The Daily Texan Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
@thedailytexan
facebook.com/dailytexan
INSIDE NEWS
7
LIFE & ARTS PAGE 12
TEXAN IN-DEPTH
Tricky student loan rules lead to more debt
4 OPINION
Finding the Drag’s best pickme-ups.
SPORTS PAGE 7
By Megan Strickland
Rick Perry mentioned a possible 2016 presidential run. We asked UT students walking around campus what they think.
dailytexanonline.com
Horns blow past Colgate, will face Aggies on Friday
2 Student Government’s entrepreneurship agency kicks off with startup demo.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuition is due Jan. 4, and for 56 percent of undergraduate students at UT Austin, that means relying on financial aid to help cover their cost of attendance. Tom Melecki, director of the Office of Student Financial Services, said complex
federal and state laws can both help and hinder students’ access to financial aid. A push to tie financial aid to timely graduation could also be coming at the University and state level, Melecki said. Familiarity with how student aid is distributed could be the key to keeping student borrowing to a minimum, Melecki said.
“We try to go to grants and scholarships first, but the number of people needing aid is far greater than the amount we give out in grants and scholarships,” Melecki said. In the 2011-2012 academic year, the office distributed more than $58.5 million in scholarships and $102.4 million in grants to undergraduate
students, according to the OSFS. Students also took out more than $204.6 million in loans through the office. “I can guarantee you that there is no way this office can fund more than a handful of students ... to have sufficient grant and scholarship aid to totally cover their costs,” Melecki said. “It means they are going to borrow.”
ALUMNI
Proposed bill could lead to no sales tax on textbooks
SPORTS
10
what’s
“Killing Them Softly,” with Brad Pitt, reviewed.
By Joshua Fechter
up his tennis scholarship, moving back in with his family so he could continue his pursuit of competitive weightlifting. Terry Todd went on to win the first two official senior national weightlifting competitions in 1964 and 1965, and in 1966 earned a doctorate with a self-made curriculum from UT. In 1967, he retired from competitive weightlifting.
A bill in the Texas Senate would allow students to purchase textbooks without paying sales tax during two 10-day periods every year. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would exempt textbook purchases from sales tax from the third Friday in August to the second following Sunday and from the second Friday in January to the second following Sunday. Students would have to verify their status as full-time or part-time students by presenting identification issued by the institution they attend to the retailer. George Mitchell, University Co-op CEO and president, has testified in favor of similar legislation during previous legislative sessions. Mitchell said the bill would help students save money when purchasing textbooks. Mitchell said he lobbied for the bill because it would make the Co-op competitive with online retailers who did not have to include sales tax in
TODD continues on page 2
BILL continues on page 5
TODAY Plant Sale
Zachary Strain | Daily Texan Staff Terry and Jan Todd, both former competitive weightlifters, are the founders of the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, a 27,500 square foot museum and the largest repository for artifacts of physical culture in the world, at the Darrell K Royal Stadium.
Body of work
LDS Forum
Orange Santa
This program is seeking donations for its annual toy drive. Toys should be new and in their original packaging. Donations can be dropped off at UT guard stations and parking garages and at Pickle Research Campus.
Today in history In 1982
On Nov. 30, Michael Jackson’s bestselling album of all time, Thriller, is released.
‘‘
Quote to note “[Texas] is one of the best programs; I think they’re a national caliber team.” — Ryan Baker Colgate Universtiy volleyball head coach SPORTS PAGE 7
ahead
for higher ed?
LIFE & ARTS
The Austin Latter Day Saints Institute of Religion will host a meeting from noon to 1 p.m., with a home-cooked lunch and spiritual message. The LDS institute is at 2020 San Antonio St.; lunch is $2.
DEBT continues on page 6 STATE
Texas faces UT-Arlington in tuneup for tough slate of December contests coming up.
The Science Undergraduate Research Group will host its monthly plant sale in the West Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This month’s specials include Christmas cacti, lotus bamboo and fire crotons among others.
When borrowing, most students in the United States are unaware of the differences between the federal aid resources offered to them, said Matt Reed, program director of the Institute for College Access and Success. “We do know from research in 2007-2008 that
Retired weightlifters Jan and Terry Todd now teach at UT, consider Austin their home By Miles Hutson Terry and Jan Todd are no strangers to attention. Terry Todd, a former English student, doctoral candidate and lecturer at UT, was the first man to officially perform a 700-pound squat. Sports Illustrated and the Guinness Book of World
Records once declared Jan Todd the “Strongest Woman in the World.” Terry Todd, born in Beaumont, Texas in 1938, attended the University of Texas in 1956 and competed for the UT tennis team. However, his interest in weightlifting conflicted with his desire to play tennis. Athletic coaches at the time believed weightlifting had a negative
CAMPUS
Textbook buy-back starts tabling conflict By David Maly As buy-back season for local textbook stores approaches, several of store owners told The Daily Texan about the conflict often associated with the season and what they expect to see this year. Ken Jones, owner of Austin TXbooks on Guadalupe Street, said in recent years competition between local textbook stores has been growing as an increasing number of tables are being set up near campus to buy textbooks back from students. He said this competition can sometimes cross legal and ethical lines. “Lies are being told, stories are being made up, city officials are being involved and permitting issues are being brought into play,” Jones said. “In some cases, it is close to even physical violence out there, angry words exchanged, threats, just, it is just ugly.
I just do not like the buyback season.” Jones would not go into detail about those issues, but Brad North, co-founder of West Campus Books, a store that operates online but tables during the buy-back season, said he has heard about scuffles between employees at rival textbook stores. “In the heat of the moment, it may turn into a scuffle here or there between employees,” North said. “We have heard stories.” Jones and North said their stores did get into an online conflict when they bought similar domain sites to each other. George Mitchell, CEO and president of the University Co-op, said he keeps his store out of the conflict. “People are going out into the street and yelling at customers and all that stuff, and we don’t do those
BOOK continues on page 5
impact on athletic performance. “But since I had experienced myself what the weights could do for me, athletically, physically, then it didn’t matter who said it was not good for you,” Terry Todd said. Terry Todd began to lift competitively while he played for the tennis team, using assumed names in contests to mask his activity from his coach. However, his coach caught on and Terry Todd gave
CITY
Facilitator Madilynn Garcia practices her act during “And Then Came Tango” rehearsal Thursday night before the day of the first show. The play will begIn at 7 p.m. in the Brockett Theatre inside the Winship building. Pu Ying Huang Daily Texan Staff
Canceled play finds second home By Jordan Rudner Just like how the baby penguin at the center of “And Then Came Tango” finds a loving family with two male penguins, the play has found an unexpected home at local charter schools, private schools and UT. “And Then Came Tango,” an original play written by theater and dance graduate student Emily Freeman, will have three performances at the Oscar G. Brockett
Theatre beginning Nov. 30. The performances were scheduled after the play’s original 10-performance tour of AISD schools was cancelled in a mutual AISD and UT decision. The play, which centers around two male penguins who adopt an abandoned egg, was discontinued when AISD officials raised concerns about the “age appropriateness” of the play’s content after a showing at Lee Elementary School. In an email The Daily
Texan obtained through open records requests, Gregory Goodman, AISD’s fine arts director, cited the potential controversy the play might produce as a reason for the district’s decision. “Elementary schools typically, most especially in the primary grades, do not delve into human sexuality, religion or other politically hot topics,” Goodman said in the email. Though the play will not have any more performances
TANGO continues on page 5