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COMICS PAGE 5
LIFE&ARTS PAGE 6
FRAMES PAGE 2
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Thursday, April 23, 2015
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LEGISLATURE
CAMPUS
Bill could increase off-campus work-study
UTDirect to be replaced by new portal next semester
By Wynne Davis @wynneellyn
Lawmakers are working to increase the number of off-campus work-study opportunities in the private sector. On Wednesday, the House Higher Education Committee heard HB 2365,
which, if passed, would expand off-campus workstudy opportunities for the Texas College Work-Study Program, a state-funded program that offers parttime jobs to students with financial need at private and public institutions. State schools would offer off-campus programs
based on the size of the city in which the institution is located. The bill, authored by Rep. Jim Murphy (R-Houston), was left pending in committee. The Senate gave final approval to a similar bill last Thursday requiring that institutions offer up to 50 percent of their work-study
jobs off campus. The current version of Murphy’s bill would require UT to have at least 25 percent of its workstudy options located off campus. Universities in cities with more than a million people would need 50 percent of their opportunities off campus.
Murphy said the bill would provide work-study students the opportunity to get experience working in their chosen field while still using work-study benefits. “Employers today, we’re hearing, want to have people with real-world, rele-
from Texas businesses is important for millennials to see, Shortall said. “Millennials are overwhelmingly showing that LGBT rights and being included and welcoming
LGBT page 2
NEW PORTAL page 2
WORK-STUDY page 2
Austin businesses support LGBT community By Jackie Wang @jcqlnwng
Graphic by Alex Dolan | Daily Texan Staff
president of the Gay Business Student Association, said the pledge is symbolically important. “It … lets [LGBT students] know there is a safe place to work and that people are actively trying to make an effort for their
voice to be heard,” Ballard said. “In a lot of companies, especially in conservative industries, LGBT things are not recognized.” When Texas Competes formally launched its mission on April 14, it had 100 signing members, with
which it had worked since last November. Now, Shortall said, Texas Competes has more than 200 signatures. Southwest Airlines, IBM, Intel and Whole Foods Market are some of the signing companies. Seeing such a strong response
@caleber96
This fall, students will log in to a new, customizable portal called MyUT to access common functions, such as registration and class schedules, instead of the current UTDirect system. Administrators said MyUT will show users information tailored to their classification and major and allow students to add links to their individual portals. “It’s completely customizable,” said Joey Williams, communications coordinator for the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. “It’s going to be tailored to the user. It’s all about getting the information you need as efficiently as possible.” Williams said administrators decided to switch from UTDirect to MyUT because UTDirect could not display custom information for each student or appear in a natural format on all electronic devices, such as mobile phones or tablets. “Technologies have changed quite a bit,” Williams said. “A lot of what’s behind the EID right now isn’t responsive. It’s not customizable.” Jody Couch, program director for student administrative systems, said MyUT will gradually include more features that integrate student data after fall 2015. “Over the next year, we will roll out features like
CITY
Some Texan businesses are banding together to show their support for the LGBT community through Texas Competes, a coalition of businesses and pro-business organizations working toward workplace equality, according to a Texas Competes spokeswoman. “As far as we know, this is a historic first that businesses around Texas are saying in a unified voice that the brand of LGBT needs to change as an economic imperative — especially businesses in Texas that have progressive policies,” Texas Competes managing director Jessica Shortall said. “It varies — for some businesses, it’s a value thing; others see it as a competitive advantage. But in talking to business leadership, we started to realize that while individual workplace measures are important and necessary, they are not going to protect the competitiveness of Texas when it comes to getting top talent.” Mercedes Ballard, international business senior and
By Caleb Wong
LEGISLATURE
CAMPUS
Legislators seek to ban red light traffic cameras
Students aim to light Tower blue for autism
By Eleanor Dearman @ellydearman
The Texas Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would ban red light cameras throughout the state. SB 714, which state Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) authored, will prohibit all red light cameras throughout the state because he said they violate the constitutional rights of individuals to be able to talk with the person who witnesses the violation. If the bill passes the House, it will go into effect in September. Throughout the bill, Hall cited a study which claimed that the presence of cameras didn’t contribute to safer roads. Austin currently has 10 intersections with active red light cameras, which
helps Austin Police Department officers patrol intersections, APD Lt. Robert Richman said. “The red light cameras that we have assist us because we don’t have enough officers to be able to be out at every single intersection monitoring it 24/7,” Richman said. People run red lights at all times of the day, Richman said. “In 2014, there were 11,571 citations issued for running red lights at those locations,” Richman said. “If you take a look at that and think about how many of those were issued by officers, about 9,000 of those were issued by officers. Running red lights is probably the third-highest factor besides impairment and
RED LIGHT page 2
By Matthew Adams
A student signs a petition Wednesday afternoon in support of the Longhorn Autism Alliance’s goal to light the Tower blue for Autism Awareness Month in April 2016.
@MatthewAdams60
A student group is attempting to turn the Tower blue, instead of its typical burnt orange, for autism awareness. Longhorn Autism Alliance is calling for the University to light the Tower blue on April 2, 2016, for World Autism Awareness Day, according to Alec De Jong, biology junior and volunteer chair for the alliance. “Families of those affected with autism live this every day and [Autism Speaks] are asking that as many people as possible recognize that for World Autism Day,” Jong said. Special education studies sophomore Lindsey Robertson said she is glad to see awareness being
Rachel Zein Daily Texan Staff
raised about autism. “This is an awareness for all students,” Robertson said. “Autism affects so many lives, and in many ways, people do not know about it. This is a different and unique way to raise awareness.” Autism Speaks, a national
autism advocacy organization, started the movement Light It Up Blue, which lights up landmarks blue around the world to raise autism awareness. Some of these places include the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls in Canada and the Great Pyramids of Giza
in Egypt. Jong said the group knew the idea of lighting the Tower a color other than burnt orange was possible after it was lit blue during a graduation ceremony in 2013.
AUTISM page 2
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Thursday, April 23, 2015
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NEWS
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Volume 115, Issue 142
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After a performance in front of the Tower, French exchange student Valentin Guérin lets graduate student Li Kuang, a member of the UT Trombone Octet, try the pyro-trombone, which Guérin designed. The octet performed the piece “Bolivar” by composer Eric Cook, and Nathaniel Brickens conducted the piece.
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of LGBT are important to LGBT and non-LGBT people alike,” Shortall said. “Looking at those who signed the Texas Competes pledge is a fantastic representation of where business values lie in Texas. When students are coming out of schools and looking where to work, I think young people are looking at which businesses and which states are standing up for the LGBT community on these issues.” Kyle Campbell, finance and business honors junior, said he asked about each company’s “diversity groups” when he looked for internships over the summer, “Lots of companies have LGBT diversity groups that have social functions, provide support networks [and give] presentations on being gay in the workplace,” Campbell said. “Every time I was recruiting with a company, I asked them, ‘What do you
have in terms of that?’” Sabee Grewal, electrical engineering and physics junior, worked at Intel during the fall 2014 semester. The company was very in tune with diverse needs, Grewal said. “They seemed very receptive of anyone’s particular needs,” Grewal said. “They had a prayer room, several different prayer rooms for different faiths, and, in terms of gay and lesbian issues, I don’t remember anything specific, but there was nothing I could interpret as unfriendly.” Although Texas Competes does not communicate directly with the Texas Legislature, the message is important for everyone to hear, Shortall said. “It’s really important to send a message that this is our Texas,” Shortall said. “One that is welcoming and would like top talent in the world to call this place home. That’s the Texas that Texas Competes represents.”
NEW PORTAL
continues from page 1 targeted messaging, calendar integration and the ability for colleges to add content for their students,” Couch said. Williams said MyUT will save students time by allowing them to use a single login to access secure portals, such as Canvas and other internal services. “The goal is to have a single login across MyUT,” Williams said. “Now, that’s
AUTISM
continues from page 1 Jong said one of his favorite things about the alliance’s outreach is clearing up some misconceptions, most recently with the measles outbreak sparking a national conversation about vaccines. “The reason for measles outbreak is there is a lot of hate for anti-vaccinations
not going to be completely done on the initial rollout, but that’s going to be the end goal.” Williams said the ease of access to custom information will not reduce the need for students to visit an academic adviser. “It’s going to give students access to information in a more efficient way,” Williams said. “There’s nothing that going to replace a face-to-face relationship with your academic adviser and make sure your advis-
er is going to give you the right advice.” Undeclared freshman Alison Seitz said she usually searches Google for specific links she needs instead of using UTDirect. “It’s kind of confusing,” Seitz said. “I don’t really use it that much. Normally, when I need to click on a certain [link], say, like, Bevo Bucks, I kind of just Google ‘UT Bevo Bucks’ to click on that instead of like actually going to UTDirect.”
people, and [others] immediately assume the Autism community is anti-vaccination,” Jong said. “Autism Speaks used to be anti-vaccination, but they fully approve them and try to educate people about it.” In preparation for an outreach campaign on West Mall on Wednesday, the group organized singers from various UT choir groups to perform. Theatre studies freshman
Anna Lehnhoff said she appreciates helping with the petition because she has a brother who was diagnosed with autism. “I am honored to be a part of this and asked to sing,” Lehnhoff said. “I enjoy singing, but it makes me feel like I am able to help my brother’s cause. Hopefully, one day the Tower will be lit, and I can send a picture of it to my brother.”
RED LIGHT continues from page 1 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 Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brett Donohoe, Jack Mitts News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Brouillette Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . Anderson Boyd, Danielle Brown, David Davis Jr., 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alex Dolan Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Virginia Scherer, Kelly Smith, Iliana Storch Multimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Resler, Lauren Ussery Associate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Zhang Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carlo Nasisse, Griffin Smith, Ellyn Snider, Marshall Tidrick, Daulton Venglar Senior Videographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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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 Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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
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Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Adams, Rachel Lew Multimedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Guerra, Graeme Hamilton, Thalia Juarez, Rachel Zein Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bradley Maddox, Corey Tatel, Reanna Zuniga Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellen Airhart, Mackenzie Palmer Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Khadija Saifullah, Angela Temple Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Izabella Arnold, Sujaan Lal Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adam Davies, Blanche Schaefer, Hannah Wimberley Comic Artists . . . . . . . . Tiffany Hinojosa, Honney Khang, Chester Omenukor, Victoria Smith, John Solis, Melanie Westfall
Business and Advertising
(512) 471-1865 | advertise@texasstudentmedia.com Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerald Johnson Business/Operations Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Frank Serpas III Advertising Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Denise Twellmann Account Executives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . Carter Goss, Allysun Gutierrez Advertising Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shukree Shabazz Digital Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Curt Yowell Student Account Executives. . . . . . . . . Keegan Bradley, Emma Brown, Alex Unger, Marianne Locht, Alejandro Diez Student Assistants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MyMy Nguyen, Dito Prado Senior Graphic Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Hublein Student Designers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jannice Truong Special Editions/Production Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen Salisbury
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speeding that we have in serious injuries and fatal crashes.” There are no red light cameras on campus at this time, but with heavy foot traffic, pedestrians still have to worry about people running lights, UTPD officer William Pieper said. “On a college campus, my first thought is the safety of pedestrians,” Pieper said. “When you look at the red lights that are around campus, typically there’s a great deal of college students who are crossing those intersections on foot, and when a vehicle fails to stop or yield at a red light, … that could be very devastating for the pedestrian.” Since the red light camera implementation in Austin in
2008, 2.6 million people have ran the lights, Richman said. Petroleum engineering freshman Sean Moore said the cameras should stay in place, even though he initially thought the bill would be good. “I honestly think in some ways, red light cameras — they prevent people running them,” Moore said. “It would be nice to say that we’re not being monitored and give drivers more freedom, but the reality of it is that you need some more enforcement of red lights. … And cops in cars only go so far.” Richman said the entire idea of the cameras is to help officers keep intersections safe.
Graeme Hamilton | Daily Texan Staff
A red light camera monitors the intersection of MoPac and West Anderson Lane.
“I wasn’t a huge proponent of the red light cameras at first either because I didn’t think that they would be that helpful because you can’t have somebody there witnessing it,” Richman
said. “But I think what we’ve found is that, with traffic, if there are things that you can bring attention to people for them to actually change their behavior, then anything [helps].”
if the bill were to pass, according to Brown. Murphy said he thinks increased off-campus work-study opportunities could save universities and the state money. When students receive a job under the Texas College Work-Study Program, the state pays portions of the students’ salary. Universities, colleges and nonprofits pay 25 percent of the salary, while private sector employers pay for 50 percent of the cost, according to Murphy. The state budget allocated about $9.4 million to the Texas College Work-Study Program this year, and universities review eligible students on an annual basis.
Government senior Bettany Valsin worked two workstudy jobs while at UT — one in the University’s financial aid office and another at St. David’s Medical Center. Valsin said she prefers on-campus work-study programs because of the convenience that comes with on-campus work. However, Valsin said having an off-campus workstudy job that would benefit one’s major would be worth the inconvenience of traveling off campus. “I think that if the offcampus work-study position were extremely beneficial, like something that would look really good on any résumé, I would be all for it,“ Valsin said.
WORK-STUDY continues from page 1 vant job experience — even people who just got out of their degree [program],” Murphy said. UT currently offers some off-campus work-study options. According to the University website, students can participate in federally funded community service workstudy programming, which includes tutoring and certain research and administrative opportunities off campus. Jamie Brown, communications coordinator for the Office of Student Financial Services, said there are no UT students using work-study in the private sector. According to a Center for Public Policy Priorities report Murphy cited in crafting the bill, no institu-
tions in 2014 used the Texas College Work-Study Program in the private sector. More than 800 students are receiving work-study funds at UT. Of these students, 746 work on campus and 98 work off campus, according to Brown. Most students at UT choose to work on campus for their work-study, Brown said. “With on-campus workstudy, the student is continuously in the college environment,” Brown said. “They don’t have to concern themselves with leaving campus.” The University will have to review its work-study program and find new off-campus opportunities
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RILEY BRANDS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorial Thursday, April 23, 2015
COLUMN
Student activism, its repercussions are important to campus life By Claire Smith Senior Columnist @claireseysmith
Tuesday was the 26th anniversary of the day 10,000 Chinese students gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to mourn reform leader Hu Yaobang in the now-infamous Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. As many as 1.2 million people gathered over the course of the student-led movement before the Chinese government ordered a military crackdown against the peaceful protesters, which killed an unknown number of its participants and purged as many as 10,000 of their supporters afterward. Though the Tiananmen Square protests ended in tragedy, they are remembered today as a powerful moment when young people stood up for their beliefs against an iron system. Though half a world away, the 40 Acres has a similarly poignant history of student activism. The first University protest took place in 1897, and there have been dozens if not hundreds of student demonstrations since. According to John Woodrow Storey ad Mary L. Kelley’s Twentieth-Century Texas: A Social and Cultural History, student activism was the catalyst for the University’s full racial integration in 1965, and the fear of Vietnam War protesters rushing the Tower brought about the installation of the hedges and groves now decorating the West Mall in the late 1960s. Last December’s “die-in” for Eric Garner, the black man killed by a white police officer in New York over the summer, was another example of the bold activist spirit ingrained in the culture of the student body.
The recent debate between Unify Texas and UTDivest is the most recent incarnation of student activism on UT’s campus. On April 7, the first debate about the BDS movement, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, took place in the weekly Student Government meeting between student groups UTDivest and Unify Texas. Since then, our campus and this opinion page have been alight with powerful and well argued statements to the virtues of both causes. The vibrancy of character, passion of purpose and dedication to an issue whose complexity frightens most away from serious consideration was a powerful and inspiring experience for me as a student. During one of the most formative times in all of our lives, where we spend our days learning and becoming our truest selves in four years devoted to self-discovery, the BDS debate often left me wondering: What more could I do for this campus, for this world? For this reason and many others, I feel blessed that this movement happened on campus. It is imperative that more debates on campus happen, too. Though the issue was decided by Student Government Tuesday night against the resolution, I hope that an environment of open discourse is nurtured by this University. It is important for students to be able to speak freely about the issues that matter and be challenged so that we as a student body may grow stronger in our personal convictions, which only an environment of open discourse can ensure. So, to all of my fellow students who contributed to that, please let me say thank you. However, in future on-campus debates, I hope participants will exercise restraint and sensitivity, which I often felt was lacking over the last two weeks. Though I admired the debaters’ passion, this cause engendered more hate between students than I felt comfortable
Mariana Gonzalez| Daily Texan Staff
University-wide representative Kallen Dimitroff speaks at the SG Student Assembly meeting on Tuesday. The Assembly voted down the divestment resolution after much debate.
witnessing. By the time SG voted, accusations of bigotry and virulent personal character attacks on student leaders in both movements became the name of the game. For shame. Inspiring others and fighting for justice is noble. What this debate devolved into over the last two weeks was not. This debate mattered. Protecting the integrity of it was sacred. Hurting someone else is not the same as helping yourself. Now that this debate is over, it would be too easy for one side or the other to become complacent with self-satisfaction at winning or rueful of their loss. Protect yourselves from such temptation. As student activists, we can capture the voice of campus. We can make change happen.
We can inspire our fellow students. Or we can hurt them, ourselves and our cause. To all of the participants in the fight over BDS, many of whom I believe did not take part in the mudslinging of the baser parts of the last few weeks, I urge you to serve our campus by holding your peers accountable to their cause when some may bow to the temptation of fighting with anything other than reason. Conduct yourselves with the dignity your cause demands of you as its representatives. If the cost is to the students around us and a community of openness, nothing is worth it. Fight the good fight, Longhorns. Just be wary of the repercussions. Smith is a history and humanities junior from Austin.
COLUMN
Students reflect cultural diversity
ONLINE Our commentary doesn’t stop on the page. Check out our editorial blog, A Matter of Opinion, on our website, www.dailytexanonline. com, every day for commentary on the day’s news from members of the Texan editorial board.
COLUMN
Spiderhouse mural concerns reader Marshall Tidrick |Daily Texan Staff
Nritya Sangam performs at Texas Revue 2015.
By Khadija Saifullah Daily Texan Columnist @coolstorysunao
On April 11, Texas Traditions presented the Texas Revue, the largest and most diverse student-run talent show held on campus. This annual student tradition showcases a variety of acts from a conglomeration of hip-hop and violin by Shreyas Panda, to the blending of traditional Bhangra and modern hip-hop by Punjabbawockeez. Two Indian dance teams (Nritya Sangam and Dirty South Dandiya) took home the awards of best overall and most technical, respectively, at this entertaining cross-cultural extravaganza on campus. Texas Revue has been one of the most eyeopening experiences of my college career so far. This being my first UT-wide performance event, I, like many others, was exposed to cultural dances and performances that I had never seen before. It made me reflect on the importance of interpersonal cultural diversity. Interestingly, “culture” was the most popular word of the year in Merriam Webster’s dictionary in 2014. In addition to serving as a catch-all term for the beliefs, art and customs that differentiate one society from the next, “culture” can also mean work ethic and company values. For instance, in a Forbes article, an interviewed CEO said that “calling people back the same day” was part of his culture — so he monitors this behavior because, to him, good customer service is of paramount importance. I believe that exposure to new cultures is an integral part of the UT experience. Not only does
it prepare us to pursue our future aspirations, but it enables us to understand the world better and learn from people who come from different walks of life. We live in a country that is often referred to as a melting pot. Many of our nationalities are hyphenated. As a Pakistani American, I am forever bound to two entirely different countries and cultures. In many Western societies, we might be tempted to assume that being bilingual is an unusual phenomenon. However, according to “A Parent and Teacher’s Guide to Bilingualism” written by Colin Baker, 75 percent of the world’s population may be bilingual to some degree. That’s more than 4 billion people who appreciate the difference in people’s background and history. Growing up in a bilingual home, my parents alternated between speaking in Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, and English. I hesitate when answering questionnaires that ask me what my first language is because there is not one answer. The reason for my hesitation is that I believe it is important for me to know my origins, diverse as they may be. If not, I feel I have failed to consider the beginning of my story, and I fear I will find myself yearning for something I have forgotten. As French novelist Marcel Proust put it, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new lands but in seeing with new eyes.” Proust realized that by working with other people from diverse cultural backgrounds, we begin to explore new ideas and prospects. This past Saturday was about appreciation. The talent show brought the enjoyment of performance, but more importantly, it empowered a campus celebration of our own diversity. Saifullah is a neuroscience sophomore from Richardson.
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.
Griffin Smith| Daily Texan Staff
The new mural on the Spider House Ballroom’s exterior wall depicts a cow in a bikini.
Dear Spiderhouse, What’s up with the obscene art that you just plastered on the side of your building? Did you notice that there’s a cow with breasts? It’s kind of offensive to humans. The cow in a bikini or a bra or whatever it is should be removed immediately. Did it cross anyone’s mind that that might be perceived as the work of a sexist and in fact objectifies women in a way that is absurdly inappropriate? Not to mention the fact that it displays the the obvious lack of creativity and talent of a second-rate tattoo artist? At least this can be removed and should be immediately. I believe that you will find that the new art is not going over well with your neighbors. What a shame that you covered up some clever and well done art to give space to this offensive
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.
low-concept crap. A skull happy face? Really? Why not put Hello Kitty up there? That’s about how creative this is. In this extreme case of bad judgment, I am very motivated to do anything that is necessary to move your establishment toward ceasing to insult all women who are so unfortunate as to look at your mural. Did someone in your establishment sign off on that? Maybe that person should re-evaluate this concept; positioning women as animals is degrading to women. Duh. All oppression is rooted in the same system of domination and embracing any form of oppression reinforces all oppressions. By displaying this image, you have reinforced a dehumanizing pornography that must be removed. — Angela Temple, former UT staff and alumna.
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 Thursday, April 23, 2015
CLUB SPORTS
Hall finds strength after mother’s death By Corey Tatel
HAWKS
TRAIL BLAZERS
GRIZZLIES
NCAAB OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA ST.
Thalia Juarez | Daily Texan Staff
Lewis Hall, educational administration graduate student, won a national championship with the UT men’s club volleyball team. Hall says playing volleyball helped him cope during rough times and was his way of honoring his mother.
that same encouragement allowed him to gather the strength to continue playing after her death. “I know she would’ve been really proud,” Hall said. “I knew that [playing volleyball] was my way of fighting for her.” Texas ended up defeating Michigan in the title game, winning the first game 25–12 and the second game 25–18. Hall was able to honor his mother by claiming a national championship, a culmination of a season Hall used as a coping mechanism ever
since his mother’s death. “It was an outlet for me to be able to play volleyball,” Hall said. “It was a good stress reliever and [gave] me peace of mind with the tough times we were dealing with.” Hall began playing volleyball as a freshman at Quartz Hill High School in California. He simply had an interest in picking up a sport, and he had multiple friends trying out for the team. Hall went on to found a club volleyball team as an undergrad at California State University-Monterey
Bay before playing on the club team as a graduate student at Texas. Once he completes his graduate degree in May, Hall plans to look for an opening at UT. He would be open to the idea of becoming an assistant coach for the club volleyball team and giving back to the program that gave him so much. “Being a part of something that really connects you to a campus and is bigger than yourself — I think those things are priceless,” Hall said.
SAM HOUSTON
It was an outlet for me to be able to play volleyball. It was a good stress reliever and [gave] me peace of mind with the tough times we were dealing with. —Lewis Hall Graduate student
BASKETBALL |COLUMN
Isaiah Taylor should remain a Longhorn By Aaron Torres
TOP TWEET Connor Lammert @ANDtwenty1
Personally disagree with the firing of Scott Brooks
Today’s events Texas track and field Penn Relays Philadelphia
Daulton Venglar Daily Texan file photo
to produce shots not just for himself, but also for his teammates. Texas’ two incoming recruits, Eric Davis and Kerwin Roach, are both players who can shoot and attack. When Taylor blows by his man, it will force the next defender to help on the drive, if that defender helps off someone such as Davis, Roach, rising senior guard Javan Felix or any other player Texas has that can shoot (sorry, Demarcus Holland). From there,
they’ll have fairly open looks at the basket. Taylor’s drives will have the defenses scrambling from all over even with the knowledge that Texas has shooters on the perimeter. It’s often not the first drive that hurts the most — it’s the second drive. If Davis, Roach or Felix can drive the ball after getting a kick out pass from Taylor, then that will put even more pressure on the defense. In order for Taylor to be as
WEEKEND PREVIEWS of the famed meet, both the men’s and women’s 4x400meter relay teams excelled and placed in the top two. The men’s team, anchored by junior Zack Bilderback, placed second in an incredibly strong 4x400meter field. The women, a group that has gained a lot of chemistry over the past two years, won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:25.05 — a Penn Relays record. In the NCAA rankings, the men’s team held strong at No. 6 in the country while
effective as possible, he will have to develop a jump shot. Without a jump shot, the chain of events that he causes as a result of his drives are unlikely to happen because Taylor’s defender could simply play off him. A consistent jump shot would make Taylor the best point guard in the nation because of all the threats he would pose. It’d be hard to guard someone with his quickness and a consistent jump shot. The jump shot wouldn’t just
elevate Taylor’s game to a whole other echelon, but it would improve his draft stock. A former Arizona State point guard told me that when he would go up against point guard Avery Johnson, he would play off him because Johnson didn’t have a consistent jump shot. Taylor would be guarded similarly, but his unique skill set merits something different. He should stay at Texas and develop those skills further.
WOMEN’S TENNIS | REANNA ZUNIGA
TRACK AND FIELD | BRADLEY MADDOX The Penn Relays is an event that every track team in the country circles when the schedule comes out every year. Widely known as the crown jewel of track and field, the competition, held at the University of Pennsylvania since 1895, provides a massive test for the Texas track and field team. Head coach Mario Sategna’s group will once again hope to find its place on the podium at the historic event. At last year’s edition
BAYLOR
Isaiah Taylor would be the driving force for head coach Shaka Smart’s offensive and defensive schemes.
@aarontl11
Isaiah Taylor has until Sunday to figure out whether he’s as ready for the NBA as Johnny Manziel was for the NFL. There’s no question in my mind: Taylor should stay for his junior year, further develop his skills and delay entering the NBA draft. Taylor is a 6-foot-1-inch tall point guard who is astonishingly quick, has a unique ability to drive the ball and is a feisty on ball defender. But he lacks a consistent jump shot and weighs a mere 170 pounds. If Taylor chooses to stay at Texas, he’d be the driving force for head coach Shaka Smart’s new offensive and defensive scheme. Taylor was already the head of the snake whenever the Longhorns decided to press opponents last season. He only averaged one steal per game in 2014–2015, but Smart’s “havoc” system will increase that number — Smart’s system demonstrably produces steals. Since Taylor flourishes in the open court, the up-tempo pace Smart employs on offense will allow Taylor to drive the ball and have the defense on its heels. Furthermore, with Taylor breaking down defenses as a result of his driving, he’ll be able
NBA NETS
@corey_tatel
Lewis Hall stood in Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, next to the court on which he would play in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Men’s Division III Bronze Bracket championship game. Hall took out his phone, opened Snapchat and took a picture of court No. 9, his late mother’s favorite number. He captioned the photo, “Playing on Mom’s favorite number.” Glancing down at his mother’s pink water bottle, which he used all weekend, he soaked in the moment. Last year, Hall, now a 27-year-old educational administration graduate student, was unable to play in the NCVF Championships because his mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She moved to Austin so he could take care of her, but this past February, Hall’s mother died. Two months later, he found himself in Kansas City with a chance to play for a national championship. “If you didn’t know what he was going through, you wouldn’t be able to tell by his outer personality,” said biomedical engineering freshman Zach Murray, one of Hall’s teammates. “It takes a strong person to push through such adversity, and Lewis is definitely that person.” Hall and his mother were extremely close. Despite her illness, she encouraged him to continue playing, and
SIDELINE
Zack Bilderback Junior
the women stayed at No. 3. This meet begins Thursday morning and runs all the way through Saturday.
After finishing up its last two home games, Texas heads to Waco this weekend for the Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championships. To begin the postseason, the No. 5-seeded Longhorns will play TCU, which earned the No. 4 seed. Earlier this season, Texas faced the Horned Frogs and dropped the match, 4–0. No team has defeated No. 17 TCU in the month of April, and the team is coming off an impressive 4–0 win against the No. 15 Texas Tech. History appears to be repeating itself. In 2014, Texas suffered a loss to the Horned Frogs
during the regular season but then opened up the Big 12 Championships with a win against them, which propelled the Longhorns to the semifinals. TCU has two players ranked in the top 100: No. 44 senior Simona Parajova and No. 79 senior Stefanie Tan. Tan has played at the No. 1 spots in both singles and doubles for the entire season. The winner of the TCU–Texas game will play the victor of the match between Baylor and its opponent, which has yet to be determined. Texas takes on TCU at 3 p.m. Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
SPORTS BRIEFLY Okolo honored with Big 12 weekly award
Junior sprinter Courtney Okolo won the Big 12 Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week honor. This is the first time Okolo has earned the award. Over the weekend, Okolo defeated Sanya Richards-Ross, Olympic gold medalist and Texas alumna, at Michael Johnson Classic with a time of 50.99 seconds — the fastest time in the world this year. Okolo was trailing Richards-Ross in the final 50 meters of the race, but she was able to push through at the end for the victory. This is the third time Texas track and field has received an athlete of the week award — junior sprinter Morolake Akinosun has won the award twice this year after emerging victorious three times in two meets this year. —Aaron Torres
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KAT SAMPSON, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Thursday, April 23, 2015
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Self-taught pianist plans to release first album By Marisa Charpentier @marisacharp21
The sounds of cars rushing down the street and students shuffling into class aren’t just noise to public relations senior Daniel Sahad — they’re melodies. “I just hear music like a crazy person,” Sahad said. “There’s music all around me. It’s kind of like madness.” Although he can’t read music, Sahad can translate what he hears into music with his weapon of choice — the piano. Aside from the few piano lessons he took as a kid, Sahad’s experience with music is largely self-taught. During his freshman year of college, he spent his free time teaching himself to play the piano at dorms on campus. Now, over three years later, he’s preparing to release his first full-length album, Love & War, at the end of May. “I was playing [piano] because college is hard,” Sahad said. “It helped me calm down. It helped me feel. With so many things going on, it was a way for me to slow down.” During the summer after his sophomore year, Sahad began recording original songs and worked as an intern at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. He spent the days organizing calendars for
artists such as Emeli Sandé and Coldplay and spent the nights writing his own music. After recording his first song, “Cream,” in his closet in LA, he showed it to his best friend and video producer Dustin Ratheal. “It was just a keyboard and him,” Ratheal said. “It wasn’t something that was supposed to be good, and it was great.” A few months later, he began putting together the album of 11 songs. He goes by the artist name Naji Rose — his parents’ first names. “I am first generation Dominican-American, so my parents both grew up in the Dominican Republic,” Sahad said. “They’re both doctors. They worked to get here, and that’s definitely the reason I work — to merit their sacrifices.” In January, Sahad began working with InfiniD Music, a student-run music label that has helped him produce the album. Dashon Moore, music production sophomore and founder of InfiniD Music, said he sees influences of artists such as Alt-J and Macklemore in Sahad’s work. “[Sahad] is one of the best singers that I’ve ever heard,” Moore said. “Even after hearing one of his songs once, I can hear myself singing it in the shower. It just gets stuck in my head.” Sahad has not released any of his music online.
Joshua Guerra| Daily Texan Staff
Public Relations senior Daniel Sahad plays the piano in the grand piano room in Jester West Dormitory on Saturday evening. A self-taught pianist, Sahad is set to release his first full-length album at the end of May.
He said he only wants to share his music once it is completely finished. “I was never the kind of guy who posted videos of myself playing piano or progress,” Sahad said. “I only showed people I could play my music whenever I thought it was good enough.” During spring break in
SCIENCE SCENE
2014, however, Sahad decided to gauge how people would react to his songs. With the help of Ratheal, he created a minute-and-a-halflong video of himself singing “Cream” and posted it to Facebook for 24 hours. “It got 356 ‘likes’ and 75 ‘shares’ from people I don’t even know,” Sahad said. “I
was like, ‘Maybe this isn’t a joke. Maybe I’m not crazy. Other people want to listen to it, too.’” But Sahad says it’s not fame he’s after. He just wants to make music. After college, Sahad said he wants to go to production school and open a publishing firm or record label. His ultimate goal, however, is to help
with education reform in the Dominican Republic, where most of his extended family still lives. “I don’t want to be the guy on stage because that’s a difficult life,” Sahad said. “It sounds glamorous, but it’s hard. I don’t want so much attention around me. I just want to do what I love.”
MUSIC
Brief courses hope to increase number of CPR-certified people Multimedia To learn more about CPR courses, check out our video at dailytexanonline.com. By Ellen Airhart @ellenairhart
One hundred years ago, a failing heart meant a death sentence. Now, with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, a pulse can be restored. CPR is an emergency procedure for people who have stopped breathing and are unresponsive. Successful CPR provides blood circulation to deliver necessary oxygen and nutrients when the heart stops working. Lack of circulation causes brain damage that is often irreversible, even if the heart later recovers to full functionality. Preferably, CPR is used with an automated external defibrillator, or AED. AEDs are portable electronic devices that apply electrical shocks to help the heart re-establish a normal rhythm. The aims of CPR and AED use are clear, but the practice constantly changes. In 2010, the American Heart Association changed its standards for CPR performed on adults. The association now emphasizes high-quality chest compressions, which should be at least two inches deep and
performed at a rate of at least 100 compressions a minute. Singing the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” is an easy way to hit 100 beats per minute. Louis Gonzales is the cofounder of TAKE10, a program in which participants learn CPR in two minutes and spend eight more minutes practicing their technique. TAKE10, and programs like it, only teach the compression portion of CPR and how to use an AED. The class avoids subjects that might keep people from CPR, such as the fact that CPR usually breaks the patient’s ribs. “Your ribs can heal, but if you die, it doesn’t matter,” Gonzales said. “Talking about the things that deter people from CPR is not beneficial to the cardiac arrest victim.” Theatre and dance junior Jane Hayes is the director of Longhorn EMS and has worked for three years as an emergency responder. “There is no better feeling in the world than finding a once absent pulse,” Hayes said. If CPR and the AED are used properly, the likelihood that a patient will walk out of the hospital increases from
7 percent to 38 percent, as shown in a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Despite the high success rate, bystanders don’t usually perform CPR. The American Heart Association reported that only about 30 percent of the population is trained to perform CPR. The goal of classes such as TAKE10 is to increase this number by abbreviating the time it takes to finish a CPR instructional course. “As students, we spend hundreds of hours studying material that may or may not be relevant to us in the future,” Hayes said. “It is possible to learn CPR in a single afternoon, which may actually save lives.” Gonzales said people may be unwilling to perform CPR for different reasons even if they have been certified. They may feel uncomfortable touching strangers who are obviously unwell or feel anxiety about remembering the details about performing CPR. “Most people want to help, but they’re afraid of hurting someone by not doing CPR perfectly,” Gonzales said. Gonzales emphasizes that imperfect compressions are better than no attempt at CPR. “Knowing how to perform CPR does not save lives,” Gonzales said. “You have to combine that with the willingness to act. It may not be perfect, but doing something is more effective than doing nothing.”
Illustration by Rodolfo Suarez | Daily Texan Staff
Courtesy of Bryan Parker| Pop Process International
UT alumnus James Lambrecht and childhood friend Charlie Martin perform for alternative band Chipper Jones. The band will have a release party at Spiderhouse Cafe on Friday.
Austin-based alternative band Chipper Jones to release vinyl By Mackenzie Palmer Chipper Jones’ upcoming @mackenziepdaily
Alternative band Chipper Jones always strives to do better. For the duo, this means touring more, writing more and making music a full-time career. UT alumnus James Lambrecht and childhood friend Charlie Martin both moved to Austin from Dallas, their hometown, and only rekindled their friendship when they ran into each other on campus two years ago. Since that moment, the Chipper Jones bandmates have been inseparable. “I kind of recognized him on campus,” Lambrecht said. “We started talking, and slowly, we started to get time to play together.” Austin-based media label company Raw Paw will host a release party at Spider House Cafe & Ballroom for the duo’s two-song vinyl, Tropics | Cosm. The band members said the record plays more like a full-length album even though it is only two songs. The release party kicks off the band’s East Coast and Canadian tour, which runs through May. The songs on Tropics | Cosm will be featured on
full EP. The duo recorded the vinyl at Orb Studios using multitrack recording techniques, which the band members said results in a fuller, more dynamic sound than their previous live-recorded EP, Two Rooms. The band’s music, which does not include vocals, has been described as capturing African-influenced, electronic melodies. Clementine Kruczynski, director of operations at Raw Paw and host of the release party, said Chipper Jones is a refreshing dose of music in Austin. “They are the creative energy of Austin made audible,” Kruczynski said. “The purity of optimism settles over you as you listen.” Since its first house show in December 2013, the band has gone on two tours, and this upcoming one will be its third. Its first tour in July 2014 ran through the Midwest regions, including Dallas,
CHIPPER JONES VINYL RELEASE PARTY Where: Spiderhouse Cafe When: Friday at 8 p.m. Admission: $7
Oklahoma and Colorado. Earlier this year, the band toured through the West Coast, going from New Mexico all the way up to Seattle. “Any time a new band tours a new region for the first time, you have to make sure you give an awesome live performance every time,” Lambrecht said. “You’re not just playing to friends or family anymore.” Lambrecht said the two appreciate the feeling of returning home to the diverse and supporting music scene in Austin. “We always love coming back to Austin because there is so much love and support,” Lambrecht said. “It’s from touring that we notice Austin is such a great place to call home.”
They are the creative energy of Austin made audible. The purity of optimism settles over you as you listen. —Clementine Kruczynski, Director of operations at Raw Paw