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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017
@thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Volume 118, Issue 72
UNIVERSITY
Sexual assault lawsuit settled, student unsuspended Fenves did not testify at hearing that took place largely behind closed doors. By Will Clark
in the spring. Fenves was in court Monday but did not testify. If he took the stand, Fenves could have been questioned on UT’s sexual assault policy. Doe’s attorney, Brian Roark, said it is unclear whether these types of sexual assault cases will continue to be reviewed by the president’s office, something the lawsuit pushed against. The lawsuit claimed Fenves is a political figure and could have a conflict of interest in deciding the outcomes of
Enterprise Reporter
The case of John Doe v Gregory Fenves concluded by settlement Monday, and Doe is “in the clear,” according to his attorney. John Doe is the pseudonym for a student suspended in April after Fenves determined Doe violated the University’s sexual misconduct policy. After Monday’s hearing, Doe is permanently unsuspended and will be able to enroll in classes
sexual misconduct cases. A Daily Texan investigation found it is unusual for a university president to be the final appellate officer for these cases. At UT, the policy granting that power has been in place since the 1970s. Last week, UT filed a court document stating the suspension was lifted temporarily and that the sexual misconduct case would be reviewed by an unnamed third party. They argued in the document that since the suspension was lifted, Doe’s
lawsuit against the University became moot. Roark, however, called this move a “sham” and an “attempt to avoid having Fenves answer questions under oath.” After Monday’s hearing, which took place largely behind closed doors, Roark said the third party review will no longer happen and there will be no further option to appeal the case. Outside the courtroom, Fenves did not have any additional comment.
joshua guerra| daily texan file
The case of John Doe v Gregory Fenves concluded on Monday with Federal judge Sam Sparks announcing a settlement had been made.
CAMPUS
SYSTEM
Students bring TEDx legacy to University By London Gibson Senior News Reporter
illustration by mel westfall| daily texan staff
UT bids for nuclear research By Maria Mendez Senior News Reporter The UT System will officially compete to run the historic Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory. The UT System Board of Regents voted 4-3 to submit a management proposal for the nuclear research laboratory at a Monday meeting. The lab in New Mexico was first established under the Manhattan Project to create an atomic bomb but is renowned for research in nuclear weapons, energy and environment management. Looking to expand in national security and nuclear research, the UT System has had interest in running the lab since 2005. But the University of California System, which has helped to run the lab for more than 70 years, won the contract in 2005. When the Department of Energy announced the end of the cur-
rent management contract, the Board of Regents encouraged Deputy Chancellor David Daniel and UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves to pursue the management contract during August board meetings. “The important work at LANL is aligned with our research goals and priorities across the University,” Fenves said in an August press release. In order to compete against the University of California and the Texas A&M Systems, the UT System began investing $4.5 million to research and craft a proposal to run the lab with a corporate partner, who has yet to be announced. The regents were originally expected to discuss and approve a management proposal at an earlier November meeting but delayed the vote until this Monday.
During the Monday vote, Regents Janiece Longoria, Steve Hicks and Kevin P. Eltife cited concerns about the financial and reputational risks of running the lab before voting no. UT-Austin officials and researchers had also voiced concerns, Longoria said. “I just really believe that this is outside our core mission,” Longoria said during the meeting. “The reputational risks in the case of a catastrophe will be borne by UT-Austin and the System.” Longoria, who voiced the most concerns, brought up the lab’s past failures to comply with the Department of Energy’s safety regulations. In 2013, the lab was shut down after reports surfaced that the lab failed to take safety precautions
LOS ALAMOS page 3
ENGINEERING
Drilling research wins showdown By Anna Lassmann News Reporter
By comparing drilling disasters to milkshakes, Mitchell Johnson won first place in the 2017 Texas Student Research Showdown. “Some fluids flow more easily than others — it takes more effort to suck a milkshake through a straw than it takes to
suck water through the same straw,” Johnson said in an email. “Drillmud in an oil or gas Drilling mud in an ing well is similar to a milkoil or gas well is sim- shake flowing through a straw in that temperature ilar to a milkshake and viscosity affect the amount of pressure reflowing through a quired to move the fluid.” straw . . . ” Johnson, a mechanical engineering senior, re—Mitchell Johnson, searched the properties mechanical engineering senior of an additive used in
Eight students are launching the first TEDxUTAustin speaker series and plan to spark a conversation on how students can follow through on UT’s motto: “What starts here changes the world.” The independent speaking event stems from the nonprofit TED, whose popular online TED Talks are devoted to spreading ideas and information worldwide. TEDxUTAustin will host a collection of these talks both live and recorded next spring. Next semester’s TEDx will not be the only one to take place in Austin. Luca Tomescu, one of the eight co-organizers of the event, said the group hopes to continue the legacy annually and even registered as a student organization with University Communications. “One of the things we wanted to do was … create an organization around the act of putting on this event every year so that it could be something that continues long after we leave,” said Tomescu, electrical engineering and math sophomore. “We want this to be something that can be left behind. And I know I want to be able to come back to UT in 20 years and go to this event and know that it’s still going strong.” The theme of the night will be Resonance, with speakers discussing ideas that have or will spark enough resonance with others to change the world. Samyukta Singh, biology
TEDX page 3
drilling mud to develop technology to better measure the behavior of different mud compositions. “The long-term goal of my work is to prevent blowouts and decrease well costs by giving drilling engineers a better understanding of how drilling mud behaves inside illustration by rachel tyler| daily texan staff
RESEARCH page 3
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Student Governmentcampaigns for diversity. PAGE 2
Columnist encourages students to support all athletic teams. PAGE 4
DJ and music bring trap yoga to Austin. PAGE 8
Wiliams, Warren III announce plans to leave Texas. PAGE 6
6463/UT Athletics; Process color
sophomore and co-organizer of the event, said it is also a play on the UT motto. “We want it to be open to multiple interpretations,” Singh said. “The main, overarching meaning of Resonance is that small, minuscule ideas can have large unquantifiable effects.” The speaker names will be released in waves toward the end of December, Tomescu said. Although final decisions have not been made, he said speakers will roughly be comprised of one-third students, one third-faculty and one-third other community members. When planning UT’s TEDx, Tomescu said the organizers looked at other universities that already have reputable TEDx branches, like the University of California at Berkeley. “We were very surprised to find out that UT doesn’t already have an event like this, just because it is a world class university,” Tomescu said. “We want to bring a world class platform with these amazing ideas to spread not only within the campus but the world beyond.” The TED event will take place in February at the Union Auditorium. The price of attending the event will be revealed at a later date. Tomescu said because of the school’s contract with TED, they will only be allowed to sell 100 tickets. However, the event will be recorded and published on the TED YouTube channel afterward. In 2016, UT hosted