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SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900 @THEDAILYTEXAN | THEDAILYTEXAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2018
VOLUME 118, ISSUE 127
N E WS
O PI N I O N
LI FE &A RTS
SPORTS
The UT Tower’s maintenance staff works all year to keep its 356 lights shining. PAGE 2
Students need to stop taking social media news at face value. PAGE 4
The Urban Music Festival celebrates Afrocentric culture and music. PAGE 3
Longhorns hope to impress NFL scouts at Wednesday’s pro day. PAGE 6
CAMPUS
Professors create more LGBTQ-inclusive campus Gender and Sexuality Center lists faculty who form LGBTQ allyship. By Stephanie Adeline @stephadeline
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s a professor who identifies as queer, Beth Bukoski makes sure to intervene when she feels heterosexist discourse is present in her classrooms. However, she is just one of more than 50 professors and lecturers who have pledged to do the same. “I’m far from perfect in any way,” Bukoski, a clinical assistant professor of educational leadership and policy, said. “But to know that I am becoming someone that queer students can turn to … I think is really great.” For just over three years, the Gender and Sexuality Center has been training faculty, staff, students and administrators on advocating for LGBTQ justice. Each participant signs an allyship pledge after the program and has their name included in a list on the Allies in Action website. With registration coming up,
CAMPUS
UTPD K-9s to sniff out potential danger By Anna Lassmann @annalassmann
After the string of Austin bombings which began March 2, the UT Police Department has permanently increased the presence of K-9s in its explosives unit and will perform random sweeps of campus areas into the future, UTPD Chief David Carter said. “It’s important to recognize that (a sweep) doesn’t mean there was a call or a bomb threat or a suspicious package at that location, but (that the explosives unit is) being proactive,” Carter said. Following the fourth explosion in Austin this month, UTPD implemented a bomb task force as a proactive measure last week, Carter said. The task force consists of a detective, specially trained officers and three of UTPD’s K-9s. “(The task force’s) responsibility was to go out and not only respond to calls of suspicious packages, but (to) be proactive and go out and do checks of various locations,” Carter said. The investigative portion of the task force is winding down as it is no longer needed, Carter said. However, the K-9s will remain and conduct regular random sweeps on campus. Before the Austin bombings, UTPD would only send the bomb-detecting K-9s to campus events or as a response
K-9 page 2
this list can be useful for students in determining which professors have participated in ally training and have pledged to support LGBTQ students, said GSC director Liz Elsen. “(Students are) way more likely to go into (a professor’s) office if they have the ally card on their office,” Elsen said. “If you go to someone’s office and they, whether it’s intentional or not, … misgender the student, or they make assumptions about the students’ identity, that can be really harmful.” In February, GSC posted a board in the Student Activity Center where students could write names of professors who are feminist and LGBTQ-friendly. The list eventually included 27 professors, including Bukoski. While it is not an official list, Elsen said it is important to have informal conversations like these where students can share experiences and recommend professors who are supportive of LGBTQ students. Sociology freshman Bobby Scherer, who is gay, said he has recommended a few of his professors to his friends because of how inclusive they were. Scherer said it is helpful to know which
professors are supportive of LGBTQ students when registering for classes. “It’s always better, and you feel more secure when you’re prepared going into a class, and you know that this professor is good,” Scherer said. “It’s so much better than saying. ‘Well, hope he’s not homophobic. What can I do?’” Scherer said professors can show their support for queer students through small gestures, such as allowing students to dress according to their preferred gender. “It’s just important to practice nonjudgment in any sense,” Scherer said. “Don’t worry about what a student’s wearing, (such as) if they’re a male and they’re wearing a more feminine clothing, or vice versa. If a student tells you what their preferred pronouns are, make a note of it and make sure to actually use them.” Bukoski said she finds it important to let her students and colleagues know she identifies
rachel tyler | the daily texan staff as queer. One of the ways she does this is by having her ally tag on her office door. “It’s one thing for students to get to know you and to then eventually find out that you identify as queer … but it’s
another thing for you to sort of have that badge on your door,” Bukoski said. “It says, ‘This is a space where we recognize all of those various identities and we honor them. We treat them with dignity.’”
CITY
SYSTEM
SafeHorns backs Manley for chief
System, Census Bureau release graduate data
By Allyson Waller @allyson_renee7
In the aftermath of the Austin bombings, SafeHorns, an organization which advocates for student safety, is pushing for Austin Police Department Interim Chief Brian Manley to be appointed as the permanent chief of APD. “I feel like he’s proven himself, and it would be a waste of taxpayer money going outside and searching for another candidate,” said Joell McNew, vice president of SafeHorns. “I don’t think there’s a better candidate.” On March 22, McNew spoke before Austin City Council and City Manager Spencer Cronk, explaining why she believes Manley has demonstrated he is a capable candidate for permanent police chief. Others, too, such as Austin councilwoman Delia Garza and Houston Police Department Chief and former APD Chief Art Acevedo, called for Manley’s permanent appointment. As city manager, Cronk has the final say in whether Manley is appointed as permanent chief, something he said the community can expect to hear soon. “I’m well aware of the Council and community conversations about making a decision regarding our next Chief of Police,” Cronk said in statement. “The trust and relationships (the police) have with the community and our partner agencies is unquestionable. Our focus right now is on the important investigatory work that is continuing. I would expect that you will
By Maria Mendez @ mellowmaria
gabby lanza | the daily texan file SafeHorns wants Austin Police Department Interim Chief Brian Manley to be named the permanent chief of APD after his guidance during the Austin bombings. hear from me more on the status of my selection process in the coming weeks.” McNew said she’s pushing for Manley’s appointment because of his work with SafeHorns and the UT community regarding student safety. “I was fortunate to meet Chief Acevedo, (and) at the time, Chief Manley was assistant chief,” McNew said. “Every time I would see Chief Acevedo, I would see Chief Manley also, and he was always very engaged and concerned every time he spoke about safety issues, whether it be on campus or around campus.” Despite Manley’s record, not everyone is on board with an immediate decision being made. Chris Harris, data analyst and campaigns coordinator for Grassroots Leadership, a civil and human rights organization, said a formal process should take place before Cronk makes a final decision. “It may be harmful to the city to make rash decisions immediately after such a traumatic event for our
city,” Harris said. Harris said citizens should have the chance to look at other possible candidates for police chief and hear their agenda before a decision is made. “Aside from city manager, there may not be (a) more important position that’s hired within the city,” Harris said. “For us not to go through a similar process … and have the candidates for that position tell us what they’re going to do, and then for us to be able to hold them to that — that means we all, as a community, lose out on a valuable opportunity to help shape what the police force will be.” McNew said she understands the need for a recruiting process, but said Manley’s dedication to UT and his years of service with APD show he is well qualified to be APD’s new permanent chief. “Yes, I’m sure there are other candidates that would be good and qualified across the country,” McNew said. “But for Chief Manley, he has proven himself over the last 28 years.”
UT students now have a better glimpse at their economic future, thanks to an innovative UT System partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. On Monday, the UT System released nationwide data on the earnings and debt of its graduates. The data is the result of the first collaboration between the Census Bureau and a university system. Stephanie Huie, vice chancellor for the UT System’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, said the national data will help students better understand the value and cost of a UT degree. “The national data gives students and families a more accurate expectation of the return on investment in a UT degree,” Huie said. “This is the first time national salary data (has been) made available to students by program.” Previously, the UT System’s online tool, seekUT, only displayed the average earnings and median loan debt for UT System graduates in Texas. With new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, seekUT now shows the average earnings and debt of UT System graduates working and living across the entire U.S. The interactive tool allows students to explore data for the different undergraduate, graduate and professional programs offered at the UT System’s 14 institutions. The data confirms economic differences by majors. A history graduate at UT-Austin earned a median of $38,609 in the first year post graduation, while a mechanical engineering graduate earned a median of $75,529. But Huie said the
median first-year earnings of two-thirds of non-STEM graduates across UT institutions are still higher than the national individual median income of $35,380. “It’s okay to pursue a passion,” Huie said. “I think the data shows our liberal arts majors are doing well, more so than students might think.” David Troutman, UT System associate vice chancellor for institutional research and decision support, said students and their families can use this information to determine which major and System university is best for them. “Since we’re able to tie salaries to data on loan debt, a first-generation student, for example, can use the tool to better plan how much debt they will be able to afford in the future,” Troutman said. Students can view earnings and debt of graduates as soon as one year after graduating and as far as 10 years after receiving a UT degree, which System officials said can also help graduating students prepare for salary negotiations. The UT System shared the data, which is officially called Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes, with other higher education institutions Tuesday. System and Census Bureau officials hope their collaboration will encourage other universities to make similar data public. “Data is being used in innovative ways to better inform the public about educational outcomes in the labor market,” said Andrew Foote, a U.S. Census Bureau economist, in a press release. “Right now, we’re working toward integrating additional higher education systems in the Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes data.”