1
The Daily Texan Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
@thedailytexan
facebook.com/dailytexan
INSIDE
dailytexanonline.com Students modify biological organisms at competition.
Big 12 trouble continues as Horns lose again.
NEWS While the HIV rate in the south is on the rise, UHS is diagnosing zero to one cases of HIV per semester. PAGE 5
Monday, April 22, 2013
SPORTS PAGE 6
NEWS PAGE 5
STATE
NATIONAL
Federal trial shines light on cartels in Austin
About 20 UT students are particpaiting in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, where they will modify biological organisms to do certain tasks like machines. PAGE 5
By Alberto Long Austin’s high-profile and proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border may lend itself to drug cartel activity in the city and surrounding areas, officials say. “We’re only 234 miles from Laredo,” Michael Lauderdale, a social work professor who is writing a book detailing Mexico’s political, social and economic development, said. “For all the reasons Austin’s nice, if I’m worth five or ten billion dollars running a cartel, I want to move up here. It’s safer here than it is anywhere in Mexico. There’s certainly reason to worry.” Lauderdale said the last three years have seen cartel activities accelerate in the Central Texas area, with Austin increasingly becoming a command and control center for contraband flowing up and down Interstate 35. “There have been several instances that illustrate the reality of cartel presence in Austin,” Lauderdale said. “A cartel-related case is currently being tried in federal court here in Austin. The Zetas were laundering millions of their dollars through the American quarter horse industry. They were training their horses in cities as close as Bastrop. They owned a ranch in Oklahoma.”
SPORTS Taylor Thom tallies five RBIs to get her season total to 50 as the Longhorns fall to OU. PAGE 6 Texas seed at No. 1 for Big 12 Championships as it looks to capture conference title. PAGE 7 Strong victories highlight season finale for Horns at the Longhorn Invitational before they compete in conference championships. PAGE 7
LIFE&ARTS Media Monday: The International Symposium on Online Journalism brought more than 350 journalists to campus this weekend. PAGE 10 The Record: Two actors are carving out a niche for their craft in Austin. PAGE 10
VIEWPOINT A U.S. district court in Austin has rejected a request by the Son’s of Confederate Veterans to put Confederate battle flags on state-issued license plates. We agree with the decision, but call for the group to appeal. PAGE 4
ONLINE MULTIMEDIA We followed up on the mystery Jester hair balls. Watch the video at bit.ly/dtvid
What is today’s reason to party?
SEE COMICS PAGE 9
Charlie Riedel | Associated Press Churchgoers huddle to pray after a service for the First Baptist Church in a field Sunday, four days after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West. The church could not meet in their building because it was in a damage zone after the massive explosion.
West seeks answers By Jordan Rudner Five days after a fertilizer plant explosion rocked the small town of West, federal and state investigators are still at a loss as to what started the fire that triggered the explosion. As the investigation progresses, new details are coming to light about the plant’s safety record and reporting, which is managed by multiple state and federal agencies with varying responsibilities. The plant, which was fewer than 3,000 feet from a school, did not
have sprinklers, fire walls or water deluge systems. Last summer, West Fertilizer Co. was fined for improperly labeling storage tanks and preparing to transfer chemicals without a security plan. Marketing senior Hannah Hutyra, who is from West, said she never considered the fertilizer plant a potential danger. Two of Hutyra’s family members, Doug and Robert Snokhous, were West volunteer firefighters, and were among the 10 first responders killed in the explosion.
WEST continues on page 2
CITY
Photo courtesy of Karl Stottlemyre This aerial photo shows the site of a fertilizer plant in West where a massive explosion left 14 dead and many more injured and damaged nearby homes, schools and businesses.
CARTEL continues on page 2
CAMPUS
Power plant renovation to repurpose historic site By Hannah Jane DeCiutiis The site of the iconic “City of Austin Power Plant” sign, the Seaholm Power Plant, will soon be redeveloped for use as a pedestrian-friendly public space including shops, restaurants and apartments. The new site, located on Cesar Chavez Street just east of Lamar Boulevard, is scheduled to be completed in June 2015. The site will include the preserved power plant building and two new buildings to serve as
apartment, office and retail spaces. In 2012, Trader Joe’s specialty grocery store signed on to be the site’s first retail location. The historic plant generated the city’s power until it was decommissioned in the late 1980s. In 2000, the city created a master plan that recommended redeveloping the site for urban use and selected the final team to lead the project in 2005. Seaholm Power, LLC is comprised of three organizations
PLANT continues on page 2
Maria Arrellaga | Daily Texan Staff The Seaholm Power Plant is being redeveloped into a public space that will include shops, apartments and restaurants.
Freshman environmental sciences major Sahonara Gonzalez removes weeds from a planter at Kinsolving’s Fruit and Vegetable Garden on Sunday morning.
Guillermo Hernandez Martinez Daily Texan Staff
Students embrace earth week By Miles Hutson
is produced. “We want our gardens to be a teaching platform,” Mangrum said. “You can see, this is where food comes from. It doesn’t come from a supermarket, but it actually grows and there’s a seeding process and there’s a whole system involved in producing food.” Biochemistry freshman Sanghwa Park, who came out to learn about gardening, said she does not have gardening experience, but she likes the idea of helping to build a garden. “If you’ve ever been to the Lady Bird Johnson [Wildflower] Center, the
Students added mulch, new compost and a trellis for climbing plants to grow on to Kinsolving Dining Hall’s garden Sunday morning, in the first event of the Division of Housing and Food Service’s “Earth Week.” The garden workday, a come-and-go event open to students, faculty and staff, was organized by DHFS environmental specialist Hunter Mangrum. Mangrum said the garden is a part of DHFS’s goal to make students more aware of how and where their food
RIL
AP
D
For the biggest, tastefully vulgar laughs around campus. UT’s Student Humor Publication. April 23rd
E’S
HER
,W
E UD
MY
CE
SIN
7? 199
2
201
main message is conservation and you can build your own garden in a small area,” Park said. Environmental science freshman Heather Rovner, who works part-time to maintain the garden, said she enjoys working on the garden because it is sustainable. On Monday, DHFS will follow up its gardening event with an Earth Day Carnival on Gregory Plaza. The next day, it will host a film screening of Y.E.R.T.: Your Environmental Road Trip, a movie about a trip to all 50 states exploring sustainability.
THREE YE
EARTH continues on page 5 ARS LATE
SINCE 19
97
FEBRUARY
2012