Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 78
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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E+E hosts Posada to celebrate Mexican American culture and Christmas.
Claiming credit should be a more transparent process for students.
Multilingual students fear losing first languages due to reduced exposure and use.
Construction for the Moody Center began Tuesday with groundbreaking festivities.
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
Future of UT libraries
Provost McInnis approves funding increase for UT’s libraries to expand collections, access to scholarly materials. By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
he UT Libraries are pursuing paths to make scholarly material more available after provost Maurie McInnis committed $2.7 million in recurring funds to the libraries’ budget in November. The University Budget Council added the recurring funds after the Task Force on the Future of the UT Libraries completed its report and determined the libraries’ budget needed an increase to match the rate of inflation. Alexia Thompson-Young, assistant director of scholarly resources, said the money has not been designated for a specific purpose, but it could be used to maintain subscription plans with journals and aggregators. “It keeps us from having to cancel a bunch of subscriptions,” Thompson-Young said. “It keeps us from having to decrease the amount of books we buy.” Thompson-Young said the library is also planning on making parts their collection open access, which will allow members of the public to access online materials for free. Classics associate professor Jennifer Ebbeler said the libraries were previously not able to buy everything faculty needed because journal subscription rates increase every year. She said she usually buys her own materials because her field’s scholarly material is relatively more affordable. “There’s a lot (of materials) that are between $20 and $50,”
Ebbeler said. “A lot of people do buy books themselves, but it depends on the field … any image heavy field, the books are extremely expensive.” According to the libraries’ website, University students and faculty can file a purchase request or make an interlibrary loan to obtain materials the libraries do not have access to. Ebbeler said these processes are often lengthy. “You can request that they buy a book, but that takes months to do,” Ebbeler said. “I bought a book on Amazon … at 3 in the morning, and it was at my door the next day.” Thompson-Young said the libraries’ contracts with publishers, which they buy or rent from academic material from, change over time. She said the amount of materials the library owns and the amount it rents is in flux. “That is always changing, and so I can’t tell you that we purchased 50%, and we rent 50% because there’s no way to (tell).” Thompson-Young said. “It changes day to day.” T h o m p son-Young said thenlibraries arennusually able to obtain anymaterial outside the libraries’ collection on request. In the Task Force on the Future of the UT Libraries’ report, the task force received anonymous complaints about decreasing access to material. “I cannot em-
phasize how much the depletion of the library’s collection of books has the potential to affect my ability to function as an award-winning scholar,” one complaint said. “More and more of the books I expect to find in the library’s collection are now materials I have to order through interlibrary loan.”
Students planning misconduct forum for spring 2020
Thompson-Young said not many people understand how much the libraries spend on obtaining new content, as the libraries expands their collections every year.
roxanne benites
By Emily Hernandez @emilylhernandez
UT President Gregory Fenves and Provost Maurie McInnis will attend a student-led forum at the beginning of next semester where students can voice concerns about sexual misconduct policies and violations, according to a Tuesday press release sent by student organizers. The student organizers of the third Sit In For Student Safety, the student body president and vice president, and nominated student representatives of the newly formed Misconduct Working Group met with the provost’s office Tuesday morning to confirm Fenves’ attendance at the forum, student organizer Tasnim Islam said. “We are working with student leaders to solidify exact details. However, the participation of various members of University leadership is confirmed,” University spokesperson Shilpa Bakre said. “The goal of the event remains creating an environment conducive to a constructive dialogue surrounding issues of misconduct.” The Misconduct Working Group will be comprised of students, faculty and staff to discuss how the University communicates and evaluates sexual misconduct, according to a campuswide email sent by Fenves on Nov. 19. Its representatives will be finalized this month, according to the press release. Islam said the group is planning to solidify details for the forum once they meet. She said they are expecting to livestream the forum, and
/ the daily texan file
MISCONDUCT
SG
SYSTEM
UT System Board of Regents increases staffing funds for UT-Austin concert halls
SG proposes international student representation By Neelam Bohra @neelambohratx
By Laura Morales @lamor_1217
The UT System Board of Regents increased funding for staffing at various University concert halls during its meeting last month. Stage Alliance provides theatrical stagehand staff for performances and events at concert halls around Austin, including Bates Recital Hall and Bass Concert Hall. The funding for the alliance increased from $2,700,000 to $10,000,000 after the vote. Rachel Durkin-Drga, interim director of Texas Performing Arts, said this increase was necessary to adjust to the increase in need for staffing, which the original terms of the contract did not cover. Durkin-Drga said the alliance will also be using the money to pay their employees a higher wage, but the total sum might not be spent. “The value of the con-
ellyn snider
/ the daily texan staff
The UT System Board of Regents increased funding for staffing at various University concert halls from $2,700,000 to $10,000,000 during its meeting last month. tract needs to cover the total possible amount of money that could be spent in using Stage Alliance services over the entire period of the mul-
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tiyear contract,” Durkin-Drga said. “The original dollar figure was too low and was intended to cover only a portion of the contract term.”
Stage Alliance president Don Driscoll said they almost ran into labor FUNDING
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SG has no positions representing the international population, but at least two members representing other positions in the current assembly are international students. International students make up 10% of the student population, according to the University’s website. “I’m from Indonesia, and a lot of times, I say something about this issue in the international student community, but nobody ever bothers to listen,” resolution co-author Gabrielle Wongso said. “People dismiss it, and that has made me think: ‘Do international students even have a place? Where is (their) place at UT?’” Resolution co-author Huy Le said he is from Vietnam but has lived in Texas for the past four years. He said international students face
numerous challenges, including finding resources over winter and summer breaks, using international student emergency services and lacking advisers. “The international population is extremely diverse,” nursing freshman Le said. “They’re representing more than 100 countries at UT, and right now, there’s no representatives. Yet, their needs are often overlooked.” Resolution co-author Braelynn Barborka said although she is not an international student, the representatives are necessary to accurately represent the student population. “It’s mostly different cultures, so (international students) being here and getting used to American culture was a shock,” government freshman Barborka said. “It would be great for them to be able to elect S G PAGE 2