SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900 @THEDAILYTEXAN | THEDAILYTEXAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
VOLUME 118, ISSUE 137
N E WS
O PI N I O N
LI FE &A RTS
SPORTS
Trump sends National Guard to U.S.-Mexico border. Texas is the first state to comply. PAGE 3
Students could benefit from putting boundaries on their news consumption. PAGE 4
Texas Revue showcases students’ talents in annual show. PAGE 8
Herman, Del Conte launch 2018 ‘This Is Texas’ tour. PAGE 6
UNIVERSITY
GLOBAL BARRIER Liberal Arts Council plans new initiative to support international students.
By Stephanie Adeline @stephadeline
A
ll UT undergraduates are required to take U.S. and Texas government classes. But for international students, this requirement can be a challenge. “I could be studying for, like, the weekly quiz for five days, and I would still get a bad grade,” said Diana Ayoub, an international student from Egypt. “(Other students) will be studying for, like, 30 minutes before, and they would be getting a perfect score.” Like Ayoub, many international students feel disadvantaged when taking their core government classes, which expect students to have a basic knowledge of U.S. government. To address this issue, the Liberal Arts Council is currently working with Liberal Arts Information Technology Services to create supplemental materials for international students in the form of videos, written notes or podcasts. “The pace of the class and the content of the class were not designed for students like them,” said
Michaela Lavelle, LAC academic affairs co-chair. “It presupposed a knowledge of U.S. government that, to be fair, most students have because they have been schooled domestically.” LAC plans for the supplemental materials to be available in the upcoming fall semester through the International Students and Scholar Services website. Ayoub, a finance and economics senior, said she took a government class during her first semester at UT, and it turned out to be the hardest class she took that year. “Professors (need to be) aware of the fact that they do have international students in their classrooms,” Ayoub said. “The readings that the American students might not be doing, probably international students are doing it for, like, a whole week.” In addition to the difficulty level of the class, Ayoub said she felt disadvantaged in the class because the materials were irrelevant to her. Although having a basic knowledge of the U.S. government is important, Ayoub said she wishes her government class included more
GOVERNMENT page 2
mel westfall | the daily texan staff
NATION
NATION
National Distracted Driving Month brings strong reminder to drive safe
U.S. Surgeon General advises carrying opioid reversal drug as precaution
By Raga Justin @ ragajus
With one hand placed on the steering wheel and her Hyundai slowed to almost a crawl, Abigail Horne figured she would be OK shooting off a quick text to a friend as she approached a nearly deserted four-way stop in her hometown last year. But as Horne, a Plan II and studio art freshman, made a left, still shifting glances from the road down to her phone, a car came straight and T-boned her from the driver’s side. Briefly knocked unconscious,
she careened through six lanes of traffic. When her vision returned, she found herself hovering over a roadside ditch, driver’s door mangled and airbags inflated. Her phone was in the passenger’s seat, her text typed out and waiting to be sent. Horne, among many others, is using this April to caution others against distracted driving in honor of National Distracted Driving Month. “I thought I could do two things at once, and the truth is, I can’t,” Horne said. “No one can. There are so many consequences for anyone who texts and drives. … I kept imagining,
‘What if I’d killed someone?’” Brad Wheelis, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer, said distracted driving crashes and fatalities have the highest rates among drivers aged 16 to 24. To combat those numbers, the department launched its “Heads Up, Texas” campaign at UT last week, using virtual reality outside of Gregory Gymnasium to simulate the danger of distractions on the road. Distracted driving is anything that diverts attention away from traveling, such as eating, fiddling with the radio
DRIVING page 2
Distracted Driving: Why You Shouldn't Do It
By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas
The U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams released a public health advisory last week urging more Americans to carry the life-saving drug naloxone if they or others they know are at risk of an opioid overdose. Naloxone, also commonly known by the brand name Narcan, reverses the side effect of an opioid overdose known as respiratory depression which affects breathing and can quickly lead to death, according to the World Health Organization. The drug comes in both nasal spray and
syringe-injection forms. In a statement accompanying the advisory, Adams said 115 Americans die every day from overdosing on opioids, and more than half of those deaths occur at home, which can make quick treatment much harder. “To manage opioid addiction and prevent future overdoses, increased naloxone availability must occur in conjunction with expanded access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder,” Adams said. According to the advisory, individuals at the most risk of overdosing are those who misuse prescription opioids or illicit opioids such as heroin or
fentanyl, those who have an opioid addiction, those who have been recently discharged from medical care for an overdose and those recently released from incarceration with a history of opioid misuse or addiction. Naloxone can be prescribed by both doctors and pharmacists and is often handed out for free by community organizations. The cost of each dose can range from a few dollars for a vial and syringe of the drug to about $40 for the nasal spray when purchased in bulk. Students for Sensible Drug Policy is one of several groups that hands out free doses of naloxone to UT
OPIOID page 2
Opioid crisis continues The Surgeon General has issued a national advisory urging more Americans to carry naloxone, the life-saving opioid overdose antidote.
One in 5 crashes in Texas involve driver distraction
Nine in 10
drivers in Texas say they use their smartphone when driving During 2017, there were
100,687 crashes and 444 deaths in Texas
die every day 115 Americans from opioid overdoses That’s a death every 12.5 minutes
77%
of overdoses occur outside of a medical setting, and more than half occur at home.
Sources: U.S. Surgeon General, New York Times.
Source: Texas Department of Transportation mingyo lee | the daily texan staff
mingyo lee | the daily texan staff