SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900 @THEDAILYTEXAN | THEDAILYTEXAN.COM
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
VOLUME 118, ISSUE 135
N E WS
O PI N I O N
LI FE &A RTS
SPORTS
Panelists discuss gun violence and gun policy at on-campus event Saturday. PAGE 2
Rex Tillerson would not make an acceptable Chancellor for UT. PAGE 4
South of Everywhere combines fashion with a community meeting place. PAGE 3
Texas dominates Samford en route to third-consecutive series sweep. PAGE 6
UNIVERSITY
The tuition increase will fund faculty salaries, other initiatives. By Maria Mendez @ mellow_maria
W
ith slightly higher tuition bills for the next two years, students will help UT fund efforts for student success and faculty salaries. In March, the UT System Board of Regents allowed the University to raise tuition by 2 percent for the next two academic years. A survey by the Senate of College Councils last fall found almost half of UT students opposed raising tuition, which previously increased in 2011, 2016 and 2017. But University officials say the revenue from the latest increases will help the University serve students while addressing inflation and budget constraints. The increases are estimated to add $13.5 million to the
University’s budget for the 2019 fiscal year and $13.2 million for the 2020 fiscal year. Forty percent of this revenue will go toward the University’s various student success efforts, including a new University-wide career and development center in the Flawn Academic Center, said Joey Williams, communications director for the Office of the Provost. The career center is still under planning but will focus on ensuring all students are prepared for careers. Existing student success efforts include the Graduation Help Desk, First-Year Interest Groups and success programs, such as the Foundation Scholars for Liberal Arts students and the McCombs Success Scholars. Williams said the University is also seeking to improve financial aid to students. All these efforts, which will be expanded with revenue from the increases, are intended to “support students to graduate on-time, minimize debt and prepare them for life after
graduation,” Williams said in an email. The other 60 percent of the revenue from the tuition increases will help improve faculty salaries, which have lagged behind salaries at other universities since the global financial crisis of 2008. Due to the crisis, the University kept faculty salaries frozen for many years, Williams said. But other top research universities continued raising their faculty salaries. “Now, we find ourselves in a position where our faculty salaries are well below average compared to our national peers,” Williams said. The below-average salaries put the University at risk of losing faculty because of higher compensation at other universities, Williams said. “We’re trying to make investments in making sure we’re keeping our top faculty here … and top competitive salaries to hire new faculty,” Williams
TUITION page 5
infographic by mallika gandhi | the daily texan staff
UNIVERSITY
Pharmacy professor Richard Morrisett found dead Morrisett, whose criminal charges sparked campus controversy, dies at 57. By Anna Lassmann & Chase Karacostas @ annalassmann @ chasekaracostas
UT pharmacy professor Richard Morrisett was found dead in his South Austin home Thursday afternoon, the University confirmed in a statement Friday morning. The cause and manner of Morrisett’s death has yet to be released from the Medical Examiner’s office. “Professor Morrisett’s death is a tragedy,” UT President Gregory Fenves said in the statement. “We support his family and loved ones as they grieve during this time. We recognize these are difficult times on campus and the University will offer all the support we can to students, faculty and staff members.” The Travis County Sheriff’s office said they went to Morrisett’s house Thursday for a welfare check, which was called in by the University after Morrisett missed an appointment, University spokesperson J.B. Bird said. Morrisett’s neighbor, Shelby Walden, said she lives diagonally across the street from him and had not seen him recently. Walden said she has known Morrisett for years and he typically did yard work on the weekends.
MORRISETT page 2
NATION
CAMPUS
Gay dating app Grindr will remind users to get tested regularly for HIV By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas
The gay dating app Grindr, which claims to have more than 3 million daily users, now offers a feature for users to receive reminders to get HIV tested every 3–6 months. The reminders debuted late last month and are accompanied by recommendations for the nearest test clinic for users who opt-in to receive the reminders. Grindr already allows users to display their HIV status and “Last Tested Date” as part of their profile, and Jack Harrison-Quintana, Grindr’s vice president of social impact, said this was a
logical next step. “The gay, bi and trans people are especially impacted by HIV, and in places like rural America or the American South where there isn’t a lot of funding for HIV education, Grindr is a great way to reach people who might not otherwise know about testing sites near them or where to find resources for sexual health education,” Harrison-Quintana said in an email. Thomas Mayer, a supply chain management sophomore, said he has been using Grindr for a few years. Mayer said he thinks the reminders are a good idea because of how the app inherently encourages casual sex and plans
to use them. “If you’re dating around or sleeping around, you’re definitely getting the safety and health recommendations at the source,” Mayer said. Overall, the rate of new annual HIV infections in the U.S. is declining, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. However, among gay and bisexual men, the number of annual new infections remained stable at about 26,000 per year from 2010–2014. Gay and bisexual men also accounted for 70 percent of new HIV infections in 2014. HIV lacks a cure but is now a highly treatable disease. Individuals who test positive
and begin antiretroviral treatments, which can suppress the virus to an almost undetectable state, can often live healthy lives, said sociology professor Shannon Cavanagh, who teaches a class on HIV and AIDS each fall. The use of antiretrovirals, along with PrEP, a drug that protects against the virus, means those living with HIV can still safely have sex without worry of spreading it. Nevertheless, Steven Tamayo, a representative for The Q Austin, an LGBTQ community clinic providing HIV testing, said testing still faces stigma due to a lack of
GRINDR page 5
channing miller | the daily texan staff
Students shave their heads for cancer research By Nicole Stuessy @ nicole_stuessy
Actuarial science senior Madason Donaho ran her fingers over her completely bald head in front of the UT Tower on Saturday morning. Just an hour before, it was covered by waist-length hair. Donaho and 84 others participated in Students Making Impacts Through Love and Empathy’s eighth annual “Brave the Shave” on Saturday morning, an event where participants shave their heads to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer. As of Friday night, SMILE raised over $36,500 for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest childhood cancer research organization in America. “I was probably the most nervous I have ever been in my life,” Donaho said. “I was just terrified because this is unmarked territory for a lot of us women, we haven’t ever had a bald head since we were out of the womb.” Donaho said she decided to shave a week earlier but had been debating it for around six months. “Honestly I just couldn’t get the idea of it out of my head and I knew that if I didn’t do it, I would be disappointed in myself,” Donaho said. “Both of my grandparents died of pancreatic cancer.” Event committee chair Sydney Moore said they recruit people to be shaved but also receive some volunteers. “We have a lot of people that reach out to us and then we also
BRAVE THE SHAVE page 2