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Wednesday, April 23, 2014
dailytexanonline.com
NATIONAL
Court: Ban on affirmative action legal By Amanda Voeller @amandaevoeller
In a 6-2 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing the state of Michigan to ban the use of race as a factor in its college admissions processes, and, according to a UT law professor, this may open the door for a consti-
tutional ban on affirmative action in Texas. The ruling comes nearly a year after the Court sent Fisher v. Texas, the case determining the legality of the University’s race-conscious admissions policy, back to the Fifth Circuit District Court. Judges on the court have yet to issue their ruling on the Fisher case.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion of Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, ruling that neither the Supreme Court nor Congress has the authority to prevent state voters from deciding whether to allow affirmative action polices in government decisions, including college
admissions processes. The decision upheld the legality of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, also known as Prop. 2, a 2006 ballot initiative that amended the state’s constitution to prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment for any individual or group “on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or na-
tional origin.” Kennedy wrote that the Michigan case, like the Texas case, is not about the constitutionality or merits of race-conscious admission policies. “The question here concerns not the permissibility of race-conscious admis-
SCOTUS page 2
SYSTEM
Perry names UT junior student regent By Madlin Mekelburg @madlinbmek
Gov. Rick Perry named UT-Austin government junior Max Richards as the student regent for the UT System Board of Regents on Tuesday. Richards will be the second consecutive student regent from the University, replacing Nash Horne, outgoing student regent and communication studies senior. Richards was not one of the four finalists for the student regent position, according to documents obtained from the governor’s office by The Daily Texan. According to System policy, the selection process for the position requires students to apply directly to their student governments. The applications then go to the president of each institution, who submits up to five applications to the UT System. They are then processed through two UT System offices
REGENT page 3
Charlie Pearce / Daily Texan Staff
Government junior Max Richards was named the student regent for the UT System Board of Regents on Tuesday and will replace communications studies senior Nash Horne. Richards will serve his one-year term from June 1 to May 31, 2015.
bit.ly/dtvid
CITY
PRC shuttle line may be switched to MetroRapid By Natalie Sullivan @natsullivan94
Parking and Transportation Services and Capital Metro representatives discussed a proposal that would change the current Pickle Research Campus shuttle route to a MetroRapid route, at a public forum on campus Tuesday night. The PRC shuttle route, which connects the Pickle Research Campus and the main UT campus, currently has stops near the intersection of Dean Keeton and Whitis and the intersection of Dean Keeton and San Jacinto. Blanca Juarez, UT Parking and Transportation spokeswoman, said the route will be transitioned to the existing MetroRapid 803 route, which goes along Burnet Road and Lamar Boulevard. CapMetro transportation planner Lawrence Deeter said the need for greater efficiency and lower costs prompted the shift to a MetroRapid route. “[The new route] will improve reliability and increase days of operations,” Deeter said. “PRC is the lowest performing route right now, and we’ve trimmed it over the years because it has the lowest ridership.” According to Juarez, the new route will run seven days a week, unlike the
SHUTTLE page 3
UNIVERSITY
CITY
UHS aims to inform students about alcohol amnesty policies By Nicole Cobler @nicolecobler
Nguyen said. In fall 2013, the National College Health Assessment found that only 6 percent of UT students surveyed knew about the amnesty program. Before spring break, UHS distributed a second survey and found 13.9 percent of the 724 students who completed the survey were familiar with the policy. “It’s something that exists and we really want students to know about it,” Nguyen said. “It reduces that barrier that when students call 911, that should be their first re-
action instead of worrying about what the disciplinary action should be.” According to Jason Thibodeaux, director of Student Judicial Services, there were 199 cases involving alcohol on campus, and of those cases, 11 were deemed eligible for the amnesty program. He said most disciplinary action is taken when students in residence halls are left alone because their friends do not report the situation.
PEDICAB page 3
Many students remain unaware of a policy that allows students to report alcoholrelated emergencies without facing disciplinary action. Although there are more students aware of the University Health Services’ alcohol amnesty policy this year than last year, the number of informed students remains low, according to results released from a survey distributed to students before spring break. The Student Amnesty for Alcohol Emergencies program, set up in 2008, is currently being “relaunched” after UHS found that many students were still afraid to report alcohol-related emergencies because of the possibility of getting in trouble. According to Frances Nguyen, health promotion coordinator at University Health Services, many students, when told about the policy, dismissed it as being too good to be true. “A lot of what we found in our research is a lot of students have heard about it but don’t believe it exists,”
REASON TO PARTY
Michelle Toussaint/ Daily Texan Staff
David Tashnick, owner of Easy Rider Pedicabs, believes tricycles are preferred to trailers by pedicabbers. The city is considering banning some pedicab models.
Pedicab license freeze extended By Hayden Clark @HaydenS_Clark
The city of Austin’s freeze on issuing new pedicab licenses, which was supposed to expire Wednesday, will remain in place for another three months as the Austin Department of Transportation finalizes recommendations for additional regulations, which may include a ban on certain trailer pedicab models. The moratorium has
been in place since April 2012. Department officials will consider implementing a city-wide cap on the number of pedicab permits in circulation and a requirement that pedicab companies use a threewheeled, fully connected tricycle model, rather than a model in which a brakeless trailer is connected to a normal bicycle. “In 2012, the council approved some regulation,
but those two things were not addressed at that time,” said Carlton Thomas, acting parking enterprise manager for the Austin Department of Transportation. “The Austin Transportation Department was given what amounted to two years to conduct research and look out across the country, to see how other cities are handling the number of pedicabs
Illustration by Crystal Garcia / Daily Texan Staff
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Mental health personnel will respond with APD. PAGE 5
SCOTUS decision changes little for affirmative action. PAGE 4
Why five-star recruit Myles Turner shouldn’t chose UT. PAGE 7
UT alum April Terrazas writes children’s books. PAGE 8
CIA general counsel speaks on campus.
UT System Regent hearing has been canceled. PAGE 5
NCAA improves studentathlete meal plan. PAGE 4
Baseball comes back to beat UTPA. PAGE 7
A photo show reveals traditions across cultures. PAGE 8
ALCOHOL page 2
Earth Day festival held to raise awareness. dailytexanonline.com
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