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Tuesday, May 5, 2015
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SYSTEM
LEGISLATURE
Regents back limits to records requests
Bill proposes halving UT’s portion of PUF for UH
By Jordan Rudner @jrud
The UT System Board of Regents and Chancellor William McRaven sent a letter Monday to Attorney General Ken Paxton arguing that individual regents’ access to records can be subject to limitations in certain situations. At a specially called meeting Monday morning, eight members of the board voted unanimously to file a brief with the AG’s office outlining the System’s official stance on
regent information requests. The ninth regent, Wallace Hall, abstained from the vote. System counsels filed the brief in response to an appeal Hall’s private attorney filed with Paxton on April 20. Hall’s attorney, Bill Aleshire, asked Paxton to formally provide advice on Hall’s request to review thousands of documents related to UTAustin admissions and asked whether the Board or the Chancellor had the authority to prohibit Hall from obtaining copies of those records.
Hall is attempting to review the thousands of documents Kroll Associates, Inc. used in an independent investigation earlier this year. The Kroll report found President William Powers Jr. intervened in a handful of admissions cases, but concluded Powers did not violate any policies. When Hall asked to review the Kroll documents, three regents, including Hall himself, voted to grant him
REGENTS page 2
By Eleanor Dearman @EllyDearman
Zoe Fu | Daily Texan Staff
UT System chancellor William McRaven, center, and Daniel Sharphorn, general counsel and vice chancellor for the UT System, right, met with the Board of Regents on Monday.
CITY
Kerbey Lane celebrates 35th anniversary By Rachel Lew @rachelannlew
Kerbey Lane Cafe celebrated its 35th year anniversary Monday with face painting and miniature horses — donating all of the proceeds to United Way for Greater Austin. Mason Ayer, CEO of Kerbey Lane Cafe, said Kerbey Lane Cafe is fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the Austin community for 35 years. “We wouldn’t be around today if it weren’t for the countless Austinites who have dined with us and supported our business for all these years,” Ayer said in a statement. “We deeply value our community and want to celebrate this milestone by giving back. United Way for Greater Austin is a first-rate organization that truly practices its motto of making Austin great
KERBEY page 3
Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff
Kerbey Lane Cafe celebrated its 35th year in business on Monday. All their proceeds from the day went to United Way for Greater Austin, a charity organization that funds other local nonprofits.
CAMPUS
UT’s portion of the Permanent University Fund (PUF) might be cut in half to help fund The University of Houston. Last week, Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) laid out a bill and constitutional amendment before the House Higher Education Committee that, if passed, would be a step toward adding UH to the PUF, an endowment that is currently designated to fund university operations at the UT and Texas A&M systems through the Available University Fund (AUF). Chief financial officer Mary Knight said this could have a significant financial impact on the university. “As far as the overall budget, a hundred million dollar reduction to any of our sources would be a very major reduction to the budget,” Knight said. “A lot of research and scholarships are funded from the AUF, so we would have to make reductions somewhere to be able to account for this.” Since the state constitution dictates that only UT and A&M receive the funds, the constitution must be amended to add UH to the short list of the fund’s recipients. Additionally, Turner’s complimentary bill must pass. Currently, $263 million of UT’s $2.658 billion budget comes from the PUF, according to Knight. UT receives twothirds of the $17 billion fund, while A&M receives one-third of the money. Turner’s proposals would cut UT’s portion and transfer part of it to UH,
PUF page 3
CAMPUS
Poll: Americans find New organization brings speakers to UT gas prices reasonable By Nashwa Bawab
By Katie Keenan @thedailytexan
An increasing number of Americans believe the current gasoline prices, which range from $1.93 to $3.29 per gallon nationally, are relatively reasonable, according to the UT Energy Poll released Wednesday. In September 2014, 90 percent of Americans believed gasoline prices were too high, but now that number has dropped to 66 percent. “There’s been such a deep decline in the price,” said Sheril Kirshenbaum, director of the UT Energy Poll. “ I’m paying as much now to fill up my own car as I did in the late 1990s. I think a lot of people are noticing a big difference in how much it costs
to travel.” The sharp decline in oil prices this past year can be attributed to a lack of demand from consumers across the world, according to Carey King, assistant director of the UT Energy Institute. “Oil production in North America has increased relatively quickly,” King said. “It has increased faster than the demand for gasoline. There’s more oil than people are prepared to consume.” But people shouldn’t get used to these low prices, King said. “[These prices] will be around for six months to a year, at most,” King said. However, high gas prices have their own set of
GAS page 3
@nashwabawab
A new wave of speakers will come to campus thanks to Speak, a new organization that already has a list of high-profile individuals scheduled to speak in the fall, according to the organization’s president. Students organized Speak as a way to get students involved in bringing highprofile speakers to campus. Before the club’s conception, Andrew Watts, president of the club and management information systems sophomore, was involved in bringing speakers such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel to campus. Watts said the organization will teach those who join how to design and develop these events from beginning to end.
Carlo Nasisse| Daily Texan Staff
Andrew Watts, management information systems sophomore, founded Speak as a way to get students involved in bringing high-profile speakers to campus.
“This goes from contacting speakers all the way to managing volunteers on the day of the event,” Watts said.
“Students will get hands-on experience by working with others, leading teams and developing marketing strategies.”
No application is needed to join, according to
SPEAK page 2
Name: 3594/Austin Community College/A; Width: 60p0; Depth: 2 in; Color: Process color, 3594/Austin Community College/A; Ad Number: 3594
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