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Thursday, April 9, 2015
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Students debate foreign divestment
Department of Justice, edX reach settlement
By Samantha Ketterer sam_kett
Student-led movement UTDivest will propose legislation to Student Government asking for the University of Texas Investment Management Company to pull investments from corporations the group believes facilitate the oppression of Palestinians. Unify Texas, another campus movement, has expressed disagreements with UTDivest and has garnered support through social media and an
online petition. UTDivest, which the Palestinian Solidarity Committee founded, is part of a larger boycott-divestmentsanctions (BDS) movement started by Palestinian civil society organizations. Katie Jensen, SG graduate student representative, sociology graduate student supporter of UTDivest, said the movement is fighting for human rights and equality. “I don’t want my tuition money going to the corporations that have produced the infrastructure that enables
the segregation, inequality and painful uncertainties that subjugate Palestinian people,” Jensen said. Brandon Mond, government senior and one of the founders of Unify Texas, said divestment divides pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups and cuts off dialogue. “Dialogue and the free exchange of ideas is sacrosanct at a university,” Mond said. “Where the people who are bringing this divestment movement refuse to engage in dialogue with groups that
have opposing ideologies, we think that’s wrong, and we oppose that.” Mohammed Nabulsi, SG law school representative and supporter of UTDivest, said Unify Texas does not understand the BDS movement. “Unify Texas relies on a mischaracterization of BDS and our goals here on campus in order to make a straw man argument,” Nabulsi said. “BDS is a step towards leveling the negotiating playing field so that the Israeli government is
forced to take Palestinian demands seriously.” The BDS movement has gained traction at other American universities, such as DePaul University and University of California-Davis. Student groups at these schools have been successful in passing student legislation asking for the divestment of their universities from corporations that the groups believe help to oppress Palestinians. Nabulsi said UTDivest
DIVESTMENT page 2
CAMPUS
Survivors unite at Take Back the Night By Vinesh Kovelamudi @trippyvinnie3
Voices Against Violence hosted “Take Back the Night” at the Main Mall on Wednesday to provide an open forum for survivors of sexual violence to share their stories. Take Back the Night is an annual event that Voices Against Violence hosts as part of Sexual Violence Prevention Month. Sexual violence survivors publicly spoke about their personal experiences at the event. Katie Burran, women’s and gender studies junior and volunteer for the event, said some survivors keep their experiences private because of society’s perception of sexual violence. “There is very rarely a platform in society for people to share their stories, especially because it’s such a taboo
NIGHT page 2
Thalia Juarez | Daily Texan Staff
A young woman reads a card from the Visual Voice Project at the Take Back the Night event at the Main Mall on Wednesday evening. UT Voices Against Violence held the event to highlight the movement to end sexual violence and support survivors.
CAMPUS
By Caleb Wong @caleber96
EdX and the United States Department of Justice reached a settlement to make edX’s online courseware more accessible to students with disabilities after the company allegedly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. EdX publishes collegelevel massive online open courses and was created by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The UT System, an edX charter member, has contributed 12 courses to edX. EdX did not caption and transcribe videos to meet industry standards, according to Coleman Tharpe, the communications coordinator for edX’s Energy 101 course and anthropology and radio-television-film senior. Energy 101 is a course the Cockrell School of Engineering published on edX. “It hinged on video,” Tharpe said. “They were producing and publishing video that [they] were including in courses essentially without captioning and [transcribing] the videos or separating the transcripts and the captions from the video. [The time lag between the captions and video] was far away, and that’s not a best practice.” Juan Garcia, a media production services manager at
EDX page 2
CAMPUS
Future UT expansion could displace gardens Samantha Ketterer
As the University’s needs increase, the Concho Community Garden, located just east of campus, faces an uncertain future. The student-run garden along with the Microfarm are home to various fruits, vegetables and a wide array of flowering plants.
@sam_kett
Xintong Guo | Daily Texan Staff
Robert Duke, professor from the Butler School of Music and director of the Center for Music Learning, received a $25,000 award for the Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship.
Robert Duke wins Friar Centennial Fellowship By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman
The Friar Society, the oldest honor society on campus, selected music professor Robert Duke as the recipient of the Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship (FCTF) on Wednesday. Each school year, the Friar
Society asks the student body for nominations of professors they think are deserving of a $25,000 award from the society. Duke was one of 179 professors nominated by students this year. Duke has taught at UT for
FRIAR page 2
Campus construction plans will currently not displace the UT Microfarm and Concho Community Garden, but future campus expansion could put their locations in question, according to Jim Walker, director for the Office of Sustainability. UT student-volunteers manage the garden areas, which produce vegetables, fruits and herbs. Since the community garden and Microfarm were initially built as temporary locations in 2011 and 2012, respectively, the areas were viable options for 2015 campus development plans that could have relocated the gardens, Walker said. “The University administration has definitely seen that the gardens are popular and a positive experience for our students to have access to,” Walker
Jack DuFon Daily Texan Staff
said. “We are committed to helping the garden experiences. … However, whenever we build buildings, it’s going to take precedence on [the gardens].” The campus development plan outlines the expansion of campus and locations of new facilities, mainly into East Campus. In the initial planning stages, Walker said there was a possibility new
tennis courts would be built in the current locations of either the Microfarm or the community garden. Lily Nguyen, geography junior and Concho Community Garden director, said fall 2013 was the first time she heard about the possibility of relocation. Walker said the University ultimately found a way to expand campus as part of
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the plan without jeopardizing the gardens’ locations. Audrey Nguyen, philosophy and plant biology junior and assistant manager at the Microfarm, said the group has been told there is a possibility the Microfarm and the garden will now be incorporated into the development plan and will be able to
GARDENS page 2