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Wednesday, February 4, 2015
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SG considers adaptive sports program By Samantha Ketterer @sam_kett
Student Government members considered a resolution Thursday for the creation of an adaptive sports and recreation program, an initiative that would allow for more team-based recreational opportunities for students with mobility issues or visual impairments. The program’s purpose is to better include students with disabilities in activities on
campus. In the resolution, Erin Gleim, Students with Disabilities agency director, wrote that the initiative is part of an effort to expand and “provide resources for the overall health and wellness of all students and staff.” The program is still in its early stages of development, according to Kelli Bradley, director of Services for Students with Disabilities. The initiative could be
in place as soon as this fall, Gleim said. For the 2014-2015 school year, 2,289 students are registered with Services for Students with Disabilities. “At this time, we are still assessing the needs, logistics, and interest [of students],” Bradley said in an email. Gleim said an adaptive sports program could potentially be incorporated
Rachel Zein | Daily Texan Staff
SPORTS page 3
Erin Gleim, Students with Disabilities agency director, speaks at a Student Government meeting in the SAC on Tuesday evening.
in an effective and affordable way,” Taylor said. “Keep looking for ways to improve your institution.” According to Daniel Chitty, president of ACC’s honor
The Cockrell School of Engineering received a $3.5 million donation from Texas Instruments (TI), a Fort Worth-based technology manufacturer, on Tuesday. The gift will go toward seven new teaching and project labs in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which will be located within the school’s new Engineering Education and Research Center. The center, which is slated to open in 2017, will house classrooms, labs, faculty offices and administration offices for the department. TI spokeswoman Renée Fancher said TI hopes to provide students and faculty with opportunities for innovation in the classroom. “Our aim with this gift is to ensure that not a day goes by that Cockrell School students are not working on some new idea, some new project, and that the professors are able to try out new innovative teaching techniques that help accelerate the learning process,” Fancher said. With the gift, TI will fund new equipment for six labs for undergraduate students. The new labs, designated “TI Laboratories,” will allow students to build sensors, drones, wearable technologies and other devices. The company will conduct annual reviews to ensure the new equipment is current and meeting stu-
RALLY page 2
TI page 3
By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman
Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff
Joel Mason, Collin College student and president of the Texas Junior College Student Government Association, speaks to fellow community college students on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday. Hundreds of students from community colleges around Texas rallied to talk about issues such as the rising price of education.
CAMPUS
“A lot of the people coming in from community colleges are a lot more serious about their education — most of them want it really bad,” McFarlane said. “They worked very hard to get to a four-year university, so once we do transition in, education means that
TI donates $3.5 million for Cockrell laboratories @joshwillis35
Students rally for affordable college costs
McFarlane said. “That was definitely one of the big pros for me.” McFarlane said students who transfer from community colleges represent an important population on campus because of their dedicated attitude toward education.
UNIVERSITY
By Josh Willis
CITY
Freezing rain did not stop hundreds of Texas community college students, many of whom hope to transfer to four-year institutions such as UT, from meeting outside of the Capitol to discuss their policy priorities for the 84th legislative session. Austin Community College students attended a rally Tuesday to tell legislators about the issues most important to them, especially the affordability of higher education. If approved, the proposed House and Senate budgets would cut funding for community colleges by about $80 million dollars. “What we are doing here is empowering you, ordinary community college students, with the understanding that we have the ability to make real positive changes for our society,” said Joel Mason, Collin College student and president of the Texas Junior College Student Government Association. Daniel McFarlane, UT Transfer Student Association president, said while his transition from ACC to UT was difficult, going to community college first allowed him to save the money he needed to ultimately make the switch. “A lot of people start off at community college for the sole reason of saving money,”
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much more to us.“ At the rally, state Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) said it is important to find innovative ways to solve legislative challenges regarding community colleges. “Only then can we be prepared to serve future students
UNIVERSITY
Crowdfunding app Project aims to curb tobacco use among students sees popularity rise Three years after banning tobacco on campus, University administrators have launched a new program to reduce the use of tobacco and alternative tobacco products among college-aged students. “The majority of fulltime smokers and tobacco users over the age of 26 started before they were that age and while they were in college,” Shelley Karn, a program director with the Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team, said. “We wanted to develop a prevention campaign to prevent them from ever even starting tobacco products. There wasn’t a comprehensive program in colleges to
do this, and we wanted to change that.” The program, Peers Against Tobacco, is one part of a multi-university project in Texas which includes schools such as Texas Tech and Texas State. The University’s Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team oversees the program, and the Texas Department of State Health services funds it. Peers Against Tobacco aims to decrease tobacco use among students at the 20 participating universities through different educational initiatives. According to Karn, the planning stages of the program began in September 2013 and culminated with the start of the program last month. Karn said educating stu-
dents about the full range of tobacco-based products is important because students tend to think tobacco alternatives, such as hookahs and electronic
cigarettes, are not as harmful as traditional cigarettes. Phil Huang, the medical director and health author-
By Sebastian Herrera @thedailytexan
By Jakob Herr @thedailytexan
More than 5,000 UT students have raised over $500,000 using an app called Tilt, which allows users to host a crowdfunding campaign for anything, from paying rent to hosting lavish parties. The app allows any host to see who has and has not contributed to a particular project’s fund, and connects through Facebook to create a network of people with whom users can share their crowd fundraiser. According to Natassia Costa, public relations manager at Tilt, the
app is different from using cash or similar apps such as Venmo because it provides more of a group experience. “Everybody chips in so that they can meet the Tilt, and, once the goal is met, their cards are charged,” Costa said. Tilt works with several brand ambassadors, including UT students, to promote the app. Marketing senior Emily Beckham, a Tilt ambassador, said she first started using the app to organize and fund large events. “Say my friends and I wanted to plan a barge on
TILT page 2
Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff
TOBACCO page 3
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Professor speaks on math-based brain model. PAGE 3
Point/Counterpoint: Campus Carry PAGE 4 COLA Task Force report disappoints. PAGE 4
What to watch for on National Signing Day. PAGE 6
Student captures portraits of homeless people. PAGE 8
Basketball prepares for Oklahoma State. PAGE 6
Chi’Lantro expands to a brick-and-mortar location. PAGE 8
Last week to try out for The Daily Texan. dailytexanonline.com Follow our National Signing Day live blog. dailytexanonline.com
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Students create pizza-andrap-themed app game. PAGE 3