SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900 @THEDAILYTEXAN | THEDAILYTEXAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018
VOLUME 118, ISSUE 102
NEWS
O PI NI ON
S P ORTS
LIFE&ARTS
Longhorns share love stories from campus. PAGE 3
Students should be more considerate to their teaching assistants. PAGE 4
Texas associate coach Tina Thompson receives Hall of Fame induction. PAGE 7
Enter Rosie’s Red Room and discover how to get laid on Valentine’s Day. PAGE 8
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
Black civil rights leader advocates for political engagement By Estefania Rodriguez @estefania_rdz13
With the upcoming 2018 primary elections, Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, said getting involved in the electoral process is a powerful and often overlooked way to make change. During a lecture at the Bass Lecture Hall on Tuesday night, Seale focused his discussion on his life before the creation of the Black Panther Party in 1966, the Party’s use of guns and its origins. “I tell these young brothers, ‘You guys are going to get no black power until you get political power seats,’” Seale said, when differentiating the Black Panthers from the Black Power movement. The event was hosted by the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, which was celebrating the acquisition of an archive from photojournalist Stephen Shames, including more than 400,000 photographic images of the Black Panther Party. “One of the things that’s unique about this collection is that I was allowed access to the Panthers, showing people as people,” Shames said. “You get to see not only the public face, but the private moments.”
LEADER page 2
ashley ephraim | the daily texan staff Psychology senior Jasmine Bell protests in the ‘Rally to Run Off Morrisett’ outside the Pharmacy building on Tuesday afternoon.
STUDENTS ‘RALLY TO RUN OFF’ PROFESSOR Students assembled to protest the University’s retention of Morrisett. By Anna Lassmann @annalassmann
T
wo dozen students gathered near the College of Pharmacy buildings and marched to the Tower on Tuesday afternoon to protest against pharmacy professor Richard Morrisett,
two weeks after a report found that UT had allowed him to remain on staff after pleading guilty to domestic abuse charges. The protest was hosted by the Revolutionary Student Front and was declared a “Rally to Run Off Morrisett,” according to the Facebook event and fliers posted on campus. The protest comes one week after the College of Pharmacy was found tagged with red spray-painted messages, such as “UT harbors abusers” and “Watch your back Richard,” and two weeks
after the Austin American-Statesman released a report about his domestic abuse charges. Jasmine Bell, a protester, said at the very least, Morrisett should be fired because it seems as though UT is supporting abusers. “It seems like everywhere I go, abusers are being supported and there are no consequences for them,” said Bell, a psychology senior. “UT has shown that it doesn’t care about people. It doesn’t care about the people who experience abuse. UT doesn’t care about me. UT
doesn’t care about my friends who have experienced abuse. I don’t feel safe here anymore and neither do most of my friends.” Chants during the protest included “If violence brings UT profit, they won’t even care to stop it,” and “Morrisett, it’s time to leave, no abusers at UT.” Austin Smith, a protester, said it is hard to build trust with the University if they do not discipline actions such as Morrisett’s.
MORRISETT page 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Voting system bill fails; faculty accountability bills pass By Katie Balevic @katelynbalevic
After tense debate, Student Government failed to pass a bill that would have changed the way votes are counted in campus-wide elections from checked boxes to a ranking system. The meeting saw extensive debate, a recess and a revote over the single transferable vote method, which would have eliminated runoffs in elections. “While it is good to eliminate runoffs and it can be frustrating for the student body, it gives students a chance to really educate themselves on both executive alliances that are running,” said speaker Madison Huerta. A recall vote, which normally impacts executive alliances the most, can give candidates the chance to reach more students, said Huerta, a business management senior. “A lot of times people will switch their vote, or the candidates will focus down and educate students on their true platforms,” said Huerta. “But a lot of people are really frustrated with Student Government for prolonging the campaign process.” The bill would have produced a more accurate portrayal of students’ voices, said Benjamin Solder, an author of Committee Substitute Bill 2. “It admittedly makes the ballot slightly more complicated just because it’s not checking boxes now — you have to add ordinal numbers,” said Solder, a neuroscience junior. “But I think the benefits
hannah yoes | the daily texan staff Raphael Jaquette, College of Liberal Arts representative and middle eastern studies sophomore, debates the fairness of the new voting bill. of the system greatly outweigh that cost, and I think UT students are obviously bright enough to figure out how to rank a list of people.” Solder said significantly less voters participate in runoffs, and so reallocating votes from candidates who didn’t make the minimum cutoff would yield a more representative SG assembly. “1400 fewer students participated in the runoff last year than in the initial election,” Solder said. “I think the cost of runoffs obviously outweighs
that potential benefit.” Social work representative Natalie Engel was concerned that a ranking system would give large coalitions of students, such as Greek life, an unfair advantage. “I’m a member of Greek life, and I know that a lot of Greek life voters tend to vote for Greek life members,” said Engel, a social work and communication studies senior. “I’m concerned that you’re going to end up disproportionately helping a group who might
BILL page 3
By Katie Balevic @katelynbalevic
It can be frustrating for the student body, (but) it gives students a chance to really educate themselves on both executive alliances that are running.” Madison Huerta, speaker
Student Government passed two key pieces of legislation addressing the University’s domestic abuse and sexual assault policies and actions against pharmacy professor Richard Morrisett, who remains on staff after pleading guilty to charges of domestic abuse. The authors of Assembly Resolution 23 and Joint Resolution 5 relied on a poll of pharmacy students to gauge their reactions to the proposed legislation. A.R. 23
is in support of firing Morrisett, while J.R. 5 calls for more stringent policies against professors convicted of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Both resolutions passed unanimously. “We wanted the legislation to be written, as we hoped that it would be passed,” said Natalie Engel, an author of both resolutions. “We wanted to get (pharmacy students’) perspective on the language that we used and the consequences that we asked for.” Pharmacy students were polled via Canvas about their reactions and suggestions to the resolutions. They overwhelmingly supported the points outlined in J.R. 5 and voted 88 percent in favor of the resolution, said Lubna Mazin, pharmacy representative and graduate student. Morrisett also failed to alert the University of his convictions within a timely manner, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The policies for J.R. 5 were written with the knowledge that the University may retroactively review Morrisett’s case, said Connor Vanden Hoek, transfer student representative. “If they retroactively review (Morrisett), these policies would technically warrant firing,” government sophomore Vanden Hoek said. Sixty-six percent were in favor of passing A.R. 23 as written as of noon on Tuesday, said Engel, a social work and communication studies senior. “We wrote the legislation in a way that allowed us to express the sentiments of the College of Pharmacy while also respecting the boundaries of Student Government and what we have the power to do as representatives,” Engel said.