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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 71
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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Students inconvenienced by lack of natural hair products near campus.
UT must offer more information about how it creates the registration schedule.
Multihyphenate PJ Raval talks background and filmmaking experience.
Texas volleyball heads to Waco for a Big 12 rematch against No. 3 Baylor.
WORLD
HONG KONG PROTESTS ESCALATE
UT suspends spring 2020 Hong Kong study abroad programs amid student evacuations. By Emily Hernandez & Nathan Han @emilylhernandez & @nathanhan13
hen student protests at The Chinese University of Hong Kong became violent on Nov. 11, UT and other universities with exchange programs began to evacuate their study abroad students. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” said Taigon Chen, UT finance senior and exchange student at CUHK. “We just had two days of protests, and universities are already pulling out their students. Then … I saw all the kids pulling stones out of the sidewalk to build a barricade against the police, and it made sense.” CUHK officially canceled classes for the rest of the semester last Wednesday, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said it has reopened after
suspending classes last week. UT offered optional evacuations for students currently studying abroad in Hong Kong and suspended its Hong Kong study abroad programs at CUHK and HKUST for spring 2020 Tuesday afternoon, said Randy Penson, global risk and safety director for Texas Global, the center that coordinates UT study abroad programs. “Everybody’s safe,” Penson said. “Everybody who wanted to evacuate has evacuated in one form or another, whether it be completely back home for their mom and dad or family someplace else in the world. We’ve stayed in touch with them the entire time that things have been going on in Hong Kong.” Citing privacy concerns, Penson declined to provide the number of UT students who were studying abroad in Hong Kong or who chose to evacuate. The protests began in June, two months H O N G K O N G PAGE 3
copyright taigon chen, and reproduced with permission
TOP: After police left The Chinese University of Hong Kong on Nov. 12, 2019, protesters prepared for their potential return by fortifying their barricade at the main entrance. University officials evacuated students after protests became violent.
copyright liliana hall, and reproduced with permission
BOTTOM: Protesters set fire to the barricade built on Nov. 12, 2019 to block the road leading to The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s main entrance to campus to further block police from entering.
UNIVERSITY
UT to form group to evaluate sexual misconduct on campus By Graysen Golter @graysen_golter
The University is forming a new working group to address its sexual misconduct policies, UT President Gregory Fenves said in an email Tuesday. In a follow-up to the campuswide email sent earlier this month, Fenves said the Misconduct Working Group will include undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff to improve how the University communicates and evaluates sexual misconduct on campus. He said group membership will be finalized in December, and the recommendations will be delivered in April. The emails came after stu-
dents held two separate sit-ins other campus representatives to protesting the continued em- address the issues that they have ployment of English associate raised in recent months.” professor Coleman Hutchison Fenves said the administraand Sahotra Sarkar, a philostion has created a website that ophy and integrative biology includes a FAQ and updates on professor, who were found the group’s progress. The webto have violated UT’s sexual site also includes a link for peomisconduct policies. ple to submit feedback on what Fenves said the University has issues the group should considalso hired external firm Husch er and where people can report Blackwell to review its Title IX Title IX violations. policies and collaborate with the The FAQ explains the Uninew working group on possible versity does not automatically improvements. The firm will terminate professors accused of be led by Title IX experts Jusexual misconduct but instead lie Miceli and Scott Schneider, tailors disciplinary sanctions Fenves said. to reflect the violation. It also “These are all important steps, says the Title IX office is workbut our work is just beginning,” ing to secure more prevention Fenves said in the email. “We resources and investigators will continue partnering closely with student leadership and M I S C O N D U C T PAGE 3
SG
SG proposes establishing center for nontraditional students By Neelam Bohra @neelambohratx
Student Government proposed support for establishing a center for nontraditional students at its meeting Tuesday. The resolution supports the creation of an on-campus center to help nontraditional students adjust to life at the University. The UT Senate of College Councils passed a resolution in 2014 that created Transfer-Year Interest Groups, and the center would act as a next step, said resolution author Matthew Kenny. Kenny, chemistry and public health sophomore, said the definition of a nontraditional student includes students with children, older students and transfer students.
“That resolution was very fruitful,” SG financial director Kenny said. “It created a better transfer experience. (Nontraditional students such as) transfer students are often thrown into UT and basically told, ‘Figure it out.’” Kenny said the resolution aims to create a larger space for nontraditional students in a central area of campus. Transfer students can currently gather at the Transfer Experience Center, which is located at the Student Organization Center on University Avenue. “We’re hoping in the future for the center to be a place used like the (William C. Powers, Jr.) Student Activity Center or The Texas Union,” Kenny said. “We hope to create a place where students can have that common background and a place to study
that is their own that coincides with their identity as being a transfer student.” Transfer student representative Colby Jaeger said a center like this would have benefitted her transition into the University. “I’m a transfer student, and I can personally attest that I don’t even know where the center we have now is,” government junior Jaeger said. “No one at my orientation was helpful, so having a center where people could give me information we didn’t get would help.” Student body president Camron Goodman said laying a foundation for this center is part of this administration’s seven platform points. S G PAGE 3