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Thursday, September 17, 2015
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CAMPUS
CITY
Committee seeks green fee renewal
City restricts residential parking near University
By Rachel Freeman @rachel_frmn
The green fee, along with the 83 projects and 103 grants it funded between fall 2011 and spring 2015, are set to end in 2016, according to the Metrics & Measurement report from UT’s Office of Sustainability. The green fee is an al-
location of $5 from student’s tuition for each semester and $2.50 for each summer session used to fund the Green Fee Committee and other eco-friendly projects on campus. An open meeting was held Wednesday to discuss options for different ways to renew the fee and how to move forward from the
legislature’s decision. The green fee created funding for five years which will conclude after the summer of 2016. Despite the Green Fee Committee’s efforts to lobby for bills they introduced in both the House and the Senate, neither of two bills was passed into law. The bill received unanimous consent in the House, but it
didn’t garner the necessary amount of votes in the senate, according to Green Fee Committee Vice Chair and government senior Tanner Long. Long was one of the students who lobbied for passage of the bill and testified in the house and senate committee meetings. “Green fee has done a lot on campus,” Long said. “A lot of people have ben-
efited from the fee, and it ultimately benefits all students in the long run. I think by having it not renewed shows the legislature is not in tune with how the students feel.” The original bill did not clarify what happens after the fifth year. Jaclyn Kachelmeyer, international relations, Plan
GREEN FEE page 2
NATIONAL
CIA releases previously classified briefs By Nashwa Bawab @nashwabawab
CIA director John Brennan and other top officials gathered at the LBJ Library to release 2,500 previously classified presidential briefs that will shed light on decisions made by former President John F. Kennedy and former President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. The collection of briefs contains the President’s Intelligence Checklist and the President’s Daily Briefs prepared by the CIA, which were daily summaries given to Kennedy and Johnson. The released briefs cover the periods between June 1961 to January 1969 and contain 12 billion pieces of paper, 42 million photographs, miles of film and 5 billion electronic records. “The declassified briefs will give insight into why the president chooses one path over another when it comes
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff
CIA director John Brennan delivers a keynote address at the LBJ Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. The CIA released CIA page 2 previously classified daily briefings given to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
By Zainab Calcuttawala @zainabroo94
The Residential Permit Parking program, designed to keep UT students from parking along streets in the North Campus area, has been spreading quickly to other parts of Austin, according to the Austin Transportation Department. “The program started in 1997, in the North Campus area, as a pilot program,” RPP program manager Joseph Al-Hajeri said. “Students would park in the area, leave their vehicles in front of residences and use bicycles and buses to get to class while the cars would stay parked in front of houses all day.” As a result of these loitering cars, residents often have trouble finding parking for themselves or their guests near their homes, Al-Hajeri said. This was especially the case with many Austin homes constructed before 1959 that were not built with driveways. The RPP program intended to solve this problem by granting residents of the North Campus area specially allotted hours during which only residents can park on the street. According to AlHajeri, the program succeeded in reducing the number of students parking in the neighborhood. Soon, residents in other areas began using the program to mark off their park-
PARKING page 2
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
UT Libraries unveiled their plans for a new study area Wednesday afternoon. The new area will require students to be quiet and will also have an area designated for graduate students.
UT, A&M professors debate raising state minimum wage By Mikaela Cannizzo @mikaelac16
Jack DuFon Daily Texan Staff
PCL unveils new, silent Scholars Commons Pilot By Ashley Tsao @tsaoashley
The Perry-Castañeda Library previewed what is soon to be the newest study area on campus, the Scholars Commons Pilot, at an informational forum followed by live music and refreshments Wednesday. The study facility is unique because it requires students to be silent, and, while it is open to all students, it will provide an area that is reserved for
graduate students, according to Chris Carter, director of planning and operations for UT Libraries. According to Jenifer Flaxbart, research and liaison services librarian, students can expect to see a data lab, individual study nooks, large and small study rooms, research support services and a graduate landing spot. The Scholars Commons will provide graduate students with study
areas, a lobby, media embedded rooms, a break room and a kitchenette, Flaxbart said. “We decided to make part of the Scholars Commons restricted to graduate students because we would see them working upstairs in individual carols,” Flaxbard said. “There was no place for them to microwave food, relax in a different room or have a totally silent area to study.”
PCL page 3
The national proposition to raise the minimum wage sparked a debate between a UT professor and a Texas A&M professor in front of a student-dominated audience Wednesday. The professors discussed their opposing perspectives regarding a possible $15 minimum wage for Texas, although no formal legislation was mentioned. The Austin Institute For the Study of Family and Culture co-hosted the event with the Texas Economics Association, a student-run economics committee. Kevin Stuart, executive director of the Austin Institute and moderator of the event, chose UT government professor James Galbraith, a supporter of the policy, and A&M economics professor Jonathan Meer, an opponent of the policy to participate in the debate. “We will all think better about the issue at the end of the debate than we did before,” Stuart said. “We will
also get to see two people model how civil debate and discourse should happen.” From a national perspective, Seattle recently increased their minimum wage to $15 an hour, and Los Angles and New York have also proposed an increase. With the $7.25 minimum wage being challenged across the country, Galbraith and Meer took turns presenting their perspectives on the issue. While Galbraith said the
increase of minimum wage is positive for reasons such as re-establishing a level of fairness in the economy, Meer said the proposal is “wishful thinking.” The increase in minimum wage is the wrong policy for the noble goal of reducing the poverty level, according to Meer. “Minimum wage is a blunt instrument ill-suited at fighting poverty,” Meer said. Galbraith said that increased salaries would
REASON TO PARTY
Allison Webster | Daily Texan Staff
UT government professor James Galbraith speaks in favor of raising minimum wage at a debate held by Austin Institute on Wednesday evening.
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Eight UT professors among most cited in research. PAGE 3
The Forum page focuses on student theatre and the arts on campus for this week’s The Texan Talks.
Fenves names Perrin interim athletic director. PAGE 6
Radio-television-film freshman releases book series. PAGE 8
Football using outside opinions to motivate. PAGE 6
Students write, produce and perform plays in one week. PAGE 8
See our video coverage of the press conference where Fenves named Perrin interim athletic director.
UHS touts resources at Healthyhorns fest. PAGE 3
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dailytexanonline.com
DEBATE page 2
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