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Tuesday, October 13, 2015
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By Zainab Calcuttawala
Voting for research showdown under way
Text-to-911 to come to Austin soon @zainabroo94
Text-to-911 capabilities will be available in the Austin area as soon as June 2016, according to Gregg Obuch, director of emergency communications at the Capitol Area Council of Governments(CAPCOG). When the service goes
live, people located in all ten counties under the jurisdiction of CAPCOG will be able to text to 911 to receive police, fire and medical emergency services, Obuch said. These ten counties include Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis and Williamson. CAPCOG is an
association of over 90 member governments and organizations that work together to provide public services as a region to avoid the unnecessary duplication of work when developing new infrastructure. Obuch said 911 texts regarding situations that have occurred or are occurring on-campus will be
directed to UTPD for a more efficient response. Users of the new service will have to provide their location information in the text they send to 911, according to the CAPCOG website. Whereas voice calls usually provide the dispatcher the phone number of the caller and their approximate location in a
feature called “Enhanced 911,” the dispatcher will not automatically receive this location information from texts sent from wireless phones. The Austin Police Department has not installed the appropriate systems to provide the service in the department’s dispatch
against racist pigs,” Pham said. “I think it takes a certain kind of privilege to not think a woman should be able to shoot her rapist in the street. I
DEBATE page 2
RESEARCH page 3
911 page 3
Student political groups engage in debate By Nashwa Bawab @nashwabawab
Photos by Zoe Fu | Daily Texan Staff
Clockwise from top left, Americans for Liberty representatives Austin Hogan and Nick Pham, College Republicans representatives Madison Yandell and Zach Baumann, International Socialist Organization representatives Makund Rathi and Brandon Daniels and University Democrats representatives Joseph Trahan and Jordee Rodriguez participated in the UT student political debate Monday.
country, which has always been about privileged people getting weapons in order to protect themselves,” Rathi said. “This is the history of gun ownership in this country. Trayvon Martin’s death made this very ap-
CAMPUS
parent, and any attempt to replicate those conditions on this campus are going to have the same effect.” In rebuttal, Nick Pham, representative of Young Americans for Liberty, said the peo-
ple in power are historically the ones who take away guns in order to weaken the disenfranchised. “It takes a certain kind of privilege to want black people to not be able to shoot back
@essie20
Fifteen undergraduate researchers are competing for a $1,500 scholarship as part of the Texas Student Research Showdown, a presentation competition for UT students created by the UT Office of Undergraduate Research. To enter, they submitted a two-minute video about their work. Students will vote to determine the top six, who will move on to the second round, in which the finalists will give six-minute presentations to a live audience and judging panel Nov. 12. Robert Reichle, senior program coordinator for the academic initiatives department of the School of Undergraduate Studies, said he came up with the idea for the competition when he realized there are not enough outlets for students to share research at UT. “I didn’t really know what to expect,” Reichle said. “We have a pretty healthy number [of participants].” Social work senior Chelsea Jones did a qualitative analysis on the deaths of unarmed citizens by police officers. Jones said she was initially reluctant to enter the competition because of the nature of her research but decided it was important to raise awareness in the UT community. “Police brutality is a topic that is sensitive and
CAMPUS
College Republicans, International Socialists Organization, University Democrats and Young Americans for Liberty faced off in a political debate Monday night that included discussion about campus carry, a popular issue on campus. The debate was moderated by John Falke, University-wide representative in Student Government, and Claire Smith, editor-in-chief of The Daily Texan. Topics such as border security, birthright citizenship, mass incarceration, income inequality, equal pay for women, Common Core, climate change and abortion were among the many topics debated. Topics were chosen because of their relevance to the upcoming presidential election and to student life, according to Falke. Each group had two representatives who opened the debate with remarks that established their political stances. Mukund Rathi, one of the representatives of the International Socialists Organization, said shootings on college campuses happen too often and should be fought against. “We need to confront the reality of gun ownership in this
By Estefania Espinosa
NATIONAL
Indigenous Collective Women’s graduation rate surpasses men’s hosts film screening Bachelor Degrees Awarded by Gender By Rachel Freeman
By Claire Allbright @claireallbright
To celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, UT’s Native American Indigenous Collective hosted a meet and greet and film screening to increase campus awareness of indigenous cultures. Luis Cárcamo-Huechante, acting director of Native American and Indigenous Studies, said these events are part of an effort to solidify the presence of indigenous cultures on campus and in the larger communities of Austin and Texas. “The question of invisibility and marginalization has been critical to the lives of American Indians in Texas,” CárcamoHuechante said. “By having a visibility as a Native American and indigenous group on campus, we contribute to strengthen the presence of Native views.” In fall of last year, Native Americans represented
0.2 percent of the total UT student population. Quichi Patlan, an anthroplogy graduate student, said indigenous professors have opted to leave campus to teach at other institutions in the past because the indigenous population on UT’s campus is small. Patlan said NAIC is looking to build a base of members on campus using a mentorship system to attract more indigenous people to the community on campus. “At the stage right now, we are building blocks up so that we can build this mentorship program, where hopefully we can get to a point in which we as graduate students, have some type of mentorship toward undergraduate students so undergraduates don’t graduate and leave, but maybe apply for graduate school here,” Patlan said. Last year, UT-Austin decided
INDIGENOUS page 2
@rachel_frmn
For the first time, women now lead men in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded nationwide, according to the United States Census Bureau. This trend toward higher female graduation rates is nothing new for UT as the campus has had slightly higher rates of female graduation since at least 2013, according to Texas Higher Education Data. Biomedical engineering senior Devangi Dave, president of Women in Biomedical Engineering, said the rates are promising for the futures of women across academia, but Dave said there is still work left in many academic fields to increase female graduation rates. “It’s great to see women become more confident in pursuing their dreams,” Dave said in an email. “As a nation, we are moving in the right direction. However, we still face
U.S. Population
UT Population
50.7% women
39.9% have no degree
49.3% men
In 2014, the University awarded 50.7 percent of degrees awarded were to female students.
29.9% men 30.2% women
In 2014, 29.9 percent of men and 30.2 percent of women over 25 had a bachelors degree or higher in the U.S. Infographic by Kelly Smith | Daily Texan Staff
a gap in STEM fields such as Mechanical Engineering where there are only 20 percent women enrolled in the undergraduate program.” Dave was not alone in her concern for gender equality across different academic fields. Stephanie Cawthon, associate educational psychology
professor, said graduation rates are not enough information to understand gender inequity problems. “We have also seen a heightened disparity when you get to graduate programs,” Cawthon said in an email. “So the bachelor’s degree information, alone, does not explain the gender
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UT-Dallas alumnus wins Nobel Prize for DNA studies. PAGE 3
Campus carry favors affluent individuals. PAGE 4
Two quarterback system working for Longhorns. PAGE 6
UT alumnus creates “Netflix and Chill” condoms. PAGE 8
Harvard professor discusses human rights. PAGE 3
Spirit groups must be held accountable for racism. PAGE 4
Chloe Collins gives Texas a steady hand at setter. PAGE 6
Selena Gomez debuts mature sound with new album. PAGE 8
Watch our video to see community members learn how to make piñatas at dailytexanonline.com
economic gap. To understand gender inequities in education and employment, you will need to differentiate by type of degree and look towards longer term outcomes.” Government junior Paola Pina, President of Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas,
DEGREES page 2
REASON TO PARTY
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