Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Friday, December 6, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 80
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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E+E African American Culture hosts UT’s first Kwanzaa Umoja dinner.
Course Instructor Surveys must include statements that assess student safety.
Student startup teams pitch ideas at technology conference in NYC.
Volleyball puts together sweep of Albany to advance through first round of NCAA playoffs.
UNIVERSITY
TEXAN
UTPD embraces change After changing UTPD’s internal structure last semester, Chief David Carter says the changes have led to better recruiting and increased community engagement.
By Emily Hernandez
@emilylhernandez
semester after the UT Police Department restructured their divisions to improve community engagement through policing practices, UTPD Chief David Carter said the changes are working well. Carter worked over the summer to expand the two traditional police divisions, patrol and investigations, to three divisions, Public Order, Investigations and Analysis, and Community Engagement and Problem-Solving, to build trust with the UT community. “It gives people an opportunity within the department to figure out their interests and where they need to focus,” Carter said. “The challenge for each of them ... is you have a responsibility to find areas of training that fit your division … (and) share that across the division so they all work together, and then take your expertise in whatever that is and present it to our UT community.” Carter said restructuring was shaped by precision policing, which is based on the idea that police departments should work with the larger noncriminal population because public
safety is a shared responsibility between the public and police. The founders of precision policing, William J. Bratton and Jon Murad of the New York Police Department, implemented the practice for NYPD in 2014 after Michael Brown was shot by police in Ferguson, Missouri. “Some core principles I talk about in policing (include) recognizing issues of policing reforms, the history of police racial profiling ... and (recognizing) the history of policing and change that so that precision policing is driving us,” Carter said. UTPD began collaborating on a long-term project led by Michael Lauderdale, the Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor, this semester with the Steve Hicks School of Social Work that focuses on building relationships with the UT community through precision policing. “The concept of community policing is for police officers to be agents of building ‘social capital,’ which generally refers to social norms where people look out for each other,” Lauderdale said in an email. “This is in contrast to many police forces I see that will concentrate on social order (managing traffic) or
Update on The Daily Texan verification process By Catherine Marfin @thedailytexan
Last month, the Texan staff was contacted by a spokesperson from the city of Austin with concerns about an article that quoted two city of Austin officials. Both of the city officials told our staff that they had never given an interview to the reporter who wrote it, senior news reporter Sara Johnson. An internal investigation by our staff into those allegations determined that the quotes were fabricated. We let the reporter go and retracted the two articles, which we confirmed contained fabricated quotes. After publishing my initial statement regarding the issue, myself and the Texan staff began the process of verifying the sources in all of Johnson’s published articles. Aside from the two articles we’ve already retracted, Johnson had 37 articles published between February and November 2019, for a total of about 110 quoted sources. Our staff has worked diligently over the last two weeks to contact each of these individuals. In standing by our goal of
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lauren ibanez
/ the daily texan staff
V E R I F Y PAGE 2
NATION
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
US government releases debt, earnings data by major
UT Senate introduces one-third of legislation planned in agenda By Neelam Bohra @neelambohratx
emma overholt
By Graysen Golter @graysen_golter
The United States Department of Education released data on student debt and firstyear graduate salary ranges for the first time last month to help students make more informed decisions when it comes to choosing their field of study. “Every student is unique,” U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a press release. “What they study, as
well as when, where and how they chose to pursue their education will impact their future. That’s why we worked to deliver a product that is customizable and transparent — a tool that provides real information students need to make informed, personalized decisions about their education.” The department released the data as part of a redesign of the online tool College Scorecard, which allows users to research and compare institutions based on factors such as
/ the daily texan staff
programs, costs and admission rates, according to the press release. Eli Mansour, the department’s deputy press secretary, said the department hopes this new information will help better inform schools as they consider how to set prices for their programs. Mansour said in an email that the data shows earnings in different fields of study vary widely. According to the data, UT graduates’ median total H I G H E R PAGE 2
UT Senate of College Councils passed legislation related to two of the six initiatives it planned on introducing this semester, according to its 2019-20 agenda. They passed one resolution in support of expanding the definition of no-contact directives, and another in support of creating a survey for students to provide feedback for Quest, an online learning platform. The four resolutions Senate has not introduced support expanding the philosophy curriculum, creating a virtual counseling service, reducing barriers to orientation for families with less access and creating deadlines for faculty reporting academic dishonesty. Senate vice president Katie Lee said they are currently working on the other resolutions but will wait until next semester to introduce them. “We always set ambitious goals, but this was just a strategy to plan the meeting flow of how we were going to orient our policy planning,” said Lee, a Plan II and Arabic flagship junior. “A lot of those (resolutions) are nearing the finishing of creation.” Senate president Elena Ivanova said the Senate, which meets twice a month, usually
does not pass as much during the fall semester. “The first semester is really having conversations with administrators and setting groundwork,” said Ivanova, a public health, government and Plan II senior. “Once there’s a course of action in place, we take (legislation) to break to work on the items and make them more concise and clear.
We have really shifted the culture of certain Senate legislation, and it’s become a lot more focused on student issues.” ELENA IVANOVA senate president
We end up passing most things (spring) semester.” Ivanova said three joint resolutions, which go through all three legislative student organizations, have passed this semester. One of these joint resolutions introduced the no-contact directive initiative, which allows the Title
IX office to prevent two people from making contact out of concern for student safety. Ivanova said joint resolutions can cause other legislation to take longer to pass. “We have really shifted the culture of certain Senate legislation, and it’s become a lot more focused on student issues,” Ivanova said. “I’ve loved the collaboration we’ve had with Student Government and Graduate Student Assembly this semester because we’ve had to think about issues that are intersectional and how we can pass meaningful legislation.” Ivanova also said the first semester serves as a learning period for new members of Senate. Sameeha Rizvi, a Senate at-large member and public health freshman, was a co-author of a joint resolution asking the University to provide more free menstrual products. Rizvi said this helped her learn how to write legislation faster than others. “You have to write legislation in the most efficient and well-worded way possible,” Rizvi said. “You have to be well-educated on the subject you’re writing about, and it’s hard. There is a lot of bureaucracy around it. I was shocked I was able to do this as a freshman, but I found something I was really U T S E N AT E
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MEGAN MENCHACA
News Editor | @THEDAILYTEXAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
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UT’s African American Culture committee celebrates University’s first Kwanzaa dinner
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By Claudia Ng @ClaudiCaroline
Students celebrated UT’s first Kwanzaa Umoja dinner with a gift exchange, live performances, keynote speech and ceremonial lighting of the unity candle Thursday evening. The dinner, hosted by Campus Events and Entertainment African American Culture, preceded the weeklong celebration of Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. The event kicked off with a presentation about the holiday’s history, which psychology junior Nia Smith said is frequently misunderstood. “(Kwanzaa) has nothing to do with religion,” Smith said. “A lot of people think that’s the case, but it isn’t. It’s a week to reflect on your year, seeing what you had at the beginning of the year that you don’t have now and how you changed as a person.” Kwanzaa is a festival that honors African American heritage, government sophomore Devonne Hyde said. She said it is important to use Kwanzaa to gather members of the black community at UT since it’s so small.
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(512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.
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Ateendees enjoy Campus Events and Entertainment African American Culture’s first annual Kwanzaa Umoja dinner for students at the WCP Ballroom on Dec. 5, 2019. The event sheds light on the celebration and gathers members of the black community at UT.
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NEWS
“Usually when you celebrate Kwanzaa, you’re in the comfort of your home, but now we’re here at UT and we’re going through the same stuff, so it’s great for us to have that sense of community and togetherness,” Hyde said.
I think bringing (Kwanzaa) to campus can bring something different because I know there is no organization that really celebrates Kwanzaa or sheds any light on the celebration.” BRIANNA MCBRIDE
chair of the african american culture committe
Brianna McBride, chair of the African American Culture committee and communication and leadership junior, said Kwanzaa is popular in the United States, but it hasn’t seen much exposure at UT. “I think bringing (Kwanzaa) to campus can bring something
different because I know there is no organization that really celebrates Kwanzaa or sheds any light on the celebration,” McBride said. Kwanzaa traditionally displays seven symbols for each day of the festival that stand for values cherished by African American culture, according to University of Pennsylvania’s African Studies Center. Umoja, or unity symbol, emphasizes unity among communities and was the central focus of this year’s dinner. McBride said focusing on unity within the University’s African American community helps them reflect on their accomplishments. “Unity embodies what we’re trying to give off a sense of at this event,” said McBride. “Let’s come together at the end of the semester and celebrate all our accomplishments, things we’ve done, and have a good time.” The dinner concluded with a ceremonial lighting of the unity candle. “I think (the candle) physically embodies what it means to complete the seven principles,” McBride said. “Lighting the candle signifies us acknowledging that unity and coming together in different ways.”
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debt after graduation is between $16,750 and $26,495, and they make a typical monthly loan payment between $174 and $275. The field of study in the upper limit of debt is a bachelor’s degree in music, while the lower limit is a bachelor’s degree in finance and financial management services for both the debt range and loan payment range. For salary ranges by field of study, the upper limit is $78,400 for chemical engineering, while the lower limit is East Asian languages, literatures and linguistics. “While the primary purpose of College Scorecard is to provide data that can help prospective students and their advocates make more informed enrollment decisions, there are other numerous applications such as institutional benchmarking, self-assessment, etc.” Mansour said in an email. “The hope is that students find better fits tailored to their needs and that institutions can continuously improve.” David Troutman, the UT System’s associate vice chancellor of
Institutional Research and Advanced Analytics, said the new data is a valuable resource for both students and universities, but there are several shortcomings in the data. Troutman said the information from College Scorecard is based only on students who have received federal financial aid, and only 60% of bachelor’s degrees offered by UT-Austin are reported. Troutman said the situation was worse at the graduate level, with 88% of UT-Austin’s doctoral degrees being omitted from the data. “It’s informative, but it’s also limited in its information,” Troutman said. Troutman said the data is also limited in its reporting of socioeconomic diversity, as no data is available for the listed demographics of American Indian/ Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. He said this was in part to protect the identity of students and their earnings. “There’s just not enough students that would be able to be captured in the IRS data to provide any insight,” Troutman said. “You’re still missing a lot of students.”
jacob fraga
/ the daily texan staff
The Senate of College Councils met Dec. 5, 2019 and passed legislation on no-contact directives and a Quest feedback survey, two of six planned initiatives in its 2019-20 agenda.
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passionate about.” Ivanova said the executive board tried to empower students to
lead their own initiatives this semester, and she looks forward to the next semester. “I feel inspired,” Ivanova said. “I am a little tired, but this has been objectively the semester
with the biggest growth. We really took the time to invest into our members as leaders instead of just doing it ourselves. Everyone is so passionate, and they have their own ideas, and they are ready to work.”
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transparency in our reporting, I’m writing to update our readers on the results of this verification process. The Texan did not hear back from every source. But of the roughly 60 people who have responded to our inquiries as of this writing, fabricated quotes were attributed to at least 30 people across 18 different articles. The majority of the fabricated quotes were attributed to UT students, but were also attributed to five UT professors and staff
members, an official from Austin’s housing department and one U.S. senator. As a result of this process, the following articles have been retracted in print and online: Sept. 13, 2019: “Former Madam Mam’s renovated into a bank” Sept.. 16, 2019: “El Patio reopening late September” Sept. 17, 2019: “CapMetro introduces Pickup system to extend public transit” Sept. 23, 2019: “Salvation Pizza closes doors to its original location off Guadalupe Street” Sept.
24,
2019:
“UHS gives flu shots to UT community”
Sept. 30, 2019: “Mayor Adler, Sen. Merkley speak at anti-gun violence rally hosted by University Democrats” Oct. 1, 2019: “Mediterranean restaurant MezzeMe opens location on The Drag” Oct. 3, 2019: “West Campus apartments prepare for increase in overnight ACL guests” Oct. 7, 2019: “Mongolian Hot Pot restaurant closes in West Campus” Oct. 9, 2019: “CapMetro planning to release proposal to make routes more safe, accessible” Oct. 17, 2019: “African food truck diversifies food scene in West Campus”
21, 2019: “Beauty salon to open in Dobie Mall in 2020” Oct. 22, 2019: “Potential Austin Land Development Code revision includes new sidewalk installment rules” Oct. 31, 2019: “UT student develops website to help students find short-term leases” Oct. 31, 2019: “43-yearold Mediterranean cafe north of campus to close” Nov. 5, 2019: “North Campus taqueria closing after 20 years” Nov. 11, 2019: “Insomnia Cookies celebrates grand opening” Nov. 11, 2019: “Steel City Pops closes on Guadalupe Street” Oct.
Our staff is deeply hurt that the verification process revealed this many instances of fabrication within Johnson’s articles. As I said in my first statement on this issue, fabricating quotes — or any information in an article — is not a reflection of our values or standards as journalists or as Texan staff members. On behalf of the Texan, I want to apologize to all of the individuals who fabricated quotes were attributed to. I am deeply sorry for any negative outcomes these individuals may have faced as a result of this situation.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
CAMPUS
Same-sex behaviors among animals not as costly in nature as previously thought, scientists say By Nataleah Small @thedailytexan
Scientists have observed same-sex sexual behaviors in over 1,500 animals species. However, many have assumed this behavior is costly because it does not lead to offspring. According to an article University researchers contributed to, that might not be true. According to the perspective piece, same-sex behaviors in animals have not been impacted by natural selection because these behaviors are less costly than originally assumed. Researchers from UT-Austin, Yale University, UC Berkeley and Syracuse University proposed the alternative hypothesis about same sex behaviors in animals in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution on Nov. 18. When animals first evolved, they lacked the physical features that differentiate animals based on sex, said Max Lambert, co-author and postdoctoral fellow in the University of California, Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. “It’s very hard to directly target the other sex,” Lambert said. “We have to evolve things like different body shapes, different body colors — chemical cues that let you recognize whether something’s your sex or a different sex.” Lambert said early animals would display indiscriminate sexual behaviors because they had not evolved the visual and chemical cues
necessary to identify members of the different sex. Lambert said animals only need to engage in different sex behavior at some point in order to produce offspring, and animals tend to display same-sex and different-sex behaviors over the course of their lives. Erin Giglio, co-author and ecology, evolution and behavior graduate student at UT, said animals have continued to engage in same sex behaviors because it does not harm their reproductive success and may be a normal part of animal sexuality. Moving forward, Giglio said hypotheses such as this can influence people’s assumptions on how humans and animals work. “We often project our ideas about people on the animals,” Giglio said. “But when we pause to try and understand what animals are doing on their own level, we can often learn a lot about different ways and different reasons to be.” Julia Monk, co-author and forestry and environmental studies graduate student at Yale University, said it could be beneficial for young people to be exposed to this new hypothesis in their fundamental biology classes. In early science classes, Monk said instructors make complex ideas easy to understand but can oversimplify them too much. “Hopefully, being exposed to our hypothesis will at least make some students feel like more of their life experience fits within the paradigm of biology,” Monk said.
destiny alexander
/ the daily texan staff
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
Texas Advanced Computing Center receives grant to study pain, opioids
Latino Studies celebrates holidays with tamales, storytelling By Austin Martinez @austinmxrtinez
In the middle of final exam season, students released stress with homemade tamales Thursday evening. Merry Merienda offered students freshly fried buñuelos, Mexican-style hot chocolate, storytelling, and arts and crafts in the Gordon-White Building. The event, held by Latino Studies, allowed Latino students, faculty and staff to celebrate the winter holidays, said Mallory Laurel, outreach and communication director for Latino Studies. “This event is meant to build community among all students, especially Latinos ... and is treated as a study break before the stress of finals,” Laurel said. “I hope students are reminded there is a place on campus that feels like home and where their belonging is absolute and unquestionable.”
nat hadaway
By Jennifer Xia @JenniferXia7
The Texas Advanced Computing Center will receive part of a National Institutes of Health grant designed to explore chronic pain and opioid dependence. According to UT News, the center will receive $2.3 million over four years to study how biological characteristics in humans help indicate who is at risk for chronic pain. The center will also provide the cyberinfrastructure that houses the collected data and information. The first project will look at 1,800 patients with acute pain associated with knee replacements, according to UT News. The center will use neuroimaging, biomedical measurements, sensory testing and psychosocial assessments to analyze patient pain and provide better treatment. David Ring, associate dean
for comprehensive care and professor of surgery and psychiatry, said nociception is the actual tissue damage caused by injury where as pain is based on thoughts and emotions. He said this might explain why some people become more opioid dependent than others. “What you’ll notice is that people experience extremely variable amounts of pain for a given nociception,” Ring said. “They want that answer to be something passive outside of themselves, that will be an answer directly to the physical problem ... That’s where the opioids come in.” The center will develop a web interface that provides access to analytic tools and public and private data sets which will be used to impact future clinical trials and treatments, according to UT News. The center has already built cloud computing portals for other collaborations, such as
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Alex Palacios, a graphic designer for Latino Studies, convinced their Tía Tencha to make 40 dozen tamales for the event, according to a newsletter sent Tuesday by the Latino Studies department. “I ran over here as soon as I could when I heard a real tía was making the tamales,” mathematics sophomore Maria Ramirez said. “Having authentic Mexican food here made by somebody Latino makes the event so much better ... I appreciate my Mexican culture and I miss being in Mexico, so having this event is like experiencing a little piece of home.” Lorraine Hernandez is the only Latina librarian in Del Valle ISD and a mother of a Mexican American and Latino/a Studies student, according to the newsletter. She read her short story, “Tamale Memories,” from this year’s Christmas edition of “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” and said the story is inspired by her
memories of making tamales with her mother. “Reading to (Latino students) is a way for me to give them a taste of home and the face of a mom for a little bit,” Hernandez said. “I think they all either have an abuelita or a mom or an aunt who has probably put them through the torture of making tamales at Christmas time ... I hope it gets them excited about going home and celebrating with their families.” Far from her home in Monterrey, Mexico, Ramirez said she was grateful to see Latino students celebrating Christmas on campus together. “Being away from Mexico and family, especially during Christmas, is hard because I miss the Mexican traditions of family gatherings and food,” Ramirez said. “Even if these people aren’t necessarily my relatives, the fact we come from a similar culture helps me feel at home.”
/ the daily texan staff
DesignSafe, a platform for natural hazards research. “Having a better understanding of the biochemical and neurological adaptations associated with pain will allow treatment researchers to develop more effective treatments and prevention strategies for chronic pain and addiction,” said Kasey Claborn, assistant professor of psychiatry. Claborn said people with chronic pain may be physiologically dependent on opioids but may not have an addiction. “It may be a sign that the person is at high risk for developing an addiction,” Claborn said. “Other risk factors include genetic predisposition, family history of addiction and other psychosocial factors.” Ring said by avoiding difficult discussions related to mental and social health, people are being mistreated with opioids.
jamie hwang
/ the daily texan staff
Irene Infante, Mexican American studies senior, makes a calmate tamale at Merry Merienda on Dec. 5, 2019. Latino Studies hosted a get-together for students, faculty and staff to enjoy tamales and celebrate the end of semester.
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in crime control. Thus doing what Chief Carter has begun is the model, I think, for all university policing.” Carter said at least six officers have told him they chose to work at UTPD over other departments because of UTPD’s new focus for campus policing.
“That really is a big deal because ... today, police departments are really struggling across the country in terms of hiring cadets with sufficient requirements and getting quality people,” Carter said. UTPD will also add a third detective with a specialization in sexual assault investigations next semester, Carter said. Public health junior Tuka Uzor said she thinks UTPD’s
increased focus on community engagement helps students become more familiar with the department. “I know the average student doesn’t really know what to do in an emergency,” Uzor said. “I had a conversation with a police officer randomly ... and he told (me) that the number we’re meant to call is not 911, but it’s the UTPD number, and I didn’t even know that UTPD had a number.”
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SPENCER BUCKNER
Editor-In-Chief | @THEDAILYTEXAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
COLUMN
OPINION
Course Instructor Surveys must account for student safety By Spencer Buckner Editor-in-chief
This week, all my classes set aside time for students to complete a Course Instructor Survey — a form designed to get anonymous feedback about our experiences in class. Professors use these surveys to improve their courses. The University uses them to make promotion and salary decisions. Students use them to decide which courses they will enroll in. Right now, University-mandated questions on the CIS forms ask students to assess statements such as “the course was well organized” and “the instructor was prepared for each instructional activity” with a fivepoint scale, ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” A comments section is also provided for students to elaborate. What if they asked us how safe we felt in our classes? Ideally, professors who violate sexual misconduct policy would no longer work here. Instead, students often don’t even know who these professors are. Three student sit-ins protesting professor sexual misconduct, editorials describing jeopardized student safety in classrooms and countless personal accounts shared on social media have made abundantly clear that UT’s teaching faculty can use their power to abuse students and invalidate their identities. The only statement on the CIS that addresses classroom climate is “the instructor made me feel free to ask questions, disagree, and express my ideas.” Clearly, we need more. Thankfully, students and faculty are drafting new items for the CIS form to better assess classroom climate. The issue is making sure these new items help protect students. Alcess Nonot, human development and family science junior, is the legislative chair of the Natural Sciences Council. She and her committee feel that CIS forms are an especially powerful tool due to their reach. “We just want to make a very easy way for students to voice their
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.
concerns about professors,” Nonot said. “It’s important that it’s on a University survey. The CIS is the only universal thing that all students have to fill out at UT.” Nonot’s committee is hoping to add statements to the CIS such as “I felt safe and comfortable around my instructor,” which would be answered with the same scale of “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” Her committee is also hoping to add another written response section to give students space to talk about the classroom environment.
CIS infrastructure already exists. All this would require is adding a few more questions and another written response section.” Data collected from statements and written responses such as these would help students avoid professors with a history of jeopardizing student comfor and better inform administrators during the promotion process. Better yet, this data could alert University administration on which professors could pose risks to their students. Kristin Harvey, vice chair of UT Faculty Council’s Educational Policy Committee, is working with a faculty task force that aims to address the same concerns as Nonot’s committee. “We are trying to capture a bit more (in CIS surveys) about the climate of the classroom for students because we’ve heard that’s what they want,” Harvey said. Because the faculty task force is still in its planning stages, Harvey would not speak to what their proposals were. She did, however, express discomfort over including the language of “safety” in the survey. “The question ‘Do you feel safe?’ is
very hard to answer on a reliable scale because that’s such a personal thing,” Harvey said. “I’m not sure if the question will end up being worded that way because I don’t know if that would necessarily give students the information they’re looking for.” Instead, Harvey said the committee is looking into more specific subquestions to address issues of classroom climate. Harvey is right that students should be presented with subquestions to better articulate their experiences with professors. These questions, however, cannot mince words when it comes to addressing student safety. Statements such as “I felt comfortable and safe in my instructor’s classroom,” “I felt comfortable and safe around my instructor during office hours,” and “my instructor respected my ethnic, sexual, and gender identity” would clearly communicate to prospective students important aspects of a course’s climate. I’d argue that these statements leave no more up to personal interpretation than “the instructor made me feel free to ask questions, disagree, and express my ideas.” Let me emphasize: This is not a big ask. CIS infrastructure already exists. Every undergraduate class is required to distribute them. Thousands of students anonymously complete the survey, and thousands more view the results. All this would require is adding a few more questions and another written response section. Ultimately, Faculty Council’s suggestions will be sent to President Gregory Fenves’ desk for approval. Harvey assured me that students would be included in the process, particularly in the spring once their draft proposal is complete. To best serve their students, their statements cannot be vague to the point of uselessness. If the council’s intention is to improve student safety, we need statements that actually ask about it. Faculty who threaten our safety shouldn’t be on staff. Until that happens, however, we must make it as easy as possible for students to protect each other. Buckner is a Plan II junior from Austin. He is the editor-in-chief.
helen brown
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
RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanOpinion) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.
SPORTS
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
“Our chasing game, our quaffle game is one of our strengths. Our chasers really stepped up with our offense and locking down on defense.” pitch and watch film to make sure we As the season kicks into high gear, are constantly getting better. We never however, there are still misconcepsettle. That’s one of the big things that tions about the game many on the (captains) Tate and Kasye (Bevers) team want to correct. push around here.” “Whenever I tell people I play As they aim to go quidditch, they back-to-back this just laugh because year, the experiences they immediately learned from last year attach it to Harwill be valuable. They don’t know that ry Potter, which “Last year I was is what it’s based there is a defensive off of, but they captain as well,” Kay said. “Just knowing aspect, and that it’s a don’t understand what it took to get physicality,” physical game. They the there last year — for Bevers said. “They me (we will need to) at just associate it with don’t know that we least just bring that.” tackle. They don’t flying on brooms.” During the champiknow that there onship run, two freshis a defensive asmen started along pect, and that it’s KASYE BEVERS with several others a physical game. captain who played significant They just associminutes. That youthate it with flying fulness has provided a good blend on brooms.” with the experience the upperclassFor Texas and its players, the valimen bring to the program. dation came with the championships. “Our physicality and experience “(My family) made fun of it until show even though we do have still a they came to nationals, and now my young team,” sophomore Bevers said. mom is the biggest fan,” Forbes said.
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joshua guenther
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is a Sugar Bowl win, the outside noise will surely grow. Along with the heightened expectations lies the fact that Baylor, who was in a significantly worse position than Texas was at the time of Herman’s hiring, has rebounded with astounding speed. In three years, Matt Rhule has taken the Bears from a single win to 11 and conference title game berth. Every coach has a breaking point in his career. Herman is at his. He has bought himself more time with the events of the last week. However, given the standard Texas holds itself to and the expectations Herman has placed on himself, time could run out if change doesn’t come for the Longhorns soon.
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their game against Mississippi State last year as part of the challenge, but did their part in 2017 with a win over Georgia. Aston, who is in her eighth season as Texas head coach, expressed no concern about the team’s preparation for Sunday despite it being a big week for the Longhorns academically.
joshua guenther
/ the daily texan file
Texas head coach Tom Herman huddles with the Texas offense during the Longhorns’ 24-10 loss to Baylor on Nov. 23, 2019. After going 7–5 in the regular season of his third year, Herman fired or reassigned both his coordinators.
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“They were off on the travel day back and they were off (Wednesday),” Aston said. “I would expect that they were able to play some catch-up academically. It’s a big week for them. A lot of their final papers are due, and they’re cramming for a lot of things that are due at the end of the week.” The Longhorns will face quite a test Sunday in Knoxville, but as they begin to settle into the season, Texas looks to be up to the challenge.
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The Texas quidditch team goes through practice drills on Sept. 9, 2019. The Longhorns won the National Championship last year, and are looking to win their second in a row this season.
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CHANNING MILLER & LAUREN IBANEZ
Comics Editors | @THEDAILYTEXAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
COMICS
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The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Friday, December 6, 2019
Crossword ACROSS 1 Von Trapp daughter in “The Sound of Music” 6 Range for 1-Across
28 Morally reprehensible
45 Jason of “The Incredibles”
29 Headwear almost 48 Arab nation never worn once colonized outdoors by the Portuguese 32 Garments worn
at Hogwarts 49 This might sound sad 33 Language in which “thank you” 51 Value not is “khob chai” appearing on 14 Major for a future any Scrabble museum curator 34 Peppery herb tile 35 Shopping 16 Singer Brickell 52 “Don’t be such a destination 17 Steam-powered baby!” that sounds device? risqué 53 Online 18 Wheedle marketplace 37 Coloring since 2005 19 Schmutz on 38 On the up and Santa’s boots 54 Some referee up? calls, for short 20 Mila of “Black 39 Leasing unit Swan” 55 Joint part 40 Sides in chess, 21 Cinematography symbolically tool DOWN 41 Block at sea 22 Cast opener 1 Dr. Zhivago’s love 42 One who tells 23 Calls to account a tale full of 2 State flower of 25 Knives can make sound and fury, Tennessee them per Macbeth 3 Chisel, say 27 Props (up) 43 Hypes 4 Marine mollusk exoskeleton ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE vendor, in a A R M U N L O A D M U D tongue twister? L O A P E I R C E M I N I 5 Pronto E T C S O C C E R B A L L S 6 When to meet for C H A L I C E S I R O N I C lunch, maybe R E D O U S A E T S 7 Enemy of the H O O T E N A N N I E S Avengers I P O T O D O T R A M 8 Nursery Y A N K D E V O N L I R A A L S O I M A N D E R 9 Setting for 400+ I M S P E E C H L E S S miles of the G A S E C O H O E S Euphrates: Abbr. A V A T A R A M A L G A M S 10 Useful D O U B L E B L I N D W O E cryptography tool O W N S T R A N C E A R T to have on hand? T S A E A S T E R Y E S 11 Not mature
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Longhorns Stay in Control
Arrr 30 matey. This scurrvy beast is today’s answerrrrrr. 31 Crop it out, or it’ll be the the fishes for ya!
9 3 6 8 5 4 7 9 3 5 2 1 40 ___ one 41 Regatta markers 4 6 42 One of the Nereids 44 Not8 fooled by 2 45 Dangerous kind of shark 1 7 46 Post hoc, ___
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propter hoc (common fallacy) 47 Fall location 49 Dismount surface 50 Realm of Otto I: Abbr.
Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.
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of Longhorns had 0-3 drinks the last time they went out. @UTBruceTheBat 2019 UT Austin National Social Norms Center Survey
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D O N N AVA N S M O O T
Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
CLUB
VOLLEYBALL
Texas Quidditch brings physicality into magical sport By Adam Ogburn @texansports
A sport that combines the physicality of football, the shooting of basketball and the game of dodgeball is a crazy proposition for most, but for the Texas Quidditch team, it is something they have mastered to the tune of four national championships in 10 years. The team is broken up into four positions: keepers, beaters, seekers and chasers. The keepers protect the hoop, beaters use bludgers to delay their opponents and chasers try to throw or kick the quaffle in the hoops. The game has its origin in Harry Potter, which is what first drew many players to the game. “I love Harry Potter,” freshman beater Purvi Mujumdar said. “I had a Harry Potter-themed birthday party in elementary school. I was that into it.” Other team members found the game by chance. “They were having a party,” senior keeper Spencer Forbes said. “(My friend and I) went. We did not know it was a quidditch party. It was a cool group of people, and they invited us out to tryouts and we ended up going and going until we made the team.” Senior captain and beater Tate Kay’s journey was just as unlikely as Forbes’. “Some of my friends, as a joke, were like, ‘Let’s do quidditch,’” Kay said. “I actually went out to the tryouts. My friends ditched me. I went through it by myself. The next year I made (the team), and I’ve been on (Texas Quidditch) since my sophomore year.” As each member found their way to Texas Quidditch, the foundation for the highly successful program was being built. Texas won national championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015 before claiming their fourth national championship after a 15040 win over the University of California, Berkeley in the US Quidditch Cup 12 championship game this past April. “It’s mostly our work ethic and dedication to the sport,” Grayson Briggs, sophomore chaser and club president, said when asked about the key to the program’s success. “We work day in and day out on the C L U B PAGE 5
anthony mireles
/ the daily texan file
Freshman opposite hitter Skylar Fields gets up to powerdown a kill in Texas’ 3-0 win over West Virginia on Nov. 3. Fields had a solid performance in Thursday’s win over Albany, hitting .692 on 13 attempts.
Longhorns fly by Albany
Volleyball begins playoff run with quick sweep at home to cruise into second round By Clark Dalton @Clarktdalton1T
he spotlight shined brightly on Gregory Gym as the NCAA tournament rolled into Austin. The Longhorns excelled under these lights, sweeping Albany 25-9, 25-16, 25-15. The Longhorns are the No. 2 seed overall, meaning they have home court advantage throughout the regional final. The Longhorns plan to use Gregory Gym to their advantage, forging a path to the Final Four en route to their first national championship since 2012. Even though Texas was heavily favored, they viewed the game with the
utmost importance. to myself, ‘One game at a time, and “Our goal today was to try and play your hardest.’” find some rhythm and comfort in Texas didn’t give the Great Danes this NCAA tournament,” Texas head any breathing room. It unleashed coach Jerritt Elliott said. “I thought it a full-fledged offensive attack as it was really good, and we executed at a breezed to a 25-9 win. high level, and our The Longhorns blocking and trancontinued to protect sition game was their house in set two. really good.” Midway through, seTexas blew the There are going to nior outside hitter doors off the the Micaya White unbe a lot of upsets, a leashed a serve at full Great Danes in set one. The Longlot of this team lost, speed. Albany quickhorn offense was ly returned, hoping to that team lost, but outstanding, talcatch the Longhorns lying 15 kills on a don’t focus on that. off guard. hitting percentage Freshman middle Focus on who we of .636. Freshman blocker Asjia O’Neplay.” opposite hitter al rushed to the net, and Big 12 Rookie slamming a spike and of the Year Skylar landing a kill that MICAYA WHITE Fields added sevput the Longhorns senior eral big kills. up 10-3. Fields finished The Great Danes the first set with six kills on a hitting witnessed firsthand how strong this percentage of .625 and added a block Texas team is when at full strength. It in for good measure, a strong start in seemed like they were constantly met her tournament debut. by sophomore outside hitter Logan “I get a little nervous for every Eggleston or O’Neal. The Longhorns game,” Fields said. “I just kept saying finished set two with five blocks.
BASKETBALL
“We played a really big team who blocked really well,” Albany head coach Josh Pickard said. “They are a fantastic team, and I think they’re going to go deep into the tournament. They have size, speed and a lot of nice things that I saw.” Through two sets, Albany failed to register a hitting percentage above zero. In spite of this, the Great Danes would find a semblance of groove and have their best set in the third. Albany led at the beginning of the set and only trailed 9-7. However, its momentum quickly deflated when Fields, White and sophomore middle blocker Brionne Butler landed three consecutive kills. The Longhorns ran away with the set. Texas dominated the match, but they are trying to maintain a sharp focus as they prepare for the University of California, Santa Barbara. Each game could be the last for seniors such as Micaya White, who emphasized the message in the team huddle. “Don’t look around,” White said. “There are going to be a lot of upsets, a lot of this team lost, that team lost, but don’t focus on that. Focus on who we play.”
FOOTBALL
Herman places job on line in upcoming year with firings, statements
better job coaching across the board,” Herman said in a press release. While that statement seems As the decade comes to standard after such a move, it is a close, Texas is still trya risky one for Herman’s future. ing to find its way back to the It further entrenches Texas into a right path. “win now” culture. More imporThe 2010s have been a forgetta- tantly, it speeds up the timetable ble decade for the Longhorns. Eight for Herman to accomplish what he seasons of at least five losses and promised when he arrived on the multiple appearances in the Texas Forty Acres. Bowl and AlaThe Monday mo Bowl leave prior to the changthe 2018 Suges, Herman stood ar Bowl win at the podium and over Georgia said, “at the end of I take full as one of the the day, the buck lone bright stops with me.” responsibility for spots for After Sunday, any and all of our the program. there is nobody When head else left to blame. shortcomings and coach Tom Herman has put know we need to do Herman was himself out in the a better of coaching open and exposed introduced three years himself to any across the board.” ago, champiand all criticism onships were that will come TOM HERMAN promised. his way. head coach Three years And if the ship in, none have isn’t righted soon, been delivered. That’s why Herthe criticism will continue to pour man did what he did Sunday, firin. Next year will be the final year ing defensive coordinator Todd of quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s caOrlando and reassigning offensive reer at Texas. At the beginning of coordinator Tim Beck. Herman’s this season, it seemed as if Ehlinger actions were a statement to Long- had taken his game to another horn Nation that mediocrity won’t level. Before the season went be accepted as commonplace downhill, Ehlinger was leading the in Austin. Longhorns with Heisman-level “7–5 will never be our standard numbers. If the peak accomplishat Texas, and I take full responsiment of the Herman-Ehlinger era bility for any and all of our shortcomings and know we need to do a F O O T B A L L PAGE 5 By Donnavan Smoot @Dsmoot3D
jack myer
/ the daily texan file
Senior forward Joyner Holmes goes up for a shot in Texas’ 93-39 win over Southern University on Nov. 24, 2019. Holmes leads the team this season with 17.3 points per game.
Following tough stretch, women’s basketball gears up for ranked Tennessee By Robert Trevino @robtrev22
After a 1-2 performance at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Hawaii, the Longhorns will head to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a matchup against undefeated No. 17 Tennessee, who is coming off a 27-point win over Air Force. Meanwhile, the Longhorns are looking to pick up momentum in the early season after a 4-4 start that includes a 25-point drubbing at home to Arizona and a 13-point loss to Hawaii. Although the season is still young, Sunday’s game could be a turning point for Texas in a season that has been up-and-down at times.
“I definitely think this is a game that will test our toughness,” Texas head coach Karen Aston said. “It is a hostile environment, and they are a really good team. I’d like to see that we’re continuing to improve in some areas. As much as I’m disappointed — we all are — about the outcome in Hawaii, there were some areas that I thought we were better in.” The Lady Volunteers come into the game with a perfect 7–0 record, including an early-season 13-point victory over then-No. 15 Notre Dame that also came on the road. Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper is in her first year at the helm, coming over from Missouri State where she spent six seasons. “I think that we’re going to have
to play really intelligently and try to manage the tempo of the game and pick and choose when we want to run, but also make sure we get off good shots,” Aston said on playing Tennessee. “I also think not turning the ball over will be really important because (Tennessee is) very long, athletic, and they get out in passing lanes. I think they get a lot of their confidence out of their runouts that they get off of turnovers.” The game is part of the annual Big 12/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge, which has resulted in a 5–5 tie each of the past two seasons. The Longhorns dropped BASKETBALL
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J O R DY N Z I T M A N
Life&Arts Editor | @JORDYNZITMAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019
FEATURE
LIFE&ARTS
UT startups go to NYC conference Four teams of student entrepreneurs travel to compete for cash prizes, learn from industry leaders at the LaunchPad Propel conference in New York City. By Amarachi Ngwakwe @angwakwe
n November, UT student startups took their ideas to New York City to participate in the third annual LaunchPad Propel conference. The two-day technology conference, hosted by Blackstone Charitable Foundation and Techstars, a worldwide network focused on expanding entrepreneurship, brought together over 200 student entrepreneurs from across Blackstone’s LaunchPad network, giving them a space to develop and accelerate their businesses. Each of the more than 25 LaunchPad campus centers around the world were tasked with nominating up to four teams to participate in the conference. UT’s Blackstone LaunchPad nominated HiPR Innovation, a pressure-relieving medical device, Plexus Technology, a communication system for music festivals, Tesla ride-hailing service ElecTrip and clothing rental service Swayy to attend. Rajya Atluri, business honors and Plan II senior and co-founder of Swayy, said the conference offered a unique opportunity to pitch her business on a national platform. “Austin is a big startup space, but there are a lot of people in New York and California who typically aren’t here,” Atluri said. “We were able to meet mentors and attend workshops that we wouldn’t normally get access to.” Of the four nominations, the leading team from each school was selected to compete for $40,000 in cash prizes. Teams were evaluated based on their business model, its viability, team strength and presentation quality after presenting their ideas to a live audience and a panel of judges. Of the four UT teams, Swayy was chosen to compete. A University of Southern California team called Credit Starter, a credit-building
blaine young
/ the daily texan staff
Rajya Atluri, co-founder of Swayy, was one of the UT students to go to New York City to participate in the third annual LaunchPad Propel conference. The conference brought together over 200 student entrepreneurs to help them accelerate their business. service, won first place. “(Credit Starter) was super interesting to me,” Atluri said. “I see how it could have an impact across the financial industry because college students are an entire demographic who don’t have this history.” For two days, all students participated in one-on-one sessions with mentors in their industry, attended business workshops and heard from industry experts. Krishan Sachdev, a recent health and society graduate and HiPR Innovation team member, said attending a national competition exposed him to diverse ideas and issues that helped widen his perspective. “We were inspired by ideas (from) across the country,” Sachdev said. “The (other)
students come from a very different perspective and are focusing on regional specific challenges that are out of our purview.” Eliott Lee, mechanical engineering senior and co-founder of ElecTrip, said the conference helped him realize the variety of startup businesses on the market. “I always see the same UT startups at different competitions,” Lee said. “Having (a new) perspective gave me insight on what it’s like to be (involved in) a startup on a different campus.” Nina Ho, assistant director of UT’s Blackstone LaunchPad, attended the conference with students and said each team received individualized advice from experts in their respective fields.
“(Sachdev) got paired with a mentor that is exactly one year out from where his company is,” Ho said. “It was more helpful to meet someone a year out versus 20 years out because they are just a few steps ahead.” Sachdev said the most impactful portion of the program was being in a room of startup legends such as Nick Taranto and Josh Hix, founders of the meal-kit subscription service Plated. “(We) had really well-known startup entrepreneurs that were lecturing us, and the takeaway I got was it is so possible,” Sachdev said. “It became real that if we continue on this path and focus on what we’re doing, we too can be on the other end of the spectrum sooner than we expect.”
CAMPUS
Recently created student group provides space for black Muslims By Saachi Subramaniam @saachsub
Shams Alkamil arrived on campus and saw organizations for Muslim students and for black students, but none for people who identify as both. Alkamil, a human development and family sciences senior, founded the UT Black Muslims Alliance to create a space for those who feel discriminated against and isolated on the Forty Acres. According to a study by Pew Research Center, less than one-third of American Muslims are black. Alkamil said she wanted to create a space on campus where the intersectionality of these two identities is represented. “I was thinking of starting UT Black Muslims Alliance some time ago, but honestly I was scared to,” Alkamil said. “What triggered me to start the organization this past summer was that my country, Sudan, was under horrible political and social strife and everyone around me was saying nothing.” Aiming to celebrate culture and black excellence, members of the organization are from all disciplines and majors and represent many countries. The organization strives to unite Muslim students at UT, where members said just a few months ago they felt like there was no real representation in the form of an alliance on campus.
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jack myer
/ the daily texan staff
Students at the Black Muslim Alliance mixer discuss their experiences as black Muslims in the greater community of Islam as well as at UT. Alkamil said a lot of the racism and colorism she has experienced is rooted in general anti-blackness, so the alliance is necessary for uplifting and representing black people. “I was vice president of another large
Muslim organization here on campus, and I felt so excluded,” Alkamil added. “I asked myself why that is and what it really came down to was the fact that there was an obvious cultural difference between my background
and theirs.” Ameen Williams, English senior and BMA finance director, said the University provides many resources for Muslim students, but the black identity that she feels is a large part of her Islamic culture often goes unnoticed. “The school often fails to recognize the significant role America’s black population has played in laying the groundwork for the success of the religion in this country,” Williams said. Jenab Camara, linguistics and French junior and BMA vice president, said the alliance is important to the University because of the group’s dedication to providing a platform for people who have been historically underrepresented. “Usually when people think of Muslims they think Arab or Southeast Asian or South Asian,” Camara said. “Hardly anybody recognizes some African countries as Muslim countries too.” Alkamil said that the formation of the alliance has caused controversy in certain circles on campus who perceive the organization as a means of separating Muslims. “I think the biggest challenge we are going to face as an organization is that it will spark controversy,” Alkamil said. “We understand that people are always going to have an opinion, and we just need to stick to our main goal of representation. That’s it.”
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