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The Daily Texan Volume 112, Number 138
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 News Office: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Sports Office: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com
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Felix Robles tucks his 9-week-old chihuahua, Chico, into his jacket to shield the puppy from the cold.
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Students will have the opportunity to share a variety of information in an effort to improve the undergraduate experience in a survey that opened Tuesday. The Student Experience at the Research University survey, which UT calls the Ultimate Student Survey, takes about 20 minutes to complete and asks for information on topics such as financial aid, campus diversity and financial and personal characteristics. It cost UT $18,000 to participate in the survey. “It turns out to be a much more valid comparison, to say compare civil engineer majors from one university to other civil engineer majors at another university,” said Steve Chapman, director of the survey project at the University of California, Berkeley. “It builds the ability to look at issues in their real complexity.” The survey does not sample a percentage of undergraduates. Instead, the University encourages everyone to weigh in, with options for open-ended responses. “The theory is students at large institutions in different colleges are having different experiences [than other students in other colleges in the same university],” said Gale Stuart, a director at UT’s student affairs office. “If we don’t ask everyone, we might miss smaller sections of populations.” This is the second year UT will participate in the survey. Last year,
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only 15 percent of students finished the entire survey. Stuart said she hopes to see increased participation this year. The survey will be available until March 18. The Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC-Berkeley created and has been implementing the survey for more than 10 years. Students from public research flagship universities, such as the University of Florida, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota are eligible to take the survey. More than 130,000 students respond each year from across the nation. This year’s survey results may influence policies such as budgeting, identifying college readiness and different ways to inform admissions, said Harrison Keller, vice provost for UT’s Higher Education Policy and Research. “The survey gives us rich information to get a better sense of where students feel prepared and where they get useful support,” Keller said. Four UT students who participate will receive $250 toward textbooks. Other prizes include an Apple iPad and tickets to UT athletic events. Tim Gabriel, mechanical engineering junior, said a progress bar at the bottom of each page would be helpful so he could know how much of the survey he had left. “Sometimes surveys are repetitive, but I liked that this one wasn’t,” he said. “It covered a broad base and it was nicely categorized.”
NEWS BRIEFLY
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Perry appoints two members to UT System’s Board of Regents
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Gov. Rick Perry appointed on Tuesday two new members to the UT System Board of Regents and reappointed another. The governor’s office issued a press release Tuesday morning announcing the appointments. Board chair Colleen McHugh and vice-chair Janiece Longoria’s terms on the board expired Tuesday along with Brenda Pejovich’s, who was reappointed. The board will appoint its new chair internally. The terms for the new appointees expire Feb. 1, 2017, and the appointments must be approved by the Texas Senate before the appointees can take their seats. The two new appointees, Alex Cranberg and Wallace Hall, live in Austin and Dallas, respectively. Brenda Pejovich, who Perry reappointed, lives in Dallas. All three earned undergraduate degrees at UT. Hall and Pejovich have both served as board members on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “These individuals have shown a commitment to higher education issues, and the governor looks forward to their service on this board,” said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor, in a statement.
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
Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake Hong, Jody Serrano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emily Sides, Marty McAndrews, Mary Ellen Knewtson Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lili Honorato, Courtney Griffin, Brenna Cleeland Editorial Cartoonist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Thomas Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wes Maulsby, Chris Hummer
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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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ford, Meagan Gribbin Student Acct. Execs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameron McClure, Daniel Ruszkiewkz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Josh Phipps, Selen Flores, Patti Zhang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarah Hall, Maryanne Lee, Ian Payne 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
— Matthew Stottlemyre
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enue from traffic, other construction workers ate lunch in their cars, the hum of their exhaust indicating a reliance on electric heat. For some of the workers, the cold is far from the worst of their worries. “It’s the wind,” said Javier Castelan, another construction worker on the Belo project. “The crane isn’t operating today because it can really be scary being up there with the wind whipping around you.” The wind affected students getting to class as well. According to a statement from Austin Energy, gusts of wind of up to 40 mph caused citywide power outages. Power was restored to all customers by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. “The only good thing is there’s the prospect of snow or ice that can cancel school,” said biomedical engineering sophomore Marissa Ruehle.
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until May. When some parents heard about the protests on the news, they called the program’s coordinators and demanded they take the students out of Egypt, she said. Even her Egyptian host family insisted on keeping Bellquist indoors. “We saw the protesters and everyone encouraged Americans to stay out of it because [the United States] is really supportive of the ruler, [so] the situation is a danger for them as well,” Bellquist said. The Center for Arabic Study Abroad program, a national initiative housed at UT, currently sponsors 26 students in Cairo. Some are studying at the American University in Cairo on the Tahrir campus, where many of the protests have occurred, said Martha Schulte-Nafeh, the center’s director. Schulte-Nafeh said the center has not taken their students out of Cairo, but has instructed them to stay in their homes, store plenty of food and water and keep their cell phones on. Of the 26 students in Cairo, only one chose to go to a safe haven in Turkey, while the others chose to stay. Christopher Rose is an outreach director for UT’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He has led various study abroad trips with students and local public school teachers for the past 15 years. During his trips, Rose said he saw political apathy in the Egyptian people, who seemed to give up hope that the government was going to be responsive
to their needs. “Domestic rebellion in the state is unprecedented for the people of Egypt,” Rose said. Rose said he never hid his American nationality during his multiple trips to Egypt. He was in Cairo during the U.S.-led 2003 bombing of Baghdad, and he said he felt safe. “If I told them I was American, they had an opinion they wanted to share with me,” Rose said. “[But] I feel safer on the streets of Cairo than in New York. There’s petty crime [in Cairo], but violent crime is very, very rare.” Both Bellquist and Rose hope to return to Egypt in the coming weeks. Bellquist wants to continue her study abroad ex-
Courtesy of Jordan Bellquist
dle East and consider how we got here in the first place.” Signatories include historians and researchers in relevant fields, including renowned author and lecturer Noam Chomsky; Clement Henry, a retired UT government professor and specialist in Egypt; and dual-degree master’s student Rebecca Hopkins. “Dr. Brownlee’s weight in the field is what led me to sign onto his letter,” said Hopkins, who is pursuing her degrees in public affairs and Middle Eastern studies. “I also just thought it was a cogent, thoughtful, well put together letter that addressed the constraints on both the U.S. and Egypt.” Roy Casagranda, an Austin Community College government professor, is from Egypt. He said sending an open letter to Obama to change the direction of U.S. foreign policy could be effective. “The U.S. government gives
RAISE continues from PAGE 1 is a classics professor and University representative to the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics. He said the coaches’ salaries are inappropriately high and result from a flawed relationship between the University and its athletic department. “I think it is literally obscene,” Palaima said. “The University is made up of many components. All of those components are or should be subject to central supervision and oversight and cooperative participation in the values and cultural and educational mission of the University. And there is one glaring exception and that is the NCAA athletics program.”
perience, while Rose is expected to take a group there during spring break with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Neither Flagship nor UT have come to a decision about whether travel to Egypt is an option in the immediate future. “I’m staying really positive,” Bellquist said. “We’ve all made so many good friends there and there are so many people we love. After President [Hosni] Mubarak comes out to make his speech, we’ll have a better idea.” The Egyptian president announced on state television Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in the next presidential election, which is scheduled for September. Jordan Bellquist is one of four UT students who had to return from studying abroad in Egypt because of political protests in the country.
LETTER continues from PAGE 1
removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Obama was slow to declare a position, said Jason Brownlee, an associate professor of government and Middle Eastern studies. Brownlee said he wrote the letter to draw public and political attention to the United States’ role in the unrest. In an announcement on staterun television Tuesday, Mubarak said he would not run for another term in the next presidential election scheduled for September. The same day, Obama urged the Egyptian president, who has held the position since 1981, not to seek a re-election bid. “There are two direct goals aimed at the U.S. government,” Brownlee said. “The first is that President Obama should stand on the side of the demonstrators and withdraw his support from Hosni Mubarak. The second is to reassess U.S. foreign policy in the Mid-
For Kristin Schroter, a procurement and payment services staffer, the cold offers no benefits. “There’s an overall malaise when it gets cold,” she said. “I don’t want to exercise. I don’t want to move at all.” Austin’s projected forecast for the remainder of the week promises more cold temperatures, with highs in the mid-30s and lows in the teens, but little evidence of possible precipitation. By the weekend, the temperature is expected to rise to highs in the low 60s with sunny skies. In Dallas, frozen streets and high winds have shut down much of the metroplex. Local weather alerts warned Dallas residents of winter storms, hard freezes and a wind chill until at least Thursday. Much of the country, in a strip stretching from Oklahoma to Maine, is also facing severe snow storms this week.
Palaima said the money could fund the creation of a new NCAA sports team at UT, which would provide opportunities to more student athletes. Athletics receive no state funding and generated more than $140 million last year at UT. That revenue, which includes 90 percent of the University’s licensing revenue from UT product sales, makes the department selfsufficient. Budget Director Mary Knight said the UT System and the University once managed licensing for UT, but the athletics department has since taken over that responsibility. She said the academ-
about $1.5 billion per year,” Casagranda said. “It’s the number-two recipient of U.S. foreign aid and accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s sum of foreign aid.” Brownlee visited Egypt as a semester abroad student in 1995. His most recent visit was in 2009, when he witnessed demonstrations over the Israeli attack on Gaza, which drew 100,000 protesters to Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city. “Lots and lots of people were getting together around foreign policy issues,” Brownlee said. “That was new.” Brownlee also took note of early dissent against the Mubarak regime, which he described as “white collar opposition: op-ed columnists and other middle-class active dissenters.” He said he hopes to get people thinking about U.S. policy in the Middle East. “It’s difficult to change foreign policy, and it tends to come from
ic side of the University receives 10 percent of the licensing revenue and more in years when the revenue is higher than normal, including when the football team won the national championship in 2005. She also said in the last fiscal year athletics contributed $5 million to the University’s general revenue to ease the 5-percent state budget cuts. “Having a successful athletics program is beneficial to the University as a whole,” Knight said. “Our athletics program is self-sustaining. We don’t put any state funds into athletics, so its not negatively impacting academics.”