The Daily Texan 2018-04-23

SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN COMMUNITY SINCE 1900 @THEDAILYTEXAN | THEDAILYTEXAN.COM

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

VOLUME 118, ISSUE 145

N E WS

O PI N I O N

LI FE &A RTS

SPORTS

UT and Austin-area students rally against gun violence at the Texas Capitol. PAGE 2

Professors and historians weigh in on UT’s complex history with race. PAGE 4

Austin syringe access service promotes public health in the face of drug addiction. PAGE 8

Texas displays fireworks on and off the field in its Orange-White spring game. PAGE 6

UNIVERSITY

UT to expand financial aid options for low-income students

UNIVERSITY

One-stop shop for student services UT to combine student services into two new buildings on campus.

By Maria Mendez @mellow_maria

By Maria Mendez @mellow_maria

Next fall, UT will cover tuition for qualified Texas freshmen from families earning up to $30,000 through four-year awards.

On Friday, UT President Gregory Fenves announced the University will also guarantee grants and scholarships to all freshmen from Texas families earning up to $100,000 (adjusted gross incomes) and who demonstrate financial need. The median household income in Texas is $54,727, according to the U.S. Census.

“Our goal is for a high-quality UT education to be affordable and accessible to qualified students with financial need from across the state,” Fenves said in an email to students.

The new financial awards will first be distributed to incoming students in the class of 2022, according to the University’s website. To qualify, students will have to be incoming, in-state students entering college for the first time and who demonstrate financial need by filing a FAFSA application or the Texas Application for State Financial Aid. To keep the fouryear awards, students must maintain a good standing and a 2.0 grade-point-average.

K

ate Lemley, a 2017 alumna, remembers almost having a meltdown after trying to navigate UT’s administration to get financial aid.

“When I was (at UT), my biggest problem with financial aid was having to run across campus all the time,” said Lemley, a government and Mexican-American and Latino studies graduate. “I would go to one office to speak with somebody in person, and as it turned out I was in the wrong place, or the answers I got in the financial aid office meant I had to go to the registrar’s office. It was really frustrating.”

Attempting to remove bureaucratic barriers for students, UT is developing a One-Stop Student Services Center and University-wide Center for Career Exploration and Development. The centers, both planned to open in the summer of 2019, will centralize and supplement existing student services.

“Both of these initiatives look at the coordination of information that students need,” said Rachelle Hernandez, senior vice provost for enrollment management. “We don’t want students worrying about who’s providing them help. We want them to easily find resources.”

The One-Stop Center will bring together the offices of financial aid, registrar, student accounts receivable and the Graduation Help Desk inside the Main Building. Hernandez said the individual University offices will remain, but students will only have to go to the One-Stop Center to get their questions answered.

“We no longer want to ask students to go to multiple locations to get information related to maintaining their enrollment,” Hernandez said.

Denisse Meza, a communication sciences and disorders junior, said she also faced difficulties navigating financial aid at UT as a first generation student. Having services inside the Main Building, a focal point of campus, would especially benefit freshmen, political communications junior Aisleen Menezes said.

“My freshman year, I actually thought everything was in the

We no longer want to ask students to go to multiple locations to get information related to maintaining their enrollment.”

Rachelle Hernandez, senior vice provost for enrollment management

ONE-STOP page 2

TUITION page 3 COUNTY

CITY

County breaks voter registration record, may add online registration

By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas

Travis County now has the highest total number of registered voters ever in the county with more than 740,000 people registered.

The county broke its record last month when it surpassed the previous record, set in November 2016 with 732,000. At the time, that number represented close to 92 percent of the eligible voting population in the county, according to Bruce Elfant, Travis County voter registrar. The current number, due to growth, likely represents around 90 percent, Elfant said.

“That’s pretty healthy (growth),” Elfant said. “I expect we’ll add 30–40,000 by November. I mean, 10,000 of that is going to happen at UT I bet.”

However, because of a lack of data on the total number of eligible voters, both percentages are rough estimates. A 2015 survey on the county’s voting age population said the county had 794,309 eligible voters, according to PolitiFact Texas.

Elfant said he hopes to crack the county’s record

It is undeniable that the number of registered voters would increase. (But) it’s not entirely clear to me that you’re going to get a lot more voters out of that.”

Daron Shaw,

ut government professor

for the highest percent of registered voters, also set in 2016, by the November midterms. But right now, he said he is focusing on increasing awareness for the primary run-offs coming up in May, for which registration ends today.

TX Votes president Zach Price said it was “phenomenal” to hear Travis County breaking its registration record. And with the primary runoff election voting coming up in a month, Price said his organization is gearing up to get as many students to the polls as possible.

“The runoffs are tough because the voting for it starts during finals week,” Price said. “We’re trying to let students know that there is an election coming up, especially students who voted in the primaries (in March).”

Online voter registration

Texas is one of just 12 states lacking online voter registration. However, the state may soon be forced to implement some form of it because of a 2016 lawsuit accusing Texas of violating federal voter registration law.

Whenever people go to

VOTER page 2

griffin smith | the daily texan staff Approximately 1,000 people, including dozens of students from UT and nine registered Austin area schools, participate in a walkout protesting gun violence at the Texas Capitol on Friday afternoon.

UT students, Austin schools march to Capitol for gun violence walkout

By Estefania Rodriguez @estefania_rdz13

Approximately 1,000 people participated in a national walkout against gun violence on Friday at the Texas Capitol with dozens of UT students and nine registered Austin area schools present.

University students marched together due to an idea from communication

and leadership sophomore Rey Castillo. In December, Castillo got in contact with campus organizations such as University Democrats to mobilize students against gun violence.

“We were one of the first schools to have such gun violence happen on our campus,” Castillo said.

“Look back at (the mass shooting on) August 1st, 1966, and that’s all the proof that you need for why we

should mobilize.”

Castillo said his own involvement began because he experienced fear in his neighborhood and knew a victim of gun violence.

“Anyone and everyone can be a victim of gun violence … it’s affected my friends, their friends, my community and how safe I find my own home,” Castillo said.

Biology freshman

WALKOUT page 2

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

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juan figueroa | the daily texan file A Quinnipiac University poll shows that the Texas U.S. Senate race between U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, left, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is too close to call. The poll released Wednesday showed Cruz holding a three percent lead.

U.S. Senate race between Cruz, O’Rourke ‘too close to call,’ latest poll finds

By Sami Sparber @samisparber

The Texas U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke is too close to call, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.

Forty-seven percent of registered voters in Texas support Cruz, the Republican incumbent, while 44 percent support his Democratic challenger O’Rourke, D-El Paso, the poll found. The three percent difference falls within the poll’s 3.6 percent margin of error.

“Democrats have had a target

on Sen. Ted Cruz’s back, and they may be hitting the mark,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll, in a press release.

While the results drew excitement from the O’Rourke camp, it is still too early to tell what will transpire at the polls, said Joshua Blank, manager of polling and research at the UT-Austin Texas Politics Project.

“Polling done this early – especially in an election cycle – tends to show Democrats doing far better than they usually end up performing on Election Day,” Blank said. “The reality is polls this far out generally tend to show a very close race either way because most

people aren’t very familiar with the candidates.”

The poll found 47 percent of Texas voters “like Ted Cruz as a person,” while 38 percent do not.

Forty percent of voters “like Beto O’Rourke as a person,” while 13 percent do not. Forty-seven percent of voters were undecided.

Jim Henson, director of the UT-Austin Texas Politics Project, said the poll is more reflective of overall Democratic enthusiasm in Texas than it is a reliable indicator of what will happen on Election Day. “One one hand, O’Rourke is showing more signs of running a successful campaign than we’ve

seen at the top of the Democratic ticket in recent cycles,” Henson said. “On the other hand, the poll also shows that 53 percent of voters don’t know enough about him to form an opinion of him.”

Blank said nothing coming out in the poll should be a major surprise to either candidate.

“I think the both campaigns would agree this poll is not terribly meaningful and it’s not going to change their strategy or trajectory for the next three months,” Blank said. “I would say the biggest effect this poll had is it led both campaigns to release a fundraising email within a few hours of its release.”

Ellie Breed (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com

VOTER

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renew their driver’s license in person, they are given the option to register to vote at the same time. However, the same option is not available for people renewing their license online.

Instead, for anyone who does want to register when they are renewing their license online, the Department of Public Safety’s website allows users to check a box saying they want to register, which directs them to a form that must be printed, filled out and sent to the registrar.

The DPS’s website specifies checking the box “does not register you to vote.”

However, plaintiffs in the lawsuit said the language is confusing and leads users to falsely believe they have been registered

WALKOUT

to vote.

As a result, federal judge Orlando Garcia recently ruled Texas was in violation of the National Voter

Registration Act, which requires states to let citizens register to vote when they renew their licenses.

The state attorney

class when a heated discussion is going on.”

Protesters and speakers at the rally said emphasis needs to be Madisen Pereida also got involved placed on adults siding with stuin the movement because she knew dents in their fight to have their someone involved in gun violence.

When Pereida was younger, her voices heard.

“We have to stand together to cousin shot a student after bringing show everybody it’s not just the stua gun to school. dents … it’s everybody “The kid is alive, of all ages saying this but kids shouldn’t is an important issue have access to those we need to tackle,” kinds of weapons,” said Greg Jewett, UT’s Pereida said. “The fact Information Technolthat someone close to me could cause that Anyone and every- ogy Services senior administrator. much harm to someone can be a victim systems Lucy Griswold, a one else, it felt like teacher at McCallum it had also become a of gun violence High School and a UT burden on me.” … it’s affected alumna, was also ralEnglish professor lying in solidarity with Lisa Moore spoke at my friends, their her students after her the rally. Moore said she is actively infriends, my com- own history of activism at UT. Griswold volved with this issue munity and how was arrested in 2012 and is also pursuing after participating in a lawsuit against the safe I find my own a sit-in at former UT state of Texas over the President William campus carry law. home.”

Powers Jr.’s office.

“I understand that “Students are clearthere’s a time and a Rey Castillo, place for guns, but it’s communication and leadership ly at the forefront of sophomore this movement and as a very limited time and adults we should be a very limited place amplifying their voices,” Griswold that does not include the University said. “But … we should practice campus,” Moore said. “The reason we come here is to … grow as think- what we teach, and if we’re teachers and citizens and we can’t do that ing about justice and about change then we should embody that change if we’re afraid that someone having alongside our students.” a bad day might pull out a gun in the

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general’s office, which is representing the DPS in the case, said they would be appealing the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of

ONE-STOP

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Tower,” Meza said. “It would be a lot easier to remember where to go (for help) if it’s all in the Tower.”

The One-Stop Center will also feature a central phone line and website for students who are busy or don’t feel comfortable asking for help in person, Hernandez said.

Lemley said she relied heavily on financial aid to afford college, so a central phone line would have been especially useful to quickly get help in-between classes or her internships.

“To get those questions answered really put a lot of stress on me,” Lemley said. “I think I would have been more successful in my academics if I had those questions answered easily.”

Through the University-wide career center, UT also hopes to provide

Appeals, according to the Texas Tribune.

If the state is forced to implement online voter registration, Texans will have a new and possibly easier route for registering. However, government professor Daron Shaw said this may not necessarily lead to increased voter turnout, the ultimate goal of increasing registrations.

“It is undeniable that the number of registered voters would increase,” Shaw said. “(But) it’s not entirely clear to me that you’re going to get a lot more voters out of that. Essentially, the people who would be dissuaded from registering from the cost or the difficulty associated with registration also tend to be — it’s not a completely perfect correlation — the people who are unlikely to vote even if registered.”

additional resources for students with interdisciplinary careers or who are still finding a career path, Hernandez said.

The Career Center, which will be located in the Flawn Academic Center, will coordinate and supplement information provided by existing career centers in each college on a central website, Hernandez said.

Menezes said she found an internship through Liberal Arts and career services but accessing other career services and fairs as a Moody College of Communication student can be hard.

“I think a University-wide career center would be great,” Menezes said.

“I know I’m not the only student that struggles with ‘Wow, I’m a (communications) student, but I’m interested in a career that’s more traditionally liberal arts.’”

RECYCLE

your copy of

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

CAMPUS

Hygiene kits to benefit refugees UT organizations alleviate pressures of refugee camps.

By Eilish O’Sullivan @evosullivan

R

efugees often spend years in refugee camps, where conditions can be harsh as supplies are often scarce.

Two UT student organizations are doing something to help alleviate these conditions.

On Sunday, Texas Hillel and the UT chapter of the White Rose Society hosted an event to package 900 hygiene kits to send to people living in refugee camps. The White Rose Society is an organization dedicated to genocide prevention and Holocaust remembrance, and Texas Hillel is an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of Jewish UT students.

“It’s really hard to do self-care in these refugee camps, because you just lost your home and the first thing you’re grabbing is not toiletries or toothpaste

elias huerta | the daily texan staff International relations sophomore Rachel Mitchell, right, and Taylor Stern, radio-television-film freshman, pack bath towels, combs and hand wipes for people in refugee camps. or shampoo,” said Ayala Huber, economics junior and president of UT’s White Rose Society.

“You probably are grabbing some money and your children in these zones that people are fleeing from.”

The project was funded by the Genesis Prize Association through Hillel International, in partnership with Heart to Heart International and the Jewish Development. “(Hygiene kits) can be used

as the first step for people rebuilding their lives,” said Wes Comfort, a representative of Heart to Heart International. “You know just being able to take a shower or just being able to brush their teeth, it can

have a really big impact on what has to come next for them after they’ve been through so much.”

The event also gave participants the opportunity to hear from Sadala Musoke, an asylum seeker from Uganda.

“People like me are not welcome in my country,“ Musoke said. “I had no choice, because all I wanted was a safe place to live a better life. … This is the only country that feels safe.”

Musoke was the only one out of 400 asylum seekers in the detention center he was placed in who was granted asylum, or protection granted by a nation for someone who has fled their native country. Asylum seekers are unable to stay in their home country due to a fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

“If you don’t have to worry about being killed … or being arrested for no reason, then you are in a good place,” Musoke said. “I am very happy that (the volunteers) are here and (they) have interest in helping people. … We need people like (them).”

CAMPUS

Students complain of advising frustrations from registration season

By Jessica Regan @jessicareganut

While some students leave advising appointments feeling satisfied, others have complained of feeling lost and confused.

In the hectic few weeks leading up to registration, complaints about academic advising departments have popped up around campus and on social media.

Last semester, geophysics sophomore Jayce Testut said he was upset after his advisor told him he should not go abroad.

“I didn’t feel like she was working with me to accomplish what I wanted, that instead she was trying to get me to follow the cookie cutter schedule,” Testut said. “I felt discouraged and belittled, and immediately scheduled an appointment with another advisor … he was much more supportive.”

Many students are required to visit their advisor prior to registering, which fills up time slots. Mark Bernstein, associate dean of the Moody College of Communications, said he recognizes the challenges of the registration season.

“The period prior to registration is when most students need to have some time with their advisor, so many of our advisors manage on a walk-in only basis,” Bernstein said. “We heavily promote the

idea that students should visit with advisors often … This will allow students and their advisors time to have those ‘big picture’ conversations.”

Journalism freshman Alex Legamaro met with her advisor recently and said he helped her decide which classes to register for next semester.

“I was very happy with the meeting,” Legamaro said. “Jeff always gives great advice and I felt much more confident with my schedule coming out of the meeting than going in.”

With a large amount of students to accommodate, problems can occur. Nutrition senior Ayaz Ali said he was frustrated after trying to transfer into the College of Natural Sciences his sophomore year.

Ali said his advisor said his GPA was not high enough and told him to look into other programs.

“I feel like the advisors mainly just try to let people in,” Ali said. “They don’t seem to help or actually ‘advise,’ rather just kind of tell you very broadly what you should do.”

Bernstein said students who are unsatisfied with their advising situation have other options.

“If something is not working we want to help solve the issue, but we first need to know about it,” Bernstein said. “We want students to have a positive and successful experience.”

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zoe fu | the daily texan file UT President Gregory Fenves announces his $15 million financial aid commitment at his State of the University address on Sept. 14, 2016.

TUITION

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The awards will vary from $300 to $11,000, depending on a students’ financial need. The University estimates 3,000 freshmen will benefit from the awards per year.

The awards build upon Fenves’ 2016 announcement to increase financial support for middle-income families by $15 million, or $7.5 million a year, for two years. On top of Fenves’ allocation and other funding previously utilized for need-based aid, the Texas Advance awards will be funded through $5

million from new recurring endowment funds approved by the UT System Board of Regents.

“What’s new and important is that if you’re admitted, have financial need and come from a family earning $100,000 or less, we can guarantee you financial aid,” said Joey Williams, communications director for the provost’s office. “(The University hasn’t) been able to say that before.”

Additional new awards include Completion Grants to help students graduate on time, Impact Scholarships for students helping their communities and micro scholarships for

high schoolers preparing for college.

“This additional student aid funding reinforces our efforts to support student success and timely graduation,” said Rachelle Hernandez, senior vice provost for enrollment management, in a press release.

The awards come after the recent approval of 2 percent tuition hikes for the next two academic years, after which Fenves promised to provide additional financial aid for students.

“The Texas Advance Commitment is a long-term investment in our students, their families and the people of Texas,” Fenves said.

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JANHAVI NEMAWARKAR, VIK SHIRVAIKAR, LIZA ANDERSON

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

FORUM EDITORS | @TEXANOPINION

UT community needs to reckon with University’s racist past

By Janhavi Nemawarkar, Vik Shrivaikar, and Liza Anderson Founded in 1883, UT came into being on the heels of the Civil War, and many of its founding members hailed from Confederate ranks.

Almost 150 years later, this history remains ever-present on the 40 Acres. Many of our current debates hinge on how race and identity shape the face of this university.

UT’s connection to the Confederate South and American slavery is strong. George Littlefield, whose name promulgates our campus, dedicated the “Littlefield Fund for Southern History” to the University on the agreement that the school would promote the history of Confederacy — a history built on the systematic enslavement of black men and women.

The University of Texas acted as the public face of segregated public universities in the 1950 Supreme Court case Sweatt v. Painter, which effectively tested the practice of segregating

higher education. UT lost that case, and it was forced to admit black graduate students later that year. After Sweatt v. Painter, UT underwent the slow and painful process of desegregating.

Black undergraduates weren’t admitted until 1956. Even after the first black undergraduates arrived, it took decades for the school to fully integrate all of its programs and dormitories.

Debates about race rage on at UT. The six pack’s Confederate statuary came down last year, amid heated protests on both sides. Even then, the Littlefield family sued the school for violating its commitment to “Southern History.” What exactly southern history means, and what it means to be a modern university in the south, prompted something of an identity crisis for UT’s community today.

It has become incumbent on us, as UT students in the 21st century, to sift through and sort out this complicated history as it plays out in the present. This debate affects us, and we’re still struggling to come to terms with its impacts.

Many buildings on campus still bear

the names of noted confederates and racists — George Littlefield, Robert Lee Moore and Theophilus Painter, to name a few. The school song, the Eyes of Texas, has come under criticism for its history as a minstrel song.

Round Up, the annual congregation of fraternity and sorority students from across Texas, has been critiqued for its well-documented history with minstrelsy and overt racism.

These questions haven’t been answered, and the school still struggles to come to grips with its past. Diversity is still an aspirational goal, and the campus remains highly divided on issues of race and inclusion. This year’s Student Government election brought these rifts into full view, as candidates on both sides were attacked with highly racialized rhetoric and the campus climate devolved throughout the election period.

While UT’s policies have broadly improved from the days of outright segregation, a reckoning is still to come for the University on race.

This week, The Daily Texan forum team chose to highlight this complex history in order to gain insight on the conversations we’re still

GUEST COLUMN

GUEST COLUMN

The triumph of Henry Reeves, UT’s first black athletics trainer

By Jim Nicar

to Stetson.

Equipped with tape, bandages and pain relief ointments of arnica and witch-hazel, he treated muscle cramps, twisted ankles and bruised noses. While University Physician Joe Gilbert handled the serious cases, “Doc” Henry was more popular.

Henry traveled with the team, as far away as Atlanta and Chicago, but because he was African-American, he also endured the humiliation of Jim Crow segregation. Henry wasn’t permitted to stay in the team’s hotel and instead had to find his own lodgings and meals. No one knew quite how he did it, but he was always ready at the football field the following day.

On campus, despite the prevailing social mores toward race at the time, Henry was highly respected. Through his genial character and abilities, he showed members of the University community — even if dimly — that race was only skin deep. In 1909, when

UT’s racial history and the moral imperative of diversity

By Edmund T. Gordon

ut historian

In the history of the University of Texas, few persons have become so appreciated and integral to the 40 Acres that they’re considered campus traditions. Henry Reeves was one.

Henry Reeves was born April 12, 1871 in West Harper, Tennessee. The middle of five children, his parents, Benjamin and Sarah Reeves, were former slaves.

According to old city directories found in the Austin History Center, in 1983, the family moved to Austin, where Benjamin found work as an expressman, a potentially hazardous position, where he was responsible for the delivery of a train’s cash, gold and other valuables. Benjamin rode the express car and guarded the safe from would-be thieves.

He was the only person who had memorized the combination, a talent he would pass on to his son.

Henry worked odd jobs for several local families before the University hired him in 1897 as a janitor for the new, student-created gymnasium in the basement of the old Main Building.

Affable and eager to do a good job, Henry impressed everyone with his ability to memorize the combinations of hundreds of gym lockers. He was soon drafted to be the water carrier and equipment manager of the football team, but when his basic knowledge of first aid and medicine came to be known, his duties expanded to include athletic trainer for all UT athletes. Students began to call him “Doc” Henry.

For almost 20 years, Henry was a fixture on the 40 Acres, on the sidelines for every football game in his striped, three-piece suit and a hat that varied in style from fedora

having today.

Edmund Gordon, chair of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, writes about diversity as a moral imperative. He calls on the University community to understand that UT’s prestige and power historically resulted from entrenched inequalities that still affect equity on campus today.

Jim Nicar, former UT historian and current curator of The UT History Corner, writes about a single African-American man whose story encounters many of the complexities of segregation and inclusion on the 40 Acres. Henry Reeves, the first black football trainer, was a beloved figure on campus, but was nonetheless subjected to the restrictions and injustices the school promoted at the time.

As always, if you want to weigh in on this issue or any other, contact the Forum team at thedailytexanforum@gmail.com.

Nemawarkar is a Plan II and government junior from Austin. Shirvaikar is a math and economics junior from Frisco. Anderson is a Plan II and history sophomore from Houston.

associate professor

copyright jim nicar, and reproduced with permission a new gym director tried to replace Henry with a personal friend, students protested and petitioned the Athletic Council. Henry was retained, and the new director departed.

When the Delta Delta Delta sorority hosted a 1913 dinner and dance for the football squad, Henry was invited. Soon after, The Daily Texan lauded Henry’s uncanny ability to predict football scores.

At the 1914 Texas versus Southwestern football game, Henry was asked to lead the crowd in a “Fifteen Rahs” yell, which meant shouting “Rah! Rah! Rah!” five times, followed by “Texas!” He obliged, but at the end, the crowd yelled “Henry!” The same year, the Alcalde alumni magazine published his choices for an all-time UT football team, which was also included in the Cactus yearbook. In all of these cases, Henry broke through longstanding racial barriers.

In November, 1915, on the train ride to the first Texas versus Texas A&M game to be played in College Station, Henry suffered a stroke and watched the game from a jitney.

As concerns were raised about his long-term health, the Athletic Council voted to award Henry a University pension, the first to an African-American. The following week, when Notre Dame visited for the final football bout of the season, fans collected over $250 for Henry, which more than covered the medical bills. After a second stroke a few months later, Henry passed on February 19, 1916.

“No figure is more intimately connected with the reminiscences of college life, none, with the exception of a few aging members of the faculty,” stated the Houston Chronicle. “In the hearts of Longhorn athletes and sympathizers, Doctor Henry can never be forgotten.”

In 2000, UT Athletics included “Doc” Henry Reeves in the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Nicar is a former UT historian and runs The UT History Corner.

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…”. This notion and our collective struggle to form a society that is guided by this principle are central to our nation. Key to this continual struggle is what we mean by the phrase “all men.” Our forefathers, all elite Anglo men, had a particularly narrow definition, which included only propertied white men like themselves. Over the course of the last nearly 250 years, a key moral dilemma for our society has been the expansion of this idea of the equality of “all men,” to the realization of a society where all people have equal possibilities for equitable social, political and economic outcomes.

Our University opened in 1883 with the intention to be a “university of the first class.”

This was in Texas just after the end of the short-lived and much-maligned experiment in racial democracy known as Reconstruction. Amidst the remnants of a resurgent antebellum, white elite established the University as a Neo-Confederate institution. All of its first regents were Confederate officers or diplomats, as was its first president. The new University was an engine for the construction of a “new Texas,” free of the political dominance of the North and its insistence on racial democracy but at the same time free of the stagnation of a preindustrial, agrarian, slave-based economy.

This new University for a new Texas was progressive in its advocacy of science-based, capitalist development of the state and, in allowing women to participate as students and in a limited capacity as faculty members.

However, the University failed in its moral obligation to educate the state’s citizens equitably. In the case of women, the University consigned them in its early years to certain disciplines as students and faculty and even to specific areas of campus for their housing and recreational needs. The University barred all but a few people of color from student and faculty positions, with the exceptions of a sprinkling of foreign students and children of Tejano elites. Of course, the state barred Black students and faculty from participating in historically white universities, including UT, until the 1950s and 60s.

These days, the moral issue of equity is increasingly referred to as a matter of diversity. This is in part a response to legal rulings establishing that Universities’ efforts to diversify their student populations can only be based on the common educational goal of

jeb milling | the daily texan staff enriching the educational experience of all students. Calls for diversity rather than equity at institutions of higher education are also often based on analogies with the business world, where the argument is made that markets are diverse and so the diversity of a work force is important to reach all sectors of a marketplace. What these notions of the benefits of diversity ignore, and what is being lost on our campus, is the moral imperative of equity.

The University of Texas at Austin is a great university and an extremely important force for good in our state and country.

However, its power and place are based in an immoral and unethical past in which the basic principles that we claim govern our society were violated, causing lasting harm to large and important sectors of our citizenry.

What is more, many of these inequities continue to exist. Women faculty are underpaid and underrepresented in certain disciplines.

Black, Native American, and Latino people are underrepresented as students and faculty. Though we have made some advances many other forms of inequity, such as those with relation to our other-abled and LGBTQ+ communities continue. In other words, as a University community, we have still not fulfilled our moral and ethical ideals.

Our University has chosen to focus on diversity as a positive good and a goal. This, I support. However, it is important that we think of this work as part of the larger task to create a community and institution that lives up to this society’s moral imperative that all are created equal and that all should be treated and educated as such. We must engage in an effort not just to diversify our campus but to create a moral community dedicated to the elimination of inequity.

Gordon is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies.

jeb milling | the daily texan staff

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan.

Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanOpinion) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

5

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

FOOTBALL

continues from page 6 Johnson had his fair share of highlights. Two tip-toe grabs — one in the back of the end zone for a touchdown and another along the sideline — showed fans what they missed last year.

A six-catch, 91-yard performance with many big grabs showed why Johnson is one of the best one-on-one receivers in the country. His ability to form chemistry with any quarterback, including freshman Cameron Rising, will make him an even bigger threat in 2018.

“I don’t know that we ever didn’t see that version of Collin Johnson,” Herman said.

“You get your best players the football.”

Behind those receivers, fans also got to see how the quarterbacks have developed over the spring. Neither disappointed, as junior Shane Buechele and sophomore Sam Ehlinger combined for 281 yards through the air.

In Saturday’s affair, both quarterbacks earned their stripes with the long ball.

Seam routes down the middle, deep posts and a few go routes in the mix provided a measuring stick as to where each quarterback was.

“I told the quarterbacks, experiment, rip it in there, man,” Herman said. “Try to fit it in the tight windows, because I want you to have that confidence when you do.”

Texas’ early enrollees also got their first glimpse of ingame action since coming to Austin. Freshman defensive back B.J. Foster made his presence known early, nearly reeling in a one-handed interception in coverage. The duo of freshman quarterbacks, Casey Thompson and Cameron Rising, also made their respective debuts with a couple of nice tosses on the run.

“They’re a really good group,” senior tight end Andrew Beck said. “None of them are problem guys. They all came in and put their nose to the grindstone and just went from day one.”

Through the stats and impressive plays Saturday night, it wasn’t difficult to tell Herman, the players and his staff had the culture in place to help Texas turn the corner.

“We’re excited about what we have going on right now,” Beck said. “We’ve seen the fruits of our labor, how good we can be and now it’s just continuing to develop.”

RECYCLE

TRACK & FIELD

carlos garcia | the daily texan file Freshman Sam Worley competes in the one-mile event at the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Worley and junior Alex Rogers were a part of history, running in a group of 21 runners who broke the Bryan Clay Invitational meet and facility record.

Longhorn distance runners live up to hype

By Marcus Krum

your copy of

@marcuskrum

Texas assistant track coach Brad Herbster could only describe it as “the greatest collegiate 1,500 ever.”

At the Bryan Clay Invitational, distance runners freshman Sam Worley and junior Alex Rogers became a part of history, running in a group of 21 runners that broke the meet and facility record at the Invitational. Numerous records

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were shattered in the run, including three runners breaking the all-time NCAA record.

“Those times were incredible and to have two Longhorns with Sam Worley and Alex Rogers in the mix is exciting,” Herbster said. “Their races today have me so excited for the Big 12 Championships in three weeks.”

At Mt. SAC relays, John Rice broke his personal record in the 5,000 by nearly 50 seconds, putting up a time that places as the No. 5 Longhorn all-time.

While he finished 22nd, the mark he put up against stiff competition was just what the team was looking for.

“We came out here to these meets so we could face really tough competition and see where we stand,” Herbster said. “I couldn’t be happier with their performances and times. Even those who didn’t run a new personal best this week we’re still in there fighting. This trip was everything we wanted it to be to get our distance crew ready for

Big 12s.”

At Baylor’s Michael Johnson Invitational, wins came from several areas for the Longhorns. Freshman Tripp Piperi won his third meet of the season in shot put, while senior Fabian Dohmann picked up his third win in javelin.

From each of the four meets the team traveled to, personal bests and victories across the board display the team’s form that’s rounding into shape as the Big 12 Championships loom just two weeks away.

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EVENTS

THIS WEEK IN TEXAS ATHLETICS

2018 BIG 12 MEN’S & WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS EESEEEEEEENEENEEEEESEEEEEENENEEEEEE

Thursday, April 26-Sunday, April 29 • Tickets: $5 (single session) & $10 (all-session) • The Big Ticket is not valid for postseason events.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24 | 6:30 P.M.

BASEBALL VS. HOUSTON NNNNENNENENNEEEENNEEN

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25 | 6 P.M.

SOFTBALL VS. TEXAS SOUTHERN EENEEENEEEENEEENNNENNEENNEEN

• Double Play Concessions Day: $2.50 hot dogs and $2.50 small drinks Po • Postgame autographs

ROWING hosts LONGHORN INVITE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Saturday, April 28 • 8 a.m.

• Featuring Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon State, UCF, Virginia • FREE ADMISSION! ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. In the event of errors made in advertisement, notice must be given by 10 am the fi rst day of publication, as the publishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect insertion. In consideration of The Daily Texan’s acceptance of advertising copy for publication, the agency and the advertiser will indemnify and save harmless, Texas Student Media and its offi cers, employees and agents against all loss, liability, damage and expense of whatsoever nature arising out of the copying, print-ing or publishing of its advertisement including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees resulting from claims of suits for libel, violation of right of privacy, plagiarism and copyright and trademark infringement. All ad copy must be approved by the newspaper which reserves the right to request changes, reject or properly classify an ad. The advertiser, and not the newspaper, is responsible for the truthful content of the ad. Advertising is also subject to credit approval.

anthony mireles | the daily texan file Junior Harrison Scott swings his racquet during the Longhorns’ over SMU on Jan. 21. Scott and sophomore Christian Sigsgaard took down ninth-ranked Johannes Schretter and Will Little from Baylor, 6-2, to give Texas the doubles point Sunday afternoon.

Texas clinches first round bye in Big 12 tournament

By Henry Corwin @henrycorwin1

Despite a tough start to the weekend for the No. 15 Longhorns, the men’s team finished strong on Sunday to clinch a first-round bye in the Big 12 Championships.

The men’s team started the weekend off with a hardfought 4-3 loss to No. 32 Texas Tech on Thursday. The Longhorns could not capitalize on an early lead in the doubles pool and ultimately dropped the doubles point to

BASEBALL

continues from page 6 was a defender and every now and then you had those days,” Pierce said. “(Tate’s) got to just get over it. I just know that he made the mistakes and he’ll own up to it.”

The Longhorns would finish the contest with three errors, their most since Feb. 23 against LSU. All four of the Privateers runs would be unearned.

Despite the loss, Texas came

SOFTBALL

continues from page 6

candy for when the NCAA Tournament selection process begins.

“It was unfortunate not

fall behind 1-0.

With the score eventually knotted at 3-3, the deciding match took place at fourth singles. No. 97 Rodrigo Banzer took the first set over Texas Tech’s Ilgiz Valiev in a tiebreaker, 7-2. But Valiev found his rhythm and proceeded to dominate the rest of the match, winning the next two sets 6-2, 6-0 to clinch the match and give the Red Raiders a 4-3 win.

On Sunday, the Longhorns concluded their regular season with a 4-0 win against No. 23 Baylor. The

Longhorns took the doubles point, in large part thanks to an impressive win by sophomore Christian Sigsgaard and junior Harrison Scott at the first position with a 6-2 win over Baylor’s duo of Johannes Schretter and Will Little, which currently ranks ninth in the country in doubles.

Singles matches were won by Sigsgaard, Scott and junior Adrian Ortiz. Ortiz has now won seven straight matches and is 11-2 in dual match play.

With the win, the Longhorns now have a firstround bye at this week’s Big

12 Championships, taking place in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center.

“If you lose a match in the Big 12 tournament, you’re done there,” Texas head coach Michael Center said.

“And if you lose another, your season is over. That (bye) was something to shoot for, but I just wanted to see us compete well at all nine spots.”

The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 15–6 record. The first match of the Big 12 tournament for the Longhorns will be in the semifinals this Saturday.

out of the weekend with a series win, going 2-1 in the three game slate.

On Friday night, the Longhorns won in a wild affair. New Orleans jumped on Texas early, building a 4-0 lead by the fifth inning. But the burnt orange staged a comeback, rallying to take a 5-4 lead heading into the seventh inning.

After the Privateers took back a one-run advantage, it was freshman Zach Zubia’s time to play hero. With things knotted in the bottom of the

eighth inning, the designated hitter hammered his ninth home run of the season, a shot that lifted Texas to a 8-6 victory.

While Zubia was the story of the series opener, junior pitcher Chase Shugart stole the show on Saturday. Shugart stifled the Privateers to only a run in 7.2 innings, his third straight start allowing a run or less. The Texas bats did just enough, and the team won 3-1.

“I feel like I’m getting a little more comfortable,” Shugart

said. “Me and Coach (Phil Haig) have been working in our bullpens on executing the lower half. I’ve had a problem leaving balls up when my lower half isn’t working correctly. So working on my lower half has really helped me out.”

Despite the loss on Sunday, the team will look to build on a series win as it heads in the final stretch of the season. After taking on Houston at home on Tuesday, Texas plays nine of its final 11 games against conference opponents.

to get this game,” Clark said.

“We had some opportunities to cash in but just didn’t get the timely hits.”

The team will have chances to bolster its resume with an away series against the

No. 2 team in the country in Oklahoma and a rematch in Waco with the No. 21 Baylor. If the team hopes to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament, picking up a couple of victories in those games will be crucial.

“I think more than anything we really have to stay together,” Clark said. “I think that’s the strength of this group. You got to deal with stuff during a season. We were grasping for a couple things today.”

6

TRENTON DAESCHNER

SPORTS EDITOR @TEXANSPORTS

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

FOOTBALL

Humphrey, Texas show promise under lights Longhorns provide fireworks for fans on and off the field.

By Keshav Prthivadi @kpthefirst

F

rom nearly three hours before kickoff until the final whistle, Texas wanted to send a message — and that didn’t have to necessarily be left solely on the field.

Two concerts, a live radio show and a postgame player autograph session were part of just some of the festivities at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium during Saturday night’s Orange-White spring game. The White team took home a 23-13 win to wrap up the 15th and final practice of the spring season.

“I need to thank our fans … showing out as well as they did, as enthusiastic as they were … really felt it,” Texas head coach Tom Herman said. “I think we’re slowly but surely getting to the point where I think we’re going to see the stands packed the way that we all hoped that they do.”

Saturday night’s game focused primarily on the offense and its ability to make big plays in both phases of the game. While the Longhorns didn’t unveil their entire offensive package, they did pull a few tricks out of the bag.

Texas’ running game found an unexpected spark from junior wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Humphrey was prominently featured in Texas’ goalline packages, running in for two touchdowns on the night.

Humphrey also tallied 100 receiving yards on seven catches, linking up with sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger on multiple occasions. “(Humphrey) is about as versatile an offensive player as I’ve ever been around,” Herman said.

“When you see a guy like him have the amount of catches he has, that means the quarterbacks believe in him.”

On the other side of the ball, junior wide receiver Collin

FOOTBALL page 5

katie bauer and anthony mireles | the daily texan staff Top: Junior wide receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey runs upfield after recording one of his seven receptions for 100 yards during his team’s 23-13 win over the Orange squad. Left: Longhorn fans celebrate during Texas’ 2018 Orange-White spring game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday night. Right: Sophomore running back Toneil Carter tries to escape the grasp of senior linebacker Anthony Wheeler during Texas’ spring game. Carter finished with 27 yards on 10 carries.

BASEBALL

Longhorns take series over Privateers despite Sunday loss

By Shane Lewis @dastatsman

Texas did its best impersonation of a “Three Stooges” bit Sunday afternoon against New Orleans.

In the top of the sixth inning, center fielder Tate Shaw collided with right fielder Duke Ellis in the outfield while pursuing a line drive, sending Ellis flying dramatically through the air and giving the Privateers a stand-up double.

It was that kind of the day for Tate and the Longhorns, as the team made a season high three errors in an ugly 4-1 loss.

“We were very poor

defensively and we allowed innings to unravel,” head coach David Pierce said. “(New Orleans) got the timely hits and took advantage when we made mistakes.”

The collision in the outfield led to a run for the Privateers, one that extended their lead to 4-0.

It was another Longhorn mishap in the outfield that helped New Orleans build a big advantage.

With two outs in the third, the Privateers sent a routine fly ball to Shaw in center field.

But the usually sure-handed junior, who came into his 88th collegiate game with no errors, lost the baseball in the sun and the ball popped out of

his glove.

New Orleans capitalized on the Texas error, scoring three runs following the two-out mistake.

Teammates were supportive of Tate, who finished the game with two critical errors in the outfield.

“He’s a gamer and any day of the week I want him out there,” sophomore infielder Ryan Reynolds said. “He’s going to dive into a wall, jump over a wall or do anything for the team. It’s just one of those baseball days.”

Pierce also echoed the sentiment that errors are just part of the game.

“I was a center fielder and I

BASEBALL page 5

angela wang| the daily texan staff Redshirt freshman designated hitter Zach Zubia swings at a pitch during Texas’ 4-1 loss to New Orleans at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Sunday. Zubia recorded three hits in Texas’ pivotal victory Saturday.

SOFTBALL

Texas wrangled by Cowgirls in first conference series defeat

By Wills Layton @willsdebeast

It’s common knowledge that cowboys and longhorns historically have not mixed well. In Sunday’s game versus the Cowgirls, this held true, as the Longhorns lost 4-1.

The series loss is the first series loss the team has sustained since early March and is the first series loss to a Big 12 team all season. While Texas lost two games of the series by less than three runs apiece, the team also failed to score more than one run in either of those games.

“We’ve got to figure out how to scratch and claw and find a way to put a couple runs up,” head coach Connie Clark said. “I think that’s something we have to do for us to get an outcome. The difficult schedule only helps you if you continue to get a couple wins in the mix so we’ve got to be able to figure out how to do that.”

The offense got off to a quick start as they usually do, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by sophomore catcher Taylor

Ellsworth. Scoring the run was freshman infielder Janae Jefferson, who has taken the league by storm this season after a strong start to the campaign.

However, the offense completely stalled for the rest of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, junior outfielder Bekah Alcozer came to the plate with the bases loaded with two outs left. In what could have been an opportunity to get back into the game, the Cowgirls defense made a spectacular diving catch to end the inning.

“We’re having some opportunities offensively, but we’re just not quite getting it done,” Clark said. “We tried to force things in a little bit. Unfortunately, again we had some big strikeouts in key situations. I’m disappointed in that, but we just have to come back to work and get after it.”

The Longhorns had a chance to improve their record versus ranked teams but failed to do so, causing their record versus those teams to fall to 5–11. Coming down the home stretch of the season, every ranked win is more resume

SOFTBALL page 5

brooke crim | the daily texan staff Sophomore catcher Taylor Ellsworth swings at a pitch during Texas’ 2-0 loss to Arizona at Red and Charline McCombs Field on March 2. Ellsworth got Texas on the board first but fell short to Oklahoma State, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon.

7

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

Today’s solution will appear here next issue

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CHARLES LIU & CHRIS DUNCAN

LIFE&ARTS EDITORS @THEDAILYTEXAN

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Nonprofit helps fight opioid epidemic Austin-based organization provides syringe access services to help save lives.

By Francesca D’Annunzio @ ftcdnz

Editor’s note: A source’s last name has been removed from this story to protect their identity.

A

lthough the opioid use in the United States continues to be ever-present issue, organizations such as the Austin Harm Reduction Coalition, also known as the AHRC, provide care and minimize the risks in order to the save the lives of those who use opioids.

Started in 1994, the Austin Harm Reduction Coalition acts as a source of support for those who inject drugs in the Austin community. Providing syringe access services and overdose antidotes to those in need, the organization began with an intention provide care free of stigma and minimize risks associated with drug use.

Additionally, AHRC treats patients on-site for wounds and abscesses related to drug use.

Lauren, a Texas State student and former client of the AHRC, is currently in recovery.

mingyo lee | the daily texan staff She said the friendly, nonjudgmental environment at AHRC is key for helping drug users and encouraged her to take steps towards sobriety. “(AHRC) played a really big role in me getting clean,” Lauren said.

“The judgment is what prevents people from getting sober. The AHRC is a place you feel like you can go back to. It doesn’t feel shameful.”

UT alumna Claire Zagorski is both a paramedic and volunteer at the AHRC. She said the stigma surrounding opioid use and addiction is ultimately unproductive, deterring users from seeking help and leading to isolation.

“We have a lot of clients that are either homeless or struggle with homelessness and a lot of them have psychiatric diagnoses,” Zagorski said. “No one does well isolated from society.”

Steven Smith, a volunteer at the AHRC truck, said the dehumanization and lack of respect

users are met with by healthcare professionals causes them to avoid seeking medical care.

“They will not go to the hospital under any circumstances, just because of the way

benefit everyone. Zagorski said if used needles are disposed of properly at needle exchanges, that means they aren’t somewhere where they could potentially harm someone else.

They will not go to the hospital under any circumstances, just because of the way they’re treated. One client said to me, ‘I would rather have my f*cking arm fall off than go to the f*cking hospital,” verbatim.”

Steven Smith, ahrc volunteer

they’re treated,” Smith said.

“One client said to me, ‘I would rather have my f*cking arm fall off than go to the f*cking hospital,’ verbatim.”

Harm reduction practices don’t only benefit users — they

According to Zagorski, HIV is not as much of an issue with needles lying around, since the virus dies after a relatively short period with exposure to air. However, Hepatitis-C can linger in needles for weeks or

months, meaning harm reduction practices can pull down infection rates.

The greatest benefit to harm reduction though, according to AHRC volunteer Julian Little, is not the clean needles or access to antidotes. Little says the greatest benefit the AHRC’s harm reduction practices provide is saving lives.

“You can’t help someone if they’re dead,” Little said. “A couple of months ago, I overdosed and my friend found me on my floor with foam coming out of my mouth and he was able to revive me.”

Little, who is currently in recovery, said he had made friends with the people working at the AHRC and felt that the welcoming, nonjudgmental environment is what makes outreach effective.

Lauren experienced the same.

“Claire (Zagorski) is an amazing person,” Lauren said.

“If she hadn’t worked there, I’m not sure that I would be sober.”

STUDENT LIFE

Editor’s Note: Rosie’s Red Room is a weekly column about sex. Reader discretion advised.

By B. Jones

@thedailytexan

My boyfriend and I had been making out in his backseat for a while, and our shirts had already found their way to the car floor as I unzipped his pants and went all out.

But then I heard something, saw flashing lights out of the corner of my eye.

“Babe, someone’s coming,” I said.

Yeah, it was the cops.

They shined their flashlights right on my boyfriend’s exposed penis (and were probably impressed, although they never disclosed that to us) and

asked us to roll down the windows.

After graciously letting us put on some pants before we made the climb out of the car, they asked us what we were doing hooking up in a car parked in their small town in the middle of a Wednesday night.

Relationships are hard, especially when you live three hours apart. My boyfriend and I don’t get to see each

other every week, and if we do, it’s often just a quick meet-in-the-middle on a Wednesday night.

I was never one for relationships in the first place, either. Romance continues to disgust me, and I still struggle with the idea of committing to one person of one gender forever, no matter how awesome that person is.

So why would I choose a relationship over a hookup? Relationships sound so boring in comparison, and even at the beginning of my current relationship, I still believed that.

I used to think that doing weird sex stuff was reserved for hookups because if you don’t have any bond to that person, there would be no long-term judgment if something really unsavory happened. It was the freedom of quickly moving on that was appealing to me from the start.

When I decided to give dating a shot, I was not into it. I would make constant jokes about cheating on him to see how he’d react — unsurprisingly, he did not react well — and just generally act like a jerk about the whole “caring for the other person” requirement. I thought that if I conformed to every aspect of the typical relationship, every interesting thing about me would just fade away.

That couldn’t be more incorrect.

I quickly learned that relationships don’t make the experience of life any duller, they just help to craft a cohesive narrative of weird that we can laugh at later.

That day when, after a long road trip, we stopped at a roadside picnic table for a quickie, or that night we spent together at an empty construction site in our hometown, or that time we decided it was a good idea to find an empty parking lot at 3 a.m. in Caldwell, Texas and do hand stuff — all of these become beautifully amplified when they are remembered.

After the police took our IDs and made sure we were not on the run, they made us uncomfortably discuss our motives and sit through a lecture about how this same thing happened to one of them back in the day. We got lucky — they let us go with a warning.

But one of the cops had one last thing to say to us.

The cop asked my boyfriend, “Do you love this girl?”

He responded, “I love the shit out of this girl.”

“Then get her a hotel room next time.”

As grateful as I am for that compassionate cop, I can gladly say we did not take his advice.

BOOK REVIEW | ‘A HIGHER LOYALTY’

‘A Higher Loyalty’ loyal only to Comey himself

By Collyn Burke @_collyn_

If you were expecting a dramatic look into Comey’s relationship with Trump, don’t hold your breath. “A Higher Loyalty” isn’t it.

James Comey, the now famously fired former director of the FBI, released his first book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” last Tuesday. The book details some of the most pivotal moments in Comey’s career, from his time as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to his appointment as U.S. Deputy Attorney General under President George W. Bush and finally to his appointment as director of the FBI and his subsequent firing. Released nearly a year after his unexpected dismissal, James Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty” aims to tell his side of the story and instead falls flat.

Comey begins his tell-all not with the chaotic politics of 2016 but with a detailed description of his lifelong dedication to a moral standard. Comey’s biography, as it would better be described, only gets more all-American from there.

Reader beware — if you are looking for a thrilling dive into the world of the Trump White House, you will not find it in this book.

Offered in lieu of such drama

is Comey droning on for hundreds of pages about how he always does the right thing, no matter the situation.

Beginning with his childhood aspirations, Comey takes his reader through his arduous journey to politics, the long and quite arduous journey that has been his life, all the while hinting at what is to come.

The first glaring error in Comey’s book is that his main goal was transparency.

While an honorable attempt, I have a hard time believing anyone can be completely transparent when writing about themselves with no one to keep them in check.

Comey faced a lot of criticism in the past two years, especially after his decision to reopen the Clinton investigation. Everything he says feels laced with an attempt to sway the reader into believing he did the right thing in all situations.

In addition to his sea of double meanings, Comey has a tendency to include random, short and confusing stories he feels highlight his good personhood. The first of these stories is his childhood interaction with whom he truly believes to be the Ramsey Rapist. Without any evidence, proof or attempt at sexual assault, Comey decides that the man who broke into his childhood house to rob his family was, in fact, the infamous rapist. The

juan figueroa | the daily texan file “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” is James Comey’s first book after his dismissal from his position as director of the FBI. oddness of the story could be put aside if Comey didn’t feel the need to bring it up so often. In context of the book, this specific story makes so little sense that it takes away from Comey’s credibility as a narrator.

Along with his strange little stories, Comey’s writing style is overly simplistic and boring. If Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” is a cheap

gossip magazine, “A Higher Loyalty” is the 50 cent mystery novel you buy at the corner store. Comey’s writing style lies somewhere between a high school essay and detective noir. Comey makes himself out to be a fallen hero throughout the entire book, pushing the dramatic levels of every situation. On top of that, Comey waits until the last

half of the book to mention the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server and his interactions with President Trump, the two main reasons most people will want to read “A Higher Loyalty.”

Comey’s “A Higher Loyalty” had so much potential, but ultimately fell flat on its face due to Comey’s own bias. His consistent desire

“A HIGHER LOYALTY” AUTHOR: James Comey PAGE COUNT: 312 RATING:

to paint himself as a hero, free of criticism, prevents readers from taking any part of his story seriously.