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Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 66
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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UT researchers discover material that could make computing speeds faster.
UT should expand the Automated Transfer Equivalency System to out-of-state schools.
Austinities start chapter of national pinball league for women and nonbinary people.
Mens basketball defeats California Baptist at home and improves to 3-0.
NATION
SG
DACA case spurs protests
Protestors take to streets across Texas, nation as US Supreme Court opens case to decide fate of DACA recipients, often called “Dreamers”.
SG proposes exclusion of political topics from future legislation By Neelam Bohra @neelambohratx
Members of Student Government proposed excluding political matters from future legislation at a meeting Tuesday. Amendment authors Jordan Cope and Samuel Jian Xuan Ng proposed changing the SG constitution to exclude political matters and focus on student affairs. They defined political matters as anything voted on at a municipal state, federal or international level, foreign affairs, court cases outside of the SG Supreme Court and condemnation of any political officials.
blaine young
/ the daily texan staff
Hundreds marched to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Nov. 12, 2019 in response to the Supreme Court hearing on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. By Laura Morales @lamor_2017
undreds of people rallied outside the Texas attorney general’s office Tuesday as the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could decide the fate of young undocumented people, often referred to as “Dreamers.” The court heard a class action
suit Tuesday to decide whether President Donald Trump’s repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is constitutional. In 2012, the Obama administration instituted DACA, which grants temporary protection from deportation to more than 700,000 young adults. In August, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed amicus briefs with 12 other states in favor of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind DACA. The
When SG implements politically motivated legislation, it compromises the free thought on campus by creating a political status quo.” JORDAN COPE
law school representative
coalition argued that the policy was unconstitutionally instituted and purposefully bypassed elected representatives. “The president’s duty is to ensure that the law is faithfully executed, not to rewrite laws with which he disagrees,” Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “We hope the Supreme Court will recognize the necessity of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind this unlawful program.”
“When SG implements politically motivated legislation, it compromises the free thought on campus by creating a political status quo,” law school representative Cope said. “When we vote on (politics) and it’s published, students who once felt welcomed advancing ideas in class may feel a stronger need to reserve their ideas.” Law school student Cope said political matters directly affecting the
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UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
UT Child Development Center gets approval for building to replace San Jacinto location
COLA launches project supporting minority students, faculty
By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
The University Budget Council approved an $8 million proposal to relocate and expand one of the Child Development Center’s locations last month. Center program director Hara Cootes said the new location will replace the San Jacinto Center, which is housed inside the School of Social Work and will be located on Congress near the Comal location. Cootes said the design process will begin in January, and the new location should be completed in summer 2021. “(When relocating), being innovative is really what it’s all about,” Cootes said. “What are the latest trends, what do we know about what’s best for children and how can we incorporate that in what we’re doing?” The new center will increase spaces for children by adding 30 spots, increasing the capacity to 195 children, Cootes said. She said the 30 spaces will accommodate
children under 2 years old. Mike Carmagnola, director of Project Management and Construction Services, helped prepare the proposal and said the center would be similar to the Comal location. He said the new center will help address issues with space and accessibility. “I worked with the (Child Development Center) folks and tried to understand what their needs were and tried to identify good options to meet those needs,” Carmagnola said. “We honed in on this as an option.” Veronica Trevino, media manager for Financial and Administrative Services, said children will relocate to the new building a few months after its completion. The program needed a new center because the School of Social Work is an academic building and not suitable for childcare, Cootes said. “We are currently in a building that was built in the ‘30s,” Cootes said. “An aging building presents obstacles for us to remain.” Spaces for infants are in the highest demand, and the
By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
rocky higine
expansion will help provide more spaces for families on their waitlist, Cootes said. “We are able to (expand) with those younger age groups where there is the most need,” Cootes said. Cootes said the Child Development Center also plans to add 40 spaces to their
/ the daily texan staff
Lavaca location, which is shared between the University community and the state Capitol. She said the Texas Facilities Commission is building the Lavaca expansion while the University is heading the San Jacinto relocation C H I L D C A R E PAGE 3
The College of Liberal Arts’ Diversity and Inclusion Committee created a new initiative to support students and faculty in minority communities and retain faculty of color at the University. Co-chair Karma Chávez said the committee began developing The Gender, Race, Indigeneity, Disability and Sexual Studies (GRIDS) Initiative last school year by creating the new undergraduate major in race, indigeneity and migration. Chávez said the initiative was then created to encourage interest in the major and help minority students and faculty feel accepted at the University. Co-chair Cherise Smith said the initiative will create a community where people of color and other minorities can
interact with people studying in the same areas. “It is an effort to hire faculty to UT that would study, in a collaborative way, issues surrounding gender, race, indigeneity, disability studies but also think in a critical way about gains and losses that have been made over time regarding the study of those different identity positions,” Smith said. Chávez said COLA is currently hiring two postdoctoral students and two assistant professors to teach classes related to the race, indigeneity and migration major and the initiative. “The University has a significant problem with retention of diverse faculty,” said Chávez, chair of the department of Mexican American and Latina/o studies. “What we want to do is not just bring people in C O L A PAGE 2