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Friday, September 13, 2013
dailytexanonline.com
UNIVERSITY
Engineering center’s funds approved By Jacob Kerr @jacobrkerr
The UT System Board of Regents unanimously approved new funding for the planned Engineering Education and Research Center on Thursday, allowing UT to start working on the project this semester. Funding for the $310 million project, which was initially approved by the regents in 2010, became an issue earlier this year when it did not receive a tuition revenue bond because of disagreement between the House
and the Senate during the final days of the legislative session. The tuition revenue bond proposal was not discussed in any of the three special sessions this summer because Gov. Rick Perry did not place it on the legislative agenda. “This is obviously a very important project. It’s an exciting day for UT and the whole UT family,” board Chairman Paul Foster said at the meeting. “We obviously have had some challenges and appreciate what everyone has done to come up with this plan.”
Under the regents’ new plan, the University will be responsible for providing an initial $50 million in donations to go toward the project. Over the course of the project, the University will have to pay a total of $105 million in bonds. The UT System will loan UT up to $55 million initially and will pay a total of $95 million over the course of the project in bond debt. The system’s loan and contribution will come from
REGENTS page 2
Photo courtesy of UT System
The Engineering Education and Research Center, which received funding Thursday, will allow space to add approximately 1,000 more undergraduate students.
By Amanda Voeller @Amandaliz94
Students and employees at apartment complexes along the Cameron Road and Wickersham Lane bus routes may have to adapt to the closure of the shuttle routes near their apartments. Capital Metro is considering closing the Wickersham Lane UT shuttle route and altering the Cameron Road UT shuttle route to serve only the Camino La Costa area beginning in the spring semester. This revision would only last until the end of spring 2014 when the Cameron Road route would be canceled altogether. The average number of daily riders on the Cameron Road shuttle in spring 2013 was 870 and 880 on the Wickersham Lane shuttle, according to CapMetro. This is a decrease from the previous semester. Cameron Road’s route served an average of 960 people each day
Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan Staff
History doctoral candidate Jason Morgan waits for the Cameron Road shuttle to arrive Thursday afternoon. Capital Metro is considering closing the UT Wickersham Lane shuttle route and altering the Cameron Road UT shuttle route beginning in the spring.
Austin proposes plan to lessen MoPac traffic By Anthony Green @littletoastboy
In a recent study of traffic patterns across the globe, Austin ranked fourth in cities with the worst traffic, even surpassing New York City. Transit developments such as the MoPac Improvement Project will aim to fix to that. The MoPac Improvement Project is a transit development project fostered by a partnership between the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. The completed project will add express lanes, sound walls and bicycle and pedestrian facilities to MoPac highway from Cesar Chavez Street going north to Parmer Lane. “There’s no one-size-fits-all to traffic solutions, but it’s going to be a very important step in untangling the congestion we have in the city area,” said Chris Bishop, spokesman for the Austin Branch of the Texas Department of Transportation.
Traffic problems within Austin are nothing new, but have recently become more severe, with INRIX — the group that conducted the traffic survey — reporting that Austin has jumped from eighth to fourth in traffic congestion nationally since 2011. Danielle Hamilton, biology sophomore and Austin native, has long experienced the woes of the local rush hour. “The traffic is ridiculous,” Hamilton said. “If I were to be going to an interview and needed to take the highways, I would have to leave like 20 minutes earlier than usual.” The escalating number of traffic problems may be largely attributed to the influx of new residents attracted by the local economic boom. “I think when you look at the economic data, Austin is one of the fastest growing and economically vibrant places in the country.” said Steve Pustelnyk,
MOPAC page 2
UT System investment linked back to chancellor @bobbycblanchard
Canceled routes would strand students
CITY
SYSTEM
By Bobby Blanchard
CITY
BUSES page 2
bit.ly/dtvid
Behind the fresh, glamorous exteriors of the newly built private off-campus dorm, The Callaway House, is American Campus Communities, a private student housing developer that the UT System has invested more than a million dollars in. And sitting at the top of American Campus Communities is R.D. Burck, the chairman of the board of directors for American Campus Communities — and a former UT System chancellor. The University of Texas Investment Management Company, an external investment company that manages investments for the UT and The Texas A&M University systems, invested in American Campus Communities in 2008. Currently, UTIMCO owns stock in American Campus Communities valued at more than $1.5 million, according to the company’s latest audit reports from 2012. The investment was made with the Permanent University Fund, a state endowment that funds a part of the systems’ budgets. As chancellor, Burck served on UTIMCO’s board of directors beginning in 2000. While Burck stepped down as chancellor in 2002, he continued to serve on the board until 2005. Burck became a chairman of the board of directors of American Campus Communities in 2004. UTIMCO spokeswoman Christy Wallace said the investment company does not
BURCK page 2
PHOTO BRIEFLY
Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan Staff
UT hosts Food Network show host Ina Garten
Ina Garten, New York Times best selling cookbook author and Emmy-winning host of the Food Network’s
“Barefoot Contessa,” spoke with Texas Monthly’s Patricia Sharpe at Bass Concert Hall on Thursday evening. Food-lovers and Garten fans from all over Austin at-
tended the event to learn how “Barefoot Contessa” really began. Garten shared her story of leaving her budget analyst job in Washington, D.C. In 1978 Garten began
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Islamaphobia from the Crusades to 9/11. ONLINE
Workers in West Campus deserve fair treatment. PAGE 4
No. 2 Volleyball faces Arizona State, No. 14 Illinois. PAGE 3
Olivia Wilde charms in “Drinking Buddies.” PAGE 5
Austin-based artist makes sexually charged paintings.
James Jackson gives a toxicology seminar on cancer. ONLINE
Horns Up to the UT System Board of Regents. PAGE 4
Soccer heads to Colorado for two games. PAGE 3
“Insidious: Chapter 2” is a disappointing sequel. PAGE 5
dailytexanonline.com
a new life in East Hampton, N.Y., as a store owner of 400 square-foot complex called “Barefoot Contessa.” —Erika Storli
REASON TO PARTY
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