The Daily Texan 2015-08-31

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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8

COMICS PAGE 7

SPORTS PAGE 6

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

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Monday, August 31, 2015

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CITY

Austin EMS faces EMT, paramedic shortages

By Zainab Calcuttawala @zainabroo94

Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff

Workers from Vault Fine Art Services prepare to remove the Jefferson Davis statue from the Main Mall on Sunday morning. The work crew also removed the statue of Woodrow Wilson.

DAVIS REMOVED

Controversial statue to be relocated to Dolph Briscoe Center

By Matthew Adams @MatthewAdams60

After months of debate, UT removed the Jefferson Davis and Woodrow Wilson statues from the Main Mall on Sunday morning.

The removal of both statues comes on the heels of an injunction hearing Thursday to determine whether UT could remove the statue. The Davis

statue will be relocated within 18 months to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, where it will be displayed to the public once museum renovations are completed.

University spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said University officials have not yet determined a new location for the Wilson statue, which was removed to maintain symmetry on the Main Mall.

The removal process began around 9 a.m. when Vault Fine Art Services covered the Davis statue with protective wrapping. Vault Fine Art Services then lifted the statue off its platform and placed it in a trailer for transportation.

Once workers properly wrapped both statues, the crew slowly tilted the statues back to cut the pins attaching the statues to their pedes-

tals. After the pins were cut, workers lifted and loaded the statues into the trailer for refurbishing, according to Robert Boland, manager for Vault Fine Art Services.

UTPD estimated a crowd of 50 people gathered at the Main Mall to see the Davis statue removed.

Boland said removing the Davis statue went well, despite a lack of knowledge about

Opinion

Read the editorial board’s commentary about the removal of the statues from the Main Mall. on Page 4

STATUES page 3

Austin-Travis Country Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) continues to struggle with increasing turnover for medical personnel, according to Anthony Marquardt, president of the Austin/Travis County EMS Employee Association (ATCEMSEA).

The shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics pressures them to work a substantial, unpredictable amount of overtime, according to Captain Darren Noak, deputy public information officer of the ATCEMS. “We do not have an option to shut down a truck with any personnel shortage.” Noak said. “The existing employees have to fill in the places to maintain our level of service.”

The use of emergency staffing procedures, designed for medical crisis situations, to fill empty shifts is a large reason why EMTs and paramedics choose to leave their jobs, according to Marquardt.

“On top of the normal 48hour schedule and the 24-hour on-call list medics are required to be on twice a month, they are also being told to work additional hours without notice,” Marquardt said. “So right now, it is ordinary for our medics who are off duty to be ordered back to work. This drives poor morale.”

Additionally, modified staffing procedures, implemented

by ATCEMS in 2012, hold

EMS page 2

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

CITY

Google to begin testing self-driving cars in Austin

Austin Pride Parade celebrates 25 years

By Nancy Huang @bana_nancy

By Lauren Florence @laurenreneeflo

An estimated 150,000 people flocked to downtown Austin on Saturday night for the city’s first Pride Parade since the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality this summer, according to event organizers.

At Austin’s 25th annual Pride Parade, thousands of people wearing tutus, glitter and rainbow clothing were showered with candy, condoms and Mardi Gras necklaces. Austin Pride Week ended with an allday festival followed by a parade through downtown Austin. The volunteer-run Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation has organized and managed Austin’s annual Pride Week Celebration and Stonewall Rally since 2010.

Paul Huddleston, president of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation for five years, said that in his time as president he has seen the turnout of Pride Week continually grow.

Google is sending three prototype self-driving cars to Austin next week, after representatives from the company tested six of their older models in the city for the past two months, At a press conference Saturday at the Thinkery, a children’s science museum, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the self-driving cars fit well into the city’s technological scene.

“We truly love testing new things around here,” Adler said. “It is impossible for this city not to want to participate in trying to help shape the transportation of tomorrow.”

Adler said Google created three newer models for the specific purpose of test-driving around Austin.

The cars run on the same software as the six formerly tested vehicles, and Google’s team of test drivers will test the cars over the next few weeks, Adler said.

There’s no better place for this because of the creativeness, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and the desire for advanced mobility in this city.

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

LIFE&ARTS

ONLINE

UT filmmakers release documentary film about loss of land, culture in South Louisiana marshland.

PAGE 3

Students can transform the Davis statue’s removal into further change.

Texas volleyball sweeps three straight games.

PAGE 6

Pluckers to host concert for 20th anniversary.

PAGE 8

See our slideshow of highlights from this weekend’s Austin Pride Parade.

PAGE 4

Freshmen key to reviving football program.

PAGE 6

Students awarded money to fund school in Africa.

PAGE 8

dailytexanonline.com

—Chris Urmson, Director of Google Self-Driving Car Project

Chris Urmson, director of the Google Self-Driving Car Project, said he is grateful to Austin for the opportunity.

“It’s been incredible, the spirit and openness that Austin has shown to us,” Urmson said. “In the U.S. we kill 33,000 people on our roads every year. … There’s an incredible opportunity to do good here.”

Urmson said the

GOOGLE page 2

Junyuan Tan | Daily Texan Staff

Motorcyclists bearing rainbow flags lead the Pride Parade past the Texas Capitol Building on Saturday night. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Austin Pride.

About 120,000 people attended the 2014 parade, according to the Austin Pride website.

“We see an increase every year, so every year requires a bigger push, bigger planning.” Huddleston said. “A big challenge this year was getting through

the parade in just under two and a half hours.”

The festival featured the largest lineup of entertainers and musicians ever compiled for the event, with about 40 artists split between two stages.

Festival tickets ranged from $15–$20, and proceeds

from all Pride Week events, including the festival, will go to local nonprofits and charities supporting the LGBT community and legal rights.

All funds raised will be donated back to the community through the

PRIDE page 2

REASON TO PARTY

PAGE 7

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Monday, August 31, 2015

FRAMES featured photo

NEWS

thedailytexan

Volume 115, Issue 14

CONTACT US Main Telephone (512) 471-4591 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 e-mail managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.

CORRECTIONS The story “Filmmakers face regulations on campus” in the Aug. 28 issue of The Daily Texan incorrectly stated the University retained creative rights for any footage shot on campus grounds for a class project. Students retain the rights to their work.

The article also incorrectly attributed information to Bert Herigstad, office manager in the Department of RadioTelevision-Film, which The Texan obtained through a University form.

The story “System spent thousands annually on student regent travel, lodging” in the Aug. 27 issue of the Texan incorrectly stated former student regent Kyle Kalkwarf attended UT-San ANtonio. He attended UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. In addition, expenses related to a student regart are paid for from the Available University Fund, not the Available University Fund and the Permanent University Fund.

The story “Career-family balance differs between women in US, Europe” incorrectly stated American women rely less on government support, whereas researcher Caitlyn Collins found the American government offers less support to American women than some European governments to do women in their country. Additionally, Collins found U.S. women rarely suggested the governemnt provide them with support, not never.

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.

Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff

Guests dine at Stanley’s Farmhouse Pizza in Ceres Park, Texas. Ceres Park is located 18 miles south of downtown Austin in the scenic Texas hill country.

EMS

continues from page 1 back certified paramedics from practicing the medical skills they have been trained in, Marquardt said.

Whereas EMTs complete a 6-month course in order to be certified for their duties, paramedics earn the equivalent of an associate degree for their state and national certifications.

Under the modified staffing procedures, newly hired paramedics need to earn two years of tenure as EMTs before they are cleared to work as full paramedics.

“Out of the Austin Community College EMS program, which used to be one of our main avenues for attracting new employees, the paramedic class does not want to work for Austin-Travis County EMS, because they didn’t train to be EMTs — they trained to be paramedics,” Marquardt said.

The EMT-certified members of the student organization Longhorn EMS have also not sought employment at AT-

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

Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire Smith Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zhelun Chen, Adam Hamze, Kat Sampson, Jordan Shenhar Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Mitts Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Zhang News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samantha Ketterer Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony Green News Desk Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rachel Lew, Josh Willis, Caleb Wong Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Matthew Adams, Nashwa Bawab, Zainab Calcuttawala, Lauren Florence Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameron Peterson Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Myra Ali, Megan Hix, Kailey Thompson Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginia Scherer Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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Walker Fountain Senior Opinion Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Dolan, Noah M. Horwitz Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Danielle Lopez Life&Arts Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cat Cardenas, Marisa Charpentier Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Walsh, Alex Pelham Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jori Epstein Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob Martella Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akshay Mirchandani, Blanche Schaefer, Michael Shapiro, Aaron Torres Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert Lee Associate Comics Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amber Perry, Lindsay Rojas Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Connor Murphy, Isabella Palacios, Victoria Smith, Melanie Westfall Special Ventures Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Madlin Mekelburg Special Ventures Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julia Brouillette, Graham Dickie Special Ventures Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rachel Zein Social Media Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin Duncan Technical Operations Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Li Editorial Adviser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Chen

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nancy Huang, Alexander Walheim Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire Cruz, Ezra Siegal Life&Arts Writers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mikaela Cannizzo, Matt Robertsen, Katie Walsh Page Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lillian Michel Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cuillin Chastain-Howley, Daniel Hung, Abhishek Mukund Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt Robertson, Junyuan Tan

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CEMS, according to biochemistry senior Elizabeth Adams, the group’s external director.

In early August, the ATCEMS recruited 42 cadets to complete the training to become an EMT for the county, Noak said. The class holds the record for the number of cadets enrolled in a single class in the past 40 years, he said.

The size of this incoming academy class does not reduce the severity of the health personnel shortage that persists in Austin-Travis County’s municipal medical emergency system, according to Marquardt.

“In order to gauge the significance of the impact of this large class, we have to know if they successfully graduated the academy and elected to stay with us, because in the same year they are touting 42 students in the academy, we are looking at 36 [voluntary and involuntary job terminations] for the year — which is actually also a new record.”

Marquardt said.

The Austin-Travis County EMS should collaborate with ATCEMSEA to create a better working environment, Marquardt said.

“There is a lot of opportunity for medical management to get together with ATCEMSEA and the staff to look at some of these factors,” Marquardt said.

“We could reverse the trending of our separations by simply listening to our workforce.”

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

From left, Chief Executive Officer Troy Livingston, Director of project Google team Chris Urmson, Mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, and Ann Kitchen, chair of councils mobility committee, held a press conference Saturday afternoon on the Google Self-Driving Car Project at The Thinkery children’s science museum.

GOOGLE

continues from page 1 prototypes are designed with extra safety measures, including surround sensors and softer windshields, which cushion pedestrians from collisions.

“The car is designed with layers of safety,” Urmson said. “It begins with sensors that can see up to two football fields around it and process that information that gives us safe driving behaviors.”

Jennifer Haroon, head of

business operations for the project, said Google chose the city of Austin because of its innovative culture.

“We’ve been here in Austin for about two months,” Haroon said. “I have to say that Austin has been extremely welcoming to us. [Austin is] known as a community that is quite vocal. We really wanted to hear that feedback. We wanted to learn how people want to use self-driving vehicles, how they interact with them on the road.”

PRIDE

continues from page 1 Austin Pride Cares program, formed by the Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation’s Board of Directors.

According to the Austin Pride website, the Austin Pride Cares program has donated more than $75,000 to various non-profit organizations since 2011.

Huddleston said the foundation will not know how much money it raised during this year’s Pride Week until a week or two after the parade because the foundation needs to total the money.

The foundation will donate the most money this year to Out Youth Austin, Project Transitions and the Transgender Education Network, according to Huddleston.

Austin Police Department

Name: 4023/ UB Ski; Width:

FILM

Any community member can provide feedback on Google’s self-driving cars through a URL on the back of each vehicle. Google also publishes monthly reports about their activity on its Google Plus page.

“Austin is the first city selected for this kind of out-of-project area testing,” Adler said. “There’s no better place for this because of the creativeness, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and the desire for advanced mobility in this city.”

Officer Sean Paap said there were no major security threats or incidents at the parade.

Paap said the biggest issue is crowd control and removing people who are not authorized to march in the parade.

UT math professor Xavier Ros-Oton said it was his first time attending the Pride Parade. He said the presence of all of the companies that marched in the parade — such as Facebook, Apple and Dell, amongst others — was surprising and unexpected.

“My favorite part of the parade was seeing how happy everyone was to be there,” Ros-Oton said.

Aug. 25 was also the first time the Travis County Commissioners Court issued a proclamation recognizing Austin Pride, officially declaring Aug. 22 to Aug. 30 Austin Pride Week.

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STATUES

continues from page 1 the original installation of the statue.

“It went very smoothly,” Boland said. “There were a lot of questions in the beginning, but through trial and error, we figured out how exactly many pins there were and made sure they were released and we lifted him up.”

Student Government President Xavier Rotnofsky and Vice President Rohit Mandalapu campaigned since February for the removal of the Davis statue. Rotnofsky and Mandalapu passed legislation in March for its removal and started a petition in June calling for the statue’s removal.

“It is nice that it is done,” Rotnofsky said. “It took a lot of effort and it paid off.”

A smaller crowd remained present for the removal of the Wilson statue an hour after Davis was removed.

Weldon said Project Management and Construction Services will determine how the statues’ inscriptions will be removed or what should be used to cover them.

Kirk Lyons, the attorney representing the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the group filed a writ of injunction in the state Supreme Court on Friday. When they repeatedly filed for their motion to stand, the court continued to reject it. Lyons said the Sons of Confederate Veterans continued to work on the motion but had to give up on Friday evening.

“We just had to hope that the state didn’t move forward on moving brother Jeff and brother Woodrow, and obviously we ran out of time,” Lyons said.

Lyons said although he thinks the writ is a moot point, the group will continue to pressure the UT community to protest the removal of the statue.

“We’re just going to take our message to what’s left of the people of Texas that appreciate heritage and history,” Lyons said. “If they’ve got a few million dollars laying around that they want to give

Multimedia

See our video coverage of the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue online at dailytexanonline.com. to UT, we’re going to tell them to give to someone else. This is all about money and almost always is. We just have to mobilize that community to tell Mr. [UT President Gregory] Fenves he better enjoy his short time at the University.”

Urban studies major Brett Davis said he thinks UT is rectifying the past in light of recent controversy surrounding the Confederacy in other southern states.

“My city of New Orleans is taking down its central statue of Robert E. Lee in the next year or so,” Davis said. “South Carolina got rid of the Confederate flag, and various states are dealing with it right now. I think it is appropriate that we do, too.”

Josh Guerrea and Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff

(Top) Construction workers place the statue of Jefferson Davis in a trailer after removing it from the Main Mall on Sunday morning. The Davis statue will be placed in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History within 18 months.

(Above) A worker stabilizes the statue of Jefferson Davis during its removal on Sunday morning. It took approximately one hour to remove the statue.

FILM

UT filmmakers showcase erosion of Cajun country in documentary

By Alexander Walheim factor is the installation of @thedailytexan

The marshes and Cajun culture in South Louisiana are slowly disappearing, according to a documentary shown at the Bullock Texas State History Museum on Saturday.

Filmmakers Don Howard and Jim Shelton created “By the River of Babylon: An Elegy for South Louisiana” to document the erosion of land that has occurred over the course of the last 70 years. The construction of levees were beneficial in preventing flooding of the Mississippi River but were harmful in how they destroyed some wildlife, according to the film.

“The river flooding is what dispersed silt throughout the land so that it would rise again,” said Shelton, an academic counselor in the athletic department. “And now that it’s got the levees built up, it doesn’t flood anymore, so there’s nothing to replenish the land.”

Another contributing

oil pipelines in the land between saltwater and freshwater, the filmmakers said.

“When you cut a pipeline through [the land], the saltwater goes in and kills everything at first,” Howard, a radio-televisionfilm professor, said. “In the first few years, what it does is kill all the grass it’s holding on this land.”

Jennifer Caplan, psychology and communications senior, said the large loss of marshland surprised her.

“I learned more about the whole marsh situation,” Caplan said. “I didn’t realize the extent of it. You hear a lot about it, but it’s really mind-blowing to hear the comparison of the size of a football field disappearing every hour for the past 70 years.

I can’t even wrap my brain around that.”

Howard and Shelton said they wanted to document the Cajun culture of South Louisiana before it dies out.

“The New Orleans story gets told over and over and over again because so

New Orleans is a completely different place than Cajun country and Creole country.

—Jim Shelton, Filmmaker

many tourists go there,” Howard said. “It’s the one side of this culture that anybody knows about.

What we were hoping to get across was this is a regional problem.”

Too few people know about the losses the larger group of Cajuns have experienced because of the overwhelming emphasis on New Orleans’ loss during Hurricane Katrina, according to Shelton.

“New Orleans is a completely different place than Cajun country and Creole country,” Shelton said. “They’re experiencing loss in the same way that people in New Orleans had. New Orleans is just the star that everybody knows about.”

Facebook /thedailytexan Instagram @thedailytexan Twitter @thedailytexan The Daily Texan

4 OPINION

CLAIRE SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorial Monday, August 31, 2015

4

EDITORIAL

Relocation opens opportunity for future change Decades of stifled objections and half a year of heated debate ended mundanely on a quiet Sunday morning, when a forklift carried the cellophane-wrapped Jefferson Davis statue from its central position on UT’s Main Mall. It will be relocated to a more appropriate place of exhibition in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

The dedication and resilience of student activists is what separated this movement to remove Davis from those which came before.

But that burden should not be placed solely on a small and marginalized community. Instead, its triumph should inspire the entire student body to continue pursuing meaningful change.

A long period of student apathy prolonged what should have been a clear-cut decision.

We wrote last week about the administrative complacency that prevented the statue from being removed before the start of the school year.

But despite intense media scrutiny and a student government outspokenly in support of the movement, public interest in the issue rarely manifested itself as more than the occasional protest message spray-painted over the statue’s base.

An overwhelming majority of UT students did not voice any objections to the statue’s presence, either extemporaneously or at any of the public forums designated for debate over the issue.

That apathetic majority of the University’s students might, at least from afar, sympathize

The movement’s eventual success reflects the extraordinary power that just a small fraction of a 51,000-strong student body has to effect tangible social change. with a movement to remove a symbol of white supremacy and racial hatred. But there’s little value in silent support for an individual’s or a group’s struggle for justice. Active allyship is often what helps push social movements into the consciousness of the general public and onto the agendas of influential voices and policymakers.

If it weren’t for student leadership and activism, it’s unlikely that the decades-long controversy surrounding Davis would have emerged to the forefront of campus political discourse.

And yet, the movement’s eventual success reflects the extraordinary power that just a small fraction of a 51,000-strong student body has to effect tangible social change. That — not restraining orders or lethargic committees or #BumpTheChump — is the most significant lesson of the statue ordeal. Its conclusion does not represent the end of adversity and

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

The Jefferson Davis statue was removed from the Main Mall the morning of Aug. 30.

inequity on campus, but it can represent the beginning of a new era in student activism, where those most affected by injustices are empowered by a network of supporters and allies, and students are encouraged to unify in

pursuit of worthwhile reforms.

UT’s student body can achieve great things with that empowered mentality in mind. We urge that it not leave campus as quietly as Davis did yesterday morning.

COLUMN

Choosing jobs, gas prices: Lift the crude oil export ban

By Daniel Hung

Daily Texan Columnist

As students drive back to Austin for the start of school, they may notice that the price of gas is a little more than $2. This might be great for commuters, but the low price of crude oil, which gasoline is derived from, has led to the loss of 126,000 jobs nationwide, with Texas bearing the brunt of the job losses.

The price of crude oil in the U.S. has recently been trading at less than $42 per barrel, a sixyear low. The main reason for the low price is simple supply and demand. Countries around the world are producing record amounts of oil, but demand has not been growing as fast as supply, due to the sluggish global economic growth. This leads to a surplus in oil supply and the current low price.

Crude oil is the unrefined product that is extracted from the earth. After refining, around 50 percent will become gasoline, with the rest becoming diesel fuel, jet fuel, kerosene, heating oil and residual fuel oil. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which banned crude oil exports.

This was done in response to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, which caused global oil prices to skyrocket. The act’s goal was to keep oil in the

U.S. and protect from price shock.

Though not much can be done to change the supply and demand of oil, lifting the crude export ban would help many who lost their jobs in the energy sector get their jobs back, plus create more jobs than before.

The crude export ban was put into place in the 1970s, when America feared that it wouldn’t have enough oil for domestic use It is an outdated policy from a time long ago.

Many experts now believe that the world will never run out of oil because of the constant stream of technological advances in discovering and producing oil.

Through technological advances such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the U.S. is now one of the top oil producers in the world and has not produced this much oil since 1970. Critics of lifting the crude export ban point to the fact that the U.S. still imports oil from other countries as a reason to not lift the ban. It may be true that the U.S. still imports oil from other countries, largely from Canada and Mexico, but a slate of recent studies have shown that lifting the crude export ban will actually lower the price of gas, as well as create more than 1 million jobs in the U.S. The price of oil internationally is higher than the price in the U.S. Oil producers

would be able to stem the tide of job losses if they were able to sell their crude oil for $49 internationally, instead of the $42 domestically.

The Federal Energy Information Administration concluded that gasoline prices at the pump are more closely linked to global crude prices than the U.S. price. Therefore, lifting the ban will help create jobs because U.S. oil producers will be able to sell their oil for more internationally, which will then bring the international price of oil closer to the current U.S. price, resulting in lower prices at the pump.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has approved a bill lifting the ban and the House plans on taking it up this fall. It is important for Congress and President Barack Obama to lift the antiquated ban on crude oil export. If they fail to act, the U.S. stands to lose more than 100,000 jobs. American leaders should prioritize job growth and the welfare of the people. Lifting the crude export

Illustration by Joanna Levine | Daily Texan Staff

ban will do both by creating jobs and lowering the price of gasoline.

Hung is a second-year law student from Brownsville.

GUEST COLUMN

GUEST COLUMN

Race and politics: Why policies and Conscious rap should empower, not discredit, rest of the greater genre principles matter most to voters

By Abhishek Mukund Guest Columnist @abhishek_mukund

The United States has had monumental presidents in its history. Lincoln fought to end slavery at the cost of a civil war. Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the longest sitting president after winning four consecutive elections. Yet, when Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, ran and successfully won in 2008 and again in 2012, some Americans speculated that he had won because of his race. Did Obama win solely for this reason, or did the citizens elect a president whose policies best suited the nation’s interests?

The United States Census reports an increase of nearly 4 million black and Hispanic voters from the 2004 election to the 2008 election, and an 8 percent increase in the number of black voters ages 18–25. According to the Washington Post, black turnout was higher than white turnout in both 2008 and in 2012. Furthermore, the Washington Post boldly proclaimed Mitt Romney would have beaten Obama had it not been for the uptick in black turnout. Finally, CNN reported that Obama won 93 percent of the black vote in 2012, down three points from his previous hold of the black vote in 2008.

Yet, not everyone is convinced this data captures the bigger picture. Voters often claim they would never vote for a certain candidate based on race or gender, according to public affairs professor Edwin Dorn.

“Voters support candidates who ‘stand for’

something. That phrase, ‘stand for,’ does not simply refer to a candidate’s policy positions,” Dorn said. “It refers to a candidate’s total package. Race and gender may be part of that package — or may not.”

In Dorn’s view, Obama won because of his policy and political party, not because of his race. Dorn isn’t alone in his belief.

Voters are likely to lean towards candidates who reflect their political ideologies, said Rebecca Bigler, psychology and women’s and gender studies professor.

“People do show a preference for people who are the same social group and same political party,” Bigler said.

In addition to political ideology and party affiliation, a candidate’s personal track record is taken into account by voters. Herman Cain was a black GOP candidate who briefly led all candidates in the polls in 2012 until his campaign fell apart after alleged sexual misconduct charges. Cain led because of his policies, and fell apart because of the accusations against him. His race was not the most significant factor in his success.

Herman Cain led because of his policies.

Ben Carson, a black candidate running for presidency in 2016, has gained traction because of his policies. Obama won for his policies.

Despite what the statistics say, race and gender are not the defining elements of a candidate’s campaign. A candidate’s beliefs, ideals, relatability, leadership skills and perseverance earn an elected candidate his or her place in office.

Mukund is an undeclared sophomore.

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.

By Cuillin Chastain-Howley Guest Columnist @notcuillin

Since the days of N.W.A.’s “Fuck tha Police,” rap music has been vilified as an evil and corrupting force. At the turn of the 20th century, rap became more commercialized, and an alternative genre, dubbed “conscious” rap, emerged. Conscious rap is music that directly addresses social issues found in the inner city.

However, conscious rap has recently been placed on a pedestal over rap in general, a trend that needs to stop.

A number of prominent rappers have held the mantle of conscious rap, but fans started to see the downside of the genre with the rise of Macklemore in 2013 and 2014. Macklemore rose up with the irresistible hits about overcoming addiction, promoting gay rights and condemning materialism.

There’s no doubt Macklemore’s debut album The Heist was solid, containing a few hits that propelled him into the mainstream. His music was widely accepted on the basis that it was inoffensive.

The problem came at the 2014 Grammy Awards, where The Heist won Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.

The themes and subjects of The Heist were a lot more digestible than those of Good Kid, which approached subjects like

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

addiction and gang warfare with the intention of letting the audience decide whether they were good or bad. The Heist was a lot more preachy, and it had a clear message, which influenced the album’s win over Lamar’s greater ambiguity. One only has to compare Macklemore’s song “Same Love” to Lamar’s masterpiece “Swimming Pools” to see the difference in the way these rappers deliver their messages.

Even rappers are starting to see the problem with the conscious label. Vince Staples, an associate of the Odd Future collective, tweeted recently, “I am highly offended by the term conscious rap don’t associate me with that.” Staples later tweeted, “You’re telling me everybody else is unconscious?”

Staples’ tweets explain the unfortunate fact that music labeled as “conscious” rap has an implied elitism to it, insinuating that all other rap music is ignorant and “unconscious.” This is an unfortunate view for a consumer to have, because it robs listeners of a lot of great music.

To only expose oneself to a small part of a genre with so much variety and depth is a mistake. There is nothing inherently wrong with conscious rap, and most of the time its message is positive and empowering. It is the recent trend of using conscious rap as a way to discredit all other rap that is concerning and needs to stop.

Chastian-Howley is an undeclared sophomore.

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Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

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CLASS 5

SPORTS

5

Monday, August 31, 2015

SWEEP

continues from page 6 expect some errors, and, as I told the team before, I didn’t expect them to be perfect. I wanted to see how we responded to each point.”

In its first game against Rice, Texas had a .333 team hitting percentage on 46 kills, improving its overall record against the Owls to 36-0. Ten Longhorn blocks kept the Rice offense at bay, holding them to a .067 hit-

ting percentage and forcing 19 attack errors.

Junior outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame came out swinging and racked up six kills in the first set, but Rice adjusted and held her to just three in the next two. Seniors outside hitter Amy Neal and middle blocker Molly McCage took over, finishing with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Junior setter Chloe Collins finished with 32 assists.

The Longhorns won their

first two sets against UCIrvine handily but struggled in the third. Texas’ defense was out-of-system late in the game, and its passers weren’t executing well, resulting in a few net violations and three reception errors, which led to several scoring runs for UC-Irvine.

Ultimately, UC-Irvine made passing mistakes of its own, and Texas followed with big blocks from McCage, junior middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu and freshman middle blocker

Morgan Johnson to close out the game.

“I think teams get a little nervous when they’re playing against us and have an opportunity to win, and we know how to kick it up again,” Elliott said.

The final match against LSU was a consistent battle in the last two sets, but Texas stayed poised, and a solid performance from junior setter Chloe Collins helped Texas finish the weekend undefeated.

Collins had 30 assists,

12 digs and three kills against the Tigers. The Longhorn passers recovered from their shaky early game, highlighted by sophomore libero Cat McCoy’s 22 digs. Neal and senior defensive specialist Kat Brooks both added nine digs.

Neal acquired 33 kills, 28 digs and five service aces.

Elliott said Neal acts as the glue holding Texas together, giving other players different looks, but Neal attributes her success to her teammates,

FRESHMEN

I’m really happy with how the freshmen have come in and worked. Everyone has come in to work and is positive, and it’s really exciting to be around.

continues from page 6 freshmen defensive backs Kris Boyd, Holton Hill and Davante Davis are not far behind.

All three freshman corners are more than 6 feet tall, giving them the size to cover the Big 12’s variety of big and talented receivers. With star cornerback Quandre Diggs’ departure, all three freshmen will see the field early and often, playing as both nickel and outside corners.

“They are talented.

Holton Hill, Kris Boyd and Davante [Davis] —

particularly Collins.

“I can give a lot of credit to [Collins] putting up a lot of balls to give me a lot of confidence as I’m hitting. She has been running the court really well,” Neal said. “I think we are all grooving really well together.”

Texas returns to Gregory Gym next weekend for the VERT Challenge to face No. 5 Nebraska on Friday night and No. 4 Florida on Saturday afternoon.

—Taylor Doyle, Center

all of those guys are making plays,” senior cornerback Duke Thomas said.

“There’s no such thing as a fade ball against our guys.

They are up there making big plays.”

Accumulating a talented recruiting class is just the first step in Strong’s attempt to revamp the program.

While he will need more top recruiting classes to field a legitimate contender, the young Longhorns will have an immediate chance to make Texas better this season.

If the freshman class lives up to the hype, it may be a preview of big things to come at The University of Texas.

claiming the first two sets by a margin of 12 and 18 points, respectively, Texas faced a 17–12 deficit in the third set.

Elliott sent Ogbogu and McCage to the front line together, and the Longhorns immediately went on a 7-0 run, taking a 19-17 lead en route to a 26–24 third-set victory. “[McCage and Ogbogu] are two experienced players who can take over games,” Elliott said. “We called their numbers, and they responded for us in a tough spot.”

In the weekend’s final

match against unranked LSU, the Longhorns won once again in straight sets, with McCage and Ogbogu attacking the net to the tune of seven kills each. At the tournament’s conclusion, the two middle blockers combined for 44 kills and a combined average of 9 blocks per game to anchor the Texas defense.

Texas will host the VERT Challenge at home beginning Friday. The Longhorns are slated to face off against No. 5 Nebraska on Sept. 4 and No. 4 Florida on Sept. 5.

Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff

Redshirt freshman forward Mikayla Flores, left, fights to get to the ball Sunday against Ohio State. The Texas offense struggled all afternoon, resulting in a 0-0 final score in overtime.

SOCCER

continues from page 6 most important save coming at the end of the game.

Twenty seconds before regulation ended, Buckeye forward Nichelle Prince sent a through ball to midfielder Nikki Walts. Smith had six saves up to that point, but she needed one more to preserve the tie.

Walts fired. Smith braced and got her right arm on the ball, deflecting it to keep the score tied.

The game went into suddendeath overtime, which consisted of two 10-minute halves.

The Buckeyes managed

NS

two shots in overtime to put them at 18 shots for the game, four above their average.

“It’s a good team. They’re gonna get their chances,” Smith said. “Every team has their chances.”

Texas also blew its chance Friday night against the No. 5 Tarheels. The Longhorns only managed seven shots against UNC, and of those seven shots, the goalie only handled two.

Smith was saving shots left and right, but her efforts weren’t enough. Four minutes into the second half, Texas made a costly error when defender Aaron Strawser turned the ball over

in the box, and UNC’s midfielder Cameron Castleberry had a chip shot for a goal.

Two minutes after Castleberry’s goal, midfielder Joanna Boyles got the rebound off UNC forward Summer Green’s shot. She sent an 18-yard shot into the right side of the net. Texas lost the game 2-0.

Smith’s defense Sunday kept Texas from falling to 1-2. Without her offense, the Longhorns may be winless up to this point.

In order for Texas to improve its record, its offense needs to start scoring.

“We’ll get there,” Flores said.

“We’ll get there eventually.”

BLOCKERS

continues from page 6 zero in the final set.

McCage and Ogbogu set the tone for the Longhorns in the season opener as the two combined for 16 kills and eight blocks in the victory.

McCage’s 10 kills ranked second, trailing only Texas’ senior outside hitter Amy Neal.

After cruising to victory in the first match of the year, the Longhorns were tested by unranked UC-Irvine in the final set of the match. After

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JORI EPSTEIN, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports Monday, August 31, 2015

VOLLEYBALL

Texas opens season with big sweep

By Claire Cruz

SIDELINE MLB RANGERS

@claireecruz5

ORIOLES

It took just nine sets and a true team effort for No. 3 Texas to start its 2015 campaign with three straight victories.

Texas hosted the American Campus Classic at Gregory Gym over the weekend and defeated Rice (25-12, 25-23, 25-14) in its season opener Friday evening, UC-Irvine (2513, 25-7, 26-24) Saturday afternoon and LSU (2512, 25-22, 25-21) later that night. Each game ended in a three-set sweep by the Longhorns in 90 minutes or less. Texas missed some opportunities and put itself in a few tight sets, but those situations were something head coach Jerritt Elliott wanted to see.

“I thought overall we played at a pretty high level,” Elliott said. “You

SWEEP page 5

TWINS

ASTROS

YANKEES

BRAVES

CARDINALS

GIANTS

Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan Staff

Senior outside hitter Amy Neal, left, goes up for a hit against Rice in Texas’ season opener Friday. Neal finished the weekend with 33 kills and 28 digs en route to three straight victories over Rice, UC-Irvine and LSU.

Middle blockers anchor Longhorns’ attack

By Michael Shapiro @mshap2

In this weekend’s opening tournament, the Texas roster came close to mirroring the 2014 Final Four squad. With 10 players returning to Austin, head coach Jerritt Elliott is now fine-tuning his roster to answer questions the Longhorns had going into the season. One of those questions is how to use the five freshmen this year.

Two players Elliott won’t have to answer any questions about are middle blockers. At the position are two of Texas’ marquee players on the front line, junior Chiaka Ogbogu and senior Molly McCage.

Both players earned Big 12 preseason honors: McCage was selected to the All-Big 12 preseason team and Ogbogu

Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan Staff

BLOCKERS page 5

Junior middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu, right, holds down the front line against Rice. Ogbogu earned All-American honors last season and was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1991

SOCCER

Freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson, 46, sees playing time in the Orange-White scrimmage April 18. Texas’ highly touted freshman class is set to make an impact this year.

Sudden-death overtime concludes in scoreless tie

By Aaron Torres @aaron_torres95

Stephanie Tacy Daily Texan file photo

Freshman playmakers key to revamping football program

By Ezra Siegel

It’s rare that a team can improve after losing a double-digit number of starters. Yet, the Longhorns have the chance to break that mold with a talented freshman class.

Coming off a cringeworthy 6-7 season, head coach Charlie Strong brought some hope to Longhorn fans this winter with one of the nation’s top-10 recruiting classes, according to 247Sports.

While true freshmen usually do little more than provide depth, the Longhorns will rely on several of those young playmakers to make an impact.

“I’m really happy with how the freshmen have come in and worked,” senior center Taylor Doyle said. “Everyone has come

in to work and is positive, and it’s really exciting to be around.”

In particular, freshman receiver John Burt stands out as a candidate to have a breakout year. After losing their top two receivers in John Harris and Jaxon Shipley, the Longhorns are thin on the outside and will look for playmakers to help junior quarterback Tyrone Swoopes. An allaround athlete at 6-foot2, 184 pounds, Burt has impressed his team and appears to be ahead of the curve. “[Burt’s] grown so much … I love his demeanor, his work ethic and the way he’s carried himself,” senior receiver Marcus Johnson said. “For him to be so young, he’s done a great job, and you will definitely see a lot of him this season.”

While the Longhorns will need Burt to make

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was named Preseason Player of the Year.

“They’re All–Americans for a reason,” Elliott said. “The two of them have been in this program for a while, and they always provide our team with a spark when we need it. Both of them are players who you can always count on.”

The season kicked off for No. 3 Texas on Friday as it took the court against the unranked Rice Owls in the American Campus Classic at Gregory Gymnasium. The Longhorns continued to dominate over non-conference opponents, where they went 11-2 in 2014.

Aside from a sloppy second set, Texas cruised to a straightset victory over Rice, holding the Owls to a kill percentage of

FOOTBALL | COLUMN

Daily Texan Columnist @SiegelEzra

TOP TWEET

plays on the perimeter, they will also rely on multiple freshmen to anchor the offensive line and improve last year’s shaky unit.

Freshman tackle Connor Williams has been a favorite to win a starting job since joining the team last spring, and freshman guard Patrick Vahe has been especially impressive in camp. “[Vahe’s] just big and strong and physical,” Strong said. “[He] loves it.

Comes out, smiles all the time, but just love his overall attitude.”

Texas’ freshmen will be heavily involved in the team’s offense, but the defensive recruits will also play a large role. Freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson has already emerged as an instrumental piece in the Longhorns’ defense, while

FRESHMEN page 5

The only Texas player who has scored this season is goalie Abby Smith.

Her teammates remained scoreless this weekend, as Texas lost to No. 5 North Carolina on Friday night and tied with Ohio State on Sunday afternoon.

On a partly cloudy afternoon at Mike A. Meyers Stadium, Texas (1-1-1) and Ohio State (3-0-1) finished the game at 0-0.

Texas hasn’t scored since Smith connected on a 90yard cannonball on Aug. 23.

Texas attempted 17 shots Sunday, two less than its average of 19 shots per game. The goalie blocked seven of those shots, and 10 didn’t threaten to go into the net.

“Well, we need to take advantage of our opportunities,” head coach Angela Kelly said. “Today we created opportunities and somebody needed to have the capacity to take that responsibility and put the ball in the back of the net for us.”

Texas didn’t have many opportunities in the first half.

A lot of passes sent to players pushing forward were hit a bit too hard and traveled a bit too far. The Longhorns only managed three shots in the first half, and only one was a shot on goal that Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker needed to corral.

“First half, we didn’t take care of the ball,” Kelly said. “We gave the ball away far too many times and played a little bit tense and tentative.”

Kelly talked to her team at halftime about the aggressiveness and tenacity displayed in the first half, and the message seemed to work. Four minutes into the second half, freshman forward Mikayla Flores fired a four-seam fastball from 8 yards out. The ball went straight to McVicker.

About 20 minutes later, freshman forward Alexa Adams got a rebound from a corner kick, but she wasn’t able to plant her left foot to get enough power on the ball. Instead of the white ball mimicking a cannon ball being fired, it had the velocity of a marshmallow that was thrown.

“I thought our playmakers did a better job of playmaking [in the second half],” Kelly said.

But Texas failed to capitalize on opportunities to score its first offensive goal of the season.

“We had some [opportunities] at the top of the box,” Flores said. “We had some good balls wide … our touches were off, but we’ll get there eventually. We just have to keep working hard.”

The Longhorns’ offense didn’t come through, but their goalie did. Smith had eight saves on the day, with the

SOCCER page 5

University of Houston quarterback David Klinger set an NCAA record with six touchdown passes in the second quarter en route to a 73-3 win over Louisiana Tech.

SPORTS BRIEFLY Longhorn legends compete in Beijing

Former Longhorns Sanya Richards-Ross and Leo Manzano are making history at the IAAF World Championships, seven years after a disappointing bronze finish for Richards-Ross in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Team USA won silver in the women’s 4x400-meter relay with Richards-Ross as the opening leg, and the team finished in 3:19.44. Jamaica took gold with a time of 3:19.13, and Great Britain won bronze with 3:23.62.

Distance runner and Olympic silver medalist Manzano qualified for the men’s 1500-meter final, along with all of his American teammates.

This is the first time since 2009 that all three Team USA members qualified for the men’s 1500-meter final. Manzano finished 10th in the final in 3:37.26 and will now focus on training to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

—Blanche Schaefer

COMICS

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DANIELLE LOPEZ, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, August 31, 2015

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ALUMNI

Pluckers to celebrate 20 years with free concert

By Katie Walsh @katiehwalsh_atx

After a night out on Sixth Street in 1991, two UT frat brothers, David Paul and Mark Greenberg, found themselves on an unsuccessful hunt for late-night wings. Four years later, they filled Austin’s chicken wing void with the first Pluckers restaurant. Now, 17 Pluckers scatter the South.

In honor of Pluckers’ 20th anniversary, Paul, Mark Greenberg and their cofounder Sean Greenberg are throwing a free party Saturday, at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The party will kick off with a viewing of the UT vs. Notre Dame football game, followed by performances from indie rock bands Bleachers and Passion Pit. Ticket giveaways will be announced on the Pluckers Facebook page throughout the week leading up to the event.

“So much of our growth relates back to Austin, growing with the city and UT specifically,” Sean Greenberg said.

“And how do we say thank you? For us, thank you involves [throwing] a big party.”

Paul and Mark Greenberg began sketching out the plans for Pluckers while finishing up their advertising degrees at UT. The pair grew up frequenting wing restaurants in Atlanta and New Orleans respectively, and used that

prior knowledge when experimenting with the Pluckers menu. They tested recipes on friends and entered a local cook-off to find the perfect recipes.

Construction on their takeout and delivery wing restaurant began in the spring of Paul and Mark Greenberg’s senior year. Pluckers’ doors opened June 23, 1995, the day after they graduated.

“We didn’t know how to manage people,” Paul said. “We didn’t know how to create a schedule. We didn’t know how to do anything. We literally had to learn everything from the ground up.”

For the first two years, Paul said he and Mark Greenberg worked 100-hour weeks without ever seeing the front of the store. They were either cooking in the back or out making deliveries from open to close.

Sean Greenberg, who was still studying business at UT during the initial years the store was open, said he would often finish class and immediately head downtown with a stack of fliers or a list of deliveries.

“There is a central theme throughout [our story] of being young and not knowing any better,” Sean Greenberg said. “What you have is [three] people who were willing to work really hard and were very competitive.

You figure stuff out. You do whatever it takes.”

Courtesy of Pluckers

From left, UT alumni and Pluckers co-founders Sean Greenberg, Mark Greenberg and David Paul opened the original Pluckers in West Campus on June 23, 1995. They will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a concert from indie rock bands Bleachers and Passion Pit on Saturday at ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

Over time, the business gathered momentum and transitioned from one delivery and take-out only storefront to a successful sit-down restaurant chain. Paul said they refrained from doing interviews over the years because they did not want their success as a chain to take away from

CAMPUS

the small-town atmosphere of each location.

“We want UT students to feel like [Pluckers] is their place and not a chain,” Paul said. “We want each store to feel like it’s a ‘mom and pop’ as much as possible.”

Sean Greenberg said the co-founders hope to

continue expanding the Pluckers chain, as long as each new restaurant achieves the same college hangout vibe the original West Campus location maintains. He said they want to give the people what they want — a fun place to go.

“We have always run the company in what we believe

to be an authentic way,” Sean Greenberg said. “We make jokes on the menu about how you don’t eat Pluckers when you’re healthy. You eat Pluckers when you’re hungover and want something that tastes awesome.

We try not to take ourselves too seriously.”

ALUMNI

Musician, UT alumnus shares importance of student support

By Matt Robertson @mattrobertson15

Rachel Zein | Daily Texan Staff

From left, UT students Karishma Adnani, Karishma Thakor, Ben Wallace and Kaitlyn Marshall received $25,000 through a UT signature course called “Philanthropy: The Power of Giving.” They donated the money to fund a new school in Ghana through the charity Pencils of Promise.

UGS course inspires students to create new philanthropy

By Mikaela Canizzo @mikaelac16

When four UT students registered for a philanthropy class, they expected to learn what it means to give back. They never expected to leave the class with $25,000 to fund a school in Africa.

The team received the money in May, at the end of “Philanthropy: The Power of Giving.” The signature course requires students to research a charity and create a presentation to potentially receive funding for an organization of their choice. The group members chose to support Pencils of Promise, which is dedicated to building schools in countries that lack the resources to provide quality education to its citizens.

“We want to give other kids the chance to pursue an education,” said Karishma Thakor, biology sophomore and team member.

“We realize how fortunate we are to live in the United States, and we want to make it a priority to contribute to the success of others.”

Within the class, the group earned the most amount of funding, which helped it achieve its goal of sponsoring the construction of a school in

Ghana. A construction team located in Africa is currently building the school, but the students said they still feel included in the project. In addition to making a dedication plaque for the school, they receive photos and updates of progress through impact reports.

Hannah Denitz, development coordinator at Pencils of Promise, serves as the main contact for the students and notifies them about the work being done in Ghana.

“We believe it is important to be transparent throughout the whole process,” Denitz said. “We want our supporters to understand how their efforts have changed lives and communities forever.”

Thakor said her group wanted to make sure their donation didn’t fall through the cracks and would actually make a tangible difference. The group members didn’t think donating $25,000 to a multimillion dollar organization would create the impact it desired. Thakor said keeping track of the work being done across the globe allows them to visibly see the impact they are making.

Although they’ve completed their work for the

class, the students’ ultimate goal is to sponsor building one school per year. They plan to host fundraisers and events to raise money through becoming a student organization at UT. English and government sophomore Ben Wallace said he is excited about the club, because he wants to raise awareness about an organization he feels does important work.

“I want people to think more critically about donating and present what a good organization should look like,” Wallace said.

Once they register the organization, the students plan to design t-shirts, collaborate with other oncampus clubs and write letters to students in countries they want to build schools in.

The team members said they are excited to expand their outreach and include other students at UT in their effort to change the state of education in countries that need help.

“We just can’t let go of this opportunity to make a change in the world,” Thakor said. “I am so excited that these children will now have the chance to pursue their dreams and careers.”

From Gregory Plaza to the foot of the tower, UT alumnus Jonathan Fox has brought his country-tinged brand of rock music all across the 40 Acres.

As the frontman of the Jonathan Fox Band, Fox often performs at UT events, such as last semester’s 40 Acres Fest and this year’s Longhorn Welcome, and he is scheduled to play at the Texas Exes’ fall kickoff party Sept. 11. In March, he began pursuing music fulltime and is currently working on the first few tracks of his new EP. Fox said support from the University’s community and word-of-mouth promotion from gigs have helped make his career possible.

“A select two or three people hung out at a fraternity fundraiser last year and talked to us after, which is how we got the Longhorn Welcome gig,” Fox said. “That’s definitely the support that I need, and that we’re getting from UT students.”

Fox said his increasing popularity has allowed him to book between 80 and 85 shows this year — over twice as many shows as in 2014. Fox said some of this

is the result of the loud, guitar-driven style of his 2014 album 20 Something Runaway, which he feels demonstrated his ability to entertain a crowd. Though he began his career playing at loud bars such as Maggie Mae’s, Fox said he prefers more intimate venues.

When he’s not performing on campus, Fox can be found on stage at venues around Austin.

“I love to play at places where people are there to see you and really listen to the music, and you’re not just entertainment for the bar,” Fox said. “I really hope people will focus more on the voice and melody and lyrics on my next project.”

Fox draws inspiration from his experience growing up in a suburb outside Dallas, where he spent nights watching country musicians play local venues.

“I remember hearing a Pat Green song when I was 15 and wanting to play more country stuff after that,” Fox said. “Seeing the Randy Rogers and Eli Young bands at Billy Bob’s really pulled me in.”

Fox said he feels himself pulling away from the heavily country sound of his older works in pursuit of a gentler, acoustic sound but plans to

keep a southern aspect in it.

“I think [the new EP] could identify with a lot of people who like certain styles of music but not that real Deep South,” Fox said.

“I always feel like Texas is its own entity, even though it’s got some Southern feel.”

UT alumnus Tristan Boyd, the band’s drummer, said he has witnessed Fox’s transformation firsthand.

The pair met through a Craigslist ad and immediately realized they worked well together.

“Making sure you have a similar vision on some level is pretty important.

If you can’t agree on a musical level, you have a lot more trouble,” Boyd said. “There’s definitely a pretty strong connection between us musically, and that was apparent from the first couple of shows we did together.”

Boyd said the mutual trust he shares with Fox leaves plenty of room for musical exploration. Fox said he acknowledges the risks implied by a departure from his original style but feels the need to stay true to himself.

“If you worry too much about what someone else is going to think about it, then it’s going to get jumbled.” Fox says “But I hope people will enjoy it.”

Matt Robertson | Daily Texan Staff

UT alumnus Jonathan Fox has performed his country-tinged brand of rock all over the 40 Acres. He recently switched to playing music full-time and is currently recording songs for a yet-untitled EP.