serving the university of texas at austin community since
@thedailytexan |
thedailytexan . com
1900
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
volume
119,
issue
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
“David’s Law” offers protections for student cyberbullying victims. PA G E 3
Students need to advocate for paid sick leave in Austin. PA G E 4
Hyde Park’s Dolce Vita to close its doors to local residents by end of the month. PA G E 8
Beck discusses return to field after week in hopsital, Orlando to renew old rivalry. PA G E 6
CAMPUS
42
CITY
Blue Index project aims to promote interaction with water By Savana Dunning @savanaish
anthony mireles | the daily texan file Bevo XV is escorted out of the south endzone tunnel at Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial stadium by members of the Texas Silver Spurs. With a current horn span of 58 inches, his horns will continue to grow for life.
Bevo XV: growing machine UT mascot’s horns have grown 16 more inches in the past two years. By Gracie Awalt @gracieawalt5
s the football team continues to increase their number of big wins this season, Bevo XV’s horns have been gaining big inches as well.
Bevo XV’s horns have grown more than one foot wider in the past two years. In 2016, his horn span from tip to tip was 42 inches. Now, his horn span is 58 inches. Ricky Brennes is the executive director of the Silver Spurs’ Alumni Association, which is responsible for handling and caring for Bevo XV, who is currently three years old. He said Bevo’s horns will grow an inch longer every month, until he turns six years old, when the growth rate will slow down. “His horns will continue to grow for the rest of his life,” Brennes said. “The average lifespan of a Longhorn is around mid-20s, so we’ll have to wait and see how much they grow.”
Brennes said the last mascot, Bevo XIV, had the longest horn span historically out of all of the Bevos, measuring approximately 82 inches. He said it is too early to know if Bevo XV’s horns will reach that length because each Longhorn is unique, and each set of horns bends and grows differently. “It’s like looking at a toddler and asking how tall they’ll be in the future,” Brennes said. “You don’t really know, and there’s no real way of telling. It’s hard to say, and it’s just one of those things you have to wait for it to play out.” Brennes said they let Bevo’s horns grow and do nothing to maintain them, but they make sure Bevo does not damage them.
“He could bang a horn on something but it’s pretty hard to damage them,” Brennes said. “The horns are pretty sturdy, so whatever it would be it would have to be pretty significant. We certainly pay attention to anything he could do where he might injure them.” Andrew Miller, a current Texas Silver Spur, said many people expect Bevo to be aggressive like a bull, but the 1,700 pound steer is docile and happy due to his pampered lifestyle. He rides in an air-conditioned trailer and has a choice between hay, grass, filtered water, sweet cubes and feed. “I’ve never seen him aggressively use his horns,” said Miller, a business honors and
BEVO
page
Two phone stands have appeared on campus bridges overlooking Waller Creek, seeking information from passersby about how Austin’s waterways impact their well-being. The stands are a part of The Blue Index project, a two-year study conducted by architecture graduate student Kevin Jeffery looking into people’s relationships with Austin’s bodies of water. The project uses phone stands with informational placards, called stations, across 30 of Austin’s waterways, which prompt visitors to take a photo of the waterway and scan a QR code for a brief survey. The survey asks for the participant’s emotional reaction to being near the water, ranging from serenity to fear, and other demographic information regarding the participant. “It’s not enough to just sit and observe anymore,” Jeffery said. “Everyone has a moral responsibility to chip in, so this is my way of adding my power to the sustainability effort. This is how I choose to make it better.” The project has received more than 1,000 responses since Jeffery started it in August 2017. Jeffery said he was inspired after reading Blue Mind by Wallace Nichols. The book theorizes people are more relaxed and happy when near bodies of water and that lack of water in a surrounding area can make people tense and stressed. “Blue mind is a feeling where you’re more relaxed and calm,” Jeffery said. “It’s a calming state as opposed to red mind, which is aggressive, stressed, fight or flight instincts. Most urban cities don’t have so many natural waterways you can sit next
WATER
3
page
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
West Campus housing to replace historic B&B
Marijuana arrests, citations drop on UT campus for first time since 2014
By Adriana Rezal @adrianarezal
A new 17-story high-rise will begin construction in West Campus next summer and will surround the historic Kenney House that currently sits on the property. The Kenney House, which currently houses a bed and breakfast called The Star of Texas Inn, sits on the corner of West 22nd and Rio Grande street. The house was established as a historic landmark in 1983 by Mike McHone, who attended UT in the late 1960s and is the project consultant for the new high-rise. As a UT physics student, McHone lived in the Kenney House when it was used for student housing. McHone said he decided to establish the house as a historic landmark to save it from being torn down by construction in West Campus.
“Student condominiums were the big deal and they were knocking down buildings right and left to build them,” McHone said. “I was trying to save the neighborhood as some of the more historic buildings went down.” McHone said the high-rise, which will be called Villas in Rio, will have glass walls on its bottom levels to show off the historic building. The Kenney House will be bordered on two sides by the high-rise and will be converted to a coffee shop and may also host office spaces. McHone said restoring the Kenney House will benefit its historic importance. “We’re incorporating it and showing it off and hopefully having more people know a little bit more about the Kenney House and see it as a historic landmark and recognize it for its contribution … to the city of Austin,” McHone said.
B&B
page
3
By Hayden Baggett @HaydenBaggett
Marijuana related arrests and citations issued by the UT Police Department have dropped this year after increasing annually since 2014, records show. The records, obtained by The Daily Texan through the Texas Public Information Act, indicate that UTPD has dealt with 94 fewer cannabis charges in 2018 than overall in 2017. Police officials cite their increased focus on West Campus as responsible for this change. “We started focusing our efforts on the community that live just west of campus,” said UTPD Captain Chris Bonnet. “As those folks got used to
2
seeing us over there, there was less of that criminal activity occurring or, at least, we saw less of it.” In spite of the increase in charges between 2014 and 2017, Bonnet said his department never considered students smoking marijuana to be an issue in the first place. “I wouldn’t classify it as a problem,” Bonnet said. “It’s a criminal violation for the time being. Laws are always subject to change but like every other criminal violation that occurs on campus, it’s our responsibility to address it.” He said UTPD does not often resort to arresting cannabis offenders unless other criminal activity is involved. “It’s not like we target pot-smokers,” Bonnet
CITATIONS
page
3
TEXASSPORTS.COM/BIGTICKET TEXASSPORTS.COM/BIGTICKET || 512-471-3333 512-471-3333
rena li
| the daily texan staff