Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2017
@thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Volume 118, Issue 74
CAMPUS
STATE
UT Wellness Network hosts first drug disposal event Defaulting By Nicole Stuessy News Reporter
Pizza, drinks and t-shirts were available on Wednesday on the lawn by Littlefield Fountain for a small price — old prescription drugs. This was all for the first UT Prescription Drug Take Back Day, hosted by the UT Wellness Network.
“What we really wanted to do was expand our prevention approaches,” said Lucas Hill, a clinical assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy. “It’s about finals time and we understand students are under a lot of pressure which may lead people to be more likely to use drugs, and we wanted to give people an opportunity to dispose of those drugs if
they wanted.” Matthew Olson, a coordinator for Alcohol and other Drugs Counseling Program at the Counseling Mental Health Center, said even if students don’t have bad intentions, they may not be aware of how dangerous certain drugs can be when combined with alcohol. “With finals being a time of increased stress and increased
demand on people in terms of their time and energy, that it would only be natural for people to try and experiment with drugs,” Olson said. “But again, they can have really harmful side effects that they are not aware of, and so that’s why we’re here to promote this event.”
WELLNESS page 3
on student loans could result in loss of licenses By Chase Karacostas Senior News Reporter
EDUCATION
If a student loan borrower defaults on their debt, they could lose or be blocked from renewing any professional licenses or certifications they hold. In Texas, there are 33 state agencies that will not allow borrowers who default on their loans to renew their professional license, and the State Bar, which licenses attorneys, will suspend their license for doing so. Nurse practitioners, cosmetologists, engineers and teachers are just some of the dozens of licensees who could suffer the consequences of defaulting. For some, these penalties represent motivation to meet loan payments, but UT law professor Mechele Dickerson said they have unintended consequences for individuals who cannot afford the payments. Losing a professional license could mean the loss of a borrower’s main source of income. Without income, the borrower is robbed of the ability to make their loan payments, pushing them further into debt, Dickerson said. “It puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on the person that needs to work,” said Dickerson, who specializes in student loan debt. “You are telling people that … if you are working in a field that is licensed by the state you cannot legally work without the license
Women enroll at higher rate than men By Maria Mendez Senior News Reporter
9000
11,498
10,372
12,000
Male Female
Hispanic
Asian
4,087
Male students
1,448
925 White
24,742
3,062
4,744
4,655
5,920
Female students
3000
0
52% 48% 26,783
6000
4,614
Students Enrolled
Raymund Paredes, the leader of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which provides leadership and coordination for Texas universities, recently said male students are becoming uncomfortable with the growing number of females at Texas universities. During the University of Houston System meeting in November, Paredes said this is trend is creating difficulties for male students, especially minorities. Using data from the Texas Higher Education Board, Paredes highlighted the fact that male students in Texas only earned 62,211 degrees or certificates from four-year universities, compared to the 82,700 degrees earned by Texas female students in 2016. “This is a situation that is unsustainable,” Paredes said. “We’re getting to
Overall Enrollment at UT by Gender
Enrollment at UT by Gender and Ethnicity
Increases in female enrollment numbers may raise concerns for minority males
Black
Other
Source: The University of Texas at Austin Institutional Reporting, Research and Information Systems Statistical Handbook
Ethnicity
infographic by mingyo lee| daily texan staff
the point where males feel uncomfortable on some college campuses.” Females first began outnumbering males across American universities in the 1970s, according to Forbes. But The Texas Higher Education Board has reported increasing
underrepresentation of males at Texas universities since 2014. Rachelle Hernandez, UT’s senior vice provost for enrollment management, said UT has kept an eye on these statewide and nationwide trends, but the University has not seen the same decreases.
“If you were to pull up data for other institutions, you would see institutions that have greater gaps and significant enrollment changes in the last years,” Hernandez said. “The gap here isn’t the same.”
ENROLL page 2
LICENSES page 3 SOCIAL MEDIA
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram carpet account goes UT Center for Identity explores viral thanks to daughter’s tweet biometrics with industry leader By Meara Isenberg
By Thanvi Thodati
News Reporter
With a carpet-loving dad, a knack for social media and a sprinkle of luck, acting sophomore Jill Young had all the ingredients for internet fame. Christmas came early for Jill, who tweeted that all she wanted for the holidays was for her dad’s passion project — a quirky, hotel carpet-filled Instagram account — to go viral. Bill Young’s account had about 100 followers at the time the tweet was posted and now has over 280,000. “It was so fun (to watch),” Jill said. “I think I had about five phone conversations with him yesterday just laughing, excited and kind of just in disbelief about the whole thing.” Bill, a corporate pilot and photographer, started the “@myhotelcarpet” Instagram account in 2015 as an unconventional way to document his travels.
S&T Reporter
copyright jill young, and reproduced with permission
“I started noticing in all the hotels I stayed in, how obnoxious the carpet was — crazy shapes, squiggles, that kind of thing,” Bill said. “I made the … account, and after two years of careful cultivation, it
6463/UT Athletics; Process color
was up to me and about 83 followers.” After seeing how excited her father got by gaining a few followers, Jill said she had the idea to post the
CARPET page 2
The era of memorizing passwords, carrying plastic driver’s licenses and shuffling passports may soon come to a close, thanks to a new collaboration at UT-Austin. The UT Center for Identity, an institution that explores identity management, privacy and security issues, partnered with Gemalto, an industry leader in digital security, to develop more reliable and convenient methods for verifying and managing identity. “Gemalto is excited about this partnership with the University of Texas,” said Paul Beverly, Gemalto’s head of government business. “We hope our collaboration will make Austin a nerve center for research and development of the new secure identity management techniques and tools.” According to a press release published by Gemalto, biometric technologies will constitute a significant
illustration by lexi acevado| daily texan staff
portion of the partnership’s research goals. Biometrics use physical characteristics, such as fingerprints or retinal scans, to identify and authenticate individuals. According to Beverly, biometrics can also use behavioral markers — how someone holds their phone, for example — to identify an individual.
“The technology is very promising,” said Ryan Anderson, the Center for Identity’s director of outreach and strategic partners. “It’s already being applied in many industries and sectors.” Unlike passwords, biometric systems are harder
BIOMETRICS page 2