The Daily Texan 2018-09-19 by The Daily Texan

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

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NEWS

OPINION

LIFE&ARTS

SPORTS

New PCL polling location officially confirmed for November midterms. PA G E 2

Gregory Gym needs to stop throwing away reusable water bottles. PA G E 4

Despite backlash, Netflix series “Insatiable” is renewed for a second season. PA G E 8

Over 103,000 fans flock into DKR to set a new attendance record in Austin. PA G E 6

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CAMPUS CAMPUS

Laptop checkout program opens for students By Tehreem Shahab @turhem

samantha dorisca

| the daily texan staff

Seven out of 58 scholars in the Turing Program at UT are women. The Turing Program is a computer science honors program.

‘Something we want to fix’ Out of 58 freshman Turing Scholars, only seven are women. By Neelam Bohra @_neelam_b

ut of the 58 freshmen who joined this year’s Turing Scholars Program, seven are women. Created in 2002, Turing, the computer science honors program, allows students to take more challenging classes and find elite job opportunities. This year, the

program admitted 129 freshmen, 37 of which are women. Of the 37, only seven decided to attend UT. “Our department’s numbers, while not great, are about the national average,” said Calvin Lin, director of the Turing Scholars Program. “I think fundamentally, we have a pretty good environment for our students. It’s not perfect, and the gender ratio is something that isn’t right. It’s something we want to fix.” Lin said the male and female students in the program have similar graduation rates, which sets Turing apart from other computer science schools in the country. The Turing website advertises a program with 22 percent women in comparison to

a 13 percent national average of women in computer science. For the class of 2018, the program is 12 percent women. “In high school, there was this gender gap in STEM, but I never really felt it, and I never felt intimidated by it,” freshman Turing Scholar Niti Malwade said. “The moment college started, I felt it. It was so strong for me, and it was always in the back of my head for the first two weeks. It definitely defined my introduction into Turing.” All seven women said they experienced struggles with STEM being a male-dominated environment. Malwade said one boy would quiz her every day on why Turing

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UT offers options to check out laptops for students who cannot afford one or whose equipment is being repaired, but resources are limited and vary within each college. The McCombs School of Business, the College of Education and the School of Architecture offer laptop checkout services to their students and those taking their courses. McCombs has about 50 laptops available to checkout two nights a week for its 5,000 students. The College of Education has 20 laptops available, but they cannot be checked out overnight. The college also requires laptops for students entering the professional development program for future teachers, said Ryan Baldwin, the College of Education’s director of information technology. If a student cannot afford a laptop, the requirement allows them to receive financial aid to help them buy one, Baldwin said. It’s a similar case for the School of Architecture. They have a dozen laptops available for checkout for 700 architecture students. “We want to make sure that since we ingrained those laptops in the way we do our courses and our curriculum, the students can keep working if they’re having hardware trouble,” said Eric Hepburn, the School of Architecture’s director of information technology.

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NATION

CAMPUS

FDA proposes Juul ban to decrease youth addiction

APD vs UTPD: Who polices West Campus?

By Chad Lyle @LyleChad

The Food and Drug Administration announced last week it is considering a ban on flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to curb underage use of the product. Alexandra Loukas, principal investigator of UT’s Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team, said the ban would be effective at cutting down use by young people. The most common flavored e-cigarettes on the market are those made by Juul Labs, according to marketing analytics company Nielsen. Unflavored e-cigarettes would not be included under the possible ban. “A flavor ban would be a really good idea,” said Loukas, a health education professor. “For example, flavored cigarettes were on the market because they were easier (to smoke). Tobacco is harsh … but adding menthol, adding other kinds of flavors, makes it easier to accept that product. Flavors do attract younger people. We know that.” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb described youth use of e-cigarettes as a problem that has come to a fever pitch in a speech at

the agency’s headquarters last Wednesday. “We see clear signs that youth use of electronic cigarettes has reached an epidemic proportion,” Gottlieb said. Loukas said one of the reasons for this is the increasing popularity of Juul, a compact e-cigarette with prefilled nicotine pods. “Juul’s popularity really exploded over the past year or so, even though it’s been on the market for a little bit longer than that,” Loukas said. “Juul tends to have a higher concentration of nicotine than most other e-cigarettes. And so that’s one of the problems … the nicotine content is so high.” According to Juul Labs, all of its cartridges, referred to as “pods,” contain about 0.7 mL of nicotine, which is roughly equivalent to the nicotine content of two packs of cigarettes. Health and society sophomore Sydney Stringer said she believes most people get hooked on Juuls for cultural reasons. “I think usually what happens is people get exposed to it in a social setting,” Singer said. “I feel like it’s really become part of the party

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TEXAS ATHLETICS GAMEDAY CLEAR BAG POLICY

By Megan Menchaca @meganmenchaca13

Students living in West Campus often see two different police departments patrolling the area — the Austin Police Department and the University of Texas Police Department. But the roles of the these two departments are slightly different. APD handles all police-related calls within the city limits of Austin, including those in West Campus. APD Lt. Robert Smith said the department has around 12 officers patrol the West Campus area who respond primarily to criminal trespassing and vehicle thefts. “UTPD is only contacted if the event happens on UT property,” Smith said. “They aren’t called if it occurs off UT property. The only exception is that if it is a violent crime. In the interest of public safety, we will notify UTPD.” UTPD Chief David Carter said the APD communications center will contact UTPD if they want assistance with investigating a violent crime and then officers will respond. UTPD officers on patrol will arrest people they see committing crimes if APD is not present. “If somebody reports that their bicycle was stolen or something like that happened, we don’t respond to those calls

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because APD has the primary responsibility to investigate anything that has occurred off campus,” Carter said. Carter said despite being funded primarily to police the main UT campus, UTPD increased the number of officers patrolling West Campus in 2013 to support the significant number of UT students who live in the area. “I recognized that we had issues in West Campus at that time, involving negative interactions between some of our students and homeless individuals,” Carter said. “So now you will frequently see

UTPD officers on bicycles or on foot or even driving through West Campus.” Anthropology junior Sarah Dolphin, who lives in West Campus, said she has had positive interactions with APD when they have responded to her calls, but she wishes UTPD could dedicate more officers to the area. “Since West Campus is literally across the street from the University, I feel that UTPD’s presence should be stronger,” Dolphin said. “Their response times would likely be much quicker than (those of) APD, and I know that it would make

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me and my friends feel safer.” Carter said if students report a crime to UTPD that did not happen on campus, UTPD will collect any information about the crime and then connect students to Student Emergency Services and APD. “If it’s a member of our community, we’re going to support them in whatever way we possibly can,” Carter said. “Sometimes a student may come and report they were sexually assaulted off campus. We recognize that it’s important to provide support for that

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A comprehensive laptop checkout service for all students has yet to become available. Computer labs are available for UT students, faculty and staff in the Perry-Castañeda Library as well as other University libraries. The

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accepted her but rejected him. Freshman Turing Scholar Anusri Shah said a family friend told her she’ll get internships easier now because she’s a girl, and another boy told her she’ll always have a date. “It’s hard for people to see a woman as a well-rounded person,” Shah said. “You can have kids, and be a mom, and still be great. It’s like men can be multiple things, whereas women have to fit into a

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PCL had 30 Dell laptops available for checkout, but the service was discontinued in 2007, said Chris Carter, PCL’s director of organizational effectiveness. “The reason we stopped was the cost to purchase and maintain the laptops and the inability to scale the service,” Carter said in an email. “Inevitably almost everyone who wanted to check out a laptop was disappointed

category. When you don’t fit into a category, they don’t know how to define you.” Women in Computer Science, a UT organization, helps students adjust to the imbalanced ratio. It created a mentorship program in which upperclassmen help underclassmen, and it hosts networking events to connect female students to corporate sponsors. However, freshman Turing Scholar Emily Peterson said she doesn’t want too much focus on her gender. “It’s unfortunate that all these opportunities go untapped by women, but at the same time, I’m glad that they don’t

since they were generally all checked out early in the day by a core group of regular users.” Susan Roy, director of customer support for the Flawn Academic Center’s Information Technology Services, said the FAC discontinued its computer lab in 2017 because computers were aging and there was no funding to replace them.

Roy said she has heard some complaints about no longer having a computer lab and said she has met with the Campus Computer Store to look into the possibility of having a laptop checkout program. “In the meantime, we’re trying to figure out ways to do that without spending new money through the University,” Roy said.

try to pad women into the program just to fill a gender ratio,” Peterson said. “That would detract from the way that women are received in the group. We’re the same as everyone else. We don’t want it to be that we got in because we’re girls.” In the past five years, the number of freshman women admitted to the program has ranged from 26 to 42. Out of those, the number who decided to actually attend ranged from 15 to this year’s number of seven. But freshman Turing Scholar Disha Rao said these numbers still give her hope. “The trend is moving in the right

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culture. I feel like most people, if they decide that they like it, say, ‘I’m just going to reserve it for weekends and parties … and it usually ends up turning into an everyday thing.” Undeclared freshman Hattie Broyles said she also thinks people use Juuls for social reasons and was introduced to them by her friends. “Everyone was like, ‘Hey try this new thing — it’s so much healthier than cigarettes,’” Broyles said. “I’ve been one of those people who’ve always said ‘I’m never smoking,’ but I tried it one time, and when I first started using the Juul I used it a lot. Now I don’t.” Broyles added she feels that without the flavor component, Juul use would be far less prevalent. “I see a lot of people around me who do have addictions to the Juul,” Broyles said. “If Juul had never come out with any flavored things, I don’t think they would have an addiction.”

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student. We don’t simply just rush them off and say, ‘Well you gotta go see (APD).’” Smith said along with investigating crimes reported by students, APD officers are always working to foster stronger partnerships both with students living in West Campus and with UTPD. “Our district representatives have daily contact with students, businesses and citizens in the West Campus area,” Smith said. “Our patrol officers and supervisors also will call (UTPD) with any UT specific crime info on a daily basis and they keep us informed as well.”

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direction,” Rao said. “Despite the fact that we have very few girls, the atmosphere is incredible. I’ve never once really felt oppressed or left out. I think the industry is going toward a good place, especially with the kids in our classes who will be in it soon.” She said this trend showed after Shah won freshman representative for the Turing Scholar Student Association, who ran for the position after being urged on by fellow Turing Scholar Dede Zhou. “I hope society as a whole move towards more women in STEM,” Zhou said.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

CITY

UT researchers propose city policy changes on gentrification By Sara Schleede @saraschleede

UT researchers said they have identified which Austin neighborhoods are most vulnerable to gentrification as well as strategies to prevent its negative impacts. They presented their findings to the Austin City Council on Tuesday after being asked by the city to study gentrification in August 2017. “Just as a matter of basic fairness, there should be the complete spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds of people living in central Austin,” said Jake Wegmann, co-author of the study. “Austin will become a less interesting, fair and representative place if it comes increasingly only for the affluent.” The study characterizes gentrification as the displacement of low-income residents because of rising housing costs featuring a physical and cultural transformation of the neighborhood. Sixteen out of 200 Austin communities are experiencing gentrification, according to the study, and 23 communities with newly high-value properties are susceptible to potential displacement. “Displacement is hard on anyone, but it’s especially hard on more (economically) vulnerable people because they’re the least equipped to endure a shock like that,” Wegmann, an architecture professor, said. According to the study, gentrification is most evident in central east Austin and the “eastern crescent,” an area that starts in the northeast at St. John’s neighborhood and stretches along the eastern edge of the city south of the Colorado River. To find effective policy strategies, the research

eddie gaspar | the daily texan staff Elizabeth Mueller, associate professor of community and regional planning, speaks in front of Mayor Steve Adler and the rest of the Austin City Council about the UT professors’ findings. The report highlights how, when and where gentrification occurs in Austin.

team examined the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., northeast Portland and east Austin. While these cities have succeeded in implementing some successful anti-displacement policies, Wegmann said even the first signs of progress can take many years and millions of dollars. “There isn’t a city in America that really has a handle on this problem,” Wegmann said. “It’s hard because it takes a lot of

political will.” Study co-author Elizabeth Mueller said it is not realistic to completely stop a neighborhood from changing under market pressure, but given enough time and effort, those changes do not have to be so damaging to underprivileged groups. “The issue is: Can you preserve enough of the community for the vulnerable people there, (so) they still feel like they have a place in that community?” Mueller, an

architecture professor, said. Co-author Heather Way said it is most important to hone in on specific neighborhoods in the early stage of gentrification and hear about issues directly from the residents. “We ultimately think the best practices of development are these community-based plans that deploy a strategy for a specific neighborhood,” UT law professor Way said. The city’s Anti-Displacement

Task Force is currently drafting its own anti-gentrification policy recommendations, and Austinites will vote on a $300 million affordable housing bond in November. Way said these efforts show there is potential for positive change. “Even if you’re not someone who is personally impacted by the situation, if you care about being in a city that is culturally diverse and inclusive, then it is important to be engaged in this issue,” Way said.

CAMPUS

Travis County Commissioner’s Court opens second on-campus polling location at PCL By Sami Sparber @samisparber

The Perry-Castañeda Library will function as a second polling location during early voting and on Election Day following a unanimous vote Tuesday by the Travis County Commissioner’s Court. Citing increased wait times at the Flawn Academic Center, UT’s sole

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polling location since 2005, student leaders from TX Votes and University Democrats partnered with Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir to pass legislation for a second location on campus. “I’ve seen the line wrap all the away around the building, with students having to wait three to four hours to cast their vote,” said chemistry junior Maya Patel, vice president of TX Votes. “The long lines deter students from voting

because they simply don’t have time to wait. A second polling location on campus should minimize the wait times at the FAC.” Both the PCL and FAC polling locations will operate throughout early voting. To keep the lines moving on Election Day, students should vote sooner rather than later, Ronald Morgan, Travis County deputy clerk, said at the hearing. “Plan to vote early, and don’t just plan

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to vote early — plan to vote early during early voting,” Morgan said. “It’s a mouthful, but its important and it’s the easiest way to avoid the self-inflicted wound of waiting in line in the last few hours of Election Day.” Allie Runas, former University Democrats president, said she hopes more students vote since they no longer have to choose between class and waiting in line for three hours.

“The addition of the second polling location on campus is a huge step in acknowledging that the student population is motivated to exercise their civic duty now more than ever,” said Runas, an electrical and computer engineering senior. “I hope that students take this as an opportunity to take ownership of their futures and accept the responsibility of showing the county that they aren’t wasting anything on us.”

LIZA ANDERSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @TEXANOPINION

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

COLUMN

albert lee

| the daily texan staff

UT needs to work out its workout problem ella williams

| the daily texan staff

By Emily Caldwell Columnist

Gregory Gym should not throw away reusable water bottles from lost and found By Chen-Pang Chang Columnist

In Taiwan, we value conserving property so much that many Taiwanese who discover lost property will go to great lengths to return it to the owner. It is a moral obligation shared by many Taiwanese. So I was shocked to learn Gregory Gym staff threw my water bottle away only two hours after I left it behind. According to Gregory Gym’s website, found property will be turned in to the facility’s control area and “the staff member on duty will log and store the article(s) in the lost and found cabinet.” Despite the policy’s promise to hold items for “a minimum of seven days,” certain items get thrown away prematurely. Gregory Gym staff explained the issues with storing found reusable bottles. First, a large number of them get turned in. Jennifer Speer, senior director for Recreational Sports, said, “Each week we find a hundred or more water bottles left in Gregory Gym alone.” Second, they claim keeping bottles poses a sanitary risk. “There is always a chance of mold growing with even a small amount of residual liquid left in the bottle,” Speer said. “Additionally, we find bottles that contain protein drinks, which causes other issues when liquid is still in the bottle and sits stagnant for days.”

However, throwing away reusable bottles harms the environment and puts an undue financial burden on students. Consider a Nalgene bottle, which can cost over $20 or a Hydro Flask that can cost over $30. Gregory Gym’s current policy potentially allows for thousands of dollars worth of reusable bottles to be thrown away every year.

Gregory Gym should do more to protect the environment and students’ wallets by rethinking its current practices of throwing away reusable water bottles.” In contrast to UT, Kevin Kilgore, a lieutenant at the UCLA Police Department, stated in an email, “If the water bottle is a reusable type that someone would have likely purchased, we would empty any liquid contents and log that in our Lost & Found just as any other item.” Other institutions that keep reusable water bottles include the University of North Texas and the University

of Michigan who work with third parties to collect bottles. Some may argue that at schools such as the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, which only has 6,800 students, can deal with found reusable bottles because they have a smaller population of students and faculty. However, we should make a change in our lost and found system, not in spite of, but because of our large size. If we don’t, the environmental cost will be multiplied by the huge number of students on campus. When implementing environmental justice and a sustainable way of living, keeping reusable bottles for a few days should not be viewed as burdensome. Treating reusable bottles as disposable poses a great burden on our environment. Globally, 180 billion more plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 than a decade ago. Right now, Gregory Gym does not seem to have the capacity to deal with found reusable bottles. But partnering with third parties like Crowdfind — which provides universities with a lost-and-found platform that includes a catalog and claim system — would make this easier for staff. All in all, Gregory Gym should do more to protect the environment and students’ wallets by rethinking its current practices of throwing away reusable water bottles. Chang is a philosophy junior from Taiwan.

COLUMN

It’s time to replace your wilted plants with fake ones By Taylor Newman Columnist

Maybe you don’t have a green thumb. That’s okay — I sure don’t. In fact, none of my roommates do. That doesn’t stop us from putting orchids in the kitchen of our duplex in North Campus. Our solution? Fake plants. Face it — fake plants are the answer you crave to personalizing your space without killing your budget or those cute succulents that are so popular. They balance your desire for a greener room without requiring you to water or feed them. And admittedly, leaving the blinds open to give real plants sun can lead to you compromising your sanity with crack-of-dawn wake-up calls when the sunlight comes in. The truth is, most students can’t be trusted to feed and water themselves on a regular basis. Inevitably, bringing a living thing into the house that can’t scream out for help is going to end in heartbreak. After neuroscience junior Leah Salinksy mourned her lost bamboo plant, she said, “I have a tendency to kill plants … so I like having fake plants around because they make it seem like I can actually keep plants alive.” Bamboo plants are deceptively time consuming, requiring a watchful eye to make sure the soil is always a bit damp. Most students don’t know how often to water or feed their plants, usually leading to plants either drowning or dying of thirst. Neuroscience senior Kaya Rymarz has half a dozen fake plants in varying sizes around her room and supports students buying them as “a way to bring that extra kick of

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happiness into your life.” She adds that plants enable students to “make (their) safe space feel more alive.” Plants are an excellent way to show off your personality and brighten up a room. Ignoring the fact they are alive and require your attention, however, doesn’t free you from responsibility in their death. Having a plant you can get attached to with no consequences is the morally responsible thing to do during your transition into adulthood. There’s no shame in admitting you just

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.

| the daily texan staff

want a plant to add to the aesthetic of your room. And with decorating restrictions in dorms — as well as fees for painting and hanging on apartment walls — plants are an attractive option to complete the look of your home-away-from-home. Do the math: Buy one fake plant after movein, and it’ll last you throughout college. Or, you can keep buying the real thing and watch your flowers wilt in time with your exam schedules. Newman is a journalism junior from Frisco.

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.

The Whitis Area Community, a group of dormitories located on the northwest side of campus, are a considerable distance from the nearest on-campus gym. Kinsolving and Duren Residence Halls mention the existence of exercise rooms in their buildings, but they’re nothing close to supporting hundreds of students’ workout routines. UT should construct or convert an existing building on campus into a gym, both to alleviate the overcrowding of existing gyms and to more fairly cater to students living on the other side of campus. Avery Little, an international relations and global studies and studio art sophomore, lived in Duren last year and had to walk almost a mile every time she wanted to go to Gregory Gym. Bellmont Hall, a small gym located in the stadium, and the Recreational Sports Center are the only other real gyms on campus. They’re even further away.

An easily accessible gym shouldn’t be a luxury but an advantage all students living on campus should have the opportunity to enjoy.”

Other modes of transportation, such as the bus or her bike, proved to be difficult and more trouble than they were worth. “The bus was really inconvenient. Sometimes it would show up late. I couldn’t depend on that,” Little said. Furthermore, biking is not an option for everyone and is not always an ideal mode of transportation after an already strenuous workout. On-campus residents living on the Northeast side of campus have to devote approximately 15 to 20 minutes to reach the closest accessible gym — which doesn’t even incorporate the impact weather can have on the commute. “There were definitely times — especially in the winter — when I would need to work out and I could just not get myself to do a 20-minute walk when I’m freezing cold and have to carry a jacket around with me,” Little said. “It’s not the same as the kids in Jester who can just run across in their shorts or whatever — I would have to full-on gear up for this expedition that I’m going on.” When it came to working out on her own or using the exercise room in Duren, Little was left underwhelmed and disadvantaged. Because of a knee injury, Little can’t go on runs, and when she tries to use the gym at Duren, all three of the workout machines are usually taken. If UT were to construct a new gym, it wouldn’t have to be on the same scale as Gregory but would have to accommodate more than three people and be a realistically sized gym for the amount of people living in the area. When living in or near North Campus, a student can find themselves deprived of a convenient place to work out. By simply converting a pre-existing building on the north side of campus into a gym or by constructing a new one, UT can fairly provide all of their on-campus residents a gym close by — a move that would also help to even out the population of students who exercise at the other gyms on campus. An easily accessible gym shouldn’t be a luxury but an advantage all students living on campus should have the opportunity to enjoy. Caldwell is a Latin American studies and journalism sophomore from College Station.

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.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

STUDENT LIFE

A L B U M R E V I E W | ‘ T W I S T E D C RY S TA L’

Students create colorful app to help with mental health By Landry Allred @12ndry

None of the students ever thought their class project would end up in the App Store. The Mobile App News Design course proved them wrong. Last spring, four UT students — Kaitlin Reid, Connor Leech, Andrew Duna and Alec Griffin — released Vibrant, a mood-tracking application to help users maintain mental wellness. Despite three of the four creators graduating, the team remains focused on improving the app as a resource for mental wellness. Originally, the team pitched other ideas, including a grocery app and fitness app. They decided on a color-based, mood-tracking app after Leech, a journalism senior, saw a Reddit post featuring a girl who created a calendar and color-coded each day with the corresponding mood. “I thought that if this is as well received and it’s just this kind of ugly paper — because it wasn’t anything particularly pretty — I figured that would be a worthwhile product to build as a technical product,” Leech said. Once their pitch was approved by journalism professor Robert Quigley, the team began working in February, with Reid and Leech focusing on research and outreach, and Duna and Griffin focusing on design and coding. They managed to create the app to allow users to input their moods and a description linked to it. Reid, a journalism and public relations alumna, explained that allowing users to review insights of their past moods encourages them to focus on their mental wellness. “The more data people can have and accumulate and interpret on their own is really empowering, especially when it comes to mental health,” Reid said. “Our app is just a very simple way to prioritize your mental well-being.” Most of the research process consisted of user, beta and focus group testing, along with looking into the

Guerilla Toss drops album By Noah Van Hooser @TofuVan

psychology of mood-tracking. As they gathered feedback, the team also developed the iconic “mood ring” — the main screen where users selects their mood. For the process of mood selection, each team member took time to create a list of words describing how they felt throughout the week. They later compiled them into the eight words now used in the app to describe moods. The app’s simplicity pushes individuals to not only use it with ease but to have the desire to use it. Griffin, a computer science alumnus, explained that their mood-tracking app is different from others as it serves as a tool to help manage rather than diagnose mental wellness. “It was just, ‘Let’s make an app that doesn’t try to fix you or diagnose you,’” Griffin said. “Let’s make an app that’s vibrant, that’s full of color, and actually feels more like a game. Let’s gamify it in a sense that picking an emotion is fun.” The team hopes to continue developing the app, potentially adding features such as a lock screen, design tweaks, a social component, an Apple Watch app and more resources to help manage mental wellness and possible monetization. Duna, a computer science UT alumnus, said they aim to further emphasize the need for regular mental health assessments. “We feel our feelings but we don’t really think about them because, oftentimes, that’s scary to do,” Duna said. “I think this app is important because it encourages you to think about what you’re feeling and why you’re feeling it and to just further assess that more than we typically do.” Duna said he believes regularly keeping tabs on mental health pushes people to better understand their emotions. “When (mental health management) become(s) a part of your routine, it’s more innate to kind of believe in yourself, to trust in yourself and to have a healthier way of handling what you’re feeling in the circumstances around you,” Duna said.

For nearly eight years, the New York quintet Guerilla Toss, consisting of lead vocalist Kassie Carlson, guitarist Arian Shafiee, drummer Peter Negroponte, keyboardist Sam Lisabeth and bassist Stephen Cooper, has carved a particularly eccentric niche that continuously shapeshifts with each release. With a sonic palette ranging from dance-punk experiments to new wave revivals, the group’s discography exemplifies fluctuating instrumental arrangements which retain punk energy and flare. Twisted Crystal, the band’s third release under the DFA label, sees the band embarking on new forays into colorful compositions. Straying from the group’s conventionally primal, frenzied sound, the presented tracklist offers a slew of more accessible, immediate melodies, especially with touches of surf rock and classic rock, making their presence felt. The record seemingly shoots for an extraterrestrial aesthetic, weaving UFO-inspired sounds with rapid-fire guitar riffs, as Carlson reels off personal sentiments of alienation and complacency in a universe which alludes comprehension. Eastern-style guitar tuning alongside soaring synthesizers form syrupy, metaphysical passages which aim for nothing short of sensory overload and certainly fulfill their ambitions. The track “Magic Is Easy” opens the album in sensual fashion, with its flickering synths, which are of a divine nature. Divinity is actually a topic which the band embraces both stylistically and lyrically. On “Jesus Rabbit,” Carlson sings, “Jesus take me from this planet / You’re the leader and I’m your little rabbit,” a subtly degrading shot aimed at both humanity and Christianity. The aptly named “Walls of the Universe” soars toward epic heights in its climax, mirroring the harrowing scale of the cosmos. “Meteorological” likens the volatility of weather conditions to that of states of mind, despairingly acknowledging the unpredictability of human behavior over a wild bass riff. Although a bit puzzling on cursory listens, “Retreat” rewards patient listeners with a captivating fusion of flutes and ominous bass. Similar to the rest of the record,

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the track features a bustling instrumental and rabid energy with constantly ascending dynamics. “Green Apple,” the closing track, is a perfectly suitable ending to the album, unleashing an unfettered explosion of sound and charisma. On top of skittering drums that can’t rest content, Carlson’s freakish vocal lines feel otherworldly. The production seems endlessly spiraling, rotating each sound in rhythmically bizarre fashion. The group is cerebral and methodical throughout the tracklist, overlaying a surplus of electronics over space-rock style anthems, creating a brand of psychedelic rock which separates them from all other contemporaries. For those who feel inclined to jump head first into the winding discography of Guerilla Toss, Twisted Crystal serves as an essential starting point. New production methods are sophisticated and do plenty of justice to the group’s instrumental finesse, contrasted with previous albums which featured shrieky, amateurish production. Ditching the more challenging and obscure elements of their previous efforts in atonal music and noise rock on records like 2016’s “Eraser Stargazer,” this latest project stands as a strong testament to the group’s sonic innovation prowess, channeling the spirit of art rock and post punk into a collection of tunes that’s quite sweet on the ears. For such an effort, the band doesn’t sacrifice much. In fact, the crossroads of accessibility and eccentricity is incredibly appealing in and of itself, paving the way for further development within that already outlandish niche.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

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juan figueroa | the daily texan staff A horde of Texas fans, known as the “Hellraisers,” celebrate during the Longhorns’ 37-14 win over USC on Saturday. Thanks to a revamped student section policy, the Longhorns shattered an attendance record, previously set in the 2016 home opener against Notre Dame at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Attendance record set at DKR

New student section policy contributes to packed house. By Alex Briseño @AlexxBriseno

fter Texas celebrated its win over then-No. 22 USC, Longhorn players and coaches headed down the tunnel, where they were greeted by hundreds of students waiting to cheer them on before they headed to the locker room. “I want to start off by thanking our student body,” Herman said in his postgame press conference. “What an unbelievable

display of support by them. That’s two weeks in a row that they have showed up en masse and really had a direct impact on the game.” While much of the reason for the school-record 103,507 fans in attendance was attributed to the primetime matchup between the Longhorns and Trojans, it’s no secret that the new general admission policy has worked wonders in the first two games. On Jan. 11, Texas Athletics announced the plan to transition out of the highly critiqued wristband policy, which restricted students to specific sections, and into a first-comefirst-serve basis starting this season. “We will hope that the seating changes will create a more energetic atmosphere in the stadium,” former athletic director Mike Perrin told The Daily Texan after the announcement. “… If the students are energized and the music is reverberating around the stadium, it just creates a much more enjoyable fan experience.” On Saturday, the Texas student section was filled from top to bottom nearly an hour

before kickoff. The size of the crowd this year has surprised many newcomers, including graduate transfer Tre Watson, who said the attendance at Texas’ spring game was the size of his regular season games at Cal. “I didn’t really look too much into it last week so this week I was like, ‘Let me see how this really looks.’” Watson said after the game. “When you’re out there, you’re just playing football. You never get a chance to look around. Today I did, and it was crazy.” Texas’ student section has come a long way from last year when gaping holes in the crowd could be seen on numerous accounts. However, the general admission policy comes at an unfortunate time for seniors such as mechanical engineering major Will McNulty, who would have been guaranteed the best seats in the student section this year if the University still operated under the previous policy. Students now wait for the gates to open for more than three hours before kickoff, forcing them to choose between getting a good seat and participating in

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Texas confidence still high after non conference struggles By Keshav Prathivadi

Phillips contributes to Chargers first victory By Issac Gutierrez

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Sixteen. That’s the number of games remaining in No. 5 Texas’ season heading into Big 12 Conference play. That’s also the number of games the Longhorns will have to win — excluding the conference tournament — to secure the right to host all the rounds in the NCAA Tournament until the Final Four. After two consecutive losses to Stanford, the Longhorns are looking to bounce back. And despite only winning one of seven sets played against the Cardinal, Texas’ confidence hasn’t wavered. “It’s really important that just from this whole week, we learned we’re a really good team,” senior outside hitter Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani said. “We have a lot of pieces that once we get them all together, we’re going to be really successful.” This Longhorns team is different from previous years in that freshman players are at the core of the team. Led by players such as outside hitter Logan Eggleston, middle blocker Brionne Butler and outside hitter Katarina Luketic, Texas isn’t short on talent by any means. After playing one of the team’s toughest out-of-conference schedules in recent years — which featured games against ranked teams like Oregon, Wisconsin and Stanford — the Longhorn freshmen have a lot more experience than in previous years. In a Big 12 conference with several formidable teams, having younger players to lean on can be crucial. “There’s nothing like experience,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “Especially when you got a lot of young players on the floor to be in this kind of stress and see what it’s like and see how relentless it is and (how) good teams are.” Texas will kick off its conference slate during a road trip against Kansas State on Wednesday. The Wildcats

pregame festivities. “I realize that it will be better in the long run but yes, I was disappointed,” McNulty said. “I will have to show up to games much earlier now and miss out on out-of-stadium and tailgating events in order to sit in better seats.” McNulty said he got to the stadium one hour before kick off but was still forced to sit in the bleachers in the south end zone. While the timing may be unfortunate for seniors, McNulty admitted that there has been a noticeable improvement in the overall student experience. After the game, athletic director Chris Del Conte flashed a grin as he complimented the record-breaking crowd. “That’s what (Tom Herman and I) talked about: putting the ‘T’ back in Texas.” Del Conte told The Daily Texan. The Longhorn student section will likely be packed once again as Texas prepares to host No. 17 TCU for an opportunity at another signature win in the Tom Herman era.

@isaaxgutierrez

| the daily texan staff Senior outside hitter Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani attempts a spike during a match at Gregory Gym. She tied a season-high nine kills last outing vs. Stanford. ashley ephraim

linger just outside of the top 25 in the AVCA Coaches’ Poll and boast a 10–1 record heading into the contest. Kansas State is led by senior outside hitter Kylee Zumach, who has a

We’ve just got to get back in the gym and keep working at (our problems). Conference is going to challenge us as well, which is even better.” YA A S M E E N B E DA R T- G H A N I SENIOR

team-high 152 kills and 107 digs on the year. One thing that should worry Texas about Zumach is her height. Standing at 6-foot 4-inches, Zumach

could cause the same issues Stanford’s Kathryn Plummer and Audriana Fitzmorris created for the Longhorns “This preseason I thought our team was really good,” Bedart-Ghani said. “We’ve just got to get back in the gym and keep working at (our problems). Conference is going to challenge us as well, which is even better.” For many teams, the toughest part of the season — conference play — starts now. Texas, now eight games in, has received a chance to evaluate its play so far. Service errors and blocking have been focal points thus far, but both issues can be fixed. One positive that has emerged from this season is discovering the depth that Texas possesses. Eggleston, Luketic and Butler have played a big part in giving the Longhorns’ veterans some added talent to depend on, and it may prove to be a huge boost as the season continues. “There’s only one way to do it and that’s to get back in the gym,” Elliott said. “We can continue to get better. We’ve just got to believe in that and buy in.” Texas will play Kansas State tonight in Manhattan, Kansas. The first serve is set for 6 p.m.

As another week on the calendar has passed, so has a fresh batch of 16 NFL games. Week Two of the 2018 season is officially in the books, and with it, a myriad of performances from Texas’ many NFL alumni. Some of these players made their mark on their respective games, and some failed to live up to expectations. Here are how a few former Longhorns performed this week:

Adrian Phillips

After the Chargers fell victim to the scalding hot Chiefs in Week One, this was a must win game for Los Angeles as it traveled to Buffalo to play what has arguably been the worst team in the NFL. As expected, the Chargers left the game with a 31-20 victory. This win was due to the team’s stellar defensive performance in the first half. The Chargers’ ongoing pass rush and formidable secondary did not make things easy for Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen in his first career start. Nickelback Adrian Phillips played his part in the dominating performance, raking in one interception and five total tackles. Phillips’ playing time has taken a hit due to the arrival of rookie safety Derwin James, but through two games, the veteran has made the most of his time on the field.

Quandre Diggs

The Detroit Lions have been one of the league’s most disappointing teams through two weeks. Sitting with a record of 0–2, the team has not had many encouraging signs on either side of the ball.

Cornerback Quandre Diggs has been an exception. After Diggs returned an interception for a touchdown on the first play of Week One’s Monday Night Football game, he followed it up with another solid outing against the 49ers. Though San Francisco won by a score of 30-27, Diggs ended the game with five total tackles and two deflected passes. While the Lions surely expect improved performances going forward, it is hard for Detroit fans to be upset with Diggs’ defensive effort thus far.

Michael Dickson

Rookie punter Michael Dickson played well in Week Two but failed to replicate the level of play he displayed in the season’s first week. The Seahawks fell to the Bears in Chicago, 24-17. The Seattle offense was stagnant for much of the game, leading to many opportunities for Dickson to punt. He punted the ball seven times — one more than last week’s total — for an average of 45.1 yards per kick. Also, he executed a rare drop kick on a kickoff, an occurrence the NFL hasn’t seen since 2015. The biggest difference in Dickson’s performance was how many times he pinned the opponent’s offense behind their own 20-yard line. This occurred just one time at Soldier Field, a dramatic fall from the four he posted in a historic Week One performance. The 0–2 Seahawks have many reasons to be concerned about their team, but fifthround pick Michael Dickson is not one of them. The fact that in a game in which he averages 45.1 yards per attempt is viewed as an underwhelming outing shows the talent of the rookie punter.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

TELEVISION

Fat-shaming in ‘Insatiable’

The media industry’s unfaltering need to show fat-shaming narratives doesn’t help young viewers feel good about themselves.

Fat narrative in Netflix Original yields backlash. By Savannah J Salazar @savannahjai

hen the “Insatiable” trailer premiered in August, it sparked a large social media backlash toward the show’s display of a fat-shaming narrative. Within weeks, an online petition to cancel the show for that reason gathered over 200,000 signatures before the show even premiered. In spite of its negative reception, the controversial Original has been renewed for a second season. “Insatiable” tells the story of a bullied girl named Patty, played by Debby Ryan. After she loses weight one summer, her classmates begin to treat her differently. Disgusted by their superficial behavior, Patty decides to take revenge. However, the media’s need to show fat-shaming, transformative storylines can negatively affect young viewers is not new. According to a Paediatrics Child Health report, girls as young as 9 years old already deal with body image issues with one of the contributing major factors being movies, television shows and magazines. Gareth White, who co-facilitates “Big Bodies. Radical Love” at the Counseling and Mental Health Center, said that she hopes for media

to stop creating such harmful stories. Besides “Insatiable,” several types of media put out unhealthy notions about weight, which White says isn’t helpful for those struggling to maintain a positive body image. “There is this narrative that you’ll be happy once you’re skinny and everything will be fine once you’re skinny, but actually when interviewing real people — it doesn’t actually change how they feel about themselves very much,” White said. “It’s not a cure-all, so

I didn’t think my personal worth … meant anything until I lost weight. That view has completely changed now that I’m older.”

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these things that perpetuate that myth can be really harmful.” Krystal Cruz, a radio-television-film and journalism senior, said that growing up watching these types of movies and television shows affected the way she saw herself for a long time. “I didn’t think that my personal worth, like my skills (or) emotions meant anything until I lost weight,” Cruz said. “That (view) has completely changed now that I’m older, and I’ve

seen how messed up that sort of media is.” “Insatiable” star Alyssa Milano and Netflix vice president of Original Series Cindy Holland said the show is simply an over-the-top satire looking at issues such as body image and validation. “Ultimately, the message of the show is that what is most important is that you feel comfortable in your own self,” Holland said in a statement at the 2018 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. “Fat-shaming itself, that criticism, is embedded in the DNA of the show.” Social media users, such as radio-television-film junior Emma Rappold, said the show is just another piece of media playing on the damaging trope of simplifying weight loss. Rappold pointed out how the industry holds the potential to showcase powerful narratives yet tends to produce more self-denigrating narratives. For example, Rappold said that Netflix has the ability to pull from various creators to produce stories with a positive conversation on body image but instead creates and renews shows like “Insatiable.” “Weight is such a sensitive issue, especially for young girls,” Rappold said. “It’s hard to deal with, and we don’t really need any more media telling us to be super skinny. I feel like it’s something of the past, and we’re over it.” It may take more than social media outcry to get the media to stop showing these fat transformative narratives, so White encourages others to practice self-care. One of White’s proposals is to try abstaining from this type of media. “My hope for people is that they could change the media that they’re consuming,” White said. “We should choose to watch things that are body-positive and fat-positive, and we can choose shows that portray fatness in a loving and caring way as opposed to a terrible way.”

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