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Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
UNIVERSITY
SG addresses affordable housing
Engineering school opens three oil, gas research labs
By Nicole Cobler @nicolecobler
President William Powers Jr. addressed affordable housing and the future of the Dell Medical School at a Student Government meeting Tuesday. “There’s a lot of challenges on the campus,” Powers said. “[SG] faces them to try to make the University a better place.” Student body president Horacio Villarreal said Powers attends at least one SG
meeting a year to thank the students for their leadership and service on the campus. After government senior Cortney Sanders raised concerns about more available affordable housing for students at the University, Powers said he thinks freshmen and sophomores who live on campus are much more likely to be successful in their academic careers. “More beds have been added in West Campus than ever before, but one unanticipated consequence of that
is that it’s almost all high-end housing,” Powers said. Newer complexes in West Campus have been increasing rates by 6-7 percent each year for the past 10 years, according to Richie Gill, real estate broker at LonghornLeasing.com, who spoke to The Daily Texan in the fall. The University will be talking to American Campus Communities — which built The Callaway House, an offcampus residence hall in
SG page 2
By Hayden Clark @thedailytexan
Joshua Guerra / Daily Texan Staff
President William Powers Jr. addressed Student Government about concerns over affordable housing for students.
UNIVERSITY
Johnston appointed medical school dean By Madlin Mekelburg @madlinbmek
After a nine-month search by a committee of educators, health professionals and students, the University introduced Clay Johnston as the inaugural dean of the Dell Medical School on Tuesday morning. Johnston is currently the associate vice chancellor of research and director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He will begin serving as dean of the Dell Medical School on March 1. The Dell Medical School, which went into planning in 2012 and was named last year, is expected to receive its first class of students in 2016. President William Powers Jr.
DEAN page 2
Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan Staff
The University introduced Clay Johnston as the inaugural dean of the Dell Medical School on Tuesday morning. Johnston previously held a position at University of California, San Franciso School of Medicine.
UNIVERSITY
The Cockrell School of Engineering unveiled three new labs dedicated to oil and gas drilling technologies at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday. The labs were made possible by a donation of $1.7 million from Baker Hughes, an oil-field service company. The labs also feature a drill rig simulator — the only one of its kind at any American university — donated by National Oilwell Varco. The labs, which are open to students, are each designed to focus on a different aspect of petroleum engineering. The Drilling Automation Lab, which hosts the drill rig simulator, gives students the virtual experience of actually drilling at a rig site. “Students will be able to get a feel for what drilling is,” said Pradeep Ashok, a research associate in the labs. “The undergraduate students will get a chance to play with [the drilling simulator] and get a feel for what a driller actually does.” The Zonal Isolation Lab allows researchers and students to study the effects of drilling deep underground, with a focus on the problems encountered when using hydraulic fracturing methods. Hydraulic fracturing is more commonly known as fracking. Projects in the isolation lab include the improvement of the relationship between concrete and shale and the elimination of hazardous by-products that result from drilling underground water sources.
LABS page 3
CITY
Browns help fund new preschool By Nicole Bueno After years of fundraising, the Rise School of Austin officially broke ground Tuesday on a permanent location in East Austin, due in part to donations from current and former UT officials. The school, renamed the Sally and Mack Brown Rise School of Austin, provides equal preschool-level education and an integrated environment to children with and without special needs. The opening of the new facility in August will make it the first educational campus of its kind in Austin. Rise provides a combination of traditional curricula, therapeutic instruction and community support to both special needs children and average learning-speed children within the same classroom. UT System Regent Steve Hicks and his wife Donna Hicks join former UT football head coach Mack Brown and his wife Sally Brown among the many donors
who contributed to the new school, the construction of which is being privately funded in full. Besides giving Rise a permanent location, the new building will be able to accommodate the special needs of its students, Executive Director Emily Greer said. Rise meets the Texas Workforce Commission’s highest educational standard for special needs children, and the new location will facilitate both physical and social therapy in addition to the already advanced curriculum. Rise will include an indoor physical therapy lab to improve motor skills, a music therapy room, a sensory garden and modified classrooms to accommodate those with special needs. Prior to the acquisition, Rise was taught for years in rented churches around Austin, and Rise music therapy teacher Danielle Saunders said the impermanence detracted from the learning experience. “It’s hard to run a smooth, cohesive day without some-
thing as simple as bathrooms near your classrooms,” Saunders said. Despite the lack of a permanent location, Rise has made a name for itself with a 3:1 student-to-teacher ratio and a “Rising Star” accreditation of curriculum by the Texas Workforce Commission. Donna Hicks, who has also served as a past president and current member of the board of directors for Rise, said she is thankful for the donations driving the project. “We need quality preschools to meet the needs of thousands of children, and Rise can prepare them,” Hicks said in her speech at the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday. Greer hopes that Rise’s new location will increase its ability to better the lives of children. “It’s wonderful that we can now teach with state-of-theart equipment,” Greer said. “And what we can’t teach them — things like compassion — they learn through their peers.”
REASON TO PARTY
@thedailytexan
Daniel Castrillion / Daily Texan Staff
Glynda Groth will retire at the end of this month after 26 years at the Engineering Life Office.
Director retires after 26 years By Madlin Mekelburg @madlinbmek
Although she changed her major in college to avoid taking a single math class, Glynda Groth has made a home in the Engineering Student Life office. At the
end of January, Groth will retire after working at UT for 26 years. Groth worked as a hall coordinator at Jester and as an adviser in the Engineering Student Affairs office before creating the Engineering Student Life
office, which manages all of the student organizations within the Cockrell School of Engineering. Groth said her favorite part of her job is helping students.
RETIRE page 3
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Teach For America panelists emphasize diversity. PAGE 3
Both gubernatorial candidates keep stories in past. PAGE 4
Holmes’ buzzer-beater pushes UT past K-State. PAGE 6
UT guitar students perform at the Cactus Cafe. PAGE 8
Architecture professor honored for service. PAGE 3
Horns Up: CapMetro to open MetroRapid service. PAGE 4
Offensive spark brings Longhorns’ resurgance. PAGE 6
End of an Ear record store expands vast collection. PAGE 8
Check out Dolce Nove behind-the-scenes, a new Italian gelato shop in South Austin. dailytexanonline.com
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