sort of ideas or next steps, actions,” he said.
By Allison Harris Daily Texan Staff Because of a change to the way the U.S. News and World Report evaluates college education programs, UT will not provide information for a national ranking of undergraduate and graduate education programs, said a UTeach codirector. U.S. News and World Report and the National Council on Teacher Quality announced late last month that they were teaming up for the first time to rate the nation’s undergraduate teacher education programs. Thirty-seven education deans, presidents and directors sent a letter criticizing the council’s criteria, which they said focused on curriculum over results. Nobody from UT signed the letter, but they shared similar concerns about the new evaluation process, said UTeach co-director Michael Marder. The letter criticized a plan to au-
tomatically fail programs that did not participate in the new review process. Douglas Palmer, dean of Texas A&M’s College of Education and Human Development signed the letter and said the evaluations will not be valuable for Texas A&M or the general public. “It’s the opinions of the people who are hiring our students, it is the opinions of the parents, and it is the learning of the students of our teacher graduates — these are the critical evaluation concerns,” he said. The Council responded by instead deciding to give estimated ratings to schools it could not get enough information for. “We are not in this to punish education schools that don’t respond,” said council spokeswoman Julie Greenberg. “We want to create the expectation that they owe this information to the public.” Marder said UT is not planning to provide information to the coun-
cil because it used inflexible standards to evaluate the UTeach program for training secondary science educators in Jan. 2010. The state requires secondary science educators to study four different subjects. The University complies through composite certification, in which students take 24 course hours in one area, 12 hours in another field and six hours each in two other fields. Although Greenberg said it gave the University an overall design award, the program was criticized for requiring two biology courses of science teachers. “They simply had the long list of particular things they were looking for in the program, and they gave a high score if they found them and a low score if they didn’t,” Marder said. “I see no indications that they pay attention to any of the outcomes for the graduates of the program. These are things that everyone preparing teachers cares about.”
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8 SPTS
SPORTS
SWEET DEAL VALENTINE MASSAGE
8
RELAXATION
STARTS HERE
www.utrecsports.org
Thursday, February 10, 2011 | THE DAILY TEXAN | Will Anderson, Sports Editor | (512) 232-2210 | sports@dailytexanonline.com
SIDELINE
SOFTBALL
PLAY BALL!
LOUISVILLE at No. 15 TEXAS
NBA MAVERICKS
KINGS
New-look Longhorns are deeper, faster
By Sara Beth Purdy Daily Texan Staff
F
or all of last season’s talent, leadership and power hitting, Texas lost in the regional round of the 2010 NCAA tournament. The Longhorns begin the 2011 campaign tonight and are hoping a deeper roster and different offensive philosophy will propel them further into the postseason. Instead of relying on the big bats of departed players, the team will play more strategic offense, utilizing its high-percentage slugging and base speed to manufacture runs. “The power is back, but I think we have better
speed this year than we’ve ever had,” Texas head coach Connie Clark said. “There aren’t a whole bunch of left-handed slappers in the line up, but we have several that run exceptionally well. We’ll build on that.” Equally important is the added depth from five incoming and highly regarded freshmen. “Speed, speed, speed and depth,” said sophomore outfielder Taylor Hoagland when asked how she would sum up this year’s squad. “We have a lot of players in a lot of positions.” Rachel Fox, a freshman from Sugar Land, joins sophomores Blaire Luna and Kim Bruins in the
SPURS
RAPTORS
DEPTH continues on PAGE 9
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
PROJECTED STARTERS Blaire Luna, 12 Position: Pitcher Height: 5’8” Class: Sophomore Hometown: Austin Luna was the brightest star on last year’s roster and, after winning both Big 12 freshman of the year and pitcher of the year honors, returns as the arm behind the Texas pitching staff. Look for her to improve on her 404 strikeouts and 10 completegame shutouts from a season ago.
Amy Hooks, 10 Position: Catcher Height: 5’7” Class: Senior Hometown: Mesquite
Position: Third Base Height: 5’8” Class: Junior Hometown: Humble Even though she’s only a junior, Taylor is one of three team captains; a good example of her leadership. The 2010 All-Big 12 first team selection will be put to good use at the hot corner.
Taylor Hoagland, 6 Position: Outfield Height: 5’7” Class: Sophomore Hometown: Flower Mound Hoagland hit .382 last season, best on the team. The sophomore slugger also possessed the squad’s second-best on-base percentage. She can play multiple positions but will likely start off in the outfield, where she played 57 games in 2010.
Lexy Bennett, 51
Courtney Craig, 25 Position: Outfield Height: 5’8” Class: Junior Hometown: Oceanside, Calif.
Bennett will likely move over to first base. As one of the most experienced infielders, her leadership will be pivotal on defense. She also had the fourthbest batting average returning from last year and so will be an important member of the batting order.
Craig committed just two errors, the second fewest of any returning outfielder. She will be a reliable arm in the outfield, but her most important contribution will be on offense. In 2010 she set a school single-season record home runs with 13 and stole 12 bases. Others will look to Craig to set the tone early on in games.
Raygan Feight, 7
Mandy Ogle, 5
Position: Second Base Height: 5’5” Class: Senior Hometown: Waco
Position: Outfield Height: 5’3” Class: Freshman Hometown: New Braunfels
In her second year at Texas, Feight was one of only three Longhorns to start all 58 games last season. She will start at second base to make room for freshman Taylor Thom at shortstop. The two should make a dangerous double-play threat against short-hitting opponents.
Another of the talented freshmen on this team, Ogle was known for her defense in high school. She helped her team get to two straight state tournaments and win it all in 2009, when she was named tournament MVP. Ogle also has experience at catcher.
Taylor Thom, 11
Shelby Savony, 21
Position: Shortstop Height: 5’5” Class: Freshman Hometown: Cedar Park Thom will likely be the only freshman starting in the infield to start the season off. The 2010 high school District 16-5A MVP, Thom is a skilled offensive player who will help the team once she gets on base with exceptional speed. She also possesses a powerful arm and could even play outfield if asked.
Event: Hurdles Height: 5’11” Class: Sophomore Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Nadia Taylor, 88
Hooks will again be catching for Luna and their relationship is only stronger with a full season behind them, plus the entire fall semester training together. Hooks could hit clean-up as well and her .639 slugging percentage from last year bodes well for this season’s offense.
Position: First Base Height: 5’10” Class: Junior Hometown: Kingwood
Keiron Stewart
Shannon Kintner | Daily Texan Staff
After rough finish to 2010 season Texas looks to rebound By Chris Hummer Daily Texan Staff
The Texas 2011 softball season starts tonight against Louisville in the Texas Classic at Red and Charline McCombs Field — the same place where the 2010 season ended painfully in the regional round of the NCAA tournament. Last season ended on a sour note. First, the top-seeded Longhorns lost in the second game of the Big 12 Championship, and then they were sent home early from the NCAA tournament. It was even more disappointing because the team won the Big 12 regular season title and entered the national tournament with title aspirations. “We built expectations through the year,” said Texas head coach Connie Clark. “Last year we were the underdog and built expectations as we went through. [It] felt like we fell short when we got to the NCAAs.”
PREVIEW VS. Date: Tonight Time: 6:30 p.m. Place: McCombs Field (Austin, Texas)
The team will now use the lessons learned from the loss to improve on last year’s unwanted results. “It didn’t end how we wanted it to, and we went back into the locker room after that and were like, ‘Is this really happening?’ Everyone has a sour feeling about that, and now it’s fuel to our fire,” said junior Nadia Taylor. The Longhorns hope that fire burns all the way to this season’s Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
This Tuesday the Big 12 conference named Texas’ Keiron Stewart the Big 12 athlete of the week. This is the first conference honor of the sophomore’s career and the first for the Longhorn track and field team this season. Last weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Stewart clocked a 7.68 in the 60-meter hurdles championship. This time was good enough to help Stewart become the collegiate leader this season and automatically qualify him for the NCAA Indoor Championship in March. He also recorded the second best time in school history, one 100th of a second behind the record and the fastest time by a Texas runner since 2004. Stewart and the Longhorns are back to work this Friday and Saturday in two separate meets.
BIG 12 MEN’S BASKETBALL 1
Texas 9-0
2
Kansas 8-1
3
Baylor 6-4
4
Texas A&M 5-4
5
Oklahoma State 4-5
6
Missouri 4-5
7
Kansas State 4-5
8
Oklahoma 4-5
9
Colorado 4-6
10
Texas Tech 3-6
11
Nebraska 3-6
12
Iowa State
REPEAT continues on PAGE 9 Sophomore pitcher Blaire Luna returns as the Longhorns’ ace, as Texas looks to repeat as Big 12 champions.
Position: Designated Hitter Height: 5’5” Class: Senior Hometown: Kilgore In just 75 at-bats, Savony hit 11 home runs and 24 RBIs last season, giving her a .720 slugging percentage. She saw a lot of time as the team’s pinch-hitter but could become a full-time starter at designated hitter. Chris Kosho Daily Texan file photo
SPORTS BRIEFLY Super Bowl fans sue NFL, Jones DALLAS — Ticket-holding football fans who ended up with no seats or what they considered bad views of the Super Bowl have filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys and team owner Jerry Jones. The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Dallas alleges breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices on behalf of people who ended up watching the game on TV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, or had seats the lawsuit labeled “illegitimate.” Los Angeles-based attorney Michael J. Avenatti said he expects the suit to cover about 1,000 people. Spokesmen for the Cowboys and the NFL had no comment Wednesday. — The Associated Press
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REPEAT continues from PAGE 8
WOmEN’S BASKETBALL
Texas 69, Kansas sTaTe 59
“As much as you try to teach what it takes to win, it doesn’t replace that feeling of actually being there. They can now look back on the experience and say, ‘Oh yeah, now we know what the coaches were talking about,’” Clark said. The team uses this year’s national tournament as motivation when practicing or working out, and they even have a motto: 6-8-11, which is the date of the NCAA championship game. “Six-eight-eleven is our end result, the last day of the World Series,” Taylor said. “We’re going to be there. There is no doubt in our mind that
we will be there on 6-8-11. It’s on our mind every day; we break every huddle with 6-8-11.” Of course, the team is careful not to look too far ahead, knowing they first need to focus on their non-conference schedule and then Big 12 play. That quest to repeat as conference champs hinges on the Longhorns’ pitching staff, which is headlined by reigning Big 12 pitcher of the year Blaire Luna. Luna is looking to build on a stellar freshman campaign in which she maintained a .127 opponent batting average and threw 10 full-game shutouts.
“I think she’s growing so quickly as a sophomore. Freshman year was a great start for her, but she’s only getting better from there. She’s keying up on little things, so you can expect great things from her this year as well,” said junior Courtney Craig. This is a potent team that is hitting the field with an impressive blend of speed and power, alongside some excellent pitching. Most importantly, Texas enters the season ranked No. 15 in the country, with a great starting point to repeat as Big 12 champions and eventually to play for the ultimate goal: 6-8-11.
DEPTH continues from PAGE 8 matt Binter | Kansas state Collegian
Longhorns Yvonne Anderson and Kathleen Nash surround Kansas State guard Brittany Chambers in their win over the Wildcats on Wednesday.
Fussell shines in Longhorns’ fifth consecutive Big 12 win By Sameer Bhuchar Daily Texan Staff
Freshman guard Chassidy Fussell and junior Yvonne Anderson notched 19 and 18 points respectively to help the Texas women’s basketball team win its fifth Big 12 game in a row over the Kansas State Wildcats, ending their five game win streak. Fussell and Kathleen Nash helped Texas jump out to an early 16-9 lead with a pair of quick three pointers. Later in the half, Anderson took charge and engineered an 8-0 run over the Wildcats with four points of her own. With their ability to run and gun, the Longhorns held a 3831 lead at the half. Texas’ 38 points were its highest first-half point total in conference play, and it was a sign of
things to come. The Longhorns carried that momentum right into the start of the second period as they scored eight straight points for a 46-34 lead — their second double-digit lead of the game. The game was pretty much decided in those minutes because Texas never led again by any less than eight points down the stretch. Fussell, recently named Big 12 player of the Week, has now scored double digits in 21 games this season, and she tied Clarissa Davis (1985-86) for the fifth-most double-figure scoring efforts by a Texas freshman in school history. She has notched a total of 400 points this season — the ninth most by a Texas freshman. Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors has preached the importance
of rebounding to her squad all season. The Longhorns took that to heart on Wednesday by winning the battle of the boards, 36-28. Texas is 13-2 when out rebounding their opponent. Though the Longhorns shot well, their defense has really been at the helm of their recent success. In its last five games, Texas’ opponents have been averaging just 60.0 points per game. Kansas State’s Jalana Childs scored 17 points to lead her squad. The Wildcats’ loss was their first of the year at home. Texas is now fifth in the Big 12 and has begun to dig itself out of the early season hole they were in. They will look to continue their hot streak as they head to Waco on Saturday to take on top-ranked Baylor.
pitching rotation this season. Over the summer, Fox and her club team Impact Gold finished fourth at the 2010 Amateur Softball Association 18-Under Gold National Championship. She brings additional arm power to the pitching circle. Last season, the Longhorns had a strong starter in Luna but lacked an adequate reserve to back her up. “It’s finally nice to have some depth behind Blaire,” said junior first baseman Lexy Bennett. “Rachel Fox is doing great. She’s a fabulous pitcher, and especially as a freshman, she has so much more to gain through her four years here. With Blaire having one year behind her, it’s going to be amazing.” Karina Scott from California and Taylor Thom from Cedar Park join the Texas infield. Brejae Washington, also from California, joins the outfield along with Mandy Ogle from San Antonio. The freshmen add an extra element of speed to complement Hoagland’s from last season. “We have a lot of speed compared to what we had last year,” Bennett said. “We’re going to be able to produce more runs through stolen bases that we didn’t have last year.” Ogle can also help out behind the plate as catcher, which is good news for returning senior starter Amy Hooks, one of only two returning players with catching experience.
Shannon Kintner | Daily texan staff
Members of the softball team pose during media day last week in Austin.
With multiple people at each position, both new and returning, the team identity is changing. “I think it’s a different team than last year,” Hoagland said. “It’s definitely a lot younger team. We have a lot more personality.” Clark believes that the pain experienced by the returners greatly affects the identity of the team. She believes that passing along the disappointment of last season’s early exit is essential and a good source of motivation. “We felt like we absolutely fell short,” Clark said, “[Our] expectations are extremely high. We’re talking about Women’s College World Series on a daily basis, and
that is our expectation.” The first test of the team’s depth comes this weekend, when the team plays five games in four days versus Tulsa, Louisville and Northern Illinois in the Texas Classic. It’s a chance for fans to finally see the new players that the coaches have been commenting on throughout the fall. It will also be an opportunity to see how this depth and the pain of last year affect the Longhorns. “Now you have a big picture in mind, and it’s [the] Women’s College World Series,” Clark said. “I think that helps motivate you, knowing there is that peace at the end of the tunnel.”
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
TEXAS OKLAHOMA Swimmers acclimate to unusual distances Texas tops OU to remain undefeated in yearly charity meet By Dan Hurwitz Daily Texan Staff
By Stefan Scrafield Daily Texan Staff
The Texas women’s swimming and diving team is peaking at the perfect time. Wednesday night’s 77-60 victory over Houston made it three in a row for the Longhorns, who appear to have put consecutive mid-season losses to Auburn and Georgia behind them. The Longhorns were in top form as they took 13 of 17 events from the Cougars in the annual Sprint for the Cure meet at the University of Houston Natatorium. “This was a great team effort,” Texas assistant coach Jim Henry said. Although some might have expected the fourth-ranked Longhorns to have had trouble adjusting to the unconventional distances that the annual meet is known for, the team stuck to the fundamentals and was able to score a narrow victory. “A lot of these ladies won events tonight and took advantage of their opportunities,” Henry said. “We had great attention to detail. Our starts and turns have been our main focus, and we did an outstanding job with those.” The event also served as a successful homecoming for a couple of Hous-
ton-born swimmers on the team. Freshmen Catherine Wagner and Ellen Lobb, both Houston natives, each came away with multiple individual victories. Wagner won the 50- and 75-yard breaststroke heats with times of 30.07 and 47.69 seconds while adding another first-place finish in the 100yard individual medley, clocking in at 59.10. She also captured first in the 100-yard medley relay along with teammates Alex Hooper, Leah Reinhardt and Brie Powers. Lobb was able to win the 50 in both the freestyle and the butterfly with times of 23.47 and 25.48 respectively. She also teamed up with teammates Brie Powers, Becca Tomlin and Melanie McClure to win the 100-yard freestyle relay. The meet in Houston was the last of the year for the Longhorns, giving them an overall record of 8-2 for the regular season and ensuring them the highest national ranking in the Big 12. Texas will now turn its attention to the post-season. The team has two weeks to prepare for the conference championships, which will take place at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center from Feb. 23 to 26.
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Juniors set to visit Austin as Horns build 2012 class By Jon Parrett Daily Texan Staff
Statesman, including wide receivers Thomas Johnson and Dominique Wheeler as well as running backs The Longhorns signed one of the Johnathan Gray and Trey Williams. best recruiting classes in the country All four rank among the Statesman’s last week, but they’re already work- top 10 in-state recruits for 2012. ing on their recruits for 2012. They inked their first recruit on Monday — quarterback Connor Attendance in question Brewer from Scottsdale, Ariz. — Two recruits who may not make and this Sunday is junior day at Tex- the trip to Austin this weekend are as, where high school juniors from Javonte Magee, a defensive end around the state will make official from Sam Houston High School in visits to Austin. Signing Brewer, who San Antonio, and safety LaDarrell also considered Alabama and Au- McNeil from Smith High School in burn, should give the Longhorns Dallas. Magee’s attendance Sunday momentum as the offseason pro- rests on whether he can find transgresses — Texas had 22 commits for portation from his home in San Anthe 2011 class signed by June of 2010 tonio, according to the Statesman. and will look to get off to a similar He already has offers from Texas start this weekend. A&M and Baylor. McNeil is visiting TCU on Saturday, which leaves his presence in Austin on Sunday up Texas’ top skill players to visit in the air. McNeil, who is the StatesSeveral of the state’s best players man’s top-rated safety in the state, will be on campus this weekend, ac- has offers from Oklahoma, Texas cording to the Austin American- A&M and Tennessee. day, month day, 2008
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Texas guard Dogus Balbay goes for a lay up in front of Oklahoma guard Cade Davis, left, in the first half of the game in Norman, Okla., on Wednesday.
Fast start propels Longhorns past rival By Will Anderson Daily Texan Staff
It was another fast start for Texas on Wednesday in Norman. Texas jumped out to a 23-8 lead in the first 10 minutes and at halftime, was beating the Sooners by 16. “They’ve gone in a lot of people’s gyms, and the game’s been over pretty quick,” Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel said. “They punched us in the mouth early, and we could never really recover.” Dogus Balbay, one of the fastest players on Texas’ roster, helped1 get his team going full speed with some quick scoring. Balbay made three driving baskets in the
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Then, on Jan. 31, the team established a 25-point lead at Texas A&M in the first half. The Aggies never got closer than 20 points after that. And versus Texas Tech last weekend, the Longhorns led by as many as 21 points in the first half. The second half was a different story, with the Red Raiders closing the gap to just six points, but Texas was able to hold on for the win. The Longhorns didn’t allow any sort of comeback on Wednesday. They maintained their doubledigit lead throughout the second half, actually picking up steam as the contest wore on.
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They finished winning by 16 and never looked tired. Balbay continued to lead the charge, dishing smart passes to open shooters as the Sooner defense collapsed on him, and the team scored eight fast-break points plus eight more off turnovers. It was another athletic performance by a Texas team defeating conference opponents by an average of 18.1 points. “There’s not much of a drop off when those guys go to the bench, so they can keep that pressure up all game, push the ball and have fresh bodies, things like that,” Oklahoma guard Cade Davis said.
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first half, including back-to-back layups where he took the ball the full length of the court. He finished with 12 points. Cory Joseph also added seven points during the early run and all five starters scored at least six points in the opening half. “It’s really important to start the game really tough and setting the tone for us,” Balbay said. It was the most recent example in a string of games where Texas took an early advantage. Against Missouri on Jan. 29, Texas started the game on an 11-0 tear thanks to some democratic shooting from four different players during that run.
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The cold weather outside in Norman only translated to cold shooting for Oklahoma. Texas once again shut down the Sooners 68-52 — a game in which the Longhorns never trailed. Texas now has not been down in a game for 184 minutes, which dates back to the last time the Longhorns were north of the border in beating Oklahoma State on Jan. 26. The Sooners’ poor shooting was not contagious, as Texas shot 53 percent from the field. The Longhorn starters all reached double-digit point totals in combining for all of the team’s points boosting Texas’ win streak to nine games and a 9-0 Big 12 record. “I thought we competed, they are just better than us,” said Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel. Jordan Hamilton led the way with 20 points and added nine rebounds in a game in which the outcome was never in doubt. “These guys do a great job of screening, and Dogus [Balbay] does a great job of finding me out there,” Hamilton said. “I think we’ve just been executing lately and making shots.” Despite the cold weather in Norman, the Longhorns got off to a hot start making eight of their first 10 field goal attempts and getting off to a quick 17-4 lead. Balbay scored six of his 12 points during the run, including a rare mid-range jumper from the baseline. Texas’ margin never sank below double-digits once the lead reached 10 in the first half as they shot 63 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Longhorns’ defensive lockdown continued against the Sooners. Every Oklahoma shot was contested by Texas, who held the Sooners to 32-percent shooting from the field. “Our inability to make a shot in the first half and our inability to guard effectively just dug too deep of a hole,” Capel said. Texas’ success from the field was in large part to the high percentage shots they were getting. Both Cory Joseph and Balbay at times were able to run the length of the court for an easy layup. Tristan Thompson stayed around the rim and had little trouble finding the basket adding 11 points. Gary Johnson’s mid-range jump shot was also on target as he scored 14. The 16-point win came despite the Longhorns having 14 turnovers as Texas swept the season series with Oklahoma for the first time since 2007-08.
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Thursday, February 10, 2011
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Thursday, February 10, 2011
RANK continues from PAGE 14 “Liver disease is so long term,” Beck said. “You can spend all your life drinking in one city only to move and be treated in another. It would be better to look at emergency room visits for alcohol poisoning. And cities like Boston and New York have better public transportation. That makes a big difference with DUIs.” Thankfully, Men’s Health says we don’t have to worry as much about our livers and DUI stringency. We’re ranked 42nd in the vaguely phrased harsh DUI laws category and 46th in deaths from liver disease. Instead, Austin’s overall fifthplace ranking comes from two seemingly more legitimate observations: our heavy binge drinking and DUI arrests. Coming in at second and eighth, respectively, we’re apparently not afraid to admit we have a problem and get caught, too.
However, Jason Dusterhoft, Austin Police Department’s Commander of Highway Enforcement, says there’s more information behind the raw numbers. “We have dedicated DWI units in Austin,” Dusterhoft said in response to the high ranking in arrests. “They didn’t consider that when they looked at various cities, and we’re the only city in Texas that has that. When you have such a large entertainment district like Austin, you’re going to have people drinking and driving, and we’re just trying to keep people safe.” As for binge drinking, you don’t have to look any further than West Campus on a Saturday night to see that the University of Texas has just as many people partying as any entertainment district downtown. “The city of Austin has received [similar accolades to the drunkest
city] in the past,” Beck added. “It comes down to the large college campus and that, around that age, people drink more.” Men’s Health Magazine’s website even opted for the generic photo to drive home our college-aged binge drinking: a preppy, college-aged guy touching his forehead while the officer tries to get him to touch his nose. Good job, random and confused preppy drunkard. UT knows how to party; we were named the No. 1 party school in America by Playboy last year. At one point, we were also ranked No. 1 in partying by the Princeton Review. We only made sixth last year, but we’re on a steady rise back to the top from eighth in ’08 and seventh in ’09 according to the Statesman’s All Ablog Austin. Although we might be partying, not all of us binge drink like the
YOU!
Despite Austin’s high rates of binge drinking and DUI arrests, questions still surround the city’s ranking as fifth drunkest city in the U.S.
Ryan Edwards Daily Texan staff
Men’s Health study says. A 2010 National College Health Assessment found that 70 percent of UT students drink only four drinks or less at a party. So while there are some sauced Longhorns charging around bars on the weekends, this town is a lot larger than UT and none of the other cities listed in the defunct Men’s Health study are major college towns. Let’s take a look at the numbers, specifically Austin’s TABC licenses for on-premises consumption of alcohol. Turns out, our fair city has a higher ratio of bars and restaurants with licenses to the population than either Houston or Dallas. While Houston does have more bars overall, we’ve got more places to drink per person than any other Texas city, including Houston,
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But before we all hop on the wagon so we can clean up our image, consider this: Titles like “Drunkest City” or “Party School” are all just labels someone decided to slap on us. These don’t tell the whole story you can get by just walking around Downtown at night and talking to residents. “Good or bad?” said Roman Haliziw, an Austin pedicab driver who works Downtown. “Is getting drunk good or bad? Smoking marijuana, is it good or bad? Behind the wheel, it’s bad, but at the right time, it’s good. I think it’s good for Austin to have that kind of entertainment down here. Where else in Texas are you going to do this stuff? People come to Austin from all over the world to have a good time, and we will provide.”
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the fourth-largest city in the U.S. It’s not just UT that’s getting tipsy here; the entire town is plastered. A quick search of Yelp and Citysearch revealed that there are, at the very least, three bars within convenient walking distance of the Capitol. These aren’t conveniently placed downtown bars; they’re adjacent to the Capitol. That’s not necessarily the most shocking bit of info, considering the oldest references to Austin’s inebriation come from when the University was first proposed to be built near the Capitol. Gene Burd, a journalism professor who has often written about and researched the University’s past, said numerous Texas voters in the late 1800s didn’t want their children going off to this “den of sin” filled with pickled politicians.
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PRIVACY continues from PAGE 14 Neil Grigg, a Plan II and business honors sophomore, said many negative implications can be derived from the passing of information into the hands of a corporation. Namely, the fear arises of potential ramifications down the line from employers. “Employers should not be allowed to use Facebook to make hiring decisions,” he said. “Just because some information is public in a loose sense does not mean it should be subject to public scrutiny. For example, I may have a conversation with a friend at a cafe, which is public, yet it would
“
Just because some information is public in a loose sense does not mean it should be subject to public scrutiny.
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skiy are all current or former students of NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Courant has a reputation for being one of the premier institutions specializing in applied mathematics, mathematical analysis and scientific computation. Finn Brunton, a teacher and digital media researcher at NYU, expressed interest in the notion of a less intrusive social network and Diaspora in a New York Times article published May 11, 2010. “[Diaspora is] a return of the classic geek means of production: pizza and ramen and guys sleeping under the desks because it is something that is really exciting and challenging,” he said. “Everyone I talk to about this says, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been waiting for someone to do something like that.’” Their adviser, Yosem Companys, said the four founders have been hunkered down and coding 24/7, exemplifying Brunton’s notion of the return of the classic geek. Capitalizing off Facebook resentment late last spring, the four utilized the crowdsourcing funding platform Kickstarter to raise $10,000 in 39 days solely from donations from the general public. Despite meeting its proposed goal for funding, Diaspora’s current donation count sits at $200,641 from 6,479 backers. Among the most prominent and intriguing of these donors is the creator of Diaspora’s opposition, Mark Zuckerberg himself. An article on Wired.com reported that Zuckerberg donated as a result of his appreciation for their drive to change the world. “I donated,” he said. “I think it’s a cool idea.” This comes across as a good idea at first glance. Your information is your own property. The idea becomes a bit harder to realize in practice. In an earlier post, Diaspora founders mentioned that opening up a “personal web server,” as they refer to it, won’t be as easy as setting up a Facebook account. This vagueness of the potential complexity of Diaspora could have untold ramifications down the road.
—Neil Grigg, Plan II and business honors sophomore
be quite inappropriate for a future employer to hide in the nearby bushes to overhear the conversation, then say ‘Oh, but you were talking in public.’” Diaspora, in some regards, is a preemptive strike against this, as it allows individuals to retain their own information. Despite this benefit, Diaspora is not flawless. Among the pitfalls is the average American’s lack of patience. Setting up an account on most web applications takes mere minutes, granting users instant gratification. Diaspora could prove to be too technical for the masses because it requires knowledge of coding to use. Diaspora isn’t a website where an individual can open an account, but rather an overarching
HIP-HOP continues from PAGE 14 project of opening social networks that could require specialized skills to be used. What the project will actually turn into is unknown, given the nearly infinite number of possibilities that arise from Diaspora’s open-source nature. Stanford post-doctoral researcher Arvind Narayanan, a UT Ph.D. graduate who published an paper on social networks entitled “Deanonymizing Social Networks,” critiqued the basis of Diaspora. “While it is great to see alternatives to the ‘walled garden’ model of social networking, it is important to keep in mind that there have been almost two dozen projects and proposals for some form of distributed social networking in the past,” he said. “Some of these are academic efforts, some volunteer driven. The majority have been abandoned or have stalled, and none have yet gained any significant traction. Perhaps the 23rd time will be the charm, but it is important to ask what the mistakes of Diaspora’s predecessors were and whether this new kid on the block is doing anything to avoid them.” Such is already the case of Appleseed, a project conceived in 2005 that is pursuing the exact same goals as Diaspora. The project was put on hold after several years, only to be resurrected in the heat of Diaspora-induced media coverage on the notion of a nodebased social network. Michael Chisari, Appleseed developer, has stated right from the start that Appleseed was never intended for the everyday user but instead for the highly technically-inclined. The project has never taken off. Currently, Diaspora remains in alpha testing available to select number of coders, with plans to release a beta for public use sometime in the coming months. Whether Diaspora will succeed or fail has yet to be determined. For all of its detractors though, Diaspora already has a growing waiting list of people interested in testing the alpha version. Diaspora’s path will be interesting to follow in the coming months.
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Gruesome scenes are displayed as the members bleed from every orifice, and Tyler, The Creator, has a seizure while another member pulls a healthy fingernail off his hand. The end product is one of the most graphic music videos to be created since their conception in the 1980s. Some hip-hop media outlets, including blogs 2dopeboyz and Nah Right, have refused to promote or feature Odd Future or any of their music because of such content. In response, Odd Future has belittled each blog to the highest degree, adopting the lines “Fuck 2dopeboyz” and “Fuck Nah Right” as integral lyrical portions of almost every song they release. Inexplicably, they give comedian Steve Harvey the same abusive treatment. Oddities aside, Odd Future poses interesting questions about the place of vulgarity within music. To what level should it occur? Does it even have a place? These questions have been posed countless times ever since vulgar music became a mechanism for counterculture. They were only brought to the forefront by Odd Future. Horror stories evoking similar emotions and pictures operate under the same principles. Tyler, Odd Future’s mastermind and front man, explained his motives in an interview with COOL‘EH magazine in August. “I’m interested in serial killers’ minds and shit, so I rap about it at the moment,” Tyler said. “Next week, I can be rapping about oatmeal if that’s what I’m into.” Odd Future, while leading in the sector, is not the only group that employs the usage of such offensive material. Fellow West Coast up-and-comer Lil B has written dozens of “cooking” anthems in reference to cooking cocaine. Atlanta rap giant Waka Flocka Flame pushes the edge of what is deemed acceptable on a regular basis, rapping about gang violence and degrading women. In Austin, prominent rappers Doc Deuce, Phranchyze and Zeale all occasionally use obscenities for
their purposes, although not quite to the same degree as Odd Future. Austin hip-hop turntablist DJ Rockwell elaborates on the issue. “As far as profanity goes, I believe it is like anything; it’s always welcome in good taste,” he said. “That being said, if your lyrics are just curse words strung together with adjectives, then your vocabulary is very poor. [Curse words] aren’t the foundations for what I am trying to say but more just filler words I have grown used to using. If an emcee uses curse words or not will not define his talents to me, but how he uses them will.”
Words, whether they are inappropriate or not, only serve as a mechanism of sorts — similar to a paintbrush used to draw certain images within the mind. Different words, expletives included, all yield different connotations when they come together to create different images. “I don’t mind obscenity. One man’s obscenity is another one’s lyric,” Zeale said. “I can’t say vulgarity appearing in music just for the sake of it is smart, but I wouldn’t boycott it. A lot of the time, obscenities are the perfect or only way to say how you feel. So if ‘fuck’ really sums it up, then let it out there.”
Courtesy of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All
Known as Tyler, the Creator, the ostentatious frontman of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All doesn’t shy away from obscenities in his lyrics.
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DON’T MISS THE LAST CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR PORTRAIT TAKEN FOR UT’S CACTUS YEARBOOK!
All rules and instructions are included, so all you have to do is either print the nomination form or pick up one at the William Randolph Hearst Building (HSM), 25th and Whitis Avenue, Room 3.304.
FEBRUARY 14-25, 2011
UNDERCLASSMAN? JUST WALK IN!
The deadline for nominations is Feb. 25th.
SENIOR? MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!
Send us your applications today! If you have any questions, please call 471-1084 for more information.
CALL 471.9190
Recognizing extraordinary UT students for over 75 years. CACTUS YEARBOOK PHOTO STUDIO
TEXASNT STUDDEIA ME
FEBRUARY 14 - 25 | 9 A.M. - 5 P.M.
ccactus yearbook
HEARST STUDENT MEDIA BUILDING (HSM) 3.302 CALL 471.9190 FOR DETAILS
14 LIFE
14 weekend
Life&Arts
d n e k e e dtW
Thursday, February 10, 2011 | The Daily Texan | Amber Genuske, Life&Arts Editor | (512) 232-2209 | dailytexan@gmail.com
Skank Family
The
Corsets & Cocktails René Geneva has designed across the globe, from Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York to a women’s textile cooperative in Nicaragua. Now she’s ready to release her newest line of eco-friendly corsets. Swing by her store anytime this week to get fitted or just to grab some free cocktails while you check out her latest collection. What: Corsets & Cocktails Where: Eco Boutique When: Wednesday to Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. hoW Much: Free
BedPost Confessions PreValentine’s Day Show Seductive stories of sex and intrigue will take the stage all night long at this month’s Art Authority reading. Promising to get things steamy, the night will heat up with a variety of performers providing their take on everything and anything sensuous. What: BedPost Confessions PreValentine’s Day Show Where: United States Art Authority When: Thursday from 8 to 11 p.m. hoW Much: Free
The Austin Farmers’ Market Downtown Check out the best that Austin has to offer this weekend by swinging by the Farmers’ Market. Peruse the stalls, shop for healthy and local alternatives or just wander around and enjoy the sun. You can even pick up some flowers, vegetables and fruits to make a special Valentine’s Day dinner. What: The Austin Farmers’ Market Downtown Where: Republic Square Park When: Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hoW Much: Free
Heart of Texas Bears Appreciation Kegger Hoboken Pie will be providing free pizza and a keg to help Austin show appreciation for Austin’s original bear group. Enjoy this classic kegger party and swing on by for prizes like gift cards to Birds Barbershop. What: Heart of Texas Bears Appreciation Kegger Where: Chain Drive Austin When: Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. hoW Much: Free
Art Show
By clayton Wickham It’s hard to know where to begin when describing the Daliesque cartoon drawings of Baylor Estes, an artist in this weekend’s Skank Family Art Show. In one piece, a pink-faced cartoon head with a red and yellow striped mustache and half-closed eyes has his mouth open to reveal an eyeball peering out. On second glance, the eyes are really parted lips, emitting blue smoke that rises up into a cloud behind the words “Proud to be Skank.” Estes is one of 22 artists exhibiting pieces in the show, which features paintings, drawings, photographs and installation art as well as performances from 10 local bands. The artists and many of the bands are members of the Skank Family, an artist collective already famed for its free live shows and buzz-worthy bands, including Mother Falcon, Grundel in the Bronx and Final Exam. The collective expects this to be the first in a series of Skank Family Art Shows that will take place about once every two months. “What we want is for people to emerge into their own artistic form,” said Bobby Longoria, a UT alumnus, Skank Family member and the organizer of the event. Biology junior Korey Conley has a number of pieces in the show. In one of her drawings, Conley depicts a four-sided wooden tower with posts emerging eerily from the mouths of calm, disembodied heads as darkness frames the scene. Architecture junior Alex Diamond will exhibit four abstract drawings and an installation involving six fire hydrants. The nature of the exhibit will be a surprise, Diamond said. The installation is a collaboration with architecture senior Nick Gregg, who also has other pieces in the show. “We found a pile of fire hydrants and had to figure out what to do with them,” Diamond said. Some artists are also members of bands in the line up. Both Gregg and Tamir Kalifa, a radio-television-film senior, are members of Sip Sip, Mother Falcon’s party-band alter ego. Cole Wilson plays bass in Thursday’s band, Grundel in the Bronx. “An integration of art and music is the goal. We chose bands to express the certain moods of art,” Longoria said. Music starts at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, but people are welcome to come check out the art as early as 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. All day open jamming is scheduled for Sunday. Food trailers on site offer a variety of dining options for the weekend. A few of the trailers include Old School BBQ & Grill, which is a burger and barbecue joint run out of a school bus, Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles and Phoebe’s Mud, a coffee and smoothie shop. More than 500 people plan to attend this weekend, according to the Skank Family Art Show Facebook page, and Longoria said he expects at least twice as many to show up. “It’s going to be kind of chaotic and very colorful,” Longoria said. “There’s always something special about your first attempt at a concept because there’s a little anxiety and lot of creativity that goes into it because you want it to be good.” What: The Skank Family Art Show Where: East Sixth and Waller streets
Shereen ayub | Daily Texan Staff
When: Friday through Sunday evenings
Artist Korey Conley, one of 22 artists who will present their artwork at the Skank Family Art Show this weekend, works on a sketch for her next piece.
coSt: Free
Music group earns buzz through obscenity By ali Breland Daily Texan Staff
courtesy of Diaspora
Privacy concerns advance social networking website across people’s computers, aims to counter this by creating a social networking system in which every inOver the course of the past year, dividual user has a unique node of Facebook has come under tremen- which they retain ownership. dous scrutiny for its ever-changing Each node connects to create a and objectionable privacy polivast network of users withcies. In the wake of this anout the shared informager and public resenttion going through any ON THE WEB: ment of the company, sort of external entifour New York UniLearn more about ty or third party. The Diaspora versity students and inverse occurs in the alumni responded with case of Facebook, in @joindiasposomething much more ra.com which users allow their substantial than cominformation to be picked plaints — action. up from the hub they put it in. They created Diaspora, a website This information can be distributed predicated on the idea that putting as the company sees fit. your information through a cenDaniel Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg, tral hub and the forfeiture of one’s Raphael Sofaer and Ilya Zhitomirpersonal data is inherently wrong. Diaspora, cleverly named for the PRIVACY continues on PAge 13 dispersion of personal information By ali Breland Daily Texan Staff
Running around the streets of Los Angeles is a group of ragtag kids ages 16-19 who mess around, skate and make music. The only difference between this assortment of teenagers and the countless ones like them is that they are being heralded as the future of hip-hop by the music blogosphere. Known as Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All and comprised of 10 rappers and producers, the group’s focus spans the spectrum of horrible from serial murder and rape to cocaine use and satanic messages. Within two years of making a Tumblr blog and distributing their
music for free through file-sharing crew The Roots. sites, the group has built hype from Many have attributed their sucnowhere. They’ve cess solely to their built an intense fan inclusion of obbase of loyal folscenities on the lowers to a degree Within two years of highest possible akin to brainwash. level. Hip-hop has making a Tumblr blog dealt with critiCelebrities such as Mos Def and acand distributing their cism for its vulgartor Donald Glovity, but some rapmusic through fileer have praised the pers, such as Will group’s work by atsharing sites for free, Smith, have argutending their shows ably been able to the group has built and following them produce material on Twitter. hype from nowhere. without any form Foreshadowing of profanity. their rise from the For the vast maunderground scene jority of those sucis a scheduled appearance on “Late cessful within the sector, the use Night with Jimmy Fallon” on Feb. of expletives has become a main16 with the legendary hip-hop stay. Odd Future has taken this es-
tablished societal discomfort within the hip-hop genre and managed to blow it up many times over. The result has been shock and subsequent praise similar to reactions to boundary-pushing West Coast rappers N.W.A. in the ’90s. The group’s audacious display of the profane hasn’t been limited to music either. One of their music videos, titled “Earl” after one of the members who made the song, illustrates a gut-wrenching scenario in which the group members ingest a blended cocktail of pills, cough syrup and marijuana that results in carnage and havoc that they inflict upon themselves during the subsequent trip.
HIP-HOP continues on PAge 13
Validity of Men’s Health ‘drunkest city’ rankings contested THIRSTY THURSdAY
By Gerald Rich
This week marks the one-year anniversar y of Men’s Health Magazine naming Austin the fifth drunkest city in the U.S. Nevertheless, the recent rediscovery of this study by eater. com, a popular food news aggregate, has raised some eyebrows and questions again. The comments online go back and forth claiming cities like Chicago or New Orleans are the
drunkest while Fresno (No. 1) and Reno (No. 2) actually made the top of the list. Austin was still able to mop the floor with the “soberest” cities such as Boston (No. 100) and New York (No. 93). That just doesn’t seem right. Even Prohibition couldn’t keep New York sober, yet the magazine’s alleged swill of data says that New York is dry. “Our statistical sobriety checkpoint shows that the inebriated people [in Fresno] have one of the highest death rates from alcoholic liver disease (per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” wrote Kathleen Pennepacker for Men’s Health.
Fresno was near the top in every measure of dangerous drinking, including the body count caused by booze-related car crashes (according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System), the number of arrests made for driving under the influence (according to the FBI), the number of people who admit to binge drinking in the past month (according to the CDC) and the severity of DUI penalties (according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), Pennepacker wrote. Since when did a city’s harsh DUI laws become an indicator for how much its citizens drink? And didn’t the same mag-
azine name Austin the ON THE WEB: friskiest Take a walk down city back Sixth Street at night in Septemand hear Austinites’ opinions on what it ber based means to be labeled off our high one of the drunkest STD and cities. @dailytexanoncondom line.com sales rates? T h i s whole study seems questionable, and Carolyn Beck, director of communications and governmental relations at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, has a couple qualms as well.
RAnk continues on PAge 12