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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019
volume
119,
109
issue
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Students offering campus life advice on YouTube have gained popularity. PA G E 2
More males at UT need to realize the value of studying abroad. PA G E 4
UT student gives back to community after recovering from brain injury. PA G E 8
Texas faces off against Baylor in a Big 12 thriller with tournament hopes on the line. PA G E 6
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
Judge rules UT cannot revoke alumna’s Ph.D By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
blaine young | the daily texan staff Civil engineering senior James Lentz, physics senior Jatin Konchady, mechanical engineering junior Ricardo Bowers and petroleum engineering senior Samaa Al Adawi created a proposal to add bike lanes to Speedway. The team’s proposal won Student Government’s Improve UT Challenge.
A safer Speedway for bikes, scooters
Students propose bike lane changes, winning Improve UT Challenge. By Nicole Stuessy @nicolestuessy
housands of students walk, bike and ride scooters along Speedway Mall to travel across campus during passing periods. “It’s unsafe, maybe even chaotic,” said Ricardo Bowers, director of Orange Bike Project. “I see people biking that are weaving in and out of pedestrians and now scooters are doing the same thing. It seems like it’s an accident waiting to happen.” Four students from the Orange Bike Project, a bike shop located in the 27th Street Parking Garage, and Campus Bike Alliance created a proposal to combat this traffic by adding bike lanes to Speedway Mall. Their proposal won Student Government’s Improve UT Challenge last Saturday and will now undergo further planning and discussion with SG and University officials, Bowers said. “We proposed plastic separations or plastic bollards that would separate the bikes from the people,” mechanical engineering junior Bowers said. “The breakdown of
the cost ended up being a little over $5,000, which is pretty standard for the city of Austin’s cost per mile for bike lanes.” James Lentz, president of the Campus Bike Alliance, said he has worked on the proposal for more than a year and submitted it for the Improve UT contest to help it gain traction. “I thought this would be more of a way to call attention to the fact that this is something that students want,” civil engineering senior Lentz said. “I’m very happy that we won because this means we have more resources to make it happen now.” While other, less crowded streets around campus have bike lanes, Lentz said the location of Speedway and lack of cars make it ideal for cyclists. “Speedway is in the middle of campus,” Lentz said. “Most classes that I have are on Speedway or just off of it, so it makes sense to make Speedway able to accommodate bikes and scooters a little more effectively.” Bobby Stone, director of Parking and Transportation Services,
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After many legal proceedings over a span of five years, District Judge Karin Crump ruled Feb. 11 the University does not have the authority to revoke a UT graduate’s degree. Suvi Orr graduated from UT in 2008 with a Ph.D. in chemistry. She was notified in 2012 that UT was investigating her dissertation for allegations of scientific misconduct. “I was ready to defend my research and my skills when I first heard about it,” Orr said. “I asked UT to provide fairness and transparency, but I quickly discovered that the process was inherently biased, especially when I heard the role that professor Martin was playing.” Chemistry professor Stephen Martin was Orr’s dissertation supervisor. In 2011, Orr said Martin asked her about publishing a portion of her research in peer-reviewed journal Organic Letters. Orr said she was not interested in publishing, but agreed when Martin and another postdoctoral researcher drafted the paper, and Martin told Orr her work had already been reproduced by the postdoctoral researcher. According to the American Chemical Society, the Organic Letters article was retracted in 2012 because two steps in the synthesis could not be reproduced. Martin then made the complaint against Orr for academic misconduct, and in 2014, UT informed Orr her degree would be revoked. Orr sued the University two days later, stating she was not given due process of law. UT restored her degree immediately and Orr’s lawsuit was dismissed. UT then initiated a disciplinary hearing for Orr in 2016 by forming a panel of undergraduate students to review her research. Orr sued UT again, saying UT could not revoke her degree based on review from students unfamiliar with complex doctoral work. Orr’s lawyers cited a 1969 Texas Attorney General opinion by Crawford Martin, which concluded that UT could not revoke the degree of a student, but instead must take the student to court. David Sergi, one of Orr’s lawyer’s, said such lawsuits allow students fair process in an unbiased environment, since universities may act to protect their own reputations. Orr’s other lawyer, Anita Kawaja, said Orr has still not been shown the issue with her data. However,
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UNIVERSITY
Trans students fight for easier University name change system By Mason Carroll @MasonCCarroll
When students apply to UT, they submit their preferred name to the University, however once they are admitted, their legal name is used in the directory and on class rosters. The Gender and Sexuality Center has been working to make it easier for transgender students to change their University name to their preferred name, said Liz Elsen, director of the center. Radio-television-film freshman Map Pesqueira met Elsen when he attended Lead UT, a day for admitted freshmen to explore the University. Elsen showed him the center’s resources and the Texas Name and Gender Marker Change Facebook group, which helped jumpstart legally changing his gender marker and name. “If it wasn’t for the group … I’m not sure it would have been as easy for me to get (my name changed) so quickly,” Pesqueira said. “That group is literally a lifesaver.” Because Pesqueira had his legal name changed before orientation, he was also able to get his UT name changed before school started. However, current students who want to change their names with the University, even if they applied with a preferred name, have to get it changed through an in-person appointment with the center. “If admissions already has that
information, I think they should be able to share it with the registrar’s office, and it should be an official part of their UT file,” Elsen said in an email. “It seems surprising to me that they then need to go through this extra step when UT already has that information.” UT does not have an option for students to add a preferred name with the University online, Elsen said. This differs from other Texas schools such as UT-Arlington, Texas Tech University, University of North Texas, Texas State University, UT-Dallas and University of Houston, which all offer an online option, Elsen said. Unlike other schools such as Columbia University and Texas Tech, Elsen said UT-Austin students are not able to use a preferred name on their diploma. Pesqueira said the option for students to change their UT name is important because it can be stressful worrying about professors calling them the wrong name. “Someone’s identity is everything to them, and the way they present themselves and the way other people perceive them,” Pesqueira said. “That can make or break someone’s day and how they are feeling.” Research by Stephen Russell, a human development and family sciences professor, found young people who could use their preferred names at work, school, with friends and at home experienced 71 percent fewer symptoms of depression, 34 percent fewer symptoms of suicidal ideation and a 65 percent decrease in
eddie gaspar | the daily texan staff Radio-television-film freshman Map Pesqueira changed his name prior to orientation and has been working with the Gender and Sexuality Center to simplify the process for the University to use a student’s preferred name.
attempted suicide compared to those who were not able to use their names. “Names are a central part of our identities — and are often gendered,” Russell said. “Using a preferred or new name is an important step for any person, and
the ability to use the name that matches the outward expression of our identity, is crucial for a positive sense of self.” Elsen said this issue is important because it’s the University’s job to support all students, including those who identify
as transgender and non-binary students. “UT lost one of our amazing trans students to suicide a few years ago, and I’m still feeling the loss,” Elsen said. “They deserve to have their names and pronouns respected.”