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The Daily Texan Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
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Friday, May 3, 2013
INSIDE
SPORTS Longhorns head to Stillwater for battle with Oklahoma State, sitting at the top of the conference. PAGE 7 Texas men’s golf team looks to defend its national title next month after winning its first Big 12 championship since 2004 last month. PAGE 7
Longhorns still searching for first Big 12 win.
COMICS PAGE 10
NEWS Outgoing Daily Texan staffers reflect on their time at the organization and lend advice to the next generation.
dailytexanonline.com
SPORTS PAGE 7
83RD LEGISLATURE
House to hear campus gun bill By Joshua Fechter Concealed handgun license holders could carry on university campuses if the Texas Legislature approves a bill going before the House of Representatives on Saturday. The bill, authored by State
Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Cypress, would authorize university administrators to establish rules prohibiting concealed handguns in buildings located on campus only after consulting faculty, staff and students. Fletcher said the bill would “decriminalize” possessing concealed handguns on
campus. He said license holders would have to meet the age requirement — 21 and over — and will have completed background checks and training. “It won’t be a bunch of 19-year-old freshmen running around at frat parties with guns,” Fletcher said. “They will be over 21.”
Similar legislation has stalled in the Senate. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, has said he would not bring the Senate companion to the bill up for a hearing in the committee.
TURTLES continues on page 2
UTS continues on page 2
CAMPUS
These late-night events will help procrastinate any finals studying. PAGE 12 ‘Iron Man 3’ maintains the momentum of the series but has too many villains. PAGE 12
-30- COLUMN
SUSANNAH JACOB
NEWS UT will remember students, faculty and staff who have died this year. TAMU’s Kyle Field will be larger than UT’s Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this coming football season.
dailytexanonline.com
MULTIMEDIA We close our Moontower interview with Bill Burr. Give it a watch: bit.ly/dtvid
What is today’s reason to party?
Chelsea Purgahn | Daily Texan Staff Curtis Drosche, a Facilities Services mechanical maintenance technician, checks the Turtle Pond on Thursday. Drosche hopes that communication will improve between Facilities Services and the College of Natural Sciences so improvements can be made to the pond.
Turtle Pond thrives Despite uncertain management, UT’s Turtle Pond proves hospitable waters By Christine Ayala Chicken nuggets and fries are a common lunch on campus, even for the hundreds of turtles swimming in the Turtle Pond’s murky water. Directly north of the Main
Building, the pond crawls with more than 200 turtles of at least four different species. Most are red-eared sliders native to the area. Curtis Drosche, a Facilities Services mechanical maintenance technician, oversees the pond’s water levels and
keeps the habitat clear of trash and debris. Drosche said the pond essentially sustains itself. No office on campus takes care of the individual turtles or provides food, although people tend to feed the turtles their lunch leftovers. Drosche said two of the inhabitants are alligator turtles that have been known to catch unaware birds. He said the other
By Jordan Rudner
turtles have similar appetites to the students on campus. “They’ll eat anything,” Drosche said. “People feed them a lot of scraps when they pass by after lunch. They don’t like lettuce though, they’re spoiled, they like what the kids eat.” Drosche said throughout the 11 years he has taken care of the pond, a lack of
GUNS continues on page 2
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
UT faculty question disclosure proposals Faculty members are rallying against a new UT System disclosure policy that may diminish the University’s ability to recruit and retain professors, according to current Faculty Council members. The Faculty Council will meet Monday to vote on a resolution objecting to UT System-wide Policy 180, also known as the “Conflict of Interest, Conflicts of Commitment and Outside Activities” policy. The policy would enact a litany of disclosure requirements for all University employees, including forcing faculty members to disclose any gifts they or their family members receive costing more than $250, among other requirements. Though the policy was originally meant to be implemented Wednesday, UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa announced in April that implementation would be delayed until Sept. 1. The announcement came two days after a Faculty Council meeting during which faculty members expressed objections to the policy for more than an hour. “The chancellor heard from some of the faculty members and some of the presidents, who expressed concerns,” said Dan Sharphorn, associate vice chancellor and deputy general counsel for the System. “He decided to take another look at some of the elements of the policy to see if there’s a need for revision.” One engineering professor, who requested to
Graduating sports writers reflect on positive memories from their time at the Texan. PAGE 8
The Daily Texan is not independent from the University of Texas, but it should be. PAGE 4
SYSTEM
CAMPUS
UT professor studies own brain for a year By Amanda Voeller
Many people weigh themselves and track what they eat, but neurobiology professor Russell Poldrack studies himself in an in-depth way no one has done before in his quest to learn how a healthy brain functions daily. His study consists of a weekly blood sample and two MRI scans per week paired with mood questionnaires, according to Poldrack. Poldrack said SEE COMICS he also completes daily surBH_SpillyTweet_Frontpg_May3_4C.pdf 4/29/2013 10:48:47 AM such PAGE 10 veys 1measuring aspects
as sleep quality, diet and what happened that day. Poldrack said he began data collection in September 2012 and plans to publish his results in the fall. Poldrack said he tracks the fluctuations of his psoriasis and has found that on days he recorded it being worse, the genes related to psoriasis are expressed more. “Even though this is really preliminary, it starts to show us the kinds of stuff that we might be able to find,”
BRAIN continues on page 2
Shelby Tauber | Daily Texan Staff Neurobiology professor Russell Poldrack has a MRI Tuesday morning in the basement of the Norman Hackerman Building. Poldrack receives two MRIs weekly and has completed 56 thus far.
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