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Thursday, April 7, 2016
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CAMPUS
Police respond to safety concerns By Cassandra Jaramillo on campus are being reviewed. The Austin Police Depart& Caleb Wong @thedailytean
UT will provide increased safety measures for students as the homicide investigation on campus continues. In addition to extra officers and police vehicles patrolling campus, the University will provide extra van shuttles for students after their evening rehearsals near the Winship and Fine Arts buildings. UT President Gregory Fenves said other enhanced safety measures
ment will lead the investigation into the homicide, according to an email sent to the University community Wednesday afternoon. However, law enforcement and the University have not released further information because it would “compromise their efforts,” according to an email from Fenves. Meanwhile, students and UT parents raised concerns about the lack of information surrounding a possible suspect.
UT police will continue to assist APD with the investigation, along with University of Texas System police, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers. According to an email Fenves sent to the University Wednesday morning, law enforcement agencies working on the investigation have finished processing the crime scene. “[The law enforcement agencies] are working to identify the victim and are focused
HOMICIDE page 2
Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan Staff
UTPD officer Wusterhausen stands watch near the site where a woman’s body was found Tuesday morning.
By Bharath Lavendra @burreth
Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan Staff
Developers want to relocate The Dabney-Horne house, currently located at 507 W. 23rd St., to a different space in West Campus to allow more student housing.
UT track coach Clyde Littlefield, which is also being considered for designation as a historic site. The main opponent of the relocation is Preservation
High-poverty Austin areas see increase in residents @forrestmilburn
Historic home relocation faces pushback
more beds for students, create more historical sites and make the area safer with less traffic.” The new site for the house is 901 Shoal Cliff Court, next to the former residence of late
CITY
By Forrest Milburn
CAMPUS
Developers are attempting to relocate a historical house in West Campus to make way for more student housing but face opposition from a historical preservation group. The Dabney-Horne house, located at 507 W. 23rd St. behind the University Co-Op parking garage, was designated as a historic site by the City of Austin in 1992 and is also protected by a restrictive covenant agreement. This agreement prevents any owner of the house, even future, from moving the house to a new location. David Kanne, owner of the Dabney-Horne house and broker at Austin City Realty, which has an office inside the house, is selling the site to developers Johnson Trube and Associates. He applied to relocate the house so the future owners could build a new apartment building. Kanne said he was not surprised the project faced pushback. “We’re following all City staff recommendations on this,” Kanne said. “This change would increase affordable housing in the area, create
bit.ly/dtvid
Austin, a nonprofit organization aimed at preserving the architectural and cultural heritage of the Austin area, according to its website. Alyson McGee, president
of the board of directors at Preservation Austin, said lifting the covenant agreement would set a bad precedent for
HOME page 2
When advertising senior Christina Ewin bikes around her neighborhood in East Austin, she can go to her favorite coffee shop, grocery store and pub, all on the same street. This convenience — and a calmer atmosphere — always remind her why she got out of West Campus as soon as she could: peace of mind. “Often, the areas surrounding campus were so packed with students … that I felt like I was in a bubble,” Ewin said. “It just wasn’t ideal.” While some students, such as Ewin, decide to flee busy West Campus for more quiet nights east of Interstate 35, they are more the exception than the rule in terms of moving to lower-income neighborhoods throughout the city. Ewin’s neighborhood is one of many Austin census tracts that have seen rapid growth in the concentration of poor residents living in high-poverty areas since 2000, according to a study released last week. The report from the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program shows the overall share of poor residents living in high-poverty neighborhoods, or neighborhoods with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent, rose 12 percent in Austin from 2000 to the 2010–2014 census period. Austin’s rate is higher than other large metropolitan areas, adding statistical evidence to concerns over income disparities throughout the city. “Even as poverty is becoming more regional, it’s also become more concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, a Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program fellow and one of the co-authors of the report. While the rate of poor
POVERTY page 2
CAMPUS
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Art building roof repair to last until early June
Helgren, Kim discuss goals for term
By Zach Lyons @iamzachlyons
Scaffolding and chain-link fencing continue to surround parts of the art building as UT’s Project Management and Construction Services renovates much of the building’s roofing. PMCS project manager Mark Jones said that while most roofing on the building was intended to last no longer than 20 years, many of its sections are over 35 years old, which meant a comprehensive replacement was in order. Mike Debow, associate director of PMCS’s project management division, said the project’s two million dollar budget is “a significant investment into the long term viability” of the art building. In addition to fixing leaks
that have plagued the building for years, the project will address updated building code requirements for insulation and drainage holes on the building’s facade, Jones said. The new, more effective insulation should help lower the cost of cooling the building as well. “There will be a tremendous increase in [thermal resistance] value, maybe tenfold, on the roof,” Jones said. Students in the art building have had to contend with noises from the construction, design senior Jolie Durand said. “We’ll regulary be in class, and it’s extremely loud drilling,” Durand said. “It’s like you’re at a dentist’s office, and you just hear somebody drilling and drilling.”
RENOVATION page 2
By Rachel Lew @rachelannlew
Student stories were at the heart of the Student Government president-elect and vice president-elect’s campaign, and now that the election is over, they want to hear more stories to help them create change on campus next year. After winning last week’s executive alliance runoff election by 2.06 percent, Kevin Helgren and Binna Kim said they are looking forward to appointing members of their executive board and meeting with administration to discuss platform points. Their goals include forming a working group of members from various organizations to address sexual assault, including Voices Against Violence and the Women’s Resource Agency, and raising
awareness of the University’s mental health resources. Helgren said their platform points were inspired by their own experiences as well as the stories people shared. “Our platform points were the first thing we did, and that was intentional,” Helgren said. “We worked off the stories people shared, and we sat down and talked about issues we ourselves are passionate about — for me it’s mental health, and for Binna it’s the issue of sexual assault.” The team also hopes to promote culture change, especially in light of this year’s prolonged executive alliance race. Kim said she and Helgren plan to create an internal reformation committee to initiate change from within. “The committee will be composed of both SG veterans and those with no SG experi-
Rachel Zein | Daily Texan file photo The newly elected executive alliance Kevin Helgren and Binna Kim begin to discuss the goals for their term in office.
ence at all,” Kim said. “We want to combine seasoned perspectives with fresh perspectives, look at the things that aren’t working, and cut them out.” Other platform points include helping transfer students feel at home at UT through a mentorship program, improv-
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UT detective hired to focus on sexual assault. ONLINE
UT should adopt City policy to fight drunk driving. PAGE 4
Felix fuels Longhorns with late home run. PAGE 6
UT alumnus creates art show with bat sounds. PAGE 8
TBT: Movie remakes that surpass originals at
Campaign warns against texting and driving. ONLINE
Guard your goods, create healthier 40 Acres. PAGE 4
Gilbert brings up-tempo offense to Texas. PAGE 6
Students prepare for West Campus Block Party. PAGE 8
dailytexanonline.com
ing the affordability and availability of fitness programs during mid-terms and finals, and advocating for the expansion of gender-neutral bathrooms and the creation of genderneutral housing options.
SG page 2 REASON TO PARTY
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