The Daily Texan 2014-03-28 by The Daily Texan

COMICS PAGE 6

LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8

SPORTS PAGE 5

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Friday, March 28, 2014

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CITY

STATE

Council to review SXSW security By Nicole Stiles @NicoleStiles42

On Thursday, Austin City Council approved a resolution to conduct an in-depth review of South By Southwest activities as they relate to city safety and capacity. According to City Councilman Mike Martinez, who drafted the proposal, the SXSW crash that resulted in the deaths of four and injuries of more than 20 others was the catalyst for the proposal.

“The tragic incident that occurred during this year’s festival touched a nerve … and frankly it felt to me and many others I’ve heard from like a warning signal,” Martinez said. SXSW Music spokeswoman Elizabeth Derczo said the organization is in full support of the council’s resolution. “It’s a terrific initiative, and we’re eager to incorporate the results to produce the best possible event for all SXSW attendees — global and local

alike,” Derczo said. “We look forward to the discussion and ongoing collaboration.” According to Martinez, nearly 400,000 people flock to Austin to attend SXSW. Martinez said a comprehensive analysis of the event should involve the entire Austin community. “[This] conversation needs to include everyone — SXSW officials, venue owners, hoteliers, musicians,

SXSW page 2

Equal pay key issue in race for governor By Alyssa Mahoney @TheAlyssaM

Gubernatorial candidates state Sen. Wendy Davis, DFort Worth, and Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott and their student supporters have settled on equal pay and wage discrimination as the next key issue of the 2014 campaign. Abbott said that as governor he would veto a state version of The Equal Pay Act or Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Davis has attacked Abbott’s position by arguing that existing equal pay laws are insufficient. The Equal Pay Act was a federal law signed in 1963 to prevent wage discrimination based on gender. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was a federal statute which amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and stated that a person has 180 days to file a lawsuit for pay discrimination from when they received their paycheck. Abbott said the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Texas Labor Code and the Texas Government Code have adequate provisions for equal pay already. “If there are ongoing issues about equal pay, I don’t think the question is whether we need more laws. The question is whether those laws just need to be enforced better,” Abbott said in a statement. Amy Nabozny, history sophomore and College Republicans vice president, said she thinks current equal pay laws are sufficient because it’s already illegal to discriminate based on gender. “It’s a waste of our legislature’s time and resources to be passing redundant legislation,” Nabozny said. “If there’s any issue in how the federal courts process these

Sam Ortega / Daily Texan ffile photo

Austin Police Department officers form a human barricade down Sixth Street during the last Saturday of SXSW 2014.

UNIVERSITY

— YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH IS VACANCY —

Grand outside, hollow within

THE UT TOWER

657 available rooms

Because of safety concerns, UT turns Tower into storage

381 (56%)

276 (43%)

210 171

182

are in use

By Bobby Blanchard

offices

@bobbycblanchard

The loudest noise on the 13th floor of the UT Tower is the minute hand of an old clock. More than half of the floors of the UT Tower are empty, classified formally by the University as either “vacant” or “future storage space.” Furniture and unused computer monitors are the only occupants in some of the abandoned offices. The few employees who still work in the upper floors of the Tower won’t be there much longer, because of safety concerns involving evacuation policies. Though the outside of the Tower is ornately decorated, and instantly recognizable, UT’s most iconic building is largely hollow. “The Tower is really, really cool,” said Dan Slesnick, the senior vice provost for resource management. “The views up there are just spectacular. Losing tens of thousands of square feet of office space on a campus that is short of space is very, very difficult. But we have to keep people safe.” Of the 657 available rooms in the Tower and Main Building, only 57 percent are currently in use. Of those rooms, just under half are not occupied by people and are instead used as break rooms and for storage. Seventeen of the Tower’s 32 floors are unoccupied. Slesnick said his office is nearly finished moving people out of the Tower’s upper floors. The University considers the space less safe than lower floors because of the Life Safety Code, a nationwide set of fire safety rules, which requires buildings have multiple exits in the case of a fire. From the 13th floor up to the top of the Tower, an area where there are still 20 occupied offices, there is only

are empty

other

storage, break rooms, conference rooms

future storage spaces

other

There are floors of the tower that are entirely empty.

Methodology

The Daily Texan obtained this information through the Texas Public Information Act. The data in this story comes from an excel spreadsheet provided by the University dated Feb. 13, 2014. The University notes there are 977 rooms in the Tower, but that 320 are nonassignable. Those 320 rooms are not included in the data. For an interactive graphic showing a breakdown of the Tower by floor, go to the story on www.dailytexanonline.com.

TOWER page 3

bit.ly/dtvid

WAGES page 3

Illustration by Aaron Rodriguez / Daily Texan Staff

CITY

For Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, education is familiar issue By Alyssa Mahoney @TheAlyssaM

Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole has spearheaded numerous projects since she was first elected to Austin City Council, but she said the moment that had the most impact on her political career came when she was PTA president of her sons’ elementary school. “I always say that my start in politics began as PTA president,” Cole said. “When you’re

balancing the interests of parents, teachers and the community at large, you learn how to bring people together.” After Cole became the PTA president, the school superintendent asked her to co-chair a school bond campaign. Cole said her two co-chairs encouraged her to visit school campuses to see their conditions. “When I saw those schools, they were in such bad shape — leaky roofs, rodents, I mean rats everywhere,” Cole said. Cole said many of the

schools didn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and needed restroom and gym repairs. “I got really mad, so I started telling every person I knew, especially the PTA moms,” Cole said. She said the school bond was not predicted to pass because similar bonds proposed in several other cities in the region had failed to pass. “On the night of the bond election, when I saw the ticker go across the screen at 60

percent, that’s when the political bug hit me,” Cole said. “That’s what government is supposed to do — provide funding and solutions for people.” As the first person in her family to graduate from college, Cole said education is an issue that is important to her. “I knew that education was the path for [my sons] to have a successful future, so I was determined to make sure that

COLE page 2

Helen Fernandez / Daily Texan file photo

In 2006, Cole became the first African-American woman to be elected onto the Austin city council.

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Friday, March 28, 2014

POLICE

FRAMES featured photo

cont

By Julia Brouillette @juliakbrou

Editor-in-Chief Laura Wright (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor Shabab Siddiqui (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Multimedia Office (512) 471-7835 dailytexanmultimedia@ gmail.com Sports Office (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts Office (512) 232-2209 dtlifeandarts@gmail.com

Jonathan Garza / Daily Texan Staff

Biomedical engineering junior Stephanie Yarborough gets henna done by health promotion senior Aman Majok during Rez Week.

Retail Advertising (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu

COLE

Classified Advertising (512) 471-5244 classifieds@ dailytexanonline.com

continues from page 1

The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.

COPYRIGHT Copyright 2013 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER Low High

I literally can’t even.

they had a good education,” Cole said. Since Cole became the first African-American woman on Austin City Council in 2006, she has often paid particular attention to issues involving University students. In November 2013, Cole helped pass an affordable housing bond, and more recently, she contacted student groups to try to increase their involvement with the “stealth dorm” ordinance. Cole said that when she first joined the council, she was concerned about how to balance the interests of the African-American community while also serving the needs of the greater Austin community. “I remember that I carried a resolution for Barton Springs Pool and their master plan, and I remember that there was a write-up in a newspaper article that said, ‘She is showing that she will not be pigeonholed to the black issues.’” Cole said she wondered if she was making everybody mad because she couldn’t do enough. “You sort of wear two hats where you’re expected to handle the issues that affect

This issue of The Daily Texan is valued at $1.25 Permanent Staff

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Wright Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Ayala, Riley Brands, Amil Malik, Eric Nikolaides Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shabab Siddiqui Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisabeth Dillon News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Rudner Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonia Gales, Anthony Green, Jacob Kerr, Pete Stroud, Amanda Voeller Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julia Brouillette, Nicole Cobler, Alyssa Mahoney, Madlin Mekelburg Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Reinsch Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brett Donohoe, Reeana Keenen, Kevin Sharifi Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Mitts Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hirrah Barlas, Bria Benjamin, Alex Dolan, Omar Longoria Multimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Lauren L’Amie Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eleanor Dearman, Kritika Kulshrestha, David Sackllah, Alex Williams Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefan Scrafield Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Hummer Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evan Berkowitz, Garrett Callahan, Jori Epstein, Matt Warden Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Massingill Associate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah Hadidi Roommate to the Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riki Tsuji Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cody Bubenik, Ploy Buraparate, Connor Murphy, Aaron Rodriguez, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephanie Vanicek Director of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeremy Hintz Associate Director of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Stancik Senior Technical Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Issue Staff Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicole Bueno, Nicole Stiles, Natalie Sullivan, Alex Wilts Multimedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rebeca Howeth, Helen Fernandez, Daulton Venglar Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Clay, David Leffler, Courtney Norris Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Taiki Miki, Cameron Peterson, Claire Yun Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blake Carter, Alyssa Creagh, Amanda Nguyen, Anna Pedersen, Justin Perez Columnist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Suchi Sundaram

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The Daily Texan (USPS 146-440), a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78705. The Daily Texan is published daily, Monday through Friday, during the regular academic year and is published once weekly during the summer semester. The Daily Texan does not publish during academic breaks, most Federal Holidays and exam periods. Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Daily Texan, P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713. News contributions will be accepted by telephone (471-4591), or at the editorial office (Texas Student Media Building 2.122). For local and national display advertising, call 471-1865. classified display advertising, call 4711865. For classified word advertising, call 471-5244. Entire contents copyright 2012 Texas Student Media.

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Texan Ad Deadlines

TOW

Student to appear in court for 8 charges

Volume 114, Issue 128

NEWS

3/28/14

Monday .............Wednesday, 12 p.m. Thursday.................Monday, 12 p.m. Tuesday.................Thursday, 12 p.m. Friday......................Tuesday, 12 p.m. Word Ads 11 a.m. Wednesday................Friday, 12 p.m. Classified (Last Business Day Prior to Publication)

the African-American community, but I’ve tried really hard not to limit myself to only those issues,” Cole said. “You want to show that an AfricanAmerican can do both, but at the same time, you don’t want the African-American community to feel like you’re not representing them.” Michael McGill, Cole’s policy director and chief of staff who has worked with her for about three years, said sometimes professionals who come by the office ask if they can get a “Sheryl Cole hug.” “She’s definitely a hugger,” Nancy Cardenas, Cole’s executive assistant, said. McGill said it’s apparent to him that Cole loves the part of her job that involves interacting with people. “She’s a genuinely warm person, and that’s in short supply in a job that can wear you down,” McGill said.

SXSW

continues from page 1 cyclists, Public Assembly Code Enforcement … and perhaps most of all, Austinites who simply want to enjoy the city during the festival,” Martinez said. The proposal also requests the Austin Music Commission and Urban Transportation Commission hold public hearings to improve the festival and its associated traffic management issues. “The commission is eager to participate in this process to make SXSW and all major events in Austin safer and better for musicians and music fans as well,” said Nakia Reynoso, Austin Music Commission member and local musician. Martinez said city staff

has been making efforts every year to help make SXSW a successful festival but said a more comprehensive look at its effects on the city is needed. “I just think it’s time to unleash a whole mess of homegrown creativity and work together as a community to help make SXSW freakin’ awesome for many years to come,” Martinez said. Linguistics junior and SXSW staff member Emily Hunker said she believes the large SXSW crowds make it harder to keep the festival safe. “Being around and getting to know the people at SXSW — the locals and the out-oftowners — is what makes it so fun,” Hunker said. “But too many people in one place or venue can get messy and cause incidents like the ones that happened this year.”

Gene Vela, the public affairs graduate student involved in an armed standoff with two Austin police officers Nov. 10, remains in custody at the Travis County Jail. According to the Travis County Criminal Court docket, Vela faces eight charges, including two charges of unlawful carrying of a weapon, two charges of aggravated assault against a public servant and one charge of terroristic threat. Austin police shot Vela in the torso after Vela aimed his handgun at two officers from the window of his apartment, according to the police affidavit. Vela is set to appear in court twice in the next three weeks, with one hearing scheduled Friday and the other scheduled for April 14. According to court records, Adam Reposa is listed as Vela’s defense attorney for the first hearing, but Reposa said he is no longer representing Vela. Edmund Milton Davis is listed as Vela’s defense attorney for the second hearing. Steve Brand, a prosecuting attorney for the District Attorney’s Office, said the attorney information on the court docket had probably not been updated yet. Brand said he does not expect any major changes to the case as a result of tomorrow’s hearing. “Nothing is going to happen … If the defense wants to file motions to suppress evidence or anything like that, they can,” Brand said. “But there’s nothing there right now.”

ATTENTION FACULTY AND STUDENTS

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in the Performing Arts Spring 2014 The 2014 Roy Crane Award in the Arts is given to a student at UT Austin for unique, creative effort in the performing arts. The selection committee will give no weight to any entrant’s grade point average or other academic achievement.

There are two $3,000 awards.

To compete for the award, a student must be nominated by a faculty Torin member of The University of Texas at Austin. The award will recognize There one’s creative effort while at UT Austin. Both current and former undergraduate or graduate students may compete for the award so long as the work was achieved while registered at the University.

The deadline for nominations is

April 11, 2014 5pm. For nomination form and submission guidelines visit http://www.utexas.edu/provost/initiatives/undergraduate_awards/crane/

W&N 3

NEWS

Friday, March 28, 2014

TOWER

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

continues from page 1 one staircase Though Johnson said there are several ongoing projects to make the Tower and stairwells more safe in the event of a fire, he does not feel those measures will ever be sufficient. “Those things in turn are going to enhance the systems we already have in place, but it’s never going to get us to where the University would like to be based on today’s codes,” Johnson said. “There’s no way we are ever going to be able to build another stairwell — it’s impossible.” Repurposing buildings is a standard practice on campuses as old and sprawling as UT. Waggener Hall, for instance, originally housed the business school, and as a result, is decorated with images of peaches, cotton, oil and other Texas exports. Waggener Hall became home to the classics and philosophy departments after the business school got a new building. Though buildings are regularly repurposed, especially for reasons of space efficiency, it is unlikely the upper levels of the Tower will ever become permanent office space again. When the Tower was completed in 1937, the University planned to use the monumental building as the campus’ main library and not as permanent

WAGES

continues from page 1 claims, then they should be looking to improve it there.” Nabozny said she supports Abbott’s decision to veto additional legislation addressing equal pay in Texas. “We already have laws protecting discriminatory action — period,” Nabozny said. “Right now, I am ashamed how Wendy Davis is victimizing women in order to gain ground in this race.” Michelle Willoughby, government junior and Students for Wendy Davis community outreach director,

Research touts benefit of dressing differently By Alex Wilts @alexwilts

Lauren Ussery / Daily Texan Staff

The 13th floor of the UT Tower is currently being used as storage space, along with over half of the Tower’s 32 floors. The upper floors of the Tower that still remain occupied will soon be cleared out in order to meet fire safety regulations.

office space. UT historian Jim Nicar said while a few administrators were using space in the Tower from the beginning, the plan was not to keep the administrators there but rather to move them into a building of their own. As more libraries opened up on campus, Nicar said the Tower began transitioning more and more into an office space for the administration and staff. “The administration wasn’t originally supposed to go in the main building of campus — that was the library,” Nicar said. “It was supposed to be the depository of human knowledge. The administration

is not the star of the show — it’s the library.” Slesnick said UT does have plans to use at least some of the space, including using it to store plants. Slesnick says the University is still determining how it will use the upper floors of the Tower once everyone is moved out, but one option is to move storage of plant specimens from the Plant Resources Center currently spanning six lower floors to the higher space. The Plant Resources Center is the University’s herbarium, with more than a million plant specimens, including the largest collection of Texas

plants in the world. Slesnick said moving the center higher up would open lower floors up to office space. Slesnick said transforming the space currently used by the Plant Resource Center into office space will take both money and time, and the process is further complicated by the fact that the Tower is an old and historic building the University strives to preserve. “Right now we’re kind of in a holding pattern, and that’s why you’re seeing a vacancy,” Slesnick said. “When it comes to space management, everything moves at a glacial pace.”

said she thinks employers should offer paternity leave. Willoughby said if employers offer benefits for their male workers, they will stop viewing maternity leave as a downside to hiring women. “If employers thought that young male employers were equally likely to take six to eight weeks off after starting a family and possibly drop out of the workforce for some amount of time, then they would be more likely to hire and pay women entering the workforce at the same rates they do with their male counterparts,” Willoughby said.

The Davis campaign could not be reached for comment. Sarah Melecki, graduate research assistant and former chair of the Feminist Policy Alliance, said she thinks gender equality requires a combination of policy and social change. “If a woman in Texas experiences wage discrimination, she has to take it up on a federal level,” Melecki said. Melecki said increasing wage equality for people of all socioeconomic, gender and ethnic backgrounds requires that state or federal governments increase paternity and family leave, provide

affordable child care and increase the minimum wage. Melecki said although she thinks the Lilly Ledbetter Act was important and necessary, it does not address the needs of many women, such as those lower income or gay women. “The people who are affected by [the Lilly Ledbetter Act] are mostly white women who have had the educational opportunities and have gone into a field that allows them to do that,” Melecki said. “Lilly Ledbetter is great and it’s necessary, but it’s necessary to look at women on all sides of the spectrum.”

Nonconforming clothing shows competence, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The study states that individuals can demonstrate higher status and competence in the workplace by intentionally wearing unconventional clothing such as red sneakers and a suit, a symbol of originality. The study has named it the “red sneaker effect.” The success of CEOs such as Mark Zuckerberg, notorious for his hoodies and flip-flops during board meetings, and Steve Jobs’s seemingly endless closet of black turtlenecks, is evidence of the “red sneaker effect.” However, career services representatives from McCombs School of Business, College of Natural Sciences and Cockrell School of Engineering all agree that at career fairs, before students land the jobs, it may be better for them to dress on the professional side. “The students who got the most attention were the ones who took their dress a little more seriously,” said Mandi Ford, recruiting coordinator for the College of Natural Sciences. According to Ford, the way students dress for the career fair should be dependent on the type of company they want to work for. “Actuarial students will come in, and they would be at a loss

if they didn’t come in business professional,” Ford said. According to Ford, computer science recruiters are more lax in their dress standards than actuarial science recruiters, who work in a more traditional corporate world. Ford said computer scientists even come to the expos wearing Tshirts, jeans and sneakers. “Computer science recruiters felt uncomfortable with the students who dressed in business professional [attire],” Ford said. “They were dressed up better than recruiters.” Velma Arney, director of career services for McCombs, said male students should consider wearing a power tie, and females, a broach or scarf, to stand out from the sea of black suits — a different version of the “red sneaker effect.” McCombs is currently the only college on campus that requires students to be dressed in business professional attire before entering career fairs. “The feedback we receive is that McCombs students have their act together compared to others across the country,” Arney said. Michael Powell, director of career services for the Cockrell school, said there are other important aspects recruiters look for in students. “[If I am recruiter], I want to know what you know about me and why you are a potentially good fit for my company,” Powell said. “Preparation goes beyond dress.”

RESEARCH

CAMPUS Rebecca Howeth / Daily Texan file photo

Elliot Tucker-Drob is a co-director of the Twin Project, a UT psychology research project aiming to compile and study a diverse registry of twins.

Twins study examines nature versus nurture By Leila Ruiz @leilakristi

Daulton Venglar / Daily Texan Staff

Torin Monahan gives a talk about Department of Homeland Security fusion centers in Garrison Hall Thursday afternoon. There are 72 fusion centers across the country that alert the DHS about possible terroristic threats.

Politics of ‘fusion centers’ pose dangers By Nicole Bueno @itsmorebueno

Torin Monahan, a communications associate professor from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said abuses of power by data surveillance agencies could compromise the effectiveness of the Department of Homeland Security’s anti-terrorism operations in a talk Thursday hosted at the Graduate Student Symposium titled “Beyond Counterterrorism: Data Fusion in Post-9/11 Security Organizations.” The Department of Homeland Security, along with a multitude of other governmental agencies, make up fusion centers — physical collaborations of police, national security and private sector experts — in an effort to ag-

gregate their collected data and compile a full-bodied database of possible security threats. The department expedited the launch of these fusion centers on state, city and regional levels following the breaches in national defense during the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. “Our technological world tends to collect data by default, and these security organizations have adapted to the imperative of the surveillance society we live in today,” Monahan said. “Just about any data that are out there, they can basically bring together.” Monahan’s previous research has focused on the way state surveillance promotes social inequalities but said his research on fusion centers has made him more sympathetic, as “information societies are [also] surveillance societies.”

The centers are intended to serve as neutral, apolitical channels for multiple agencies to join forces and physically discuss their shared intel. But most of the 78 fusion centers across the country are housed in police departments — characterizing them less as passive conduits of information and more as groups in active pursuit of threats, according to Monahan. The issue remains that fusion centers succumb to cultural biases, Monahan said, especially within the centers’ associated police departments. Though federal law requires “reasonable suspicion” for the storage of information, the FBI has since changed its rule, allowing agents to make quick searches through these databases without recording the information found.

American studies graduate student Carrie Andersen said she feels the population has a general tendency to trust the government, but the lack of transparency makes that trust harder to justify. “I think it’s a perpetual problem,” Andersen said. “How do you create accountability when the system is so secretive?” The effectiveness of fusion centers is unmeasurable, but the concept of pooling governmental resources certainly champions efficiency. Simone Browne, assistant professor of African and African Diaspora Studies, said the potential use of the compiled data could still be beneficial as a concept. “The idea of combining all this data could be very useful for other things — even Amber Alerts,” Browne said.

A UT psychology research project aims to compile and study a diverse registry of twins in hopes of better understanding the balance between a child’s genetic makeup and their environment. The Twin Project, which started active recruitment of twins and other multiple births in 2010, asks participating children — and their parents — about the children’s personality, academic expectations, interests, peer groups and family environment. One-on-one testing is also done with each twin on their reasoning and memory abilities, as well as tendencies towards risk-taking and other behavioral indicators of maturity. The project targets students enrolled in 32 school districts in the Houston and Austin areas, which contain over 1 million students. Approximately 54 percent of the students in the targeted districts are classified as economically disadvantaged, and 73.1 percent identify as members of racial minorities. “We are interested in studying twins from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds,” Elliot TuckerDrob, psychology assistant professor and co-director of the project, said. “This contrasts with many other twin studies, which tend to be composed mostly of white participants from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.” Psychology graduate student Daniel Briley, who has

focused on the effects of parental educational expectations on children, said he was surprised to discover that children’s behavioral characteristics often play a part in altering their parents’ expectations. “Previous research has implied that parents generate expectations and then pass on these beliefs to their children,” Briley said. “My research suggests that the formation of expectations is a two-way street … My perspective is that children are active agents in their development and the parenting that they receive.” Studio art freshman Katherine Ray said the constant comparison between her and her twin made them more competitive as children. “When we were younger, we would do sports together, so people would compare us,” Ray said. “Once we got older, we developed a lot of different interests, and that was a conscious decision.” The research looks at geneby-environment interaction, which is how genes and environments work together to influence development. An example of this interaction is that people who are genetically predisposed to high academic achievement perform even better if they’re raised in a supportive atmosphere. “The gene-environment interaction framework that I described earlier is one that challenges old ways of thinking about ‘nature vs. nurture,’” Tucker-Drob said. “The new question is how nature and nurture go together.”

4A OPINION

LAURA WRIGHT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorial Friday, March 28, 2014

WE ASKED

We asked: Do you support equal pay laws? Editor’s Note: We hit the West Mall on Thursday and asked students whether they thought Texas had a problem with equal pay. Below are some of the responses. Sandra Bissett, senior software developer and analyst at UT Daily Texan: Do you think that Texas has a problem of equal pay, just in terms of women being paid less than men for the same work? Sandra Bissett: Yeah, I think society in general has a problem with it. I’m sure Texas does. DT: Do you have any ideas for a solution? SB: Honestly, I mean I think it is a very complicated problem. It’s probably beyond the scope of a UT staff member to solve. But I think for opening the discussion and talking about it and recognizing it as something that is important is a pretty big deal. DT: Do you have any thoughts on the rhetoric that has been exchanged on the campaign trail recently? Wendy Davis has accused Greg Abbott of paying women who work in his office less than men for the same work. Have you heard about that at all? SB: I have. And I think it’s an important thing to bring up. I think what makes Wendy Davis kind of an exciting candidate is that she’s talking about things that haven’t been brought up in politics in Texas for a while. So it’s definitely something I hope to hear more about. Dominique Egger, psychology senior Daily Texan: Do you think Texas has a problem with equal pay, in terms of women being paid less than men for the same the job? Dominique Egger: Yeah, I definitely would agree. I think there is definitely more that goes into it than that because you still have the tendency for women to go on maternity leave, so

they are not there as much as the guys on average so maybe they don’t get the promotions because they’re not there. But I still think that it’s a huge problem across the country and specifically in conservative states where you have this glass ceiling and it’s really hard for women to break that glass ceiling just because there are certain stereotypes. I don’t think people try to maybe undermine women anymore. But I think that a lot of times what ends up happening is that they have certain stereotypes they don’t realize they have and so then they end up choosing the guy instead of the girl. And then the girl doesn’t get as much pay. DT: Do you have any ideas about how we could fix this problem? DE: I think that just making people more aware about the stereotypes. Actively trying to change [stereotyping] yourself and making people more aware of these stereotypes that they have that they don’t realize that they have, I think that’s the easiest way to change it. Jennifer Caplan, psychology sophomore Daily Texan: Do you think it is a problem in Texas — women being paid less than men? Jennifer Caplan: I wish I was more educated on who was paid more and the laws and all that, but if women are paid less than men, that’s not fair. We do the same job. Everyone should get paid equal. We’re in 2014. DT: In the governor’s race happening right now, Wendy Davis has essentially accused Greg Abbot of paying women who work in his office less than men. Have you heard about that? JC: I think it’s a little slimy to go and shoot down other opponents, but if it is true, it definitely needs to be looked into and brought into the public. Wen Yeng, electrical engineering freshman

COLUMN

Daily Texan: Do you think Texas has a problem with equal pay in terms of women being paid less than men? Wen Yeng: Yes, but it’s not exactly obvious because it’s sort of like an institutionalized thing, and that’s something that’s sort of hard. You have to change people’s mindsets. And a lot of people don’t necessarily realize the problem because when men are in positions of power, or when a man’s your boss and you are a woman, it’s very hard for you to raise concerns about your pay. And in general a lot of men don’t realize that there is a problem with equal pay or equal rights even in the workplace. DT: So how do we go about changing people’s mindsets or getting this issue on people’s minds? WY: That’s something that’s better done earlier in places like college campuses because when people are in their 30s or 40s, they’re much more reluctant to change and be open in general about changing their world views. It might be better for companies to hold a few talks about this issue, but it has to be done carefully because a lot of men wouldn’t react positively to such things. Abhijit Sreerama, computer science senior Abhijit Sreerama: I think in certain areas of Texas [equal pay] is a larger problem than it is in other areas. Studies have shown that areas in larger, metropolitan areas like Houston, Dallas or even Austin or San Antonio, the difference in pay is not as bad as it would be elsewhere, like in smaller cities like Laredo or Amarillo, Lubbock, stuff like that…. Daily Texan: Do you have any ideas about what we could do to address this problem? AS: I think some of it has to do with culture, right? And it’s something that’s not just limited to Texas or the United States. I think it’s something that’s worldwide, and it definitely is a problem though. It’s something that needs to be addressed. If two people are doing equal work, at equal effort and equal levels, then it doesn’t make any sense for one person to be paid $.70 on the dollar.

TAKE YOUR SHOT

Friday Firing Lines: Tuition hikes unnecessary, Shared Services hurt Every Friday, the Daily Texan editorial board will publish a selection of tweets and online comments culled from the Daily Texan website and the various Daily Texan Twitter accounts, along with direct submissions from readers. Our intention is to continue the tradition of the Firing Line, a column first started in the Texan in 1909, in which readers share their opinions “concerning any matter of general interest they choose.” Just like in 1909, the Texan “will never express its approval or disapproval of opinions given under the [Firing Line] header.” In other words, take your shot. Submissions can be sent to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Submissions are edited for length.

SHARED SERVICES HURTS REAL PEOPLE Illustration by Hannah Hadidi / Daily Texan Staff

Service learning courses at UT encourage students to volunteer By Suchi Sundaram Daily Texan Columnist

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, volunteer rates are the lowest among 20-24 year olds. In the last year, 62.6 million Americans provided service to their community, out of which only 18.5 percent were college students. To help benefit the community, the University needs to foster a culture encouraging more service opportunities by incorporating service learning in their curriculum. Service learning is a teaching method in which students learn concepts by volunteering in the community. That is, instead of sitting in a classroom and listening to a professor lecture, they learn through experiences. The difference is that these experiences take place while the students volunteer in their

Rather than sitting through lectures, students are motivated to learn because they see how they can do something positive with the knowledge they master. … These courses encourage students to gain a deeper level of understanding of the material at hand because these courses encourages students to care about the results their knowledge achieved.

community. According to the UT Longhorn Center for Civic Engagement, approximately 60 courses this year offered some component of service learning — a strikingly small number. Judging from the low number of service learning courses offered, these courses are not considered a priority among administrators, but they should be. Currently, I am a part of the Accounting Practicum class in which the students file free tax returns for people in disadvantaged communities. On the first day, my professor, Dr. Doug deVidal, mentioned that one out of seven students said this class was the best and most meaningful class they had ever taken at UT. Most professors dream of having such a high positive response for a class. The class has certainly taught me about accounting, but more importantly, it has taught me that the service learning model works by encouraging students to learn about civic engagement. Rather than sitting through lectures, students are motivated to learn because they see how they can do something positive with the knowledge they master. Before this class, I did not know about the W2, the basic tax document, but I learned so I could help people at the tax centers. These courses encourage students to gain a deeper level of understanding of the material at hand because they are encouraged to care about the results their knowledge achieves. In service learning, mastering the coursework serves not just us but others as well. We all want to change the world. Service learning takes advantage of this desire while motivating us to learn. I know we are all capable of being leaders in the community and being the change we wish to see. Why doesn’t the administration acknowledge that and incorporate more service learning classes in the curriculum? Sundaram is a business honors, finance and international relations sophomore from Austin.

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

Dear editor, I am being laid off. On Valentine’s Day, I was informed that, as of May 31, my job as course scheduler for a good-sized area studies department will no longer exist. Everything I do will be centralized, consolidated at the college level and given to colleagues whose plates are already full. This does not bode well for the department and for the faculty who rely on my specialized expertise, and it adds an unnecessary burden to those whose workload will significantly increase when I am gone. The work of a course scheduler rests at the very heart of what makes UT an educational institution — the actual classes that instructors teach and that students register for each semester. As a course scheduler, I thought my job was secure because I served a purpose necessary to the department and, by extension, necessary to mission of the University. I was wrong. My job was not secure. It doesn’t matter what you call it: Shared Services. Consolidation. Centralization. Those words are just semantics. Support staff are the bone and muscle and sinew which keep the University operating. But bone and muscle and sinew are being sliced away. This is a grave disservice to those who remain and to the departments and faculty who rely on the expertise of skilled and dedicated staff members. Not everything can be mechanized and centralized, and the value of the human component should not be so callously dismissed. When they came for the custodial staff some years ago, I felt powerless to make a difference. Since then, they have come for the advisers and the accountants. From where I stand, it looks like no job is safe, no job is secure. Shared Services. Consolidation. Centralization. It doesn’t matter what it’s called — the emperor has no clothes. — Victoria Vlach, course scheduler

TUITION HIKES David Davis urges an informed discussion in his recent column in defense of tuition hikes but is himself misinformed on the facts. He incorrectly states that there has been a “constant decline” in state funding. In the short term, state appropriations have gone up in 2014 relative to the past year. In the long term, there has been fluctuation — not a “constant decline” — and a decrease that is not statistically significant. He also repeats an oft-stated but misleading claim about state appropriations declining as a percentage of the University’s funding. This ignores that University revenue has greatly increased, so even flat state funding would cause a decrease in the percentage. More importantly, Davis creates a false dichotomy between tuition and state appropriations that ignores two critical factors: 1) Tuition revenue has increased a rate 27.4 times faster than state appropriations have decreased. 2) Another major source of funding is the UT regents’ Permanent University Fund (PUF). The regents allocate money from the PUF to the Available University Fund (AUF), where UT-Austin can then use it. Davis incorrectly states that only 4.25 to 5 percent of PUF funds can be allocated to AUF — that is the historical range, but there is no rule that it cannot increase further. In fact, in May 2012 the regents allocated more money from the PUF to the AUF in order to offset tuition increases. The PUF has since increased by over $3 billion, but despite these available funds the regents are now pushing UT-Austin to increase tuition. UT-Austin CFO Kevin Hegarty has stated that the tuition increases would generate about $10 million in recurring funds for the University. To generate this revenue, the regents could increase the allocation to the AUF by just .06 percent of the $15.8 billion PUF. Instead, they have decreased the allocation in 2014 relative to the past year. For both the December 2013 and March 2014 tuition increase proposals, the regents requested tuition increases with very little time for discussion, rather than allowing time for the longer TPAC process. The fixed tuition plan that Davis posits as a solution actually uses tuition rates even higher than the current increase proposal. Rather than blasting the “egocentrism” of students, Davis should realize that the regents are imposing unnecessary tuition increases and disallowing the student voice in the process. — Mukund Rathi, computer science senior, submitted via email

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | E-mail your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

SPTS 5

STEFAN SCRAFIELD, SPORTS EDITOR / @texansports Friday, March 28, 2014

SIDELINE

BASEBALL Freshman catcher Tres Barrera struggled to find himself at the plate early this season but has become a key component of the Texas offense as of late. After hitting under .150 three weeks ago, Barrera’s average is now fourth-best on the team at .268.

NCAAM Sweet 16

No. 6 Baylor

No. 2 Wisconsin

No. 10 Stanford

No. 11 Dayton

No. 1 Florida

No. 4 UCLA

TOP TWEET

Jenna Von Hofe Daily Texan Staff

Hot-hitting Horns head to Lubbock By Matt Warden @TheMattWarden

After 1,894 victories as a head coach, Augie Garrido and his team have only one thing on their minds: Lubbock. Twelfth-ranked Texas will battle Texas Tech (217, 3-3 Big 12) on the road

this weekend after making history on Tuesday night with a 5-1 victory over Texas State. Garrido became the all-time winningest coach in college baseball history but his Longhorns still have a season to keep playing. “I don’t know that I was the inspiration — all we

did was play the game,” Garrido said after Tuesday’s win. “I think that Tommy Nicholson was the inspiration, and Ryan Russ was the inspiration. They are the two that spend the most time with them over the hitting. [The players] came out and hit the ball hard, they really did, they

TRACK & FIELD

lit it up. They have been lighting it up for about two weeks now, and they are making progress, and they are maturing. Those are the things I look at, not the results. The results are what they are, but [Nicholson and Russ] are making the progress that’s making this team move forward.”

And the Longhorns’ hitting has been the biggest story as of late, with the team scoring 34 runs in the past five games. Sophomore outfielder Ben Johnson has contributed greatly to this streak, launching his second home run

LUBBOCK page 7

MEN’S BASKETBALL | COLUMN

Barnes proving worth despite tourney woes By David Leffler

Daily Texan Columnist @leffler_david

Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan Staff

Sophomore Johannes Hock finished the first day of the Texas Relays in third place for the Longhorns despite a less-than-stellar showing in the javelin throw.

Mixed start to Relays for UT By Daniel Clay & Grant Gordon @texansports

Rainy skies greeted the 87th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on Wednesday, but the Longhorns did not have

to look far to find their silver lining. On the men’s side, the story of the first two days of competition certainly centered around sophomore Johannes Hock in the decathlon. Hock, who took

FOOTBALL

Court grants players ability to form unions By Garrett Callahan @CallahanGarrett

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that scholarship players of the Northwestern University football team are employees of the University and have the ability to form unions, setting a precedent that could have implications across college athletics. While the ruling, which comes as the NCAA is facing increased scrutiny over the compensation of athletes, will be appealed in front of the board in Washington, it represents a larger trend in the evolution of college athletics and its players. Peter Ohr outlined his decision in a 24-page report that sided with the

College Athletes Players Association, which has been led by former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter. A petition filed in January by the CAPA and heard in front of the board for the past two months provided enough evidence for Ohr that the players are presented as employees of the university. For years, the NCAA has functioned with players as student-athletes, offering scholarships for their tuition, room, food and books in exchange for athletic competition for their universities. But Ohr found, given the number of hours dedicated to their sport, their payment in the form of scholarships and the amount of revenue they generate for

UNION page 7

home the decathlon national championship last outdoor season, was competing in the event for the first time since that meet because of an elbow injury. Hock

RELAYS page 7

This season, Rick Barnes proved why he is the most decorated basketball coach to pass through Texas, earning his fourth Big 12 Coach of the Year honor since arriving in Austin in 1998. But once again, his team failed to survive the first weekend of the NCAA tournament — a sight that has become all too common in recent years. Of course, Barnes has made several notable runs in the tournament during his time at Texas. None have been more memorable than when he guided the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2002, kickstarting a five-year span in which Texas also reached the Sweet 16 in 2004 and the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008. Since then, his teams

have had little to show for their postseason efforts, failing to advance beyond the Round of 32 in their past six appearances. This includes first-round exits in 2010 and 2012, as well as last year’s debacle that saw the Longhorns miss the tournament altogether for the first time in Barnes’ tenure here. Considering the high quality of talent he has brought in over the years, one has to wonder what the reason is for these postseason failures. As time has passed and the disappointments have mounted, many have asserted that Barnes’ game plans lack the offensive strategies necessary for the must-score possessions that surface at crucial points in tournament games. Others claim his teams have a propensity to struggle in crunch time.

BARNES page 7

WEEKEND PREVIEWS

MEN’S TENNIS / MATT WARDEN Following a full sweep of Tulsa last weekend, the Longhorns will continue their fivegame home stand — their last of the year — against No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 21 Oklahoma State this weekend. The weekend matchups begin Big 12 play for No. 11 Texas which boasts a 16-3 record up to this point in the season. The Longhorns are 8-0 at home and are currently on a three-match win streak. Junior Soren Hess-Oleson enters this weekend leading

the Longhorns with an 11-2 record in singles play and is currently ranked No. 21 in singles play. Along with junior Lloyd Glasspool, Hess-Oleson is also part of the No. 13 doubles team which has accounted for all eight of Texas’ wins over nationally ranked doubles opponents this season. The Sooners and Cowboys possess a combined five players in the top 100 in singles play this season which should make the Longhorns first shot at conference play a real test.

Soren Hess-Oleson Junior

Texas will play Oklahoma on Friday at 6 p.m. and Oklahoma State Sunday at 1 p.m.

MENS SWIMMING & DIVING / COURTNEY K. NORRIS Sophomores Matt Ellis and John Murray as well as juniors Tripp Cooper and Kip Darmody represented Texas in the 200-yard freestyle relay, placing second with 1:15.53 just behind California on the first day of the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships. The event goes until Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Freshman Jack Conger came in fifth with 4:14.34 in the 500-

yard freestyle. The Longhorns had a break during event three, as no swimmers qualified for the 200-yard IM championship final the team moved down to fourth overall. The Longhorns ended the night with a third place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:04.79. The NCAA Championships continue Friday with the 200 medley relay at 11 a.m.

Michael Hixon Freshman

Mack Brown @UT_MackBrown

“‘You can’t start the next phase of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.’ UnknownStart your new life today. New is fun & exciting”

SPORTS BRIEFLY Manziel impresses at NFL Pro Day at A&M

Johnny Manziel’s NFL pro day had a former president, lots of swag, a Drake soundtrack and even some football, too. The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 75 officials from 30 teams on the Texas A&M campus Thursday. He also had some special guests, as former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara — and her two dogs — rolled into the facility on golf carts about 10 minutes into the workout. The always flashy Manziel was true to his overthe-top Johnny Football persona on Thursday, trotting into the facility with his receivers as a tune by his buddy Drake blasted through the building. He wore camouflage shorts and a black Nike jersey with his white No. 2 and caused a stir by wearing shoulder pads and a helmet. Manziel didn’t understand why it was a big deal. “You play the game [with] shoulder pads on Sundays,” he said. “Why not come out and do it? … For me it was a no-brainer.” Manziel threw about 65 passes to six receivers, including teammate Mike Evans, who like Manziel is expected to be a first round pick in May’s draft. Only two passes weren’t caught, and Evans grabbed a third long pass out of bounds. “I felt like it was good,” Manziel said. “[I] was obviously going for perfection. So had a couple balls hit the ground. One was on me. One was a little bit high. I could’ve got it down for him a little bit.” Quarterback guru George Whitfield ran the workout. Manziel has worked with Whitfield throughout his career and has spent a big chunk of the last 2 1/2 months working with him in California. Whitfield raved about his competitiveness. “This wasn’t just merely a set of routes that he was just going to go through and throw,” Whitfield said. “It just feels like … life is riding on every pass with him.” —Associated Press

6 COMICS 6

Friday, March 28, 2014

COMICS

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Friday, March 28, 2014

Edited by Will Shortz

Crossword ACROSS

1 Freight

hopper 6 Much-hailed group 10 Pretreater target 14 Slab strengthener 15 Days long gone 16 End of an Asian capital’s name 17 Queen’s Chapel designer ___ Jones 18 Stamp act? 20 Like some unhealthy relationships 22 Not so normal 23 Be cognizant of 24 Lamebrain 26 Certain letter attachment 27 Unpleasantly surprised 29 ___ Altos, Calif.

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Provider of early projections Catchphrase that encourages extravagance Sky hooks? “___ fly through the air with the greatest of ease” DQ offerings Worker who handles your case? Originate With this, you’ll probably manage Squared away Panhandler, of a sort? They run out of clothing Stand Fill-in Make cuts, say

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE C L A P C A R O M T O O L

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CLASS/JUMP 7

SPORTS

Friday, March 28, 2014

RELAYS

continues from page 5

Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan file photo

As head coach for the Texas men’s basketball program, Rick Barnes has led two teams to the Elite Eight and one to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. Although his team has not made it past the Round of 32 since 2008, his record of excellence proves his worth at the helm of the basketball program.

BARNES

continues from page 5 Some of this carries weight. Take a look at Texas’ final possession in last week’s game against Arizona State, for instance. With the game tied and just over 16 seconds left to play,

UNION

continues from page 5 their school, the Northwestern football players should have the ability to form unions since they are “not primarily students.” “If you think of the life of a college football player, they have very little choice of how they run their life,” said Thomas Hunt, an assistant professor in the College of Education focusing on sports law and history. “So since the power of the students to run their own lives is greatly moderated, I think that’s the primary reason why they decided to seek unionization.” If the decision is upheld, it could potentially change how the NCAA compensates its athletes as schools bring in millions of dollars each year from their athletic programs. While the ruling only applies to Northwestern football players, it

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Barnes had the ideal situation to run a play and find an open shot. But instead, the Longhorns did nothing of the sort, as Jonathan Holmes forced an ugly 3-pointer while his teammates stood idly. Fortunately for the Longhorns, it was saved by Cameron

Ridley who was there for the game-winning putback, but the play lacked any real structure. To call Barnes a choke artist is a stretch, though. After all, he has led two teams to the Elite Eight and another to the Final Four. In fact, he would have another

I don’t think many student-athletes need to do anything more. Right now, the wind is blowing in the direction of positive change for them —Stephen Wille Public relations lecturer

has the ability to extend to other universities across the country. “I think we’re actually on the cusp of something major,” Hunt said. “I think the general move of things, in terms of other decisions and the financial implications for student-athletes, as well as this, show a pretty strong trend that the landscape of college football is moving.” Any final decision reached by the NLRB will not affect any public schools, including UT. Instead, players at state schools would have to appeal to state labor boards if they wanted to follow in the path of Northwestern’s players.

It will likely be at least months before a decision will be seen from Northwestern’s appeal in front of the full NLRB. But the decision comes as another major case is taking form. This summer, a case by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon will be heard over athletes’ inability to monetize their image and representation. “I don’t think many student-athletes need to do anything more,” said public relations lecturer Stephen Wille, who focuses on sports communication. “Right now, the wind is blowing in the direction of positive change for them.”

Final Four under his belt had the Longhorns not fallen to Glen “Big Baby” Davis and LSU in overtime in 2006’s Elite Eight. To have that kind of success in the NCAA tournament, in which every game is pressure-packed, is proof he can coach in

LUBBOCK

continues from page 5 of the season over the left field wall during Tuesday’s win. Johnson attributes the offensive improvement to the team’s realistic mentality, particularly at home where the ball doesn’t fly as well. “I think we had a hitters meeting last week and we talked about how guys really weren’t going to hit too many home runs here and we need to start getting on top of the ball more,” Johnson said. “When we play at DischFalk we need to use that to our advantage knowing that it’s a big field and you have to get on top of the ball.” Heading into this weekend’s series against the Red Raiders, whose pitching staff boasts a solid 2.78 combined ERA, every hitter will need to do his part. As of now, Texas (20-6, 1-2

big games. Nonetheless, Barnes needs to put together a stronger effort next March. With his entire team returning, the Longhorns will be expected to make substantial strides and attain the postseason success they’ve lacked these past six years. Big 12) has six players hitting at least .250 at the plate for a combined .256 team average that’s growing every game. Senior outfielder Mark Payton continues to lead the charge, upping his average to a .420 after a 3-for4 performance against the Bobcats, but it’s the younger players that are continuing to improve every time out. Freshman catcher Tres Barrera is currently fourth on the team with a .268 average after hitting just under .150 three weeks ago. Johnson’s .280 average is third best on the team, and his 19 runs easily lead the Longhorns. Texas knows it can count on its pitching staff that features a combined 1.89 ERA, but as the hitters continue to improve, the Longhorns will be a tough team to contain, much less defeat, as the season goes along.

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RECYCLE

competed during the indoor season but only in individual events. For most of the competition, Hock looked like his old self. With only two events remaining, he was in the lead by more than 200 points with a score of 6,543. Then came the javelin on Thursday. Heading into the week, Hock knew that because of his elbow surgery he would have to throw javelin lefthanded, a strategy he had little experience with. “I’ve thrown a couple times, you know not a lot, because it’s kind of weird and it doesn’t feel good,” Hock said. The adjustment ended up proving detrimental to his final score, as he finished 16th in the javelin, dropping him to fourth overall in the competition. Hock made up some ground with a strong finish in the 1500 meters but could only manage to climb to 3rd place overall after the final event with a score of 7,573, just 69 points below first place. Blue skies and a light breeze greeted the Longhorn women as they began competition in front of their home crowd on Thursday. Senior Danielle Dowie fed off of the atmosphere and the pristine running conditions to finish first in her heat en route to a second place finish in the 400-meter hurdles preliminaries. The Texas 4x800 meter relay team of senior Marielle Hall, junior Connor Ward, freshman Mary Beth Hamilton and senior Katie Hoaldridge finished second in their final. The team fell behind early, but Hamilton covered a ton of ground in the third leg, reaching second place and showing the kind of talent that will allow her to benefit the team immensely in the future. In the final leg, the Longhorns managed to take the lead before finishing just behind Baylor with a time of 8:47.79. The conditions could not help everyone though. The women’s 1500 meters B-final saw the Longhorns finish uncharacteristically low in the event. The race began well, with three Longhorns jostling for position in the lead pack, but at the finish, Texas held the last five places in the field of eleven. The Texas Relays continue Friday and Saturday, when national champions sophomore Ryan Crouser and sophomore Kaitlin Petrillose will show off their skills before the home crowd.

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HANNAH SMOTHERS, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR / @DailyTexanArts Friday, March 28, 2014

ART

MOVIE REVIEW | ‘SABOTAGE’

Schwarzenegger’s new film helps redeem flops By Alex Williams @AlexWilliamsDT

Helen Fernandez / Daily Texan Staff

Art and design students Regan Hann, Raymundo Delgadillo and Jesse Kinbarovsky will have their art displayed in the Visual Arts Center as part of their senior thesis exhibit.

Students’ projects on show By Eleanor Dearman @EllyDearman

There are not many events where a new video game design and a watercolor painting will be showcased in the same exhibition, but this Friday, the Visual Arts Center will be filled with sculptures, paintings, graphic designs, household designs and other contributions from UT art and design students. The collective exhibit features the work of 50 studio art, visual art studies and art history seniors in “Wellspring,” 19 design seniors in “Make, Do, and Mend” and five design graduate students in “Playgrounds.” Manifest Destiny Studio art senior Regan Hann’s contribution is an installation with a taxidermy antelope wrapped in wires. “I always like to start with materials, so I will spend a lot of time browsing through piles of old cords and lights and things like that,” Hann said. “I usually make works that show the relationship between technology and the natural environment.”

After graduation, Hann hopes to get a job in art administration. She said this gallery exhibition provided a sense of what to expect from the professional art world come graduation in May. “I think it’s a really great way for seniors to dip their toes into the world of having your work out there because it’s hard to get out there and make stuff happen,” Hann said. “This is my first experience with a full-fledged gallery and having my work in the show.” Neo-Craftsmanship Chairs Design senior Raymundo Delgadillo decided to concentrate his design degree on product design. For this exhibit, he created a line of neocraftsman chairs out of wood and one from metal and yarn. “I was working with curves and forms that are usually used in plastic furniture, and I was trying to transform this wood,” Delgadillo said. While Delgadillo’s designs are not related to the 18 others through medium, the design process is what connects all of the projects. “We were thinking about

what is our methodology rather than what is our outcome, so we all agreed that we make, do and fix things — meaning mend — but also we ‘make-do’ out of what we have,” Delgadillo said. “It just depends on the context.” Wayfinder and others Like the undergraduate design program, the graduate design program encourages the study of different outlets of design, but the five graduate students featured tend to focus on a single project to commit most of their studies toward. As a Type 1 diabetic, design graduate student Jesse Kinbarovsky noticed that there really weren’t tools available that would help enrich the lives of diabetics. He is focusing on creating an app and other products that allow users to work with their disease. “For me, what that ended up becoming was a focus on diabetics and a way to incorporate that physical experience with some of the digital tools we have available to us now,” Kinbarovsky said. Kinbarovsky said he found it frustrating that diabetics use their blood testers many

Multimedia

Check out our video at dailytexanonline.com times a day, yet the devices in the market are surgical and impersonal. He created the Wayfinder blood tester, which is made of wood that will mold over time to the hands of the owner. The blood tester has no display and uses different colors of light and sound to convey blood sugar levels, a method more pleasant than numbers. “You test your blood and get a light,” Kinbarovsky said. “There is a soft glow that indicates if your blood sugar is low, correct or high. What’s interesting about the colors is that they are associated to emotions.” All of the graduate designs work to improve the way different systems function. “If you look at the different things in the show, we’re taking systems we think are wrong, inappropriate or not very consciously constructed. We’re taking another look at those and trying to push the system in another direction,” Kinbarovsky said.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to acting hasn’t been particularly successful, and last year both of his attempts to recapture his former glory — “The Last Stand” and “Escape Plan” — floundered at the box office. “Sabotage” isn’t exactly a departure, with Schwarzenegger shooting, punching and otherwise dispatching an international roster of baddies, but because the movie’s characters occupy an intriguing moral gray area, it is far better than it has any right to be. The film opens with a raid on a cartel compound, led by DEA agent John “Breacher” Wharton (Schwarzenegger). He and his team steal $10 million from the cartel, but when they return for the loot, it’s mysteriously missing. A star vehicle usually doesn’t open with its hero going on a killing spree for financial gain, but “Sabotage” brings a welcome degree of messiness to the table. David Ayer shares the script credit with Skip Woods, whose last film, “A Good Day to Die Hard,” was a certifiable crime against cinema. The pair managed to produce a great tough-guy screenplay, overflowing with testosterone and moments of sublime brutality. The central murder mystery lends a flavorful dose of Agatha Christie to the plot, but is too easily solved by picking out the most prestigious cast member with the least amount to do until the last half hour. The film’s extensive cast is full of big-name stars, starting with Schwarzenegger, whose brand of action-hero efficiency is tempered with a tragic backstory that gives his

SABOTAGE Director: David Ayer Genre: Action Runtime: 109 minutes

performance a welcome hint of grim regret. Sam Worthington combines a ridiculous braided goatee and an admirable case of crazy eyes to give a surprisingly engaging performance, and Joe Manganiello is suitably gruff as another member of the team. While “Sabotage” does well by its male cast members, its two females are stranded in a script that forgets when it’s supposed to be writing women characters. Olivia Williams overcomes a clunky Southern accent to play a tough cop investigating the team’s murders, but Mireille Enos is dragged through the mud as Lizzy, a rogue team member. While the writers attempt to sexualize Enos, she brings such a ragged, animal quality to the role that she’s more terrifying than anything. She is the most dysfunctional person in a film full of them. “Sabotage” has one or two surprises up its sleeve, but the biggest one is its unyielding commitment to being the most aggressively sleazy film it can possibly be, with bloodsoaked action scenes and a few shamelessly disgusting murders. While “Sabotage” isn’t an enduring shoot-’emup classic, its messy ambiguity makes it a memorable film in a genre full of forgettable ones.

Photo courtesy of EPK.TV

Breacher (Arnold Schwarzenegger) takes aim at his enemies in David Ayer’s, “Sabotage.”

THEATER

Improv actress brings depth to new musical role By Kritika Kulshrestha @kritika88

Sarah Marie Curry’s childlike excitement, energy and fierceness is reflected in her voice, her personality and her performances. An Austin-based musical improvisation artist and

actor, she seeks inspiration all around her. Curry stars in the Texas premiere of Penfold Theatre’s “Ordinary Days,” a musical written by New York-based musical theater composer Adam Gwon and directed by UT graduate Michael McKelvey. “I’m playing Deb, a

graduate student in New York who is hopelessly trying to figure out life’s big questions,” Curry said. “She doesn’t feel satisfied anywhere she goes. She always has this anxiety and tension. She doesn’t really feel like she belongs anywhere.” Curry performs solos as

well as three duets with her co-star Joe Hartman, who plays Warren, a young man who meets Deb by chance. “It’s so lovely to look into Joe’s pretty blue eyes during every rehearsal,” Curry said. “But, his character Warren is freespirited and wild, and we don’t necessarily like each other.” Curry, who grew up in San Angelo, Texas, moved to Austin in 2007 to work in plays, musicals and improv productions. “Ordinary Days” is a story about four New Yorkers finding their way in life, and Curry relates to her character in a personal manner. “I came from a smaller city and moved to a big city, although Austin is nothing like New York,” Curry said. “But the story of finding yourself in a bigger place, feeling lost and feeling you cannot connect — that to me is a universal theme.

Playing Deb is not as much as having to be a New Yorker as much as it is having to be a human who is feeling lost.” For Curry, improv is the study of the immediate moment and is about listening, being aware and being present in the moment. “You memorize your lines. You have them solid,” Curry said. “Then there comes a time in your performance when you have to let go. The only thing that matters is the relationship you are sharing with your musicians and your fellow actors on stage and your audience.” Curry is also a member of the only all-female musical theater improvisation troupe in Austin, “Girls Girls Girls Improv Musicals.” In every performance the group asks an audience member to suggest a

Lauren Ussery / Daily Texan Staff

Sarah Marie Curry, an Austin-based musical improvisation actor, will star in “Ordinary Days,” a musical about four New Yorkers searching for life’s meaning.

ORDINARY DAYS When: Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m. Where: Off Center Cost: $18-$20

location, like a coffee shop or a pet store. Then, with the help of the musical director, the women improvise original songs, a story line, characters and dialogues as they go along. Troupe member Amy Averett met Curry through the improv and theater community in Austin. “She is one of the people who brings an emotional range to the character,” Averett said. “She’s not afraid to go to the dark places of the character. Her emotional intensity allows her to really connect with the people she’s on stage with.” Curry said she is excited about future opportunities, although she is happy with her current career trajectory. “I’m really grateful for acting,” Curry said. “It gets me out of myself and my story and into someone else’s life and story. I like being surprised by the roles directors cast me in. It allows me to trust that there is something within the character that I share with myself and that there is something I can explore.”