Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 31
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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Texas DPS will begin accepting applications for medical cannabis dispensaries in October.
Students should stop dismissing sexual harassment at gym as flirting.
Kendra Scott discusses plans for new UT Women’s Entrepreneurial Institute.
Basketball star Celeste Taylor finds her place at Texas.
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
Turtle pond closed for repairs Two-phased, $1M sewage line renovation project temporarily shuts down one of UT’s staple visiting spots.
gy Management previously rerouted the flow from Hogg Memorial Auditorium, The Texas Union and the Flawn Academic Center to the line on 24th Street because of similar access issues.
Student orgsanizations promote voter registration
lem at UT but in cities around the country. Banner said in his research on Waller Creek, he found aging infrastructure can affect water quality by releasing materials, such as sewage and heavy metals, into the surrounding bodies of water.
By Victoria May @toricmay
On National Voter Registration Day, campus voter education groups took part in registering hundreds of students to vote in a few hours. Civic engagement organizations, such as TX Votes, Texas Rising, Univeristy Democrats and College Republicans, set up tables throughout campus Tuesday to encourage students to vote. Some of the tables offered pizza or raffles as incentives for students to learn about voting. “The number of organizations that have come out in favor of youth voter efficacy and civic engagement have renewed passion amongst young people, especially in terms of engagement at the polls,” said Nick Eastwood, Texas Rising coalition chair. “Voting is not something that’s partisan. It’s easy to get behind. It’s your vote. It’s your voice in your democracy. Just showing up to the polls is the most important step.” While numbers won’t be available for a few days, Eastwood, international relations and global studies and Russian studies sophomore, said he believes the groups registered more students than last year. He also said the face-to-
By Laura Morales @lamor_1217
he turtle pond no longer has sewage flowing beneath it due to construction of a new sewage line, which diverts waste from the Main Building. Jim Shrull, the sewer project manager at Utilities and Energy Management (UEM), said the sewage line from the Main Building now connects to a line on 24th Street. He said solids and liquids were flowing through the old pipelines until the sewage was cut off in the summer. Shrull said the old sewer line, most likely built in the 1930s, has a significant sag in the middle, but the management could not reach it for maintenance without destroying the turtle pond. “We would not have been able to repair it,” Shrull said. “In an emergency situation, the Main Building would have been uninhabitable because they would have no sewer service, (and) the turtle pond would have been contaminated.” Despite the sag, Shrull said the old pipes do not have leakages or breaks. Shrull said the management is expecting the construction of the new line, which is taking place behind the Main Building, to be finished on Oct. 5. Shrull said the construction is part two of a two-phased sewage line renovation project, which will cost an estimated $1 million. As part of the project, he said Utilities and Ener-
serena romero
“We survey our sanitary system every five years,” Shrull said. “This is one of those systems that we highlighted a couple of years ago, and we finally got the funding together to fix it.” Environmental science professor Jay Banner said old sewer pipes are not just a prob-
/ the daily texan staff
“There is (a) significant amount of leakage coming from the urban infrastructure network that supplies water on the drinking water side and the network that returns water on the T U R T L E PAGE 2
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UNIVERSITY
University launches substance abuse program SHIFT the executive leadership team for SHIFT. She said one of the pilot programs trains First-Year Interest Group and Transfer-Year The Division of Student Affairs Interest Group leaders in comand the School of Undergraduate munity building skills and how Studies launched SHIFT, a subto address conversations about stance abuse prevention initiative, substance misuse. on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Steiker said one of the other Dozens of students attended pilot programs is a proposal conthe kickoff for the program near test called SHIFTovation, where the Perry-Castañeda Library, students, staff and faculty can where organizers handed out propose ways to change the culT-shirts and frozen pops and disture of substance abuse and apply cussed the goals of the program. for financial resources. Steiker According to the SHIFT website, said she wanted to be a part of the initiative is launching six piSHIFT because it closely relates lot programs this semester which to her young adult substance focus on changing the culture of misuse research. substance use on campus. “I have been frustrated over SHIFT director Kate Lower the years that we do a great job at said the initiative was formed not orientation letting students know to simply discourage substance about the resources (and) catchabuse but to educate students on ing students in crisis, but it’s hard safe practices. to catch the students who are just having early warning signs,” Steiker said. I’ve seen the ways we can Lowerhhsaid scale those things back, and substance abuse in doing so, people end up is largely considered a normalized happier, healthier. part of the college experience, and MILES GREENFIELD SHIFT aims to public health junior change that. “We often are expected to see “(SHIFT) is not an acronym,” misuse as the norm,” Lower said. Lower said. “It’s a bold call to “Yet, when we do see it, it’s like, action.” ‘Well, that’s just part of college, Lori Steiker, Steve Hicks prothat’s just the tradition.’” fessor of addiction, recovery and Lower said SHIFT is not meant substance use services, is part of to be an abstinence program or By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
kirsten hahn
/ the daily texan staff
Sabreen Woolfolk, a leveling student for communication disorders, receives a popsicle from a SHIFT volunteer. SHIFT plans to change ideas about substance abuse around campus. emergency resource — SHIFT is meant to be a resource for students considering or experimenting with recreational substance use and encourages them to reflect on their decisions. “We’re not looking at when there’s a problem or abstinence,” Lower said. “We’re really looking at this middle ground.” The classroom pilot part of the program trains signature course professors on how to recognize
risk factors of substance abuse and create closer relationships with students who may need guidance, Lower said. “Students are here for the academics,” Lower said. “Faculty have a really huge strength in that area to really connect with students.” Public health junior Miles Greenfield is a student advisory board member for SHIFT and works on outreach and student
recruitment. Greenfield said he has seen the negative effects of substance abuse on people around him on campus, which encouraged him to join the program. “I’ve seen the ways we can scale those kinds of things back, and in doing so, people end up happier, healthier,” Greenfield said. “We want to start shifting the culture today, and that starts with entering the awareness of everyone around us.”
JOIN THE TRADITION! September 23–27 • 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Etter-Harbin Alumni Center
TexasExes.org/Rings COMPLETED HOURS REQUIRED: Undergraduate, 75; Graduate, 16