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INSIDE NEWS UT Foundation acts as go-between for donors and UT system. PAGE 5 Researchers study Austinites music tastes by analyzing data from Myspace. PAGE 5
SPORTS Texas Stars garner fan support over successful season, strive for the 2013 Calder Cup. PAGE 6 Despite baseball’s Tuesday-night win, Horns are still way behind in conference play. PAGE 6
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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UT hosts 20th annual HUB vendor fair.
Texas narrowly tops Prairie View A&M 1-0.
NEWS PAGE 5
SPORTS PAGE 6
83RD LEGISLATURE
Legislature denies fire department funds By Joshua Fechter Nearly two weeks before the April 17 explosion in West killed 15 people, including 12 volunteer first responders, Texas lawmakers voted against providing additional funds to the state’s 1,505 volunteer fire departments.
The Texas House of Representatives voted April 4 to table three amendments to the Senate’s proposed budget that could have allocated about of $6.5 million to the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program. The program provides funding to volunteer departments — such as the West Fire Department
— for firefighter training, protective clothing and rescue equipment. Under current budget proposals, the program would receive $36 million to $37 million in the next two years, less than the $60 million the Texas Legislature allocated for the 201011 biennium, but more than the $27 million allocated
for the 2012-13 biennium. It also falls shy of the $150 million in backlogged requests — some of which date back to 2004 — from volunteer fire departments across the state. State Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, authored the amendments to the current budget bill. He said he believes some lawmakers
POLICE
Texas Exes defends bills, raises funds free from UT
Bare all and run a mile around campus at this year’s Undie Run on Friday. PAGE 10
Editor’s Note: This is one story in a series of features on external UT foundations.
Advances in technology offer new fitness tools that you will probably never make use of. PAGE 10
By Megan Strickland
my family for putting up with 36 years of missing family events when they really wanted me to be there,” Dahlstrom said. “36 years of not being there at night and on the evenings and weekends … I’ve missed holidays — my family’s been really good about that.”
Almost a century after a falling out with the administration spurred the University’s alumni association to become independent, its leadership says its autonomy is critical in allowing the organization to meet its goals and give millions of dollars to the University and its students. A group of alumni formed the Texas Ex-Students’ Association, known as the Texas Exes, in 1885 as an extension of the University. In 1917 the association broke away from the University when former UT System Regent William Hogg led alumni against former Gov. Jim Ferguson after Ferguson vetoed state appropriations to the University. As a separate organization, the association could hold an official position on proposed legislation and administrative decisions — something state law prohibits the University from doing. The legacy of that independence lives on in the organization, Texas Exes executive director Leslie Cedar said. “Our purpose is truly to be
CHIEF continues on page 3
EXES continues on page 2
VIEWPOINT
VIDEO bit.ly/dtvid The Gang of Eight plan could affect up to roughly 11 million undocumented people by providing them with a long and complex path to citizenship for residents who have been here since December 2011. Find out more in this video about undocumented UT students who are fighting for comprehensive immigration reform. We continue Five By Five @ Moontower with comedian Michael Chae. Watch our exclusive video interview.
What is today’s reason to party?
SEE COMICS PAGE 9
FIRE continues on page 3 TEXAN IN-DEPTH
LIFE&ARTS
Louis Menand, author of the book “The MarketPlace of Ideas: Reform and Reaction in the American University” answers the Texan’s questions about the future of higher education in the face of online courses. PAGE 4
voted against the amendments to use funds from the program’s account for other purposes. “Doing this by accident or neglect is bad enough, but to do it knowingly is egregious,” Simpson said. Two of Simpson’s amendments would have
Shelby Tauber | Daily Texan Staff UTPD Chief of Police Robert Dahlstrom is retiring from law enforcement on May 31st. After his 36 years of being a police officer, Dahlstrom looks forward to spending time with his family and exploring Texas history during retirement.
Closing the chapter UTPD chief of police to retire in May, reflects on law enforcement career By Alberto Long From a two-year stint in the Austin Police Department SWAT team to cleaning up gang-ridden streets in Southeast Austin in the early ‘90s, UTPD
Chief Robert Dahlstrom has experienced just about all policing has to offer. On May 31, Dahlstrom will retire from law enforcement, closing out the final chapter in his 36-year-long career as a police officer.
CAMPUS
Dahlstrom said he is grateful to the University for giving him the opportunity to work at UTPD. He called himself “humbled” to have worked with great people in and outside the department, but also thanked his family for being supportive throughout his career. “I think the other people I have to thank are
CAMPUS
International graduates face immigration issues By Christine Ayala Aside from the normal stresses of graduating that include exams, papers and deadlines, Jenny Lo has to worry about whether or not she must leave the country to abide by immigration laws. Lo is a mechanical engineering graduate student and an international student from Taiwan. Lo said international students have the added stress of learning and conforming to the country’s immigration laws for students. “I’m set to graduate in May and I have a job lined up in July, but I can’t apply for my work visa until September, so between July and September I need some sort of valid identification,” Lo said. “If your visa is about to expire you may have to leave the country to go back home. It’s always a hassle to try to get back into the U.S. There’s always that period where you’re hanging in the
There’s always that period where you’re hanging in the air ... should you get your plane ticket yet, should you not, should you wait? — Jenny Lo, mechanical engineering graduate
air, and you’re not sure what to do, should you get your plane ticket yet, should you not, should you wait?” Lo has applied for Optional Practical Training status, which allows graduating international students 12 months in the U.S. to train and find jobs in their field, leading to a work visa.
VISA continues on page 5
Mikhaela Locklear | Daily Texan Staff Psychology junior Victoria Gonzales enters the dunk booth as government sophomore Samuel Velasquez prepares to dunk her at Sigma Phi Omega’s annual S.A.F.E. Street Carnival at Gregory Plaza on Tuesday afternoon.
Funds raised for domestic violence By Barak Bullock The Sigma Phi Omega sorority raised funds for Austin’s SafePlace women’s shelter Tuesday at the S.A.F.E. Street Carnival, while providing food, games and
engaging ways to learn about domestic abuse. The S.A.F.E. Street Carnival, which stands for Stop Abusive Family Environments, was organized by the Sigma Phi Omega sorority as an effort to raise money for and awareness of victims of domestic
violence. Heidi Tso, a social work junior and a Sigma Phi Omega service chair, said the carnival fits into the group’s national philanthropic focus. “Sigma Phi Omega’s national philanthropy is
ABUSE continues on page 5