Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017
@thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Volume 118, Issue 56
UNIVERSITY
IN THE NEWS
UT starts college readiness program for young students
Chemistry lecturer featured on TV for fun science demos the classic jack-o’-lantern face. The demonstrations are part of Biberdorf ’s Fun with Chemistry outreach program, started in 2014, where she travels to different schools and events to try to inspire a love for science. “We go out to Austin schools, and we try to show kids that science is fun and entertaining and you don’t have to be a dork or a nerd to like
CHEMISTRY page 2
alexander thompson| daily texan staff
Chemistry lecturer Kate Biberdorf’s latest science demonstration includes her ‘Rick and Morty’ themed pumpkin that discharges green dish soap slime.
CAMPUS
Student tuition survey closes soon UT Senate of College Councils seeks student feedback on tuition rates SOURCES OF REVENUE
TUITION AND STATE FUNDING BETWEEN 2002 AND 2015
1984-1985 UT-Austin budget: $503 million $10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
READINESS page 2
SOURCE: UT System Report
2015-2016 UT-Austin budget: $2.81 billion
$2,000
CAMPUS
$0 20
02
Trash to Treasure thrift sale redirects items from landfills
KEY
With possible tuition increases on the horizon, a Senate of College Councils survey is collecting student opinions on tuition until Wednesday night. With a $20 million budget reduction in June, University administration is assessing whether to recommend more tuition hikes for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years. The data from the Senate’s College Tuition Budget Advisory Committee survey will be used to inform college deans about student concerns. Senate president Austin Reynolds said the survey gives students the opportunity to propose other ways to balance growing budget constraints and student needs. As of last Friday, Reynolds said about 2,000 students had filled the survey. “(Tuition is) not the only way to go about bringing revenue into the college,” English senior Reynolds said. “I feel that’s where the students’ voice is important, because we can talk about what resources we value and if students feel comfortable with a tuition increase.” UT’s tuition rose from $6,054 to $9,257 between 2002 and 2015, according to a UT System report. Most recently, tuition increased by about $150 in 2017 and 2016. BY MARIA MENDEZ Senior News Reporter
By Sami Sparber News Reporter
The Student Activity Center lawn bustled with life as makeshift thrifters eagerly sifted through gently used objects sold for $1 apiece at the Campus Environmental Center’s Trash to Treasure Halloween Sale on Tuesday. The high turnout excited Jazzmyne Herrington, an environmental science senior and Trash to Treasure project leader. Herrington said the sale is one of the CEC’s largest and most anticipated events at the end of each semester, with the primary goal being to recycle and resell items that would otherwise end up in landfills. Last year, CEC diverted approximately 17,000 pounds from landfills, Herrington said.
Tuition and Fees
Executive vice president Maurie McInnis said tuition increases have become necessary to cover the costs of inflation as the state continues to cut funding for universities. State funding for UT-Austin decreased from 58 percent to 42 percent between 2002 and 2015, according to the UT System report. “States pay a smaller and smaller portion of what is necessary to educate students,” McInnis said. “So increasingly more and more costs are being shifted to students through increases in tuition.” Reynolds also forms part of the University’s student and staff Tuition Policy Advisory Committee, which has until December to make recommendations to UT President Gregory Fenves concerning tuition. “I do think generally students are concerned about tuition every year,” Reynolds said. “I think a very small percentage of students actually know how tuition is handled at the University.” Fenves will use TPAC’s recommendations to present a final tuition proposal to the UT System Board of Regents in February. The Board of Regents will then decide the future tuition. McInnis said the TPAC has not yet decided if a tuition increase will be recommended for the following academic
State Funding
years, but TPAC will take student input into consideration. Nursing sophomore Julia Vasquez said she didn’t know of the survey until a Monday tabling event by Senate. She said she doesn’t know much about the tuition-setting process but is not surprised tuition might be raised again. “Every year I’ve just heard that there’s the possibility of tuition increasing,” Vasquez said. “I didn’t think it would be likely for there to be a decrease anytime soon.” Vasquez said she would not appreciate further tuition increases as a student paying her way through college. “I didn’t receive any financial aid, so it’s already enough stress in addition to school and passing classes,” Vasquez said. Public health senior Holly Bowles said she hasn’t been personally impacted by past tuition increases but knows the rising costs have impacted some of her friends. “Lowered tuition would be great, but at the same time there are necessary functions and things that make UT great that are kind of necessary,” Bowles said. “Maybe raising tuition wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they’re also making a greater effort to provide more scholarships for students.” infographic by rena li| daily texan staff
TREASURE page 2
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Students gather on Halloween night to celebrate Harry Potter. PAGE 3
UT must provide better supplemental housing for students. PAGE 4
Street artist Buddha spreads positivity with stickers. PAGE 8
Buechele makes the most of his start at Baylor. PAGE 6
LABELHEAD COLOR
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In an effort to address a lack of college and career readiness, UT is rolling out its college and career preparatory program, Texas OnCourse, starting with the Texas OnCourse Academy which launched on Sept. 21. Texas OnCourse is a yearold initiative commissioned by the Texas Legislature. It pools together resources about careers and education into one website consisting of 28 modules that counselors and advisers can use to provide students college and career guidance, said Katie Stone, communications coordinator for Texas OnCourse. “The average high school counselor or adviser has an unmanageably large caseload — over 450 students,” Stone said. “This means they need a resource that is comprehensive, intuitive and free so they can access high-quality information about preparing all their students early for college and career options.” The project originated through Gov. Greg Abbott’s creation of the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative in 2016. Leaders from three agencies
From breathing fire to setting a balloon alight, chemistry lecturer Kate Biberdorf ’s explosive demonstrations — and herself — have recently been featured by news media and other programs. CNN, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls program, along with local TV stations, have all featured Biberdorf for her
demonstrations aimed at making science fun and for breaking stereotypes of women in the STEM field. “I want to show everyone that anybody can be a scientist,” Biberdorf said. “I loved Bill Nye since I was a kid, and I would love to be the next scientist for the new generation. Science is amazing.” Most of the demonstrations involve explosions or fire. Her “self-carving pumpkins” use a chemical explosion to punch out
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News Reporter
News Reporter
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By Anna Lassman
By Brooke Vincent