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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
INSIDE
Argentina’s new law lets people choose own gender.
4 OPINiON
Bullying on college campuses — it doesn’t end in high school.
NEWS
State Fair officials have a deadline but few plans for the new Big Tex.
7 SPORTS
Jordan Hicks is out for the season, but Longhorns run defense still getting.
12
Texas polo team returns to action. LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
MULTIMEDIA PAGE 6
CAMPUS
Israel, Gaza draw supporters on campus By David Maly
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dailytexanonline.com
As the Israel-Gaza crisis becomes increasingly violent, people around the world and on the UT campus are paying more attention to it. Members of the UT community on multiple sides of the issue voiced their opinions Monday. Roughly 20 students from the UT chapter of the International Socialist Organization and Palestine Solidarity Committee marched across campus Monday in support of residents of Gaza. They
walked through the East, West and Main Malls as well as the halls of the Beauford H. Jester Center and the Student Activity Center chanting, “Free, free Palestine. Occupation is a crime.” Meanwhile, roughly 45 students from six organizations tabled on the West Mall in support of Israel. These six organizations were Texans for Israel; College Republicans; Chabad Jewish Student Organization; Alpha Epsilon Pi, a fraternity that works to provide opportunities for Jewish men; the Latino and Jewish Student
Coalition; and Texas Hillel, an educational Jewish center. The International Socialist Organization and Palestine Solidarity Committee set up tables on the West Mall as well. Advocates on both sides of the issue worked to attract passing students to their table. Tracy Frydberg, Middle Eastern studies and liberal arts honors sophomore and head of campus relations for Texans for Israel, said she has family in Israel and came out
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Chelsea Purgahn | Daily Texan Staff English junior Zach Guerinot stands in support of Palestine during a protest Monday afternoon. Israel supporters also tabled in West Mall to inform students about the conflict.
CAMPUS
New team, same tradition
Hexing TCU not the same
LIFE & ARTS
A thanks to 2012’s musical contributions so far.
By Christian Corona Daily Texan Columnist
TODAY
game. Since then UT has used the hex against rivals other than A&M, including SMU in 1950, Baylor in 1953 and TCU in 1955. Kelsey Roberts, the Texas Exes’ student relations coordinator, said the organization considered replacing the hex rally as a result of A&M’s departure, but ultimately decided to keep the rally because it is a valuable piece
Having a Hex Rally without playing Texas A&M is going to be like Thanksgiving without the turkey. You can’t have one without the other. But Texas will do just that this week, facing TCU on Thursday, three days after Monday night’s Hex Rally. There’s nothing wrong with bringing the Horned Frogs to Austin on Thanksgiving night, but to have a Hex Rally knowing that a game against the Aggies isn’t on the horizon just doesn’t feel right. “It’s a Texas tradition and TCU will just fill in,” junior guard Mason Walters said. “I really think that the Thanksgiving Day game is what made the game so great. It’s an in-state school with TCU, they’re two different teams. We know that. But it’s great to play in that Thanksgiving Day environment.” TCU hasn’t played on Thanksgiving Day in more than 80 years. But the Horned Frogs, who have
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TCU continues on page 8
Global Feast
The International Affairs Society presents an international feast, featuring food, music and performances. The event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. in the SAC ballroom; admission is $5 and includes unlimited food and re-entry.
Food Lab
Join the Food Lab to meet innovators and become a member of a growing community of food entrepreneurs. The brown bag lunch will be from noon to 1 p.m. in SUT 3.112.
Salgado Maranhão One of Brazil’s leading poets will give a reading, accompanied by an American translator. The poetry performance will be from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Joynes Reading Room in Carothers Residence Hall and is free and open to the public.
Chelsea Purghan | Daily Texan Staff Coach Mack Brown addresses the crowd at the TCU Hex Rally Monday evening. Though UT has a new Thanksgiving rival in TCU, Brown stressed the importance of keeping the Hex tradition alive.
Hex Rally shifts focus from opponent to UT By Tiffany Hinman The glow of red candles illuminated the steps of the UT Tower 71 years after UT’s first hex on Texas A&M, proving that Longhorn tradition remains even if the original opponent does not. The Texas Exes Student Chapter hosted its annual Hex Rally on Monday at the Main Mall, placing a curse on the TCU football team in time for
UNIVERSITY
Major-exploration tools to raise graduation rate By Bobby Blanchard
Today in history In 1945
On Nov. 20, 1945, 24 high-ranking Nazis went on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for acts of murder and genocide committed during World War II. This trial, led by the International Military Tribunal, was the first of its kind and marked the beginning of international prosecution of war crimes.
the Thanksgiving game. Although the Longhorns have hexed A&M for the past 26 years, the Aggies’ departure from the Big 12 Conference provided UT with the opportunity to hex the Horned Frogs. According to the Texas Exes, the Longhorn football team ended an 18year losing streak against A&M at Kyle Field in 1948 after a local fortune teller, Madam Agusta Hipple, suggested burning red candles a week before the
A new online interactive balloon-popping game is one way UT is trying to help its incoming students graduate in four years. The University added modules to Wayfinder, an online site incorporated into Be a Longhorn that helps prospective and current students figure out their majors. The modules are online tools that aim to debunk myths, provide sample class problems and inform students about selected courses. The purpose of the interactive tools is to give students the information they need to select an appropriate major. David Laude, senior vice provost for enrollment and graduation management, said programming the new
modules cost several thousand dollars and was done by staff in the School of Undergraduate Studies, the Undergraduate Writing Center, the Department of Mathematics and the Division of Statistics and Scientific Computation. Some of the tools are carnival- or arcade-style interactive games aimed at addressing myths relating to major selection. One of the games requires participants to match celebrities and historic figures with what they studied in college. Players do this in the game by popping balloons with the icon’s corresponding major written on the balloon. At the end of this game and the others, the interactive tool reviews a list of myths. In a statement, Kedra
MAJORS
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CAMPUS
UTPD seeks enhanced bike safety By David Maly James Otte, 56, is being held in the Travis County Jail after he was charged this weekend with theft of a University of Texas Police Department “bait bike,” a bike with a GPS tracker inside. UT police say a dwindling number of criminals are still falling for the bait bike sting. UT police chief Robert Dahlstrom said since the bait bike program was initiated in February of 2011, it has been successful, but that success has recently declined. “Over the last month, we have had more thefts and no bait bikes taken,” Dahlstrom said. In October, UTPD received 39 bicycle theft reports, almost double the 20
Chelsea Purgahn | Daily Texan Staff UTPD has seen a 95 percent increase in bike thefts in the past two months, but no bait bikes have been taken in the past month.
bicycle thefts reported in September. UTPD has not received that many bicycle thefts reports in a single month in the past 10 years. The second-most bicycle thefts reported in a single month since 2000 came in January 2011, the month before the bait bike program
began, when 36 bicycles were reported stolen. Since the bait bike program began, there have been less than 20 bicycle thefts reported to UTPD each month, until the spike beginning in September.
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