2020-01-24 by The Daily Texan

Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com

Friday, January 24, 2020

Volume 120, Issue 85

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

LIFE&ARTS

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APD receives $50,000 from Texas State University to fund tobacco sales stings.

UT must implement a test-optional admissions policy and reject racist past.

Alumna credited for discovering two exoplanets before graduating.

Longhorns look to turn things around in home game against the LSU Tigers.

CAMPUS

Halal options come to campus After years of advocacy from the Muslim Students’ Association, J2 and Kinsolving Dining now accommodate halal requests by offering burgers and chicken breasts.

destiny alexander

By Nataleah Small @nataleahjoy

tarting this semester, students can request halal burgers and chicken breasts in J2 Dining and Kinsolving Dining. Halal options became available on Tuesday following years of advocacy from the Muslim Students’ Association, said Syeda Maryum Qadri, a radio-television-film senior. The MSA worked with University Housing and Dining to

make this change, she said. “I was so fed up eating grass every single day in that dining hall,” Syeda M. said. “I was so tired. And now my friends are able to go in and order a meat option. That’s just crazy.” According to the USA Halal Chamber of Commerce, halal is an Arabic word which means lawful or permissible. It is the dietary standard referring to food as outlined in the Quran, the Muslim holy book. Biology junior Ammar Abed said the preparation of halal meat, which is slaughtering an animal in a humane way in

accordance to the Islamic faith, sets it apart. “The very basic principle behind it is to just treat the animals with respect,” Abed said. “Obviously, a lot of us are meat eaters. We enjoy eating meat, but that doesn’t mean we can just do whatever we want (and) just disrespect the animal.” UT alumna Syeda Ayesha Qadri, Syeda M.’s sister, began asking UHD to offer halal options in dining halls in 2016, but when she graduated in 2018, halal options were still not available. Syeda M. said she decided to continue her sister’s advocacy work.

/ the daily texan staff

Syeda M. said she emailed UHD last January and asked for a refund for the dining portion of her housing and dining bill. She said she did not receive a refund. “I was like, ‘Hey, can I get my meal part reimbursed because I’m not eating the right amount of food, because y’all don’t serve halal,’” Qadri said. Syeda M. sent out a survey to MSA members asking if they would support halal options in dining halls, and received approximately 140 positive responses. H A L A L PAGE 2

CITY COUNCIL

HEALTH

City Council decriminalizes low-level marijuana offenses

Seasonal cedar fever causes allergy symptoms, discomfort By Lauren Girgis @laurengirgis

jack myer

/ the daily texan staff

City Council member Greg Casar’s proposal, which passed Jan. 23, 2020, will decriminalize almost all misdemeanor marijuana offenses in Austin. The Austin Police Department will update its guidelines by May 1, and will still prosecute large amounts of marijuana. By Austin Martinez @austinmxrtinez

Austin City Council passed a resolution 9-0 to end arrests and citations for most low-level marijuana offenses Thursday. Last year, House Bill 1325 legalized hemp and defined

illegal marijuana to contain more than 0.3% of THC, the psychoactive ingredient that produces a high. The passed resolution will stop funding THC testing for low-level marijuana offenses. The sponsors of the resolution, led by council member Greg Casar, say enforcement of low-level marijuana laws is not a safety

priority of Austin residents. “Spending extra dollars to pursue these low-level cases not only isn’t right, but actually makes us less safe because that instability in people’s lives is part of what drives lack of safety in our community,” Casar said. W E E D PAGE 2

From December to March, Central Texas’ juniper trees spread pollen, causing Austin’s residents to experience allergic reactions. “We call it cedar fever because you can feel so bad that it almost feels like you’re sick and not just having allergies,” said Terrance Hines, University Health Services chief medical officer and executive director. During this time of year the juniper trees release pollen into the air, triggering allergies in residents, especially those who are new to Austin. Common symptoms of cedar fever include runny nose, coughing and headaches, Hines said. Denisse Meza, a speech language pathology graduate student, said she experiences an itchy throat, watery eyes and constant sneezing every season, particularly starting in December. Meza said she did not start having allergies until she moved to Austin. “I drink teas (and) I try

not to sleep with the fan on,” Meza said. “But I had never heard about cedar fever (before).”

We call it cedar fever because you can feel so bad that it almost feels like you’re sick and not just having allergies.” TERRANCE HINES uhs executive director

Meza said her allergies were not too strong and usually did not prohibit her from coming to class. She said she does not know if her allergies are caused by the pollen. To prevent allergies, people should try to reduce exposure by bathing pets frequently because they

often bring in pollen, getting over-the-counter remedies and using air fresheners, Hines said. Hines said people experiencing allergies should take an over-the-counter antihistamine and nasal saline rinses. If home remedies are unsuccessful, they may want to be seen at the clinic, Hines said. “We definitely see an uptick of cedar fever allergy complaints in the late fall, early spring time frame,” Hines said. “It can be confusing sometimes because this is also the peak of cold and flu season. So we have to make that determination: Is this an allergy or is this an infection?” Advertising senior Kiana Fernandez said she usually experiences allergies at this time of year when she comes back to Austin from her hometown, Dallas. She gets an itchy, sore throat, becomes congested and sneezes a lot. Fernandez said she had not heard of cedar fever before, but she thinks it might be the cause of her allergies. “I use over-the-counter C E D A R PAGE 3

S AVA N A D U N N I N G

News Editor | @THEDAILYTEXAN

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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NEWS OFFICE

CITY

NEWS

City Council approves renewed funding, allows continued APD tobacco stings By Hannah Williford @HannahWillifor2

The Austin Police Department will continue to conduct sting operations monitoring the sale of tobacco and vape products to minors. Austin City Council approved $50,000 in funding from Texas State University to APD for the operation at their meeting Thursday. These funds will cover 400 stings costing about $125 each, said Stephanie Jacksis, public information officer specialist for APD. “APD periodically enters into fee-for-service contracts like this one,” Jacksis said. “Activity under this contract is citywide, and APD’s jurisdiction includes the areas surrounding UT campuses. Retailers that are not in compliance are tracked and officers continue to conduct follow-up activity, (and) they may have controlled buys or stings in the area.” Texas State University’s tobacco prevention and enforcement program allocates money from the Texas Government to numerous police agencies across the state, said Jennifer Steele, associate director of tobacco prevention and enforcement in the Texas School Safety Center at TXST. Steele said the program takes into account population density of each department’s jurisdiction. While 400 stings cannot cover every store in Austin, the program allows APD to choose where the stings take place, Steele said. “They do that based on their own knowledge of the area — what are problematic areas where they would

eddie gaspar

/ the daily texan staff

Tobacco products and signage are displayed at a 7-Eleven near campus on Jan. 21, 2020. The Austin Police Department will conduct 400 sting operations with the approved $50,000 in funding from Texas State University. like to sting those outlets,” Steele said. “Anyone is up for grabs.” Although the legal age of purchasing tobacco products increased from 18 to 21 in September, Steele said the program will not change the age of those used in the stings. Steele said they do not want to trick the retailer because the specifics between federal and state laws are not clear. The stings will focus solely on retailers and not minors attempting to purchase tobacco or vape products, Steele said. “It’s not about punishing the young person,” Steele said. “It’s about making sure

The products are just too widely available for just any student to own. (They) just use without any prior knowledge of how to use it or when to stop … so I feel like we need some sort of regulation.”

es bars them from public housing, food stamps and employment opportunities. “The war on drugs has always been a racist and classist institution,” said Todd, international relations and Latin American studies senior. “In areas that have more people of color like East and Southeast Austin, there are more low-level arrests.” The city of Austin must train officers to end arrests and citations of personal possession of marijuana and update its guidelines by May 1, according to KVUE . APD will still prosecute offenses involving large amounts

of marijuana. “This is something that should have been ended a long, long time ago,” said James Lee, UT Students for Sensible Drug Policy co-president. “I don’t know why we’re wasting so many resources on something that’s harming nobody.” According to data obtained by Lee from the University open records, about 180 drug offenses were recorded by UT Police Department in 2018. A hundred of those offenses were for possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana. “Half of all of the drug offenses they deal with are

takes diligence,” Geiger said. Geiger said the UHD dietician holds monthly meetings with various student groups to see what options they would like added to dining halls. “We’re constantly looking for feedback and input about the program,” Geiger said. “We want to reflect our students.” Starting in October 2019, Abed said MSA participated in the Student Committee for Dining Diversity, a series of meetings scheduled with UHD to discuss the logistics of offering halal food on campus.

During the meetings, Abed said they found a compromise. “We want to work with (each other), make it something that’s best for all of us so that the students have a good experience, but also not inconvenience the staff too much,” Abed said. Syeda M. said she is glad she persisted. “Just seeing this, almost a year and a half with the work of mine, and years worth of work (from) the previous Muslim students here on campus has finally become possible,” Syeda M. said.

OMAR ABDELRAHMAN government freshman

the retailers are responsible … not to say, ‘I got you’ to the young person who’s trying to buy the tobacco product. We know basically they’re pressured by the advertising of the industry … we just want to counteract those messages.” Government freshman Omar Abdelrahman said many college students use vaping and tobacco products. He said he does not support a full ban, but he feels some restrictions on the products are necessary. “The products are just too widely available for just any student to own,” Abdelrahman said. “(They) just use without any prior knowledge of how to use it

or when to stop … so I feel like we need some sort of regulation.” Steele said stings mixed with other methods of use prevention, including educating minors on risks and having access to recovery, are an effective method of enforcing of the law. “Research has shown that limiting access to tobacco products, as well as vape products has an impact … on their use, accessibility, ease of access, as well as enforcement,” Steele said. “A law on the books that’s not enforced certainly can be perceived as one that’s not necessary. If it was really that bad, why wouldn’t they enforce that?”

possession of low amounts of marijuana,” said Lee, philosophy and sociology senior. “Some of those people are arrested, but most of them are fined, so they’re making a lot of money from them.” Regardless of the resolution’s outcome, UTPD said they will continue to follow the state law when it comes to the prosecution of marijuana. “UTPD, as (a) state agency, is not guided by any city policy,” UTPD Chief David Carter said. “Any policy, resolution or ordinance the city passes only applies to city police entities.”

Casar said although this resolution does not change state law, it reprioritizes the enforcement of marijuana cases and helps push toward the elimination of all penalties. “It’s important for folks in the community to know that there is still work to be done at the state legislature … where decriminalization and legalization can happen,” Casar said. “I believe we are on track to getting there and this is the furthest the City Council can go to just absolutely minimize our resources to this thing that has been hurting folks for too long.”

(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.

AUSTIN WEATHER TODAY Jan. 24

HI LO

69º 44º

TOMORROW Jan. 25

HI LO

68º 56º

Whoever makes Lisa miss deadline will get a good from me in critiques.

weed

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Casar said Black and Hispanic people received 84% of citations for marijuana in Austin in 2019, according to data from the Austin Police Department. He said this resolution acknowledges the city’s racial equity issues. Allyson Todd is the co-president for UT Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an organization working to promote civic engagement to reform drug policy. Tood said marking people’s records with low-level marijuana offens-

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halal

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She sent the survey responses to UHD to prove offering halal food was worth the cost and effort. Erich Geiger, senior director of dining and catering for UHD, said the main problem with offering halal food on campus is sourcing. He said UHD has not been able to find a local Austin supplier yet, and is currently working with a vendor in Houston. “This is a project that just

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assistant commissioner. “We will do anything we can do to help our institutions foster a better-quality program and expand capacity so they can get more students.” The board addressed the 60X30 Texas goals, which aims to have 60% of Texans hold a degree or certificate by 2030. Julie Eklund, Strategic Planning and Funding assistant commissioner, said enrollment

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NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

T H R O U G H T H E LENS

Featuring the best from the photo department.

jamie hwang

| daily texan staff

Students gather around to buy Girl Scout cookies in front of the University Co-op on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

STATE

Texas school finance bill aims to increase access to higher education By Laura Morales @lamor_1217

Education leaders met Thursday to discuss how colleges, universities and public schools will implement equity through methods such as requiring financial aid applications and funding lower-income school districts. Mike Morath, Texas Education Agency commissioner, presented a report about House Bill 3, which allocated $634 billion to education in Texas, to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board at their quarterly meeting. The bill allocates funds to pay for standardized testing and requires high school

seniors starting in 2021 to fill out state and federal financial aid applications. The bill pays high schools for every graduate enrolled in the military or a higher education institution. “That is going to significantly increase the access to financial aid, specifically for first-generation college students in the state of Texas,” Morath said. The state will award an outcome bonus of $3,000 to school districts for every high schoool graduate who enrolls in a higher education institution and $5,000 for economically disadvantaged students, Morath said. Harrison Keller, a member of the board, said the board will ask colleges and universities to compile more data about which

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s w e e n e g t o r t r barbra daly

cedar continues from page 1 e . -medication to treat (myself),” dFernandez said. - Hines said in some casnes, nasal or oral steroids are appropriate, or antibiotics hif they have an infection. hIn some cases, Hines said, d students who have cedar ale lergies can get allergy shots e ras part of a desensitization tprogram. Hines said stu-

dents interested in receiving the shots would have to see a community allergist first, and then could receive shots in the UHS clinic. Bad allergies can cause a bacterial infection such as sinusitis, which can cause a fever, Hines said. If someone’s temperature is greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, they may have an infection and should seek treatment, Hines said. Hines said if students have

/ the daily texan staff

questions about whether they should come in and be seen, they can call the UHS Nurse Advice Line at 512-475-6877. “Some people are just more sensitive to allergies in general,” Hines said. “But anyone who has chronic respiratory conditions like asthma, cystic fibrosis or someone who has a problem with their immune system (are) more prone to an infection (and) would be more likely to develop complications of having allergies.”

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the Commuter Meal Plan Visit bit.do/commutermealplan to enter to win a Longhorn 25 Meal Plan ($225 value)

/ the daily texan staff

school districts their students are coming from. Keller said the program’s elements, such as requiring financial aid applications and allocating more funding per student for lower income districts, will promote equity. “It is going to be extraordinary for more students to see college as something that is accessible for them,” Keller said. “This is a remarkable, unprecedented and also sophisticated focus on equity. You have a formula that is sensitive to concentrations of poverty, and it really does put Texas on the forefront of these issues nationally.” Students will now be able to transfer more history and art credits from community and technical colleges to public

universities. The board also approved a new program of study, the Cloud Computing Program, which includes certifications, associate degrees and credit transfers, focusing on cloud programming and security. The board will send out a request for applications for the Nursing, Allied Health and Other Health-related Educational Grant Program this spring. The program will invest $5 million to nursing program across Texas to address the labor shortage in the field. “We have such a large nursing shortage,” said Stacey Silverman, Academic Quality and WorkForce deputy T H E C B PAGE 2

SPENCER BUCKNER

Editor-In-Chief | @TEXANOPINION

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

COLUMN

abriella corker

OPINION

/ the daily texan staff

UT must implement test-optional admissions policy, reject racist past By Abby Springs Associate Editor

In 1955, UT-Austin administrators made an important calculation. It was the year after Brown v. Board of Education, and UT was finally forced to integrate its undergraduate program. According to state demographics at the time, proportional representation would mean allowing 300 Black students into the incoming freshman class of 2,700. However, the senior faculty and administrators refused to let that happen. Instead, they took a different strategy, adopting an admissions policy that remains partly in place today. By including standardized test scores as a required part of admissions, 74% of Black students didn’t make the cut, “result(ing) in a maximum of 70 Negroes in a class of 2,700,” according to the report made at the time. UT adopted standardized testing in admissions because they wanted to keep Black students out of the Forty Acres. To make up for the past and current institutional discrimination imposed by this policy, UT should adopt test-optional admissions, removing the requirement that applicants submit their SAT or ACT score. It’s an unfortunate reality that UT-Austin is still not fully integrated, even 56 years since Brown. African Americans make up 13% of the Texas population, yet only 4% of students at UT are Black. Texas is 40% Latinx, but only 20% of the UT population is as of fall 2018. It’s also a proven reality that standardized tests discriminate against

students of color. The SAT was invented by a eugenicist who created it to uphold presumed racial hierarchies. On average, the SAT scores for Black and Latinx students are below white students, which can largely be attributed to racial inequity. Students of color often do not have the same access to the expensive test preparation courses, tutoring or high school support systems that many white students enjoy. Furthermore, studies have shown that cultural and linguistic differences can result in lower scores on the verbal portion of the exam.

UT adopted standardized testing in admissions because they wanted to keep Black students out of the Forty Acres.” Differences in test scores among racial groups can also be attributed to stereotype threat, a phenomenon that causes students who experience negative stereotypes to do worse on exams than those who experience positive ones. This inequality that results in lower success on the SAT is the exact same inequality perpetrated by UT administrators in 1955, when they restricted Black students’ access to higher education. There are other metrics besides standardized tests on which we can judge student success. “The standardized test score is one

of the pieces of information considered in our holistic review, in combination with all application materials, to inform our understanding of a student’s preparation for success for each student’s program of interest,” Miguel Wasielewski, executive director of admissions, said in an email. Other information included in the holistic review includes class rank, academic background, accomplishments and awards, essays, recommendations, and special circumstances such as race and socioeconomic status. “We will continue to consider test scores as part of our admission review process, as one of the many factors considered, in support of our commitment to student success,” Wasielewski said. While test scores are only one of several factors considered, UT’s diversity statistics show that the system simply isn’t working. Making test scores optional would still leave many other metrics to judge student potential without maintaining a discriminatory policy. It will also show a commitment to repairing the damage already done by UT’s standardized test policy, which kept Black students out of higher education and promoted the cycle of discrimination that makes it more difficult for students of color to succeed to this day. More than 1,000 universities are test-optional. If UT truly has a “commitment to student success,” adopting a test-optional policy will help ensure that all students, no matter their economic or racial background, have the opportunity to succeed on the Forty Acres. Springs is a government and political communication sophomore from Dallas.

COLUMN

Honor contributions of Goodenough with building on campus By Abhirupa Dasgupta Associate Editor

This past October, longtime professor John Goodenough was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the development of the lithium-ion battery. At 97 years old, Goodenough is the oldest Nobel laureate and only the fourth UT professor to be awarded this distinction in the University’s long history of academic excellence. “It’s an apex of a truly remarkable career you have had, especially for the last three decades at The University of Texas,” President Gregory Fenves said at a press conference following the announcement of the Nobel Prize recipients. To congratulate Goodenough on his research that allowed cell phones and other mobile devices to become so ubiquitous, Fenves gave him a Longhorn phone case. This gift inspired widespread ridicule on social media. I had to agree — how could the University honor a renowned faculty member for such a momentous achievement with such a diminutive token? Especially when not even a month later, this campus erupted in chaos to celebrate Jimmy Fallon? If it were up to me, I’d name a building after Goodenough. When walking around campus, I’m

constantly confronted with buildings that dis- finding ways to thank and recognize generous play powerful names: Jester Center, Wagge- donors, and that has led to naming buildings ner Hall, Gregory Gym, among others. More and other structures, or the college or school than three-fourths of the named buildings on itself, for contributors,” Nicar said in an email. campus honor UT presHowever, that may idents, faculty members mean that the stories of or regents. important faculty memHowever, engineering bers who have contribbuildings don’t follow uted to the University’s the same trend. Most of respected academic reputhose buildings, such as tation have to take a back the chemical and petroseat. While I can apprecileum engineering buildate that the School of Ening or the biomedical gineering needs to encourengineering building are age donations, I don’t see unnamed. Two buildings why they can’t spare one — Cockrell Hall and the building to dedicate to a Gates Dell Complex — are renowned faculty member named after donors, while like Goodenough. only one building — the The UT System naming Larry R. Faulkner Nano policy states “institutions Science and Technology must carefully consider … Building — is named afthe overall benefit to the ter a former UT president institution and whether and professor. displaying the name is gianna shahdad / the daily texan UT historian Jim Nicar and will continue to be said traditional practices a positive reflection on of naming buildings after the institution.” prominent University faculty have changed as Goodenough’s name will do just that. The state funding for public universities dwindles. naming policy does indicate that “honorific” “The situation has pushed University fund- naming can “occur only after the campus emraising offices to become more creative with ployment … has concluded,” and Goodenough

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is still going strong. However, there’s nothing stopping UT from announcing plans to set this dedication in motion. “Having a member of the faculty win the Nobel Prize is certainly a big deal,” Nicar said. “Such awards affect the rankings and international reputations of universities and inspire public confidence in how well a university is pursuing its mission, especially in research.” However, Goodenough’s list of accomplishments goes far beyond this one honor. He is currently the Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, and his work has garnered much praise both domestically and internationally. He has also donated his prize money from two major awards right back to the University, making him both a celebrated faculty member and a generous donor. But most importantly, Goodenough’s research has touched every one of our lives and impacted the world in immeasurable ways. As a prominent research university, we’re lucky to have him because he is living proof that our campus fosters academic excellence. So one day, as I’m strolling down Speedway on my way to class, I hope to see the Goodenough Building — a permanent reminder that what starts here truly does change the world. Dasgupta is a neuroscience and biochemistry sophomore from Frisco, Texas.

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LIFE&ARTS

T R I N A DY J O S L I N

Life&Arts Editor | @TRINADY05

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

FOOD

Lending a healthy (Ranch) Hand Alumni bring healthy food options to Austin, providing protein bowls, clean cocktails. By Grace Barnes @gebarnes210

n a little more than three years, health-conscious grain bowl business Ranch Hand has gone from a meal subscription service at UT to local food truck to sharing space with other small businesses at Native Hostel in Austin. And they’re only getting started. Ranch Hand co-owners and UT alumni Quentin Cantu and Brian Murphy met in 2016 when they were pursuing graduate degrees at McCombs School of Business. Both were impressed by UT’s gymnasium and how fit the student body was as a whole, but the food options offered to students didn’t seem to match. Murphy said he remembers looking around between classes and being stunned by the unhealthy chains that seemed to dominate campus. “One of the options is a … Wendy’s — one of the highest grossing Wendy’s in the country — and then Chick-fil-A.” Murphy said. “There’s not many healthy food options, at least branded

blaine young

/ the daily texan staff

UT alumni Quentin Cantu and Brian Murphy established their health-conscious business Ranch Hand in 2016. The food truck is located at Native Hostel and shares the space with other small businesses. options, that students can kind of dig into.” Cantu and Murphy viewed the problem as something they could solve using the ideas they were being taught in the classroom. They created a business making and selling salad bowls to their MBA classmates online. Cantu said balancing coursework with making the bowls was a challenge. “We would meet up at 6 a.m. to go shop at H-E-B and sling together about 10-15 salads for our classmates who bought them, then bring them to McCombs, put them in the fridge and

go to class,” Cantu said. When undergraduates started ordering from their site, Murphy and Cantu knew they needed to expand beyond a meal subscription. Around that time, they started taking an entrepreneurship class at McCombs called New Venture Creation, where they were able to test their business model for Ranch Hand. “To be able to think through a business model in a low-risk academic situation allows you to think through a lot of potential missteps you might make in the business without having to make them,”

Murphy said. Cantu and Murphy then began raising money from investors to achieve the next phase of Ranch Hand: buying a food truck. UT alumnus Nick Spiller is the director of marketing at the Genesis Program, who invested in Ranch Hand early on. “Ranch Hand focuses on natural ingredients and healthy food at an affordable price,” Spiller said. “I think that is a really important problem to solve. They’re trying to make it accessible to students, which is really exciting.” When the food truck opened during Murphy

and Cantu’s second year of graduate studies, the goal was to bring healthy food options to their customers through the truck. Cantu said they wanted to create a food concept that spoke to Texas culture, which includes meat. “A lot of healthy food concepts in America only focus on salads — they don’t focus on meat at all,” Cantu said. “We wanted to embody that rugged, Texas feel more than a lot of other healthy concepts in the market. (Ranch Hand is) not a glorified salad bar — it’s actual proteins.” But their goals for the business extend far be-

yond just healthy bowls. In December, Cantu and Murphy launched Ranch Rider Spirits, a branch of Ranch Hand that makes clean canned cocktails. Murphy said the concept is much the same: taking natural ingredients and presenting them to customers. “Right now, beverage is our main conduit through which we can do that because the spirits industry is so antiquated with additives, coloring and preservatives,” Murphy said. “Our goal is to continue to bring the healthiest possible food and beverage options to our customers.”

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Comics Editors| @THEDAILYTEXAN

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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, January 24, 2020

Crossword ACROSS

31 Largest steel producer in the U.S.

1 Event for which participants may take the floor

34 Kind of football played indoors

6 Pestered persistently

35 Greek “Mother of the Gods”

10 Hindu love god 14 Grand Prix site 15 Boost at the gym 17 Bugs

36 Inedible kind of orange 37 Look after 38 Hardly try anymore

18 Actress whose full name can be made from the letters of DO RE MI

39 Column in a baseball box score

19 Alternative to white

40 Sportscaster Jim 41 50 Cent’s “___ Control”

20 ___ Jahan, leader who commissioned the Taj Mahal

42 Johnson’s predecessor as British P.M.

22 This might be a bust

43 Some ranch cattle

23 Part of a dash 26 Hoots 27 Treatment that reduces wrinkles 29 Boomsticks?

45 “X-Men” film spinoff starring Hugh Jackman 47 Congressional campaign

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE CO NE

S A D I E

W G I R L

V A R G A S

E T E R N A L

S P A V A L U T L E O S X N O T I S T A T F I R S W E S

R H E A P A S E T B E A L Y K M E E L T L Z Y

R I C H L Y C O S A I O N

E H A B C E P L O M P A T H I A S N C B T I L E H D E L E S A WA S OR T Y O S P O P N E O O K P G A E

E A N C O R N O E A C H T R A A R C O H M E A A S

NY CT

M E A N M U G S MI IN

G R A T E

I T R Y T I N S O N N Y

51 University near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains 53 “Whip It” band 54 1/2 vis-à-vis 1/3, say 55 In direct competition 57 Home of the South by Southwest festival 59 Big canned soup brand 60 Irritates, with “on” 61 Tricks 62 Critic’s award 63 Best Play and others

Edited by Will Shortz 1

14 17

Arrr matey. This scurrvy beast is today’s answerrrrrr. Crop it out, or it’ll be the the fishes for ya!

27 31

42 45

53 56

59 61

60 62

PUZZLE BY ZHOUQIN BURNIKEL

12 Total mess 13 What “r” might signify 14 Singer Anthony 16 Online service introduced in 2004 21 Frequent subject of headlines in The Onion 24 Difficult journeys 25 “Let me in!” 28 Site for some celebratory dances

8 7 2 4 6 9 7 1 9 5 3 8 46 Pirates’ potables 6 48 1970s4 first lady 49 Elite eight 5 3 50 Homes in the woods 52 Early illustrator 1 2of Uncle Sam

30 Bye line? 31 Nothing special, with “the” 32 Nothing special, with “the” 33 “Really, now? Really!?” 35 Electrify 38 Features on topographic maps 40 Walk-ons, often 43 Kendrick of rap 44 Absolutely destroy

55 No. that’s converted for electric cars 56 Org. that shares its HQ with Cyber Command 58 Drain

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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26 28

DOWN 1 “Crime and Punishment” heroine 2 Private 3 This is the way 4 Hostile look 5 Snacks 6 Nervous witnesses in mystery novels, often 7 “Blastoff!” preceder 8 Left side, informally 9 Country with hundreds of islands in the Red Sea 10 Former world capital whose name means “capital city” 11 “Ah, yes, I’d been meaning to tell you …”

No. 1220

Today’s solution will appear here next issue

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Longhorns Stick with the Herd Lorem ipsum

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86% of

Longhorns stay with the same group of friends if they decide to drink. @UTBruceTheBat

2019 UT-Austin National Social Norms Center Survey

MARCUS KRUM

Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

BASKETBALL

Longhorns have much to prove

After back-to-back losses to ranked opponents, Texas has to prove it can perform at a high level By Wills Layton @willsdebeast

hen Shaka Smart was named the next head coach of the Texas men’s basketball program in 2015, there was much fanfare. Smart was coming off an impressive six-year run at Virginia Commonwealth University, which included a Final Four appearance in 2011, and was heading to a Texas program with seemingly limitless resources. Many expected the Longhorns to become an instant contender in the Big 12. What has happened instead during the first five years of his tenure has included two NCAA Tournament appearances with first round losses in both, an NIT title that excited very few and an 11–22 season. Most recently, the Longhorns lost to No. 3 Kansas after leading at halftime and were just dominated by No. 14 West Virginia in a 38-point defeat after being down 25 at halftime. “I’ve got to do a better job of having our guys ready to stand up to them in a game like tonight,” head coach Shaka Smart said following the West Virginia game. “Regardless of where the game is and who the opponent is from our side, it starts with us.” While both of the last two opponents were the class of the Big 12, Texas was in a position to compete in both games. Texas was down two points early to West Virginia before the Mountaineers went on a 28-2 run. Against Kansas, the game was tied at 54 with about five minutes to play. The Longhorns’ inability to generate offense in key moments doomed them. “Credit to them, but I feel like at times we got a little stagnant,” junior guard Matt Coleman said following the close loss to Kansas. “We passed up a couple of good shots that we should

joshua guenther

/ the daily texan file

Junior guard Matt Coleman attempts to dribble past a Kansas defender during the Jan. 18 contest. Coleman has been a veteran leader on the team this season and will try to lead the team to a resurgence against LSU. have taken initially and ended up taking a worse shot.” Even former players are beginning to vocalize their displeasure with the way the program has performed. Former NBA player T.J. Ford, who led the Longhorns to their last Final Four appearance in 2003, tweeted his frustration after the game. “It’s very disappointing and disheartening to watch the direction Texas Longhorn (basketball) has now taken,” Ford tweeted. “I’ve never witnessed a blowout of this magnitude in Big 12 play like tonight.”

It is possible that Smart will be coaching for his job for the rest of the season. A losing record in Big 12 conference play would likely mean the Longhorns would be on the outside looking into the NCAA Tournament. However, a strong push to end the season with wins over some ranked Big 12 opponents could change the story. That push begins on Saturday against LSU. LSU and head coach Will Wade present a unique challenge for the Longhorns. With 14 wins under their belt, including a perfect conference record, the Tigers are not your aver-

age nonconference opponent. After the losses to Kansas and West Virginia, the importance of each game grows immensely. Now, every time the Longhorns step onto the floor, they’ll be playing for their postseason hopes. “This has to be a turning point for us,” Smart said. “We can play a lot better than that, but we didn’t tonight. There are some reasons behind that, and those all need to be put out on the table and addressed. There’s certain things that if you don’t do them, you’re not going to win.”

BASKETBALL

Texas travels to Stillwater in search of important win By Robert Trevino @robtrev22

It’s no secret that in this year’s Big 12, wins come at a premium. Apart from conference leader Baylor, who is a perfect 5–0 in conference play and has won those games by an average of more than 30 points, the conference has seen an uptick in parity. Texas head coach Karen Aston mentions it in many of her press conferences, especially since her team had to grind for their last two victories over the two teams at the bottom of the conference standings. “Just because you have a lead or you’re down, it doesn’t mean anything in this league,” Aston said after a win over Kansas State last Sunday. The Wildcats, who sit at 1–4 in Big 12 play, made a late run to put the game in doubt. “I think we expect runs, no matter who it is, just because nobody’s going to hand a game to you in league play.” That is the current landscape of the Big 12 that sets the stage for the matchup this Saturday in Stillwater,

Oklahoma, against an Oklahoma State team fresh off a 57-55 win over No. 25 West Virginia thanks to a game-winning shot. The Cowgirls sit just a game behind Texas in the conference standings. They also defend their home court well, boasting an 8–2 record with their only two losses in Gallagher-Iba Arena coming against Iowa State and Oklahoma. Oklahoma State could prove a worthy matchup for the Longhorns, as the Cowgirls protect the ball and force opponents into low-percentage shots. The Cowgirls are eighth in the country in turnover rate and 23rd in opponent’s shooting percentage, with their opponents averaging 35.4% from the field. However, the Longhorns were able to overcome those same issues against Kansas State, something Aston said comes down to taking what’s given by the opposition. “In the first half, I thought we over-penetrated because we’re a penetrating team, and we had a lot of turnovers (due to) over-penetration and maybe trying to force the ball inside,” Aston said

following the Kansas State game. “I thought we took what was available, and when we didn’t, we kind of turned the ball over too much. I thought we made some pretty good decisions and shot the ball pretty well.” But as the end of the regular season comes into view, the mindset for Texas — who under Aston has three Sweet Sixteen appearances as well as an Elite Eight run in the past seven years — is shifting. The focus for the Longhorns seems to be not only receiving an NCAA Tournament bid, but making a run for the title. “We’re kind of in a mindset of a six-game winning streak,” freshman guard Celeste Taylor said ahead of Wednesday’s game against Kansas. “We’re kind of taking it game by game … but overall we’re trying to get our mind ready for that Tournament-style six-game winning streak.” The Longhorns will bring a three-game win streak into Stillwater, and with mustwin games ahead against a more competitive Big 12, Saturday’s showdown will prove to be a referendum on the state of Aston’s team.

joshua guenther

/ the daily texan file

Freshman guard Celeste Taylor drives past a Kansas defender to help the team generate offense during the team’s 85-77 victory on Jan. 22.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

FEATURE

RESEARCH

Alumna’s YouTube videos help students

Google features UT’s ‘planet hunter’

By Katya Bandouil

By Aisling Ayers

After being an avid fan of video tutorials during her teenage years, UT alumna Lynette Adkins started a YouTube channel in 2018. Shortly after posting her first vlog, Adkins noticed that her viewership increased quickly — current and prospective students were paying attention. Since then, she has used it to address topics ranging from travel and entrepreneurship to the obstacles Black students face at UT. “I then realized there was an entire audience of people who wanted to see what life was like at UT, so I ran with it,” Adkins said. As her audience grew, Adkins began to speak candidly about the challenges that she and other Black students have faced at UT, such as racism, microaggressions and lack of representation at a predominantly white institution. “As a Black person, work, school and life in general can become extremely exhausting when you don’t see other people like you achieving things,” Adkins said. Adkins said the systems within white institutions are not built for Black people. “Many of us know that, but to go to school, start businesses and make pretty much any achievement, Black people have to believe they can do it, ” Adkins said. “For me, seeing Black people in media is so important because it takes away some of that anxiety and fear.” When public health sophomore Darnell Forbes was preparing for his first year, he found Adkins’ videos while searching for YouTubers from the University. “Her videos helped a lot in regards to describing the general experience at UT, regardless of major, and the Black experience at the University as well,” Forbes said. “I also found her videos about things that apply to many freshmen, such as dorms,

Months before graduating from UT, Anne Dattilo discovered two new planets. They call her the “planet hunter.” “I find the term ‘planet hunter’ so incredibly sci-fi,” alumna Dattilo said. “It seems like such an amazing thing, but in reality I was just looking at data on my MacBook Pro in a windowless room.” Three years before discovering the planets, Dattilo decided her interests were in the world of exoplanets. Her junior year, she heard a lecture from Andrew Vanderburg, a postdoctoral candidate in the astronomy department, about his research on planets and how to see them throughout the galaxy. After the lecture, Vanderburg invited students to help him build an artificial intelligence intended to discover exoplanets. “It’s really impressive (for Dattilo) to come in as a college student without knowing all of the background in the scientific field and be able to learn quickly enough to make a big result,” Vanderburg said. That summer, Vanderburg invited Dattilo to join his team for several days of research at the McDonald Observatory in the desert of Fort David, Texas. Inside a roofless dome, Dattilo said it was a unique opportunity for the team to work together in the same place without distractions. Chris Shallue, a former Google software engineer, worked with the pair and said Dattilo’s knowledge impressed him early on. “I would ask Anne basic questions and she knew the answer to everything,” Shallue said. “I think we learned something from each other while we were there.” When the 2009 Kepler telescope Shallue was using to collect data from retired, Dattilo began modifying the neural network to allow it to function with Kepler’s new K2 telescope in January 2018. Dattilo said she was thrilled when the network

@kat372

@aisling_ayers

UT graduate Lynette Adkins’ YouTube videos help Black students navigate their college experience and overcome common barriers. study strategies and apartment finding, to be really helpful.” After viewing much of Adkins’ content online, Richard Reddick, associate professor and associate dean for equity, community engagement and outreach in the College of Education, featured a part of her video when he presented his academic project about Black ecologies at a Harvard conference. “She’s created and curated a very important awareness of what Black students at UT sense on campus,” Reddick said. Representation of Black students in media is a meaningful way to validate their experience, Reddick said. “(Media representation) is important because Black students are often rendered invisible, and their experiences are marginalized,” Reddick said. “It’s important because Black students experience predominantly white institutions differently than white students. Marginalization, hypervisibility and

LIFE&ARTS

invisibility are aspects of their time in college.” As a graduate, Adkins plans to continue her YouTube career and shift toward professional topics on her YouTube channel. “This year I will begin making more content focused on entrepreneurship, lifestyle and traveling,” Adkins said. “I eventually want to make content full time and start a travel club for Black women.” Ultimately, the impact of her videos extends far beyond a like or a comment, Adkins said. Her videos are candid about both the negative barriers and positive experiences that come with being a Black student on campus. “I sometimes have people approach me on campus and tell me I’m part of the reason why they’re here, and that for me is the biggest accomplishment,” Adkins said. “I continue making content so Black people can see there’s a place for them here.”

was successful again. Using the newly successful network they created, she identified 20 possible planets and emailed Vanderburg about the two best candidates. “It was really late at night and I was like sitting on my bed, and I got this email from Andrew and it was just like, ‘Congrats, you found your first planet!’” Dattilo said. “Andrew has found well over 100 planets, and so it seems kind of surreal sometimes that he was so excited for my first one.” Dattilo wrote a scientific journal article about the two planets she discovered, named K2-293b and K2-294b by NASA, during the fall of her senior year. Published in late March, the article was quickly followed by a press release from the UT astronomy department. Dattilo said the public reaction was almost immediate and she received several interview requests. Later, on Dec. 19, Google posted a three-minute video that recreates Dattilo, Vanderburg and Shallue’s experience at the McDonald Observatory. Now it has almost 165,000 views

on YouTube. Vanderburg said that the Google video and other publicity about Dattilo’s success sends a signal to young girls that they can accomplish similar feats. “I think it’s a huge boon to women in science everywhere,” Vanderburg said. “If you only see examples of people who look different from you, it’s much harder to believe that (you) can be that person, too.” Dattilo said her experiences as a woman in the STEM field have shaped her career path in astronomy. Often, Dattilo said, she was one of the few women in her classes and felt like she had to be twice as good to be taken half as seriously as her male counterparts. Ultimately, Dattilo credits the discovery to hard work and support from her mentors. “It’s really humbling (when you’re) doing research to relate (back) to the beginning of your project,” Dattilo said. “If you put in the effort and the time to be there, really anyone can do anything. And I had a lot of good guidance and probably a little bit of luck.”

UT alumna Anne Dattilo discovered the two planets K2-293b and K2-294b, as officially named by NASA.

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