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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8
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Friday, April 18, 2014
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UNIVERSITY
CITY
College consolidation leads to layoffs
Council aims to raise pay for part-time employees
By Madlin Mekelburg @madlinbmek
Though Kevin Hegarty, UT executive vice president and chief financial officer, said no layoffs will occur in UT’s move toward shared services, centralization within the College of Liberal Arts has led to the elimination of multiple positions. The centralized offices within the College of Liberal Arts are in no way affiliated with the University-wide
move to shared services, but the Shared Services Steering Committee reviewed the college’s centralization before producing its report and recommendations. In February, Victoria Vlach, the course scheduler in the department of Asian studies, was told her position was being eliminated “because of restructuring for improved efficiency,” according to documents obtained by The Daily Texan. Over the course of the
last two years, the College of Liberal Arts has worked to centralize its administrative and technological services by creating offices meant to work with multiple departments in the college. Of the 44 departments and centers in the college, 14 now work through the Centralized Business Services office. The Shared Services Steering Committee considered the success of the College
SHARED page 2
By Kate Dannenmaier @kjdannen
Miriam Rousseau / Daily Texan Staff
Victoria Vlach, a course scheduler for the Asian Studies department, lost her job because of restructuring.
STATE
West: ‘We won’t let our disaster define us’ By Wynne Davis @wynneellyn
On the fairgrounds of West on Thursday night, community members came together for a memorial service to remember their friends and family one year after a local fertilizer plant exploded and left destruction in its wake. During the service, Pastor John Crowder of the First Baptist Church in West gave his remarks about the town, the community’s rebuilding process — both physical and emotional — and the goals the community is still striving to achieve. “Our community leaders and … our school board have worked hard to prepare a way for us to move forward,” Crowder said. “Once we have that one thing, that goal … then we can go forward.” Crowder — known as
WEST page 3
Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan Staff
Karissa Kaluza embraces her boyfriend Clint McHargue, both West High School freshmen, at the West Memorial Service Wednesday night. Kaluza’s cousin, Jimmy Matus, died as part of the rescue team during the explosion.
Part-time city employees may start earning the same $11 per hour minimum wage as full-time employees. The City Council passed a resolution Thursday to support this goal and direct its staff to analyze how this would affect the city’s budget. Michael McGill, policy adviser to the resolution’s main sponsor, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, said the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour was not enough money for a person to live on in Austin. “The $11 figure is one that was decided upon by this council as the floor of a living wage in Austin, so somebody working [here] could make ends meet, essentially,” McGill said. Councilwoman Kathie Tovo, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution, said it has been an important value of the city to ensure that its employees are able to afford to live where they work. “We have many talented employees who work for the City of Austin in part-time, temporary and seasonal jobs and receiving a higher wage would have an immediate positive impact on those employees and their families and could help with employee retention,” Tovo said in an email. McGill said $11 was already the minimum wage for all of the city’s
WAGES page 3
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
Disparate faculty pay raises concerns By Alex Wilts @alexwilts
Miriam Rousseau / Daily Texan Staff
Astronomer Stefano Meschiari invented the “Super Planet Crash” online game, which allows players to build their own solar system.
Astronomer creates game to garner interest in space By Justin Atkinson @jusatk
In hopes of encouraging greater interest and education in astronomy, one UT postdoctoral fellow has created an internet “gateway drug”: a simple but addictive game called Super Planet Crash. Super Planet Crash, created
by Stefano Meschiari, is a game in which users build their own planetary systems and earn points for maintaining stable environments without causing planets to collide. The Web page also keeps a high score table that resets every day. Meschiari said he wanted
GAME page 2
Associate professors may be ranked higher than assistant professors, but that does not mean their salaries are likely to rise as quickly, according to The Daily Texan’s analysis of University data. Not accounting for inflation, from 2010 to 2013, associate professor salaries in the College of Liberal Arts increased 5.8 percent, while assistant professor salaries increased 10.5 percent. Martha Newman, associate professor and department chair of religious studies, said the discrepancy between increases in salaries is partly influenced by the market for new faculty. According to Newman, to ensure the University continues to hire the best scholars, starting salaries must be
Claire Trammel / Daily Texan Staff
In 2012, history associate professor Alberto Martinez aided in writing a report for the history department which focused on current issues affecting associate professors at UT.
able to compete against other universities. “This is the reason why assistant professor salaries are increasing at a high rate,”
Newman said in an email. “In some departments, the salary of a starting professor may be nearly as high as that of an associate
Austin Reggae Festival April 18-20 • Butler Park Easy Star All-Stars, Inner Circle Everton Blender and More www.austinreggaefest.com Benefitting the Capital Area Food Bank
professor who has taught at UT for many years.” Associate history
PROFESSOR page 2