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Wednesday, October 7, 2015
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UNIVERSITY
Fenves names new VP of research By Matthew Adams @MatthewAdams60
University President Gregory Fenves announced Tuesday that Daniel Jaffe will be the new Vice President of Research for the University. Juan Sanchez, who held the position for the last 16 years, announced he would step down around the time former President William Powers Jr. and other higher faculty members left their positions. Jaffe formerly served as the assistant chair of the astronomy
department from 2000 to 2011 and served as the chair of the department until 2015. Jaffe was previously on the board of the Gemini Observatory for the twin telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. Jaffe said in this position, he looks forward to working and collaborating with colleges across the University, such as the College of Natural Sciences. “The combination of the size and quality of our student body, the scale and quality of research at UT
and its location in the heart of a large and growing state give it a special importance,” Jaffe said in an email. “UT is both at the forefront of research in many areas and a leader in getting undergraduates — particularly freshman — involved in research through programs like CNS’s unique Freshman Research Initiative.” Jayathi Murthy, chair of the search committee and chair of the mechanical engineering department, said the committee interviewed candidates in
early September for two days after reviewing all the applications they received by the middle of August. Murthy said Jaffe’s previous work funding major projects stood out to the committee. “[Jaffe] has helped build the Gemini telescope and other large telescopes,” Murthy said. “He also runs the McDonald Observatory, so he is very used to dealing with large funding agencies and bringing in funding.” Fenves said in a Universitywide email that he is excited
to name Jaffe to a new position and looks forward to the collaborations to come at the University. “As I discussed in my State of the University address, expanding our research capabilities and pursuing many opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration across the campus is a high priority,” Fenves said. “Dr. Jaffe is especially eager to work with all faculty to create a campuswide culture of innovation and strong support for the research enterprise.”
Mike McGraw | Daily Texan Staff
A UTPD officer talks with students at an event at the San Jacinto Residence Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
UNIVERSITY
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HAMERMESH page 2
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the department should have provided more details about how they determined the threat’s credibility. “I think they did a great job listening to our concerns,” Vega sad. “But … even though they stated the
By Samantha Ketterer
THREAT page 2
By Daily Texan Staff
get of some kind? Is there something implied?” Nursing senior Sandra Vega said she appreciated UTPD’s efforts to communicate the nature of the threat to the University community, however, she said she felt
Professor withdraws in response to gun law
threat was ‘not credible,’ I still feel like they needed more justification, as in, the threat was not credible because of ‘X’ facts.” UTPD is deliberate about
Authorities investigate threatening post
the Austin threat. “There’s a combination of things you look at — number one is you look at the specific language, you look at the construction [of the post],” Carter said. “Is there a specific threat or a tar-
UNIVERSITY
Economics professor emeritus Daniel Hamermesh will withdraw from his position next fall, citing concerns with campus carry legislation. The law will allow the concealed carry of guns in campus buildings beginning Aug. 1, 2016. Hamermesh said he is not comfortable with the risk of having a student shoot at him in class. He teaches a course with 475 students enrolled, according to a letter Hamermesh wrote Sunday to UT President Gregory Fenves. “With a huge group of students, my perception is that the risk that a disgruntled student might bring a gun into the classroom and start shooting at me has been substantially enhanced by the concealed-carry law,” Hamermesh wrote in the letter. Hamermesh, who said he is under contract to teach his course in fall 2016 and fall 2017, said he will complete the semester at UT and will teach at the University of Sydney next fall. Hamermesh said he thinks the legislation will impact the University’s ability to draw new faculty and staff to work at UT. “My guess is somebody thinking about coming to Texas is going to think twice about being a professor here,” Hamermesh said. “It’s going to make it more difficult for Texas to compete in the market for faculty.” Hamermesh has taught at several universities since 1969, and his research has been published in more than 100 scholarly journals, according to the Economics Department. Megan Burke, a psychology sophomore in Hamermesh’s class, said she thinks UT will lose a great professor in Hamermesh because of the new campus carry policy. “I am really sad that professor Hamermesh will be leaving UT,”
POLICE
Following the discovery of a 4chan post threatening school campuses in Austin, law enforcement agencies continued investigating the source of the threat on Tuesday. UTPD notified students through an email at 10:33 p.m. Monday night that the post, which has since been deleted, was a “non-credible threat.” As of press time, school, local, state and federal agencies were still trying to determine who made the threat. UTPD did not increase the number of officers on campus Tuesday but increased their visibility to ensure a more prominent presence at UT, according to UTPD Chief David Carter. The threat came days after a Thursday post on 4chan warned students in the Northwest not to go to school Friday. A shooting occurred at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on Friday, resulting in the death of nine people and the shooter, who died by suicide. Carter said there were several factors that went into determining the credibility of
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
NAACP collects data Campus carry forum draws low turnout for brief in Fisher case By Nashwa Bawab
By Matthew Adams @MatthewAdams60
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the Fisher v. UT case for a second time, the NAACP is conducting a questionnaire with UT’s Black Student Alliance to gather information for a brief which it will file in the case. Liliana Zaragoza, fellow for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said attorneys from the LDF met with the Black Student Alliance on Monday and distributed a questionnaire to the group. Information requested in this questionnaire consists of personal background, such as a student’s
experience attending their high school and UT, but more specifically, what they have experienced with race and diversity at UT. “The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) has represented the Black Student Alliance at UT Austin (BSA) and Black Ex-Students of Texas (BEST) as amicus curiae or ‘friend of the court’ in the Fisher litigation for several years,” Zaragoza said in an email. “Attorneys from LDF met with BSA members to discuss the litigation yesterday.” Abigail Fisher, a white applicant who was denied admission to UT in
NAACP page 2
Students listen to a speaker at a campus carry forum held in the SAC on Tuesday evening. Attendance at the forum was significantly lower than the previous two.
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Attendance at the latest campus carry forum Tuesday, hosted by the three legislative student organizations, had an attendance of fewer than 30 people. This forum was the third total forum — the second this week — at UT about the campus carry legislation but the first hosted by Student Government, Senate of College Councils and Graduate Student Assembly. The University estimated that 250 people attended the first forum, which was held Sept. 30, and 150 attended the second, which was held Oct. 5. SG Vice President Rohit Mandalapu said a reported threat to Austin-area schools Monday, deemed not credible
Rachel Rein Daily Texan Staff
by UTPD, might have contributed to the size of the crowd. The forum was quickly put together for Safety Week, which might have been one of several reasons for the low attendance, Mandalapu said.
“I think it was just a rushed event, because we wanted to hear everyone out within Safety Week, but people were probably busy and/or still a bit worried from the scare,” Mandalapu said. “It definitely
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UHS partners with School of Nursing. PAGE 3
Numbness to gun violence dangerous for campus carry. PAGE 4
Pitcher Morgan Cooper to return for 2016 season. PAGE 6
Students cope with failure and rejection. PAGE 8
Watch our interview with psychology assistant professor Alexandra Garcia at
Professor receives grant for STEM research. PAGE 3
Media not critical enough toward lying candidates. PAGE 4
Volleyball goes for tenth straight win in Waco. PAGE 6
Deafheaven releases dynamic third album. PAGE 8
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has nothing to do with student’s overall views on discussing campus carry as seen from how big the task force forums are.”
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