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Wednesay, February 12, 2014
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
POLICE
Filing period ends, campaigns begin
Second credit card theft occurs on campus
By Nicole Cobler @nicolecobler
Two executive alliances kicked off campaigns for Student Government president and vice president Wednesday. Kornel “Kori” Rady, a government and corporate communications senior, is running for president alongside vice presidential candidate Taylor Strickland, a corporate communications senior. Government senior Kenton Wilson
is running for president with Caroline Carter, a marketing and international relations and global studies senior. The filing deadline was noon Tuesday. Fifty-eight undergraduate students signed up to run for various SG positions, including University-wide representatives and college representatives. Two graduate students ran for Graduate Student Assembly president and vice president positions. Rady, who is currently the
external financial director on the SG executive board, said he felt his experience in SG would help him effectively run for student body president. “Being on the executive board in Student Government really helps with creating all kinds of initiatives,” Rady said. “Having this experience with individuals, who are obviously in a position I’m hoping to be in next year, gives me an edge I’m hoping a lot of people who aren’t
necessarily involved on the executive side of SG have.” Rady said he will run with Strickland on the platform of student life, spirit, safety and transportation, academics and civic issues. These points include extending hours in buildings closer to West Campus, expanding the URide program to all neighborhoods and working closer with Senate of College Councils and Graduate Student Assembly.
“The general goal is to make sure we reach as many people as possible with this campaign,” Rady said. Wilson, chair of the assembly this year, said his campaign would be on five main points with a strong focus on maintaining bus routes, diversity training and a student activity center in the Riverside area. Wilson said he believes his
ELECTIONS page 3
WEST CAMPUS
Website analyzes West Campus crime By Julia Brouillette @juliakbrou
Though the neighborhoods surrounding the UT campus are statistically safer than other areas of the city, certain private apartment complexes are more dangerous than others. In the last seven years, residents of five apartment complexes in West Campus reported a combined total of 1,114 crimes, ranging from vehicle burglaries and assault to alcoholrelated offenses, according to “krimelabb,” a police report aggregation site that draws data from the Austin Police Department. In the West Campus neighborhood, which stretches from Guadalupe to Lamar Street and from 38th Street to MLK, the 26 West apartment complex had the highest crime rate,
Illustration by Aaron Rodriguez / Daily Texan Staff
with a total of 346 crimes reported over the course of the last seven years. The Castilian student housing complex on Guadalupe, had the
FOOD
second-highest crime rate in the area. Both properties have been owned by American Campus Communities since 2012.
Gina Cowart, vice president of investor relations and corporate marketing for American Campus Communities, said the
company has taken major steps to improve the safety of the properties since
CRIME page 2
By Julia Brouillette @juliakbrou
UTPD reported a credit card theft at Gregory Gym on Sunday, the second credit card theft report at the gym within a two-week period. According to the report, the theft occurred between 9:50 a.m. Friday and 6:10 p.m. Sunday. Officer William Pieper said the victim reported there has been one fraudulent charge made to the card since being stolen. On Jan. 30, UTPD arrested a student outside Gregory Gym for credit card or debit card abuse after reviewing security camera footage and records from a card proximity reader. Pieper said the same methods could be used to investigate Sunday’s theft. “It’s up to the detective who was assigned that case, and they have a variety of different techniques they can use,” Pieper said. Surveillance cameras can be used to identify suspects, and card proximity readers keep records of swipeins, which can tell officers who was in the gym at any given time. The department can also use subpoenas to locate suspects. “If it’s a credit card or debit card that’s used to make a purchase, sometimes they’ll have it delivered some place
CREDIT CARD page 2
CAMPUS
R.I. governor denounces partisanship By Leila Ruiz @leilakristi
Pu Ying Huang / Daily Texan Staff
Classical archaeology senior Trevor Davis digs into some pizza with his group members at Austin Pizza on Monday night.
Popularity of pizza bests health concerns By Justin Atkinson @jusatk
America is a pizza-hungry nation, and UT is no exception. University dining venues sold a combined total of 257,392 slices of pizza last semester alone — 6.5 slices for each of the University’s approximately 40,000 undergraduate students. In a study released Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 13 percent of the U.S. population consumes pizza on any given day — with young people representing the bulk of the consumers.
Arabic sophomore Maggie Rake said she thinks pizza has a major presence on college campuses because it’s inexpensive and easy to share. “I probably eat pizza two or three times a week — maybe four if I have a club meeting, since it’s such a common food for groups,” Rake said. “Pizza is a social food.” Rake said, in her mind, pizza is exempt from the nutritional worries that plague many college students. “I just eat pizza to feel happy.
PIZZA page 3
Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee said during a speech at the LBJ School of Public Affairs on Tuesday that the recently increased levels of partisanship in American politics have prevented politicians from leading effectively. According to Chafee, he lost re-election as a Republican senator in 2006, despite high approval ratings, because Rhode Islanders wanted a Democratic majority in the Senate. Chafee said the increased polarization is partly due to members of Congress spending far less time together than in past years because of the ease of transportation today. “[Former South Carolina Senator] Strom Thurmond used to say, when jet travel came in, the Senate changed because everybody would go back to their districts,” Chafee said. “But that’s the reality, you want to be seen in your home district.” Chafee said politicians should value their integrity as representatives of the people more than gathering
Mengwen Cao / Daily Texan Staff
In his speech, “Civility for a Great Society,” at the LBJ School of Public Affairs on Tuesday afternoon, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee spoke about how he views the recently increased levels of partisanship in American politics.
votes for the next election. “My colleagues in the Senate value their membership in the Senate — that exclusive club membership — more than what’s best for our country,” Chafee said. Robert Hutchings, the dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, said the best way to combat polarization is to fix things one at a time. He
called to those dissatisfied with politics to take it upon themselves to work toward a solution by getting involved. “Not everything is broken in government,” Hutchings said. “We’re in a bad period now, and there’s a lot of cynicism right now, but the best way to fight cynicism is to enter the arena … don’t complain, go out [and]
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Attorney gives talk on “stop-and-frisk” case. PAGE 3
Cutting algebra II requirement not good for Texas. PAGE 4
Texas knocks off the Cowboys with ease. PAGE 6
Evan Roberts focuses on personal documentaries. PAGE 8
UT professor and Nobel laureate talks about life outside his work in physics.
Talk explains process to pass national budget. PAGE 3
Cyclists and drivers should be safer around campus. PAGE 4
Longhorn softball set to face UTSA tonight. PAGE 6
“RoboCop” remake is a good sci-fi flick. PAGE 8
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make a difference.” Pete Phillips, an Austin resident and ex-marine who attended the talk, said he believes a major problem to overcome is politicians whose only motivation is to stay in office, as opposed to working together toward a common goal. Phillips said
CHAFEE page 2 REASON TO PARTY
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