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serving the university of texas at austin community since
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1900
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018
volume
119,
issue
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SCIENCE & TECH
SPORTS
Candidates for HD 46 and HD 49 discuss their platforms and why they’re running. PA G E 2
UT should offer help to students affected by national sexual assault stories. PA G E 4
New exercise class offers safer alternative to late night workouts. PA G E 5
Solar-powered snow cones are coming to UT as energyefficient icy treats. PA G E 3
Buechele’s patience puts him back in the starting role as Ehlinger sits with injury. PA G E 7
CAMPUS
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WEATHER
Students cite conscience for meningococcal vaccination exemptions
Wet weekend warnings
By Megan Menchaca @meganmenchaca13
Out of 78 total students at UT exempt from the meningococcal vaccination for the 2018–19 school year, 68 were exempt for reasons of conscience. According to data obtained by The Daily Texan through a Texas Public Information Act request, the remaining students were exempt for medical reasons, age and one reason that could not be determined. Under the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act of 2011, all students under the age of 22 attending a university in Texas must get vaccinated for bacterial meningitis, a fatal infection that causes swelling of the membranes surrounding the brain. However, students can file an affidavit to receive an exemption from this requirement for medical reasons or reasons of conscience. Rachel Wiseman, assessment, compliance and evaluation group manager at Texas Department of State Health Services, said reasons of conscience can include religious beliefs, political objections or alternate perceptions about the safety of vaccines. She said neither schools nor DSHS record-specific exemption reasons are listed in the affidavits. “When the schools collect paperwork, as far as I know, they’re not taking specific information about why somebody is choosing not to be vaccinated, either,” Wiseman said. While this number is a small proportion of students at UT, Melinda McMichael, the interim director for University Health Services, college students who do choose not to get vaccinated are more susceptible to contracting bacterial meningitis. McMichael said symptoms include headache, fever and stiff neck, and the disease can result in amputations, heart problems, kidney failure or death.
VACCINE
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By Savana Dunning @savanaish
Increased water levels from Lake Travis may create flooding in Austin on Friday. The Highland Lakes, a chain of six lakes — created by dams on the Colorado River and including Lake Austin and Lake Travis — is experiencing historic flooding that is expected to increase over the next several days. The water level in Lake Travis is expected to rise between five to 10 feet, which may lead to the opening of up to eight floodgates on Friday, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s website. The release of water from the lake by the gates will raise the Colorado River’s water level, potentially flooding areas downstream from Lake Travis, including Lake Austin and Ladybird anthony mireles | the daily texan staff Lake, according to KVUE. TOP: Lower Colorado River Authorities have opened as many as eight floodgates, The water in Lake Travis has risen 36 feet including the Tom Miller Dam to mitigate excess rainwater in the area. over the past week, according to KWTX. BOTTOM: Tom Abrigo looks to his friend, Collin Hunt (not pictured), in shock of The LCRA, which manages the Highland rapidly rising water levels near the Tom Miller Dam. Recent heavy rains have Lakes, has already opened four floodgates forced the Lower Colorado River Authority to open at least eight floodgates.
on Mansfield Dam in Austin this Thursday to control this increase, which is the fifth highest increase in the lake’s water level in its history. “They’ve never opened eight floodgates before, so it’s hard to tell what will happen at this point,” said Angel Flores, public information officer for Austin Travis County Emergency Operations. “It’s just a matter of being as prepared as we can.” According to its website, the City of Austin’s Flood Warning System is expecting road closures, including the intersection of Cesar Chavez Street and Lamar Boulevard. The Barton Creek Greenbelt and Barton Springs are also closed until further notice, according to City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, HSEM website. For flooding updates, the HSEM and the LCRA update flooding conditions on their websites. Central Texas residents can also receive emergency phone alerts regarding recent and future flooding from WarnCentralTexas.org.
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
UT sets food waste guidelines for vendors
Program offers ‘Free Class Pass’ for seniors
By Jackson Barton @jackson_brton
By Adriana Rezal Austin’s Universal Recycling Ordinance, implemented Oct. 1, requires businesses to divert organic waste from landfills to places such as food banks, farms and compost centers. The ordinance impacts every food vendor in the city, except those located inside state entities such as UT, which has no policy in place requiring any waste diversion for food service contractors in Unions. However, UT has set its own waste diversion goals, which the University Union’s contracted third party vendor Aramark voluntarily complies with. Aramark manages many of the franchise food vendors in the Texas Union and Student Activity Center, said James Buckley, University Unions director of facilities and operations. Aramark requires kitchen employees to report all organic food waste before it is sent to be composted. These guidelines voluntarily comply
@adrianarezal
eddie gaspar | the daily texan staff Vendors in the Texas Union and SAC are required to estimate food wastes by weighing and describing the reason for the waste.
with the University’s goal to reduce waste sent to landfills, Buckley said. “The easy thing to do is just throw (food waste) away,”
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Buckley said. “(The current process is) a lot more effort than just throwing it in the trash can and walking away. So it takes effort on everybody’s part.”
As part of Aramark’s requirements, employees toss food waste, such as lemon rinds or
WASTE
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To improve diversity, the UT Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is offering a “Free Class Pass” to adults over 50 years old interested in taking seminar and lecture-style classes this fall. The institute offers paid membership holders noncredit academic classes, in subjects such as fine arts, history and business, as well as extracurricular events. Members pay $240 to $330 annually for programs, including three six-week seminars in fall, winter and spring sessions. However, institute director Julie Martenson said membership has been predominantly white and does not represent the Austin community. To promote membership diversity, Martenson said the institute began advertising the “Free Class Pass,” announced at the
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end of August. The pass grants prospective members a free day of lectures and seminars. “Making certain that our content is diverse so that it reaches and speaks to a diverse audience but also introduces diverse concepts and diverse lifestyles and ideas and that sort of thing (is important to promote diversity),” Martenson said. The institute is also initiating a $1,000 annual scholarship to support graduate student research in diversity, together with the UT Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. “There’s a million different ways that my members reach out and support UT,” Martenson said. Curriculum coordinator Mark Leavenworth said session speakers come from UT and the wider Austin community. “We draw heavily from UT faculty, but we also
SENIORS
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