WE ASKED. YOU ANSWERED: SUPER BOWL XLIX REACTIONS. COMICS PAGE 5
LIFE&ARTS PAGE 6
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UT to partake in controversial survey
On-campus construction tackles ADA compliance
By Samantha Ketterer @sam_kett
UT will participate in a nationwide campus sexual assault survey that many of its peer institutions rejected, followed by a second, in-house survey later this year, to gather information about the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. The survey, conducted by the Association of American Universities, will be designed to help university officials better understand sexual assault on college campuses. Some
institutions have expressed concern that the survey, which will cost each participating university $87,500, will not be specific enough to address the needs of each individual campus. UT is one of 60 members of the AAU, and President William Powers Jr. serves as the group’s former chairman. Of the 60 member institutions, only 27 members — and one non-member university — agreed to distribute the survey. Powers announced UT’s participation during a faculty council meeting last week.
16 policy researchers from 13 universities expressed their problems with the AAU survey in a Nov. 17 letter, alleging that only two members of the advisory committee that designed the survey have experience in sexual assault assessment. “We are writing to you to ask urgently that each of you not commit to signing an $85,000 contract on a sexual assault and campus climate survey with a consultant for the [AAU],” the letter read. “Accuracy of data
By Samantha Ketterer @sam_kett
defense should be even higher. It starts on defense and we have to go from there.” The loss dropped Texas to 3–5 in conference play, four games behind first-place Kansas. Chances at a Big 12 title appear increasingly unlikely
As new buildings emerge and older buildings are renovated, the University is tackling the remaining spots on campus that violate the Texas Accessibility Standards, a Texas government code in keeping with the national Americans with Disabilities Act. “With a large campus and an older campus, there are certainly problems,” said Emily Shryock, assistant director of Services for Students with Disabilities. “That always comes to the top of the priority list, when someone approaches us with [accessibility complaints]”. Project Management & Construction Services apply the Texas Accessibility Standards to projects at UT. The Texas Accessibility Standards are a list of requirements all structures in Texas must meet in order to comply with the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. In 2014, 14 out of 52 of the Services’ completed projects were in noncompliance. In 2010, 43 of the department’s 67 projects were in violation, according to Mike Debow, associate director of project management with Project Management & Construction Services. In past years, projects costs have ranged from as low as $10,000 to as high as $1.46 million, according to Debow. Debow said average jobs, such as renovating a restroom for compliance with the Texas Accessibility Standards, cost between $150,000 and $200,000. Debow said cost is not the only factor administrators keep in mind when tackling a new project. Construction crews must also renovate older buildings without harming their aesthetic.
BAYLOR page 4
ADA page 2
Jonathan Garza | Daily Texan Staff
President Powers announced the University will participate in a controversial nationwide sexual assault survey.
SURVEY page 2
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bears serve Longhorns worst loss yet By Peter Sblendorio @petersblendorio
On Saturday, the Longhorns’ struggles started early. No. 19 Texas men’s basketball’s team hit a new low in an already-tumultuous season with a 23-point loss to No. 20 Baylor in Waco on Saturday. Now, with three straight losses and just 10 games remaining on their schedule, the Longhorns are left wondering how exactly to fix their bevy of issues. “We’re just trying to figure out what we need to do to win games again,” senior forward Jonathan Holmes said. The same issues that plagued the Longhorns in their previous two games reared their ugly heads again in the 83-60 loss to the Bears. The Texas big men struggled to make their presence felt against Baylor’s smaller frontcourt, while the defense did little to slow Baylor’s potent three-point barrage. Texas’ puzzling inability to exploit its size down low once again proved fatal. Freshman forward Myles Turner scored a career-low 2 points. Juniors Conner Lammert and Prince Ibeh combined for 0. And junior center Cam Ridley missed a series of easy layups at the beginning the game that allowed Baylor’s early
Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff
Isaiah Taylor goes up for a layup against junior forward Rico Gathers. Taylor finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists. Jonathan Holmes and Cameron Ridley also scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough against the stifling Baylor defense.
lead to balloon. The Longhorns attempted 26 three-pointers and made just five. Holmes was 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Javan Felix was 2-of-6. Turner, Lammert and sophomore guard Kendal Yancy went a combined 0-for-6. But the Longhorns’ biggest
RESEARCH
problems were on defense. They allowed Baylor to start the game 8-for-8 from the field, and by the time Baylor finally missed a shot — at the 11:59 mark in the first half — the team trailed 21-9. Texas especially struggled to contest Baylor’s shots from behind the arc, as the
Bears went 12-of-22 on three-point attempts. “We just haven’t been good on defense,” Holmes said. “It doesn’t help when you’re not making shots on offense. It’s not good on both ends.” “It starts on defense,” Holmes added. “If you’re not making shots, the urgency on
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Researcher honored for Women under more stress in marriages discovery on ice sheets By Caleb Wong By Matthew Adams @thedailytexan
The Journal of Geophysical Research recognized a UT researcher this month for his work in understanding the changes occurring in the bottom layers of the ice in Greenland, a discovery that will inform the debate surrounding greenhouse gases and rising sea levels. Joe MacGregor, research associate in the Institute for Geophysics, and Mark Fahnestock, a glaciologist from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, used 3-D imaging to
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capture features of the layers of ice scientists had never seen before. MacGregor said one of the key discoveries he and Fahnestock made was of the Eemian ice, a layer of ice believed to be 115,000130,000 years old, at the bottom of the ice shelf. The climate during the Eemain ice period was likely similar to today’s climate, MacGregor said. The researchers discovered this ice is located in Central and Northern Greenland, where the lack of snowfall causes the ice to move slowly.
Marriage is linked to health through sociological, behavioral, psychological and physiological “pathways,” according to sociology professor Debra Umberson. Women performed more “emotional work” in relationships compared to men, and men generally benefit from marriage more than women, Umberson said. Umberson presented her preliminary research Friday during a lecture hosted by UT’s Population Research Center. Umberson said that although the labor force has become significantly
ICE page 2
COUPLES page 2
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff
Sociology professor Debra Umberson speaks about marriage Friday afternoon. According to Umberson, men receive more emotional benefits from marriage than their partners do.
NEWS
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SPORTS
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Pointe on Rio residents move in … finally. PAGE 2
Study abroad in an atypical location. PAGE 3
Turnovers a big factor in Horns loss to Horned Frogs. PAGE 4
UT alumnus prepares to open Austin’s first cat café. PAGE 6
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UT students react to the Patriots’ Super Bowl win. ONLINE
We are fortunate to have the new sculpture. PAGE 3
Texas’ poor shooting a factor in blowout loss to Baylor. PAGE 4
Food columnist explains the merit behind snacking. PAGE 6
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Volume 115, Issue 90
CONTACT US Main Telephone (512) 471-4591 Editor-in-Chief Riley Brands (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor Jordan Rudner (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Multimedia Office (512) 471-7835 dailytexanmultimedia@ gmail.com Sports Office (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts Office (512) 232-2209 dtlifeandarts@gmail.com Retail Advertising (512) 475—6719 advertise@texasstudentmedia.com Zoe Fu | Daily Texan Staff
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continues from page 1 regarding sexual violence has been known for years to be very sensitive to the way it is measured … we have [concerns] about the not-yet-designed AAU survey, which neither academic experts nor university presidents have seen.” Barry Toiv, vice president of public affairs at AAU, said the survey’s results will be distributed in aggregate form to all participating universities. Toiv said each university will be allowed to include a few institution-specific questions in the survey their students receive. “Except in one respect, the survey will be identical to all institutions,” Toiv said. “Each university will be able to individualize five questions, so they can focus on specific programs, offices, policies at their own institutions that may have certain needs.” Beyond the AAU survey,
the University will conduct its own sexual assault climate survey that will provide more campus-specific results, according to UT spokesman Gary Susswein. Susswein said UT officials hope to conduct the campus-specific survey next fall and said the second survey’s cost is still unknown. “The AAU questions will be used across universities as part of [their] own survey,” Susswein said. “But by doing our own survey, we’re hoping to get a fuller picture of what’s going on around campus.” Steve Kloehn, associate vice president of news and public affairs at the University of Chicago, said UChicago chose to develop its own survey in place of the AAU survey. Kloehn said the university would prefer to use techniques developed by their own staff. “University of Chicago has announced plans to undertake its own climate survey, which will be shaped in part by a committee of our own faculty
members who have a particular expertise and understanding of our culture and the needs of this campus,” Kloehn said. Toiv acknowledged the cost of performing a large survey between dozens of universities, but said the $87,500 operating cost is justified. “The truth is that quality research of this kind, particularly research involving this many potential participants, is expensive,” Toiv said. “One of the things that makes it expensive is the effort that goes into notifying, encouraging students to participate.” Despite the criticism the survey has generated, Susswein said the UT administration felt it was a good investment toward understanding sexual assault on campus. “We understand that there was a robust conversation, but we do believe that participating is the best option for our university,” Susswein said. “There’s really no downside in doing this survey.”
ICE
continues from page 1
According to MacGregor, Fahnestock led the charge in studying the internal layering of ice sheets and found an important discovery in his early work. “He ended up discovering a spot at the bottom of the ice sheet which was warming very rapidly due to geothermal heating,” MacGregor said. “Essentially, he found a spot under Greenland with a geothermal flux as warm as Yellowstone. With this under an ice sheet, it can cause some unusual behavior.” The researchers collected data from the ice using technology from NASA’s Operation IceBridge. Planes flew over Greenland as a radar transmitted electromagnetic pulses, and these pulses reflected off the ice and created signals. NASA was involved
ADA
A construction worker cements a sidewalk at the Pointe on Rio apartment complex. City officials delayed move-in after the building was found not in compliance with Texas Accessibility Standards.
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“The challenge we always get into, with the things we address, is … in the older buildings on campus,” Debow said. “How do we make adjustments to these older buildings, and, in some cases, being sensitive to 1930s architectural things that are pretty important? If we’re going to do something that impacts the Main Building, how do we ensure that accessibility happens and not negatively impact the original, historically based architecture that’s very valuable to the University?” All deficiencies, which a registered accessibility specialist — an inspector of building deficiencies — notes, must be corrected within 270 days of the deficiency being recorded. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a noncompliant building is subject to
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more diversified, and more and more people opt out of marriage, women are still at more of a disadvantage in marital relationships than men. “If you look at things like inflammation and immune function, it looks like marriage is way worse for the health of women than for men,” Umberson said. “I think we also have to take into account that all things are not equal, that there is this relative disadvantage — this baseline disadvantage
in the operation as part of its six-year commitment to using 3-D imaging to capture the changes in Greenland and Antarctic ice. Fahnestock said the team was also able to create a system to trace and map the internal layers of Greenland. “There are things in the flow field of the ice sheet that suggest there are processes going on at the bottom,” Fahnestock said. “This stratigraphy allows us to map where conditions at the bottom of the ice sheet are different from place to place.” MacGregor said 3-D imaging technology has been hugely useful during field studies. “Before, all we could do was make a sketch and have an estimate,” MacGregor said. “Now with the gridding system, we now have [the layers] to refer to.”
Rachel Zein Daily Texan Staff
fines not exceeding $75,000 for a first violation. Subsequent violation fines can run as high as $150,000. “Two-thirds of the time we don’t have deficiencies, but about one-third of the time, we do,” Debow said. “We then budget for and specifically address those to make those corrections.” David Wiginton, a help desk specialist in the Moody
College of Communication who uses a wheelchair, said he has not had extreme difficulty when navigating the campus. “The campus is actually set up really well for wheelchair users,” Wiginton said. “I would say for anybody who has a mobility issue, UT has done what they can to accommodate people, both through major renovations,
like curb cuts, to taking care of special needs that I may have, like a time to come in to the office.” Wiginton said he knows not all students share his perspective. “I don’t have to go up and down any hills,” Wiginton said. “That’s nothing anybody can control. That’s just, ‘Welcome to Austin, here’s a bunch of hills.’”
that women are providing more emotional support, providing more emotion work and social control and experiencing more relationship strain.” Umberson presented anecdotes collected from a study on women and men who experienced severe stress, such as one partner’s diagnosis of a chronic illness, as a couple. Umberson said women still bore the brunt of relationship stress, putting their health second to their partner’s — even when they themselves were suffering. “Women do emotion work whether they are the
sick partner or the caregiver, whereas men don’t,” Umberson said. Both partners in a marriage can challenge each other to maintain better health habits, according to Umberson. “Partners influence each other’s health habits in various ways that then translate into better health,” Umberson said. “[When] your spouse is telling you, ‘Don’t eat so much,’ you’re pouring out the whiskey bottles or watering it down. Women do that to men more than men do that to women.” LBJ doctoral fellow Jaehee Choi said Umberson provided
useful personal insight into marriage and health. “I think I can apply this to my own relationships in the future,” Choi said. “It’s like a life lesson, and she’s actually studying it academically.” Sociology graduate student Letisha Brown said Umberson’s work deserved more recognition. “This project is not getting as much attention as it should get, considering the changing dynamics of America,” Brown said. “Thinking about how this research is coming out of Texas … it’s amazing, and I think it’s going to be great.”
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RILEY BRANDS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorial Monday, February 2, 2015
EDITORIAL
COLUMN
Studying abroad offers students Dempster: Sculpture ‘pretty cool’ a great way to broaden horizons By Douglas Dempster Guest Columnist
Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff
Fiona Mazurensko works as a public affairs specialist for the University’s international office. UT was recently ranked second in the nation for the number of students it sends abroad.
The University of Texas has the second highest number of students studying abroad in the country and the International Office is encouraging even more students to apply. However, the idea of studying abroad can be intimidating. Not only do you have decide where to go, but you also have to plan how you are going to pay for it. Studying abroad is not cheap, but neither is studying at the University of Texas. In fact, semesters in some cities are cheaper than a semester in Austin. These cities typically do not top students’ lists, though. Students looking to study abroad should consider a nontraditional location as the experience can be richer and much cheaper. “An average price for rent in West Campus is around $700 to $800,” said management information systems junior Majid Breland, who studied abroad in the fall of 2014. “In Bangkok, that would get you a high rise penthouse in the nicest part of the city.” Breland continued: “I was paying around $250 a month for my own room, though. Food is really cheap, like a dollar a plate cheap if you’re eating from street vendors. Spend $5 to $10 at a restaurant and you’re living really large.” In the case of Southeast Asia, which is rapidly developing, Breland told us he found it exciting
to see a part of the world that won’t be the same in 10 years. The understood purpose of studying abroad is to experience a culture and a way of life different than your own. Life at Western European and Australian universities, two of the most popular locations for students to study abroad, is not so different from our own. Mia Collins implores students to go to the extreme. Collins, a geography and international relations senior, studied for a summer in Botswana and a semester in Istanbul. Collins told us that for her, learning the local language was definitely an obstacle, but important enough that she overcame it quickly. “There are so many unprecedented situations where you just have to figure things out, and that’s a highly valuable skill to have,” Collins said.”Needless to say, I picked up the language pretty quickly.” Studying abroad in nontraditional places is cheap and doable even if you do not know the language. Students considering studying abroad but intimidated by the prices should without a doubt do it. Embrace the culture shock and take on the challenge of going somewhere far beyond your comfort zone. You’ll come out on the other side an adept problem solver and likely save a bit of money.
ONLINE
Douglas Dempster
Dean, College of Fine Arts
and serves as a dramatic counterpoint to their sobriety. It challenges them. And us. Where they project a blockish monumentality and permanence, the sculpture is an eruption frozen in space and time evoking energy and entropy. The counterpoint dramatically heightens the aesthetics of the buildings and the space and the sculpture. And that’s pretty cool. Like much post-modern art, Monochrome for Austin uses enormous scale and prolific repetition to achieve surprising emergent effects that would not be predicted from its underlying elements. But Monochrome for Austin playfully flips the molecular metaphor of imperfect, familiar, manufactured objects in our dayto-day reality resolving microscopically into the exotic perfection of atomic substructures bound by mysterious forces. Instead it gives us a “what-in-the-world-is-that” macrostructure that resolves comically into a substructure of unmistakably familiar, castoff canoes held together with wire and bolts. Monochrome for Austin least of all asks for complacent acceptance. It would be a total failure if it did not provoke puzzlement, inquiry, challenges and even controversy. It’s a successful work — and maybe even a great work of art — because it rewards honest inquiry and controversy with so many rich visual interpretations and possible solutions. The way we see and interpret the world is not a passive, hard-wired necessity. We have enormous latitude about how we look at and see the world around us. Artists like Nancy Rubins bust up our visual contentment to remind us of that. Monochrome for Austin is a thought provoking, debate-worthy work of art and a perfect choice for a public art program on the campus of a premier research university. We’re enormously fortunate to have it, as well as the Landmarks program, on the 40 Acres, where the tide of rigorous inquiry raises all boats. Dempster is dean of the College of Fine Arts.
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Our commentary doesn’t stop on the page. For more of our thoughts on the issues of the day, check out our blog, A Matter of Opinion, at dailytexanonline.com.
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LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.
The latest sensational addition to Landmarks, the University’s public art collection, is Nancy Rubin’s Monochrome for Austin, a terrific sculpture by a celebrated, but challenging artist. Installed on Speedway during the winter break, it follows recent Landmarks installations of Turrell’s The Color Inside and Sol LeWitt’s Circle with Towers, two equally spectacular works by luminary artists of the Minimalist era. Few other campuses or municipalities — or for that matter even art museums — can boast so distinguished a collection of public art as is now represented by the Landmarks collection on the 40 Acres. Reactions to Monochrome for Austin range widely. It’s a playful, puzzling explosion that inspires delight and wonder. It is also confrontational in ways that may provoke consternation or offense. Monochrome for Austin falls conventionally into the tradition of 20th-century art that stridently defies conventional expectations about what is and isn’t art and what is and isn’t sculpture. It’s not a statue. It’s not bronze. It’s made of salvaged, conspicuously battered canoes and rowboats (though the rowboats are curiously shiny and new.) It’s not representational. Its scale is exaggerated. It does not perch securely on its plinth. It gives the appearance of rough-and-ready DIY fabrication, with none of its mechanics hidden from view. It’s everything we wouldn’t expect in public art. That is if we were living in 1915 rather than 2015. In our day, if you’ve been paying attention, none of these materials or methods are shocking novelties in art. This gigantic spectacle of a work uses startling incongruities to unsettle and contradict our assumptions about public space and public monuments, about artisanship and accident, about space and motion and function and ornament. Monochrome for Austin explores and inverts the relation between complex, emergent structure and underlying elements. To take just one obvious incongruity — or maybe it’s an impropriety — the sculpture is located at a very public campus crossroad surrounded by earnestly serious academic buildings. But unlike statuary or wellmannered, abstract modernist sculpture — sometimes called “Plop Art” — the work pays no deference to those buildings. It’s not a discrete ornament in “their” space. It’s not a solemn memorial. It crowds the space. It menaces the road. It draws attention away from the buildings
Editor’s Note: Tryouts for opinion and all other Daily Texan departments are currently underway and will continue until Friday, Feb. 6. Apply online at www.dailytexanonline.com/employment or walk into our basement office at 2500 Whitis Avenue. If you’re a student at UT, either just starting or returning, it’s safe to assume that you’re interested in learning valuable skills, preparing for a career and making a name for yourself. If you fit that description and don’t have a multi-million-dollar NFL contract awaiting you, there’s no better place at UT to accomplish all three of those goals than The Daily Texan. However competent a writer you are before you start at the Texan, your skills will grow more than you ever expected as a result of the job. At the Texan, you’ll learn through practice and example how to quickly produce intelligent, professional and compelling work on a deadline. The Texan provides the chance to hone ways of thinking that are different from what you’ll learn in a classroom. You’ll represent something much bigger than yourself alongside some of the most talented and driven members of the UT community, while developing friendships with people who will both encourage and inspire you. The friendships you’ll make while working toward a common goal will likely be some of your strongest. As an opinion columnist in particular, you’ll have your views read, considered and critiqued by an audience of thousands on one of the nation’s biggest university campuses. You’ll choose your topic so you can find what’s important to you, and you’ll have a space to show the rest of the 40 Acres why your issue of choice should be important to all of us, too. As wide-ranging as your column’s impact can be, the words will be yours to show off, now and for years to come.
SUBMIT A FIRING LINE OR GUEST COLUMN | E-mail your Firing Lines and guest columns to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be between 100 and 300 words and guest columns between 500 and 1,000. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.
Of course, you’re not at all limited to the opinion pages. The skills you’ll learn as a columnist will help prepare you to work in most other departments of the paper, although it isn’t necessary to write opinion columns before working in other areas of the Texan. The versatility of this publication allows people to try out the writing departments, as well as the more visual and behind-the-scenes aspects of the paper, sometimes even simultaneously. Once you graduate, it’s difficult to find the chance to work in so many different areas of an office over a short period of time, but at the Texan, this is not only allowed, but encouraged. The Texan began as a weekly publication in 1900 and began publishing twice a week in 1907. In 1913, the student body voted to make the publication daily, and in 1915, the paper became free to the public — a subscription had formerly cost $1.25 per year. Texan staffers report not only campus and local news, but also more wide-ranging, historical news, sometimes traveling across Texas — or even the U.S. — for a story. The Texan has thoroughly covered stories ranging from President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 to the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West. Our first priority is ensuring students remain well-informed of news developments — both local and national — that affect their lives, and as a Texan staffer, you can play an important part in this mission. Obviously, this is a hiring pitch, but let it also serve as a word to the wise. The Texan is one of the largest and most award-winning student newspapers in America, and Texan staffers go on to great things in a multitude of industries. Many of them can attribute much of their success to their time here. Don’t let the opportunity go to waste.
RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.
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GARRETT CALLAHAN, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports Monday, February 2, 2015
SIDELINE
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Imani McGeeStafford led theLonghorns with 22 points and eight rebounds. She also tied with sophomore guard Brady Sanders for a team high of four turnovers. Texas ended up turning the ball over 25 times.
NFL PATRIOTS
SEAHAWKS
NBA KNICKS
LAKERS
HEAT
CELTICS Ellyn Snider Daily Texan Staff
Horned Frogs leap past Longhorns By Jeremy Thomas @JeremyOBThomas
After taking down Oklahoma last week, Texas’ struggles returned Saturday. Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford scored 22 points with eight rebounds, but turnovers plagued Texas as it fell to TCU, 64–59, in Fort Worth. The Longhorns played well in the first half, jumping to an early 8–0 start.
However, Texas’ turnover problems came back in full force, allowing the Horned Frogs to gain momentum. In the first half, the Longhorns had 15 turnovers, most of which they caused themselves. As a result of those unforced turnovers, Texas did not have as many opportunites to score. In the second half, TCU heated up from behind the arc, shooting 64 percent,
while Texas turned the ball over 10 more times to increase its total to 25. The Longhorns had a chance to slip away with a victory after they tied the game at 57 with less than two-and-a-half minutes remaining — but TCU forward Chelsea Prince hit a 3-pointer soon after, and the Horned Frogs scored 5 quick points to claim their fifth Big 12 win. McGee-Stafford led
Texas with her season-best game, which included scoring 16 of Texas’ 24 first-half points, but she comitted four turnovers. Sophomore center Kelsey Lang and freshman guard Ariel Atkins also claimed doubledigit point totals with 13 each. Texas, who was the preseason favorite to win the Big 12, now faces a challenge halfway through the conference schedule. The Long-
BAYLOR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bears down Horns for third straight loss
continues from page 1
GAME BREAKDOWN Stock Up: Sophomore point guard Isaiah Taylor: Taylor did all he could to will the Longhorns to victory in Saturday’s game against Baylor, but he had no help. Taylor did have a career game, putting up 16 tough points in 38 minutes to go along with a career-high 10 assists. What made his performance even more impressive was that Baylor put its big men on him for most of the night. And while junior center Cam Ridley put up 12 points, it was Taylor’s dishes that set Ridley up for easy dunks. Stock Down: Senior forward Jonathan Holmes: Holmes started off the year at a torrid pace, but lately, nothing’s been falling for the senior. Baylor gave Holmes room to shoot from the corner, and he still couldn’t do anything with it. Holmes went 1-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc, turning down multiple open looks in the process. Since his struggles began, Holmes has been hesitant and has lacked the confidence a shooter needs. Next Up?: Texas takes on Oklahoma State on Wednesday in a crucial home matchup, in which the Longhorns look to end their three-game losing skid.
horns have lost five of their last seven games and have since moved to fifth place in the Big 12. Unfortunately, Texas’ schedule only gets tougher from here. The Longhorns travel north to Manhattan, Kansas, to face Kansas State on Wednesday before hosting Baylor at home. The Wildcats sit just one place behind Texas while the Bears currently hold first place in the conference, ahead of Oklahoma and Iowa State.
Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff
Jonathan Holmes struggles to pass the ball out of a double team. With the loss, Texas’ Big 12 title hopes are in jeopardy.
BY THE NUMBERS 19.2: Texas’ 3-point percentage — its worst of the year. The Longhorns went 5-of-26 from deep, making it hard to get points on the board. 3: Number of free throw attempts for Texas. Head coach Rick Barnes has continually called
WEEKEND RECAPS
for his team to get to the charity stripe more, but the Longhorns have had trouble making their way there. 1988: Texas’ last lopsided loss to Baylor. In March 1988, the Bears beat the Longhorns by 24 in an 84–60 blowout. — Evan Berkowitz
appear increasingly unlikely with each loss, and while head coach Rick Barnes declined to say whether his team has dug a hole, he said he knows they need to turn things around. “Where we are, we’ve got to turn it around. We have to win games. It’s simple. We’re not what we want to be. We’re not where we need to be. There’s a lot of basketball left. I think every night is going to be a challenge.” The Longhorns have now dropped four of their last six games after starting the season 10–1. Despite these struggles, Felix insisted after the game that nobody in the Texas locker room is giving up. “We’re very frustrated,” Felix said. “No one likes losing. We’re down, but we’re not divided. We’re just going to stick together, and we’re going to get through this.”
MEN’S TENNIS | MICHAEL SHAPIRO
TRACK AND FIELD| AARON TORRES
No. 9 Texas men’s tennis continued its undefeated season with a 4—2 victory against SMU on the road Saturday. The Longhorns dropped two of three matches in doubles play — with the lone win coming from the senior duo of Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen — but managed to remain undefeated on the back of four singles victories. Texas won the first set in five of its six singles matches to continue its strong singles play. Three Longhorns improved
In their second weekend of the season, the Longhorns had impressive outings at the UW Invitational in Seattle and the Howie Ryan Invitational in Houston. At the UW invitational, Texas produced its strongest showing of the weekend in shotput, as junior thrower Ryan Crouser registered a throw of 20.95 meters (68–9.00) to secure a victory and leave the event with a No. 1 world ranking. The Longhorns also won the pole-vaulting event, as junior Reese Watson improved to No. 7 in the country after clearing a height of 5.46 meters (17–11.0). Freshmen Kally Long tied for
to 5–0 in singles play this season — junior Nick Naumann and seniors Adrien Berkowicz and Hess-Olesen won their matches in straight sets. The Longhorns faced an atypically large audience against the Mustangs, who had a raucous crowd thanks to a packed house at the new SMU Tennis Complex. The 5–0 Longhorns will have two home matches — against No. 62 Washington and No. 75 Rice — next weekend before they head to
Lloyd Glasspool Senior
Chicago for the ITA National Indoor Championship on Feb. 13.
WOMEN’S TENNIS| REANNA ZUNIGA In the season home opener Saturday, the No. 23 Texas women’s tennis team took down No. 32 Rice, 4–3. The Owls opened the match well, as they took the doubles point. Rice was able to take the first two doubles to capture the point, although Texas sophomore Ratnika Batra and junior Lana Groenvynck won the third round of doubles, 6–2. In the singles competition, the Longhorns turned the game around and dominated the Owls. Texas gained its four points from the match, as sophomores Batra and
Neda Koprcina and freshmen Ryann Foster and Danielle Wagland completely swept their competition. In fifth singles, Wagland tied the score 3–3 with a 6–1, 6–3 win against Rice sophomore Alison Ho. And in second singles, Foster secured Texas’ victory, defeating Rice senior Liat Zimmermann, 6–2, 6–3. No. 84 Longhorn junior Breaunna Addison struggled against No. 24 Rice senior Natalie Beazant, and fell 6–1, 5–7, 7–5. Likewise, Rice junior Solomiya Zinko knocked off Groenvynck in sixth
Ratnika Batra Sophomore
singles, 6–1, 2–6, 7–6. Texas heads west to Southern California to play its next dual-match on Valentine’s Day weekend against Pepperdine and USC.
It was a great day for Crouser becoming the world leader for the season ... More importantly, he had multiple throws over 67 and 68 feet. —Mario Sategna Head coach
Ryan Crouser Junior
first in the women’s pole vault after clearing the bar at 4.26 meters (13–11.75). Texas sent a group mostly composed of sprinters to the Howie Ryan Invitational in Houston. Sophomore hurdler Spencer Dunkerley-Offor finished second after displaying a personal best in the semifinals and the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Dunkerley-Offor ran the event in 7.89 seconds, which moved him into the top 25 in the nation. Texas will split up again next week, sending a group to the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque and another to the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
TOP TWEET Quandre Diggs @qdiggs6
One of the best days of the year by far!! #SuperBowlSunday
TODAY IN HISTORY
1967 Formation of the American Basketball Association is announced.
SPORTS BRIEFLY Texas beats SMU and No.11 Arizona
The Texas women’s swimming and diving team pulled away from its competition Saturday afternoon and placed second overall. Texas knocked off No. 11 Arizona and was able to pull away from SMU at Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The Longhorns dominated the Wildcats, 213–159, and then handled the Mustangs fairly easily as well for a 224–146 beatdown. Texas managed to beat out Arizona in the 200-yard medley relay, thanks to sophomore Tasija Karosas, senior Gretchen Jaques and freshmen Mimi Schneider and Rebecca Millard, who together finished with a time of 1:39.96. Jaques, No. 2 swimmer in the nation in the 100 backstroke, continued a string of great performance. She emerged victorious, posting a time of 59.91. In platform diving, the one-two punch of AllAmerican senior Emma Ivory-Ganja and sophomore Murphy Bromberg led the Longhorns. Ivory-Ganja posted the winning score of 290.50, while Bromberg — former U.S. national champion in the event — took second with 262.30. Texas finishes the regular season off on Friday, when it hosts TCU on Senior Day. —Aaron Torres
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CITY
‘Cat lady’ set to raise funds for Austin’s first cat café By Kat Sampson @katclarksamp
Up until a couple of years ago, Rebecca Gray spent her days as a biologist testing mice in labs — and her nights discovering the world of cat cafés. “I saw and knew immediately I wanted to work in a cat café or open a cat café,” Gray said. “I put it out of my mind because it just seemed so unattainable.” Unhappy and uninspired with her biology career, the UT alumna finally decided to move back to Austin to pursue the unlikely task of opening Austin’s first cat-centric restaurant — Blue Cat Café. Gray plans to open her doors before the end of 2015. To raise money for the café, Gray will launch a Kickstarter campaign next week. Gray said she valued her time working in a lab, but she said she ultimately feels she can do more good in the world by pursuing her passion. “We need doctors and vets, but, if you’re not happy, you’re not going to contribute something that is going to move that whole field along,” Gray said. “I’m not saying I’m building a field of cat cafés, but do what you want to do.” The world’s first restaurantmeets-adoption facilities
popped up in Japan about 10 years ago. The cafés provide a space for customers to eat a meal while spending time playing with adoptable animals. Gray said cultural taboos surrounding eating near animals kept cat cafés out of the Western hemisphere. Gray remembers hearing news of the first café opening in North America late one night on NPR. “My stomach dropped,” Gray said. “I was like, ‘Oh man — this thing is coming.” Gray said one concern she faced when planning the café was the possibility of health code violations — she needed to adhere to codes while still allowing cats to roam around. To solve the problem, Gray said she intends to break up Blue Cat Café into two “zones.” The first zone is the cat roaming area, where customers can interact however they please. “If you want to just read a book, you can,” Gray said. “If you want to just study, you can. If you want to put a feather in their face and play, you can. It’s pet therapy, and it’s whatever you need.” The second zone will be reserved for eating. The outdoor patio will be home to a number of vegan food trucks. Gray said
UT alumna Rebecca Gray plans to open the Blue Cat Café, a café where visitors will have the option to play with cats. The café will be divided into two zones, keeping the food and cat areas separated.
Daulton Venglar Daily Texan Staff
food truck partnerships are in the early stages, but her ultimate goal is to provide healthy, socially conscious food. “This is a place where we love animals, so we can’t eat them,” Gray said. The biggest misconception Gray wants to correct is the idea customers can bring their own cats. “Your cat doesn’t want to come, trust me,” Gray said. “Honestly, this place will be cat first and you later — because I
want to take care of the cats.” Gray, a self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady,” said she urges customers to stave off any preconceived notions of what it means to be crazy in love with your cat. Dan Maxwell, Gray’s business consultant and former boss, believes this positive attitude will make Gray a successful business owner. “She’s just crazy enough about cats to make everyone else feel normal,” Maxwell said. “When you do that, you
open the door for everyone else who’s maybe bashful about how much they want to be around cats.” When UT advertising graduate Fatima Jafri visited a cat café in Hong Kong, the cafe’s clean and inviting atmosphere struck her. Jafri said she believes Blue Cat Café will thrive in Austin’s inclusive environment. “Austin is a city known for all its odd things to do,” Gray said. “I think [Blue Cat Café] is a
great thing to add to its roster of strange things.” Whether customers visits Blue Cat Café for temporary cat-therapy or with adoption in mind, Gray said she hopes all will enjoy the connections they make with cats and with each other. “My greatest hope is that everyone that walks in, walks out a little bit happier,” Gray said. “A little bit more uplifted and ready to do the thing that makes them happy.”
FOOD
Snack attack: keep hunger at bay with healthier options By Elisabeth Dillion @thedailytexan
Step away from the vending machine. Seriously, say goodbye to it. You’re breaking up — effective immediately. When you’re hungry and in a hurry, there is a healthier way to snack — one that doesn’t require excess change or waiting to see if the bag of chips gets caught in coils. Homemade treats that you can make in advance, such as bliss balls, are the best way
to keep your hunger at bay in between meals. Snacking brings back up energy levels, helps you focus and stabilizes your metabolism. If you’re not choosing the right snacks for your body, you’re just consuming empty calories that don’t provide any nutrition — keeping you hungry, and putting you at risk for weight gain. Swap out candy bars for more complex snacks that are full of fiber, protein and natural sugar — crucial nutrients
that keep your body running strong all day. Whip up some hummus in a blender and use raw or steamed veggies as the dipping vehicle. Don’t know how to put down that can of Pringles? Fill it up with homemade kale chips that require less than five minutes of prep time. If you have more of a sweet tooth, there are still healthy options available that won’t cause a crazy spike in your blood sugar. Look for an easy option, such as pairing
ART Austin-based artist and UT alumnus Paul del Bosque creates portraits of his friends with charcoal. Del Bosque will be showcasing this portrait series through April 4 at the Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. Marshall Tidrick Daily Texan Staff
UT alumnus premieres charcoal art show By Cat Cardenas @crcardenas8
Just over a year ago, Paul del Bosque, Austin-based artist and UT alumnus, picked up a prayer card and found a Catholic saint staring back at him — and inspiration struck. The cards, distributed at the funeral of a friend and fellow artist, depicted saints surrounded by meaningful symbols. Del Bosque realized the cards could be storytelling devices, capable of relaying messages without saying a word. The cards gave del Bosque the idea to draw charcoal portraits of his friends. He said he hopes each drawing provides information about the subject’s life, passions and fears. On 30-inch wood panels, del Bosque portrays his friends in varying ways. One friend is depicted barbecuing, while another painting more seriously captures its subject’s inner conflicts. Del Bosque’s portraits are on display through April 4 at the Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. “The cards are more than just portraits of the saints,” del Bosque said. “They tell stories
of who the saints are. I wanted to use Mexican-Americans as the storytellers in my portraits. Our stories are pretty universal, from our struggles to our inspirations, to the things that we love. They can all be understood by anybody.” Del Bosque said some of the friends he hoped to paint for his collection required some convincing to participate. “I asked my best friend over the phone, and that one was pretty much a no-brainer,” del Bosque said. “But convincing some of the other people was a much more in-depth process. It’s a strange request to ask someone — to have their face in a gallery where someone might buy it and take it home. I had one person agree, and, after thinking about it, they backed out.” UT alumna Nicole Castañon, del Bosque’s childhood friend, said she eagerly agreed to help del Bosque. Castañon said she is lucky to have been able to watch del Bosque’s art develop and grow. “These charcoal drawings are the most personal things he’s created,” Castañon said.
“Each of the people have their own personalities, but he still managed to bring us to life using just one color.” UT graduate student Sergio Delgado, another childhood friend, said striking the balance between representing the Mexican-American community as a whole, and acknowledging the differences between individuals, was an important element of the project. “We’re all from the same culture, but we’re different people,” Delgado said. “By putting us in this artistic space, depicting us in these saint cards, it was something we were all familiar with. It was easy to gravitate toward our own identities. It was able to show that we’re just regular people.” Del Bosque works to capture the human element of his subjects in hopes his audience identifies with the portraits. “I hope the portraits will allow people to recognize something in themselves or someone they know,” del Bosque said. “I hope it allows them to think more deeply about people in general and the stories they’re telling with their eyes and expressions.”
an apple with homemade nut butter or sprinkling cinnamon on stovetop popcorn, to keep you wide awake during that 3 p.m. class. Dates, a fruit high in fiber and minerals, are found in the bulk or refrigerated sections of grocery stores around Austin. Bliss balls, a combination of
dates and nuts, are an excellent option to bust your sweet cravings. Make them on a Sunday and keep them in your fridge to snack on all week long. Dates, although sugary, are full of fiber and minerals that promote overall health, making them the perfect base for a very blissful snack.
Multimedia For a healthy snack alternative, check out a ball bliss recipe at dailytexanonline.
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