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Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
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Wednesday, February 17, 2016
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CITY
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
State of the City highlights progress By Forrest Milburn @forrestmilburn
It was standing room only in the ZACH Theatre Tuesday night as Austinites crammed into every seat and space possible to hear Mayor Steve Adler give his second State of the City address. Since he was elected in November 2014, Adler said he and Austin City Council have helped the city become a more innovative city that is more energy-efficient, fostering a growing economy.
“As the mayor of Austin, I’m often asked what the ‘secret sauce’ is that makes us magical and a center of innovation and creativity,” Adler said. “Cities from all over the country and all over the world send entire delegations … in hopes of finding the magical formula written on a whiteboard somewhere in someone’s office.” In 2015, Forbes magazine ranked Austin as the third-best city in terms of job growth, with 925 million jobs in the Austin-Round
Rock metropolitan area. While Adler touted Austin’s high economic growth and abundance of jobs compared to other cities of the same size, the city still faces a number of issues — including affordability and mobility — in becoming a more inclusive city that many imagine it can be. “What good does it to do to create all these jobs if you can’t get to the one you have because you’re stuck in traffic?” Adler said. “How
ADLER page 2
By Rachel Lew @rachelannlew
checking the lost and found and tracking the phone, which locates the origin of the latest signal the phone received. Pieper said he encourages students to take preventive
The UT Judicial Court unanimously overturned the decision of the Election Supervisory Board (ESB) in the Helgren-Kim v. Chase case, ruling that HelgrenKim executive alliance campaign did not violate the election code. The ESB ruled last Thursday that Helgren-Kim executive alliance team violated the election code by campaigning before the official start date on Feb. 17 at 12:01 a.m. Alexander Chase, an associate editor at The Daily Texan, brought forth a complaint stating he received a Facebook message from a HelgrenKim campaign agent asking for “support,” which Chase said he thought they meant endorsement. UT Judicial Court Chief Justice Zachary Stone said the Supreme Court overturned the ESB’s ruling based on an increased amount of information. “We had more information than the ESB did,” Stone said. “We had more evidence and more time to scrutinize that evidence. ESB is on a shorter timeline than we are.” According to the student government election code, campaign teams can recruit individual members of the student body to be part of their campaign team before the official campaign start date but cannot directly campaign by soliciting or asking for votes. Stone said the evidence presented made it clear that Helgren-Kim campaign was looking for workers. “It came down to what support meant, and we were able to get more information about the word
THEFT page 2
SG APPEAL page 2
Mary Pistorius | Daily Texan Staff
Mayor Steve Adler gives his second State of the City address at the ZACH Theatre on Tuesday night.
POLICE
UTPD addresses systematic iPhone thefts By Mikaela Cannizzo @mikaelac16
A sense of security on campus along with convenience may encourage students to leave their belongings unattended, but UTPD officer William Pieper said theft on campus is a reality students should be prepared for — especially when it comes to iPhones. Pieper said UTPD received more than 200 reports of iPhone theft on or near campus within the past six years. The number of reported stolen iPhones reached a high of 59 in 2013, but theft rates decreased to 21 iPhones stolen in 2014 and 20 in 2015, which Pieper said is most likely the result of implementation of advanced technology such as fingerprint activation. Two cases of iPhone theft have been reported so far this year. “Cell phones have made a living [as] portable devices and thieves have made a living stealing portable devices,” Pieper said. Crowded areas where students gather for specific purposes, such as libraries and gyms, are often popular locations for iPhone theft, Pieper said. Jennifer Speer, associate director of division of recreational sports, said the gym receives reports of stolen items at least a
Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff
couple of times per week. Based on daily observations, Speer said theft is usually the result of students leaving items unattended without a lock. “Our biggest education point with students is to make sure they lock up their personal
belongings,” Speer said. “The majority of thefts occur from students who leave phones out whether that be as they’re running around the track and they just let it sit by a door or if they’re on the basketball courts and leave their phone
UT court rules SG campaign not at fault
unattended on the bleachers.” When UTPD receives a report of a stolen iPhone, they utilize one or a combination of methods depending on the circumstances of the situation. Pieper said officers typically start the investigation by
NATIONAL
CAMPUS
Death of Justice Scalia may affect Fisher case
Construction prompts strict tree care
By Hannah Daniel @hannnahdaniel
The death of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday has further complicated Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas, which could decide the fate of affirmative action in college admissions. The Supreme Court will now come to a decision with only seven members, since Associate Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case, or delay the decision until Scalia’s replacement has been appointed. The case began in 2008 when Fisher filed a lawsuit against the University, claiming she had been denied admission in part because she
was white — in violation of her rights under the 14th Amendment. The University has refuted this claim, saying its limited use of race in admissions is clearly constitutional, under precedent the Supreme Court set in the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger. University lawyers have also argued that Fisher’s application was not strong enough to merit admission, regardless of her ethnicity. The case reached the Supreme Court in 2012, and was sent back to the 5th Circuit for further scrutiny. In December, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Fisher case for the second time.
SCALIA page 2
By Cassandra Jaramillo @cassandrajar
Stress on trees around campus may not be obvious as construction projects continue, but it has become a concern. The University, which has been recognized for its care of its sustainable ecosystem, is looking at regulating specifications for construction sites on campus. Landscaping administrators have submitted an initial draft that proposes more consistent standards for construction projects, such as protecting critical tree root zones. Jim Carse, assistant manager of urban forestry at UT, said the University’s tree care plan has criteria for protecting trees in
construction sites, but they are not rigid enough. “We want to be good stewards of our resources because trees pay us back with so many ecosystem benefits and environmental benefits,” Carse said. As more construction projects are developed, a set of consistent standards could keep communication clear between contractors and inhouse facility professionals. Carse said construction around the Dell Medical School was an eye-opener to needing more specific protocols in place. “We weren’t able to save all the trees and we weren’t able to replace as many as we wanted to,” Carse said. The trees were still put to use — thirteen trees were
Maddox Price | Daily Texan Staff Although regulations exist to protect trees located on campus, construction has potentially created a need for more consistent standards.
transplanted and unsalvageable trees were repurposed as furniture for the Dell Medical School. Carse said there is a lot of support by administrators to better protect the trees, but moving
forward, contractors used for these projects on campus could be more informed on native species. Michael Embesi, division
TREES page 2
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REASON TO PARTY
Austin mayor gives State of the City address. PAGE 3
Columnist endorses urban density in Austin. PAGE 4
Texas picks up home win over No. 10 West Virginia. PAGE 6
China Smith creates dance studio. PAGE 8
Engineering program receives $2 million donation. PAGE 3
Columnists debate the value of superdelegates. PAGE 4
Christina Bardwell shines in season debut. PAGE 6
Local radio finds ways to connect with students. PAGE 8
Ever heard of Fifth Dimension Books, Austin’s traveling bookstore? If you haven’t (or if you have), check out our video on it at dailytexanonline.com
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