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Monday, April 28, 2014
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CAMPUS
Professor retires after 42 years By Nicole Cobler @nicolecobler
Although the longest serving faculty member in the journalism school said he feels like he is not ready to leave, Gene Burd is retiring after 42 years of teaching. Burd’s last day will be Thursday. “Forty-two years, my gosh,” Burd said as he glanced over his 28-page resume. “I would have stayed on indefinitely here because
GOLF
I love what I do, despite a lot.” Although Burd has had the longest tenure at the journalism school, he said he is still one of the lowest paid faculty members and has not had a promotion in 39 years. Burd’s most recent posttenure review, which evaluated his past six years of teaching, said he is not an active participant in the operation of the journalism school, which includes catching up with technology. In 2012, the school introduced an
updated curriculum to inc lude classes centered around new media. “I could’ve stayed on with these certain conditions,” Burd said. “New technology — I’m behind on it and that’s a weakness in journalism.” Burd said he has taught classes at the graduate and undergraduate level, and started at the University teaching basic reporting,
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Amy Zhang / Daily Texan Staff
Associate professor Gene Burd, the longest-serving faculty member in the journalism school, is retiring after 42 years of teaching at the University.
By James Grandberry @_JGrand_
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(left) Photo courtesy of Texas Sports (right) Joe Capraro / Daily Texan Staff
Competing in the Big 12 Championship this weekend, the men’s and women’s golf teams finished first and second respectively in the conference. Junior Kramer Hickok and sophomore Natalie Karcher, pictured above, led the teams’ runs.
Women’s golf finishes second in conference @texansports
With determination, skill and persistence, the sixth-seeded Longhorns outplayed tough Big 12 opponents to finish second in the Big 12 Championship this weekend. Competing on their home
course at the University of Texas Golf Club, the team recorded a collective 878 on the weekend, 17 strokes behind first-place Oklahoma. Breaking Texas’ previous 2011 record of 872, the Sooners shot an 861 to take home their third Big 12 title. Sophomore Natalie Karcher led the Longhorns
Pro-LGBTQ legislation faces uphill state battle @nicolecobler
No. 18 men’s golf defends Big 12 title
By Caroline Hall
UNIVERSITY
By Nicole Cobler
A swing and a bare miss
The Longhorns overcame a one-shot deficit Sunday afternoon to claim their second Big 12 Championship crown in a row. No. 18 Texas defeated weekend rival Texas Tech to finish the tournament with a three-stroke lead, giving the Longhorns their fifth overall Big 12 title and bringing them into the fold of Texas’ Big 12 2013/2014 champions, including volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and women’s indoor track and field. The Longhorns were led by surging freshman Beau Hossler, who ended the weekend with an even-par score, tying with Oklahoma State’s Talor Gooch for third place. Hossler finished in the top 10 along with senior Toni Hakula, who tied for fifth, and junior Kramer Hickok and fellow junior Brax McCarthy, who shared the tie for ninth place with six other golfers.
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throughout the weekend. Karcher fired a career low69, in Saturday’s second round, leading the individual leaderboard and propelling the team into second place overall, two spots ahead of its Round 1 finish. The team remained consistent throughout the final round on Sunday,
shooting a collective 292. Baylor rounded out the topthree with a score 884 on the weekend. Selections for the NCAA Regionals will be announced Monday afternoon during Golf Central, Golf Channel’s daily signature news show, with dedicated segments airing throughout.
While the University often cites state law as a reason it cannot provide certain benefits to LGBTQ students and faculty, others say there are ways to circumvent these obstacles. Mandatory diversity training, gender inclusive housing and same-sex insurance benefits are still not available on campus, much to the frustration of several organizations that have pushed LGBTQ legislation for years. Though LGBTQ-friendly legislation often garners significant student support, it is stopped one step short of implementation, at the UT System Board of Regents or at the Texas Legislature. UT’s Queer Students Alliance successfully passed legislation through Student Government in support of gender-inclusive housing and same-sex insurance benefits in 2012, but SG resolutions do not have the power to enact change unless they are approved by the regents. Currently, students are only allowed to live with peers of the same sex on campus, which can make students who identify as transgender uncomfortable, according to Marisa Kent, marketing sophomore and codirector of QSA. The Board of Regents have never approved any resolutions calling for gender-neutral housing, according to UT System spokeswoman Jenny LaCoste-Caputo. Hemlata Jhaveri, director of residence life for the Division of Housing and Food Services, said the division considered implementing a pilot program in Jester, but the floor plans in the residence halls made it impossible because residence halls have 35 to 55 students on one floor and usually have community bathrooms. Jhaveri said universities that offer this housing do so through apartment style living because up to four students can live together with private bathrooms. The University has several
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CAMPUS
Renovations to bring Hogg Auditorium up to date By Samantha Grasso Next semester, Hogg Memorial Auditorium will close for an eight-month long renovation, requiring student groups to find alternate venues for their annual events held at the facility. Hogg will close this September and is projected to be re-opened May 2015. During that time, crews will address issues with the auditorium’s seating, audiovisual capabilities and lighting. “[We’re] bringing it to
the 21st century while still maintaining its rich history of campus, so you will find that its character will remain the same,” Hogg Auditorium manager Cecilia Lopez Cardenas said. Lopez Cardenas said currently, most of the seating is outdated, suffering from issues including broken springs. Hogg is also lacking in theatrical lighting and isn’t equipped with audiovisual capabilities, so students who use the facility must purchase or rent their own. “I think that over the last
two years we’ve brought the magic back to Hogg with a lot of student events in this space,” Lopez Cardenas said. “I imagine once we reopen with even more infrastructure we’re going to be able to serve them even more so.” Built in 1933, Hogg, the first theater on campus, was almost completely financed by student and alumni efforts. Though the facility was managed by Texas Performing Arts in the late ’90s, the auditorium became a part of the University
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Panel discusses women in politics. PAGE 3
Students reflect on why they chose UT. PAGE 4
Baseball drops series to Oklahoma State. PAGE 6
Campus Character: Student also drives pedicab. PAGE 8
Journalism and computer science students team up to create iPhone apps.
Children learn via self-teaching. ONLINE
Texas should reconsider stance on death penalty. PAGE 4
Brejae Washington breaks all-time hitting record. PAGE 6
UT alumni’s film will debut at Cannes. PAGE 8
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Chris Deyo, president of Longhorn Singers, stands in the lobby of Hogg Auditorium where Longhorn Singers perform their biannual showcase.
Marshall Tidrick Daily Texan Staff
HOGG page 8
REASON TO PARTY
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