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Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
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Monday, February 16, 2015
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UNIVERSITY
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SG develops tracking app for safety By Wynne Davis @wynneellyn
Members of Student Government are working to bring a mobile safety application to campus in an attempt to give students a better sense of security. Taylor Strickland, SG vice president, said the inspiration for the application came from a similar program at Virginia
Tech, which a student who was present at Virginia Tech’s 2007 on-campus shooting helped develop. “I’ve lived in West Campus since my sophomore year, and I’ve actually been fortunate enough to always feel safe, but I know that’s not a universal feeling,” Strickland said. “So any tools we can provide to students to make them feel better and more secure and
safe is kind of what I saw this being a great opportunity for.” Strickland said the main feature of the application would be a tracking system for students walking on campus or back and forth from their homes. It would allow a friend or parent to monitor their progress and show when the student reached their destination. “This is probably one of the biggest ones because we
live on a campus where a lot of students live in West Campus, and a lot of students live within walking distance, even if you’re just on campus and walking at night,” Strickland said. “That way somebody is looking out for you, and it doesn’t have to be super invasive, but at the same time, it’s just an extra sense of security.” Strickland also said they want the application to con-
nect students to officers from both the University of Texas Police Department and the Austin Police Department, and SG members have worked alongside UTPD officials on the early stages of its development. Instead of adding more blue emergency call boxes across campus and further into West
APP page 2
STATE
McRaven calls on state to fund Hazlewood By Josh Willis @joshwillis35
UT System Chancellor William McRaven is calling on lawmakers to help fund a tuition exemption for veterans that resulted in a loss of $42.1 million in forgone tuition at UT System schools in the 2014 fiscal year. The exemption was established as part of the Hazlewood Act, which grants veterans who are Texas residents 150 credit hours in return for their service. UT System universities pay for a tuition exemption for veterans who have served at least 181 days of active duty service. McRaven said without state support, the cost is passed on to other students. “When the state is not in the position to provide us those funds, then invariably
bit.ly/dtvid
FUNDING TUITION FOR TEXAN VETERANS THE HAZLEWOOD ACT GRANTS TEXAS VETERANS 150 CREDIT HOURS AT STATE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES. THE STATE DOES NOT PAY FOR THE COST OF THE TUITION EXEMPTION.
1.7
VETERANS LIVING IN TEXAS
FORGONE TUITION INCOME 42 MILLION (UT INSTITUTIONS) 169 MILLION (ALL STATE INSTITUTIONS) 94 MILLION
379 MILLION
PROJECTED
HAZLEWOOD page 2
Alex Dolan | Daily Texan Staff
TSM Board authorizes two editor candidates By Samantha Ketterer @sam_kett
The Texas Student Media Board certified David Davis Jr. and Claire Smith to run for editor-in-chief of The Daily Texan in a contentions meeting Friday. A third applicant, David Maly, was not certified because he did not meet the qualifications specified in the Texas Student Media (TSM) handbook. Maly worked for the Texan for three semesters as a reporter and copy editor, but has not worked for The Daily Texan since January 2013. The handbook specifies that each candidate must have experience of one semester as a permanent staff member in The Daily Texan’s opinion section as well as experience of one semester in another section. In the past, these qualifications have been waived by a two-thirds vote from the TSM Board. The TSM Board, which manages five student-produced media properties — Cactus Yearbook, Texas Travesty, Texas Student TV, KVRX 91.7 FM and The Daily Texan — voted to amend the handbook in November, altering the application requirements for editor-in-chief. Candidates who do not meet all of the requirements can now only be certified if no other fully qualified candidates
EDITOR page 2
NATION
STATE
Study reports a decline in language enrollment
LGBT rights face potential backlash
By Lauren Florence @thedailytexan
According to a report recently released by the Modern Language Association, enrollment in foreign language courses has dropped 6.7 percent from 2009 to 2013 following about 20 years of consistent growth. The report, based on a survey of 2,616 American universities, compared foreignlanguage enrollment from two- and four-year colleges. Spanish and French continued to be the most studied foreign languages across all colleges, followed by American Sign Language (ASL), which surpassed German as the third-most studied language. Kristen Harmon, English professor at Gallaudet University, said a growing awareness of ASL as an autonomous language is likely what caused its rise in popularity. “Students find that studying an indigenous American language gives them another perspective on American life and culture,” Harmon said. “Those who receive advanced training and certification in sign language interpreting
LANGUAGE ENROLLMENT CHANGES 2009–2013 All: Down 6.7 percent Korean: Up 44.7 percent ASL: Up 19 percent Portugese: Up 10.1 percent Chinese: Up 2 percent Spanish, French remain most studied languages.
will also find that there is demand for highly qualified interpreters in education, government and business.” Although Spanish had greater enrollment than all other languages combined, Spanish enrollment saw its first decline in the history of the survey with an 8-percent drop. Rosemary Feal, executive director of the association, said the addition of 34 more languages previously not in the survey influenced the decline in Spanish. “This change [in Spanish enrollment] suggests that students in US classrooms have more options
LANGUAGE page 3
By Zainab Calcuttawala @thedailytexan
During a panel discussion at the School of Law on Friday, civil rights lawyers warned of backlash if Texas’ constitutional ban on samesex marriage is lifted. Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Austin LGBT Bar Association and family law firms said a backlash from conservative political forces could adversely affect Texas’ lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, even if the Supreme Court rules that state same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional. Lawyers discussed the ways that the state legislature could still use loopholes in anti-discrimination laws and new laws to hurt the LGBT community in areas such as housing, employment and adoption. “If you were to poll people and ask if they thought LGBT Texans have protection against employment discrimination, you would find most people think they already exist because they are so fundamental to being a full participant in our society,” said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director of the ACLU of Texas. “In reality, we do not have any protections
Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff
Civil rights lawyers, from left to right, Rebecca Robertson, Christine Henry Andresen, Ian Pittman and Elizabeth Brenner held a panel discussion at the School of Law on Friday.
for LGBT Texans in our state.” Ian Pittman, a partner at the family-law and estateplanning law firm Jorgeson Pittman LLP, said state government could also use the “power of the purse” to control state employees to prevent them from following Supreme Court precedents. Robertson said an example of this practice is Rep. Cecil Bell’s (R-Magnolia) bill, HB 623, which entered the Texas Legislature on Jan.
8. The bill says any employee of the state who acts against Texas’ ban will be deprived of salary and any other employment benefits. Panelists and members of the audience said there were several opportunities for lawyers and law students to help expedite the LGBT movement in Texas. “In our current session, there are three LGBT lobbying days scheduled, and I cannot overemphasize the importance
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
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to have attorneys and law students appear before the legislature and talk about these issues,” said Gary Schumann, founding partner of Savrick, Schumann, Johnson, McGarr, Kaminski & Shirley LLP. Robertson said she thinks the backlash will create additional movement towards equality. “When we hear about people who returned happy from their
LGBT page 3 REASON TO PARTY
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