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FOOD
West Campus restaurants cater to students By Megan Hix @meganhix95
Whether you’re living offcampus and looking for a bite between classes or need a break from J2, these eight nearby restaurants can satisfy just about any craving. Kerbey Lane Cafe Open 24 hours a day, Kerbey Lane offers late-night eats, all-day breakfast and their signature Kerbey Queso: a whitecheese queso with a scoop of guacamole. Like many diners, the menu features a wide variety of offerings including sandwiches, enchiladas and some of the largest pancakes in town with weekly specials such as cinnamon roll and s’mores. 2606 Guadalupe St.; 24 hours daily Halal Bros Before occupying their current digs on Guadalupe Street, Halal Bros sold shawarma out of an unassuming food cart. Today, students line up for falafel wraps, fresh hummus and gyros over basmati rice. Be sure to ask for an extra side of their signature sauces for even more flavor. 2712 Guadalupe St.; Mon. – Thurs., 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Fri. – Sat., 11 a.m. – 3 a.m., Sun., noon – 11 p.m. Julie’s Noodles Delicious food trucks are in no short supply in West Campus, and Julie’s Noodles is no exception. Located in
the food truck park on 26th and Rio Grande streets, Julie’s Chinese noodle dishes are served in a warm soup broth — handmade by Julie herself. All meals are packaged to take home or are ready to be enjoyed al fresco at one of the nearby picnic tables. 2512 Rio Grande St.; Mon. – Thurs., 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Fri. – Sat., 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Sun., 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Pluckers Wing Bar Decked out with almost as many televisions as tables, Pluckers always gathers a gameday crowd. While they serve up fried pickle spears, burgers and sandwiches, this place is all about the wings. And with more than 20 sauces ranging from the super-hot Fire in the Hole to the sweet Honey BBQ, they’re sure to have something for everyone. 2222 Rio Grande St.; Sun. – Wed., 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Thurs. – Sat., 11 a.m. – 3 a.m. Fricano’s Deli Hot paninis and crisp salads are this West Campus sandwich joint’s specialties. The original location opened 10 years ago, and since then, it’s become a local staple. Creations like the Madison and the Ultimate Roast Beef sandwich pile on the toppings, while the Ainsworth allows a chef to create a sandwich combination to their heart’s desire. 2405 Nueces St.; Mon. – Fri., 11 a.m. – 8 p.m., Sat. – Sun., 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Source: Google Maps Infographic by Kelly Smith | Daily Texan Staff
Teji’s To get your fill of Indian food, look no further than Teji’s. Located on the south end of the Drag, Teji’s offers an expansive menu featuring chicken dishes, wraps and many vegetarian options. They also have a wide selection of fresh-baked naan in flavors such as garlic, cheese and peshawari, which is stuffed with cherries, cashews and sesame seeds.
Patrons can also stop by the famed “Hi How Are You?” mural outside — a must for any new Austinite’s Instagram account. 2100 Guadalupe St.; Sun. – Thurs., 11 a.m. – 3 a.m., Fri. – Sat., 11 a.m. – 5 a.m. Cream Whiskers There are many nearby options to satisfy sweet tooths — from frozen yogurt to cupcake shops — but Cream
BUSINESS
Whiskers is the only one that makes cream puffs right before your eyes. Flavors range from choco-whip brownie to brown butter pecan and strawberry. Wash down the decadent treats with a coldbrewed coffee or hot latte. 2222 Rio Grande St., B120; 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. daily Barley Bean Rise and shine with a fruit smoothie or yogurt parfait at
Barley Bean, or stop by for an evening study session with one of their dirty chai lattes. This cafe also knows how to make a serious sandwich; options include breakfast sandwiches and everything from the meaty Carnivorous to the vegetarian-friendly Hippie Dream Team. 2222 Rio Grande St.; Mon. – Fri., 7 a.m. – midnight, Sat., 9 a.m. – midnight, Sun., 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
New eateries add nearby food options SG leaders implement plans for fall semester
By Sarah Philips @sarahphilips23
With summer coming to a close, a wave of UT students and their fast food-eating habits are descending upon campus to new eateries like In-N-Out and Panda Express. The Taco Bell previously located in the Student Union did not renew its contract with Aramark, the food service company partnered with University Unions, last year. Aramark negotiated a contract with Panda Express to fill the opening after taking recommendations from the Texas Union board. James Buckley, director of facilities and operations at the Texas Union, said the restaurant will be open for students when classes begin this week. Panda Express will have the full menu frequent visitors are accustomed to, along with a bonus — a tea bar, which is not standard for Panda Express restaurants in this part of the country. According to their website, a Panda Express tea bar includes an assortment of drinks including fruit-infused teas, lemonade teas, milk teas, smoothies, coffee and shakes. The tea bar is also taking on the boba tea phenomenon by advertising an option to
By Paul Cobler @paulcobler
Zoe Fu | Daily Texan Staff
In-N-Out Burger, which will replace Burger King, is one of many new food options for students in the West Campus area.
add honey boba and jellies to a drink. Students can expect more changes in food options this semester. According to Buckley, a plan to bring new food to the Union is in the works. “The I’s aren’t dotted, and the T’s aren’t crossed, so I can’t say anything yet,” Buckley said. “But I think the students will like the upcoming planned changes.” Buckley said he couldn’t go into more detail until later
in the semester but did mention that the new options might replace restaurants that are currently established in the Union. Panda Express will join restaurants such as Chick-fil-A, Field of Greens, Smokehouse BBQ, Quizno’s Subs and Wendy’s. Of these establishments, Wendy’s is the only one not contracted by Aramark. On the Drag, In-N-Out will be making its way near campus with Austin’s sixth
location of the California-based burger joint. Famous for its animal-style burgers, fries and shakes, the In-N-Out will replace the Burger King on Guadalupe that had serviced UT students for years. Advertising freshman Riya Ashok said the new In-N-Out will be a good option to eat with her friends. “I’m excited to have an
IN-N-OUT page 2
While most students were on summer break, Student Government President Kevin Helgren and Vice President Binna Kim have been busy putting into action their platform for the upcoming semester. Making SG more inclusive, increasing campus safety, preparing for the Big 12 SG Association Conference and encouraging students to become more involved at football games are some of Student Government’s main goals for the semester. “We’ve done a lot of good work over the summer,” Helgren said. “We’ve been working hard since we were sworn in April 7, and we will continue to work hard until our successors take our spot.” Eyes to Eyes is one of the first goals that SG will work toward in the new semester. Kim said the name of the campaign comes from the tradition of singing “The Eyes of Texas” before and after every UT athletics event. The campaign — which works alongside the University Co-Op, Texas Athletics and Texas Exes — aims to have students arrive early to the game and stay until the very end.
We’ve done a lot of good work over the summer. We’ve been working hard since we were sworn in April 7, and we will continue to work hard until our successors take our spot. —Kevin Helgren, Student Government President
“A big problem Texas Athletics voiced to us is how can we get our students engaged and get them to games early?” Kim said. “I think we love our football team, but there’s always room for improvement, and that’s what we are hoping Eyes to Eyes will do.” Helgren and Kim have also been preparing for the Big 12 Student Government Association Conference in the fall. The conference is in preparation for Big 12 on the Hill, where members of Big 12 student governments visit Washington D.C. to lobby legislators.
SG PLANS page 2
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CONTACT US Main Telephone (512) 471-4591 Editor-in-Chief Alexander Chase (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor Jacqueline Wang (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Multimedia Office (512) 471-7835 dailytexanmultimedia@ gmail.com Sports Office (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts Office (512) 232-2209 dtlifeandarts@gmail.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.
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TOMORROW’S WEATHER
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IN-N-OUT
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COPYRIGHT
High
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff
Seek Irony performs at Bat Fest on the South Congress Bridge on Saturday.
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Dildos for everyone!
In-N-Out on campus because it’s a great place to spend time with friends, and it has fresher food than most other burger places,” Ashok said. Psychology freshman Henry Youtt said he doesn’t see either Panda Express or In-N-Out as an option for himself. Neither of the new restaurants have great choices for his vegetarian diet. “Since I don’t eat meat, I probably won’t go out of my way to pick up orange chicken or a cheeseburger anytime soon,” Youtt said. “I wish there were more places around campus that gave real nutritious
vegetarian options so I wouldn’t have to settle for french fries.” Dejuanna Harmon, senior marketing coordinator for InN-Out, says the company does not know when the new restaurant will open. “Because of city ordinances and regulations, it is possible we will not know the exact date until the week before,” Harmon said. In-N-Out will be on the same street as another burger restaurant, Symon’s Burger Joint. When approached to see what effect the new In-N-Out could have on the counter-only, popular burger joint, a manager at Symon’s said they had no comment at this time.
SG PLAN
continues from page 1 The representatives from Student Government hope to make the topic of sexual assault on college campuses one of the main issues brought to Washington. “The Big 12 conference is a great opportunity to have all the student leaders from the conference in one room,” Kim said. “I’ve been working to set aside time to talk about the problem of sexual assault on college campuses.” Making campus safer for students and faculty is also a major goal for SG. Helgren and Kim were
sworn into office April 7 of this year, the same day the death of UT student Haruka Weiser was first reported. “We’ve worked with a lot of stakeholders over the summer to ensure that the safety and security of students, staff and faculty members is in fact guaranteed in the fall,” Helgren said. “We extended the hours of SURE Walk, we’ve worked with Parking and Transportation [Services] to fund a golf cart, and we’ve also made a lot of aesthetic changes to SURE Walk to ensure its legitimacy.” Helgren and Kim both said the previous administration of Xavier Rotnofsky and Rohit
Mandalapu worked very hard to make SG more inclusive, and they hope to carry on that trend. They have already begun to create committees such as the Internal Reformation Committee in order to reach out to new groups of students not previously involved in SG. “The trend from last year has definitely continued,” said Taral Patel, chief of staff during the Rotnofsky-Mandalapu administration. “Kevin and Binna, in their campaign and in their administration, have made engaging a diverse group of people a big goal, and it should be interesting to see if they’re able to do it fully or not.”
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NEWS
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Monday, August 22, 2016
POLICE
CAMPUS
UTPD launches campaign to address campus safety issues
Ana López is one of the students behind Cocks Not Glocks, the protest against Campus Carry.
By Katie Keenan @KeenanArroyo
Courtesy of Marshall Tidrick
Dildo protest brings students together against campus carry By Van Nguyen @nguyen__van
To voice their disapproval of the campus carry laws that went into effect Aug. 1, anti-campus carry movement Cocks Not Glocks has organized a protest for the first day of class in which participants will carry dildos around campus. Campus carry has been a topic of controversy on campus since its introduction, with some students and faculty members opposing the new laws. Before Aug. 1, those with a license to carry were only allowed to conceal carry outside of University buildings. The new law allows them to carry in most University buildings, with some exceptions. Gun Free UT, an anti-campus carry organization comprised of faculty, staff, students and members of the UT community, will hold a protest on the first day of classes on the West Mall from 12 to 2 p.m. Cocks Not Glocks is hosting a pre-rally Tuesday at 5 p.m. on the West Mall and will be marching to the Capitol at 2 p.m. after the Gun Free UT protest. The protest is open to anyone opposed to the campus carry laws. UT rules state that no one is allowed to “distribute or display on the campus any writing or visual image, or engage in any
public performance, that is obscene.” Dildos fall under the description of “obscene,” according to Texas Penal Code. Dean of Student policies state that students, faculty members and staff have rights to “freedoms of speech, expression, and assembly.” This extends to political protests on campus, according to J.B. Bird, director of media outreach for UT. “Students have a right to express themselves,” Bird said. “This protest appears to be protected political speech.” Cocks Not Glocks was created by UT alumna Jessica Jin last fall after she learned students were not allowed to carry dildos in classrooms. There are currently over 10,000 people who have RSVP’d on the Facebook event page. Ana López, Austin representative for Cocks Not Glocks and vice president of Students Against Campus Carry, said the purpose of the protest is to fight “absurdity with absurdity.” “The Legislature keeps pushing for the normalization of deadly weapons, but props like dildos are still totally taboo regardless of how harmless they really are,” López, a Plan II sophomore, said. “Campus carry is not going to go away, and consequences may only get worse. As long as there will be concealed handguns in backpacks there will be openly
carried dildos right next to them.” Dreamers, a local adult novelty store, has been giving away dildos to UT students at both Austin locations. They have been around for over 30 years and said they have involved themselves in local politics whenever possible. In 2008, Dreamers helped overturn a ban on sex toy sales in Texas. “We just felt like it was a good [cause] to jump on board,” Shannon Molina, Dreamers social media manager said. “We’ve been handing [dil-
dos] out since this … blew up last [year].” Dreamers will have a table set up at Spider House on Monday at 3 p.m. to hand out dildos for those who can’t make the rally Tuesday. University Democrats will be handing out dildos on Aug. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cocks Not Glocks rally. “UDems decided to get involved because keeping guns off campus is a really important issue to us, and we thought Cocks not Glocks was a great way to bring attention to the issue,” University Democrats President Ashley Alcantara, a Plan II and government senior, said. “One of the biggest problems we run into all the time is how to get students informed and interested, and this is a truly innovative way for doing that.”
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UTPD launched its Be Safe campaign Friday while awaiting the release of the Department of Public Safety’s security assessment that began months ago in the wake of freshman Haruka Weiser’s murder. According to University media relations director J.B. Bird, the entirety of the assessment is to be released in around 10 days, after which UTPD will implement . The new safety campaign will include a heavier focus on reaching out to students and developing relationships through community policing and a greater virtual presence. “It’s different this year because we know that safety is on everyone’s mind after the murder last April and the new campus carry law,” UTPD spokeswoman Cindy Posey said. “It’s also different in that we are using positive but powerful messaging and visuals.” Social media will be a key aspect of this new messaging strategy, Posey said. The new campaign kickoff was coupled with a UTPD meet-and-greet at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Peter Scheets, UTPD assistant police chief, explained the event was a part of
the station’s communityfocused policing strategy and was proposed by patrol officers themselves. “Often times police view a neighborhood or a community solely from the perspective of crime statistics,” Scheets said. “What we find is when we get out into the community and ask members, ‘What are your issues? What are your concerns?’, [we learn that] they have to deal with issues that are not law-enforcement related.” For example, walking alone in a dimly lit area would qualify as a safety concern but not as a law-enforcement issue, said Scheets. These ambiguous points of interest are what the DPS report recently covered, with other examples being homelessness on Guadalupe Street or landscape visibility. A University campus security update released in early July detailed the progress made on some of these issues, emphasizing a collaborative partnership between the city of Austin, Austin Police Department and UTPD to make campus safer. “The City, APD and UTPD have increased their police and code enforcement presence in the area west of Guadalupe Street, which in recent
years has attracted some transients engaged in aggressive behavior ... the City has worked with residents and businesses to clean alleyways and ensure the removal of trash,” the update said. Assigning the same officers to specific patrol units where they can establish relationships with students, faculty and staff who frequent those areas is a strategy that will address these harder-to-define issues, Scheets said. “The regular patrol officers ... are making an effort to get out of those vehicles, get into the buildings, on foot ... open dialogue with the community,” Scheets said. UTPD officer Michael Murphy engaged with faculty and parents at the meeting Friday, where he said the recent patrol assignment change has made his policing more effective. “Yesterday, the garage was lit up, and today it was completely dark,” said Murphy, who covers the eastern end of campus. “I know there’s a change, whereas if we had a different officer there every day, they may not know what cars are normally in the garage. Now we know what the area is supposed to look like, and if there’s a problem, we can identify it.”
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ALEXANDER CHASE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorial Monday, August 22, 2016
COLUMN
Despite fears, campus remains largely safe By Michael Jensen
Daily Texan Associate Editor @michaeltangible
Almost everyone is anxious on their first day of school, let alone their first day of college. So for the freshmen who are taking their first tentative steps towards adulthood this week, I have a simple message for you — don’t freak out. While I’m sure you came to UT to receive a world-class education and experience Longhorn football, I know you’ve probably heard some scary things about our University as well. Unfortunately, bad things can and do happen on campus. Just last April, Haruka Weiser was sexually assaulted and murdered on campus. This incident contributed to Austin’s soaring homicide rate in 2016. Even if you’re fearless and ready to take on the world, you probably have friends and family who worry about you. To all the anxious parents and students out there, the data suggests that your worst fears are probably overblown. First, let’s talk about violent crime. 2016 has been a wild year and constant media coverage of tragedy after tragedy can give one the impression that homicide is fast becoming America’s national pastime. Austin’s murder rate is reportedly up 80 percent from last year. While this seems to suggest that we’re all in danger, the total number of murders was still only 23. In a city of 931,830, that’s remarkably low. Unlike Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, Austin isn’t considered to be one of the most dangerous cities in Texas. As for sexual assault, telling you that it’s not a serious problem would be dangerous and
Austin’s murder rate is reportedly up 80 percent from last year. While this seems to suggest that we’re all in danger, the total number of murders was still only 23. disingenuous. The only silver lining is that UT’s incidence of sexual assault on campus is lower than the national average. Sexual violence will likely remain a serious problem on most college campuses for the foreseeable future, but there are also student groups and campus initiatives working to prevent it on the 40 acres. This fall, Campus Carry will pose a new safety concern for the entire UT community. While proponents might feel safer with an unknown number of armed classmates, the law has also been the subject of widespread protest and condemnation. Fortunately, Texas citizens must be at least 21 and undergo a training process before earning their concealed carry licenses, substantially limiting the number of guns on campus. Even for those who strongly oppose campus carry, crime statistics regarding concealed carriers should be reassuring. A study from Police Quarterly found that concealed carriers were more law abiding than both the general population and police officers. While there are still some dangerous loopholes in our state gun laws, campus carry probably won’t turn UT into the wild west.
Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan File
Campus leaders participate in a panel entitled “Campus Conversation on Campus Safety” on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.
Having recently observed the 50th anniversary of the UT Tower shooting, a massacre that left more than 16 dead, we know that tragedy can strike at any time. However, many of our worst fears and anxieties are overblown. Colleges like UT, and the world at large, are often not as dangerous as the nightly news would have us believe. So for all the new students and their parents, I repeat — please, don’t freak out. Jensen is a neuroscience senior from The Woodlands.
Sexual violence will likely remain a serious problem on most college campuses for the foreseeable future, but there are also student groups and campus initiatives working to prevent it on the 40 Acres.
COLUMN
Recent floods warn of coming climate problems By Benroy Chan
Daily Texan Associate Editor @BenroyChan
When scientists discuss the effects of climate change, the dialogue typically concerns what may happen in the future rather than the present. This perceived lack of immediacy leads to apathy, and apathy makes us collectively less driven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the severity of recent floods reminds us that climate change already affects us now. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration categorizes the recent Louisiana storm as a 500-year-event. Storms of this severity have less than a 0.2 percent chance of occurring annually, yet eight of them have occurred in the United States since April of last year. Unsurprisingly, these extreme storms increase the risk of flooding, and their frequencies are projected to increase as the planet continues to warm. The increase in extreme storms has many causes — such as latent heat and rising sea levels — but one of the most important lies in increased atmospheric water vapor. When global temperatures rise, water evaporation increases, and the atmosphere contains more moisture as a result. When this excess water vapor cools down, it groups up and becomes heavy enough to fall in what can potentially be a flood-inducing storm. According to the American Red Cross, the Louisiana flood is the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Hurricane Sandy
The increase in extreme storms has many causes — such as latent heat and rising sea levels — but one of the most important lies in increased atmospheric water vapor. devastated the northeast four years ago. So far, 60,000 homes have been damaged, 20,000 people have been rescued and 13 have died. The flood’s cost is estimated to be $30 million, and this number may continue to grow as experts learn more about the tragedy. However, floods cannot be attributed to climate change alone. Extreme weather events are complicated, and it would be irresponsible to say climate change is the only possible reason for floods such as the one in Louisiana. Despite this, the strong correlation between these storm events and rising temperatures cannot be ignored. Educated uncertainty is no excuse for inaction, and we must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions on a personal, corporate and global scale to combat the costs of a warming planet. Climate change remains a difficult issue to tackle because its effects seem so distant. As a result, climate change activists meet resistance when they demand people and businesses to give up the comforts derived from unsustainable behavior. Fossil fuel proponents tout benefits such as job growth
Infographic by Kelly Smith | Daily Texan Staff
and economic stability, but these should not supersede the environment or victims such as those of the Louisiana flood. Ultimately, we need to look at recent flood events as a warning of continued climate change. We can either do nothing and accept an increased occurrence of devastating floods, or we can attack climate change with more vigor. I hope we choose the latter. Chan is an environmental science and journalism sophomore from Sugar Land.
Fossil fuel proponents tout benefits such as job growth and economic stability, but these should not supersede the environment or victims such as those of the Louisiana flood.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Find your voice, come work for The Daily Texan Whether you are stepping on campus for the first time this fall or have called it home for years, I’m excited to welcome you back to the 40 acres. We greatly value what makes our home unique — a diverse array of large and welcoming communities, vast, high-quality educational resources, more burnt orange clothing than anywhere else on the planet — but also know that it takes a great deal of work to maintain it. No matter where you are in your educational journey, I hope stop to spend some of your time contributing to your university community by working at The Daily Texan. In its 116 years of print, this paper has given voice to thousands of students. And it is in that diversity of ideas, backgrounds and visions for the future that this paper is able to serve our student body. If we are not able to assemble a cross-section of the University to discuss the issues it faces on these pages, we run the risk of unintentionally excluding many students who
may most need their voices heard. This fall, as you consider how you will fill your time at our University, I hope you consider making the trip down to our basement and helping us fill a few pages. No matter your background or where you hope to be in the future, there can be a place for you here. Between the departments who work to bring you everything you see in print or online and the people who work behind the scenes to make that possible, there are roles here for students with every conceivable skillset. Have a nose for uncovering the sorts of stories that change our University? Our news department would love to see you. Are you passionate about UT volleyball, local music or ground breaking physics research? Our sports, Life&Arts and Science&Technology departments are looking for writers. If you want your voice heard on the issues that affect us on campus, make sure to drop in an application to
LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.
work with us in the opinion department. And if you’d rather make sure we’re using the correct version of their, there or they’re, then our copy department might be just the place for you. Maybe you’re more interested in images than you are in words. Our photo, video and comics departments could give you just an outlet for that. Or you could help us pull the entire organization together by working in design, technical operations or podcast. If you have a skill and want to help serve our community, we have a department to help you do exactly that. We’ll be accepting applications online now through Sept. 8 at noon. Before then, make sure to stop by one of our two information sessions, which will be held in our office in the basement of the William Randolph Hearst building at 2500 Whitis Ave. on both Aug. 31 and Sept. 6 at 5:30 pm. Whether you’ve already decided on a career in journalism or just want to up your writing skills, this is a place where
SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | E-mail your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.
This fall, as you consider how you will fill your time at our University, I hope you consider making the trip down to our basement and helping us fill a few pages. No matter your background or where you hope to be in the future, there can be a place for you here. anyone with the right attitude to learn and meet deadlines can succeed. So venture down to meet us, ask us all the the ridiculous questions you can muster, and give us your best shot. Who knows, you might find your voice or a passion for a topic your cover — or maybe you’ll may find that you like it here.
RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.
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Monday, August 22, 2016
NEWS
CITY
City decides to put mobility bond on ballot By Forrest Milburn @forrestmilburn
City Council members voted last week to put a $720 million mobility bond on the November ballot. “We have two big problems in this city — mobility and affordability. They are tied to each other,” Mayor Steve Adler said. “Our community wants us to do something.” With seven in favor, one opposed and three abstaining, council members were divided Thursday on the bond, which aims to address transportation and affordability, two issues the current Council has attempted to pin down for years. The November bond would reallocate funds from its current bond reserves and new tax increases to pay for improvements to city sidewalks and key Austin transportation corridors, including Guadalupe Street and East Riverside Drive. Most of the bond package’s funding will go toward mobility infrastructure
improvements along up to nine key transit corridors, with a total of $482 million addressing congestion and safety in those areas. Council member Pio Renteria, who voted in favor of the final reading, said the bond package would improve safety on several of the most congested streets in Austin. “We’re going to have more accidents. We’re going to have more deaths out there in the streets because we’re not addressing these issues,” Renteria said. “These are safety issues.” The bond package also includes $65 million for sidewalk improvements, $26 million for the development of urban trails, $20 million for bike trail improvements, $15 million for traffic safety and $11 million for street repairs. If approved by voters in November, the bond — the largest Austin has ever seen — would use up half of the City’s available bond funds, while a new tax rate of 2.25 cents per $100 of property value for homeowners would fund
$470 million of the package’s spending projects. Although the Council was unified on the bond package before Thursday’s vote, several Council members raised concerns over the short amount of discussion on such a large bond and its possible ramifications on taxpayers. Council member Ora Houston, the only member to vote no on the final reading of the bond package, said she agreed with the bond package’s intent but was concerned with whether the bond would put a heavy tax burden on poorer Austinites. “Because of the process, because of the lack of transparency of the cohorts that put together these plans, I will be voting against this bond,” Houston said at the meeting. “We don’t have any idea what the tax increase will be on the elderly, the low-income population.” Council member Don Zimmerman, who abstained alongside Council members Ellen Troxclair and
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff
City Council member Ora Houston was the only City Council memeber to vote no on the final reading of the mobility bond presented to the Council on Thursday, Aug. 18.
Delia Garza, agreed that the Council and legal staff could have spent more time discussing just how much the bond package would cost city taxpayers. “Our legal staff — paid for
with tax money
— has been
lobbying and lobbying and lobbying … presenting one side of the information, and I believe, deliberately misleading me on what we’re allowed to do under the law,” Zimmerman said. “It’s very, very clear that we could have some form
of statement to talk about the cost.” According to the bond package resolution, the city manager is supposed to ensure the bond’s goals are completed in eight years from voter approval, or by 2024.
CITY
Pilot program aims to curb Austin homelessness By Catherine Marfin @catherinemarfin
The Austin Police Department and its partners have been working since June 1 to assess the needs of the homeless community through their pilot program, the Homelessness Outreach Team. Scheduled to end Sept. 30, HOST is comprised of six members from APD, the City of Austin Community Court, Austin-Travis County
EMS, the Downtown Austin Alliance and Austin Travis County Integral Care. The Austin Downtown Alliance served as the “catalyst” for the initiative after seeing similar programs in surrounding cities and bringing the idea to APD members in early April, said Bill Brice, Austin Downtown Alliance vice president. Soon after, APD and the Austin Downtown Alliance partnered with three other organizations to create the pilot program.
This issue of The Daily Texan is valued at $1.25 Permanent Staff
Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alexander Chase Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benroy Chan, Mubarrat Choudhury, Michael Jensen, Emily Vernon Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jackie Wang Associate Managing Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Megan Hix, Iliana Storch News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forrest MilburnAssociate News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nashwa Bawab News Desk Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claire Allbright, Audrey Zhang Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Cobler, Katie Keenan,Sarah Philips, Van Ngyuen Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nicole Farrell Associate Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Natalia Ruiz Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Smith Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sammy Jarrar, Lillian Michel, Ginny Scherer Multimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Guerra Associate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daulton Venglar Senior Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zoe Fu, Stephanie Tacy, Mary Pistorius Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monica Silverio Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Hlavinka Associate Life&Arts Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Walsh Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Duncan, Charles Liu Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ezra Siegel Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tyler Horka Senior Sports Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Shapiro, Mark Skol, Jr., Claire Cruz Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lex Rojas Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert Lee, Victoria Smith, Jaqueline Tovar, Rachel West Social Media Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrea Liu
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The program includes two APD officers, two behavioral health specialists, one paramedic and one outreach social worker. “Our role in this has been the convener,” Brice said. “We got right in the middle and said ‘APD, you can’t do this alone.’ We needed to do this now and not be sitting here a year later without any solutions.” Modeled on similar programs based in Houston and San Antonio, HOST has focused on using existing resources to address the needs of the community without creating new jobs or spending additional funds. HOST members travel on foot in the downtown Austin area from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday to assess needs. The team provides services such as medical
treatments, connects individuals with family members and finds them housing or shelter. HOST is working to build a case for policy changes and secure funding for a long-term initiative. In this pilot stage, their effort is focused on data analysis in order to assess the most immediate needs of the homeless community. Austin Travis County Integral Care, which provides services to individuals living with brain-based disorders, has reached out to over 230 members of the homeless community through HOST’s efforts. “We work hard to improve the lives of anyone with mental disorders,” said Anne Nagelkirk, director of communications and engagement for ATCIC. “We have been able to meet most of the individual
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needs, including medical assessments, connecting people to shelter and housing, providing general medical care and medical supplies, connecting to them to treatment programs and things of that nature.” Austin-Travis County EMS has focused on reducing emergency transports and ER usage, since many of the homeless use these services for minor medical emergencies or medical conditions that would be better managed by a long-term care physician, EMS Captain Darren Noak said. Additionally, EMS has been working to advise the team on which members of the homeless community should receive priority when it comes to assigning housing units. “If we could get everyone into a housing unit, we would,
but we have to prioritize,” Noak said. “[EMS] can provide updated medical records that help determine who should have priority for housing. While [EMS] doesn’t decide who gets housing and who doesn’t, medical vulnerability is a big part of that, so we’re working to help in that way.” At the end of the pilot period, HOST plans to analyze information collected this summer and create more longterm programs based on its successful initiatives. “We think we know everything we need to know but we go into things finding out later that maybe it didn’t work out exactly how we thought,” Brice said. “This is how social innovation works — you test, retest and reiterate, so you can come out with the best product.”
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EVA FREDERICK, SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Monday, August 22, 2016
8
HEALTH
Existing medications may treat Zika virus By Lawrence Goodwyn @Tyler_Goodwyn
With no cure for Zika available yet, scientists at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston have been trying to find a cure for the virus using medications that are already on the market. The team, which began working on this project in January, tested a catalog of 774 medications that are used to treat a variety of ailments, and discovered 20 of them inhibited Zika activity. “They ranged from really simple over-the-counter drugs to more complex ones like anti-cancer compounds and antibiotics,” said Nick Barrows, the lead author of the study. The team isolated viral genes from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Tapachulas, Chiapa, Mexico and tested the drugs on the genes in-vitro. The team used multiple cell types, including neural stem cells and amnion cells, which make up the amniotic sac, to monitor the effectiveness of the drugs on the cells. Mariano Garcia-Blanco, chair of UTMB at Galveston’s biochemistry and molecular biology department, also worked with Barrows on the study. “We can detect the efficacy of the drugs by how much of the [Zika] viral proteins are still present under a microscope,” Garcia-Blanco said. The scientists were able to clearly examine how well the
Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff
drugs were working because they were studying the virus’ cellular activity, focusing on the activity of the virus inside the body, rather than killing the mosquitoes in their adult and larval stages. While all of the 20 drugs showed inhibitory function, they each worked slightly differently. In some cases,
the drug would eliminate just the virus, but not kill the cell, or vice-versa. The team also researched the efficacy of these drugs on pregnant women and people suffering from sickle cell anemia. These people can face further complications when infected with Zika. If a woman is infected
GEOLOGY
with Zika while pregnant, her baby may be born with an abnormally small head, a condition known as microcephaly. Sickle cell anemia makes a person less able to defend themselves from the virus and complicates the conditions of the disease. “In the long term, we’d
like to see how these drugs will work in a living organism,” Barrows said. So far, the research has only gone through preclinical testing. Researchers plan to test how the drugs work in a living human body during clinical studies, where there are more complex and various types of cells acting
at once. “The benefit is that we can skip a lot of the safety steps in testing these drugs because they’ve already been approved, but professionals must make the decision as to whether or not the drugs can be used for the Zika virus in the future,” Barrows said.
BIOLOGY
Researchers use yeast genes to model possible cures for disease By Kate Thackrey @katethackrey
Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff
Sand can cause monsoons By Zia Lyle @ZiaLyle
Large-scale climate models sometimes depend on very small dust and sand particles. A recent study involving research completed at UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences concluded that the more efficiently sand particles in the Middle East absorb heat, the stronger the Indian summer monsoons will be. The results of this study can be used to develop more accurate monsoon prediction models, which could save money and lives. Qinjian Jin, who lead the study at UT for his dissertation and is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, said that these particles, which are stirred up by dust storms throughout the Middle East, play an important role in global climate patterns. “Our main hypothesis is that the dust particles, once they are kicked up into the atmosphere in the Middle East, especially in the Arabian Peninsula, can be transported to the Arabian Sea,” Jin said. “Once the dust is at the Arabian Sea, it absorbs solar radiation and heats the air over the sea. This heated air can then change the monsoon circulation, which can transport more moisture from over the sea area to the Indian peninsula, increasing the summer monsoon.”
Jin said that the ability of dust particles to absorb solar radiation depends on their chemical composition. Particles with more iron or black carbon lead to more efficient heat absorption. Jin, who has been working on this study since 2011, said the team began by completing an observational study using meteorological data and discovered a strong positive relationship between the dust in the Middle East and rainfall in India. To confirm this relationship, the team used supercomputers and numerical simulations. “In the first paper we figured out a physical mechanism to link the dust to monsoon rainfall,” Jin said. “In this new study we used high resolution computer programs to study to what extent dust storms can change the rainfall during India’s summer monsoons.” According to Jiangfeng Wei, UT geological sciences research assistant who provided guidance during the study, monsoons are caused by the heat/temperature difference between the land and the ocean during different seasons. “In summer, [India] is warmer, and the ocean is cooler,” Wei said. “Their temperature difference causes wind to blow from ocean to land and transfer moisture from ocean
to land, causing rainfall. If these sand particles can absorb more heat in the summer, it will cause larger land-sea temperature differences and a stronger monsoon.” India relies on the monsoon season for rain to grow crops, but stronger monsoons may lead to flooding and death. Wei said that while sand particles are not the only factors that influence monsoons — other factors include ocean temperature, spring snow cover over Eurasia, soil moisture and changes in land cover — the discovery of this relationship may affect the simulation and prediction of Indian monsoons. Jin said he wants Indian monsoon models to account for the influence of dust from the Middle East and specifically account for the ability of some dust particles to absorb heat more efficiently. “The main conclusion is that current climate models should find better ways to parameterize dust’s ability to absorb solar radiation,” Jin said. “If they can get it right, I think they can get better simulations of India’s monsoon rainfall. The predictions will become better and more advice can be given in to people in India. They can say that this year the monsoon will be wetter or drier, and know this a few months in advance.”
The humble baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is one of the best-studied organisms on the planet. By 1996, scientists had sequenced the entire yeast genome and have been using it as a model for similar types of cells for decades. While the similarities between humans and yeast might not be immediately apparent, we share nearly 4,000 genes due to a common ancestor from around a billion years ago. Researchers Aashiq Kachroo and Jon Laurent from the Marcotte Lab at the University of Texas have spent the past few years using these similarities to their advantage. They replaced 414 genes in yeast cells with their human counterparts in 2015, jumping up to almost 900 genes with their current research on E.coli and plant genes. One of the biggest impacts of replacing genes in the yeast cells, Kachroo said, is the opportunity it presents in the world of disease research. “You can imagine hundreds of these genes involved in important processes in humans, these have disease implications,” Kachroo said. “By putting these genes in yeast cells, we can now test if mutations can cause disease.” To figure out whether the yeast cells would survive with human genes, the pair chose only genes that the cells needed to survive, such as those that spark development. “We restricted our tests to those genes that are essential,” Laurent said. “If we put the human gene in and the yeast then grows, then we know the human gene is functioning.” After testing they found
Illustration by Melanie Westfall | Daily Texan Staff
that 47 percent of the yeast cells grew healthily with human genes. The pair also discovered how to predict which genes would work and which would fail. It turns out that of the 104 different variables that could affect the genes, the most important ones deal with interactions between the proteins made by genes. “The most predictive properties have to do with the network of proteins that a gene or protein interacts with,” Laurent said. “That suggests that these proteins, rather than losing the ability to replace [other proteins] alone, lose the ability to replace as a module of similar proteins.” Over the past year, Kachroo and Laurent have also been working to meld yeast with the bacteria E.coli, along with some types of plants. “Nearly every organism has some common feature with every other organism.” Kachroo said. “It’s surprising that the bacterial genes which diverged nearly two billion years ago function the same way.” The team also found preliminary data that supports
their first paper’s findings, with a success rate of roughly 50 percent in transplanting E.coli genes into yeast cells. Kachroo said the new report will be published soon. “This speaks to the universality of these core genes, which are able to swap despite the context being different in the cell.” Laurent said. Yeast cells can also divide every 90 minutes, as opposed to the days it takes some human cells, meaning researchers can carry out their experiments faster. “Yeast has been used in science for a long, long time,” Kachroo said. “It’s incredibly fast and efficient. You can do not only one mutation but billions of mutations.” By using yeast cells, researchers would no longer have to jump through the ethical hoops of gaining human samples. “We don’t have to work in human cells anymore, we don’t have to go to patients.” Kachroo said. “It’s a completely isolated system.” Eventually, Kachroo said he hopes to use the method to predict how mutations will affect human cells, in order to prevent diseases from occurring.
9 News [DINK]
SCIENCE&TECH
9
Monday, August 22, 2016
ENERGY
ExxonMobil gives $15 million to UT Energy Institute By Eva Frederick @EvaCharlesAnna
Earlier this month, ExxonMobil announced that it will provide $15 million of funding to the UT Energy Institute to further research in areas such as renewable energy, battery technology and power grid modeling. ExxonMobil spends around $1 billion annually on energy research, funding projects at over 80 universities, said ExxonMobil representative Ashley Alemayehu. ExxonMobil has long been a supporter of research at UT, and is one of the university’s top corporate sponsors. The money from this grant will be divided among a few of the over 300 energy researchers across UT, including faculty and students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences. Thomas Edgar, director of the Energy Institute, said ExxonMobil is especially interested in funding projects in several new areas of
research. First, the company hopes to sponsor the development of broad-scale models of systems related to energy sources and how they affect the environment. “[ExxonMobil is] interested in people who do numerical number-crunching and modeling of complex systems, so that might involve using Texas Advanced Computing Center and so on — heavy duty computing — to really understand cause and effect out there in the real world,” Edgar said. The grant will also fund research on power systems, but not just systems of traditional power sources like fossil fuels. “ExxonMobil is of course a natural gas producer, but power systems also include renewable energy—wind and solar,” Edgar said. “It’s a broader topic than just mainly oil and gas.” Other topics include power storage technology and lightweight structural materials. Edgar is currently working to select and organize the first round of project proposals that will receive funding this year. Bridget Scanlon, a
researcher at UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology, is currently developing a proposal for a project that will investigate water issues associated with oil and gas production, using the Permian Basin as a case study. Edgar said Scanlon’s proposal is likely to receive funding from the ExxonMobil grant. According to Scanlon, managing large volumes of water produced during the oil and gas extraction process is a critical issue — for every barrel of oil produced, around 12 barrels of wastewater are also produced. “[In addition to managing this water], finding sources of water for hydraulic fracturing is critical in this dry region with up to 7 million gallons of water used per well,” she said. “The large amounts of produced water could be used to source water for hydraulic fracturing.” Scanlon said she hopes to use the funding to further investigate joint management of this water. “We have been working on these issues [in other regions] trying to figure out how much
CAMPUS
n Staff
water they need to produce oil and gas, how much water they are using and whether there are scarcity issues related to supplying the water,” she said. In addition to funding her research for this project, the grant will also support a post-doctoral researcher to look at beneficial uses of produced water related to oil and gas production. “I think [this project] is important because in many regions, managing produced water is becoming a bigger issue,” Scanlon said. “We’re very excited about it. It is really fascinating.” Alemayehu said ExxonMobil is looking forward to collaborating with UT to fund research like Scanlon’s and to develop new technologies. “Our goal is to understand a wide range of technology options and how they may impact the global energy system
Illustration by Audrey McNay | Daily Texan Staff
in the near term, and as far as 50 years into the future,” Alemayehu said. “We look for ways to collaborate on [projects] that will pursue energy and
environmental innovation, and whenever we find an opportunity that fits within that emerging technology portfolio, then we see a fit and will pursue it.”
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On-campus resources assist science, engineering students By Freya Preimesberger @freyapreim
3D printing? Plasma cutters? High-power lasers? UT has your back. As a leading research university, UT offers a large number of resources to its community. “One of the things that’s really special here is that the first day you show up - the first hour you’re here - you can be making things, learning how to make things that you did not know about before,” said Scott Evans, director of Longhorn Maker Studio, an engineering resource. Students from a wide range of fields can utilize these resources to make the most of their experiences at UT. The following resources are just a few of the spaces and services available to Texas scientists and engineers. Cockrell School of Engineering Resources: Located in the Engineering Teaching Center, the Longhorn Maker Studio is a workshop where Cockrell students are free to design and create. Available equipment includes laser cutters, 3D printers, plasma cutters, computer numeric control machines, industrial sewing machines and graphiStaff cal programming tools. Engineering students can receive training and use equipment at no cost. “We provide a facility where undergraduates can invent things, solve problems, do whatever they want,” Evans said. “Part of what makes an
se
Illustration by Lexi Acevedo | Daily Texan Staff
engineer good is the skills for creating complete solutions and working in teams.” The Engineering Teaching Center is also home to the Innovation Station, a standalone 3D printer available to engineering students. Students can upload designs remotely and pick up them up after they’re printed. College of Natural Sciences Resources: Machinists at the Physics Machine Shop create unique instruments needed by College of Natural Sciences students and researchers that are unavailable elsewhere. The lab has created equipment that ranges from muon detectors to devices that take photos of atoms. The department also has the Physics Student Machine Shop, where students can make their own instruments. “If they’re willing to get their hands dirty and do their own stuff, they’re more than welcome to do that,” said Allan Schroeder, supervisor of the Physics Machine Shop. “The students that come through here are so incredibly intelligent and they had some
really great designs - that’s what makes it so interesting for me.” The College of Natural Sciences also offers access to many other facilities including labs for genetic engineering and proteomics, as well as a large collection of algal samples for research. The Physics department has other facilities for graduate research, including a cryogenic laboratory, laser sciences and nuclear magnetic resonance laboratories. The RLM building houses the petawatt laser, the highest power laser in the world. Additional Resources: The Texas Advanced Computing Center has supercomputers that perform complex calculations for a broad range of research topics. Researchers use these facilities for researching cancer, engineering rockets and predicting the weather. The center collaborates with researchers from all fields. Dan Stanzione, center director, recommends that interested students first take classes on supercomputing from UT’s Department of Statistics and Data Science.
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10 Sports [DINK]
10
EZRA SIEGEL, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports Monday, August 22, 2016
SIDELINE
FOOTBALL
RANKINGS Associated Press Football Rankings:
1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Oklahoma 4. Florida State 5. LSU 6. Ohio State 7. Michigan 8. Stanford 9. Tennessee 10. Notre Dame 11. Ole Miss 12. Michigan State 13. TCU 14. Wasington 15. Houston
AVCA Volleyball Rankings:
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan file photo
After going 11-14 in his first two seasons, head coach Charlie Strong looks to turn the corner in year three. The Longhorns open the season against Notre Dame on Sept. 4.
Strong set for crucial third season By Tyler Horka @TexasTy95
Head coach Charlie Strong inherited a broken program in 2014. He took to the helm in Austin following the departure of an embattled, but beloved, head coach in Mack Brown. Brown left a lasting legacy in his 16 seasons at Texas, reeling in the program’s fourth national title. Yet his tenure ended in grueling fashion. He failed to get the team’s offense off the ground and finished with less than nine wins in two of his last three seasons. Burnt orange faithful called for an end to Brown’s reign before he stepped down at the end of an eight-win season in 2013. Longhorn nation has echoed similar cries about Strong just two years into
his stint at Texas — the third-year coach has an 11– 14 record. But he isn’t worried about the pressure to perform in year three. “You have to make sure you stay positive as a coach,” Strong said at Big 12 media days on July 19. “You can ask the players now — I don’t talk about [my job security], nobody even discusses it. We just go about our business every day knowing we have to turn this program around.” Having a confident quarterback behind center can make or break Strong’s tenure at Texas, whether he feels the pressure or not. The Longhorns used a tandem of redshirt sophomore Jerrod Heard and senior Tyrone Swoopes at quarterback in 2015. Heard struggled after showing promise early, failing to throw for 100 yards or
more in six of his final nine games. He recently shifted to wide receiver, limiting the quarterback competition to two: Swoopes and freshman Shane Buechele. “It’s all about who’s going to take over the offense and get everybody around them to just play within what [offensive coordinator] Sterlin [Gilbert] is trying to get accomplished,” Strong said. The Longhorns are also banking on Gilbert, who enters his first season as Texas’ offensive coordinator. He was the architect of the thirdfastest offense in the nation at Tulsa last season. He hopes to install the same up-tempo style in Austin to resurge a unit that averaged just 26 points last season — third worst in the conference. Gilbert hopes the unit’s tempo leads to points.
But he still understands he needs to scheme to his players’ strengths. “If we have success on the back end with the [running] backs and quarterbacks throwing up the field, then it all starts up front,” Gilbert said. “As they go, we go.” Gilbert is confident that he can gear his offense around either quarterback. Senior safety Dylan Haines said both signal callers have had ups and downs, but he’s witnessed Buechele improve throughout training camp. “He’s [always] been a smart player,” Haines said. “Now he’s putting touch on the ball, putting it in the right space. When receivers are covered well, he’s able to put it in the spot where only the receiver can get it.” Haines has seen the quarterbacks progress from the
opposite side of the ball. But he’d also like to see his own unit improve before taking on Notre Dame on Sept. 4, especially on third downs. Texas ranked No. 104 in third-down defense last season. “You look at us last year, we were very poor [on defense],” Strong said. “We have to make teams onedimensional and get off the field on third down.” The Strong era at Texas hinges on two factors: He must find an effective quarterback and must force the opposition off the field on critical downs. Strong finally has the talent on hand to build a team reminiscent of Texas’ dominant teams of the past. But if he doesn’t deliver in 2016, his legacy will more closely resemble Brown’s final years in Austin.
VOLLEYBALL
Texas eyes another chance at title game in 2016 By Mark Skol, Jr. @markskoljr
The Longhorns’ 2015 season ended with streamers falling from the rafters. But instead of celebrating in the excitement of winning another National Championship, Texas was forced to watch. Nebraska led from wireto-wire in a 3-0 match on the sports’ biggest stage, clinching its fourth championship since 1995 and sending the Longhorns home empty-handed. “I’m just more proud of this team,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the match on Dec. 19. “Seniors have created a culture that has never been created before in terms of the chemistry and the trust and unity.” Texas will remain in the shadows of Nebraska for the beginning of the 2016 season as the Cornhuskers rank No. 1 with 60 first-place votes. The Longhorns open the season in the No. 2 spot with three firstplace votes. Although the team has not won a national title since 2012, it still has championship experience in its head coach. Elliot has quickly become one of college volleyball’s most dominant coaches since starting his tenure on the 40 Acres in 2001. “We’ve set a standard at this program,” Elliott said. “We expect to be in a position to compete for a championship every year.” And the Longhorns have lived up to that standard so far. Texas has captured eight of the last nine Big 12 titles — including the last five. The
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan file photo
Senior setter Nicole Dalton dives for a ball in the NCAA Final Four against MInnesota on Dec. 17. Head coach Jerritt Elliott is counting on Dalton and her fellow seniors to anchor a younger team in 2016.
program has also appeared in seven Final Fours and three title matches since 2007. But the Longhorns still have only brought home championship hardware once. The team will look to end that four-year drought in 2016 — Elliott already senses big-time potential. “This group is special,” Elliott said after the team’s Orange-White scrimmage on Saturday. “I love the chemistry of this team. I think it’s continued from what last
year’s group has had.” Texas once again boasts a deep and talented roster. Incoming freshman middle blocker Orie Agbaji was named Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year, while senior Chloe Collins, senior Paulina Prieto Cerame and junior Ebony Nwanebu were all selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 team. But in order to win its sixth straight conference title, Texas will need to get some valuable production from its freshman class.
“The freshman are all eager to learn and bring positive attitudes to the team,” senior setter Nicole Dalton said. “They are always asking questions and wanting to learn more so we can win the championship this year.” The Longhorns biggest addition is Agbaji, who was named one of Volleyball Magazine’s top five recruits. They also added some needed depth in middle blocker Blair Westerlund, outside hitter Micaya White and liberos Claire Hann
and Autumn Rounsaville. “Claire and Autumn have been really good at practice and have definitely been pushing other freshman at practices,” Dalton said. “They let everyone know that they should all be pushing us for a spot on the court.” Texas can start its season strong in Eugene, Oregon, this weekend. The team will take on Oregon on Friday and face a rematch of the title game against Nebraska on Saturday in the VERT Challenge tournament.
1. Nebraska 2. Texas 3. Minnesota 4. Wisconsin 5. Kansas 6. Hawai’i T-7. Washington T-7. Southern California 9. Penn State 10. Florida 11. Stanford 12. UCLA 13. BYU 14. Illinois 15. Ohio State
SPORTS BRIEFLY Strong talks QB battle, Jacorey Warrick
Head coach Charlie Strong addressed the media shortly after the team scrimmaged on Saturday. He discussed how individual players are progressing two weeks ahead of the season opener against Notre dame. Quarterback battle is quietly shaping up Senior quarterback Tyrone Swoopes and freshman Shane Buechele have been locked in a tight quarterback battle since Spring. But Strong said he has an idea of which quarterback will start for Texas in week one — he just won’t announce it. “The decision will be made and then the team will know,” Strong said. “But I’m not going to put it out there because I don’t want Notre Dame [to know.]” He went on to say he doesn’t even have to make an official announcement to the team about the choice he and offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert make — it will be self-explanatory. Strong said both quarterbacks have shown promise and will get a chance on opening night. “They both made really good throws and had some really good runs when they pulled the ball a couple of times on the quarterback run,” Strong said. Strong talks up receiver Jacorey Warrick Recent talk about Texas football has revolved around the quarterback battle and redshirt sophomore Jerrod Heard’s transition from starting quarterback to wide receiver. But Strong said senior receiver Jacorey Warrick deserves some of the spotlight after shining through the first two weeks of camp. “We just need to get the ball caught and never ... allow the ball go over our head where we lose yardage,” Strong said. “The guy that’s doing a really good job for us right now is Jacorey Warrick.” Warrick is coming off a season in which he caught just six passes for 35 yards. But don’t be surprised if he cruises by those numbers early this season. “I think [Warrick’s] having an unbelievable camp right now,” Strong said. “He’s making all of the catches and he’s just practicing so hard. You feel him.” —Tyler Horka
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SPORTS
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Monday, August 22, 2016
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Smart sets lofty goals despite roster turnover By Claire Cruz
With point guard Isaiah Taylor departed for the NBA, Texas will turn to sophomore Kerwin Roach to initiate its offense. Roach averaged 7.5 points and 1.2 assists per game as a freshman in 2015.
@clairecruz5
The Longhorns are set for a full-on youth movement in 2016. With six members of last season’s roster no longer on the 40 Acres, Texas’ success will sit on the shoulders of five returners — three of which are sophomores — and incoming freshmen. But secondyear head coach Shaka Smart doesn’t see the team’s youth as a weakness. “It’s exciting for me, the opportunity that we have,” Smart said on July 27. “Last year at this time, we had 12 scholarship guys. The five returners of those 12 have a chance to take a real jump. We’re going to have some growing pains, but I think we have a chance to really make some progress.” The team has a long way to go to replicate last season’s 20–13 campaign. Still, there’s plenty of talent on the roster. Sophomore guards Kerwin Roach and Eric Davis Jr. played in all 33 games last season and are expected to take on big roles in 2016. Roach averaged 7.5 points per game and showed off his athleticism with a number of high-flying dunks, while Davis averaged 7.4 points behind his smooth jump shot. The team also brings back sophomore forward Tevin Mack, along with senior forwards Shaquille Cleare and Kendal Yancy. Mack and Cleare also played in every game in 2015–2016 season
Gabriel Lopez Daily Texan file photo
and will be considered for the starting power forward job vacated by Connor Lammert. “It’s such a different dynamic on our team,” Smart said. “The returning guys even are in different roles. Now the question is how much are they willing to understand and own their part, and so far they’ve been really good.” A solid four-man recruiting class headlined by fivestar forward Jarrett Allen — the No. 17 overall prospect,
according to 247sports — solidifies a variety of Texas’ needs. Allen and four-star center James Banks are expected to fill the voids left by graduated centers Cameron Ridley and Prince Ibeh. Smart worked with both young players this summer as head coach of Team USA’s under-18 team. And four-star guard Andrew Jones should take over some of the ball-handling duties left over from Isaiah Taylor. But with so many new
players in the locker room, the Longhorns must work on team chemistry and maturity before they open the season in November. “We have a young group that’s going to need to continue getting better and better during the offseason,” Smart said. “Those guys are going to really need to grow in the areas of poise, ball handling and decision making, and they understand that they need to make some major progress.”
Even though there’s severe roster turnover from last year, Smart doesn’t consider the upcoming campaign a rebuild. His first season at the helm came with some big moments, including six wins over ranked teams. And the team’s returners all gained crucial experience last year and should be well adjusted to Smart’s style of play. “Last year, we were starting over with everyone, and we didn’t know anything about
Texas,” Smart said. “This year, we have a year under our belt as a coaching staff, and we have guys that have been here and have a decent understanding of things that we want. We’re going to have big goals.” Smart is setting high expectations, regardless of the team’s youth and inexperience. He feels a strong foundation has already been established. All that’s left to do is build on it.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
FOOTBALL
Redshirt sophomore forward Mikayla Flores hopes to make an impact for Texas this season. She made the freshman All-Big 12 team in 2015.
Several Longhorns seek NFL roster spots
By Michael Shapiro @mshap2
Gabriel Lopez Daily Texan file photo
Texas falls to Seattle in season opener after severe weather clears out stands By Tyler Horka @TexasTy95
Texas kicked off its 2016 season under partly cloudy skies at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday night. What seemed like an innocuous evening for a soccer match turned dangerous — lightning strikes in the Austin area forced all stadium goers to evacuate and seek shelter in the first half. A one-hour weather delay ensued, but the stormy weather came only after senior forward Brie Hooks of the visiting Seattle Redhawks buried a shot from 15 yards out in the 17th minute. Her tally stood as the game winner as Texas failed to find the back of the net and dropped its season opener, 1-0. “We allowed them to feel like they could play with us,” Texas head coach Angela Kelly said. “[But]
to their credit, Seattle did extremely well.” After both teams felt each other out in the game’s first 15 minutes, Seattle pushed the tempo up field and caught Texas’ defense by surprise. Hooks received a through-ball from junior midfielder Jennifer Plummer down the middle of the field. The forward dribbled the ball inside the penalty box and fired a shot over the outstretched hands of Longhorn senior goalkeeper Cara Connaster. “They found a free player at midfield, and she attacked the backline,” Kelly said. “It was a good finish.” Texas tried to answer moments later when sophomore midfielder Nakia Graham launched a shot from outside the box that ricocheted off the extended arm of the Redhawks’ goalkeeper, resulting in a Longhorn corner kick. The ensuing corner was
You have to just break that seal. We created some good looks. Somebody has to take that responsibility on their shoulders and go ahead and tuck one away. —Angela Kelly, Head coach
put dangerously into the box by freshman defender Emma Jett, but the Redhawks blocked a Texas shot and the Longhorn threat was denied. Texas had plenty more missed opportunities. The Longhorns outshot Seattle by a 17-10 margin, but only one of their shots was on target. “You have to just break that seal,” Kelly said. “We created some good looks. Somebody has to take that responsibility on their shoulders and go ahead and tuck one away.” Graham did all she could to try to break the seal
Kelly referenced. She headed a ball toward the Seattle net to register the first and only shot on target for the Longhorns with under 15 minutes left in the match. But it was too little, too late for Texas and Kelly. The Longhorn skipper will have to wait until next week to have another shot at securing her 200th career victory as a head coach. “This is a tough result, but we’re going to reorganize,” Kelly said. “The fortunate thing is it’s very early and we have [seven] days to prepare for our next match. The season’s still young.”
Perhaps the harshest evidence of Texas’ struggles over the past two seasons is not its 11–14 record, but its dearth of NFL talent. Since head coach Charlie Strong began his tenure in 2014, just six former Longhorns have been drafted, with only one coming in 2016. Defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway was the lone Longhorn selected in the 2016 NFL Draft after the Indianapolis Colts took him in round No. 4. The 6-foot-3, 303-pound lineman is already drawing praise from Colts coach Chuck Pagano in training camp, proving to be key cog in Indianapolis’ defense. “You’ve got a big strong man in the middle of the defense,” Pagano said to Colts fan site Horseshoe Heroes. “He understands what’s going on.” While he may hold the highest profile, Ridgeway isn’t the only player from Texas’ 2015 team competing for an NFL roster spot. Cornerback Duke Thomas had the shortest trip of any former Longhorn to the professional ranks, signing an
undrafted free agent deal with the Houston Texans. Thomas currently sits near the bottom of the Texans’ secondary depth chart but did appear in the team’s first preseason contest, recording two solo tackles. Two Longhorns made their way out to the Atlanta Falcons after the draft. But only one remains on the Falcons’ roster. Running back Daje Johnson was cut from the team in late July, while kicker Nick Rose looks to give veteran Matt Bryant a run at the starting job. Rose’s success stems from his booming leg. The kicker struggled with consistency and accuracy at Texas, but he sports a range of more than 60 yards and specializes in kickoffs. If Atlanta has an extra roster spot, it may opt to keep both Rose and Bryant for the season. Wide receiver Marcus Johnson is fighting for a spot on the Eagles’ roster. He signed with Philadelphia in April after hauling in 61 catches and four touchdowns in four years as a Longhorn. Johnson failed to record a catch through two preseason games. None of the Longhorns from the 2015 season hold an impressive NFL resume thus far. While Texas still highlights former luminaries Jamaal Charles, Earl Thomas and Derrick Thomas as pillars of its professional success, those players stem from Mack Brown’s tenure — not Strong’s. But there will still be plenty of Longhorns in the NFL when the season kicks off on Sept. 8, with 42 Texas players currently on rosters.
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Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan file photo
Nick Rose kicks off against TCU on Oct. 3, 2015. He will push for Atlanta Falcons’ kicker Matt Bryant’s roster spot in preseason.
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ELIZABETH HLAVINKA, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, August 22, 2016
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CAMPUS
History reveals meaning behind traditions By Katie Walsh @katiehannawalsh
There are many aspects of being a Longhorn that, by the end of freshman year, become second nature. Throwing horns when in front of a camera, or singing “Eyes of Texas” before a football game begin to come naturally and eventually get ingrained. But there are stories behind each of these traditions, and an impressive lineup of Longhorns who helped create them. Jim Nicar, author of the blog UT History Corner , is preserving those stories. “A lot of times, students have no idea [about UT’s history]. And once they know, they often feel more connected to UT,” he said. Using information gathered by Nicar through records found in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and old Daily Texan and Alcalde stories, The Daily Texan has compiled the backstories of three UT traditions below. Bevo Many people believe Bevo received his namesake
TRADITIONS page 15
Illustration by Jacky Tovar | Daily Texan Staff
CAMPUS
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Longhorns offer advice for incoming freshmen By Lisette Oler
Fourth streets if you need to go downtown.
It’s that time again. The summer sun is fading and the lecture hall lights are flickering to life. Classes begin Aug. 24 and that can be a bit daunting for incoming freshman. The University of Texas is a big place with new classes, new people and of course, lots of chaos. Here are some tips from returning Longhorns to get through the first week and the first semester.
3. Shower shoes are a must in the dorms. Imagine the number of people who have lived there. Actually, don’t — you may regret it.
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1. The University has a free app where you can access an interactive map with searchable building abbreviations, traffic conditions, eateries and libraries. The app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Market for Android. Search “University of Texas at Austin.” 2. If you’re not rooming on campus, you’ll likely be commuting to class. Parking on or near campus can be a hassle, but the buses are free for faculty and students with a valid ID. This will help you get to class and around Austin on the cheap. Bus numbers 1, 3, 5, 801 and 803 are your best friends. They take you up and down campus, stopping at the University Co-op, Texas Union, Kerbey Lane Cafe and at the corner of Guadalupe and
4. Buy a caddy for your toiletries. That way you won’t end up with an armful of soap in case you run into Matthew McConaughey. 5. Mattress pads are a must and memory foam pads are best. Splurging on this may save you from terrible back pain in the future. 6. When your parents want to give you that extra $20, ask for it in rolls of quarters. You’ll have clean laundry for a month, which means you can focus on studying for differential calculus instead. 7. If you have a car, make sure you have a “go bag” in the back seat complete with a fresh change of clothes, hygiene kit and phone charger. You never know when you will need them. 8. Finding new friends is highly encouraged for all freshman, but absolutely necessary for out-of-state students. Even the small connections on campus will build your support network in Texas.
9. Soft serve ice cream after every meal will only serve to soften your midsection. To avoid gaining the infamous “Freshman 15,” check out Gregory Gym on those stressful days instead. 10. Jester City Limits is conveniently located on Jester’s first floor, but you’ll get more bang for your buck if you eat at J2, the buffet on the second floor. But the Krispy Kreme donuts in JCL are worth it. 11. The little markets in the dorms are nice but expensive. Stock up on canned soups and veggies from H-E-B or Wal-Mart and you’ll be everybody’s best friend when you still have Dine-in Dollars at the end of the semester. 12. If you don’t have a car, make sure to check out the UT Rideshare Facebook page for carpool opportunities. Chances are, there is someone else traveling from Austin to San Antonio on a Friday night. During your first semester, don’t stress out. It is easy to get overwhelmed, so take breaks from studying and extracurriculars. Go visit the Turtle Pond. Know that every student has similar fears — and we’ve all survived. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and do yourself a favor — don’t put your student ID on a lanyard.
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Monday, August 22, 2016
LIFE&ARTS
LIFE & ARTS PREVIEW
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By Elizabeth Hlavinka and Katie Walsh @thedailytexan
The Life&Arts department covers everything from on-campus and Austin events to notable UT alumni around the world. As the fall semester begins, here’s what you can expect from The Daily Texan’s Life&Arts department for the rest of the year. The section will continue to cover events, people and projects associated with UT and the surrounding community.
Film and music critics will review the latest music and movies released each week, as well as continue ongoing series such as “TBT,” which suggests throwback films to watch within a certain theme, and “2 Albums,” which highlights two albums to listen to listen to each week. Other series that will be continued include “300,” which features the stories and
MUSIC
backgrounds of UT staff members that may otherwise go untold, as well as “Around the World in 40 Acres,” which documents foreign students and their journey to UT. A new series, “Longhorns in Love,” will spotlight Longhorns’ romantic stories in and outside of campus. Special projects can be expected once per month, highlighting important issues
in the local community. Projects will include subjects from human rights and gender and racial equality to music industry developments. Life&Arts will also cover various local music and comedy festivals including Austin City Limits Music Festival, the inaugural Sound On Sound Festival and the Oddball Comedy Festival.
FILM
Experienced artists set to release variety of albums By Chris Duncan @chr_dunc
Most students don’t look forward to their summer’s conclusion, dreading the school work and stress that will accompany the forthcoming semester. But for music fans, the new season is a reminder of all the year has left to offer. Here are five albums to look forward to this semester. Splendor & Misery — clipping. Release Date: Sept. 9 Daveed Diggs might have become an overnight star with his role in the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” but he hasn’t forgotten his roots in the experimental hip-hop trio clipping. Joined by William Huston and Jonathan Snipes, Diggs will bring back his spastic delivery and chaotic style on Splendor & Misery. The group teased new material via their bandcamp page, but fans are going to have to wait for a full release to get their hands on new music from one of the best noise rap groups in history. A.I.M. — M.I.A. Release Date: Sept. 9 The rollout of A.I.M. is plagued with yearlong label-artist debates and an unclear artistic direction — but that’s the type of situation M.I.A. thrives in. The longtime rapper and social activist’s upcoming album went through several major revisions, but A.I.M. still generates huge excitement. Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam’s sheer confidence in her ability to make bold statements with art and music creates a self-sustaining press cycle around everything she does. Not even the album’s lackluster first single, the Diploproduced “Birds,” can derail her hype train — the song might lack the substance to make it worth revisiting, but still, fans can’t get enough. I Had A Dream That You Were Mine — Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam Release Date: Sept. 23 After leaving the indie darlings of Vampire Danny Brown will release Atrocity Exhibition on Sept. 30. The album’s first single, “When It Rain” highlights his lyrical talent.
Courtesy of Laura June Kirsch
Weekend in favor of other ventures, Rostam Batmanglij released a pair of solo singles, but his first full-fledged release comes in late September with I Had A Dream That You Were Mine. Pairing with The Walkmen’s vocalist and guitarist Hamilton Leithauser, Rostam hopes to focus his songwriting chops and characteristically upbeat and entrancing production style on a new project. Their first single shows promise; “A 1000 Times” carries the same weight as most of Rotsam’s material but also incorporates pop sensibilities few can hone. 22, A Million — Bon Iver Release Date: Sept. 30 Bon Iver debuted their new album a week ago at frontman Justin Vernon’s own Eaux Claires Music Festival. The album received positive reactions from audience members, but the true test will come with its full release at the end of September. Since 2011’s Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Vernon transitioned styles, opting for a combination of his addicting folk songwriting, electronic instruments and varied samples to create an eclectic but enticing sound. The album’s first single, “22,” brings this style straight to listener’s ears, lacking any buffer to ease the transition to Vernon’s new musings. But this has always been a key component of Bon Iver projects — the complexities in instrumentation and themes may sound abrasive, but they still manage to boil down to a cohesive thought. Atrocity Exhibition — Danny Brown Release Date: Sept. 30 With his breakout in 2011 after the release of the critically acclaimed XXX, Danny Brown hit his artistic and commercial stride. However, Atrocity Exhibition appears to elevate his sound to a new level, taking inspiration from acts all across the board including the Joy Division song and J.G. Ballard novel of the same name. The album’s first single, “When It Rain,” delivers on all of the promise of Brown’s fourth release, highlighting his lyrical talent and the acute taste in production from longtime collaborator Paul White.
Courtesy of Lucas Film
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the prequel to the original “Star Wars,” will hit theaters Dec. 16. The film recounts how the freedom fighters stole the plans to the Death Star.
Upcoming movies offer plenty of entertainment By Charles Liu
@CharlieInDaHouse
While the summer’s films have been largely disappointing, this fall’s upcoming movies may make up for the string of bad releases. Here are five that will be worth checking out. “The Girl on the Train” Release Date: Oct. 7 Based on the best-selling novel, “The Girl on the Train” is a thriller about Rachel (Emily Blunt), a divorcee who becomes embroiled in the murder case of her ex-husband’s nanny (Haley Bennett). As Rachel delves further into the mystery, she must unravel a web of lies and deceit that may ultimately end her life. Blunt, Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson star as the three leads, while director Tate Taylor imbues the film with a dark and twisted feel. Touted as the next “Gone Girl,” “The Girl on the Train” will be a good time for viewers who are thirsty for an intense crime story. “The Birth of a Nation” Release Date: Oct. 7 In 1915, the silent film “The Birth of a Nation” portrayed African-Americans as unintelligent and aggressive monsters and the Ku Klux Klan as heroes of an embattled postCivil War South. This year’s “The Birth of a Nation” tells the story of Nat Turner’s (Nate Parker) 1831 slave rebellion. While it shares the same name as a backward and morally repugnant picture, the new “Birth” is a rejection of everything the old one represented. Parker also wrote and directed the film, which has now become one of the year’s most buzzed-about productions. Winner of the Audience Award and U.S. Dramatic Competition Grand Jury Prize during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “Birth” is a historical epic that humanizes the dehumanized and reflects the progress of American culture.
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“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Release Date: Nov. 18 See a new side of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in “Fantastic Beasts,” set nearly 70 years before the first “Harry Potter” film. During a visit to the United States, introverted wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) accidentally unleashes his collection of dangerous monsters. His mistake threatens the tenuous relationship between wizards and the no-maj (the American term for muggles), and he is forced to recapture his monsters before the no-maj violence against wizards escalates. David Yates, director of the most recent four “Harry Potter” films, returns with a script written by J.K. Rowling. “Fantastic Beasts” will surely please Potter fans while exploring new settings and themes of prejudice and segregation. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Release Date: Dec. 16 Return to a galaxy far, far away in “Rogue One,” the prequel to the original “Star Wars.” Following the exploits of the fledgling Rebellion, the film recounts how the freedom fighters stole the plans to the Death Star. Leading the film’s main squad is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a former criminal who seeks to become part of a greater cause. Her journey will take her to the sacred Jedi planet known as Jedha, where battles with Stormtroopers and Star Destroyers await. “Rogue One” offers a darker, grittier story than last year’s “The Force Awakens.” Director Gareth Edwards claims this is truly a war film in the vein of “Saving Private Ryan,” albeit with mentions of the Force. The movie’s action is impressively shot and the special effects are some of the series’ best. But of all the film’s biggest selling points, it’s the return of Darth Vader in his prime that excites most.
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LIFE&ARTS
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Monday, August 22, 2016
CAMPUS
Fall semester features unique class options By Elizabeth Hlavinka & Katie Walsh @thedailytexan
Cramming your schedule full of major requirements is not ideal. Sometimes, you need to break from traditional classes and try something different. Below, The Daily Texan compiled five interesting classes to spice up your schedule. Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism: Popular Music and Black Feminist Theory Professor Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley Beyoncé’s Lemonade was released in April, and it changed the way Tinsley’s class was run forever. The course serves as an introduction to black feminist theory. Students study black women’s spirituality, sexuality and political activism, as well as the histories of blues women, religious practices and slavery in the South. Although it’s a large lecture, Tinsley said students participate in discussion frequently, relating their own experiences to the course material. “A lot of women of color might say they don’t know a lot about black feminist theory, but what they do know a lot about is Beyoncé,” Tinsley said. “I’ve never had a lecture of 150 people where people don’t only sing along, they raise their hands and speak out about what they have to say.” Boundaries and Dilemmas Professor Sheldon Ekland-Olson Boundaries and Dilemmas is a research and writing course that delves into moral dilemmas such as abortion, physician-assisted suicide and other controversial issues not typically brought up in the classroom setting. The work load is heavy but not overwhelming, with
Illustration by Melanie Westfall | Daily Texan Staff
daily class discussions that culminate in a 16-20 page paper at the semester’s end. Ekland-Olson said all types of Longhorns typically take this course, from premed students to art majors. “This class is a time [students] have to reflect in a safe environment on really contentious issues,” EklandOlson said. “[The students] find themselves reexamining their beliefs or stances on many topics.” Children’s Literature Professor Barbara Jansen Children’s Literature is a blast from the past, featuring a reading list that brings back childhood memories with
titles such as “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Giver.” But this class is about more than just nostalgia. The course prepares students to teach those books to kids in K-8 classrooms. “I want students to understand how children’s literature can help kids understand themselves, others and the world around them,” Jansen said. Although the class is geared toward education majors, Jansen said some students enroll in the class as an elective. She encourages students to do so, but cautions that it’s not a blow off class. It’s structured like most courses, with a final exam
worth 20 percent and quizzes and online assignments due throughout the semester. History of Rock Music Professor Stephen Slawek Who doesn’t want to listen to The Beatles for homework? In Professor Slawek’s History of Rock Music, memorizing the production differences between Magical Mystery Tour and White Album counts as studying. Going to a concert is considered working on an end-of-year project. Contemplating Bob Dylan lyrics is an in-class assignment. Plan II and psychology senior Hava Kane said she enjoyed the class
and learned a lot. “It exposed me to more music, which makes me enjoy my life more,” Kane said. Slawek starts the course off with 19th century Tin Pan Alley songwriters and goes through the eras of swing and Big Bands, Rockability, Surf Rock, Folk Rock, The British Invasion, Psychedelic Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk and ends the course with Alternative Rock. History of the Black Power Movement Professor Leonard N. Moore The syllabus of “History of the Black Power Movement” warns students that
they may find some reading materials offensive. The course delves into themes of group unity and racial pride in the 1960s movement. Although it’s a large lecture course, journalism senior Rachael Malonson said professor Moore made the class personable and related presentday events to historical ones. “I’m half African-American, and sometimes I feel like our race isn’t thriving in America,” Malonson said. “[Moore] was in that class to show how successful you are and how capable you are. It doesn’t matter about your background, you can make it.”
CAMPUS
Astronomy fans view sun directly with telescope By Julianne Hodges @JayHodges2018
A group of UT astronomy fans will set up a telescope on Sept. 10 and invite people to do what generations of parents have warned their children not to — look directly at the sun. Telescopes by the Tower is a program created by Melissa Morris, co-president of the Astronomy Students Association. Twice a month, ASA members set up sun-safe telescopes around campus or around Austin. The program began last school year, but Morris said that was more of a test run and the program is ready to grow more this year. This summer, the astronomy department provided Telescopes by the Tower with funding for a new specialized solar telescope. “[Telescopes by the Tower] is really small right now, but with more people joining, we’ll be able to get the word out more,” Morris said. “And now we have our new telescope, so we’re hoping to attract a much bigger audience. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s going to be an exciting semester.” This new telescope, the H-alpha telescope, will allow
viewers to see more features on the face of the sun and will be ready for use this semester. “The ones that they’ve been using, we take just a regular nighttime telescope and we use a special filter on it that allows us to safely view the sun,” said Lara Eakins, astronomy education and outreach coordinator. “This one is built to look at the sun. It allows us to see some different parts of the sun than you would see using a nighttime telescope.” The solar filters on the other telescopes block out most of the light from all wavelengths and can only be used to see sunspots. However, this new telescope allows viewers to look at the sun on an entirely different wavelength and shows the sun’s lower atmosphere, solar flares and solar filaments, huge looping structures on the sun created by gas held by the sun’s magnetic field lines. “Whenever you think of looking at the sun, and you see all of these really cool images online with things coming out of the sun, that’s what we’re going to be able to see through this H-alpha filter,” Morris said. “We have two different views of the sun that
TRADITIONS continues from page 13 after a football game when a group of Aggies snuck into the stockyard and branded the University’s first mascot with “13–0,” the losing score of that day’s game against A&M. According to the myth, when representatives from UT saw the damage, they quickly altered the brand to say Bevo by changing the “13” to a “B,” turning the dash into an “E” and inserting a “V” between the two numbers. Years later, this false story
was picked up by a reporter and republished for decades before Nicar proved it wrong. In actuality, Aggies had nothing to do with it. Bevo’s name was published in the alumni magazine in 1916, two months before the 13-0 A&M victory. His name plays off the word beeve, the plural of beef and a slang term for a cow or steer destined to become food. The Hook ‘Em Hand Sign We can thank Head Yell Leader Harley Clark for the
Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff
are going to be completely different. That’s going to make Telescopes by the Tower even more exciting.” Morris said that because the sun’s appearance changes rapidly, there is always something new and interesting to see. “It’s really cool to see how the
sun changes over time, because it’s definitely not the same,” Morris said. “It’s not something where you just go once and say you did it and never have to go again. You can go all the time and you can keep looking at the sun and you see all of these different things happening on it.”
While most astronomy outreach programs are focused on schoolchildren, Morris said that one of the goals of Telescopes by the Tower is to reach an older and wider audience and get adults excited about astronomy. “It just instills this sense
of wonder and imagination and makes people think about [the sun] a little more,” Morris said. “It really puts things into perspective. You can just look at [the sun], and that’s what is allowing us to live here. It’s a really humbling experience.”
hook ‘em hand sign. In 1955, the UT football team was at a crossroads. They were 4-4 overall and preparing for a pivotal game against TCU that, if they won, would send them to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Nerves ran high as the UT community hosted rallies to support the team almost every night the week before the game. That week, Clark and his friend Henry “HK” Pitts sat in the Texas Union when Pitts suggested the hand sign, saying it somewhat resembled a longhorn. At the final
rally on the evening before the big day, Clark stood before the crowd and declared it the official hand sign of UT, “to be used whenever and wherever Longhorns gather.” The sign, of course, was not official and had not been approved, but by the time administrators began questioning Clark, the sign had caught on.
campus in 1902, they played Princeton and Harvard’s songs instead.That didn’t sit right with Johnson, so he recruited his friend and fellow member of the Longhorn band, John Lang Sinclair, to help him write one. The duo stayed up all night in Sinclair’s room in Brackenridge Hall and by the morning, they had a tune based on “Jolly Students in America.” Then in March of 1903, Sinclair showed Johnson a new draft. Written on a folded scrap of brown paper, the anthem was based on “I’ve
Been Working on the Railroad” and introduced the framework for the song we know today. It was a spoof of the then-university President William Prather, who concluded all of his speeches with “Remember, the eyes of Texas are upon you” — a phrase that had become a popular joke among students. Sinclair and three other students performed his creation at a variety show that month and the crowd went wild, demanding encore after encore until the quartet was too hoarse to go on.
The Eyes of Texas For years, UT didn’t have a song. So when student Lewis Johnson organized an outdoor concert series on
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Hits from our past to laugh at in the present!
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