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Thursday, November 13, 2014
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Court declines to hear Fisher v. UT By Alex Wilts @alexwilts
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Abigail Fisher’s request Wednesday for a full panel of judges to hear her affirmative action case against the University. Of the court’s 15 judges, five voted in favor of
rehearing the case while 10 voted against it, according to the official decision released by the 5th Circuit. Fisher, a rejected UT applicant, petitioned for an en banc hearing in July following a 2-1 decision from a three-judge 5th Circuit Court panel, which ruled in favor of the University’s
race-conscious admissions process. This is the second time the court has denied Fisher’s petition for an en banc. “Abby Fisher and her family are disappointed with the court’s denial for a rehearing, but remember that they have been in this posture before,” said Edward Blum,
director of the Project on Fair Representation, in a statement. The Project on Fair Representation has provided funding for Fisher’s case. Fisher, a Sugar Land resident, sued the University in 2008 when she was denied acceptance to the University because her grades were not
high enough to guarantee her admission under the top-10 percent rule. Her defense argued UT’s admissions policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment since minority students were accepted with lower grades
August 2013
Moody Foundation awards $50 million to the College of Communication, officially becoming the college's namesake.
September 2007
The Belo Foundation makes the first pledge for $15 million toward the Belo Center, which initially included a sky bridge.
February 2013
Dean Hart requests $50 million from the Moody Foundation to fund sky bridge, among other initiatives.
December 2015 Bridge is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
February 2014
Faculty Building Advisory Committee recommends Miguel Rosales to design the bridge.
Graphic by Alex Dolan | Daily Texan Staff
the CMA and CMB. Since the college expanded across Dean Keeton Street — creating a physical division — Hart said his goal has been to maintain the collegial bond between the college’s various departments. “My concern was that we would lose that sense of connection with one another,”
Hart said. “The departments have always gotten along really well.” Of the $50 million donated by the Moody Foundation, $5 million is going toward construction of the sky bridge and other renovations. The $5 million budget was a challenge for both Hart
and bridge architect Miguel Rosales, who was selected by the Faculty Building Advisory Committee to design the structure. “I frankly didn’t think we could get something this beautiful for that amount of money, so I’m delighted,” Hart said. “That’s the great value of having someone like Miguel,
@adamhamz
SMOKING page 2
Sky bridge to see completion within the year The Board of Regents approved the design development and decreased the total project cost to $50,660,000.
By Adam Hamze
SKY BRIDGE page 3
By Julia Brouillette
August 2009
UT nursing professor receives $3 million grant
who can make something look quite elegant and grand yet not have it cost an excessive amount of money.” Rosales, based in Boston, said the bridge is his first project located in Austin. A main feature of the bridge is its towering center columns, which
FISHER page 2
Moody sky bridge plans becoming reality For Roderick Hart, dean of the Moody College of Communication, the sky bridge that will connect the Belo Center for New Media to the Jones Communication Center will serve both functional and symbolic purposes. The funding for the pedestrian bridge came as part of the Moody Foundation of Galveston’s $50 million donation to the college in October 2013, when the college became its namesake. Slated for completion by December 2015, the bridge will stretch across Dean Keeton Street, connecting the second floor of the Belo Center to the fourth floor of Communication Buildings A and B. Hart said the structure will serve as a gateway to the campus and as a visual connector for the college. “The bridge has always been important to me,” Hart said. “My main concern was to kind of pull the College of Communication back together physically and visually.” Before the Belo Center opened in November 2012, the college’s faculty shared cramped quarters in the two Jones Communication Center buildings, known as
CAMPUS
People with psychiatric disorders smoke over 44 percent of all cigarettes smoked in the nation, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Researchers at the University received a $3 million grant to help them quit. The grant was awarded to nursing research professor Richard Brown by the National Institute of Mental Health to create a project to work with psychiatric patients who smoke. The project, titled “Extended Care for Smoking Cessation Following Psychiatric Hospitalization,” will use a series of motivational tactics and interventions to help the subjects quit smoking. Brown and his team will work with a total of 422 subjects from the Seton Shoal Creek Hospital in Austin over the course of five years. The concept was inspired by a former study at the Massachusetts General Hospital, which showed patients who followed through with intervention tactics after leaving medical facilities were more likely to decrease cigarette dependency. According to Brown, there is a common misconception that without their cigarette addictions, people with psychiatric disorders will see their conditions worsen. “A lot of mental health professionals got the message that, ‘I don’t want to let my patients quit smoking because that will make them worse,’” Brown said. “The evidence now is pretty clear that they’re either not going to get worse, but may even get better.”
CAMPUS
@juliakbrou
bit.ly/dtvid
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
Candy Crowley, chief political correspondent at CNN, delivers the Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday at the Belo Center for New Media. Crowley discussed the challenges of journalism and the importance of diversity.
UT sponsors event to study play By Paige Atkinson @PaigeAtkinson
CROWLEY page 2
In the midst of exams and final projects, the UT Department of American Studies invites students, faculty and members of the Austin community to take a break and play this Friday. The “Practices of Play” is a day-long symposium organized by Harrington Faculty Fellowship recipient, Patrick Jagoda. Jagoda, assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, concentrates on new media in video games and television. He runs a gaming lab in Chicago, where he conducts research on the topic of play. During his time at UT, he researches experimental games. “There is some massive cultural fascination in games that is taking place right now,” Jagoda said. “I am interested in how the kinds of games we play in 2014 often times preclude play.”
Ellyn Snider Daily Texan Staff
Crowley calls for media equality By Josh Willis @joshwillis35
Candy Crowley, chief political correspondent at CNN, said in a lecture at the Belo Center for New Media on Wednesday that the climate for women in the media still needs improvement. “There’s a ways to go,” Crowley said. “I thought
we would be further along as females in journalism — certainly more toward the end of my career than the beginning.” Crowley said she is surprised her career in television has lasted so long when aging women are typically less valued than older men. “I think there is still a preponderance or a feeling
that older males are experienced, and older females are old,” Crowley said. Jokingly, Crowley said equality would come when women show their age in unique ways on the air. “I’ve always said the day that my hair can turn as
Amy Zhang | Daily Texan Staff
Patrick Jagoda, assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, organized the “Practices of Play.”cv
According to Jagoda, American culture is captivated by sensations such as “The Hunger Games”, “Game of Thrones”, “World of Warcraft and reality shows. Despite these gaming outlets, Jagoda said playfulness may be diminishing in society. “I’m exploring what practices and spaces still encourage experimental play in our cul-
ture,” Jagoda said. “My hope is to use the symposium to think together about how play gets used as a method, a practice and an object of study across various disciplines.” Jagoda has invited experts in various disciplines from UT, but also academics from Pratt, UCLA, Carnegie Mel-
SYMPOSIUM page 5
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New Blanton fund named in honor of UT alumni. PAGE 3
UT should reevaluate cost of attendance estimate. PAGE 4
Volleyball has little trouble sweeping West Virginia. PAGE 6
Conservancy hosts light show at Waller Creek. PAGE 8
Think tank official discusses political polarization. PAGE 5
New comm bridge is a great addition to UT. PAGE 4
Horns gear up for first cold weather game of season. PAGE 6
UT alumnus performs autobiographical play. PAGE 8
Follow The Daily Texan on Twitter. We don’t always use hashtags, but we do tweet out the latest campus news and stories. dailytexanonline.com
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