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Monday, February 24, 2020
Volume 120, Issue 106
South Asian Olympics pull together multiple South Asian groups on campus.
OPINION
Democratic primary canidates Heidi Sloan and Julie Oliver discuss key campaign issues.
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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“Brahms: The Boy II” doesn’t bring anything new to the genre.
Cam Williams walk-off home run sweeps Boise State and keeps the Longhorns perfect.
UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS
Dell Medical receives accreditation
UT groups host South Asian Olympics, unite students By Lawson Freeman @lawsonmfreeman
amna ijaz
/ the daily texan staff
After a thorough review process by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education for the United States and Canada, Dell Medical School finally received full accreditation as an official medical school. This accreditation came in just in time for its first graduating class this spring.
Dell Med finishes accreditation process, now considered full medical school in time for graduation. By Hannah Williford @HannahWillifor2
ell Medical School earned its full accreditation
Wednesday, Feb. 12, meeting the requirements to be considered a full medical school before its first class graduates in May. Dell gained accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education for the United States and Canada. The committee conducts surveys to ensure schools meet 93 elements within 12 standards to be accredited, such as curriculum content, student resources and educational resources. Sue Cox, Dell’s executive vice dean for academics, said Dell needed improvement in seven areas, while some schools have up to 30 findings for policies and programs that need
to be improved. “The school at every level … has done a tremendous amount of work to help the accreditation committees see what we are and who we are and what we’re doing,” medical student Brooke Wagen said. “Everyone really had a role in that, and it’s such an achievement and such an accomplishment, and we’re all so excited about it.” Part of the Liaison Committee’s review process included interviews with students in the school, asking questions about their experience in the program, such as whether or not the school addresses health equity issues within its curriculum. Wagen
CAMPUS
@nataleahjoy
A broken water pipe left some residents of Jester West Residence Hall without hot water and electricity for parts of Thursday and Friday. On Thursday around 7:30 p.m., the facilities department was notified that water from the broken water pipe leaked into a Jester mechanical room, wetting the electrical switchgear and causing the electrical power to go out, said Rick Early, director of residential facilities operations for University Housing and Dining. Early said the power outage activated backup power, which turned on emergency lights in the hallways and stairwells and kept access card readers working. The hot water heater was fixed around 1:00 a.m.
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UNIVERSITY
Broken pipe causes power outages, no hot water in Jester By Nataleah Small
and medical student Whitney Williams were class representatives for the interview process. “The goal was to be as honest as possible about what was good and bad, what was working and what wasn’t working,” Wagen said. “There was no pressure to be disingenuous … there is never a static moment in which a school filled with people is perfect. It was more like talking about … this is what we do, this is how we see it and this is how we process it.” Cox said she watched the school grow in numbers and maturity over
Nine teams of students competed Sunday in various high-energy activities during the second annual South Asian Olympics. The Texas Indian Students Association and Seva Charities hosted activities such as relays, tug of war and an eating contest. Rather than hosting a small social event, organizers thought the friendly competition would bring more students together, said Nishita Pondugula, co-president of the Indian Students Association. “This was something we wanted to do to try and be more involved with other organizations and form better relationships with them,” said Pondugula, a religious studies and neuroscience senior. “We did it for the first time last year, so we’re trying to make this a recurring thing, (to) get the word out about it and then hopefully have more people participate in the future.” Pondugula said registration for the event had a fee of $5 per person to cover the cost of food and game materials. She said the group purchased reusable materials so the South Asian Olympics can donate future proceeds from this event to Akshaya Patra, Seva Charities partner charity. Other organizations that participated in the South Asian Olympics included MannMukti, a nonprofit dedicated to discussing South Asian mental health, the Ismaili Muslim Students Association and Omega Phi Alpha, a national service sorority. Although this year’s event was open to students who are not members, a goal of the South Asian Olympics was to bring
on Friday, said Early, but the facilities crew was unable to fix the circulating pump until Friday morning, so hot water did not circulate through Jester until 11:00 a.m. Electrical power in Jester East was restored around 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Early said. Power was fully restored to the whole building by 10:30 p.m. on Friday, according to UT Housing’s Twitter. Early, said although minor leaks occur periodically, major breaks rarely happen. “I’ve been here 33 years. The last time I had to deal with a major break like this was about 1992,” Early said. “Something like this does not happen. It’s not your norm.” Timo Nelson, a radio-television-film freshman, said he heard about the water and power outages through a GroupMe J E S T E R PAGE 2
Women in Engineering Program hosts over 8,000 people for Girl Day By Sanjna Reddy @sanjna_reddy5
The Women in Engineering Program hosted more than 8,000 elementary and middle school students Saturday for Girl Day, an event where women are encouraged to explore STEM. The event featured over 150 booths with hands-on activities and demonstrations hosted by volunteers, UT student organizations, corporate partners and community organizations. UT’s Girl Day was created through a partnership with the Senate of College Councils, and events were held across the Cockrell School of Engineering programs around campus. Andrea Herrera Moreno, outreach program coordinator for the Women in Engineering Program, said this is the 18th year UT is hosting Girl Day, and it has grown over the years from 92 students to now over 8,000. “It’s a national and international initiative called ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,’ part of Engineer’s
evan l’roy
Week, which is a national movement,” Moreno said. “It’s really an effort to celebrate engineers, bring them to campus so they can explain and create hands-on activities
so the younger engineers … get excited about it.” Environmental engineering junior Meera Rao said many organizations and companies contact the Women in
RING WEEK IS HERE! February 24–28 • 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Etter-Harbin Alumni Center
/ the daily texan staff
Elizabeth Ilardi performs an explosive chemistry experiment for a crowd of young girls at the annual Girl Day event at the Cockrell School of Engineering on Saturday. The international event is meant to promote women in STEM related fields, with over 150 hands-on activities hosted by various organizations, including robot racing and creating color-changing bracelets.
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Engineering program wanting a place at the event. “We’ve got a lot of companies and organizations that G I R L D A Y PAGE 3