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Serving The University of Texas at Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com NEWS APD will soon be able to better detect fingerprints on different surfaces.
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Tuesday, September 10, 2019
OPINION Students should take classes that reflect their unique identities.
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Volume 121, Issue 20
SPORTS Despite loss to LSU, Tom Herman and the Longhorns remain unfazed moving forward.
LIFE&ARTS UT student gets women CHAARG-ed up about fitness and community.
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CAMPUS
Longhorn stampede Influx of students, construction to South End Zone create game day chaos.
By Donnavan Smoot
@Dsmoot3D
ong before No. 9 Texas squared off against No. 6 LSU, a stampede of students crowded around the gates of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. As the gates opened, thousands of students rushed into the stadium in an attempt to secure a seat for the biggest home game of the year. “The gates started opening around 4:25ish, then people started pushing,” senior journalism major Miranda Larralde said. “Me and my friends tried to link arms … but I ended up losing four of my friends and staying with just one of them.”
Due to the magnitude of the game, which included ESPN’s College GameDay making a stop on the Forty Acres, seats in the student section were limited. The University sent an email to the student body on Sept. 5 giving directions to students concerning when and where to enter. According to the email, “All student seating is general admission and available on a first come, first served basis.” It was anticipated that the game would be one of high demand, so UT told its students that having a “Big Ticket” did not guarantee access into the game. As a result, students took action. Many students began to line up outside of the stadium nearly eight hours before kickoff to attempt to secure a spot in the stadium. As for home games, the plan to scan student
jamie hwang
/ the daily texan staff
UT students charged inside the gates of DKR for Saturday night’s prime-time showdown against the LSU Tigers, creating a hazardous environment for fans.
IDs holding students’ Big Ticket and assign wristbands to allow students to fill into the designated student section went by the wayside, causing a chaotic game day scene. The stampede of students at every gate allowed students to forgo showing identification to stadium staff, causing the staff to have to wait until students found their seats to pass out wristbands. “I did see the security trying to check S T A M P E D E PAGE 3
CITY
CAMPUS
New site to help navigate Austin transit
UTPD hosts first active shooter response training of semester
By Graysen Golter @graysen_golter
The Austin Transportation Department launched a new website last week to help people easily access sustainable transportation resources. The new website, GetThereATX.com, compiles information about various Austin transportation services, such as Capital Metro, carpool apps and dockless scooters, into one location for Austin residents and visitors to find. The website lists trail maps, rules for conduct on scooters and links to CapMetro’s trip planning app, among other things. Jacob Barrett, a public information specialist for the Austin Transportation Department, said they created the website to consolidate information about different means of transportation into one location to educate people on how to use them. He said along with giving tips on using nonpublic transportation
By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
joshua guenther
/ the daily texan file
GetThereATX.com, launched by the Austin Transportation Department, aims to help those living in Austin navigate bus schedules, carpooling services and other transportation resources. options such as bikes and dockless scooters, which are often cheaper than cars, the website will help people understand CapMetro’s buses and railway schedules. “One challenge that we really wanted to address … was to provide people (a)
one-stop shop,” Barrett said. “The mission of (the Austin Transportation Department) is to get everyone around the city effectively (and) cheaply. GetThereATX is another resource that provides both.” Julie Anderson, the en-
vironmental program coordinator for the department, said the website will give out travel information regarding big events, such as football games and Austin City Limits Music Festival, T R A N S I T PAGE 3
The UT Police Department hosted its first open-to-all Civilian Response to Active Shooter class Monday afternoon in the Avaya Auditorium in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Building. The presentation gave its 13 attendees an in-depth look at how to best respond in an active shooter situation, emphasizing UTPD’s mantra of “Run, Hide, Fight.” UTPD officers, the Victims Advocate Network coordinator and representatives from the Campus Safety office spoke at the event. Officer Dustin Farahnak said one of the most important things to take away from the class is how to react immediately when confronted with dangerous situations because the time it takes for bystanders to decide how to act greatly affects their chances
of surviving the threat. “If … something like this happens, you psychologically go through denial, and then you have to deliberate what you’re going to do, and then you might take an action to protect yourself,” Farahnak said. “That period of time before you take the action is very dangerous. We want to get you through that.” The presentation explained how the brain responds to fear, detailing how sometimes people revert to a “lizard brain” mindset, meaning they do not think reasonably about what to do next and can regress to illogical habits, such as gathering their things before leaving a space under immediate threat. Adriana Kelly, Plan II and public relations sophomore, said she had not thought about how she might react in a high stakes situation. “I’ve taken psych classes UTPD
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