Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 42
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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Women’s Storybook Project allows incarcerated mothers to read to their children.
WEST CAMPUS
Students need more opportunities to engage with the greater Austin community.
‘Goodenough’ to win: UT Professor wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Longhorns win fourth straight Big 12 match in sweep of Kansas State.
UNIVERSITY
Electrical work delays opening of Insomnia Cookies
Compost costs University University Resource Recovery promotes Zero Waste education after being charged hundreds of dollars per week for contamination in compost loads.
By Sara Johnson @skjohn1999
Insomnia Cookies’ new location on San Antonio Street has delayed its opening until later this semester due to electrical issues during remodeling. The late-night cookie delivery business intended to open by the end of the summer, as previously reported by The Daily Texan. Development permits from the city of Austin show the electrical installation process has been delayed several times since the summer. “Getting the really basic and really important parts of any business laid down is going to be a long process,” said Hazi Ortiz, a call center supervisor for Insomnia Cookies. “Delays happen. We’re doing the best we can to expedite the process and open up.” According to public city permit records, Insomnia Cookies had a continuance of work permit approved Monday. Ortiz said an opening date will be planned and announced once all remaining work is completed and approved. “A lot of people wonder why we haven’t expanded to Austin sooner, so we’re really eager to get this location opened up,” Ortiz said. “Insomnia (Cookies) started in a college dorm room. Student markets are always markets we want to reach, and Austin has a really thriving one.” Insomnia Cookies delivers until 3 a.m., according to the company’s website. Mechanical engineering senior Victoria Do said she was eager for the store to open because she uses a lot of food delivery services. “I definitely don’t eat at the same time a normal person does, even for regular meals,” INSOMNIA
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By Laura Morales @lamor_1217
niversity composting loads are racking up hundreds of dollars in contamination fees per week. University Resource Recovery, which is responsible for reusing campus resources, said students should toss their waste in a landfill bin instead of guessing whether it is compostable. Resource Recovery manager Robert Moddrell said the University Operational Fund, which finances basic facilities maintenance, is paying an Austin compost processor $300 to $400 per week along with the standard $31 per ton. Fees increase because of the non-compostable material in the weekly load, he said, which can cost $500 for three pieces of glass per load. Moddrell said the threshold for what is considered a contaminated load is low. “It doesn’t take much,” Moddrell said. “With things like glass, it can break and end up in the soil they are selling for people to work in their garden.” Moddrell said composting waste is cheaper than sending it to the landfill, but with contamination fees, the cost per week is roughly equal. Moddrell said he suspects the compost fees to rise as the Zero Waste Workplace initiative, which aims to divert 90% of campus waste from ending up in landfills, expands across campus. “Composting is $8 less than landfill (per ton),” Moddrell said. “There is a savings on the overall generation of compost versus landfill, but the fines are eating up that savings.” These fees fund the labor costs to clean out the contamination from the load, said Noelle Bugaj, organics recycling account manager at the compost processing company Organics By Gosh. She said the company has a team go through the compost to hand-pick out non-compostable materials. Bugaj said a small amount of contamination
can affect the whole composting and recycling system. “The cost of contamination in any kind of processing is really high,” Bugaj said. “It is really important people understand the kind of power they have with just the flick of their wrist. When they throw something into one bin versus the other, they can change the entire system.” Moddrell said the University does not face any fees from the University recycling processor and in the past made a $50,000 to $60,000 profit a year from selling recycled plastic to manufacturers. However, Moddrell said the University is no longer making any profit from plastics sales. “Recycling is in a state of flux right now across the country,” Moddrell said. “This is because the value of plastic has gotten lower, and it has become questionable to deal with.” He said Resource Recovery is planning to put clearer signage on composting bins. Resource Recovery is also collaborating with University Housing and Dining on the Zero Waste Hero program, a series of classes to teach people about composting and recycling, Moddrell said. UHD sustainability coordinator Neil Kaufman said the Zero Waste Hero program helps solve the issue of “wishful recycling.” “This is when somebody wants to do the right thing and feels like they are
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recycling more than they are throwing away,” Kaufman said. “They will recycle and compost things that aren’t actually recyclable or aren’t actually compostable. There is a lot more harm than good in that. They mean well, but it’s wrong.”
CAMPUS
CAMPUS
UTPD encourages students, staff, faculty to continue utilizing anonymous tip service
Students wary of class group chats after recent cheating accusation
By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
Anyone on campus can send anonymous tips to the UT Police Department. It is up to UTPD detectives to decide what to do next. Anonymous tip reporting is available to students, staff and faculty through UTPD’s website, where tips are sent via email to the Investigations and Analysis Division. UTPD Chief David Carter said officers look at every tip that comes in and respond based on the amount of information and the severity of the threat. “The vast majority of the tips don’t result in necessarily somebody being arrested, but they actually will help us in terms of awareness,” Carter said. “Sometimes we will get multiple tips that relate to the same thing, so while the information may not be all encompassed within one tip, it gives us an idea
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where there’s some area of concern.” Carter said he hopes that by increasing community contact and trust, students will be comfortable providing information with more details and more directly.
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“The issue of anonymous tips really is that sometimes, especially in a young student community, (students) may be not comfortable in contacting the police,” Carter said. “We hope to break down those kinds of
barriers in the future … so that people are comfortable in sharing information with us … and recognize that we’re not going to run rough shot just because somebody gives a tip.” Many tips UTPD receives concern behavior that could potentially harm someone, Carter said. Lt. Chris Miller, who oversees UTPD detectives and the Threat Mitigation Unit, said it is important for tips to have as much detail as possible. “When reporting anonymously, providing … detailed information about the parties involved is imperative,” Miller said. “An anonymous tip that is too vague or lacks too many details is very difficult to follow up on.” Once a tip is sent to the Investigations and Analysis Division, a detective reviews it and decides to follow-up on it when appropriate by U T P D PAGE 2
By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
After about 70 University students were recommended for failure or expulsion when information about an exam was posted in a class GroupMe last week, students say they are leaving GroupMes out of caution. Anthropology professor John Kappelman sent an email Sept. 20 to the students in his Introduction to Biological Anthropology class informing them that any student in the class group chat would be facing disciplinary action. Since the email has been posted on social media, psychology sophomore Sarah Low said students she know are wary of using their class group chats. “My reaction, just because I’m a really cautious person: I just left all my class GroupMes,” Low said. In the email, Kappelman said students who previously left
the group chat or changed their names would still face punishment because he was able to see the chat’s history. According to Kappelman’s syllabus, students are not allowed to discuss exams or lab assignments through any medium. “Any student found cheating … will receive an automatic F in the course, and their case will be directed to the appropriate University authorities for additional sanctions that may include dismissal from the University,” the syllabus said. Kappelman declined to comment. Mechanical engineering senior Ahmet Selimoglu said about 50 students left a group chat for his American Literature course after the email was posted online. “They were afraid the University was going to crack down on group chats,” Selimoglu said. “When people leave, it makes C H A T PAGE 3
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MEGAN MENCHACA
News Editor | @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
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CAMPUS
New Maymester programs offer Signature Courses abroad for undergraduate students By Brooke Ontiveros @brookexpanic
Undergraduate students who still need to fulfill their signature course requirement will now have the opportunity to earn these credits abroad through new Maymester programs. The new programs, called the Signature Maymester Programs Abroad, will give priority registration to transfer students, said Amy Exah, assistant director of faculty-led programs. Signature Courses introduce new students to areas of study outside of their major and are taught by upper-level professors, according to the Undergraduate Studies website. The courses will be taught in Ireland, Spain and Mexico, and will cover topics such as Irish emigration, the relationship between Spain, Mexico and the American Southwest, and issues and stereotypes related to immigration, according to the Education Abroad Office. The Education Abroad Office and the First-Year Experience Office created the new programs to target transfer students, who are underrepresented in study abroad, Exah said. “Often, transfer students come in at such a point in their academic career where they don’t have as much space or time to study abroad, or they’ve already fulfilled their core requirements,” Exah said. She said each class will consist of 22 to 26 students. The programs will last four weeks and give students three credit hours towards their degrees. Signature Course Maymesters will require students to take an international learning seminar worth one credit hour in the spring, said Heather Thompson, director of Education Abroad. “It’s an opportunity for students to meet (during) the semester preceding the program with a faculty leader to set the groundwork for the learning that’s going to happen abroad,” Thompson said. Throughout the week, students will attend three hours of class and occasional educational excursions on the weekends, according to an informational flier. “The city is used as (the students’) laboratory,” Exah said. “Students really learn, meet with guest lecturers, local experts and visit unique locations.” All classes taken abroad have UT course equivalents
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that are modified to fit and enhance learning in the international location, Exah said. “(Students will) understand what it’s like to live in a country that is not a world power,” government professor Bartholomew Sparrow said. Mechanical engineering freshman Natalia Cantu said
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AUSTIN WEATHER TODAY Oct. 10
HI LO
95º 66º
TOMORROW Oct. 11
HI LO
74º 52º
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NEWS
she is interested in the Maymester programs because they provide real-world experience. “A lot of companies are looking for you to be comfortable with relocating and adjusting to a new area,” Cantu said. “I feel like that willingness to adapt to a new culture is beneficial.”
WEST CAMPUS
Construction set to begin on 18-story residence By Aisling Ayers @aisling_ayers
Parallel Company, an Austin-based development firm, started construction in September on an 18-story, 558-bedroom student housing community on Nueces and 21st streets that will begin leasing in late spring 2020. Parallel principal David Pierce said in an email that the new housing community will be Parallel’s third high-rise in
UT represents the future of urban campus housing in dynamic cities where (city and university) work in harmony.” DAVID PIERCE parallel principal
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West Campus, following MUZE and University House. MUZE is located across the street from the location of the future housing community and was finished in August. Pierce said the 2020 Nueces development, which is not officially named yet, will offer street-level townhomes as well as 25 different apartment floor plans and 153 fully furnished units. “High-rise townhomes are limited in availability in West Campus and Austin,” Pierce said. “(The housing community
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will) offer a number of shared bedroom, shared bath options for those residents wanting to share expenses and live closer
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The late-night cookie delivery business Insomnia Cookies has delayed its opening to later in the semester despite having originally planned for an end-of-summer opening.
COPYRIGHT Copyright 2019 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.
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with their friends.” Although it’s less than two months into the 2019-2020 school year, students
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Do said. “If I can get even a little snack delivered to my place on nights I’m working on a project or something, it’s kind of a small miracle.” Do said she was already familiar with Insomnia Cookies from visiting friends at different universities and is looking forward to the opening. “My friends here are hardcore Tiff’s (Treats) people, but I think having variety is
good,” Do said. Insomnia Cookies is the latest cookie delivery service to come to campus following the establishment of businesses such as Austin-borne Tiff’s Treats, which has a location on MLK Boulevard and Nueces Street. Radio-television-film senior Taylor Stern said she lives at The Castilian, where Insomnia Cookies will share retail space. Stern said she is interested in having another cookie delivery service near campus. “There’s never going to be any problem with more cookies — at least not that I’m going to have,” Stern said.
are already beginning to look for West Campus housing for 2020-2021, said Morgan McClure, West Campus Living real estate agent. McClure said students are stuggling to find housing within their budget in West Campus. She said students should begin looking early due to the competitive market. “The tech industry has had a lot to do with (Austin’s population growth),” McClure said. “The rates are going up because more people are living here now. But what’s so expensive to the people that were born and raised in Austin is a great deal to people who have been living in Silicon Valley. That’s in turn made West Campus more expensive as well.” Anna Richards, radio-television-film senior, said she transferred to UT her sophomore year and moved to the Riverside area instead of West Campus. She said the expense of West Campus living and how early students began signing leases surprised her. “I didn’t expect that people would start looking for (next year’s) housing in September and October,” Richards said. “At the school I transferred from, people waited until late in the spring to sign leases.” Pierce said the rate of Austin’s growth combined with the walkable community makes West Campus an attractive neighborhood to develop university-focused properties. He said the new housing community will have significant outdoor space and be environmentally friendly. “UT represents the future of urban campus housing in dynamic cities where (city and university) work in harmony,” Pierce said.
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either sending an email, making a phone call or opening an investigation, Miller said. Miller provided an example of how an anonymous tip about a physical assault allowed UTPD to apprehend the suspect immediately. “The anonymous tip informed us before the victim was able to, and we were able to put the victim in touch with Student Emergency Services and provide counseling options earlier than we would have been able to without the tip,” Miller said. While there could be a risk
of false reporting to the anonymous tip line, theatre studies sophomore Indira Rampersad e said she would rather have g this system in place so that w police can investigate threats m that turn out to be real. “Recently, I went to a (Tex- f as Performing Arts) safety e training meeting, and one i thing the police assured us of s was that they’d rather investigate something and have it l turn out to not be real rather c than not have something re- S ported that is real,” Rampersad said. “Even though there t is risk of false reports, I think it’s still something that needs a to be in place anyway so that p those real ones can still come c m in and just be sorted out.” e
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 UNIVERSITY
Partnership encourages business, health care innovation By Bethany Stork @bethgstork
A partnership between the Dell Medical School Texas Health CoLab and Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs will provide insight and expertise in health product innovation for Austin startups. The CoLab provides resources for innovators to launch a company, commercialize inventions and collaborate with industry leaders, according to its website. Texas Venture Labs, held within the McCombs School of Business, Austin-area startups with student teams from the University, according to its website. The partnership began in late September and aims to provide health startups with business expertise to help reduce health care costs and improve patient health, said Mellie Price, Texas Venture Labs director and CoLab managing director. “We all know that health care is one of the biggest challenges we face right now, and the opportunity to innovate in it is enormous,” Price said. “This partnership is about creating the pathways, the onboarding ramps, to real-world entrepreneurship for undergraduate and graduate students.” Price said partnering with Texas Venture Labs was a natural step for Dell
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Medical School school to take. Luis Martins, chair of the Management Department at McCombs, said
Texas Venture Labs is prepared to provide business management and entrepreneurial skills with a technology
/ the daily texan staff
and cross-disciplinary view. “This partnership helps us make sure that we bring in more health and
health tech companies to the market and expose our students to the unique challenges and opportunities that come with it so they can be well-positioned in terms of their career futures,” Martins said. Finance sophomore William Nowlin said the partnership will benefit both parties by providing Texas Venture Labs students an opportunity to learn about health demands and how health startups can gain a competitive edge. “The entrepreneurship collectives in McCombs are very strong, so hopefully the partnership helps put better medical equipment (from startups) on the market,” Nowlin said. Texas Venture Labs has previously partnered with the College of Fine Arts, College of Natural Sciences and School of Undergraduate Studies to provide business expertise to cross-disciplinary initiatives, Martins said. Price said the partnership is unique and allows talent within the University ecosystem a space to come together for the benefit of the business and health markets. “The intersection of science and technology for business creates very viable career paths for people who want to do science and work in the business world,” Price said. “Our ultimate goal is to connect the dots between science, technology and the business world.”
ALUMNI
RESEARCH
UT alumni help incarcerated mothers read to their children
Nanogel technology may make chemotherapy more targeted By Nataleah Small @nataleahjoy
copyright judith dullnig, and reproduced with permission
UT alumna Judith Dullnig founded the Women’s Storybook Project. The program lets incarcerated mothers record themselves reading stories to send to their children. By Raul Rodriguez @Raulrod800
Incarcerated mothers are getting the chance to read children’s books to their kids through the Women’s Storybook Project. Founded by College of Education alumna Judith Dullnig, the Women’s Storybook Project records mothers reading books and sends the recordings to their children. Founded in 2003, the organization works exclusively in Texas’ female prisons, Dullnig said. The program admits mothers of children ages 12 and under who display good behavior for 90 consecutive days regardless of what crime the mother committed, Dullnig said. She said the program is as important for the mothers as it is for their children. “If anything should happen and (the mother) does something wrong within the prison system, then she is automatically out of our program,” Dullnig said. “They’re motivated to be good, to have good behavior and to stay in it.” Over the past 35 years, the number of women incarcerated in Texas has grown 200%, said Women’s Storybook Project executive director Jill Gonzalez, also a graduate of the College of Education. She said the organization works with
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nine Texas female prisons, and their goal is to eventually work with the remaining two in Texas. The program lasts four months, and mothers are allowed to read a different book each month for each of their children, Gonzalez said. She said the mothers get 10 minutes to read and then have the chance to write a message inside the book for their children to see. Gonzalez said the people she met at the College of Education helped her become a continual learner, and she said she has a passion for connecting children and families through books. “Children’s books are an amazing vehicle for teaching, for connecting, for helping people learn valuable life lessons and connect with each other,” Gonzalez said. “It’s so impactful for these moms and then for the children and families.” Bilingual education sophomore Mireya Reyna said organizations such as the Women’s Storybook Project show the different ways you can help children in the education field. “It’s really inspiring because it shows you can be an advocate for children in their education outside of the teaching environment,” Reyna said. “Knowing that you can do so much with your degree outside of the classroom is really big because you can be an advocate in several ways.”
diffused randomly. Biomedical engineering junior Abhijeet Venkataraman said he helped Clegg analyze the data collected during Clegg’s research, which showed how nanogels help deliver drugs efficiently. In terms of cell death, there are no adverse effects from using nanogels to deliver cancer drugs, Venkataraman said. “A lot more of what (Clegg) did was fundamental groundwork in terms of laying down certain principles we can use to build up to actually get to the drug delivery mechanism,” Venkataraman said. The next step in the work would be to conduct tests on living organisms, said Catherine Ludolph, chemical engineering senior and undergraduate researcher. Venkataraman said this testing could happen in the near future, but that depends on whether a better cancer fighting method emerges in the meantime.
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everyone worse off. These groups are to help students work together and discuss.” Selimoglu said he had permission from his professor to form the group chat and posted explicit rules about sharing information in the chat after seeing the anthropology email. “(My professor) was delighted to hear we were discussing outside of class,” Selimoglu said. Low said the punishment for the students is unfair. “They’re literally talking about the contents that were probably assigned to them in class,” Low said. “You could be muted, or you could just not even open the text.” The students accused of cheating are now pending review from the Office of the Dean of Students. UT spokesperson J.B. Bird said the University could not comment on individual cases, but said he is not aware of any upcoming changes to the University’s definition of cheating. “We focus on larger principles rather than specific technology,” Bird said. Cheating, as defined by the University’s Handbook of
Nanogel technology may help deliver drugs to cancer cells directly while minimizing patient side effects, according to research by University scientists. According to a study published in the Science Advances journal on Sept. 27, nanogels can deliver chemotherapy drugs to targeted cancer cells. John Clegg, the main author of the paper and former Ph.D. candidate in the Cockrell School of Engineering, said the publication of this article was a major component of his dissertation. “We wanted to make a platform technology that could be customized so that if you knew characteristics of an individual patient’s tumor … you could create a nanoparticle that was customized specifically to them,” Clegg said. Currently, when a patient is diagnosed with cancer, they are
prescribed chemotherapy drugs that are delivered directly to the bloodstream, Clegg said. He said this is problematic because the drugs are not delivered in a targeted manner and affect areas of the body where cells divide quickly, such as hair and gastrointestinal cells. For the past 30 years, scientists have been developing drug carriers that target where the drug should be delivered, Clegg said. Nanogels are unique carriers for cancer drugs because they can be highly tuned to a specific tumor in a specific cancer patient, he said. “If you could picture zooming down on the molecular level, basically what we’ve developed are these nanogels which are basically drug and water-filled little sponges,” Clegg said. When cancer drugs are loaded into these small sponges, they can directly target cancer cells, Clegg said. He said although these drugs are still delivered directly to the bloodstream, they are no longer
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Operating Procedures, includes but is not limited to “providing aid or assistance to or receiving aid or assistance from another student, individual, or source, without authority, in conjunction with a test, project, or other assignment.” Selimoglu said the University needs to clarify what counts as cheating in a class group chat. “UT needs to make it
/ the daily texan staff
clear what the rules are on GroupMes,” Selimoglu said. “Students won’t feel safe until then.” In terms of failing students, Low said professors have too much power and that Kappelman abused his. “That F is going to stay with them for a long time,” Low said. “He’s like the judge and the jury here in terms of assigning the F.”
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SPENCER BUCKNER
Editor-In-Chief | @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
COLUMN
OPINION COLUMN
helen brown/ the daily texan staff
Let’s showcase student art By Paige Ruder Columnist
gianna shahdad/ the daily texan staff
Students deserve opportunities to engage with Austin community By Sam Thielman Columnist
Roses are red, OU still sucks, I hope you like campus because it looks like you’re stuck. Putting our rivalry with OU aside, students really do get stuck on campus. Austin is a great city with lots of interesting places to go, but it feels like I still haven’t experienced Austin even though I’ve lived here for two years. College is more than just going to classes — it’s most students’ first time living alone, and they’re expected to learn all sorts of “adulting” things. While most people think of tasks such as cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and paying bills, being an active citizen in your community is also an important part of adult life and should be encouraged during students’ time at university. New Student Services is working to address this disconnect. Its aUsTinite program, launched last year, sets out to accomplish many of these goals, but it’s still a new program and its scope is limited. It puts on four events each semester that each set out to accomplish a particular goal. One is meant to help students explore Austin, one to give back to the community, one to help prepare students for living alone and one to help students engage with other citizens of the city. Each of these events
intends to help students in some way feel more at home living in Austin. UT should devote more resources to the aUsTinite program and other initiatives to help UT students actively participate in the Austin community.
I feel like I’m supposed to know all the neat little idiosyncrasises of the city, but I’ve never had the chance to learn.” “I think this is the part that students kind of forget about a little bit,” said Paige Muehlenkamp, off-campus and outreach coordinator at the Office of the Dean of Students. “You’re an Austinite now. You live in the city of Austin, and that comes with rights and responsibilities, so just better understanding all those resources that are available to you off campus is important, too.” Students genuinely want to experience everything that Austin has to offer. “There’s so much that Austin offers outside of the campus,” said Anna Marlatt, international relations and global studies freshman. “I just ha-
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.
ven’t had someone help me explore that, so if (UT) did implement (some way to help students explore Austin) I think that would be really fun.” Personally, I rarely eat out anywhere more than two blocks from campus despite Austin’s legendary food scene. I’ve never found time to volunteer at Zilker Botanical Garden even though I’ve been on the email list for nearly a year. I feel like I’m supposed to know all the neat little idiosyncrasies of the city, but I’ve never had the chance to learn. The aUsTinite program is on the right track. The events it coordinates every semester provide amazing opportunities to students who want to be more active around the city. However, the program currently can only accommodate a few dozen of the more than 50,000 students on campus. Because of the logistics of the program, such as transportation and the difficulties involved in keeping a large group together while wandering around the city, some of the events the aUsTinite program coordinates can only support around 30 students. This program needs to expand so that it can help more of UT’s student population. If Austin is such a selling point for the University, the University needs to follow through. Thielman is a history and rhetoric and writing sophomore from Fort Worth.
GALLERY
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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 walk from my dorm room to my car is fairly dull. I always pass by the same “landmarks” — a tattered orange rag on the ground leftover from the UT vs. LSU game, broken glass that’s been there for at least a couple of weeks. I don’t enjoy looking at them. UT students produce more than just trash. There’s an entire visual arts department full of students who create amazing artwork. The addition of semi-permanent displays around campus dedicated to showcasing student artwork would add expression and culture to the campus and provide art students an opportunity to show their work to a wider audience. UT is well on its way to achieving this, but there’s more that could be done. The Visual Arts Center has various student and faculty-led projects in place dedicated to displaying student artwork. However, these projects are mostly limited to displaying work within specific locations, such as outside the center. With more support, though, they might be able to showcase student art all over campus. The Fieldwork Projects, a Visual Arts Center program, currently works to display student art. With this program, faculty and students may work together to prepare formal exhibitions, such as the recent photography exhibition featuring work done by students who participated in the Learning Tuscany study abroad program. Expanding this program would be a step in the right direction.
This would be well worth it as student artists would get the opportunity they need to promote their work.”
“These short-term projects rotate every few weeks, so there is always something new to come back and see,” Clare Donnelly, gallery manager at the Visual Arts Center, said via email. This ongoing process of periodically featuring new artists is exactly what could be emulated campuswide to make artwork more accessible to the typical student. Lauren Macknight, the public affairs coordinator for Department of Art and Art History, said if the center were to expand the Fieldwork Projects to showcase student art all over campus, they would most likely have to coordinate with individual building managers. This would be well worth it as student artists would get the opportunity they need to promote their work to a broader audience. Two vital components to any successful art career, especially one built from the ground up, are exposure and support. Giving student artists a more extensive platform for their work allows the student body to better familiarize themselves with both the work and the artist. One word students often hear is networking, but this doesn’t always mean directly working with someone on the same project. At its most basic form, it’s a connection, one that can be made by simply acknowledging each other’s work. Think of the art pieces you see on campus everyday: Littlefield Fountain, “The Family Group” in front of the McCombs building or “The Torchbearers” by the Flawn Academic Center. Even if you are unaware of their names, you probably remember what they look like and may even remember a bit of trivia about them. Now imagine if there were spots all over campus specifically for displaying student artwork. Every day on their way to class, students would recognize specific works by their peers, bringing artists validation and establishing UT as a campus full of diverse talents. These displays don’t have to dominate the scenery — just a stand for the work to sit on could suffice, so long as the work is protected and visible. It’s time for UT to show its pride in student artists by allowing them the opportunity to display their work where other students may see it. Making their work visible brings much benefit to both the creator and the viewer with little downside. It wouldn’t require much effort aside from dancing around some red tape. It’s up to UT to decide whether they want to give student artists that stage. Ruder is a political communications freshman from Frisco, Texas.
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LIFE&ARTS
5
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 CAMPUS
Resources, tips for landing your next internship
alekka hernandez
potential internships. They can also offer insight into the general fields students should seek in when applying for internships and provide other resources.
By Megan Holland @MeganHolland20
For many career fields, opportunities for students to get their foot in the door come from internships. The University has a multitude of resources to help guide students in finding a worthwhile summer position. The Daily Texan has compiled a list of tips and resources for students to kick their search for internships into high gear. Attend Career and Internship Fairs
Talk to Career Counselors
Visiting a career counselor can help students clarify their interests as well as search through internship databases for potential opportunities. Counselors offer guidance for students in specific colleges and majors, creating an experience tailored to their desired career field. They also offer advice, run mock interviews and notify students of ongoing opportunities in their industry.
Career fairs are offered for students in different colleges and majors throughout the semester. These career and internship fairs help students make face-to-face connections with potential employers and opportunities to get advice on how to build their résumés. Students should dress professionally when attending these fairs and present themselves in a manner that is marketable to employers. Dates and times for the fairs can be found for each college through Texas Career Engagement.
Talk to Professors
Talk to Academic Advisers
Networking is a great step students can take in the search for internships because establishing connections before applying to an internship can sometimes
Armed with students’ course plans, academic advisers can help ensure that students are on the right path for
Professors are a great resource for helping students find internships well-suited for their career trajectory. Additionally, professors may be able to help students get connected to certain companies and businesses through their own professional network. They can offer advice on where to look for opportunities and the steps a student should take to prepare themselves for applications. Network
/ the daily texan staff
give them a head start in the overall interviewing process. There are many ways to build a professional network, but the primary channels are in-person and online connections. In-person networking allows employers to get to know students more personally, and they may be able to recognize the student’s face in the next meeting. These meetings can be secured by visiting businesses, going to career fairs or talking with potential employers that have a mutual connection in some way. Online networking allows students to market themselves on a greater scale. Students can list their skills, interests and attach résumés to this correspondence for a large number of business leaders to see. LinkedIn functions as a digital résumé and professional social media platform, and is also a common website that employers use to search for possible candidates for their open positions. Be Professional
It is important that students present a professional image of themselves and clean up their social media accounts because many employers will search social media as a part of their background and reference checks. Overall, a student’s ability to connect with others and leverage those relationships will determine their opportunities for both internships and eventually their careers.
Q&A
From typewriters to tunes, country Campus Coupons and Classifieds singer-songwriter goes old school Add your coupon or classifieds today at texanmedia.org or call 512-471-8590!
By James Robertson @jamespqrob
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William Beckmann’s songwriting style is definitely what some people would call “old school” — he writes his songs on a typewriter. Beckmann is reminiscent of an older generation of songwriters. He types out songs on a typewriter and carries the finished work around in a leather suitcase. Beckmann has captured country artists and audiences alike through the power and authenticity of his songs. Singer-songwriter Beckmann recently signed with Randy Rogers’ management company Big Blind Management. The Daily Texan caught up with Beckmann to talk about his journey as a musician.
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Daily Texan: How would you describe the types of songs you write? The
Beckmann: I sort of teeter between doing old-school country and singer-songwriter, lyrically driven songs. An authentic song is a story, and it’s got a genuine feeling. So that’s kind of what I think I encompass as a songwriter. William
DT: What song off of your album Out-
skirts of Town (2018) was the most personal for you to write? WB: The most honest and authentic song
is the last one on the album, “Leavin’ Town.” It talks about the idea of taking a chance and finding something better for yourself. I could have stayed in Del Rio and then done what my dad does, the cattle business, or I could have gone out and pursued a career in music. I think either way you’re going to run into problems, so you might as well go. The highway can be dangerous, but it can be just as deadly to settle down. DT: Since moving from Austin to Nash-
ville and back to Texas, how have your songwriting themes changed? Have you kind of taken on different kinds of subject matter? WB: Oh, absolutely. I think there’s al-
ways going to be a certain element of (Del Rio) and the way I was raised. But the subject matter is always changing, and I think that’s a good thing because it keeps me interested in what I’m doing. The one thing that I really enjoy
copyright andrew thorpe, and reproduced with permission
Beckmann plays Thursday, Oct. 10 at the Continental Gallery at 10:30 p.m. doing as a songwriter is also coming up with stories that aren’t necessarily my own personal stories, but are stories that I’ve heard. I wanted to be an actor long before I ever knew how to play guitar. And so I think subconsciously, when I started writing songs, I was using a certain level of method acting. I approached it in a way that I was able to leave my own identity at the door and take on someone else’s identity in order to achieve what I wanted to. DT: How did you meet Randy Rogers
and get connected management company?
with
DAILYTEXANONLINE.COM Facebook at dailytexan Twitter @thedailytexan
his
WB: I was playing at an award show in
Arlington. I had won the new faces music competition, which got me the opportunity to sing at the actual award show. After the show, Randy Rogers came up to me and asked me to come hang out with him on the tour bus. I did, and we drank beer and sang some songs in Spanish. And a few days later, Randy called me about signing with him.
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6
D O N N AVA N S M O O T
Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
VOLLEYBALL
Longhorns sweep Wildcats
Texas wins fourth straight Big 12 match of the season against Kansas State in Manhattan. By Clark Dalton @Clarktdalton1T
he Longhorn volleyball team has dominated Big 12 play for the past decade, having won the conference eight times in the past 10 years and finishing second in the years they did not win. After a week of rest, Texas was ready to resume their strong performance with Big 12 teams against the Kansas State Wildcats. The Longhorns were 9–2 heading into Manhattan looking for an easy win against a Kansas State team that was sputtering at 6–9 overall. However, the Wildcats didn’t play like it early on. Texas was surprised by an intense offensive effort. This strong performance caused trouble for Texas, leading to a tight first set that was tied at 20-20 at one point. Despite the offensive onslaught of the Wildcats, Texas persisted. Texas fought off several one-point leads before clinching the set with back-to-back kills from sophomore middle blocker Brionne Butler and senior outside hitter Micaya White. The Longhorns escaped with a 32-30 first set victory. The second set went very differently. Texas came out at a quick pace early, which forced the Wildcats into multiple errors. Freshman Asjia O’Neal capitalized on one such mistake, ripping a kill that put Texas up 10-6. Even though the energy in the Ahearn Field House seemed to be leaning toward Texas, a shift halfway through the set put the momentum in the hands of Kansas State, which cut the lead down to one.
joshua guenther
/ the daily texan file
Sophomore setter Jhenna Gabriel attacks the net against Southern California. Gabriel led the team with 35 assists in the sweep against the Kansas State Wildcats on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. The match stood at a 16-15 margin, and it was unclear which team would rise. As they have so often in the past decade, the Longhorns rose to the occasion. The Longhorns went on a 9-2 run that sealed the second set and put the Longhorns closer to another sweep in conference play. The third set opened with a service error from Kansas State. The team would quickly rebound from its early mistake, collecting several kills, three of which came from freshman outside hitter Anna Dixon.
Dixon would record consecutive attack errors before a Micaya White kill tied the set. Dixon would not be stopped and continued to pester Texas, eventually giving the lead back to Kansas State at 6-5. The Wildcats started to gain more confidence after taking a 9-6 lead behind a service error, an attack error and a redshirt junior middle blocker Peyton Williams kill. However, the Longhorns would respond with strength, taking the momentum back from the Wildcats. Sophomore outside hitter Logan
Eggleston knocked down a kill, followed by an O’Neal service ace, an attack error and another Eggleston kill. The Wildcats tied it up at 12 points apiece before a service error, an Eggleston service ace, and a freshman middle blocker Molly Phillips kill dismantled the lead for good. Kansas State made one more attempt to get back into the match behind a kill by Dixon, which got the team back to within three. However, Texas pulled away behind two more kills from Eggleston, a kill by Phillips, and a ser-
vice ace by sophomore setter Jhenna Gabriel to finish off the sweep. Eggleston and Gabriel’s play guided the Horns in the right direction. Gabriel added 35 assists and Eggleston recorded her third double-double of the season. The Longhorns’ impressive dominance over Big 12 teams continued against the Wildcats, and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. The team will get to chance to prove itself once more Saturday in Austin against the Oklahoma Sooners in the volleyball edition of the Red River Rivalry.
FOOTBALL
Texas blocks out the hype for Red River Rivalry
man continues to practice what he preaches in terms of demeanor and preparation. “Yeah, I mean it’s something (Herman) always tells us to do before every game: Just have fun Texas-OU is one of the most highly anticipat- (and) play loose,” newly minted captain senior receiver Devin Duvernay said Tuesday. “Yeah, ed matchups in all of college football. Fans travel just play because it’s no different than any other to Dallas to enjoy the state fair and indulge in a game no matter how big it is or small.” rivalry that spans over 100 years and 114 matchTexas wears its “1–0 mentality” on its sleeve. ups. The Longhorns are feeling none of the hype, However, it is challenging to keeping to their stance that evkeep the same mentality when ery game is the same. Whether the noise from outside collides it be Week Two against LSU or with everyday life. Week Three against Rice, Tex“I think it’s bigger than as has maintained the attitude When you get to a Dallas,” offensive coordinator that no game is easy and every program like this … Tim Beck said. “I think it’s the game will be a fight. state of Texas. I mean, “It’s kind of like business as the people and the whole I’m going for a jog and I hear usual,” said defensive coordiuniversity and the people yell, ‘Take no mercy.’ nator Todd Orlando about head coach Tom Herman. “We try to organization and the That’s the mentality of it.” As one of the top brands keep it that way … but it’s just fans — they deserve in all of college football, the way this place works.” Texas faces constant hype. The culture is set from not that effort.” Now that Texas has reenonly the coaching staff, but also tered the national spotlight TODD ORLANDO from being a part of a program defensive coordinator as a playoff contender, the the size of Texas. magnitude of the game has “When you get to a program like this … the people and the university and the also risen — on top of the normal hype of organization and the fans — they deserve that efthe game. fort,” Orlando said. “So we try our best to keep it “I think when you win more games that games that way and try to keep this place on top where like this turn into a little bit of a bigger deal,” it belongs.” senior offensive lineman Zach Shackelford said Herman has been adamant that each game, re- Tuesday. “So we put ourselves in this position gardless of the opponent, holds the same weight. by winning a lot of games. It’s going to be a Even going into the Red River Showdown, Herbig game.” By Donnavan Smoot @Dsmoot3D
joshua guenther
/ the daily texan file
Senior wide reciever Devin Duvernay races to the end zone for a touchdown against LSU. Duvernay is the nation’s leading receiver in receptions with 45 on the season, and was named the sixth team captain on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 One of the main challenges for Texas will be getting the younger players to buy into the idea that Saturday is simply another game on the schedule. The return of senior wide receiver Collin Johnson helps with that, on the field and pregame.
“I’m sure Marcus Washington’s butterflies are going to look like eagles inside of him compared to like, Collin, because (Collin’s) done this before where some guys haven’t,” Beck said. “So to have that out there … that calms everybody a little bit.”
COMICS
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CHANNING MILLER & LAUREN IBANEZ
Comics Editors| @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Thursday, October 10, 2019
Crossword ACROSS
24 Classic auto with a so-called “floating speedometer” 25 Last words before starting 5 More than a symptom, but 26 Winter coat less than a jerk 28 Tee off 10 More than a 30 The new girl of card, but less Fox’s “New Girl” than a track bet 33 Annoyance for an 14 Lawn measure oyster eater 15 ___ Gebrselassie, 36 More than a British islander, two-time Olympic but less than a running gold team symbol medalist 38 Breakfast bit 16 “Don’t worry about me” 39 More than a court filing, but 17 Bud, e.g. less than a status change 18 Laura of “ER” 41 Hoppy brew 19 Number of worlds connected 42 More than a bagel, but less by Yggdrasil in than a walk Norse myth 44 It’s verboten 20 More than a 45 Calif. school snake, but less that’s home to than a bodily the Aztecs organ 46 Tartan pattern 22 What filler necks connect to 48 Smart 1 More than a bird, but less than a facial expression
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50 Shoulder piece 53 Doing dishes, e.g. 57 Grass with prickly burs 59 More than a color, but less than a trade occupation 60 Henry who founded Life 61 Waiting in the wings 63 Gain 64 Tax-advantaged investment tools, for short 65 Kind of chip 66 One of a Latin trio 67 More than a boat, but less than an idea 68 More than a weather forecast, but less than a muscle injury 69 More than an insect, but less than a U.S. president DOWN 1 Monthly charge 2 Mountain nymph 3 Complexities, metaphorically 4 Pantries 5 What rotors do 6 Actor McKellen 7 Slightly influence 8 Pre-defibrillation cry 9 Some bygone service stations 10 Measures of newspaper ad space 11 Peptide part 12 Crown 13 Squeezes (out)
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21 The “E” of Ransom E. Olds 23 Saturn’s largest moon 25 Relative of a spoonbill 27 Big inits. in casinos 29 Cleans (up) 30 Take (down) 31 1946 role for Fonda or 1994 role for Costner 32 Joyrider’s ride 34 Midori on the ice
35 Lightly dye 37 ___ particle 39 ___ Sports Bureau (stats record keeper) 40 “Isn’t this fancy?!”
52 Flowering plant that’s also a woman’s name 54 2009 Nobel laureate 55 Printed again
43 Portable writing surface
56 Big name in accounting
45 Bagel topper
57 Prelude to a fall
47 Big employer in Delaware
58 Spiritual energy
49 Post-op locale
59 Revolutionary Trotsky
51 Kind of calendar
62 Spiritual energy
Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.
8
J O R DY N Z I T M A N
Life&Arts Editor | @JORDYNZITMAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
RESEARCH
LIFE&ARTS
‘Goodenough’ for Nobel Prize UT professor awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on lithium-ion batteries. By Nataleah Small @nataleahjoy
t 97 years old, John Goodenough is the oldest person to be awarded a Nobel Prize. On Oct. 9, the UT engineering professor, along with Stanley Whittingham of Binghamton University, State University of New York, and Akira Yoshino of Meijo University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the development of lithium-ion batteries. A statement from the Nobel Prize committee credits the scientists’ work with lithium-ion batteries as being responsible for creating “the right conditions for a wireless and fossil fuel-free society.” “I’m extremely happy if my battery has been able to help communication to the world,” Goodenough said. “We need to build relationships, laws, and we are indeed happy that people use this for good and not for evil.” In 1986, Goodenough began working at UT. He is currently the Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering and works as a professor in the departments of mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Sharon Wood, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering, said while she likes to think the
copyright adrienne lee
& university of texas and reproduced with permission
UT professor John Goodenough was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Oct. 9 for his work on the development of lithium-ion batteries. Goodenough is the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize.
school makes a difference, the award is proof that Goodenough’s work is truly world-changing. “This shows the work that he’s been doing for decades has really changed the way everyone in the world lives,” Wood said. “We wouldn’t have cell phones and our mobile devices, we wouldn’t have electric vehicles without the lithium battery Goodenough developed.” Goodenough currently studies battery materials and the relationships between the chemical, structural and electrical properties of solids. He said he will be donating his share of
the prize money to the University “to support the people who work there.” Arumugam Manthiram, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said he’s learned about Goodenough’s goals of bettering society and science after having him as a colleague for the past 34 years. “He is a gentleman,” Manthiram said. “He treats everybody (kindly), regardless of title or job, even people on the street. He’s always a very nice person. Talking to him is intellectually stimulating.” Gregory Fenves, UT President and former dean of the Cockrell
School of Engineering, said the global and local benefits from Goodenough’s work more than qualifies him for the award. “In addition to being a worldclass inventor, he’s an outstanding teacher, mentor and researcher,” Fenves said. “We are grateful for John’s three decades of contributions to UT-Austin’s mission.” Jianshi Zhou, research professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering said even though they had been preparing for this award for a long time, it was still a big surprise. “To me, this is way overdue,” Zhou said. “His work on the
lithium battery has been done back in the 1980s.” Zhou said Goodenough has also done pioneering work in the area of magnetism and said he deserves to win another prize in physics in the near future. Goodenough said he hopes his field will continue to make strides in increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road to combat global warming. “It won’t necessarily be my work,” Goodenough said. “There are a lot of people doing a lot of good work all over the world. We need to get the burning of fossil fuels off the highways and seaways of the world.”
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Downtown Austin VR experience brings reality of WWI to audiences
copyright mwm interactive, and reproduced with permission
“War Remains” simulates the experience of frontline WWI combat using a virtual reality headset and headphones in a staged trench. By James Robertson @jamespqrob
Fountains of dirt blown skywards, whole forests reduced to splinters, clouds of chlorine gas borne on the wind — these were common sights to the soldiers on the frontlines of the First World War. A new virtual reality experience in downtown Austin, “War Remains,” allows attendees to experience the horrors of trench warfare in a mixed-reality experience where you can see, hear, touch and move through a war-ravaged Europe. Created by Dan Carlin of the popular podcast “Hardcore History” in partnership with Madison Wells Media Interactive, “War Remains” premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival for the Immersive VR showcase. “I am a deep believer that VR has the magic ability to place you somewhere,” said Ethan Stearns, executive vice president of content at MWM Interactive. The virtual reality experience includes untethered VR equipment which allows guests to freely move around the highly detailed set. The space offers props to touch, simulates weather and carries a soundscape designed by the company which produced sound for the original Star Wars trilogy, Skywalker Sound. “If we do a good job in creating that experience that you’re standing in, hopefully you’re going to walk away with a memory of your own, almost as a life experience more than it was a story that you read or something that you saw on the silver screen,” Stearns said. Rather than simulating a WWI battlefield, Stearns said the team sought to create an immersive memory. The team used Carlin’s sixpart podcast series “Blueprint for Armageddon” on WWI for information to bring the war
alive. The project was originally pitched as a time machine that placed patrons within the experience of a frontline soldier. “Dan had said several times that because we want this to be a learning tool, we don’t want to disrespect the actual experience that real people went through and still go through to this day in wars that they fight in,” Stearns said. At the same time, elements of the First World War battlefield had to be toned down in order to make the experience palatable for guests, Stearns said. Battles such as Verdun and Passchendaele were some of the most gruesome and horrific events in all of human history. Erin Reilly, Moody College director of innovation and entrepreneurship, sent her students to “War Remains” as a part of an experimental storytelling class that utilizes media technologies such as virtual reality to create experiences for brand marketing. “It is an example of living empathy on the horrors of war,” Reilly said. “We need more of these mixed reality experiences situated in learning. ‘War Remains’ offers an embodied learning experience for my students to have a feeling of presence as they journeyed through history and experienced firsthand the real tension on a battlefield.” “War Remains” is the first fully realized historical battlefield experience of its kind, the creators of the experience said. Unlike other VR projects that also premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, “War Remains” is a single-player experience that stresses the alienation of the individual brought about by the First World War, said Brandon Padveen, the producer for “War Remains.” “For our whole team, it’s always about twisting the nature of a VR project,” Padveen said. “(We’re) trying to push it further and do something new. How do we tap into something new, how do we tap into something a little more terrifying?”