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Friday, March 25, 2016
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POLICE
APD reviews use of force following report By Mikaela Cannizzo @mikaelac16
New recommendations about police use of force could potentially change the way officers across the nation respond to violent situations, according to a recently published report by the Police Executive Research Forum, a national research and policy organization. The recommendations call
for a thorough re-training of officers and encourage police departments to take a comprehensive approach to the guidelines rather than implementing them partially. Chief of Staff Brian Manley said the Austin Police Department has not yet decided whether the guidelines will be implemented in Austin. “We are aware of the report and are evaluating it to see if there are any changes
that need to be made for our department,” Manley said. When approaching challenging incidents, the critical decision-making model outlined in the report provides a thought process for officers to use. This model includes collecting information, assessing the situation, threats and risks, considering agency policy, identifying options to determine the most appropriate course of action and
re-assessing the situation. Chas Moore, co-founder of Austin Justice Coalition, said he believes the guidelines have the potential to improve police behavior and their use of force in certain situations. “The PERF guidelines seem to aim for the preservation of life at all costs, which is much better that what seems to the be the standard now, which is shoot
first and ask questions later,” Moore said. These guidelines were published about a week prior to the shooting and killing of teenager David Joseph by APD officer Geoffrey Freeman in early February. The shooting raised conversations about the effectiveness of police training, specifically with how officers handle force. Some of the report
recommendations include policy changes such as upholding the sanctity of life, practicing de-escalating techniques such as slowing down situations that do not pose an immediate threat and meeting the test of proportionality, which involves officers assessing how the general public will view the action law
FORCE page 2
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Executive alliance race down to two
Mike McGraw, Asa Johnson | Daily Texan Staff
Student government executive alliance candidates Kallen Dimitroff, second from left, and Jesse Guadiana, left, and Kevin Helgren, second from right, and Binna Kim, right, celebrate after hearing that their alliances were advancing to a runoff election. The election will be held starting next Wednesday at 8 a.m., and will end Thursday at 5 p.m.
Dimitroff, Helgren campaigns advance to runoff By Rachel Lew @rachelannlew
Student Government executive alliance election results were officially announced Thursday night resulting in a runoff election set to take place between candidates Kevin Helgren and Binna Kim and fellow
candidates Kallen Dimitroff and Jesse Guadiana. Runoff elections occur when no alliance wins a majority of the vote. This election’s total vote count was 6,667, with Helgren-Kim receiving 35.77 percent of the vote and Dimitroff-Guadiana receiving 28.99 percent. Kevin Helgren, student
body presidential candidate and neuroscience and psychology senior, said he and Kim are excited to be moving into a runoff. “I think it’s going to be challenging simply because we’re asking the student body to vote for a third time,” Helgren said. “We were also hesitant about this new election,
but I think we were able to harness just as much support this time around.” Kim, student body vice presidential candidate and marketing junior, said she and Helgren spent months thinking about their campaign. “We worked so hard for so long, and we got to see numbers and the outcome of our
CAMPUS
work,” Kim said. Kallen Dimitroff, student body presidential candidate and government and history senior, said she is proud of the work her team put into the campaign. “I think it’s amazing that we got to the place we have,” Dimitroff said. “We have a lot of hard work in front of us,
but I think we can pull it off. I think we can work towards creating a more positive environment in this election, and people can look forward to seeing a different side of campaign. I think everyone will get to know me and Jesse a lot better.”
RUNOFF page 2
CITY
Professor talks potential dangers of AI City Council approves By Eunice Ali @euniceali
About 70 students took a study break to discuss the future of artificial intelligence Wednesday evening. Bruce Porter, computer science department chair and professor, primarily researches artificial intelligence. He engaged students with topics such as free will in robots and videos of human and robot interactions. The talk was part of the University of Texas Libraries speaker series, “Science Study Break.” “[Artificial intelligence] is an army of disposable data,” Porter said. “But when does it cross the line?” Porter recalled a time when he was biking on the 51st Street when a car almost
fair hiring ordinance
Computer department chair and professor Bruce Porter discuses the reality of artificial intelligence in popular movies, such as “Her,” as part of the Science Study Break series.
By Forrest Milburn @forrestmilburn
Juan Figueroa Daily Texan Staff
hit him in the bike lane. He said the car turned out to be an autonomous vehicle. Porter then figured out that Google scientists determine a parameter — in this case, the minimal distance between a
vehicle to a biker. “In [the case of accidents in] autonomous vehicles, we force the robots to [choose between hitting] the cyclist on the right, or four children on the left,” Porter said.
“Does it require emotions, or free will?” Porter discussed the three laws of robotics created by science fiction
AI page 2
An opening for a babysitter was the first job Susan Parsons applied for after being released from prison for multiple DWIs. She was never hired. “I made mistakes when I was younger and also when I was not so young,” said Parsons, a social work graduate student. “I refuse to let those mistakes define who I am.” Since then, she has only held a handful of positions, finding herself unable to get any calls back from potential employers, who see an applicant’s criminal background early on in the hiring process because of city law.
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
ONLINE
Petition against Church of Scientology goes viral. PAGE 3
Student Government remains important. PAGE 4
Women’s basketball ready for UCLA. PAGE 7
Persephone musical premieres Saturday. PAGE 8
Watch our Student Government election video.
“Young Blood” art exhibit opens in FAB. ONLINE
Innovation is key to Austin’s transportation future. PAGE 4
Baseball downs TCU in first game of series. PAGE 7
“Batman v Superman” falls short of expectations. PAGE 8
On Thursday, city council members addressed concerns with hiring practices by voting 8-2 in favor of a fair chance hiring ordinance, which intends to remove barriers to employment for those like Parsons who have criminal backgrounds that may cause job discrimination. The fair chance hiring ordinance includes a “ban the box” initiative, which removes the section of job applications where applicants are required to check whether they have ever been convicted of a felony, a practice fair chance supporters say discriminates against those who have attempted to rehabilitate themselves after
HIRING page 3 REASON TO PARTY
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