Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 79
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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APD expands No Refusal to prevent drunk driving during holiday season.
Landscaping should add signs to inform students of native Texas flora on campus.
Art and tech meet in augmented reality project of studio art professor.
Brionne Butler’s vollyeball career has taken her from Austin to the Pan-American Games.
Afraid to speak up For years, students feared retaliation if they said anything about music professor Dan Welcher’s inappropriate behavior. By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas
he allegations of sexual misconduct by composition professor Dan Welcher detailed in an article by VAN Magazine earlier this semester were shocking to some in the Butler School of Music. But for others in the school, it wasn’t. They felt they had endured a culture of fear and harassment for years during their time at the University. “There’s a part where Brandon Rumsey (the main subject of the VAN article) is talking about how new students would be inculcated into this atmosphere, kind of surreptitiously warned by saying, ‘You know, Dan is a divisive figure,’” said a former graduate student who requested anonymity. “Even after Brandon was no longer there, we still did that. We still would say, ‘Dan is polarizing’ or even, ‘I try to avoid Dan.’ I remember telling people that just as a way of telling them … how to essentially survive.” College of Fine Arts dean Doug Dempster barred Welcher from contact with students the same day VAN’s article was published, to ensure their safety while the University investigated the allegations, which ranged from repeated sexual comments to inappropriate sexual contact with students. The Daily Texan spoke to 10 current and former undergraduate and graduate music students, as well as a former music professor, about Welcher’s time at the University. The allegations made by these students did not reach the same magnitude as those detailed in the VAN article, but through these conversations, the Texan found an environment surrounding Welcher where students would give vague warnings to one another about how to survive classes or time with him while remaining too afraid to speak up and report behavior they found inappropriate. Behavior that once included suggesting to a student that she “would look good nude at Hippie Hollow” – the nude beach in Northwest Austin, one current graduate student said.
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Even with major allegations against Welcher now public, the students the Texan spoke to requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. They attended the University during a range of years from 2012 to the present. Some of the students said they kept quiet about the extent of how uncomfortable they were around Welcher, wondering if they were overthinking his comments or making a big deal out of inappropriate comments others weren’t bothered by. Many of them are talking to each other about it all now, but before the VAN article, some said they just tried to ignore — and forget — about his conduct. “My motivation for not speaking out was less about repercussions and more just about like trying to ignore it and get out of this situation as quickly as possible, which, now I see I really should have reported it back then,” one former graduate student said.
The Texan reached out to Welcher prior to the publication of this article and was contacted by his lawyer, Joe Crews, who said in an email that Welcher would not be providing a comment. Fear of retribution
Part of the fear of academic or professional retaliation stems from how tight-knit the music industry and the music school itself are. For the last seven years, the school has had an average of 320 undergraduates and 300 graduate students at any given time.The composition major alone comprises just seven undergraduates and 26 graduate students, on average. And Welcher served as one of just four full-time composition SPEAK UP
CAMPUS
By Lauren Girgis @laurengirgis
New website merges financial aid, records, registration information By Laura Morales @lamor_1217
kirsten hahn
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Emma Garcia, a studio art senior, chants along with student leaders at the second student sit in Nov. 11 in the Tower. joined the movement. “It’s kind of our last hoorah before break, and we don’t want to lose momentum over the break,” Huynh said. “We’ve only just started to see some progress with our demands.” The group is working to achieve structural change, which includes University transparency, a restorative justice program and faculty and staff training regarding what constitutes sexual mis-
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SYSTEM
The Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct forms following sit-ins for student safety Students have formed a coalition to demand transparency and accountability from the University regarding professors guilty of sexual misconduct. Students planned the third Sit-In for Student Safety outside the Provost’s office on Nov. 20. to protest the University’s employment of two professors found in violation of misconduct policies: English associate professor Coleman Hutchison and Sahotra Sarkar, integrated biology and philosophy professor. The coalition, called The Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct, grew out of the sit-in, said Lynn Huynh, a member of The Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct. “The coalition has become all of us encompassed,” said Huynh, an advertising and women and gender studies junior. “We started meeting with the first sit-in organizers. This is becoming a movement. It’s not just sit-in (after) sit-in. We need this united front.” Huynh said the group is planning a fourth sit-in this Friday because, following their biweekly timeline, because more students have
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conduct and how to prevent it, Huynh said. “This is about a system and (a) power imbalance,” Huynh said. “We would love to see Sarkar and Hutchinson fired, but you fire one person, and that doesn’t address the amount of faculty and staff who are guilty of sexual misconduct but just haven’t been outed yet.” On Tuesday, UT President Gregory Fenves and Maurie McInnis, executive vice
president and provost, committed to attending a student-led forum at the beginning of next semester where students can voice concerns about sexual misconduct policies and violations, according to a coalition press release. Huynh said they have filed an open records request with the University and will receive a summary of all COALITION
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Financial aid, student records and registration information are now all available on one website. The Texas One Stop website, finished on Nov. 21, consolidates information from the Office of the Registrar, Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid and Student Accounts Receivable websites, said Jennifer Love, director of Office of the Registrar. She said the website includes “Bevo Bot,” a chatbot which answers question with information from each of the offices. “This really puts all the enrollment services in one spot,” Love said. “Whether you are trying to pay your bill, or utilize finical aid, or a combination, all of this information is in one place, and you have one user experience in the Texas One Stop website.” Love said the new website comes as construction on The Texas One Stop For Enrollment Services center in the Main Building prepares to finish in spring 2020. She said this is part of a larger effort to make the University services easier for students
to access. “This is really center to our bigger vision, which is putting the students at the center,” Love said. “We made sure it was built for a student and not from an institutional perspective.” Carolyn Connerat, associate vice provost for Enrollment Management, said she helped with the design of the
Whether you are trying to pay your bill, or utilize finical aid, or a combination, all of this information is in one place.” JENNIFER LOVE
director of office of the registar
website and conducted student focus groups before the website launched. She said they are still making improvements based on what users say in the feedback form. “Many staff members on campus who have found that W E B S I T E PAGE 2
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MEGAN MENCHACA
News Editor | @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
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PERMANENT STAFF Editor-in-Chief Spencer Buckner Managing Editor Catherine Marfin Assoc. Managing Editors Alex Briseño, Lisa Nhan Assoc. Editors Angélica López, Emily Caldwell, Abby Springs, Sanika Nayak Forum Editors Julia Zaksek, Kateri David News Editor Megan Menchaca Assoc. News Editors Gracie Awalt, Savana Dunning News Desk Editors Hayden Baggett, Nicole Stuessy, Jackson Barton, Hannah Ortega Beat Reporters Neelam Bohra, Lauren Grobe, Laura Morales, Emily Hernandez, Lauren Girgis, Graysen Golter, Tori May, Areeba Amer Projects Editor Chase Karacostas Projects Reporters Trinady Joslin, Tiana Woodard, Savana Dunning Projects Designer Emma Overholt Copy Desk Chiefs Jason Lihuang, Brittany Miller Associate Copy Desk Chiefs Lawson Freeman, Irissa Omandam, Jimena Pinzon
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UT alumnus writes for new Netflix series about late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla By Cara Daeschner @CaraDaeschner
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NEWS
Following his graduation from UT in 2014, Raymond Arturo Perez moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of writing. After almost six years of hard work and dedication, Perez had a chance encounter at a networking event a year and a half ago which turned into an opportunity to write for “Selena: The Series,” Perez said. “As a person of color, as a queer person, as someone who has no ties to this industry, I (have) got to make sure that my material is that much more prepared and ready to go than the next person,” Perez said about his start in the media industry. “I’m choosing an industry where I don’t just have to excel, but I have to excel with people I don’t know.” As one of the writers for “Selena: The Series,” Perez fleshes out stories while keeping themes intertwined throughout the season. He also prepares lists of ideas to pitch — characters, story lines, arcs, episodes — based on emotion and writes assigned scenes and episodes, Perez said. “I’m Mexican American,” Perez said. “I was raised in Texas. I have a big Mexican family and still to this day, I argue that Selena is, if not one of
the greatest role models for the Latinx community, the greatest Latinx role model in our community because no one has really filled that space still.” Wenhong Chen, journalism associate professor and Perez’s former professor, said she is proud of Perez’s achievement and his many years of hard work. “Bilingual, bicultural and socially conscious, Raymond has much to contribute as staff writer for Netflix’s ‘Selena: The Series,’” Chen said via email. Benjamin Lopez, Perez’s former supervisor and executive director of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, said Perez is one of the hardest workers he has ever met. “Having this experience under his belt, which is taking the iconic member of our community that has made such an impact, and for him not to be intimidated by it, but being able to thrive within that story and trying to create something that … everybody is going to tune in (to). … It fills me with pride,” Lopez said. Perez said his mission is to broaden the film and television industries with stories of queer people, Latinx people and other underrepresented communities. “For me, the power of moving images is to create and share empathy with others,” Perez said.
copyright fireborn photography, and reproduced with permission
UT alumnus Raymond Arturo Perez has signed a contact to write for the new Netfilx series, “Selena: The Series.”
SYSTEM
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Dell Children’s epilepsy program partners with pediatric epilepsy experts, hires more professionals By Neha Madhira @nehamira14
The Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas is expanding by hiring more professionals and partnering with pediatric epilepsy leaders throughout the state. The epilepsy center started in 2010 and is the largest clinical program in the UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences department at Dell Children’s, said Jeffrey Titus, UT Pediatric Neuroscience service line director. “The bridge between Dell Children’s and UT has helped immensely,” said Dave Clarke, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program director. “The clinical team has been much more advanced because of subspecialists who have been acquired through UT. We have social workers who work with the School of Social Studies and other course linkages.” The program focuses on the development and refinement of clinical equipment, Titus said. “The adoption of innovative healthcare models and surgical treatment options gave the epilepsy program at Dell Children’s a reputation for high-quality care that continues today,” Titus said. “The program quickly achieved
national recognition because of its multidisciplinary approach to epilepsy care that prioritized treatment of the whole child.” The program has its research supported by the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, and the care team consists of more than 20 experts, according to the UT Health website. “Through Dr. Clarke’s leadership, we have already
initiated plans to partner with pediatric epilepsy leaders throughout the state to create the Texas Epilepsy Network,” Titus said. “This network will allow our epilepsy specialists to consult directly with other pediatric epilepsy centers on a routine basis about difficult cases and standards of care.” Karen Skjei, associate director of the program, said they are also developing a Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship. “The Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship will be an (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education)-accredited one-year fellowship that will train the next generation of pediatric epileptologists,” Skjei said. “We will be submitting our application to the ACGME in January and hope to begin with our first fellow in July.” Clarke said the epilepsy center has had exponential growth since June 2019. “We are actively recruiting,” Clarke said. “Right now, we have four epileptologists on board, and we are trying to recruit two more by this summer. This is all important because the Institute of Medicine has suggested that only about 22 percent of individuals who need care within a level 4 epilepsy center actually receive that care. We are trying to think outside the box to bridge barb daly / the daily texan staff that 78 percent gap.”
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The Daily Texan, a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78712. The Daily Texan is published daily, Monday through Friday, during the regular academic year and is published once weekly during the summer semester. The Daily Texan does not publish during academic breaks, most Federal Holidays and exam periods. News contributions will be accepted by telephone 2.120). Entire contents copyright 2019 Texas Student Media.
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something was not easy to understand, or we needed a link to a different page, have contacted us and we are making those changes,” Connerat said. “If the bot does not have the information the students are looking for, then we go back to the site and make sure to add it.” Business freshman Brittany Given said she relies on scholarships to pay for her
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tuition, and she has to use these offices to renew her scholarships. She said as a freshman, using the website to find information about financial aid was confusing and said she plans to use the Texas One Stop website when she applies to other scholarships in the future. “I feel like they relate a lot, especially if you need financial aid,” Given said. “The (financial aid) website is really confusing when looking for scholarships. It would be more convenient if everything were placed together.”
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misconduct violations from November 2017 until the present, but she feels this information should already be free to the public. “You shouldn’t have to make a request,” Huynh said. “It should just be publicly available.” The coalition has also received about 1,300 signatures on a petition, which was published on Nov. 27 and calls for the University to hold a forum, release a report of professors guilty of misconduct and establish a restorative-justice program, among other requests. “I became involved because I have two friends in Sarkar’s class right now,” said Lindsey Asis, a government and
sustainability junior and coalition member. “They came to me when this started unfolding about how upset they were about the whole thing. As someone who has the ability to make a difference, as someone who isn’t part of that class, … I wanted to be here for them.” Simone Gabriela Harry, another student organizer of the third sit-in, said she became interested in the movement when she wanted to register for a class to fulfill degree requirements but realized Hutchison was the professor. “I’m also a survivor, and I have a lot of emotional ties to this cause, so devoting myself to it has been difficult, but it’s very necessary,” said Harry, an English and black studies junior. “I have like eight papers and two exams and I don’t sleep, but this is where I need to be.”
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019 CAMPUS
Listening with Landmarks joins physical, visual art By Raul Rodriguez @RaulRod800
The University’s public art program is incorporating music into collections on campus with a new initiative called Listening with Landmarks. The art program, called Landmarks, aims to enrich the lives of students by presenting art that is accessible and free, according to their website. Listening with Landmarks will allow prominent members of Austin’s music scene to create music playlists in response to different art installations across campus, said Kathleen Brady Stimpert, deputy director for Landmarks. The program began Nov. 18 with singer Jackie Venson’s playlist response to Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Figure on a Trunk, located on the Bass Concert Hall Plaza. Each month, Landmarks will release two playlists made by different musicians, Stimpert said. Stimpert said the playlists are posted on the streaming platform Spotify because most students across campus use it on a regular basis. She said the goal of the initiative is to create more awareness for the art installations while also providing new ways for people to examine the collection. “Austin is a music town,” Stimpert said. “People here are always interested in discovering music and are just (fans) of all things music. If (students) listen to a playlist that someone has created in response to a work, it has the potential to affect and shape the way they consider that artwork.” Individuals creating the playlists have the freedom to choose whichever songs represent how they feel about the piece of art, Stimpert said. Venson said Figure on a Trunk
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reminded her of the different musical and theatrical experiences she has had at Bass Concert Hall. “It’s really, really important to bring art forms together,” Venson said. “In this case, it was visual art and music, and that’s a really cool combination. When you put them together, they both become more powerful.”
Landmarks plans to release the playlists in an order with musical variety, Stimpert said. The list ranges from musicians such as the rock duo Hovvdy to Peter Bay, music director and conductor of the Austin Symphony, whose playlist was released Nov. 25. Theatre and dance sophomore Nicole Rudakova said the playlist creators and
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the landmarks themselves will benefit from the new program because it will raise awareness of both. “You’re adding music to (the landmarks), so it (will) probably reach a bigger audience,” Rudakova said. “It would be interesting to see what other people think of when they see that art, but also just interpreting it a different way.”
CRIME
Austin Police Department, Transportation Department to implement ‘No Refusal’ policy for winter holiday season By Lauren Girgis @laurengirgis
The Austin Police Department announced it will issue search warrants for any drivers who refuse to comply with alcohol detection tests to prevent drunk driving and encourage residents to arrange a ride home during the holidays. APD will be running the initiative, called No Refusal, every night from Dec. 12, 2019 to Jan. 4, 2020, said APD detective Mike Jennings. All drivers can refuse to give consent to a breath or blood test during a driving while intoxicated arrest, but during No Refusal, detectives will always apply for search warrants for a blood sample, Jennings said.
Unfortunately in Austin, a high percentage of fatalities and serious injuries have to do with intoxication.” MIKE JENNINGS apd detective
“The real goal of the initiative is … awareness and to prevent people from making the decisions to drive intoxicated,” Jennings said. “If they do, then we’re going to provide as much evidence as we can for prosecution in those cases.” APD usually holds No Refusals on holidays and Thursday through Saturday, when people are likely to be drinking, Jennings said. “Unfortunately in Austin, a high percentage of fatalities and serious injuries have to do with intoxication,” Jennings said.
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faculty in the Butler School of Music alongside additional, part-time and visiting adjunct faculty. Each year, he typically taught five to six private lessons, primarily to graduate students, said Shilpa Bakre, University communications strategist. He advised graduate students, which entailed mentoring them through their “degree program and final thesis or performance project,” and served as the director of the New Music Ensemble. Welcher’s 50-year career in the music industry — and seemingly endless list of connections to it — made students also worry that they will be alienated, unable to find a job, if they said anything or cut out of career-making opportunities while at UT. Prior to being barred from contact with students, Welcher was not at the University this semester and was not teaching any classes. UT first hired him in 1978. Undergraduate and graduate students alike said that after committing to UT, they heard that while Welcher was one of the most talented composers in the country, it would be best not to find yourself alone with him. “I went and openly warned people about that just to be cautious and know how to protect yourself if you need to,” a former graduate student
APD has been able to increase No Refusals due to increased funding from the Austin Transportation Department’s Vision Zero program. Vision Zero is an international movement introduced to Austin in 2017, and it attempts to bring the number of traffic fatalities down to zero, according to the City of Austin website, Jennings said. “The holidays are a time, especially, when folks are attending events, attending parties (or) going to friends’ houses, and they may be consuming alcohol,” said Jacob Barrett, Austin Transportation Department public information specialist. “So, folks can plan their trip and make sure that they are traveling in a safe way. We highly encourage and appreciate that, because it keeps everybody safe on our roads.” Barrett said impaired driving is a leading cause of serious injuries and fatalities on Austin roads, and he said this led the department to fund No Refusal. He said No Refusal is just one aspect of Vision Zero’s multifaceted approach and said Vision Zero also includes engineering projects to make roadways safer and education campaigns. Psychology senior Robin Brown said she was more concerned about people driving during weekends at all times of the year than holidays specifically. “We learned in one of my classes that there is no difference in DWIs during the holidays … but my intuitive reaction is if (APD does) it and if (the department has) the resources for it, then go for it,” Brown said. The Transportation Department has launched a Get Home Safe page on the city website with resources on how to arrange rides in advance. The site offers maps of overnight parking, ride sharing options
said, adding that she had no heads up about him prior to coming to the University. “Which, of course, you shouldn’t have to do that. That’s not great. But at the time, that’s what we as women had to do for each other.” Butler School of Music director Mary Ellen Poole previously announced on Sept. 30, four days after the VAN article published, that she would request a University investigation into Welcher’s conduct. “The safety of students is always the University’s top priority,” Bakre said in an email. The Texan contacted the sources mentioned in the VAN article but was unable to speak with them or confirm specific allegations. Bakre said in the email there is no time limit for filing a complaint and that “anyone can come forward.” “To protect the integrity of the investigative process, the University does not acknowledge or discuss ongoing investigations,” Bakre said in an email. She also said later that, “If new allegations come to light, they are thoroughly investigated by University offices.” Welcher has not been fired by the University nor has he resigned. He is currently on a one-year phased retirement with the University, which entails 50% time until the end of next spring. In an email to faculty, he said he would step aside in order to avoid causing “any further unpleasantness” for the Butler School of Music.
Years of rumors
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and bus routes. “If you’re going to go somewhere, just have a plan on how you’re going to get back,” Jennings said. “If they came to me
One graduate student said there were always rumors about random inappropriate comments Welcher would make. However, she said she didn’t truly understand that the rumors might represent a more concrete, widespread behavior. “I really am grappling with the fact that it was so prevalent and yet none of us said anything,” she said. “That is what’s really, really painful for me right now. And I’m just trying to understand. I mean everybody who would say things like that would have a different experience with him, so because it wasn’t so universal, it made it easier to ignore.” But for her, it wasn’t just rumors. One night, after she performed a dance routine that Welcher attended, he told her in front of a group of people that he “thought it was hot.” “When these things happened at the time, we were all just kind of like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of creepy,’ but we didn’t want to say anything,” she said. “We would rather just move on and ignore it.’” Eight other current and former students also said they heard Welcher make sexist comments, including making inappropriate comments about women’s bodies. At a forum in the Butler School of Music on Sept. 30, just four days after the VAN Magazine article was published, students came forward to
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at the end of this initiative and we had zero arrests and zero more search warrants written, then that’s exactly what we set out to do.”
share stories about how Welcher had made them feel uncomfortable, expressing similar allegations to what was told to the Texan. Students said discussions about reporting Welcher often included mentions of a Chronicle of Higher Education article published 17 years ago detailing sexual misconduct allegations by Welcher. A University investigation around the same time did not find any evidence of wrongdoing. “That was a scary thing,” a graduate student said. “I think it’s part of the reason why it took so long (for people to come forward).” In an email to students following the forum, Poole acknowledged distrust in the school’s disciplinary systems. “I am focused on supporting our students in the Butler School of Music,” Poole said in a statement to The Texan. “We are working to ensure that they are aware of available campus resources and understand how to report and why it is important to do so. My door remains open to students who would like to voice their concerns as we continue our efforts to improve our culture.” Dempster said in an email to the College of Fine Arts that the Butler School of Music scheduled mandatory Title IX training for teaching assistants, assistant instructors and faculty for early next semester. Three other forums and meetings with students were held following
the VAN article’s release, Bakre said. The school also discussed the issue at two regularly scheduled faculty meetings on Oct. 3 and Nov. 7. There are currently no future forums planned. Feeling betrayed
While some students may have sometimes felt uncomfortable around him, others described positive academic interactions with Welcher. More than half the students the Texan spoke to said they appreciated having him as a mentor and that he often pushed them to improve their work. Many of them said Welcher had written recommendation letters or introduced them to other members of the music industry as they tried to advance their careers. But they said the help they received made it even harder to speak out against him. But the recent allegations have made some students look back on their experiences with him. And for students who felt like they had come to trust Welcher, they said they felt betrayed. “He made people feel good about themselves, but he betrayed that trust,” a graduate student said. “So none of those things, you know, none of those things (he did for students) excuse that behavior. And I actually think that makes it cut deeper. That he had these people’s trust before he crossed that boundary.”
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SPENCER BUCKNER
Editor-In-Chief | @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
COLUMN
OPINION COLUMN
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Inform students of native Texas flora on campus
Capitalize on conservation, create self-operating compost facility By Anna Marlatt Columnist
The first difference I noticed between life in Austin versus life in Missouri City was that stores in Austin do not give you plastic bags. It’s a small difference, but it’s one of the few things I admire about my University and this city. I’ve never seen people so environmentally conscious. People here bike often, and Austin has public transportation. Believe it or not, my home city has virtually no public transportation system. People here regularly talk about sustainability and buy locally sourced food from UT Farm Stand. And who knew there could be five different types of trash cans? Why do I say all of this? Because I am truly impressed by this city and our University’s zero waste efforts, sustainable living and environmentally friendly campus. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t areas we could improve. We aren’t capitalizing on composting and recycling efforts like we could be because we pay outside contractors to compost and recycle our waste for us. Instead, UT should create its own self-operating waste service system. Economically, paying outside contractors to recycle and compost our waste isn’t a smart long-term investment. “What (University Housing and Dining) pays for composting and recycling, that’s around tens of thousands of dollars and … probably close to $100,000 a year,” UHD sustainability coordinator Neil Kaufman said. Our neighbor, Texas State, “diverted 57 tons of organic waste from the landfill and reduced University costs
and fuel usage through fewer waste hauls,” according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website. A portion of the generated compost is used in outdoor classrooms and on campus landscapes while a student group sells the remainder to community gardens, according to the website. Composting is also catching on at sports venues across the country. The Mariners’ Safeco Field stopped 2.4 million pounds of waste from entering landfills in 2014 by composting 85% of all stadium food waste. In total, they saved $131,000 in disposal costs. Imagine the savings if our sports stadiums and UHD could compost and recycle their waste without outsourcing the task to a fee-for-service provider. UT could even make a profit off its compost, since compost is a tradable good. Some United States companies export their made-in-the-USA compost to foreign countries to alleviate depleted soil. Some trade is interstate, too. Additionally, there is the benefit of control. “I think with any contract service, there are going to be some challenges, whether it’s communication or reliability or whatever it is, so we lose a little bit of control when we pay another company to do a service,” Kaufman said. Outside companies may not be as accurate at reporting how much is really recycled and composted. Waste invoices are commonly riddled with inaccuracies, new fees and charges and rising costs. There is an educational benefit to UT creating its own recycling and composting facilities too. “Students could benefit by having greater access to these facilities at two
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.
By Sam Thielman Columnist
different capacities,” Kaufman said. “Students could visit and learn from them as a research lab and as service learning. There are many ways students could learn in a deeper way that we couldn’t necessarily do with contract services.” For example, in one research project at Texas State’s composting facility, “students created 90 yards of compost worth $2,500,” according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. While composting through the campus created a profitable product, more importantly students learned how to be leaders in the waste-management industry, save money and make a measurable environmental impact. These educational benefits do not come just to sustainability studies and environmental majors. “The recycling and composting facilities would be places for students to learn and even be a part of the worldwide movement for sustainability,” said architectural engineering sophomore Austin Vargas. “I love the idea and would be proud to be at a university that finds this important enough to implement into the community.” Plenty of schools besides Texas State have made the switch already. “Off the top of my head, I know Stanford University has a recycling facility on campus, and Arizona State University has a composting facility,” Kaufman said. While UT is certainly ahead of my own hometown in the environmental sphere, we’re behind other universities. It’s time to catch up and make an investment not only in our University but in our students. Marlatt is an international relations and global studies freshman from Missouri City, Texas.
GALLERY
charlie hyman
/ the daily texan staff
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 daily texan staff
What do Texans love more than Texas? Trick question — the answer is absolutely nothing. To be fair, Texans have a lot to be proud of. Stars at night, wailing coyotes and prairie skies are all great, but right now I’m going to talk about the sage in bloom and, more generally, Texas’s diverse native plant life. Texas has hundreds of species of native plants, and UT landscaping works hard to make sure that a cross section of this plant life is constantly on display around UT’s campus. However, many students aren’t aware of the work that goes into this, and fail to appreciate the native plants all around them. To help students educate themselves on the flora around campus, descriptive placards should be installed in specific locations to label and detail the native species in the area. Walking around campus, plants are everywhere. Along Speedway, around the East and West Malls, even near the dorms. Many People don’t realize that these are all native Texas plants. Just in the West Mall Entrance, students can see nolinas, red yuccas, prickly pears and agaves, among others. “Even though there are all these diverse species on campus, and all this diverse wildlife, we’re not seeing what’s around us,” government sophomore Meera Sam said. “The UT websites can be a little bit difficult to navigate, but I feel like it would be a good thing to add in so that people can see just how rich and diverse Texas is, especially our campus.” People are missing out on the plant diversity on campus simply because the information isn’t being presented to them. There are online resources that document a lot of this information already, such as the online UT tree inventory, but because students don’t recognize that they’re surrounded by unique trees in the first place, they don’t seek it out. “I think it would be super nice to have all the diverse native species laid out,” Sam said. “You tell people about the idea, and they’re automatically like ‘Oh yeah, that’s super cool, and I’d love to see that.’” While this would be nice to have everywhere around campus, the task poses some challenges. “It’s something that we have talked about at various times since I’ve been here, and I know it was discussed prior to my getting here,” Jim Carse, manager of Landscape Services, said. “Some of the problems we’ve encountered with trying to do in-place signage are vandalism, damage and the maintenance of keeping up with the signage can get tricky.” One solution could be if the biology or botany departments implemented this in the areas they curate. The land around the greenhouses, for example, or the turtle pond, are much less expansive than the entire campus and would mitigate a lot of maintenance costs while still presenting the information to students. “Years and years ago, they did a lot of interpretive signage around the turtle pond, and around the botany greenhouses to the west, and the biology building to the north, and they may be interested in reviving that,” Carse said. Alternately, Landscape Services could designate smaller, more specific spaces around campus in which to implement this. Limiting it to the West Mall, for example, could still engage students and capture their interest while requiring much less maintenance. Installing small plastic signs around some of the most diverse areas of campus could really go a long way toward helping people recognize the natural beauty and diversity that surrounds them. Thielman is a history and rhetoric & writing sophomore from Fort Worth.
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SPORTS
5
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
T H R O U G H T H E LENS
Featuring the best from the photo department.
evan l’roy
| daily texan staff
A climber “reads her route” during the first Texas Flexes finals boulders in the women’s category. The rock climbing competition, put on by Texas Rock Climbing at North Austin Rock Gym on November 23, hosted an exciting field of collegiate level athletes, with students from UT, A&M and UNT all competing for a spot on the podium.
basketball continues from page
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cohesively of late, which bodes well for the game against A&M. “Every team is capable of beating anybody, and we just got to have the maturity and the level of aggression to go out there and attack any team or midmajor,” Jones said. “As long as we’re consistent with our attack and our mindset, we can compete and play with anybody.” The Longhorns are getting help from all over the roster. Junior forward Jericho Sims has been a consistent force in the paint, while junior guard Matt Coleman has been a leader on the court at the point guard position. Freshman forward Kai Jones also chipped in defensively against UAB with three blocks and three rebounds. Every player has been unselfish within their roles this season. Whether a player is asked to focus on shutting down an opposing player or to make sure the ball is finding the open man,
the athletes on the team have bought into a team-first philosophy. “I think the biggest area for growth for us is guys understanding that having an obsession with what goes into winning has to supersede how the game is going for you,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “That means going against human nature a little bit, but that’s what the best teams do.” As well as the team has done to start the season, they have only beaten two nonmidmajors and their one loss came from Georgetown. The matchup against A&M will be another big test for this young squad early in the season. While this team has yet to play many games against teams in big conferences, the consistently clutch nature of the playmakers on the team should carry over against tougher competition. “I think our guys are making winning plays at critical times,” Smart said. “We have to continue to get better. Obviously playing A&M will be a heck of a matchup.” Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Dickies Arena.
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Forward Jericho Sims dribbles past a University of Alabama at Birmingham defender on Dec. 3 in the Frank Erwin Center.
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D O N N AVA N S M O O T
Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
VOLLEYBALL
jacob fraga
/ the daily texan file
Middle blocker Brionne Butler blocks a hit in Texas’ game against the Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 12 in Gregory Gym. The Longhorns took down the Sooners in three sets.
Butler brings it in summer games
Texas’ middle blocker helped Team USA to Pan-American championship in summer 2019. By Clark Dalton @ClarktDalton1T
rionne Butler has had a superb year. The sophomore middle blocker has built on a shining freshman campaign by leading the Longhorns in blocks with 130 and earning All-Big 12 honors. The framework for her sophomore season started this summer when she chased a Pan-American Cup in
Peru with Team USA. “Playing at the Pan-American Cup was an amazing experience,” Butler said. “It was so much fun to play with the top level. It was an experience I don’t think anything can compare to.” Aside from taking part in the Pan-American festivities, the games provided an opportunity for growth. Butler took full advantage, starting in the championship match against the Dominican Republic. “It was so nerve-wracking, I was shaking before the first point,” Butler said. “I think it took my game to a new level, just seeing how fast everything was. It elevated my game playing with the best of the best.” Butler’s enthusiasm resulted in a clutch performance during the championship match. She tallied four kills and two blocks, helping the United States sweep the Dominican Republic to win the Pan-Am Cup. She looked forward to using everything she learned in Peru to bolster
the Longhorns upon returning to the Forty Acres in the fall. However, before Butler could display her fortified skill set, she experienced an early season setback. During the preseason, Butler suffered what head coach Jerritt Elliott called a lower extremity injury, which caused her to miss the first eight matches of the season. “Not being able to gel with the team for the first eight matches was really difficult,” Butler said. “I’m just trying to get back in the groove and get the connections right with everybody. I’ve slowly been coming back.” Even with the setback, Butler feels that she can continue to make strides, and the Texas coaching staff has been pleased with her recovery thus far. “When she’s good, she’s really good,” Elliott said. “Obviously, she brings a high kill percentage, but her blocking is a big part of this. She can control the math on that and make
some big key plays, so we’re happy with where she’s at.” The quick recovery comes as no surprise to Butler’s club coach Jeff Ham, who saw Butler’s unique talent when she arrived to his Houston Juniors team. “I started working with Brionne when she was 16 years old before her junior year of high school,” Ham said. “She could almost touch 11 feet when she jumped and had great length. She was everything a coach wanted.” Under Ham’s tutelage, Butler enhanced her potential even further. She was a part of a team that was second in the country over the course of the 17 Open at the 2016 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships. That same year, she helped Team USA win a silver medal at the NORCECA U20 championships and was named best blocker of the tournament. “She’s an awesome kid,” Ham said. “She still continues to add to
our program. She comes in practicing with her old teammates regularly during the offseason. She also helps younger players. I remember this summer, she spent an hour with a young prospect on FaceTime. They just talked about their passion for volleyball.” Butler has made several trips throughout the volleyball world, having a positive effect everywhere she goes. The effect awarded Texas with a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament this season. The Longhorns hope that the strong play will help steer the team to their first national championship since 2012. As for Butler, she has her eyes set on that goal and much more. “After I graduate here, I want to go pro, whether it be Italy or anywhere really,” Butler said. “Then hopefully one day make the Olympic team. I definitely see myself trying for another Team USA (appearance).”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Ramey finds his rhythm before rivalry game By Wills Layton @willsdebeast
For sophomore guard Courtney Ramey, success has come in waves this season. Earlier this season, Ramey tied his career high in scoring with 19 points against California Baptist, scoring 15 of those points in the second half. However, he followed up this performance with a goose egg, scoring zero points in the very next game against Prairie View A&M. After spending his freshman season as a role-player on the NIT Championship team, Ramey has worked on developing his game and contributing where he can to this year’s squad by using each game as an opportunity to grow as a shooter and a leader. “The biggest thing for me is just fine-tuning everything,” Ramey said before the season began. “People say I shot the ball well last year, but the thing is I want to shoot it great. The biggest
area for me to improve on is my leadership.” That leadership and the lack of consistency were both on display in last week’s near-upset against McNeese State. Despite a shaky start in the first half start, Ramey scored 14 points in the game, chipping in a couple of assists and three rebounds. However, what he was able to accomplish in the final eight seconds of the game is what really mattered. Ramey stared down two free throws with the game tied at 71 points apiece. He had the weight of the team on his shoulders to lead them to victory, and he delivered, knocking both down to give the Longhorns the lead. “What Courtney Ramey did at the end of that game was a domino for our team,” head coach Shaka Smart said after the win over the Cowboys. “You know — can he do that more consistently for us? If he can, you know, we go a whole different direction.” In the first half against UAB, Ramey was productive,
scoring eight points and collecting four rebounds and three assists. Ramey was the leader on the floor for a majority of his first half minutes. He would add an additional five in the second half. The McNeese State matchup was one of the several games this season in which Ramey has struggled to find a rhythm in the first half. While he had no problem getting going in the first half of the UAB game, he has to become a more consistent player out of the gate. “I think earlier in the (McNeese State) game, there were times when he got a little hesitant on offense, and that really takes away from the player he can be,” Smart said. “He’s been better and practiced this past week, but it’s definitely an area for growth. He’s got to go out there in the game and carry it over.” Heading into Sunday’s rivalry game against Texas A&M, Texas will be relying on Ramey to not only help
anthony mireles
/ the daily texan file
Guard Courtney Ramey attempts to evade Northern Colorado players in Texas’ Nov. 5 game. Texas beat the bears 69-45. generate offense but also to lead the team as one of the veteran players from last year’s roster. Along with junior guard Matt Coleman, Ramey is considered to be one of the
leaders of this year’s squad and will have to set the tone for the younger players on the roster. “Me and Matt have a responsibility just to make sure off the court and on the
court that our team is doing the right thing and making sure they’re getting better,” Ramey said. “If they’re getting better, then it makes us look good, and if we look good, it makes the team look good.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Texas Longhorns shift attention toward Texas A&M Aggies for rivalry game By Wills Layton @willsdebeast
For years, the annual Texas versus Texas A&M Thanksgiving football game would divide households across the state and give one school bragging rights for the following year until the next matchup.
Since Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012, the Aggies and Longhorns have rarely met in sporting events outside of the occasional softball game. On Sunday, the teams will renew their rivalry on the basketball court, facing off in the Lone Star Showdown in Fort Worth. The teams are coming into the game in much different situations.
The Aggies have lost three games in a row to teams such as Temple and Fairfield in the Orlando Invitational. The Longhorns have started the season 7-1 and beat UAB after a career performance from redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Jones. “The floodgates are officially open,” Jones said. “Once everybody gets that rhythm and starts
really gelling and playing together it’s going to be fun to watch.” Jones drained six 3-point shots and collected a career-high twenty points in the matchup against the Blazers. Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey also chipped in with thirteen points of his own. The team has been playing B A S K E T B A L L PAGE 5
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COMICS
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CHANNING MILLER & LAUREN IBANEZ
Comics Editors | @THEDAILYTEXAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 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, December 5, 2019
Crossword ACROSS
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J O R DY N Z I T M A N
Life&Arts Editor | @JORDYNZITMAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
ART
LIFE&ARTS
Art through augmented reality
New technology in the form of augmented reality allows artists to explore new mediums while spreading ideas. By Aimée Knight @aimeeknight321
espite its playful name, the FLARMINGOS app makes a serious point. Once downloaded, users can tap anywhere on the screen to populate their surroundings with life-size augmented reality flamingos. The birds, pink, quirky and cartoonish, perform courtship displays in living rooms, on sidewalks or wherever the user may be. This fusion of art and augmented reality is a relatively new and exciting field for many artists. Pushing the boundaries of how to create, artists are using technologies as innovative tools for artistic expression. As with any emerging medium, artists say they grapple with the challenges of an ever-changing technology and pushback from critics. Developed by Kristin Lucas, assistant professor of studio art, FLARMINGOS blends art and augmented reality to make a statement about habitat loss. “It accentuates something about the vulnerability of the flamingo but also about the possibility of a new future,” Lucas said. “Through augmented reality, they’re ephemeral. They’re not really there, yet they’re there because that’s what the magic of AR does.” Lucas, who will be teaching a transmedia class next spring, views augmented reality as just another tool. She said as artists, it’s about using what is available to explore creative limits. MFA art candidate Rafael Gutierrez Jr. said he likes how using augmented reality feels subversive — he is able to make work that doesn’t necessarily
have to be shown in a museum setting. He said what’s important when considering the technology is that the work still needs to make the viewer think. “The problem I sometimes have with augmented work is that it looks cool, but is it saying something?” Gutierrez said. “I think that’s a challenge — still having something to say with your work, not just making something that looks cool because you can.” Lucas said early augmented reality artists used the technology as a form of activism. In 2011, New York-based artist Mark Skwarek developed an app that allowed users to view an alternative reality at the border between North and South Korea, replacing checkpoints, barriers, walls and weapons at the Demilitarized Zone with 3D foliage. Lucas said it was a way, through art and tech, for Korean people to experience the charged space as if the conflict was over. For Gutierrez, another draw of augmented reality is that it’s not as established a medium as painting or sculpting — forms that already have a body of historical work. “With this technology, since it’s so new, you’re forming your own way to use it,” Gutierrez said. “For me, it’s exciting to be (working in) the unknown.” Deepak Chetty, radio-television-film assistant professor of practice, who incorporates emerging technologies in his work, said there are a lot of critics who are a bit down on emergent media. They’re critical of using technology in an environment that was once entirely human-oriented, he said. “Once they realize it’s just like any other artist’s tool, (and) another way to create, they’ll come around,” Chetty said. For Lucas, the tool is tricky to navigate because the technology changes so rapidly. She said she has attended exhibitions where Apple would release a new update and then suddenly, if viewers updated, they could no longer view the Augmented Reality. “Today, there’s been so many advances in technology that it’s really a challenging medium to teach with because it’s changing so fast,” Lucas said. “You really don’t know if your tools are still going to be around next semester.”
megan clarke
/ the daily texan staff
CULTURE
‘Design Shine’ sculptures showcased at UMLAUF Museum By James Robertson @jamespqrob
Preparing for the deep trudge into the pond, Alexandra Krippner pulled up her waders to set up concrete bases to create the lines. In the little pond, Toni Toscano floated on a canoe to set up the long casts that crossed over the water while her boyfriend helped set up the lights in the trees. A story about World War II soldiers fly-fishing at the ponds where the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden & Museum now sits inspired Krippner and Toscano to create “Lost Casts.” Their installation echoes such history with lighted strings that arc and curve on and around the pond, mimicking the casts of the earlier fisherman. Theirs is the first of three new installations in the UMLAUF sculpture garden’s new exhibition, “Design Shine.” The other two installations,“You Are Here” and “Polaris,” were also made by local Austin architects and designers. The three teams were selected for the unique ways their designs interact with the natural environment as well as the history of the sculpture garden and museum. The UMLAUF, in partnership with the American Institute of Architects - Austin Chapter, created “Design Shine” as a means to promote emerging talent in the field of architecture and design. A juried board
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anthony mireles
/ the daily texan staff
Visitors at the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden & Museum can experience three new installations on the premises. composed of members from both institutions selected three teams from a pool of 12 design proposals. Irela Casanova and Ana Kurzan became friends while studying architecture at UT. With “Design Shine,” Casanova said they got a more hands-on experience in building and installing a design, even learning to
weld while constructing their design “You Are Here.” Seeing designs through from sketch to fruition is not common in their jobs, where architects typically draw up plans and hand them off to builders. “You Are Here” invites spectators to interact with three arches of several sizes from which hang a curtain of lighted cords.
Casanova and Kurzan were inspired by a snake they spotted in the gardens and the way it moved to design the curves of their arches. “We worked on (our installation) for three months,” Casanova said. “We invited co-workers, parents, friends and friends of friends to help construct our design. We got people excited about what we were doing, and they came out and helped in any way they could.” Sergey and Stephanie Belov, a husband and wife team, said they entered the competition to experiment creatively outside their jobs as a project manager at UT and a designer of kids footwear, respectively. The Belovs, along with Scott Sadler, a project manager at UT, came up with “Polaris” after looking through the UMLAUF photo archives. “From the very beginning there was a very powerful photograph which was taken 10 or so years ago, when the whole garden flooded,” Sergey said. “It was like a lake with sculptures and tree trunks kind of poking through, and that led us to think about topography and water levels and orientation in space.” Sadler brought technical expertise in welding and electrical engineering to help the Belovs realize their design for “Polaris.” The “Design Shine” exhibition brought together a community of designers, architects and builders to transform the gardens after dark. “The goal was to create something magical out of everyday materials like cinder blocks, plumbing pipe and scotch tape,” Krippner said.
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