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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
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POLICY
New bills fight campus sexual assault By Claire Allbright @clairealbright
At UT Austin, nearly one in five female undergraduates reported being the victim of sexual assault by force or incapacitation and 5 percent of male undergraduates reported a similar experience, according to a UT Campus Assault Survey. Texas Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, filed five bills Tuesday addressing sexual assault at Texas institutions of higher education by clearly defining what constitutes as consent
and by protecting students who are the victims or witnesses of such occurrences. Citing recent scandals at Baylor University and at Stanford, Watson said on his website that his legislation is needed to address weaknesses in handling sexual assault cases at private and public institutions of higher education. “Sexual assault is a crime that happens to an alarming number of people and yet very few victims ever report this crime to law enforcement,” Watson said in a statement. “These bills seek
to encourage victims of sexual assault to report without fear of campus or law enforcement authorities penalizing them for minor alcohol-related offenses or student conduct code violations that may have occurred ancillary to the incident.” Senate Bill 967 would change the definition of consent in the current Texas Penal Code. Under the bill, consent isn’t present if the victim is unaware the situation is occurring or if consent is knowingly withdrawn. The bill also removes as a defense
BILLS page 3
On Tuesday a federal judge delayed the removal of Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program for the second time this year, again citing a lack of evidence from state attorneys. Tuesday’s temporary injunction is the second block since U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued the first in January after a three-day trial. The state has attempted to defund Planned Parenthood since 2015 following accusations the health provider profited from fetal tissue donation. The health provider received a final notice of termination in December. In 2015 anti-abortion rights group Center for Medical Progress released a video of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast employees allegedly discussing the sale of fetal tissue. The group’s members went undercover in the video, disguising themselves as employees from a tissue procurement company and speaking with Melissa Farrell, PP Gulf Coast employee. Sparks wrote in his decision that the video may have been
Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan file photo
Former Austin mayor and State Rep. Kirk Watson speaks at a Texas Tribune Panel on Jan. 31.
altered and state attorneys lacked evidence the health provider profited from any fetal tissue procurement. “The Inspector General had no evidence any PPGC doctor altered an abortion procedure, and the video he relied upon, the CMP Video, features unclear and ambiguous dialogue by Ms. Farrell, who had no personal knowledge of abortion procedures and conversations exploring theoretical possibilities,” Sparks wrote. Sparks said the case warrants a full trial, which will be scheduled after attorneys provide more evidence within the next 30 days. State Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a prepared statement the video was enough to prove the health provider engaged in unethical behavior. “The raw, unedited footage from undercover videos exposed a brazen willingness by Planned Parenthood officials to traffic in fetal body parts, as well as manipulate the timing and method of an abortion,” Paxton said in the satement. Sparks also wrote that removing the health provider
CUTS page 3
CAMPUS
Tip helps UT police apprehend burglar @catherinemarfin
Judge delays cuts to Planned Parenthood @lisa_dreher97
POLICE
By Catherine Marfin
STATE
By Lisa Dreher
bit.ly/dtvid
Illustration by Elizabeth Jones | Daily Texan Staff
The UT Police Department arrested a burglary suspect on campus Monday afternoon, just four days after warning the community of his repeated property crimes. At 2 p.m. Monday, a UT staff member called UTPD after spotting 62-year-old Daryl Rembert in the Jackson Geological Sciences Building. Rembert has since been booked in Travis County Jail. The staff member recognized Rembert from a “Be on the Lookout” notice that the department had sent out to the UT community through the Campus Watch that afternoon. The BOLO included pictures of Rembert, height and weight descriptions and other identifiers. “Since we are a small geographical area at the University, it’s possible for the officers to get to know some of the repeat offenders,” Lt. Greg Stephenson said. “Normally people who want to come and steal will start realizing that officers recognize them and they’ll stop coming around; but we’ve seen him several times and we said, ‘This guy is not learning, he’s not moving on — we need to make him a priority.’” UTPD currently has three arrest warrants against Rembert for property crimes committed against UT students and faculty. UTPD has reports of Rembert’s involvement in campus crimes from as early as 2014, according to Stephenson. Rembert has been known to frequent campus and has been seen entering unlocked offices and buildings, taking purses, backpacks, wallets
BURGLAR page 2
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
VAV introduces new SG reviews student immigration resources peer support program By Reagan Ritterbush @Reagan0720
By Catherine Marfin @catherinemarfin
After spending a year working with Voices Against Violence, radio-television-film sophomore Mia Goldstein began paving a new way for student survivors of interpersonal violence to navigate support resources at the University. “I realized the way we support survivors on campus is much weaker than the way we educate and work to prevent interpersonal violence,” Goldstein said. “There’s not much in terms of basic support.” Goldstein is currently the president of VAV, an agency of the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center that
provides interpersonal violence prevention and response programs on campus. After collaborating with Linda Serna, women’s and gender studies senior and VAV student coordinator, the two presented the idea for the Interpersonal Violence Peer Support Program to the CMHC, the Title IX Office and Student Emergency Services. Nearly one year after their initial meetings last spring, IVPS has become a reality. IVPS, which will officially launch next fall, is a confidential peer support program in which volunteers will be trained to assist fellow students who request support, resources
VAV page 2
Since the beginning of his administration, President Trump has taken a stance on immigration, and UT Student Government is doing the same. On Tuesday, UT’s University Leadership Initiative organization fast-tracked Assembly Resolution 23, which calls out the federal government for actions attempting to intimidate undocumented students. The resolution appeals to UT student body to help educate the community about immigrant rights. “During the Trump administration, we have seen an increase in (attacks) on undocumented immigrants,” said Alejandra Zenedejas Castillo,
a member of the University Leadership Initiative and one of the authors of the resolution. “I believe this resolution helps voice the University’s opinion of Trump’s treatment of immigrants and the first initiative in taking a stance against him.” Speaker Santiago Rosales, who is another author of the resolution, said he wants to emphasize the fact that this issue very much affects students at UT and anyone who has undocumented family and friends. “Several students across the country have already been detained, which wasn’t an issue during the Obama administration,” Rosales said. “This resolution essentially helps inform students what rights undocumented immigrants have and what their response
Name: UT Athletics; Width: 60p0; Depth: 2 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: -
Yifan Lyu| Daily Texan Staff
Student Government Assembly Speaker Santiago Rosales addressed the Student Government meeting on Feb. 21.
should be if they are personally affected by the current immigration bills.” Currently, there are no services on campus for undocumented immigrants to seek advice regarding current immigration policies, according to the resolution.
“This is supposed to serve as an introduction for undocumented students to learn about what kind of steps they can take when dealing with immigration officials,” Rosales said. Following along the same
IMMIGRATION page 2