The Daily Texan 2017-10-27

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017

@thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com

RESEARCH

Volume 118, Issue 52

CAMPUS

Professors warn of new era of baseless research

By Chase Karacostas Senior News Reporter

As academic institutions become more impatient to announce the next “discovery,” UT professors warn journalists against reporting on non-peer-reviewed or oversold research.

Earlier this month, associate art history professor Stephennie Mulder saw a news headline about the word “Allah” being found on Viking funeral clothes. An expert in Islamic art, Mulder, who intially fell prey to believing the discovery, said she was excited by the article.

Hours later, Mulder said she began taking a closer look at the original academic article written by Swedish scholar Annika Larsson. As she dug deeper, she said, there were a number of things about the discovery that did not add up, and Mulder quickly realized the word “Allah” was not actually on the cloth. The most prominent red flag was the style of calligraphy used on the 10th-century cloth in question. The calligraphic style depicted was not developed until more than 500 years later.

“There’s no way it could be there in the 10th century unless this is the only known example in the world, which seems a bit unlikely,” Mulder said.

Mulder called other

juan figueroa| daily texan staff

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gives a tour of her exhibit, “Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection,” at the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday morning. The exhibit, running Oct. 28 to Jan. 21, features her pins and the message behind them.

Madeleine Albright visits UT Former secretary of state shares pins and political views

By Maria Mendez Senior News Reporter

Some people wear their heart on their sleeve, but former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wore her foreign policy stances on her chest — with pins.

Wearing a Lone Star and cowboy pin, Albright discussed her career as the first female secretary of state under former President Bill Clinton and her views on current events at the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday.

After being called “an unparalleled serpent” by Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, Albright wore a serpent pin and told the world to “read her pins” during

her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Since then, Albright used decorative pins to mark her policies and achievements.

Although people sometimes called her pins’ statements bold, Albright said she views President Trump’s current social media strategy as more dangerous.

“My approach was actually more subtle,” Albright said. “You cannot make serious foreign policy statements with tweets. You need a strategy. ‘Making America great again’ or ‘Making America first’ is not a strategy.”

The traveling exhibit “Read My

ALBRIGHT page 2

juan figueroa| daily texan staff

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, left, and Vicki Roberts, founder of Lexus Austin, cut the ribbon to open Albright’s exhibit.

BASELESS page 3 CAMPUS

CITY

Students stealing new Speedway bricks cause construction problems

APD delays issuing No Refusal DWI policy

By London Gibson

The construction crew has started removing the previously laid out bricks.

Senior News Reporter

After hearing that the majority of the bricks for the Speedway Mall project would be replaced, students hoping for a quirky souvenir resorted to pulling them up from the ground, taking newly laid bricks in the process.

Four chunks of bricks are currently missing from Speedway Mall, including one section that was not intended to be replaced, said Laurie Lentz, communications manager for Financial and Administrative Services. Lentz said officials noticed Thursday morning that 175 new, properly stress-tested bricks had been stolen from Speedway.

“The spot found (Thursday) morning was where replacement pavers had been put in,” Lentz said. “That means rework, so … it’s unfortunate.”

Although almost all of the bricks on the Speedway Mall project will be ripped up and repaved because of cracking, the bricks currently installed north of 24th Street have been proven to comply with UT’s strength standards and do not need be replaced.

With 175 bricks missing from the

kurt naig daily texan staff

newly laid area however, construction crews will have to revisit the location and fill it in again.

The repair will not require the University to purchase more bricks, but the University’s stockpile of extra bricks will now be smaller. Lentz said the crew will have less additional resources to draw from in the event of further damages. Additionally, the way in which the bricks were removed illegally has disturbed the base underneath the Mall, creating additional obstacles to repairing the damaged spots.

“The base had already been treated and repaired, and now it has got to be dealt with again,” Lentz said. “It’s more time-consuming … it’s time and materials.”

Even stealing the old, cracking bricks south of 24th Street could create problems, Lentz said. Pulling out chunks of bricks creates a hazard for cyclists and could cause pedestrians to trip or fall. It could also make the area less accessible.

BRICKS page 3

By Ashley Liu Senior News Reporter

Since this year’s Halloween falls on a Tuesday, Austin Police Department will not issue its No Refusal initiative this upcoming Halloweekend, unlike in past years.

No Refusal is a policy that allows police units to request breath or blood samples from suspected DWI motorists during holiday weekends, and any refusal to comply can result in a judge-issued search warrant to obtain the sample. Coincidentally, the policy was first implemented on Oct. 31, 2007.

APD has decided to issue the initiative only on the day of Halloween, Oct. 31, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

APD detective Richard Mabe said there are some common misconceptions regarding DWI arrests and UT students.

“A lot of people think UT students are the problem on the weekends,” Mabe said. “We teach throughout the state in

DWI programs, and I’ll be the first to tell you, UT students are not the majority of DWI arrests.

The majority comes from the group of 25- to 45-year-olds.”

UT students have usually been good at avoiding impaired driving on holiday weekends because of the availability of alternative transportation methods, Mabe said.

“I think UT has a great partnership with CapMetro and the UT (Shuttle) System,” Mabe said. “The students do a pretty good job at transporting themselves to downtown.”

West Campus is not an area of special concern during Halloweekend, despite the area’s concentrated student population, Mabe said.

“We don’t target one specific area more than the other,” Mabe said. “But the downtown landscape is very densely populated with bars. There are so many establishments that serve alcohol there. You might stop

NO REFUSAL page 2

NEWS

OPINION

LIFE&ARTS

SPORTS

SCI&TECH

UT VAV chapter hosts annual ‘Breaking the Silence’ event. PAGE 2

Dan Rather, Evan Smith, and Josh Earnest offer advice, perspectives. PAGE 4

Professor’s research says hooking up is human nature. PAGE 8

Texas looks to get back on track against the winless Baylor. PAGE 6

Science shows bats don’t actually drink blood — they eat frogs. PAGE 5

6348/UT Athletics; Process color

2

Friday, October 27, 2017

CITY

Local credit card skimming increases

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By Reagan Ritterbush Senior News Reporter

Credit card skimming crimes are increasing all around the Austin area, especially at gas stations, said Mike Morgovnik, financial crime detective for the Austin Police Department.

Skimming is an electronic method of capturing someone’s personal information by using a device to scan a credit card and store the information contained in the card’s magnetic strip.

This crime generally takes place during a transaction at an ATM or a business, such as a gas station, said Morgovnik.

“This is a nationwide problem just as much as it is an Austin problem,” Morgovnik said. “Criminals are installing devices inside gas pumps, which makes it incredibly difficult for people to tell if they’re going to be skimmed since they can’t see inside the machine.”

When police first begin investigating a credit card fraud case, they look at a variety of possibilities before

Senior S&T Reporters Areeba Khwaja, Aditya Singh

Assoc. Podcast Director Sam Groves, Morgan Kuehler, JT Lindsey Digital Operations Director Anna Wang Editorial Adviser Peter Chen

no refusal

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anthony mireles| daily texan staff

Austin Police Department will not be issuing No Refusal during Halloween weekend, opting instead to implement the testing policy during Halloween night on Tuesday.

NO REFUSAL

continues from page 1

CONTACT US

someone in North Austin, but you could probably trace their drinking history to downtown.”

Although APD made 54 DWI arrests last year during Halloweekend and 41 in 2015, Mabe said the numbers have never radically changed.

“These numbers are on pace with the years before,” Mabe said. “The annual rates might have 100 plus or minus, but that’s really a drop in the bucket. Halloweekend has never had a significant increase in DWI arrests in comparison to the holiday weekends from the years before.”

William Mupo, University Health Services health promotion coordinator, said there are many different things students can do to increase safety during Halloweekend.

“Take the E-bus, Uber, Lyft or any other safe transportation methods if

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(512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.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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As part of the annual event “Breaking The Silence,” students gathered on the East Mall on Thursday evening to share their stories of dealing with relationship violence.

Hosted by the UT chapter of Voices Against Violence, VAV, “Breaking The Silence” serves to provide a supportive space for survivors of relationship violence. The event had poetry performances, an open mic for students who wanted to speak about their experiences and an organization fair with resources to assist students affected by relationship violence.

Psychology senior Jasmine Bell, who runs spoken-word club UT Spitshine performed two of her poems.

She said she has been writing poetry since her freshman year, when she experienced an abusive relationship.

“I have to write these poems. It’s just the way I cope with things,” Bell said. “I think it’s important to tell the truth … I was in denial for a long time, and the first time realized I was in an abusive relationship was at ‘Breaking The Silence.’”

One of Bell’s messages to the audience was “in order to be angry, you have to believe you’re worth something.”

g w o n f t “He had made me believe that I was t worthless — that what I wanted was not m important — and I think that if there’s t a reason to be angry, you shouldn’t s necessarily stifle that,” Bell said. l “There needs to be space for anger. It’s S incredibly important to survive.”

VAV president Mia Goldstein said n one of the ways to support survivors is to discontinue victim-blaming.

“We often use language that silences survivors,” Plan II junior Goldstein said. “There is such a huge issue with putting the blame on the victim or survivor. For instance, I hear, ‘If you were being abused, why did you stay?’

That is inherently victim-blaming. It’s not on you to get out of that relationship. It’s on the other person to stop causing the abuse.”

The event concluded with a candlelight vigil and a moment of silence for those who had lost their lives to interpersonal violence.

Lauren White, health education coordinator for VAV in the Counseling and Mental Health Center, said it is important to highlight that this event is a student-run effort.

“It’s really important to have this be a student-led initiative so that it speaks to students and its opportunities for students to heal and to have a voice in this conversation,” White said.

CAMPUS

News Reporter

Business/ Operations Manager Frank Serpas III

you’re drinking” Mupo said. “Stick with your friends, and come back as a group.”

Sherry Bell, UHS consumer education and outreach coordinator, said UHS will not have abnormal routines during Halloweekend.

“We don’t change our staffing and (don’t anticipate) large increases in student medical calls,” Bell said. “And we certainly don’t see increases to the extent of larger events like spring break and ACL weekends.”

Biochemistry sophomore Justin Varias said he chose to be the designated driver this weekend for his friends who are going out to celebrate Halloween.

“I think it’s very important to plan ahead of time while we have the choice,” Varias said. “You never know what can happen after a few drinks, so I want to make sure my friends stay safe.”

‘Breaking the Silence’ allows students to share stories

Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates annual Chinese harvest season

HI 66º LO 48º

Director Gerald Johnson

j b t

CAMPUS

Podcast Director Zeke Fritts

ISSUE STAFF

HI LO

narrowing it down to skimming, chip reading and probably won’t be Morgovnik said. for another two or three years, which “We can usually tell where skim- makes chip readers useless,” Morgovming takes place through patterns,” nik said. “It’s probably why criminals Morgovnik said. “If there use gas pumps most are multiple reports at often when skimming, a certain business or because swiping a card gas station, it makes it with a chip reader is just easier for us to narrow Skimmers can only as dangerous as using down where people are one that only swipes.” store information being skimmed.”

Radio-television-film Using a credit card through swiping, senior David Mendez with a chip reader might said since the act of be the strongest form of which makes card getting gas is usually protection against skim- readers extremely pretty fast, most people ming, Morgovnik said. probably do not stop secure devices.” to think about being “Skimmers can only store informaskimmed there.

—Mike Morgovnik, tion through swip“It’s so convenient to Austin Police Department ing, which makes chip just swipe your card, get readers extremely secure devices,” the gas and go,” Mendez said. “People Morgovnik said. do not have time to go in and give the Most gas stations, however, still cashier cash. It’s probably a gold mine require people to swipe their cards for criminals.” even if they have chip readers, Undeclared freshman Enrique PalaMorgovnik said. cios said because there is a chance of “Gas stations are not up to date on getting skimmed at gas stations, he

I p i e h does not swipe his card at pumps. e “I go inside all the time now,” Pala-l cios said. “It takes a bit longer, but I dot not want to have to hassle with banksa and the police to get the money back.” L Morgovnik said it is typically hard to find out when someone’s card wasc actually skimmed. a “Narrowing down a specific timef for when the skimming took place isl incredibly difficult,” Morgovnik said.G “People like to assume it happenedt at the last place they used their creditt card, but that’s only a guess. It could be days, weeks or months befores someone actually starts using theira credit card.” i Checking bank statements regularlya and making sure to cover your pin att ATM machines will help prevent credit card skimming, Morgovnik said. t “It’s almost impossible to actuallys prevent skimming,” Morgovnik said.s “However, at ATM machines, peoplem should use their hand to cover theird pin because criminals sometimes place tiny cameras on the machines.” s

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Conversation filled Gregory Plaza on Thursday evening, but when biomedical engineering senior Veronica Stuckey started dancing, all went silent.

Her traditional Mongolian dance kicked off the annual UT Mid-Autumn Festival hosted by the Chinese Student Association, CSA. The club celebrated its 70th annual Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival through traditional Chinese dances and performances, such as Wushu and Dragon Dance.

CSA external vice president Grahame Gornall said the tradition of celebrating the festival dates back more than 3,500 years ago in China, commemorating the end of a harvest season.

“It’s a time for family and friends to come together and celebrate the good fortune they’ve had for the past year and have some nice food,” said Gornall, a Chinese and finance junior.

Kelly Wu, a member of the Texas Dragon/Lion Dance Team, said she has been performing at the festival

It’s a great place for people who share similar backgrounds like us to share that culture and find a place of support.”

—Grahame Gornall, Chinese and finance junior

since her freshman year. Dance performance is aligned with the group’s goal to promote Chinese culture, Wu said.

“It’s another way to celebrate Chinese culture, which is what (our group) is about,” marketing senior Wu said. “We want to spread the art of lion dance, a very important part of Chinese culture, to other parts of the world.”

Several other student organizations, such as the Taiwanese American Students Association, Japanese Association and UT Magic Club tabled at the event and brought mini-games for visitors.

Economics junior Cindy Hwang said growing up as a Chinese-American, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a big part of her childhood.

“When I was a kid, I would watch a lot of Chinese specials with my mom when this time came around,” CSA officer Hwang said. “It’s just one of those things that just happens when you’re an Asian.”

Undergraduate studies freshman Jorge Alcocer said he came to the event because he was interested in preserving Chinese culture.

“I like keeping the culture alive,” Alcocer said. “I like that you take something old and renew it every year.”

CSA events give people a chance to stay in touch with their Chinese culture, Gornall said.

“It’s a great place for people who share similar backgrounds like us to share that culture and find a place of support,” Gornall said. “You can get pretty stressed out when you first come to college, and this is a great way to have a support system (and) somewhere you can be comfortable when things aren’t familiar to you.”

ashley nava| daily texan staff

Mexican American and Latina/o studies senior Angela Lorena Vela Arce, co-director of the Native American and Indigenous Collective, expresses her solidarity with survivors of violence and sexual assault.

ALBRIGHT

continues from page 1 Pins” includes more than 200 pins, each of which carries stories of Albright’s diplomatic strategies in the U.S. and abroad. Albright does not think President Trump’s reactive tweets are the right way to handle international affairs, especially with North Korea.

“Diplomacy is a way to talk with those you disgree,” Albright said. “It’s not a gift. It’s a tool. It is a strategy.”

Albright, who migrated to the U.S. from Czechoslovakia as a 10-yearold, also critiqued Trump’s immigration policies and “stupid border wall.”

She emphasized that the U.S. needs to protect DACA students and create generous immigration policies that celebrate diversity.

“I’m an immigrant myself,” Albright said. “I have the greatest sympathy for the DACA students, for the Dreamers. What is America about if it’s not about dreaming?”

Today, Albright shares her opinions loudly, but said it took her a while to develop her voice in the often all-male world of politics.

During the exhibit tour, she pointed to a pin she wore to a meeting where she was the only female in a room of 10 ministers. She also

highlighted a glass pin gifted to her to commemorate her role as the highest female official as secretary of state for Bill Clinton.

For young women interested in a political career like hers, Albright said getting involved and working hard are key.

“Young women need to interrupt and find their voice,” Albright said. “I’m counting on a lot of young women to really stay active activists in defending democracy and each other.”

With today’s political climate, Albright said all college students should become involved in politics by staying informed on currentB events and voicing their concerns toc politicians. To be effective, students should learn to listen to university guest speakers and political views they may disagree with. As a former foreign U.S. diplomat, Albright said finding common ground with others is necessary.

“It’s a time more than ever for students to need to keep up with political events,” Albright said. “Listen to news and things you might disagree with.

Some of them may be difficult to listen to, but on the whole, I have tried respect those with different views and try to understand where they’re coming from.”

3

Friday, October 27, 2017

BASELESS

continues from page 1 Islamic art experts and experts in old textiles, an area in which she lacked a deeper knowledge. Once she had everything she needed, she wrote a 60-tweetlong critique on Oct. 16 that became a public and accidental peer review of Larsson’s article.

The thread has now received over 3,000 retweets and sparked calls to Mulder from multiple news outlets, including National Geographic and the Atlantic, which had reported on the discovery.

“It’s overwhelming,” Mulder said. “Repeating the argument again and again. I think it’s so important for scholars to be able to explain what they do to nonspecialists.”

Mulder’s colleague, art history professor David Stuart, said it’s disappointing that stories like this go viral while much more interesting, vetted discoveries are ignored.

“What (does) get attention sometimes are stories that just catch one’s imagination, but that doesn’t mean that they’re true,” Stuart said.

Stuart also said there is a growing issue in academia where institutions will send out press releases to announce discoveries even before they have gone through the rigorous peer review system. The immediate nature of modern media has affected the care that researchers are supposed to take before publishing their findings as facts, Stuart said.

Mulder recommends journalists call additional experts

6425/The Domain Northside; Process color

copyright stephennie mulder, and reproduced with permission

Associate art history professor Stephennie Mulder wrote a 60 tweetlong critique of a factual inaccuracy in a recent academic article.

in the field and have them glance over the findings in order to add another layer of verification.

“I want journalists to talk to experts,” Mulder said. “But you can’t just talk to one because everything is complex … and one scholar could simply — as I think is the case with this situation — be completely wrong.”

Journalism professor Robert Jensen said even peer reviewed articles can sometimes oversell their results as more conclusive than they really are by either the publishing author or the institution.

Most of these issues boil

down to money, Jensen said.

Institutions and researchers always want more donors, so they over-promote research to prove that they are the “best.”

“If we lived in a sane society, this obsession with being first and being dramatically first wouldn’t really matter was much,” Jensen said.

Ultimately, Jensen said many of these so-called “discoveries” will still receive publicity, because reporters simply cannot be experts in every single field of knowledge. Jensen said continued coverage will, however, expose falsity or other wrongs in the end.

UNIVERSITY

UT Libraries prepares debut of redesigned, mobile-friendly site

By Sami Sparber News Reporter When students visit the UT Libraries website on Nov. 6, they may be surprised to encounter a completely redesigned homepage.

Travis Willmann, UT Libraries communications officer, said the UT library system has spent the past eight months developing a streamlined version of the site, using the main UT-Austin homepage as a template.

The website was built in the 1990s, and the librarians have wanted a redesign for a long time, Willmann said.

“All of those things that we started developing in the mid’90s … were still hiding out in our website, so it was bloated,” Willmann said.

It wasn’t until a group of students from UT’s Senate of College Councils approached the library in January 2016 with a written proposal that the redesign process was kickstarted, Willmann said.

BRICKS

continues from page 1 “It interferes with safe movement for individuals who have disabilities such as visual impairment, or who must use a wheelchair, for example,” Lentz said in an email.

As of Thursday afternoon, the police had not arrested or issued tickets to any students for stealing bricks, said Jules Chan, UT public safety communications coordinator. Chan said as of now, there have been no

Accounting junior Christina Wen co-authored the proposal with a group of Senate members, who were all freshmen at the time.

“Since we were all taking undergraduate studies courses that required us to complete research using the library website, we each experienced the same frustration with the cluttered layout that made it difficult to find the information we needed,” Wen said. “We decided to pursue this issue further and take our observations directly to the source.”

Allyssa Guzman, digital scholarship librarian and project owner for the website redesign, said the library’s team completely overhauled the site by decluttering the homepage in favor of a sleeker design and more functionality.

“We created a single search bar, so there’s no longer a mass of tabs and drop-down menus to sift through,” Guzman said.

“We also redid the navigation so that the language that we used is more jargon-free and makes more sense to students, who are our primary users. For example, we replaced the term ‘interlibrary loan’ with ‘borrow from another library.’”

The new site is also mobile-responsive, meaning users can conduct on-the-go research using tablets and smartphones, said Lydia Fletcher, STEM liaison librarian for physical and mathematical sciences. Fletcher said adapting the site for mobile use will be hugely beneficial for busy students.

As the site’s release nears, Wen said she looks forward to seeing her team’s hard work pay off.

“It’s really satisfying to know that at UT, students’ opinions really do matter,” Wen said. “We have the power to create tangible change on campus when we make our voices heard.”

illustration by mel westfall| daily texan staff

changes made to police action in the area, but since the problem is growing, that may change.

Earlier this week, news of students stealing the bricks circulated on UT Facebook groups and on Twitter, sparking an influx of discussions and memes.

Radio-television-film senior Trung Tran said at first it seemed like people were just doing it to be funny.

“Obviously, whenever it first started off, it was a little bit harmless,” Tran said.

“But the more people do it,

the more there are chunks of it missing … they’re just doing it to be stupid. It’s not like they’re trying to harm people.”

Public health freshman Ana Sofia Santiago said if students stealing the bricks could mess with the construction, they should stop doing it so that the replacement process can completed as soon as possible.

“Although it might be funny, those bricks are necessary,” Santiago said. “People should keep that in mind.”

4

JANHAVI NEMAWARKAR & VIK SHIRVAIKAR FORUM EDITORS

@TexanOpinion

Friday, October 27, 2017

Media experts share experiences

By Janhavi Nemawarkar and Vik Shirvaikar Forum Editors

Our campus regularly hosts distinguished guests and speakers, and we at the Texan are particularly drawn to anyone who understands the love and labor behind news production. So while we may have a bias in valuing the words of media professionals, we believe their perspectives on civic engagement, evaluating arguments and framing the world are lessons that are relevant to any and all students looking to grow in college.

To that end, we reached out to three recent UT visitors and experienced media professionals, each of whom has displayed an outstanding commitment to informing and engaging their audiences.

Josh Earnest, the former press secretary under President Barack Obama, speaks about the changing media environment during his tenure in the White House.

He highlights the day-to-day realities of working on the national stage, and the challenges of disseminating policy decisions to the United States and the world.

His concerns also align with the more humble aims of students — namely, in developing a Twitter following.

As CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, Evan Smith understands the intersection of the news profession with civic participation. His nonpartisan, non-profit news organization is a go-to for any and all Texans trying to understand Texas politics. Smith speaks to us about journalism’s future and the importance of engagement in Texas.

And finally, Dan Rather, native Houstonian and celebrated long-running former CBS News anchor, draws on more than 50 years of experience to give advice to aspiring journalists. Rather emphasizes the importance of persistence and believing in the significance of your work.

In the spirit of public information and engagement, we want to hear from you too. Don’t hesitate to bring your expertise, perspectives and personal experiences to our page by emailing us at editor@dailytexanonline.com.

Nemawarkar is a Plan II and government junior from Austin. Shirvaikar is a math and economics junior from Frisco.

DAN RATHER illustration by melanie westfall | daily texan staff

The Daily Texan: What advice would you give to students and young journalists?

Dan Rather: Number one is to understand at a really deep level that writing is the bedrock of the craft. If one aspires to be a television anchor, writing is the bedrock. To be successful as a journalist — and I don’t mean monetarily, but to be worthy of the name of being an American journalist — you have to dedicate yourself to a lifetime of improving your writing, no matter how good you think a writer you are now, but consciously make yourself a better writer is my beginning advice. I’m still trying to improve myself as a writer and there is plenty of room for it.

The second thing is to stay idealistic. It is very difficult, particularly in this cynical time. Be skeptical but never cynical, and keep your idealism and be assured that your early belief in journalism, when done right, counts. It matters. You can be part of something bigger than yourself and contribute, so don’t lose that idealism.

And then the final piece would be persistence. Almost everything in life in one way or another requires persistence, but journalism particularly, steady, unrelenting persistence will get you a long way, and without it, you’re not likely to make it.

JOSH EARNEST illustration by amber perry | daily texan staff

The Daily Texan: You were tasked with publicly presenting the Obama administration’s ideas.

What were some of the challenges or successes you had given the material in front of you?

Josh Earnest: One of the challenges that we had was that, while President Obama was in office, and this is something that has been commonly observed, the media environment was changing very rapidly. And we had to build an operation that would adapt to those changes.

It was in 2015 that we worked to put together a communications infrastructure and a strategy that did a better job of integrating social media. And we used the White House Facebook page much more effectively to engage people with the announcements we were making. We created a Twitter handle that the President could use, @POTUS. And it was something that we used to very good effect, to be an authentic communication channel — the President of the United States, Barack Obama, was dictating the tweets that would be sent from this account. Not just some staffers holed up in a room trying to think of something clever to say — this actually represented his words, and his opinions.

So we really ramped up trying to connect with the American people, including using social media, but involving some nontraditional outlets too. One thing that people often forget — this is a good indication of how things have changed so quickly — is that President Obama was the first sitting president to appear on a late-night talk show.

Candidates had previously appeared before that point, but a sitting president had never been on a late-night talk show, and President Obama went on “The Tonight Show.” And over the course of his presidency he really pioneered the use of non-traditional outlets to try to connect with the American people.

DT: What was it like for you as a media professional to watch these conversations move away from your control?

JE: The night of the election was a difficult night for people all across the country, but certainly for people who worked in the Obama White House. It was very difficult for the outcome of the election not to feel like a direct rejection of a bunch of things that we poured our heart and soul into.

And President Obama hadn’t been subtle about this on the campaign trail — he had

spent the entire fall traveling all over the country, making the case to Americans at venues large and small that if Donald Trump were elected president, he would in a position to roll back so much of the progress that we’ve made. And he’s certainly done that in some places, but not by as much as I

“He really pioneered the use of non-traditional outlets to try to connect with the American people.”

once feared. And there are a couple reasons for that, and I think one of them is that the Trump administration has not proved to be particularly effective in governing the country. They’re not very strategic, the president himself is not very disciplined, he’s not experienced at all in government, he doesn’t have a particularly experienced team around him to help him maximize the leverage that he

has as President of the United States to accomplish his goals.

So some of this is a function of the ineffectiveness of the Trump administration. But there’s another part of it too, which is that there’s a big difference between making a controversial promise on the campaign trail and being in government and responsible for implementing that promise. So the best example of this that occurs to me is the way he’s handled DACA, the DREAM Act. It’s one thing to say that we’re going to build a wall and that we are going to deport the Dreamers on the first day in office. It’s another thing to know that you are responsible for the lives and the livelihood of 800,000 young people who came to this country by no fault of their own, and who are, by definition, not criminals, and who are making a positive contribution to our country and our society.

And to upend all that, and to deal with the human and economic costs of that, I think is apparent in how our president has handled this issue. He said he wants to tear it up, but then barely twelve hours go by — and he didn’t even announce he was going to tear it up, he had his attorney general do that — and then he tweets that if Congress doesn’t solve this problem, then I’ll figure out a way to solve this problem. Which I think indicates that he was having some heartburn about this decision when he came face-to-face with the consequences of this decision.

DT: What are some important points of contrast between the Obama administration and the Trump administration?

JE: President Trump has made prolific use of his Twitter handle, I think in ways that are obviously controversial, in ways that he thinks serve him well when it comes to communicating with his base. But I think he’s also used it in ways that have highlighted how undisciplined he is, and created a lot of self-inflicted obstacles when it comes to trying to accomplish his goals.

So I don’t think he’s used his Twitter handle as effectively as he could be, or as experts say he should be, but he’s also in a place where he tweeted throughout the campaign and experts left and right were telling him that’s the wrong way to do it, and it turned out that he won. So I can understand why he finds that kind of advice pretty unpersuasive, but I happen to think it’s pretty obvious.

EVAN SMITH illustration by melanie westfall| daily texan staff

The Daily Texan: What do you think people need to understand about the state of the press in America and Texas?

Evan Smith: Well, the perspective I have comes after 30 years of doing this job. And obviously the business that I entered when I graduated from college is not the same business that exists today. Technology has driven a lot of change. We started the Texas Tribune in November of 2009, and at the time we started the Tribune, there were no tablets in existence. The first iPad came out in the spring of 2010. There was no Instagram, there was no Slack, there was no Snapchat. Many of the ways that people consume media did not exist at the time we started the Texas Tribune, and so just in the last eight years, the world we entered thinking “this is the new age of media” was, relatively speaking, a ways away from where it is right now.

I’m actually quite bullish on everything in the press. I think this is a terrific time to be going into this business and doing this work. There is this view out in the world that somehow this business is contracting, and that journalism is somehow less than it used to be, when I think exactly the opposite of that is true. The barriers to entry in the business have been obliterated by access to technology. Anybody with a good idea on their first day out of college can create something every bit as important in reporting the news as media businesses that have been around for a long time. I think there are more opportunities for people to take control of their situation in the media business.

DT: There’s such a diversity of viewpoints in terms of how people view and consume the news. How do you maintain neutrality and relationships in a credible, nonpartisan way?

ES: I think there are a lot of smart people in our organization who understand that whatever their individual perspective might be on a subject, the place for that perspective to be manifested is not in the work that they produce for us. We don’t editorialize on issues or campaigns. Our job is not to tell people what to think, our job is to tell people to think. That’s a distinction I make all the time: there are too many non-thinking people in this state. We have a terrible voter turnout problem in the state of Texas — I believe we are the worst

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.

in (terms of) voter turnout of any of the 50 states over the last four years. And if you look at the results of elections, not just over the last four years but many before that, we are a red state.

But the real truth is that we’re neither a red state nor a nonvoting state, we’re

“Our job is not to tell people what to think, our job is to tell people to think.

a nonthinking state. For a lot of people, there are big issues that they don’t think about or care about every single day, but that undeniably affect them. Every person in the state is affected by public education, or higher education, or immigration policy or health care policy. But the problem is that most people don’t understand that the fights are even going on, let alone that they have stakes in the outcomes of those fights.

People have checked out.

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There are a lot of reasons for that. The media used to do a much better job of teeing up the things that were important enough for a lot of people in the state to pay attention to, and as the media has contracted with fewer news organizations, I think there’s organically less of that going on. But I also think that noncompetitive elections are part of the reason that people have checked out. People say that their vote doesn’t matter, and they’re right when the decision has already been made by the way we’ve drawn the districts. And we have a real problem right now in the state.

And so to come back to your question about nonpartisanship, the best contribution we can make with our public service journalism is giving people the information that they otherwise lack in the hope that they take that information, process it, think about it and, in turn, become more productive and thoughtful citizens. And so I think the nonpartisan part is really not an issue for us; we’re not into swaying people one way or the other, to get a candidate defeated or a bill passed. Our job is really to get people more engaged, and then allow them to decide what they want to do with that.

DT: What final advice would you like to leave with students?

ES: It’s on you. You all have taken the baton from those of us who are getting older and have been doing this for a long time. It’s going to be your world, it’s going to be your problem to solve. And you all are so much smarter than we were at your age, and have so much more to offer us than we have to offer you.

And this is the dirty little secret — we need you more than you need us. You practically have USB ports in the sides of your heads. All these new technologies and platforms are practically second nature to you. We’re adapting as we go, and some of us old people have actually gotten to be pretty good. But we’re never going to be as good as you are; you’re technologically so well-equipped to create the next great news organization or the next great media business or the next great platform that will allow people to connect and to be better engaged. And so it’s on you. You have the power and the responsibility to solve these problems. And I’m going to enjoy, in my old age, watching you do it.

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5

JULIANNE HODGES SCIENCE&TECH EDITOR

@thedailytexan

Friday, October 27, 2017

BIOLOGY

Science shows bats don’t actually drink blood — they eat frogs

By Shezaz Hannan S&T Reporter

According to folklore, vampires will sometimes turn into bats in order to drink blood.

In reality, bats go batty over more than just blood, having a much more substantial and varied diet.

“There are fish-eating bats … there are nectivorous bats, there are insectivorous bats, there are frugivorous (fruit-eating) bats,” said Claire Hemingway, a UT researcher in the Department of Integrative Biology.

Hemingway’s research focuses on frog-eating bats, which are in the same family as the widely known vampire bats.

Frog-eating bats get their name from their prey of choice. According to Hemingway, frogs make up about 40 percent of the diet of these bats.

The lab has studied these bats for decades in the hope of better understanding the cognitive ecology of the species, Hemingway said. Frog-eating

bats are somewhat unique in that they do not only use echolocation to find their prey, as some other species of bats do. Instead, these bats may also eavesdrop on mating calls in order to detect the position of their prey.

Researchers were able to determine what sound properties the bats are listening to when they eavesdrop on these calls, according to Hemingway.

“It’s very comparable in ways to the things that the female frogs are (hearing),” Hemingway said. “It’s this really cool system where the predatory bats and the female frogs are sort of butting heads on this signaling characteristic in the male frogs.”

These mating calls were historically studied from the perspective of the frogs and bats. Currently, Hemingway and fellow researcher May Dixon are interested in figuring out the decision-making process and cognitive processes that the bats undergo when hearing a frog call.

Hemingway said she’s

looking at how their decisions differ from human decision-making.

“I’m particularly interested in how they make decisions — whether they’re economically rational in their decisions,” Hemingway said. “Which is something humans seem to really fail at but these bats seem to be good at.”

While much of the analysis of these bats occurs on campus, the bats themselves are native to Central and South America, according to Hemingway.

Most of the fieldwork with the frog-eating bats occurs in Panama, in affiliation with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

There’s no captive colony of bats at the field site, a tropical forest along the Panama Canal. Researchers must go out during the night to capture a bat.

“As the sun is setting, we set up nets and we put up speakers that we broadcast frog calls from underneath the nets to try and lure the bats in,” Hemingway said. “We’ll

illustration by ivan moore | daily texan staff

just stay out there five to six hours in hopes of catching a frog-eating bat.”

There are 125 species of bats in Panama, according to Hemingway. Researchers have trained themselves to quickly recognize frog-eating bats in order to free the

other species they capture.

Once a bat is captured, the researchers train it in a process that takes about a week per bat.

Overall, researchers hope the bats will offer more insight into animal cognition and their social behavior.

“They’re really good at learning things very quickly, they’re really good at reversing that learning quickly. They eavesdrop on social cues to learn certain things,” Hemingway said.

“These bats are incredibly smart animals.”

PSYCHOLOGY

Experts say traumatic events linked to resilience in country

By Aditya Singh Senior S&T Reporter

In a study published last month, an international team of researchers reviewed the mental health of over 33,500 German citizens to investigate the stereotype of German angst as a result of the World War II bombings. The researchers discovered that, against typical assumptions, experiencing traumatic events as a nation may create a more resilient population.

Germans are sometimes stereotyped as anxious and worried in a phenomenon

described as “German angst.” But P. Jason Rentfrow, an author of the study and a University of Cambridge psychology reader, said this stereotype isn’t entirely valid. “Clearly, we need to be careful about national stereotypes,” Rentfrow said. “Germany didn’t stand out as high in anything resembling angst compared with other countries.”

According to the study, Germany ranked 20th, 31st and 53rd for depression, anxiety and neuroticism respectively in a comparison with 107 other countries. Other countries that

experienced trauma because of warfare, such as Japan and Vietnam, did not score highly, supporting the researchers’ new findings.

Martin Obschonka, an author of the study and associate business professor at Queensland University of Technology, said one possible explanation for these findings is that the major destruction of cities could have made the local population “tougher.”

“This (conflict) served as a factor for the remaining residents to pull together and persevere,” Obschonka said.

Samuel Gosling, an author

of the study and psychology professor at UT-Austin, said the implications of their research are far-reaching.

“What this research shows is that the regional distribution of today’s personality traits have roots that stretch back decades, or even longer,” Gosling said.

Gosling added that psychologists know from previous research that traits particular to regions have all kinds of long-term consequences in terms of things such as the economy, crime, social behaviors and health.

The research would have strong implications for wartorn cities in the Middle East, such as Syria, and for future inquiry.

“It is likely that we’ll be seeing the effects of the ongoing traumatic experiences in the Middle East for many years to come,” Gosling said.

Undergraduates accepted the research findings, using examples from their personal life. Biomedical engineering junior Tyler Stern said war brings out the resilience in people.

“People show true courage during hard times, and

this spirit is passed down through family, through generations of citizens,” Stern said.

Rentfrow said a possible explanation for this phenomenon is that conflict in territories can offer citizens a new way to look at stress in their personal lives.

“We’ve seen from other studies that when people experience difficulties in life, (it) can provide them with a broader perspective on things and perhaps make more trivial stresses seem unimportant,” Rentfrow said.

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Friday, October 27, 2017

CROSSWORD; Black

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MORGAN O’HANLON LIFE&ARTS EDITOR

@thedailytexan

Friday, October 27, 2017

CITY

Central Library opens this weekend

By Acacia Coronado Senior L&A Reporter

Everything’s bigger in Texas, and with the grand opening of the new Austin Central Library, the proof is in the pages.

Reading rooms overlooking Lady Bird Lake, a rooftop garden and a technology petting zoo, where visitors can interact with 3-D printers and other innovative technologies, are some of the library’s newest upgrades. Open to readers and visitors on Oct. 28, the library’s family-friendly grand-opening event will feature live music and special lectures.

“We moved in all the books from the old library … (and) ordered a lot of new books to add to the collection that already have been delivered to the new library,” said Kanya Lyons, Austin Public Library public information specialist. “We will have more space for physical material in the new building as well as technology.”

The new Central branch will be available for use seven days a week after its opening festivities and will feature a combination of books and technology.

Like Austin Public Library’s other branches, Lyons said the new Central Library will not discriminate against members of the public who might be experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty and will welcome everyone alike.

illustration by madi beavers | daily texan staff

“Everyone is welcome to come and use our resources,” Lyons said.

“We have people from all walks of life who use the library. We have working professionals who come to cohort families with children (and) elderly people who come here to look for a job.”

Additionally, Lyons said the library tries to make an effort to provide necessary resources for

visitors depending on their circumstance, such as a program it recently did with social work interns from Texas State University who helped connect homeless individuals with caseworkers and life resources.

Nancy Nicolas, a visitor who attended a preview of the library on Sunday, said in addition to the valuable resources it has available, she

MOVIE REVIEW | ‘THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE’

looks forward to how this place will become a learning environment for her family. She said she hopes the library will unite the community and future generations.

“I hope it continues to keep my kids humble,” Nicolas said. “I hope it becomes even more of a cultural center so that our kids and the other families that use it continue to be exposed to a wider variety of families,

diverse cultures and populations.”

After getting a first look at the library’s features, Nicolas said the new design is more inviting to visitors in comparison to the smaller spaces of the former Faulk Central Library. She said seeing the city invest in a literary project of this magnitude makes her feel proud of both the library and of Austin. “(It’s great) to have such a nice library in such a nice location that reflects on the priorities of the city and the values that we share,” Nicolas said.

As an Austinite who grew up visiting Faulk Central Library, Betsey Culliton said she’s excited to visit with her own family now and experience the ways it could bring together today’s community.

“When I was a kid I would go with my mom down to Central and hang out there all day on the weekends (to) do research for middle school projects,” Culliton said.

“To have a touchstone like that in the community is fantastic.”

During a Sunday preview of the library for media and some members of the public, Lyons said she was happy to see adults and children alike enjoying the amenities.

“The members of the public with their families were just giddy, taking photos and very excited to use this landmark resource that is really here for the people of Austin,” Lyons said.

EVENT PREVIEW

‘Thank You for Your Service’ Professor to discuss evolution honors vets experiencing PTSD of human sexual attraction

By Kirthi Dronmraju L&A Reporter

copyright sony pictures, and reproduced with permission

Miles Teller plays real-life Iraq war veteran Adam Schumann in “Thank You for Your Service.”

By Pierson Hawkins L&A Reporter

Most films that deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) aim to discredit war efforts, but “Thank You for Your Service” aims to shed an optimistic light on mental illness. The film creates a patriotic cadence through its real life events, but ultimately fails in its formal storytelling and ability to appeal to a wider audience.

After serving in Iraq, a group of young veterans return home and struggle to readjust to civilian life as they are reminded of the anguish of battle.

The film centers on Adam Schumann (Miles Teller), who along with his brother-in-arms Solo Aeiti (Beulah Koale), seeks help for their mental trauma.

They run into many roadblocks: a neglected Veteran’s Affairs office, difficulty supporting their families and the lack of a quick fix. Haley Bennett plays Adam’s wife, Saskia, who faces the challenge of caring for both Adam and their three children.

“Thank You for Your Service” makes for Teller’s second film this month after last week’s “Only the Brave.” Beside his characteristic boyish charm, Teller brings little to the film. Teller’s interactions with Koale and Bennett feel stripped straight from last

year’s “War Dogs,” making for an disingenuous performance at the heart of the story. The story itself does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the emotional impact of the film, creating difficult situations that force the empathy of the audience.

The film also marks Jason Hall’s directorial debut and follow-up to the critical, commercial and controversial hit “American Sniper,” for which he was a writer. This time, Hall finds his way behind the camera, replacing the antiquated remnant of Clint Eastwood.

In many ways, the two films are similar — they draw on true events, ground themselves in the nuclear family and pay homage to veterans overseas. “Thank You for Your Service” diverges from “Sniper” by focusing on the domestic front and the effects of PTSD rather than the war scenes which garnered “American Sniper” so much controversy, making “Thank You for Your Service” a more audience-friendly film.

The beginning of the film plays out formulaically, opening with a jarring combat-heavy sequence that cuts to a landing party back at home. As Adam approaches his wife and three kids (the couple still look fresh from high school), he is intercepted by a grieving widow, a laughably serious Amy Schumer. The first

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE RUNNING TIME: 108 min.

RATING: R SCORE: act repeats this beat, juxtaposing family life with disturbing interventions.

As the film progresses and Adam’s PTSD symptoms become more serious, the narrative hones in on his struggle to receive help after already accepting the problem. He finds small wins by getting through the line at the VA, talking with fellow vets and remembering the date, but these are inevitably overshadowed the negative effects of PTSD. The call of the film is not to ridicule the underfunded VA or lampoon what may or may not be an ethical war, but to recognize a problem that has persisted and been neglected in our society.

“Thank You for Your Service,” although compellingly impactful, fails to realize a performance akin to Bradley Cooper’s Chris Kyle or Eastwood’s expertise. Nevertheless, the film cements Jason Hall as a niche writer/director, reliable for churning out patriotic fare that aspires to laud our veterans and address societal issues. Free tickets for veterans are available at participating theaters/times.

As students swipe through endless profiles and DMs flood their inboxes, it may seem that dating apps have made hooking up more attractive than ever. But according to psychology professor David Buss, casual sex isn’t a new phenomenon.

Buss will share his insights on the relationship between love and lust in his upcoming talk, “Human Mating Behavior,” at the Student Activity Center on Oct. 27. Considered one of the founders of the field of evolutionary psychology, Buss is widely renowned for his research on mate selection, attraction and sexual tactics.

In his newest book, “The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating,” Buss addresses the differences between female and male desires, and the hindrances to finding love: conflict, competition and manipulation by both sexes.

Buss writes that to answer this conflict, people must first address their outlooks on romantic relationships in general.

“What we do have is unrealistic expectations,” Buss writes. “All relationships have conflict — the issue is how we deal with them when they come up.”

Among these issues include the search for the ideal relationship. In the meantime, Buss said that serial dating, or engaging in several short-term relationships — which can include hooking up — is perfectly normal.

relationship. In contrast, men are more likely to have affairs for sexual variety.”

Indiana University evolutionary biologist Justin Garcia said a cursory look at popular literature can help to account for the dramatic rise in hookup culture on campus as well, citing popular music and romantic comedy films centered around hooking up and the pervasive “friends with benefits” plotline.

“Contemporary popular culture is now rife with examples that depict and often encourage sexual behavior, including premarital and uncommitted sex,” Garcia said. “Many popular repPresently, women resentations suggest (that) have become more uncommitted sex can be enjoyable and occur without comfortable in ‘strings’ (attached).” engaging in casual Despite this vested interested in sexual behavior sex, especially on alone, however, Garcia said college campuses.” emerging adults also show significant interest in traditional romantic relation—David Buss, ships, despite the prioritiPsychology professor zation of serial dating over early marriage.

In a study of 681 young began writing his first book on evolutionary psychology adults, 63 percent of coland sexual behavior in 1994, lege-aged men and 83 perthe term “hookup” did not cent of college-aged women exist. Similarly, he said there preferred a traditional rowere few studies on female mantic relationship as opposed to a merely sexual one. sexuality at the time.

This sentiment was “Presently, women have become more comfortable echoed by undeclared freshin engaging in casual sex, man Maria Yasir, who said especially on college cam- that she has found that ropuses,” Buss told America mantic desire is based on Trends Podcast. “We also individual journey.

“We all want love,” Yaknow more about female sexuality. Women use af- sir said. “What’s different fairs to get out of relation- is the form we want it in at ships to switch into a better the time.”

“Are there people who find the one at 18 and get married for 75 years? Yes. But they are the minority,” Buss said in an interview with America Trends Podcast. “Serial mating is common, and it’s not a bad thing. People have always engaged in this behavior. It’s just now that we have new labels for it.

Buss said the popularization of the term “hooking up” was the result of a more widespread acceptance of the casual-sex movement by both sexes, and when he

illustration by victoria smith | daily texan staff

8

MICHAEL SHAPIRO SPORTS EDITOR

@texansports

Friday, October 27, 2017

SOCCER

FOOTBALL

Texas readies for season closer with Oklahoma State

Longhorns shift focus to Baylor, bowl game

By Matthew Truty Sports Reporter

In the season finale for this year’s storybook run by a young Texas team, it would be preferable to ease into the postseason with an opponent on the lower end of the Big 12 standings. But just the opposite awaits the No. 9 Longhorns, as an Oklahoma State team wielding the most explosive offense in the confercarlos garcia| daily texan staff ence will test head coach Junior midfielder Katie Glenn sprints to meet a ball in the Angela Kelly and her Longhorns’ 3--2 win over Texas Tech. Glenn notched the most players ahead of the Big recent game-winner for Texas in overtime against Baylor.

12 Championship.

Texas has been focused outside in as Oklaho- Longhorns a tough out in the on postseason success ever ma and West Virginia sat conference tournament. since the year started, but ranked. But the Longhorns As prolific as Hintzen going through Big 12 com- beat both the Mountain- and freshman striker Hapetition to get there has eers and the Sooners in ley Berg have been on the posed a significant chal- regular-season play and offensive end, the Cowgirls lenge for both the team sit above both in the Big boast a similar dynamand Kelly.

12 standings heading into ic duo up top. Oklahoma “In this conference Friday night.

State freshman forward there’s so many talentTexas takes its under- Taylor Olsen and junior ed teams,” Kelly said fol- dog role seriously. Kelly forward Haley Woodard lowing the road win over demands her players fo- top the conference in goals Baylor. “On any given cus on the match at hand combined for two players night, it’s becoming more and not lose sight of their on the same team with 13, and more difficult to next opponent. leaving Berg and Hintzen steal points.”

“You’re only as good trailing a goal behind, tied Stealing points has as your last practice, and in second place with 12. been an upside from the you’re only as good as your That, along with Oklahomany tight contests Tex- last match,” Kelly said. ma State’s 11 goals-scored as has found themselves “Anytime you rest on lau- lead over any other team in in. Aside from holding rels, this game will come the Big 12, will prove a dethe third-highest con- back and bite you.” finitive assessment of the ference win total in the But while the Longhorns Longhorns’ stout defense Big 12, Texas also gained may be underdogs, there heading into future games. points on ties against TCU is certainly no shortage Kickoff against the curand Oklahoma. of talent on the roster. rent first-place Big 12 team The strides Texas has Sophomore Cyera Hint- in Oklahoma State will be taken in 2017 are evident zen leads the Big 12 in at 7 p.m. on Friday night at when analyzing the presea- points and goals scored, Mike A. Myers Stadium. son polls. The Longhorns and goalkeeper Nicole A Texas win would would did not earn a spot in the Curry leads the confer- secure a top-three seed priUnited Soccer Coaches ence in shutouts and is or to the start of postseason poll’s top 25 before the second in save percentage. play. The Big 12 Championseason, looking from the Both players will make the ships start on Nov. 1.

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gabriel lopez| daily texan staff

Junior offensive lineman Patrick Vahe blocks a Kansas State player in the red zone during Texas’ narrow double-overtime win on Oct. 7 at home, 40-34.

By Alex Briseno

“And we’re definitely not that team coaching-wise.”

But Texas must first face Baylor, an 0–7 team still looking for its first win.

Despite the Bears’ winless record, however, Herman and his team know Saturday isn’t a guaranteed win.

“Turn on the film,” Herman said. “If you want to look at the record — this is me speaking to the team — then you’re looking at the wrong thing. Turn on

fell just two points short against No. 22 West Virginia last week.

Now they have their The Longhorns aren’t eyes set on 3–4 Texas for heading into Waco with their first win, and HerBig 12 Championship asman knows his team can’t pirations — not anymore. take the Bears lightly.

At 3–4, 2–2 Big 12, “We’re not good Texas’ sights have shifted enough,” Herman said. from winning the confer“I told our team, ‘We’re ence to just getting back not good enough to not into the win column and play our A-game and making a bowl game. If beat anybody.” it wasn’t clear after TexTexas is set to take on as’ loss in the Red RivBaylor at 11 er Showdown, it a.m., marking seemed evident the Longhorns’ following Texas’ first matchup 13-10 overtime in Waco since loss to Oklahoma the burnt or“I feel like it’s gonna State — its secange’s 23-17 ond - c ons e c ut ive be the same way, reover the Bears conference loss — in 2015. That gardless of the record. pushing the team matchup saw down to sixth a bench-clearBaylor plays their place in the Big 12. ing altercation “We’ve got an heart out every single that broke out opportunity to between the week … we can’t turn send these seniors Longhorns out with a bowl our backs on Baylor, and Bears. game, something Junior offenbecause they will come they haven’t had in sive lineman the last two years,” Patrick Vahe out swinging.” head coach Tom said he didn’t Herman said foltravel with the lowing Saturday’s team for that —Patrick Vahe, loss. “We’re gongame because na do everything Offensive lineman of injury, but possible to go on he hasn’t forthe road against gotten what he Baylor this week saw unfold on and go be 1–0 his television in Waco.” two years ago.

The Longhorns now en- the film: This is a good And expects to see the ter the final five games of football team, and this is same intensity this the season. With games a football team as hungry go around. against No. 4 TCU and and as eager for a win as “I was watching on TV, No. 22 West Virginia on we are.” and it was pretty intense,” the docket, earning bowl Baylor fans watched Vahe said. “The sidelines eligibility won’t be an easy the Bears lose their first clearing and all that … it task for the burnt orange. two games to Liberty Uni- was intense. I feel like it’s “I’m tired of being that versity and UTSA — at gonna be the same way, team that hasn’t made a home. Although the Bears regardless of the record. bowl game or (that) wins have yet to win since Baylor plays their heart five games, because we then, things have looked out every single week … aren’t that team tal- more promising after the we can’t turn our backs on ent-wise,” junior lineback- team nearly beat then- Baylor, because they will er Breckyn Hager said. No. 3 Oklahoma and then come out swinging.”

Senior Sports Reporter

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