Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Monday, January 27, 2020
Volume 120, Issue 86
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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A recent University study found that HPV is linked to head and neck cancer.
CAMPUS
UT increases safety efforts after downtown stabbings
The town hall on sexual misconduct is today at 5:00 p.m. in BMC 2.106. Show up.
UT alum holding record for longest marriage talks life after graduation.
Texas falls to LSU for the second time this school year, this time in basketball.
UNIVERSITY
UT pharmacy goes green
By Neha Madhira @nehamira14
UT President Gregory Fenves sent a campuswide email Sunday regarding safety near campus following the stabbing of two UT students last week. “Incidents like this serve as a reminder that we must remain focused on keeping members of the UT community safe,” Fenves said in the email. A woman was arrested last Thursday after police said she confessed to stabbing multiple people on 6th Street in downtown Austin, according to KVUE. David Carter, UT Police Department chief, confirmed Sunday morning via Twitter that two of the victims were UT students. Carter said in the tweet that UTPD notified the Austin Police Department and connected to Student Emergency Services to follow up on care for the second student. “Never hesitate to tell someone if u are assaulted,” Carter said in the tweet. “Police will always keep your identity confidential.” In the email, Fenves said he is working with Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, to obtain funding for additional UTPD officers, expanded patrols and upgraded security-related technology in West Campus. Fenves said he will have more details about this expansion in the coming days and weeks. In a tweet published Sunday, Carter confirmed UTPD would work to implement Fenves’ plan for increased security technology and expanded patrols in West Campus. Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered for increased Texas Department of Public Safety patrols in a letter to the DPS director Steve McCraw following another series of stabbings in Austin. Abbott ordered the patrols to monitor within two blocks of all Austin state buildings, including the University. “I’ve heard urgent pleas by UT students about increasing lighting and security tools around campus,” Abbott said in a tweet Sunday. “I shared my expectations to UT leaders & expect results next month. Safety First.” Fenves also recommended in the email that students use the Night Rides program if they ever find themselves in an “uncomfortable situation.” The UT Night Rides program is a ride-hailing program provided by Lyft from the campus to students’ homes, according to the University’s Parking and Transportation Services website. “To our students, please take normal precautions and be aware of your surroundings when you go out — especially at night,” Fenves said. “In the days ahead, please be aware of your safety as you keep our injured students in your thoughts. Thank you to all who have expressed concern and support.”
barb daly
/ the daily texan staff
Forty Acres Pharmacy now uses QR codes to share medication information with patients. By Nataleah Small @nataleahjoy
orty Acres Pharmacy is cutting down on paper waste by printing QR codes with medication information on prescription receipts starting this semester. By scanning the QR code with their mobile device, patients will have access to videos explaining the proper usage and side effects of their specific prescription from the medication video library, MedsOnCue. This initiative is meant to provide patients with readily available, accurate medical information and help make UT a zero-waste campus, said Terry Weaver, chief pharmacist at Forty Acres Pharmacy. “It’s not intended to replace one-on-one consultation with the pharmacist by any means,” Weaver said. “This is just another way for them to have that information accessible to them after they leave
the pharmacy.” Kristen Ashley Garling, clinical assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy, said when a patient goes to the pharmacy for a new prescription, they receive a lot of information, including counseling from a pharmacist regarding dosage and side effects. However, patients forget 40% to 80% of the information they’re told, according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. “That’s where MedsOnCue is just an even bigger touch point that a patient can access at any time,” Garling said. MedsOnCue videos are offered in Spanish and English, Weaver said. From the video page, he said patients can contact the pharmacy directly if they have any questions. Patients can also program dose and refill reminders on their phone by using the page links, he said. Patients can still request a printed copy of their medication information, but Garling said
using the QR code to access information online will help decrease the amount of paper wasted by the pharmacy. She said the pharmaceutical industry is one of the highest waste-producing industries in the country. Garling said Walgreens Boots Alliance, the holding company for Walgreens retail pharmacies, has the only other zero-waste initiative she has seen. However, the alliance is looking at the warehouse side of pharmacies and not the storefront, Garling said. The company generated 670,000 metric tons of waste during the 2018 fiscal year, according to its website. “The store level is where you do get a lot of paper wasting and things like that because everything is manual, bottles are individual,” Garling said. “That’s a lot of plastic, the paper handouts, paper bags, things like that. That creates just tons and tons of waste.” Having MedsOnCue available to pharmacy patients will help
CITY
contribute to the University’s zero-waste initiative and help set a positive example for pharmacies across the country, Garling said. Haley Ngo, communication and leadership freshman, said having QR codes will help reduce waste by reducing the amount of paper stapled to the outside of the prescription bag. Ngo said if she didn’t know anything about a new prescription, she would watch the MedsOnCue videos. “I’m trying to get the most efficient information and see what I need as soon as possible so I know what I need to do,” Ngo said. Biochemistry senior Kenia Segura said she is “pro-green,” so having an electronic option is better than only providing paper information about medications. Segura said initiatives such as this have the potential to reduce waste, but only if multiple universities get on board. “If there’s enough universities or other institutions, it makes a difference,” Segura said.
UNIVERSITY
Rally for Life brings thousands, tripling from last year
UT researchers track sign language evolution
By Laura Morales
By Neha Madhira
An anti-abortion rally brought thousands of people to march to the Texas Capitol on Saturday, days after the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The Texas Department of Public Safety estimated over 5,000 people were in attendance, as opposed to roughly 1,500 last year. Speakers for the event included state and national representatives, local religious leaders and healthcare professionals. Similar rallies happened simultaneously across the United States, including in Washington where President Donald Trump gave a speech, the first time a U.S. president has spoken in person at the March for Life rally. The Texas Alliance for Life organized the rally in Texas, which was meant to send a message to elected officials about the demand for anti-abortion legislation, said Amy O’Donnell, the Texas Alliance for Life communication director. “It is our chance to show the media and our elected officials that Texas values life,” O’Donnell
A new study by linguists and biologists from UT and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History tracked the evolution of sign languages around the world over the past few centuries. The team tracked the evolution using phylogenetics, the study of the ancestral relatedness of groups of organisms. The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science last Wednesday, grouped most sign languages into five main European sign language lineages. Linguistics graduate student Justin Power said scholars understand more about how spoken languages evolve than sign language since spoken languages receive more scientific attention. “Much less is known about how sign languages change over time,” Power said. Power said few studies have used language data to understand how sign languages relate to one another in terms of evolution. Power said the team used phylogenetic network methods to compare dozens of sign languages and identified five main European sign language lineages that dispersed to other parts of the world beginning in the late
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@nehamira14
blaine young
/ the daily texan staff
State Rep. Jeff Leach addresses the crowd at this year’s Rally for Life march. The demonstration brought around 5,000 pro-life supporters to the steps of the Texas Capitol on Jan. 25, 2020. said. “There are so many across the state that have taken part in (rallies) locally and come here on buses to take part. Texas really loves our babies and values life.” U.S. Rep. Chip Roy said he is attempting to pass several bills to defund and criminalize abortion providers in the U.S. House of Representatives. The “BornAlive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” would categorize those born out of an abortion attempt as legally human and
criminalize the physician who performed the abortion. The Texas House of Representatives passed a similar bill, “Texas Born-Alive Infant Protection Act,” during the legislative session last spring. “We want to make sure we are not using taxpayer dollars to convince women to have abortions as opposed to choosing life,” Roy said. “I am supporting the president doing that. Meanwhile, we R A L L Y PAGE 3
18th century. “The study sheds light on the origins and evolution of European sign languages,” Power said. Power said this study began by building an annotated database of 40 contemporary and 36 historical manual alphabets, which are a set of handshapes that represent a written alphabet. “The database helped us track the evolution of sign languages over the past few centuries, providing a clearer picture about the roots of the contemporary diversity of the sign languages in the study,” Power said. Based on the results, they grouped the sign languages in the study into five main European lineages, Power said. “In this study, we were looking mainly at sign languages that evolved in Europe and spread to other parts of the world,” Power said. “Of course, there are many other sign languages in the world that we did not include in the study for practical reasons.” Linguistics associate professor David Quinto-Pozos said this research allows people to consider how language change happens. “We do have some studies on the evolution of American Sign Language, and it’s probably the S I G N L A N G U A G E PAGE 3