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Wednesday, February 19, 2014
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POLICE
Help UTPD catch a criminal, get a free pizza By Julia Brouillette @juliakbrou
Students don’t report crimes as often as they used to, even though a free pizza hangs in the balance, according to campus police. About eight years ago, while reviewing crime reports, UTPD officer William Pieper noticed bicycle thefts during the daytime had spiked.
In response, the department began offering free pizzas to anyone who reported suspicious activity that led to the apprehension of a bike thief. “It just seemed odd to me that somebody could steal so many bikes or that multiple people could steal so many bikes and nobody would notice it,” Pieper said. “I asked myself, ‘What would it take to get students to report
something like that?’ And, of course, I knew students like free food.” Pieper pitched the idea to then-Police Chief Robert Dahlstrom, who decided to expand the program to include free pizza for reports of any suspicious activity that led to the apprehension of a criminal. After UTPD began offering pizzas, the number of bike thief arrests increased
significantly, Pieper said. “When we first started the program, we saw a spike in reports of suspicious activity and we actually saw an increase in the amount of bike thieves that we arrested,” Pieper said. “It really encouraged people to call in when they saw something.” According to Pieper, instead of UTPD setting aside
PIZZA page 2
Illustration by Hannah Hadidi / Daily Texan Staff
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Meet the SG candidates By Nicole Cobler | @nicolecobler
Kori Rady / Taylor Strickland
Kenton Wilson / Caroline Carter
Year: Senior/Senior Major: Government and communications/communications One Platform Goal: Parking ticket forgiveness: UTPD would void your first parking violation on campus.
Year: Senior/Senior Major: Philosophy and government/marketing and IRG One Platform Goal: Creating a presidential council to meet monthly with organization presidents to hear their concerns.
Campaign promotes new voices Kornel “Kori” Rady, a government and corporate communications senior, said he hopes to represent as many different student groups as possible, which drew him to selecting corporate communications senior Taylor Strickland as his vice
presidential candidate. “I wanted to get together with someone who is different from myself and can make the University a better place,” Rady said. “[Strickland] was the obvious choice.” Strickland said her involvement in Black Student
Alliance, the African American Culture committee, Texas Dance and Student Government would help to ensure every student group has an equal voice. “Sometimes communities
RADY
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Candidates emphasize goals Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates Kenton Wilson and Caroline Carter have been involved in a total of 19 student organizations in their combined seven years at the University, a feat Wilson believes makes the duo a
CAMPUS
good fit for the student leadership positions. “Since I’ve been a part of so many areas on campus, it’s really shown me how Student Government reaches different areas of UT,” said Wilson, a philosophy and government senior.
Wilson and Carter have 18 platform goals, including maintaining bus routes, creating a campus-wide homecoming and adding more opportunities to hear student opinions. “If leaders in organizations
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CITY
Crowdsourcing used to restore mural Austin artists protest By Alyssa Mahoney @TheAlyssaM
After public outcry over the defacement of two murals near 23rd Street and Guadalupe, the original artists, the University Co-op and Austin officials have removed the majority of the graffiti and are crowdsourcing funds to finish the restoration process. Brian Jewell, University Co-op marketing vice president, said a co-op security guard first noticed graffiti
on the 40-year-old mural, located on the south wall of the Renaissance Market area, on Jan. 7. Jewell said the guard did not see anyone deface the murals, and no security footage of the area was available, so the co-op could not file a report with Austin police. Jewell said the graffiti removal is nearly complete, and the co-op and original artists are raising funds through online donations to begin restoring the
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pay-to-play practices By David Sackllah @dsackllah
Caleb Kuntz / Daily Texan Staff
A student walks by the 40-year-old Austin mural on 23rd street and Guadalupe that was recently vandalized.
The average hip-hop show has anywhere from two to three opening acts, likely composed of rappers with experience, selected to open because of their skills or popularity. Recently in Austin, though, a surge of shows have had anywhere from 10-15 rappers playing brief 10 minute sets. These artists get booked not because of
talent, but because they paid the promoter hundreds of dollars to perform. This practice, called payto-play, has become more widespread in the hip-hop community. Typically, the artist pays the promoter a flat fee for a guaranteed performance, usually priced in the hundreds. One website, Rocksx.com, offers registered members a guaranteed
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