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Friday, May 5, 2017
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A YEAR IN REVIEW Read about the university’s most important stories on page 2.
WEST CAMPUS
STATE
New pizza shop donates profits to Brown fund
Major bills still await passage at Capitol
By Chase Karacostas
Only one bill has been signed into law out of more than 6,000 filed bills during the 85th session of the Texas Legislature, which comes to a close May 29. While bills can be introduced in both the House and Senate, they must first be passed by a committee and the full body of their chamber of origin before going through the same process in the opposite chamber. Almost 1,000 bills have been passed out of their chamber of origin so far, but only a little over 200 have been referred to committee in the opposite chamber.
@chasekaracostas
As she sat inside her still-unopened pizza parlor, Lisa Hilo heard police sirens racing toward campus. Suddenly, the lively West Campus community she loved was silent from the fear and chaos of Monday’s on-campus stabbing. “It was eerie,” Hilo said. “It was really awful. There was just a lifelessness — like the city, the whole community, was mourning on that day.” The stabbing, which occurred at the intersection of 21st Street and Speedway, left three injured and one — undergraduate studies freshman Harrison Brown — dead on the scene. Hilo’s restaurant, Pizza Press, sits on 26th Street, situated between a 7-11 and the Grand Marc apartment complex. For the parlor’s opening weekend, Hilo is donating all the restaurant’s profit — up to $3,000 — to the Harrison Brown Memorial Fund. A Round Rock resident, Hilo said she chose West Campus as the home for her new restaurant because of its vibrant atmosphere. But
PIZZA page 2
By Claire Allbright and Mikaela Cannizzo @claireallbright @mikaelac16
Senate Bill 4 This controversial bill would allow officers to question an individual’s immigration status when arrested or lawfully detained and has been passed by both the House and Senate and is awaiting approval from Gov. Abbott. Abbott named Senate Bill 4 one of his priority pieces of legislation during his State of the State Address at the beginning of the session. Abbott has not announced when he will sign the bill into law but indicated he was looking forward to it. “I’m getting my signing pen warmed up,” Abbott said
on Twitter Wednesday. Bathroom bills Known as the “bathroom bill,” Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, received an all-night hearing at the beginning of March. SB 6 would require people to use bathrooms and changing facilities that match the sex on their birth certificates, which opponents say would discriminate against transgender individuals. After being passed by the committee and by the full Senate a week later, the House has yet to take action on the bill. House Bill 2899, by Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, would prevent local municipalities from implementing policies that allow people to use the bathroom according to their gender identity. The bill has been left pending in committee since the middle of April. Sexual Assault Several bills this session have set out to address the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. A survey conducted by the University of Texas System in which 15 percent of UT undergraduate women said they have been raped highlighted the gravity of this problem. The survey revealed only 6 percent of sexual assault victims at UT-Austin reported their incident to the
QUARTERS ON CAMPUS
Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan Staff
During the 85th session of the Texas Legislature, only one bill has been signed of more than 6,000 filed. Abbott named Senate Bill 4 one of his priority pieces for this session which ends May 29.
University while 32 percent told someone they trusted. Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, introduced five bills which he hopes will increase reporting of these incidents by including anonymous reporting methods and providing amnesty for alcohol and conduct code violations. The Senate has passed four out of the five bills. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, also introduced a bill, SB 576, that would require University employees and officers of student organizations while acting in their official capacity to report any information on instances of sexual assault. The bill has
faced opposition from several student groups including Voices Against Violence and Not On My Campus as well as Sen. Watson because they fear it would create a “chilling effect” on campuses. Higher Education Since the Legislature deregulated tuition in 2003, the cost of college education has risen by 147 percent and tuition continues to increases annually. Tuition would freeze at its current rate for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years under Senate Bill 19 by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo. After the 2020 school year,
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institutions would only be able to raise the cost of tuition by one percent each year if they meet a series of performance standards. The Senate passed the bill at the beginning of April, but has not received a committee hearing in the House. Seliger’s SB 2119 was approved by a Senate committee and would decrease the number of students an institution has to admit under the Top Ten Percent rule from 75 percent to 30 percent. Guns Under the current campus
BILLS page 3