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Thursday, March 30, 2017
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Proposed bill increases age required to buy tobacco By Anusha Lalani @anusha_lalani
Approximately 28,000 adults die annually in Texas because of smoking-related illnesses, according to the website Texas Tobacco Law. This number is higher than the amount of people killed by alcohol, murder, AIDS, cocaine, heroin, car accidents and fire combined. Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio hope to decrease the number of tobacco-related deaths with House Bill 1908, which would increase the purchasing age of tobacco from 18 to 21. “It’s a piece of legislation that really could have a dramatic impact on the overall health in the state of Texas,” Zerwas, who co-authored the bill said. “Tobacco continues to be the number one cause of mortality and morbidity in the state.” Zerwas said the bill,
SMOKING page 2
WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS Mental health services to increase PAGE 3
OPINION NASA should continue studying earth sciences PAGE 4
Organizations speak on sexual assault By Kayla Meyertons @kemeyertons
Student organizations still continue to speak up for survivors in light of a recent UT survey released Friday that left many on campus speechless. The survey reported 15 percent of female undergraduates experienced rape since enrolling at UT, an extremely high rate for young women at a public university. Student organizations,
however, have not been deterred. The Voices Against Violence student organization, Not On My Campus, and Texas Blazers highlight a few of the student groups on campus unsurprised by the survey who plan to continue their work as normal in sexual assault prevention. Plan II sophomore Mia Goldstein, president of the VAV student organization, said the numbers should serve as a call to action. The survey doesn’t change what
her organization is doing, because it did not come as a surprise, Goldstein said. “We’ve known that for a really long time interpersonal violence is a problem at the University,” Goldstein said. “(The numbers are) very harrowing because they’re too high, but also it’s not shocking. No one should be surprised.” Goldstein said VAV’s goal is to work with more marginalized communities, including the queer
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CITY
Austin DWI rates unaffected by ride-hailing By Catherine Marfin @catherinemarfin
DWI rates have remained consistent in Austin despite the offand-on presence of various ride-hailing options in the last year, according to Austin Police Department records. Since Uber and Lyft’s departure nearly a year ago, DWI averages have consistently remained between 400 and 600 incidents per month, a trend seen as far back as 2010, before any ride-hailing services existed in the city. “It goes up and down all the time,” APD Detective Mike Jennings said. “It can depend on anything from officer staffing levels to the weather. We can’t say definitively that (any ride-hailing) has had
DWI page 2
Infographic by Liza Anderson | Daily Texan Staff
HEALTH
LECTURE
Harvard professor argues for modern perspectives on AI By Eric Vela
Former Longhorn Taylor excels with Vipers PAGE 6
LIFE&ARTS #BossBabesATX hosts CraftHER market PAGE 8
REASON TO PARTY
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ONLINE Andrew Jones to test the NBA waters dailytexanonline.com
While many people foresee computers replacing humans in some fields, Harvard professor Barbara Grosz said we should be working toward a more collaborative relationship with artificial intelligence at her Wednesday presentation. Grosz said computers have changed immensely since their conception as a single system in one place with a single user. Now, multiple systems all over the world connect elaborate networks. This change makes the idea of artificial intelligence different from what it used to be, Grosz said. The omniscient AI of science fiction is not the AI that she believes we should be working toward. “Humans have a centuries-long fascination and fear of artificial intelligence,” Grosz said. “We have technological fantasies and nightmares. I hope to bring some reality to people’s notions of artificial intelligence.” In 1950, computer science pioneer Alan Turing developed the Turing test to see if a computer’s responses to a series of questions could make it indistinguishable from a human. Even modern computers are unable to pass it, Grosz said. “We have enough humans
Mental health center will offer more services By Ally Ortega @atxallyyy
@_ericvela
SPORTS
Courtesy of Justin Atkinson
Student organizations continue to raise concerns about sexual assault on campus in light of Friday’s survey.
Yifan Lyu| Daily Texan Staff
Harvard professor Barbara Grosz speaks to students and staff at the Gates Dell Complex Wednesday morning.
already,” linguistics Ph.D student Chris Brown said. “We don’t need AI to be a replacement for them.” Because of the technological development, Grosz said the goal of the Turing test should be altered. Grosz said she views the Turing test as too philosophical for what we should be aiming for. Her suggestion is that the goal for AI should not just be to get answers indistinguishable from a human’s. “What we should ask is, ‘Can a computer team member behave over the long term, in such a way that people on the team will not notice it’s not human or think it’s stupid?’” Grosz said. Erik Lindgren, electrical engineering graduate student,
said he believes professionals need to focus on implementing this approach. “The next step is to apply (collaboration with artificial intelligence) to more areas,” Lindgren said. Applications of the collaborative approach to AI include healthcare, education, rescue and rebuilding, writing and semi-autonomous driving, Grosz said. Grosz said AI systems can aid the complex network of professionals who work in health care and education by keeping the work organized and efficient, without needing the humans to consult each other. “It’s a very exciting time for AI,” Grosz said. “The most exciting time since I started in the field.”
Name: 5452/UT Athletics; Width: 60p0; Depth: 2 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: 5452
As exams, final grades and the end of the semester approach, students allow mental health to become their lowest priority — something the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center aims to counter. From 2009 to 2016, there has been a 53 percent increase in the number of students served by CMHC, according to the center’s fact sheet. Dr. Marla Craig, associate director for clinical services, said students especially call for CMHC services — located on the fifth floor of the Student Services Building — during March and April. “You have thoughts about the coming year and summer — Should you study abroad? Summer school? An internship?” social work freshman Brooke Bernard said. “All those things are hard to balance.” There isn’t one particular reason for this increase in student activity with CMHC. But, knowing that this is one of the busiest times of the year helps the center handle the large in-
flux, Craig said. “We receive most calls at the end of each long semester,” said Katy Redd, associate director for prevention and outreach. “There’s no science to it, necessarily. They’re feeling overwhelmed.” Some services CMHC provides include group counseling, case management and community referral agencies, crisis appointments, psychiatric and medication services, a prevention and outreach team, two MindBody labs, and a peer education program. “Having professionals is important, but so is having peers that allow students to connect,” said CMHC Teaching Assistant Gustavo Molinar, student coordinator for the mental health peer education program. “It’s more relatable.” Although some students stigmatize mental health issues, students are not alone in what they are experiencing, and it’s necessary to educate themselves about mental health to reduce the stigma, said Molinar, a psychology and health and society senior. “There are a lot of
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