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Tuesday, December 2, 2014
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UNIVERSITY
POLICE
Possible physics TA cuts cause concern
APD looks at implementing body cameras for officers
By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman
More than 140 physics graduate students have signed a petition voicing their opposition to a possible cut in the department’s teaching assistant positions. According to Rebecca Roycroft, physics graduate student and TA, the opposition is in response to a proposed plan that was announced at a Nov. 21 physics faculty meeting, which the physics graduate welfare
committee, a group of graduate students that serve as a liaison between faculty, administration and students, attended. According to Roycroft, someone suggested at the meeting that about 40 of the approximately 120 teaching assistant positions be cut and transferred to students with bachelor’s degrees. She said the plan is not definite, but it has caused concern in the department. “They were pretty alarmed by that and immediately emailed the rest of
the grad reps to tell us about it,” said Roycroft, who is also a member of the welfare committee. Roycroft said the plan was proposed as a way to increase the stipend of TAs in the department. “It’s accompanied by a small pay raise and some other incentives — things that are supposed to be good for grad students — but I think those benefits pale in comparison to the fact that they are proposing to cut 40
PHYSICS page 2
By Natalie Sullivan @natsullivan94
Griffin Smith | Daily Texan Staff
Roberto Hernández, assistant instructor for the physics department, discusses a physics experiment with students.
CAMPUS
Local speakers honor World AIDS Day By Nidia Cavazos @NCnidia
The Gender and Sexuality Center recognized World AIDS Day with discussions from two Austinarea speakers on AIDS and topics relevant to gender and sexuality. The event was part of the center’s 10-year anniversary celebration. At the event, English assistant professor Heather Houser read from her new book, “Ecosickness in Contemporary U.S. Fiction: Environment and Affect,” and Ebony Stewart, local poet and sexual health educator, spoke on the widespread confusion established among younger generations in regards to gender and sexuality. Houser discussed the central topics in her book and the relationship between the human body and its
GENDER page 3
Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan Staff
Q Austin representatives Steven Tamayo and Aerik E. Pachicano speak to students at the World AIDS Day event in the SAC on Monday night. World AIDS Day began in 1988 in an effort to raise awareness about the disease.
CAMPUS
Austin Police Department officers could soon be getting body cameras that would allow them to record public interactions while on duty, according to an APD official. Ely Reyes, APD police technology commander, said APD posted a request for information about body camera specifics on the city website in November. The city has until Dec. 10 to respond to the request, after which APD will analyze the information and determine how to move forward with its plans, Reyes said. According to Reyes, although public demand for body cameras may have increased because of public shootings and the events in Ferguson, Missouri, APD has tested body cameras for its officers before, in 2011 and 2012, but the technology was still fairly new at that time. “We’ve had this on our road map for a while — now we’re waiting for the technology to integrate into our systems,” Reyes said. APD currently has digital cameras in all of its patrol vehicles, but Reyes said what they capture is limited to the view from the front of the car. APD wants cameras that will integrate with the current incar system and also expand to bikes and pedestrian officers. “Our goal is to capture as many citizen interactions as possible,” Reyes said. The cameras would not be turned on the whole time
CAMERAS page 3
CAMPUS
UT ROTC program named best in region Five professors elected
to be members of AAAS
By Adam Hamze @adamhamz
The Army named the University’s ROTC program as the best battalion in its region, which is composed of eight states in the Southwest. The region — which includes Texas, Arkansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma — contains a total of 36 collegiate ROTC programs and is overseen by the 5th ROTC Brigade of the U.S. Army. A committee is established within the brigade to help analyze which programs are worthy of the award, and Col. Ricardo Morales made the final decision. Brigade Deputy Commander Steven Van Straten said fitness tests, Army potential, the quality and number of cadets produced and the relations between the programs and their universities are all taken into account when making the decision. “We look at some concrete data in the form of metrics, in
By Chris Mendez @thedailytexan
Photo courtesy Peter Seidule
The University’s ROTC program was named the best in its region, which consists of eight states in and near the Southwest.
how the cadets fare and what kind of officers are coming out of the program,” Van Straten said. “There are a lot of different metrics used to assess cadet quality. … In all those regards, when looking at it holistically, [UT] did a fantastic job.”
Travis Habhab, lieutenant colonel and military science department chair, said he believes the award helps recognize not only the support the program receives from the community but the hard work that its members put in
throughout the year. “We’re extremely honored to have the award because there are so many other good schools,” Habhab said. “What’s put us over the top
ROTC page 3
Five University professors have been elected to become members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an international nonprofit organization, for their contributions to various areas of scientific research. Neuroscience professor Richard Aldrich, chemical engineering professor Roger Bonnecaze, mechanical engineering professor Arumugam Manthiram, molecular biology professor Stanley Roux and pharmacy professor Karen Vasquez will all be honored by the AAAS in February 2015. “I think the 21st century has enormous challenges,” said Gerald Fink, AAAS president and genetics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “There are issues like climate warming, water usage,
This kind of research is happening all over the world. I’m humbled and honored to receive this recognition, and I’ll continue [the research] I’m doing. —Roger Bonnecaze, Mechanical engineering professor
agriculture and food energy. Everyone talks about these, but the solutions are scientific solutions.” The professors’ research will aim to provide some solutions to these important issues in the international scientific community. Aldrich has discovered more about gated
AAAS page 2
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Geological sciences graduate students studies monsoons with a group of research aboard a drilling vessel. PAGE 3
Larry Jackson was Austin’s Mike Brown. PAGE 4
Longhorns only opition at point guard is Javan Felix. PAGE 6
Radio-television-film student pursues rap career. PAGE 8
It’s time to make compassion cool again. PAGE 4
Texas and Texas A&M fight over prized recruit. PAGE 6
Four student-produced plays premiere this week. PAGE 8
So you made it to Thanksgiving, check out The Daily’s Texan’s website, and you might just make it to Christmas. dailytexanonline.com
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