The Daily Texan 2015-03-04

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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 6

MULTIMEDIA ONLINE

SPORTS PAGE 4

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

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LEGISLATURE

Lawmaker calls to legalize marijuana

By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman

Rep. David Simpson (RLongview) filed a bill Monday to legalize marijuana in Texas.

If passed, HB 2165 would repeal offenses related to possessing, selling and growing marijuana in Texas. The bill retracts all mentions of the word “marihuana” mentioned in the current provisions of the law.

In a statement, Simpson said, “God did not make a mistake when he made marijuana.”

According to Simpson, the government should not have a role in marijuana regulation.

Simpson said marijuana should be regulated like any other plant.

“I am proposing that this plant be regulated like tomatoes, jalapeños or coffee.”

Simpson said. “Current marijuana policies are not based on science or sound evidence, but rather misinformation and fear.”

Currently, marijuana is legal for recreational use in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Wash-

ington, as well as the District of Columbia.

Stephanie Hamborsky, Plan II and biology junior and president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said she is in favor of the bill. Hamborsky said she believes selling marijuana in the state would aid Texas’ economy. Colorado made $34.4 million in revenue from recreational marijuana sales between January–October 2014, according to The Washington Post.

“I think overall this bill is a good thing. I think lawmakers are realizing … it is a huge economic incentive,” Hamborsky said. “They can tax it and regulate it, and the money goes to the state.”

The legalization of marijuana would also help students charged with the use or possession of marijuana, according to Hamborsky.

“As a student at UT, you’re working hard, and you want to graduate and get a job,” Hamborsky said. “If you have a blemish like that on your record, that doesn’t reflect your

competence as an employee or professionalism. It can be a barrier for students.”

There were 12 offenses related to the possession of drug paraphernalia last year on campus — 11 of which were cleared, according to University of Texas Police Department crime statistics.

When asked whether UTPD supports the legalization of marijuana, UTPD spokeswoman Ronda Weldon said UTPD would uphold the new law if the bill were to pass.

Bridget Guien, communications director for College Republicans and economics freshman, said the organization is divided on the legalization of marijuana.

“We currently do not have a stance on the legalization of marijuana,” Guien said in an email. “The members of our organization hold a variety of different opinions on this subject so I am unable to give a general opinion.”

University Democrats support medical and recreational use, production and sale of

marijuana in Texas, according to Ashley Alcantara, UDems communications director and international relations and global studies senior. However, Alcantara said she thinks marijuana should be regulated in a similar fashion as alcohol.

“University Democrats supports the regulation and decriminalization of marijuana, which

aligns with the platform of the Texas Democratic Party.”

Alcantara said in an email.

“Both policies would create more reasonable law enforcement practices and reduce the incarcerated population, which are both very pressing issues.”

Illustration by Melanie Westfall | Daily Texan Staff

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

GSA votes to approve its first Bill of Rights

By Samantha Ketterer

Beth Cozzolino, Graduate Student Assembly student affairs director and sociology graduate student, speaks at a GSA meeting in the Graduate School of Business building Tuesday evening.

@sam_kett

The Graduate Student Assembly on Tuesday approved the Graduate Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, the first official legislation outlining graduate student rights in the organization’s history.

The bill includes the right to a basic standard of living, nondiscrimination and inclusion in the University grievance process. This year’s Graduate Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities Committee will begin meeting with faculty bodies to discuss the language of the document as well as the rights they approved.

Rachel Zein Daily Texan Staff

GSA page 2 CITY

bit.ly/dtvid

SYSTEM

Institute to offer grants for brain research

By Josh Willis @joshwillis35

The UT System Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Institute will accept applications for $100,000 seed grants for human brain research.

The institute, which the UT System Board of Regents established in August 2014, will be giving up to a total $5 million to applicants in an attempt to enhance brain research, according to a statement from the UT System.

The seed grants, which are grants that go toward approved projects, will fund innovative brain research projects, according to institute director Daniel Johnston. Johnston said he is expecting around 200 applications from UT System institutions.

“The purpose of the seed grants is to allow researchers to pursue new highrisk areas of research and to form new collaborations with other scientists that might not have occurred without the seed funding,” Johnston said.

Patricia Hurn, UT System vice chancellor for research and innovation, said the institute, also known as UT Brain, will benefit from the seed grants because the researchers will be in a better position to receive federal funding.

“The really important output is that our researchers be well-positioned to compete for the national [Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN)] Initiative,” Hurn said. “To do that, they need to be not only fabulous scientists, but they need to be innovative.”

BRAIN page 2

CAMPUS

Students express towing frustrations Snapchat CEO: ‘Don’t put off ideas’

By Wynne Davis

TOWING CHARGES

Eight students have said J & J Towing removed their cars from their apartment complexes although they had permits displayed.

J & J towed the cars from Texan Tower and San Gabriel Condominiums, both of which are located in West Campus; University Estates in Riverside; and Tanglewood North Apartments in North Campus.

Four of the towings occurred this semester.

Sociology senior Jenna Vandenbrande said J & J wrongly towed her car from Texan Tower twice.

“I got towed once for being parking in a handicap spot, even though it wasn’t marked one, and once for not having a permit displayed, even though

it was clearly displayed on my car,” Vandenbrande said.

When she went to the management of her complex, Vandenbrande said the staff told her that the complex would only refund her money if she provided a photo of her permit on the car immediately before J & J towed it.

Each time J & J towed her car, Vandenbrande said she paid about $193, and she never received a refund from her complex.

According to an open records request that KXAN filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, J & J Towing has received 32 complaints, 34 violations and 15 illegal towing violations since 2011.

Timothy Sapp, director of operations for J & J Towing, said drivers work with each

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Legislator calls for UT to accept lower AP scores.

ONLINE

Prospective UT students deserve a fair shot.

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University invited to join new exchange program.

ONLINE

Debate should combat growing political incivility.

PAGE 3

@wynneellyn

Base tow: $193.30 Per additional night: $20 Notification fee after 24 hours: $50

apartment complex differently.

“There are some properties that have us make patrol on our own, and others where we’re waiting for their call,” Sapp said. “The protocol for most apartments is permit patrol.

The driver does an inspection of the property … [and], after the driver has checked the entire property, vehicles that do not have parking permits or are in violation are removed at that time.”

Corporate communications senior Lauren Martinez

By Lauren Florence @laurenreneeflo

When looking to assemble a team for a startup, Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snapchat, found it crucial to find people with a variety of viewpoints who are willing to stand by their convictions.

“When you’re with a ton of really smart people with a ton of different points of view, it’s really important that you believe that you’re correct and fight for your ideas,” Spiegel said. “Otherwise they sort of get lost in that intensity.”

Snapchat — a communication application valued at $19 billion dollars, according to Bloomberg — is the sixthmost downloaded free app in the iTunes App Store.

Spiegel said his company values hard work, creativity

Thalia Juarez | Daily Texan Staff

Evan Spiegel, Snapchat CEO and co-founder, talks about his experiences at Snapchat in the SAC on Tuesday evening.

and kindness the most when looking for people to add to their team. Spiegel’s advice for entrepreneurs who want to start a business: Find great mentors and not put off ideas.

One of the most important qualities of an entrepreneur is

the ability to listen more than you speak, Spiegel said.

“The way I can tell someone is going to succeed when I meet young people is

LIFE&ARTS

ONLINE

COMICS

Basketball walk-on’s make their presence felt.

PAGE 4

School of Information hosts Wikipedia Edit-a-thon.

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Follow The Daily Texan on Twitter for the latest oncampus updates.

Second half surge propels women’s basketball PAGE 4

Food startup wants you to top your food with crickets.

PAGE 6

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TOWING page 2

SNAPCHAT page 2

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

FRAMES featured photo

Volume 115, Issue 112

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

Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff

Noah Zim holds a string of balloons at the South Mall on Tuesday to promote Zoku’s launch.

SNAPCHAT

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the guy who is silent in the meeting is always the genius — like, every time,” Spiegel said.

Interested in creating his own startups, computer engineering sophomore Sean Gajjar said Spiegel taught him the first steps to take with a startup and the importance of hiring the right people early on.

The idea of Snapchat is appealing because it is quick and

TOWING

continues from page 1 The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely.

If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or email managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.

COPYRIGHT Copyright 2015 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER

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Don’t fall asleep.

said J & J correctly towed her car when she parked near the AT&T Conference Center.

“I got caught up in class and forgot to pay again, so, when I walked out there, my car was gone,” Martinez said. “The guys weren’t rude about it, but it was just unfortunate.”

Every time J & J tows a vehicle, the base charge is $193.30. According to a company employee, the initial tow costs $150 and then there is a $20 impound fee and a $20 storage fee, which the company incurs for the vehicle for each day it is in the lot.

Sapp said anyone can file a complaint, but the company tries to resolve any issues before further action is necessary.

“First off, [we] look at photographic evidence to try and make a determination about whether the complaint has any validity,” Sapp said. “If it does,

This issue of The Daily Texan is valued at $1.25 Permanent Staff

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riley Brands Senior Associate Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noah M. Horwitz Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Berkeley, Cullen Bounds, Olive Liu Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jordan Rudner Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brett Donohoe, Jack Mitts News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Brouillette Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Anderson Boyd, Danielle Brown, Chanelle Gibson, Adam Hamze, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natalie Sullivan Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wynne Davis, Eleanor Dearman, Samantha Ketterer, Jackie Wang, Josh Willis Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taiki Miki Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Liza Didyk, Matthew Kerr, Kailey Thompson Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Michael Conway, Hannah Evans, Bryce Seifert Editorial Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Antonia Gales Senior Opinion Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Shenhar Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kat Sampson Life&Arts Associate Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danielle Lopez Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cat Cardenas, Marisa Charpentier, Elisabeth Dillon Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Garrett Callahan Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evan Berkowitz Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nick Castillo, Claire Cruz, Jacob Martella, Aaron Torres Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsay Rojas Associate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert Lee, Connor Murphy Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crystal Marie, Isabella Palacios, Amber Perry, Rodolfo Suarez Special Projects Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Voeller Tech Team Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miles Hutson Social Media Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sydney Rubin Editorial Adviser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Chen

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Florence, Wesley Scarborough, Sherry Tucci Multimedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Guerra, Thalia Juarez, Rachel Zein Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Drew Lieberman, Courtney Norris, Peter Sblendorio, Michael Shapiro, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremy Thomas Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emily Fu, Rebecca Fu, Megan Kallus Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Dolan, Jeremi Suri Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kate Oh Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nicole Farrell Comic Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pesina, Leah Rushin, Lydra Thron

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user-friendly yet entertaining, Gajjar said.

“It’s true that social media is becoming a chore — people have to go through a certain process to go and check their Twitter and find out what’s happening,” Gajjar said. “I think our generation looks for things that are kind of ‘snappy.’ We don’t like to wait for things.”

Snapchat’s original concept was simple, according to Spiegel, who said he just wanted an app that could send pictures

and make them disappear. Jeff Linwood, lecturer of a mobile app development class, said he hopes Spiegel will inspire students to follow even the simplest of ideas.

“Executing well on simple ideas can lead to amazing opportunities — whether it’s running a billion-dollar company or getting millions of users,” Linwood said. “With simple ideas, you need less time, less money and less effort to convince new users to try your product.”

[we’re] obviously going to work to resolve the problem.

We attempt to resolve any of these conflicts before it seems necessary to look for an independent arbitrator through the legal system.”

Sapp said the company almost all of the complaints on file with Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation have been dismissed.

“There are going to be complaints against the towing company since people don’t like having their cars removed without their consent,” Sapp said. “It’s going to be very difficult to make everyone comfortable with the situation.

Obviously, we would like to have as few complaints as possible”

BRAIN

continues from page 1 Because of decreased federal funding for neuroscience research, there will be increased national competition, according to mechanical engineering professor Dale Klein.

Although the seed grants will only be available for UT System schools, they are intended to garner competition for federal grants.

“It appears that federal funds are going to become more challenging to obtain, [and] the amount will be reduced, so the competition is going to be more challenging,” Klein said. “So this seed grant is to put people together to be more competitive for what we expect to be reduced federal funds for research.”

UT-Austin will be administering the grants in a partnership with the UT System. Applicants for the seed grants will come from departments and faculties from across the state, Klein said.

“The applicants we expect will be mainly within the UT System campuses, but they could also partner

GSA

continues from page 1 “Even just getting this passed all the way up and all the way through is going to take a really long time,” said Beth Cozzolino, GSA student affairs director and sociology graduate student.

“But the hope is by having this document in policy, we will have laid the ground work and the method for how you make other kinds of changes, and the other battles will come later.”

GSA began working on

NEWS

with schools outside the system,” Klein said. “Our funds will only be to the System schools. We expect it will be the neuroscience faculty or those faculty involved in that.”

President Barack Obama announced the launch of the BRAIN Initiative in April 2014. The initiative is “focused on revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain,” according to a White House statement.

“Currently, the BRAIN Initiative that President Obama is pushing is several hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” Klein said.

“So what we want to do is enable our faculty to be more competitive to go after those funds.”

The UT Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Institute was founded to foster collaboration among researchers, according to Klein.

“It really is intended to enhance communication among the faculty at both the academic and the medical health-science institutes to help focus on research needs,” Klein said. the bill in January 2014.

Members of the committee said they do not expect the University to fully recognize the rights immediately.

“We’ll have to meet with administrators at all levels and discuss the options to move forward with the document as a whole or in pieces,” said Jake Jordan, committee member and geological sciences graduate student. “I kind of think it’s going to be an iterative process.”

Cozzolino said there were many points that the committee and other graduate students wanted to include in the bill, such as parental leave, higher pay for graduate students and better health care. The committee did not include these items because of administrative pushback, Cozzolino said.

“The ones we’ve landed on are the ones that we think are more feasible,” Cozzolino said. “All the ones we got more pushback [on] we have not included on this document.”

A lack of funding is at the root of the pushback, Jordan said. Additionally, graduate student housing is one of the largest problems the committee hopes to address with the bill, said David Ottesen, committee member and aerospace engineering graduate student.

“There’s problems with the current grad housing — a lot — and we’re aware of the issues,” Ottesen said.

“It’s mostly a quantity issue, but it’s also disproportionately toward international students and families. And that’s not a bad thing, but there are other grad students [out there].”

Jordan said even students who have not encountered problems at the University could see the benefit in having a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

“I still sort of see the need for there being [an] underpinning document that really outlines … guidelines for what we should be providing to the University in conjunction with what they’re supposed to be giving back to us,” Jordan said. “This really is a symbiotic relationship.”

GSA President Brian Wilkey said this legislation is one of the most important ones that has been passed in GSA all year, although getting faculty to aid graduate students in these rights could be difficult.

“This is going to be a long process,” Wilkey said. “They’re going to have many suggestions, and we’re going to have to hash it out. But this long journey has to start somewhere. It’s time to break the champagne open, and this ship can get sailing.”

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RILEY BRANDS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorial Wednesday, March 4, 2015

COLUMN

Contimplating policies should help combat global incivility

By Jeremi Suri

Daily Texan Columnist @JeremiSuri

Is it just me, or has our world taken a turn to greater incivility in the last few years? The evidence seems overwhelming. Our politicians attack one another and show no inclination to listen to anything but what they already believe. Politics has always involved aggression, but we have crossed a line when national figures compare peaceful protesters to international terrorists and prominent personalities accuse their adversaries of “not loving America.” Our public discourse leaves little space for legitimate and respected disagreement. You are loyal and upstanding or you are traitorous and debased, depending on who is listening.

This phenomenon is global. The dismissive renunciation of Greece’s calls for reform in European Union finances and its pleas for some alternative to economic policies crushing its population show how European politics are also plagued by callousness toward dissent. China and Russia have only increased their intimidation, torture and even murder of dissidents. The killing last week of Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and leading liberal politician in Russia, was one more sign that rulers around the world are cracking down on public critics.

Shot dead in sight of the Kremlin, Nemtsov’s murder is a deadly warning to all, in Russia and beyond, who challenge established authority.

Growing inequalities of power and wealth are a necessary part of this story. During the past half-century, millions of people around the world have gained access to education, high incomes and personal security. At the same time, many more millions have been left behind. By most measures, the gap between the lucky “haves” and the unlucky “have-nots” has grown across societies. This is perhaps true in the United States most of all, where a narrow sliver of the population has seen unprecedented income growth,

while the vast majority of citizens face real declining wages. The children of the wealthy and the educated in our society can expect lives of great abundance and opportunity; the children of the poor have much narrower prospects, with less hope than during prior decades.

In a growing but deeply unequal world, the stakes in political debate are often violent. Those who have acquired much in recent years fear, legitimately, that those left behind want to take what they have.

Since the poor have “proven” they cannot help themselves, the argument goes, they must want to steal someone else’s earnings.

Taxes, health care and even aid for education get coded as thievery by the lazy and unqualified, or those who are doing their bidding.

On the other end of our polarized debates, those who speak, legitimately, for citizens left behind claim that privileged citizens in our society have somehow cheated and stolen from others. There is a populist hatred of well-educated hard working professionals that seeps through the nasty condemnations voiced by the Tea Party’s supporters and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Both blame elites for their personal frustrations when, in fact, most of the highly educated and high earning members of our society are also hard-working and simply playing by the rules. Successful professionals in our knowledge industries do not work with their hands, but they are the sources of innovation and productivity that allow even our poorest citizens to live better material lives than their predecessors. Although elites (like most of us reading this column) are beneficiaries of current inequalities, we did not make them, and we often do what we can to help broader parts of our social community. Self-interest and concern for the public good are not necessarily contradictions, and they do not correlate with one’s income-level.

Inequality is encouraging incivility today because of the fear I mentioned earlier. Those at the top fear that their position is not se-

Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff

cure, especially as they see how far they can fall. Those near the bottom fear that they do not have an opportunity to climb even part of the way to the top. That is the story of our vituperative politics around health care. It is also the story surrounding European Union finances and political authority in China and Russia. When the world is increasingly divided between “haves” and “have-nots,” each side has more to fight for, at almost all costs.

In these polarized circumstances, democracy becomes a secondary concern, even in the United States – witness the cynical efforts by certain politicians today to discourage poor, young and minority voters from casting their ballots.

The solution to our current global inequality and incivility is not clear. I do not have a simple roadmap to offer. We must, however, begin by diagnosing and discussing the prob-

lem. We must study the numerous causes and their many consequences as social scientists, humanists and cosmopolitan citizens. We must push ourselves to contemplate creative policies – in our universities, in our home communities, in our nation and our world – that push against these problems. This should be a calling for our best universities and our best young thinkers.

If we are not studying these issues, we can expect more violence and democratic decline in coming years. Money and moral selfrighteousness will mean little if our society does not find the resolve to encourage more civility and more equality. You can visit Boris Nemtsov’s grave in Russia to see the alternative.

Suri is a professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

He writes about foreign policy.

COLUMN

UT prospects deserve a fair shot

ONLINE

By Mary Dolan

Daily Texan Columnist @mimimdolan

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 .

EDITORIAL

Student regent system exclusive Most individuals on campus are indubitably familiar with, for example, the SG President, Kori Rady. More astute followers will likely recognize a plethora of other names of active students on campus, which are mentioned time and time again in the pages of this newspaper. One name that is likely not familiar is Max Richards, the student regent for the UT System. Richards, who Daily Texan File Photo took office last year, has not made much of an im- Max Richards is the current UT System student regent. pact in these tumultuous past few months for the the legislature seeks to formally forbid stuboard. In fact, a cursory search of his name dent regent applicants from applying dishows that it has not made its way into the rectly to the governor’s office. State Rep. J.D. Texan since his nomination.

Sheffield, R-Gatesville, and state Sen. Judith One possible reason is the backdoor way Zaffrini, D-Laredo, the respective authors that Richards came into office. A 2005 law of said bills, noted that they wish to both passed by the Texas Legislature suggests that improve the quality of student regents and applicants to student regent positions apply return more decision-making power back to to their respective student government or- the students themselves. ganizations first. Richards — as well as his Granted, Gov. Greg Abbott’s track record predecessor, Nash Horne — completely ig- on issues pertaining to this University has nored this prerogative and applied directly been significantly better than his predecesto the office of then-Governor Rick Perry. sor’s, but we still strongly believe, nonethePredictably, the move prompted condemna- less, that the state’s chief executive should tion from pertinent student groups, includ- not usurp one of the few remaining oping this editorial board. portunities for students to contribute to the However, the move has also angered a bi- administration of their universities. We suppartisan caucus of concerned onlookers in port these bills, HB 1256 and SB 42, respecthe Legislature. As the Texan has reported, tively, and urge the Legislature to pass them a pair of bills in both respective houses of swiftly.

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.

College applications can be a stressful topic for many high school seniors, including those who wish to attend this University.

A potential Longhorn has to ensure that his or her GPA and extracurricular activities are impressive enough to merit an acceptance letter. Some students are guaranteed admission, but some are stuck in the “maybe” pile, in need of an impressive award or accomplishment that can push them over the top. However, as recent news has demonstrated, there is an unconventional asset that those “maybe” students can use to their advantage: political connections.

According to a report by Kroll Associates Inc., President William Powers Jr. granted undergraduate admissions to 73 students with poor academic records between 2009 and 2014. The Kroll report found that, in the cases of these students, their political or legacy connections likely played an oversized role in their acceptance.

Powers and other University leaders would put “holds” on certain applications, according to a recent Austin AmericanStatesman article. These holds would signal that the applicant would not be formally rejected until the person who had placed the hold was notified. Final decisions concerning these applications would be made by the president’s office and the admissions office.

The Kroll report stated that while Powers’ office “appears to have violated no law, rule, or policy (with the possible exception of the prohibition against legacy admissions), it is an aspect of the admissions process that does not appear in the public representations of UT-Austin’s admissions process.”

It is an understatement to say that admitting students based on favorable connec-

According to a report by Kroll Associates Inc., President William Powers Jr. granted undergraduate admissions to 73 students with poor academic records between 2009 and 2014.

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.

tions is not a part of the “public representation” of the University. The UT website endorses the same standard admissions process used by many other universities.

Applicants are encouraged to send in the usual items such as transcripts and SAT/ ACT test scores. While the website does encourage students to send in recommendation letters, it says that they are only used to “provide more information about [an applicant’s] personal and academic achievements.” Nowhere on the website is it revealed that a recommendation letter or any other sort of endorsement from an impressive connection could help balance out a subpar transcript or test score.

While the idea of well-connected students having an easier time getting into college may not be a surprising one, it should be pointed out that the vast majority of students applying to UT do not have these kinds of connections, especially those who come from other states or countries. An out-of-state student probably isn’t going to have someone who can tip the scales in his or her favor if the admissions office decides to reject them. This practice is also hurtful toward lower-income students, who usually do not have the same advantages (and connections) that higher-income students do.

Perhaps the system will change. According to the Austin American-Statesman, UT Chancellor William McRaven is undecided on whether or not the admissions system should be isolated from the rest of the campus by a “firewall,” saying, “That may be a good idea. It may not. I don’t know.” McRaven is right to not make a quick decision. A barrier between the admissions office and the rest of UT would have to be put in effect before its potential benefits or consequences could truly be assessed. It could be that a “firewall” would allow for a more fair admissions process. It could be that the current system is still the better way to go. What matters is that all prospective students are reviewed using the same process. UT needs to ensure that students are admitted or rejected from this University because of their academic achievements, not because of who they were able to get to advocate for them.

This has always been a great school.

The opportunities for growth and discovery afforded to students in all majors and programs are endless. We need to make sure that potential students are reviewed fairly so that all applications have an equal chance to enjoy this University and everything it has to offer.

Dolan is a journalism freshman from Abilene.

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 Wednesday, March 4, 2015

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Walk-ons: The last ones off the bench

By Peter Sblendorio @petersblendorio

The Walk-ons on most college rosters generally go unnoticed. They rarely get into games. When they do, the score is usually so unbalanced that many fans have already left.

Even some of the biggest fans might not know their names.

But the 2014–2015 Texas men’s basketball walk-ons are making sure people know exactly who they are.

Sophomore forward Danny Newsome, a three-year veteran of the program, has the longest tenure of the five walk-ons. Senior guard Tarale Murry and junior forward Brandon Allums joined him at the beginning of last season, and sophomore forward Ryan McClurg soon followed suit in January 2014.

Freshman guard Joe Schwartz rounded out the squad in December.

Individually, the five walkons don’t receive the same recognition as the Longhorns’ scholarship players do. But, as a unit, they’ve created their own online brand.

Their success on the Internet has arisen because of their Twitter account, @UTBBallWalkOns, in which they call themselves the “LastOnesOffTheBench.” The account currently has more than 1,800 followers.

Newsome said the idea to create the account arose during the team’s trip to Arizona for a scrimmage against Gonzaga. He said he wanted a way to document the adventures of the Longhorns’ least prolific players.

He pitched the idea of a Twitter account to McClurg, and they became the co-creators and the

lone password holders for the Twitter account.

“We really had no idea what we were going to get out of it,” Newsome said. “We knew we wanted it to be very funny and sarcastic and very promoting of the team.”

They decided the best way to do this was to upload stoic photos of all five walk-ons standing at the half-court line of each of the team’s road venues.

They tweeted their first picture on Nov. 20 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, where they received 64 “retweets” and 94 “favorites,” and they’ve continued to tweet pictures ever since.

At first, Murry gave his teammates a hard time about the Twitter, joking that he wouldn’t take part in the photos. He eventually agreed to participate — under the condition he would never look at the camera in any of the pictures.

“It seems like a paradox,” Murry said. “Because I’m drawing attention to myself by not looking, but I’m [acting like I don’t want attention].”

Of course, the walk-ons possess a far more important role on the team than simply garnering attention on social media.

They serve as Texas’ scout team– studying the tendencies of the Longhorns’ next opponents and then emulate them against the scholarship players in practice.

“It gives the guys a better look at how [teams are going to play against us],” McClurg said. “They aren’t going to remember plays, but they’re remembering general actions, and those things kind of stick. That’s

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WEST VIRGINIA

KANSAS STATE

TOP TWEET

Shelby Tauber | Daily Texan file photo

From right, senior guard Tarale Murry, junior forward Brandon Allums and sophomore forward Danny Newsome cheer on the Longhorns from inside Madison Square Garden.

kind of our way that we can help them.”

While the fans may not be aware of what the walk-ons do in practice, the scholarship players realize the significance of their contributions.

“They’re really the behindthe-scenes guys on this team,” freshman forward Myles Turner said. “They put in the extra work when we’re not here just to [learn] the personnel of the other team [for] scout [team]. They do a lot of stuff with this team that goes unnoticed.”

Beyond functioning as the scout team, the walk-ons help out in drills and fill in during practice if someone is hurt.

“We do whatever the coaches need us to do, basically,” Allums said.

When the Longhorns are holding a healthy lead over their

opponents, the walk-ons actually get to hit the floor during a game’s closing minutes. Each time they’ve made it to the court this season, their entrance has elicited loud cheers from the fans.

Newsome and Allums lead the walk-ons with five appearances this season, and McClurg and Murry each have four.

On Dec. 16 against Lipscomb, Schwartz’s first game on the active roster, all five of the walk-ons played during the final few minutes. Each walk-on scored.

Schwartz connected on a 3-pointer in his only shot attempt in the game, but he hasn’t played since.

“He’s now 100 percent from three,” McClurg said. “I told him not to take another shot in his career.”

Cold, rainy weekend cools streaking Texas

Rachel Zein | Daily Texan Staff

Sophomore center Kelsey Lang had 19 points and 10 rebounds in her second doubledouble of the season. She helped the Longhorns outscore TCU 36–10 in the paint.

Texas ends regular season play, routs TCU with big second-half Texas made a statement Tuesday night — just ahead of the Big 12 tournament.

The Longhorns jumped all over TCU in the second half to win by 34 and send a message to the rest of the conference.

“I believe we are better than anybody in this league,” head coach Karen Aston said.

And when the Big 12 tournament begins Friday, TCU will once again have to face off in the quarterfinals against a Texas squad that is firing on all cylinders.

“I’m looking for hungry dogs,” Aston said of her team’s fight heading into tournament play.

However, the final score, 79–45, doesn’t tell the whole story. The game wasn’t a rout during the first half.

Maybe Texas was still sluggish from its overtime loss in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Sunday. Or maybe its nine turnovers helped keep the Horned Frogs (17–12, 9–9 Big 12)

Although the opportunities to play are rare for the walk-ons, Schwartz considers their overall contributions to the team to be as significant as anyone’s.

“I think our role is just as important as everyone else’s,” Schwartz said. “We’re here to bring energy. We’re here to do the best we can on scout team. We’re here to be tough on the guys when we need to, and we’re here to have the guys’ backs.”

For the walk-ons, those responsibilities seem to be a perfect fit.

“We want playing time because if we get playing time, that means we’re up by 30,” McClurg said. “But we really don’t want playing time. We just love being a part of the program and love being around the guys.”

STAT GUY BASEBALL

79–45

close in the first half. Either way, the Longhorns (20–9, 9–9 Big 12) led by just 5 points at halftime despite an 11-point burst from junior guard Brady Sanders.

“We need to play attention to detail,” Aston said.

The team took Aston’s advice in the second half as they came out and executed almost flawlessly, turning the ball over just four times.

Behind sophomore center Kelsey Lang’s 13 points and eight rebounds in the second half, Texas rolled as it made up for its loss to TCU earlier in the year.

The Longhorns outscored TCU by 29 in the half, shooting 55 percent from the field and holding the Horned Frogs to a meager 25 percent.

Texas took advantage of its size, going to the rim on offense and keeping TCU outside. Texas outscored TCU in the paint by a wide 36–10 margin and forced TCU to jack up 22 from deep, where they made just three shots. Lang finished with her second double-double of the season,

(20) WEST VIRGINIA

NCAAW

@DrewLieberman

@courtneyknorris

NCAAM (9) KANSAS

By Drew Lieberman

By Courtney Norris

SIDELINE

as she tallied 19 points and 10 boards.

Apart from Lang, the rest of the scoring was balanced.

The bench had itself a nice game, outscoring TCU’s sideline, 33–6.

Junior center Imani McGee-Stafford had 9 points and four blocks.

Sophomore guard Brianna Taylor also chipped in on the glass, bringing down 10 rebounds.

While Texas’ scoring came from many sources, TCU’s offense was bunched.

Junior guard Zahna Medley, junior forward Veja Hamilton and senior guard Natalie Ventress combined for 39 of TCU’s 45. The rest of the team shot 1-of-25 from the field and 3-of-9 from the free-throw line.

The win came on an emotional night that honored the team’s seniors: forward Nneka Enemkpali and guard Krystle Henderson.

Enemkpali tore her ACL earlier in the year, effectively ending her college career.

“Today is their day,” Aston said. “Our day.”

Last week, Texas baseball was on a roll.

Redshirt freshman third baseman Bret Boswell provided the heroics in the form of a walk-off single as the Longhorns rallied from a four-run deficit against UT-Pan American for their seventh consecutive victory — their longest streak since March 2011.

Texas’ pitching had been dominant during the streak.

Against Minnesota, Texas pitchers threw three consecutive shutouts, and that hasn’t happened since the 2002 national championship season. In those seven games, the staff allowed only seven earned runs.

The offense was hitting as well as one could expect during the run, combining to hit .335 in those seven contests.

While 23 of Texas’ 29 extra-base hits came from the first six batters in the order, the bottom of the lineup got on base in other ways — by drawing 18 walks, which tied the rest of the lineup over the stretch.

With a 2–6 San Diego headed to Austin for a three-game set, the Longhorns appeared to be a near lock to enter their four-game series against Stanford with double-digit wins and perhaps even a doubledigit winning streak.

But colder temperatures

seemed to cool down the streaking Longhorns.

The weather forced Texas to scratch a three-game series for a Sunday doubleheader.

The Longhorns dropped both games, falling five spots to No. 13 in the NCBWA rankings.

They batted a meager .104 in 48 at-bats against the Toreros. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Longhorns only had one hit — a double by senior right fielder Collin Shaw, who, through Monday’s games, ranks second in the nation in that category with 10.

In the combined 16 innings, Texas scored just twice against San Diego. That same staff allowed at least three runs in seven of eight contests entering the weekend, including eight or more in three of those.

Texas stranded 14 runners on base, with the middle of the order responsible for nine of those. Meanwhile, the last third of the lineup went hitless.

The Longhorns totaled only eight bases after hitting for 118 in the previous seven games.

If the bats get going again against Stanford this weekend, the Longhorns could start another winning streak before conference play. The Cardinal, similar to Texas, split its fourgame series with Rice this past weekend, and its pitching staff may be exactly what gets the Texas offense back on track.

Stanford has allowed nine or more runs in four of its first 12 games.

Chad Hollingsworth @ChadH_31

I forgot just how good the Juan in a Million handshake really is

SPORTS BRIEFLY Texas athletics to offer loyalty system

With a new loyalty points system in place, Texas’ donors and seasonticket holders will be rewarded for their contributions to Longhorns sports and philanthropy.

Texas Athletics announced Tuesday that the system gives season-ticket holders priority for football season tickets, parking and special events based on their full-season ticket history, seat-related contributions and philanthropic gifts dating back to 1986.

The system awards donors up to five points for each $100 donation since Sept. 1, 2014, and a minimum of one point per season ticket account for all ticketed sports since 1987. Ticket and parking requests will be processed in order of point totals.

Men’s athletics director Steve Patterson said in a statement that the new system adds value to being a season-ticket holder and Longhorn Foundation member. He also emphasized the importance in rewarding donors for their contributions. “[The system] rewards those who make a lifetime commitment in Texas Athletics and our student-athletes through philanthropic contributions, which are vital to the future success of our programs,” Patterson said.

The points system will be implemented starting with upcoming season ticket renewals for the 2015 season.

—Ezra Siegel

Three Longhorns get academic honor

Tennis senior Lina Padegimaite, track and field junior Alaina Perez and track and field senior Megan Siebert earned the fifth annual Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12’s highest academic honor.

To qualify for the award, student-athletes must have at least one letter, and the recipient, who can only earn the award once, must have earned 100 hours of credit with a cumulative GPA of 3.80.

Padegimaite is majoring in exercise science, Perez is majoring in chemistry, and Siebert is majoring in health promotion/prephysical therapy.

—Evan Berkowitz

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

Senior right fielder Collin Shaw provided the lone hit for the Longhorns in the front end of Sunday’s doubleheader.

COMICS Wednesday, March 4, 2015

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KAT SAMPSON, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Wednesday, March 4, 2015

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CAMPUS

Activists try to close Wikipedia gender gap

By Megan Kallus @megmayumi

When the activists behind the national Art+Feminism campaign browsed through art categories on Wikipedia, they found thousands of detailed pages dedicated to male artists. As they continued reading, they all shared the same thought: Where were the women?

UT’s School of Information will host the 2015 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Saturday. During the communal editing event, participants will spend an entire day updating articles that concern art and feminism on Wikipedia.

Art+Feminism’s campaign seeks to improve the coverage of women in the arts in digital media, such as Wikipedia.

According to Wikimedia surveys, about 9 percent of Wikipedia editors are female. Art+Feminism’s goal is to make this statistic more balanced.

Pearl Ko, information studies graduate student

and co-director of Advocating for Women in Technology, said that she feels the lack of female voices in editing impacts the quality of information available on Wikipedia.

“Because of the ubiquity of Wikipedia-supplied information, we must be mindful of which voices are expressed and which are not,” Ko said.

“If Wikipedia is to remain a free-access encyclopedia, then we all should and have a right to contribute.”

Through public events, such as the Edit-a-thon, Ko said she wants to spur discussion on how the gender gap in Wikipedia’s articles influences common public perception of female artists and feminist topics. Rachel Simone Weil, art and art history lecturer, said she shares Ko’s concerns.

“Many of us might imagine that Wikipedia articles, especially those on popular topics, remain relatively unchanged and uncontested as they gravitate toward ‘the Truth,’”

ART+FEMINISM WIKIPEDIA EDIT-A-THON

When: Saturday Where: UT School of Information Admission: free

Weil said. “Yet a peek under the hood of the editing process reveals so much about how histories and truths are constructed, illuminating their inherent instability.”

UT alumna Amy Cavender, who helped plan Art+Feminism’s Edit-a-thon, said she believes the Internet belongs to everyone.

“We should all chip in to make it bigger and better,” Cavender said. “It is my hope that specifically focusing on these areas will draw in people who might not normally feel like they ‘can’ or ‘should’ edit Wikipedia, or who may have a lot to say about subjects that fall under the broader topics but haven’t thought about Wikipedia as a viable forum to do so.”

Weil said she thinks there

Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff

is a risk of some people misunderstanding the goal of the Edit-a-thon.

“The intent is not to disproportionately overstate the roles of women or downplay the achievements of men through a malicious rewriting of history,” Weil said.

“Rather, this project seeks to revisit gaps in scholarship and

canonical history — places in which the accounts of women’s contributions to society may, for one reason or another, simply not exist.”

Ko said she agrees with Weil’s assessment of Art+Feminism’s goals. She hopes that the upcoming event will give women more confidence to participate

in editing.

“It’s really up to no one but ourselves to change what we see on Wikipedia, but admittedly it can be intimidating when you feel alone, inexperienced or unwelcome,” Ko said. “A vital first step is to encourage everyone to participate and make Wikipedia a welcoming space.”

FOOD

Cricket ramen founders develop protein-packed spices

By Emily Fu

@thedailytexan

If the four students behind “Cramen” had it their way, everyone would top their dishes with crickets.

Cramen — a portmanteau of cricket and ramen — is a food startup that UT students Michael Chang, Gary Hsu, Vik Parthiban and Kevin Sy founded this past summer.

Cramen specializes in spice packets similar to the ones that come with ramen noodles — but with a nutritional twist. Each

packet contains cricket flour and algae powder, both of which are high in protein and nutrients.

Parthiban, an electrical and computer engineering graduate student, said the team’s ultimate goal is to create a spice blend that tastes delicious in a variety of recipes — whether it’s ramen or cookies.

“We want to make sure we have a spice that we can trust,” Parthiban said. “Right now, we want to perfect that spice.

Then, we’ll start selling to different customers and see what their reception is.”

The team recently competed as a finalist in the UT Food Lab Challenge in which they had to come up with a food-related idea that could help with a global health issue.

“Something that we all have in common is that we all love ramen,” said Hsu, a management information systems and radio-television-film senior.

“So we were thinking about the spice packets, and we said, ‘Why don’t we make these spice blends, so we can add it to anything?’”

With a passion to eliminate

CAMPUS Members of UT’s Solar Vehicle Team, from left, Konrad Werzner, Ji Seon, Ross Miglin and Angus Ranson, stand with the TexSun, a solar-powered car built to participate in cross-country and track races.

Rachel Zein Daily Texan Staff

Solar Vehicle Team looks to future

By Rebecca Fu @thedailytexan

A group of students is building a solar-powered car that can function, drive and even race — all while creating minimal waste.

Each school year, UT’s Solar Vehicle Team builds solar-powered cars to race in both cross-country and track competitions. This year, the group is improving their current car, the TexSun, and working on an entirely new vehicle.

According to Cynthia Luu, electrical engineering junior and team president, the club tends to attract engineers, but it is open to students of all disciplines.

Despite focusing her studies on electrical engineering, Luu said she started out on the team by working on the body of the car.

Ross Miglin, mechanical engineering freshman and team member, said the group adopts a trial-byfire approach to learning the ropes.

“I crawled under the body of the vehicle and stared at the wheel for 30 minutes,” Miglin said.

“Eventually, through asking a lot of questions, I

figured it out.”

Much of the work on the car is done independently by different subgroups within the team.

Luu said the teams develop each aspect of the car from scratch.

For Alejandro Silveyra, electrical engineering junior and team member, the collaboration among the subgroups drastically enriches the process.

“The biggest reward is [learning] how to work well with teams,” Silveyra said. “It’s not possible to know everything about the project by yourself. You have to start trusting others and know that they can make their own decisions.”

Although creating a car from scratch requires a lot of foresight. Sliveyra said exhaustive planning doesn’t hold the team back.

“I’m not saying planning is not important,” Silveyra said. “The actual point is to create something. It’s a really laid back team, but we get stuff done.”

Despite the varied aspects of production, Angus Ranson, electrical engineering senior and team member, said the common goal of creating a

functioning solar-powered car unites the team.

“For each individual, their reason for making the car is different,” Ranson said. “Each individual’s reason that they’re doing it is collectively ours.”

The members agreed that the team’s focus sets it apart. While solar-powered vehicles present many challenges, they present exciting new opportunities, according to Silveyra.

“We’re in an area that no companies are trying to figure out,” Silveyra said.

“It’s not viable at the moment, it’s too expensive, and it doesn’t make sense.

I think, while [we are] having fun racing cars, we’re creating an idea that could be used later.”

Solar-powered cars are still not considered mainstream vehicles. No major car company has ever released a vehicle that runs entirely on solar power.

Nevertheless, Miglin said he is confident in the future of solar-powered cars.

“My goal in the future is to pick up a girl for a date in a fully solar car,” he said. “It’s going to happen someday.”

world hunger, the team said it hopes to eventually ship the spice packets to third-world locations, such as Africa, India and Thailand.

Chang, a chemical engineering senior, said the inspiration for Cramen came from a 2013 United Nations essay detailing insect protein and nutrition. He said he knew many people used algae powder in foods such as protein shakes, so Cramen incorporated both elements in their spice packets.

“The idea of a ‘spice

powder’ is not a very foreign idea,” Chang said. “But conveying the idea that, although this thing may be small and we’re only four students, we have an idea that could change the world. It was challenging to all of us.”

Sy, an electrical engineering senior, said developing Cramen exposed him to how difficult creating a business can be.

“What I learned is that the world also runs from a business perspective, and you also have to learn to appeal to your customers not just from a business

perspective but a psychology perspective as well,” Sy said.

Above all, Hsu said anything is possible when a group of dedicated people willingly put in effort and work to accomplish a goal.

“Getting this far proves that you don’t have to have a million dollars, and your last name doesn’t have to be ‘Zuckerberg’ in order to come up with a great idea,” Hsu said. “If you have a group of people willing to put in the time, you can really do something that can change the world.”