Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Friday, November 1, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 58
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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Professor emerita becomes second woman to win Steel Prize math award.
CMHC should expand mental health services to better serve students with social anxiety.
Local Olympics hopeful to run final lap, pursue art and writing.
Texas soccer defeats Oklahoma in a thrilling overtime victory.
UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY
LGBTQ+ council convenes
UT Police committee to address free speech, homelessness
Created in May, UT’s first LGBTQ+ faculty council will gather data on demographics, evaluate campus climate and analyze University practices.
By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
The UT Police Oversight Committee has not met since February, but University officials are planning for the committee to meet soon and be more “hands-on” in overseeing the UT Police Department this school year. The Police Oversight Committee serves as the University’s primary form of communication between UTPD and the UT community by ensuring UTPD’s policies and operations keep the community safe, according to its website. The committee reviews informal complaints from the UT community and can meet with UTPD leadership or UT President Gregory Fenves to address potential concerns. Committee Chair Bill Spelman said he is planning to schedule the first committee meeting after speaking with UTPD Chief David Carter next week. After Fenves and his chief of staff Carlos Martinez spoke with him, Spelman said the committee will address homelessness and Senate Bill 18. Spelman said while the University has created new policies addressing SB 18, which made most outdoor spaces at UT open to the public for free speech and expression in September, the policies are not yet public. Spelman, a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, said the committee will also discuss how UTPD will enforce the new city ordinance that relaxes restrictions on where homeless people can camp, sit and lie in public areas. Carter said he usually introduces UTPD’s practices and structure at the committee’s first meeting of the school year. According to an email sent to student committee representatives, the committee usually meets four times every school year. “(Some) people … may have bad experiences with the police,” Carter said. “It’s good to (address) those kinds of situations (at these meetings). I want UTPD to be a learning organization, a serving organization, one that understands what its mission is — and that ultimately is to protect and serve our community, make sure that people are not only safe, but feel safe.” Lynn Huynh, an advertising
barb daly
By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
T’s first LGBTQ+ faculty council, created in May, is currently looking into ways to best support a part of the faculty population which historically has been underrepresented. The Council for LGBTQ+ Access, Equity, and Inclusion was created to improve life on campus for LGBTQ+ faculty. Edmund Gordon, vice provost for diversity and chair of the council, said the council has now begun preliminary work into studying the climate for
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LGBTQ+ faculty. Gordon said the council will be gathering data on LGBTQ+ demographics on campus, evaluating the campus climate for LGBTQ+ faculty and determining what practices at the University need change. He said the council is also looking at what other institutions have done to address LGBTQ+ faculty because there is no collection of reports about being LGBTQ+ at UT-Austin. “I think the need has always been there,” Gordon said. “We needed a council to represent (LGBTQ+ faculty) and to empower that council to make recommendations about how the University can be
/ the daily texan staff
more inclusive.” Gordon said coming out can still be dangerous for faculty, which makes it difficult to quantify the LGBTQ+ population on campus. “Putting yourself out there in a homophobic world is minimally uncomfortable but maximally can be dangerous,” Gordon said. Lisa Moore, an English and women’s and gender studies professor, said one obstacle in forming the council was finding openly LGBTQ+ faculty members in every college at the University. “It was very hard to find somebody from every college and school,” Moore said. “That LGBTQ+
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CITY
CITY
City of Austin survey aims to assess APD community engagement
UT junior develops website to help students find short-term housing options
By Lauren Girgis @laurengirgis
Austin’s office of the city auditor is asking citizens to fill out a survey that evaluates the Austin Police Department’s engagement with the community. The city hired Matrix Consulting Group to assess APD’s community policing efforts in 2016, assistant city auditor Andrew Keegan said. Since then, Keegan said APD has attempted to implement the group’s recommendations, including increased staffing, support for community policing within the department and meeting regularly with community members and stakeholder groups. “We felt it was the right time to come back and see has there been any change in the environment since then,” Keegan said. The survey, which closes Friday, is available in English, Vietnamese and Spanish.
Keegan said the surveys were sent to neighborhood associations, distributed on social media and promoted by media contacts starting Sept. 27. The survey has received approximately 1,700 responses as of Monday morning, Keegan said. “The more responses, the better understanding we have of the perceptions and feelings of community members, and that’s going to make our audit better,” Keegan said. The survey asks respondents to rate their experiences with APD personnel from very negative to very positive. The survey also asks whether citizens see the same officers in their area, find APD officers responsive and professional, and what APD should do to improve its community policing efforts. Bill Spelman, professor of public affairs, said while neighborhood associations may S U R V E Y PAGE 2
By Sara Johnson @skjohn1999
Jaideep Patil said he’s wanted to study abroad since his first year at UT, but struggled to lease his apartment while he would be away. Last week, he launched a website to help other students solve that problem. LeaseEasy is a leasing website where students can search for leases shorter than one year or find roommates to share those leases with, Patil said. Students can share their email, name and the semester when they need housing, and Patil sends them available floor plans and potential roommates based on the student’s needs. Chemical engineering junior Patil said he developed the website to ease the leasing process for students. “What we’re doing is solving the root cause and not the symptom,” Patil said. “Short-term leases aren’t really available in West Campus, so we want to educate students that this option does exist.” Patil said he conducted research with study abroad and international students before launching the website and found
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/ the daily texan staff
After chemical engeering junior Jaideep Patil struggled to find someone to lease his apartment before studying abroad, he created LeaseEasy. out that short-term leasing is in high demand among students. “This is a really big pain that students face,” Patil said. “Having a short-term lease ahead of time is a game-changer
because they don’t have to stress about having a sublease later on.” Amanda Golden, program manager at L E A S E PAGE 2