The Daily Texan 2019-03-14 by The Daily Texan

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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

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119,

issue

NEWS

OPINION

LIFE&ARTS

SPORTS

Proposed legislation aims to improve resources for students who are parents. PA G E 2

UHD needs to create a wider variety of meal plans to meet students’ needs. PA G E 4

NPR’s TIny Desk brought the series’ alumni to Austin for a show. PA G E 8

Texas uses home-field advantage to tuneup before the start of conference play. PA G E 6

CITY

CAMPUS

CapMetro bus driver charged with manslaughter

Delay affects student housing Renewal contracts for university housing came a month late this year.

By Emily Hernandez @emilyhernandez

UT Police Department detectives arrested the Capital Metro bus driver who fatally struck a cyclist in January on a charge of manslaughter, said UTPD Chief David Carter at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Carter said the driver, 40-year-old Mindi Taylor Stafford, was booked in the Bell County Jail in Killeen, Texas, after her arrest at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, with a bond set at $80,000. More charges may follow if more information is found, Carter said. The charge of manslaughter is based on the detectives’ finding Stafford was driving recklessly and caused the death of 39-yearold cyclist Anthony “Tony” John Diaz, Carter said. Manslaughter is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison with a fine not to exceed $10,000, according to the Texas Penal Code. “We understand Tony’s family and friends suffered a great loss, and the arrest alone will not remedy their grief,” Carter said. “But we sincerely hope it will eventually lead to closure. Our thoughts and prayers continue to extend to all those who Tony touched.” Both the bus and Diaz were traveling northbound on San Jacinto Boulevard with Diaz next to the bus. Carter said Diaz was doing “everything possible to ride safely.” He was wearing a reflective helmet, operable lights on the front and back of his bicycle, and was riding in empty parking spaces as close to the curb as possible, Carter said. At some point, the bus left its lane and drifted to the right before the front of the bus collided with Diaz, Carter said. The bus traveled approximately another 110 feet before stopping, dragging Diaz under, Carter said.

By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren

niversity Housing and Dining sent out renewal contract offers for on-campus housing almost a month late, affecting nearly 1,700 current students. Renewal contract offers were supposed to be sent out Feb. 1 for returning students who applied before the priority deadline on Jan. 31. Instead, the offers were sent out March 1 — the same time offers were sent to incoming freshmen. Returning students who applied after Jan. 31 were not given an offer and were put on a wait-list. Mylon Kirksy, director of residence life, said this delay was caused by the department taking longer than expected to edit and finalize contracts, as well as holding space for incoming freshmen they later determined was unnecessary. “I wasn’t able to get both things done to release the contracts,” Kirksy said. “We needed to adjust based on the fact that we didn’t meet the first offer date.” The department’s marketing manager Cynthia Lew said one factor in the delay was the addition of an unlimited meal plan to the contract offers. Kirksy said he could not recall any other significant changes to the contract offers from last year. The 2018-2019 freshman class was the largest incoming class with 8,960 students, according to a UT News article. Kirksy said the large incoming class did not affect the availability of housing, and the University has approximately 7,400 beds for on-campus

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housing, which has previously been a satisfactory amount. “We get the sense that if we were able to have more beds on campus, then we probably could house more students,” Kirksy said, “We don’t necessarily get complaints or concerns from students.” Kendall Slagle, Office of the Provost content strategist, said in an email housing availability is one factor considered in admission decisions. The University has also changed the automatic acceptance rate from the top 7 percent to top 6 percent to adjust for the large incoming numbers, Slagle said. Slagle said the increasing graduation rate has allowed the University to accept more students, as

more students are graduating on time and opening spaces for new freshmen. The graduation rate has increased by approximately 20 percent over the past 10 years, according to data from the University’s Institutional Reporting, Research and Information Systems. Theatre studies freshman Indira Rampersad said she was put on the wait-list after applying in February, but her roommate, who applied before Jan. 31, was also put on the wait-list. She said both were informed they would be offered a contract in June or July. “My anxiety would not let me (wait),” Rampersad said. “I went looking off-campus immediately.” Rampersad’s roommate was able to find both of them a lease

| the daily texan staff

off-campus and Rampersad said it was fairly easy to find off-campus housing, especially because she already had a roommate. “I definitely think I got lucky in terms of the circumstances,” Rampersad said. “I don’t think it would’ve worked out as quickly as it did if I didn’t have that immediate connection.” The housing wait-list never closes, so University Housing and Dining will send offers to students on the wait-list throughout the summer, Kirksy said. “Our waitlist is fluid, we don’t ever really shut it down,” Kirksy said. “Typically students who are on the wait-list, and they still want housing with us, we were able to house them.”

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NATION

UNIVERSITY

O’Rourke announces presidential bid, will begin campaign in Iowa

Initiatives of Project 2021 remain after program is cut

By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas

Former Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke told an El Paso TV station on Wednesday that he is officially running for president. The announcement came via text, according to the station. O’Rourke will be competing for the Democratic nomination against nearly 10 others, including Julian Castro, former housing and urban development secretary who hails from San Antonio. “I’m really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents,” O’Rourke said in the text. “It’s a big part of why I’m

running. This city is the best example of this country at its best.” Previously, O’Rourke ran against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm election and lost by three points, the closest of any statewide race in more than a decade. The race was also the nation’s most expensive U.S. Senate race in history. O’Rourke raised nearly $80 million and spent most of it during his campaign. O’Rourke said during the race that he would not run for president, but later, after his loss, began traveling around the country to the Midwest, including Wisconsin, to speak with voters. In the coming days, he will make a series of visits in Iowa, an important

early voting state. The months leading up to his announcement were filled with intense speculation, and he told Oprah Winfrey in a February interview in Times Square that he would make his decision by the end of that month. Then, two weeks ago, he said he and his wife, Amy, had made a decision about how they can ”best serve (their) country” and that they were “excited to share it with everyone soon.” Experts previously told The Daily Texan that O’Rourke’s best chance at the presidency would be in 2020 rather than launching a second Senate bid, this time against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. He is the upper chamber’s second-highest ranking Republican.

pedro luna | the daily texan staff file While running for U.S. Senate in the 2018 midterm elections, Beto O’Rourke speaks to students at Spider House Patio Bar & Cafe on Aug. 28, 2018.

chelsea purgahn | the daily texan staff file Project 2021 goals remain despite the program ending. UT is investing in an Experiental Learning Initiative program.

By Savana Dunning @savanaish

What was initially supposed to be a five-year plan to rethink education at UT has officially been abandoned. But, its goals remain. Project 2021 was launched in 2016 to revamp undergraduate education by producing more online classes, researching innovative teaching techniques and adding experiential learning to degree curricula, among other things. To do this, the project utilized pre-existing resources, such as the Faculty Innovation Center, UT’s Extended Campus and the Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services Development Studio. It also created a central administration unit to oversee the

project’s progress. After the $16 million project fell through in June 2018, UT got rid of the administrative team, the only leg of the project UT has cut. The different pieces of the project — the innovation center, online course production and degree innovation — have just been decentralized, allowing each resource to work more closely with faculty to meet their differing needs. “Project 2021 was one administrative approach,” UT provost Maurie McInnis said. “The project did a really good job of articulating some of our goals of where we want to end up, but what we realized is there was a more cost-efficient approach administratively to accomplish these

PROJECT

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CLAIRE ALLBRIGHT NEWS EDITOR @THEDAILYTEXAN

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

This issue of The Daily Texan is valued at $1.25

PERMANENT STAFF Editor-in-Chief Liza Anderson Managing Editor Forrest Milburn Assoc. Managing Editors Catherine Marfin, Andrea D’Mello Director of Digital Strategy Alexandria Dominguez Assoc. Editors Bella McWhorter, Emily Caldwell, Angelica Lopez Forum Editors Jennifer Liu News Editor Claire Allbright Assoc. News Editors Anna Lassmann, Sami Sparber

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ISSUE STAFF Columnists Neha Dronamraju, Abby Springs, Helen Brown, Greyson Rawscher Comic Artists Joe Wallace, Laura Gonima, Gianna Shandred, Cameron Delghani Copy Editors Irissa Omandam, Madison Johnson, Lawson Freeman, Grace Thomas

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AUSTIN WEATHER

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House Bill filed to support students with children By Chad Lyle @lylechad

College students who are also parents have a different set of priorities than other students. Because of this, a member of the Texas House of Representatives wants each public Texas university to provide an on-campus liaison to help student parents understand the resources available to them. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, filed House Bill 3003, which would mandate public universities in Texas have at least one faculty member acting as a counselor to students with children under 18. These liaisons would primarily advise students on resources offered by their university to assist with childcare, healthcare, transportation and other considerations for student parents. Fatima Varner, human development and family sciences assistant professor, said she thinks creating the liaison position could be a good idea. “I think anything that could centralize information and provide resources for students, including student parents, can be helpful,” Varner said. “Having a child can be disruptive for education and lower the likelihood that someone finishes school, and so having counseling that can help point people to resources might be something that can increase someone’s likelihood of being able to do well.” UT currently has no designated counselor for student parents but a program the University would likely refer students to is the Child Development Center, which provides childcare to students and faculty. The

alexandra vanderhider

program’s director, Hara Cootes, said programs like this help student parents finish college. “Regardless of legislation that may require a liaison, I think giving parents more access to resources through information is a great initiative,” Cootes said. “There’s been a lot of research that has shown that when student parents have access to campus programs they have higher graduation rates.” Talarico introduced the bill as part of his legislative agenda focused on improving

the environments that both public and higher education students learn in. “Our current education system is heavily weighted toward academics, but as all of us know, there is so much more to educating our kids than just reading, writing and math,” Talarico said at a press conference. “This bipartisan agenda will help keep our students safe, healthy and ready to thrive inside and outside the classroom.” Sherri Greenberg, a former state representative and a professor at the LBJ School of

Public Affairs, said Talarico’s bill may receive pushback in the Legislature because, as of now, it is an unfunded mandate — meaning that the current version of the bill does not specify how it will be funded. “Mandates are difficult — whether you are mandating a city, or a county or a school district without funding,” Greenberg said. “If (the bill) gets a hearing, it’ll have to have a fiscal note before they hear it. So the question is going to be: ‘What’s the cost of this going

| the daily texan staff

to be?’ … Is this something that could be done without an additional cost or burden? Could it be done with current resources?’” Varner said, were the bill to pass, it could send a signal to student parents that their concerns are being accounted for. “Just knowing that the support is there can be really helpful and make people feel more attached to school,” Varner said. “But having those material resources should be beneficial to student parents.”

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Professor reduces exam points for calculator rentals By Bonny Chu @bbbonny_

Students taking an exam in finance senior lecturer Heidi Toprac’s class must remember to bring one thing: a working calculator. If a student doesn’t, it could cost them points on the test. Instead of lending students calculators, Toprac uses a different system. To enforce accountability in her Foundations of Finance class, students must rent her calculators at a fee of one exam question, or three points. According to her syllabus, this includes students forgetting their calculators at home as well as calculators running out of batteries. Toprac said this system is better than students not having calculators at all. It is also necessary because dozens of students stopped attempting to bring their own materials and started relying on her calculators in the past, she said. After enforcing this rule in spring 2015, she said only one percent of the class, or two students per exam, opted to use her calculators. “It seems to be striking the right balance between compassion and consequences,” Toprac said. “If students forget their calculators and batteries, there is a consequence. It is not the responsibility of the University to provide these tools.”

However, many students in the class, such as Samid Mirza, said it is wrong to be charged points for calculator mishaps. “Taking off points is definitely unethical,” geography junior Mirza said. “Grades can indeed be jeopardized. Someone could lose out on scholarships or graduate school admissions just from a faulty calculator.” Mirza said students should not be penalized, especially for something unpredictable. “Students are not fortune tellers,” Mirza said. “We cannot predict whether something might go wrong with our calculator or not.” Nick Van Den Handel, another current student in Toprac’s class, said while he has never had to rent a calculator, he has experienced problems in the past that could have placed him in that position. “I had a bottle of water that opened up in my backpack and destroyed my calculator so I had to throw it out,” said actuarial science senior Van Den Handel. “There isn’t much you can do.” Not all students question the ethics of this system. History senior Tito Villegas, who took this class in 2017, said he agrees with Toprac. “I think it’s fair,” Villegas said. “I would hate to have to carry around calculators for students. It just shouldn’t be out from the pockets of professors.”

lauren ibanez

capmetro continues from page

Diaz was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash was captured on UT security cameras and internal and external bus cameras. Carter said a review of the footage concluded that the 11 passengers became alarmed as the bus seemed to bear down on the cyclist. Carter, who watched the videos, said one passenger appeared to shout at the bus driver to get her attention to no avail. Carter said the videos are considered evidence and will not be released prior to Stafford’s trial. Findings from the investigation do not show that Stafford was under the influence of illegal narcotics or alcohol, but Carter would not answer reporters’ questions as to whether she was under the influence of any legal drugs, as that information will be presented during the trial as evidence.

joshua guenther | the daily texan file The CapMetro bus driver who struck and killed a cyclist on the evening of Jan. 28 has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.

A search warrant filed Feb. 15 found that Stafford failed part of a field sobriety test and that prescription drugs were

found in her backpack. Travis Transit, the service provider of CapMetro, issued a statement following Stafford’s

arrest indicating that her employment at CapMetro had been terminated. “We are aware of the

| the daily texan staff

University of Texas at Austin Police Department’s proceedings today,” the statement said. “The person identified is no longer employed at Travis Transit.” Carter said a review of mechanical records of the bus show there were no issues with the bus itself, but an independent party is still investigating the possibility of mechanical issues. It is unclear when those results will be released. The area of the crash was well lit and there was “virtually no traffic” during the time of the crash, Carter said. Carter said CapMetro fully cooperated with UTPD throughout the investigation. CapMetro released a statement following the press conference. “Capital Metro was made aware of the arrest and continues to cooperate with law enforcement in their investigation of the Jan. 28 crash,” the statement said. “Our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones of Tony Diaz.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

CAMPUS

Female faculty, students honor International Women’s Day By Alyssa Weinstein @WeinsteinAlyssa

In celebration of last week’s International Women’s Day, female faculty and students gathered Wednesday evening to acknowledge the impact of females on campus. In previous years, this annual International Women’s Day Celebration was solely labeled as a female faculty appreciation event. But, this year, the celebration centered not only around faculty but all females on campus in recognition of the international holiday. The Faculty Affairs Committee within the Senate of College Councils hosted the celebration in the Student Activities Center’s ballroom. The committee invited about 30 female faculty members to talk with about 100 student attendees. Praveena Javvadi and Ryan Jaffe, co-chairs of the Faculty Affairs Committee, coordinated the event. Jaffe said International Women’s Day, and celebrating women overall, is important on campus because women do not get the recognition they deserve. “When you look at faculty numbers here on campus, the amount of women’s faculty is so slim compared to men,” government sophomore Jaffe said. “The disparity is clear, and we need to recognize that so we can attract more female professors on campus.” Throughout the event, faculty members spoke on a variety of topics including diversity, education and politics. The professors at the event came from a range of different departments, such as Italian studies, civil engineering and social work. Social work professor Diana DiNitto, one of the faculty members invited

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goals … and that would be how we dissolved that administrative layer.” One goal that UT has continued work toward is providing more experiential learning in its degree curricula, McInnis said. Launched this January, the Experiential Learning Initiative is a pilot program housed by the Faculty Innovation Center that seeks to accomplish Project 2021’s goal

joshua guenther | the daily texan staff Government associate professor Rachel Wellhausen shares a meal and talks about her research with students in the Student Activity Center ballroom. The Senate of College Councils hosted the gathering in celebration of last week’s International Women’s Day.

to the event, said she believed this was an important opportunity for professors from different departments to interact with students they may not have the chance to meet outside of this event. Students who attended engaged with the professors by asking

questions about their careers and their lives over refreshments. “To celebrate female professors is really empowering for younger females,” said Alicia Willoughby, international relations and global studies sophomore. “To have the time to speak

with those who have broken through the glass ceiling of overcoming male dominance in higher education shows us that we can do it too.” With Wednesday’s event and future events recognizing women, Jaffe said he hopes students can have a new

appreciation for the female faculty on campus. “I hope (students) can have a great conversation with some amazing professors,” Jaffe said. “If they can have one great conversation, then it’s worth it.”

of providing students with real life situations that develop problem solving skills related to their field. The program provides stipends and feedback through a faculty task force to course developers who implement experiential learning in their curricula. “It’s a real strength of UT that we had a bold ambition and defined it, and the minute that we saw that this didn’t seem to be an approach that was proving to be effective, we were willing to say, ‘Ok, we’re going to stop doing it that way, and now we’re going to try it another way,’”

McInnis said. Molly Hatcher, Faculty Innovation Center program coordinator, said the center is continuing work on many different projects alongside the Experiential Learning Initiative, including projects to connect instructors and students with international partners and teaching preparation for graduate students. “One of our greatest gains during the Project 2021-era was the opportunity to work with units in thinking through potential chang-

es to their curricula to better support their students,” Hatcher said in an email. “We remain dedicated to a mission of partnering with UT instructors, staff and students to create an environment focused on teaching for student learning and success, and we are proud of the strides we continue to make in that direction.” The production of live online courses, a focus of Project 2021, saw a large increase during the project, from 26 in the 2015-2016 academic session to 90 for the 2018-2019 session. Marla Gilliland, Liberal

Arts Instructional Technology Services director of course development, said the end of Project 2021 has not slowed down the production of online courses. More than 29 online courses are planned for this summer. “We enjoyed a productive collaboration with the other elements of Project 2021 when it was active and will continue to produce courses that provide quality teaching and accessibility for UT students,” Gilliland said in an email.

CAMPUS

Students experience issues connecting to MyCampusNet By Tehya Rassman @tehyarassman

MyCampusNet Wi-Fi provides service to around 70 off-campus student housing locations near UT. This year, students have complained about connection issues on various social media sites. Apogee, the company providing the service, is “higher education’s largest managed technology services provider,” according to their website. It covers more than 400 universities across the nation. The company began as a UT Student Government project in the ‘90s, said Larry Hall, Apogee’s chief operating officer. “We created it because students needed a way to save money on their expensive long-distance bills,” Hall said in an email. “We saw a similar challenge (and) need on the network side and expanded in the early 2000s to include internet service to our offerings.” Brooklyn Reynolds, speech language pathology sophomore, said she never had any issues with the Wi-Fi until the beginning of this fall semester. “‘I just called, why does it keep doing this?’” Reynolds said, reciting a phone conversation she had with Apogee’s support line. “And they’d say, ‘We’re not sure. MyCampusNet has just been acting up lately. We’ll hopefully get it fixed soon.’” Last summer, Reynolds got a television that needs Wi-Fi in order to stream shows. She said she has the most trouble getting her TV to connect. “Sometimes, in the middle of my show it will stop working, or it’ll take 20 minutes to connect, or sometimes it will not even connect at all,” Reynolds said. “I’ll flip between MyCampusNet and MyCampusLegacy, and sometimes, that’ll work.” MyCampusLegacy is another Wi-Fi network provided by Apogee. Hall said some devices are more prone to issues than others. “We almost always

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can get a device connected to the network,” Hall said in an email. “However, we find that the large majority of television issues tend to be device-related, not network-related.” Not everyone is experiencing problems with the Wi-Fi. Nursing sophomore Julia Chesnick said MyCampusNet Wi-Fi, the only internet service she has used at UT, always works for her. “I actually have never had a single problem,” Chesnick said. “All my devices have always

| the daily texan staff

connected, even (when) I got a new phone.” Hall said Apogee recently did an investigation to see if there is a “system-wide” connectivity problem in West Campus and found there is not. “We take these concerns very seriously,” Hall said in an email. “Because there are a multitude of reasons that a student may be experiencing an issue with their connectivity, we provide 24/7, 365 (days) Austin-based support.”

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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

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| the daily texan staff

Amateur student musicians need space to practice By Abby Springs

UHD needs to create a wider variety of meal plans to accomodate students By Neha Dronamraju Columnist

I bought UT’s resident meal plan, which offers 1800 Dine In Dollars and 200 Bevo Bucks, over the summer. After the purchase, I began preparing for the busy school year. Once it started, I didn’t have time to budget my meal plan. Now, halfway through the second semester, I’m in a precarious position as I have more meals to eat than my Dine In Dollars can buy. UT currently offers three meal plans. One of those is for residents and only caters to one particular appetite. University Housing and Dining should offer multiple meal plans to cater to all students’ eating habits. The current resident meal plan uses a declining balance process. Instead of allotting students with a fixed number of meal card swipes per day, the plan provides 1800 Dine In Dollars that students can spend in any UHD location as they please. This puts immense pressure on students to budget their meal plans. To combat this issue, UHD should let students choose the meal plan that’s best for them from a wider variety of plans. According to UHD’s director of dining Rene Rodriguez, there are pros and cons to UT’s current meal plan.

“It has served its purposes, because I believe students appreciate the fact that they have complete control over where they’re spending their money,” Rodriguez said. “It hasn’t worked when students don’t balance how and where they’re spending their money.”

To combat this issue, UHD should let students choose the meal plan that’s best for them from a wider variety of plans.”

Rodriguez also said UHD plans to introduce two unlimited meal plans next year — one for residents and one for commuters — that would allow students to buy as much food as they want. An unlimited meal plan is a luxury, accompanied by a cost that some students are not willing to pay. In addition to these two unlimited options, UHD should offer more meal plans at various price points for

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.

students who don’t necessarily need an unlimited plan. Juliet Leger, computational engineering freshman, believes that UHD could cater to more students by providing a wider range of meal plans. “I know people who run out of Dine In Dollars too early, and I also know people who have them left over at the end of the year, and neither are being served well by the meal plans,” Leger said. “I think there should be meal plans for those types of people and everyone in-between.” What Leger advocates for is being implemented at other universities. The University of Houston, for example, offers a total of 11 meal plans at various price points. Some of these plans conform to the declining balance system, and others run on a swipe system. Next fall, UHD will offer five total meal plans: two for residents and three for commuters. UT can implement a more expansive system with plans that include unlimited meal swipes, meal swipes five days a week and plans that are limited to a set amount of declining balance dollars. Introducing a variety of declining balance and swipe-based plans — with some plans offering a larger budget than others — would better serve a wide range of diners. Dronamraju is a public health freshman from Dallas.

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| the daily texan staff

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“USE OF BUTLER SCHOOL OF MUSIC PRACTICE FACILITIES IS RESTRICTED TO CURRENTLY ENROLLED MUSIC STUDENTS AND APPROVED BSOM PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS. VIOLATORS ARE SUBJECT TO REMOVAL AND/OR PROSECUTION.” Most music practice rooms in the Music Building and Recital Hall bear these words on their doors, warning amateur musicians — those not affiliated with the Butler School — that pursuit of a quiet and private place to practice may lead to legal consequences. The Butler School of Music boasts “125 high-quality, soundproof practice rooms,” according to its website. None are open to non-Butler students. Nor should they be. When I visited the practice rooms at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, most of the ones I passed were in use. Butler students need a dedicated space to study their music without interruption just like any other student needs a place to study their textbooks. “Music study is a serious pursuit, and our facilities are specialized,” said Russell Podgorsek, the Butler School’s building coordinator, in an email. “We need the instruments and other equipment functioning at the highest possible level to support the young experts who are studying here.” Musicians need to practice. Studies show that long-term, deliberate practice plays an essential role in musical achievement. “I can’t stress the importance of practicing on a daily basis enough because it’s the only way your voice is going to be better,” music performance sophomore Nicholas Ryland said. However, without access to music school rooms, amateur student musicians who live on campus are left with nowhere to practice but their dorms. The University Residence Hall Manual states that “playing musical instruments is permitted within the living area, as long as it is not disturbing others.” However, any student who has lived in a dorm knows loud sounds can easily bother other residents. In dorms such as Carothers and Andrews, public pianos are located in rooms that double as public study areas, disturbing students who wish to use the space to learn. According to the manual, University Housing and Dining gives priority to students’ right to sleep and study, saying “the noise level should be such that it does not interfere with the rights of others.” It’s a catch-22 for amateur student vocalists and musicians, especially those who play loud instruments such as piano, electric guitar, percussion or horns. Using Butler music rooms is against University policy, and practicing loud instruments may violate residence hall rules. Amateur musicians at UT want practice rooms. A search of the UT-Austin subreddit for “practice rooms” returns seven inquiries into practice rooms for nonmusic majors over the last few years. “I feel super awkward singing in my dorm room … and I was wondering since the practice rooms are only open to music majors now, is it still cool to go use one?” one student asked. “Do any of the dorms have rooms for music practice? … I play a percussion instrument, and it might disturb others,” another user said. If UT wants to produce well-rounded students with a wide skill set in different disciplines, the University must find ways to support their hobbies and talents. Amateur student musicians need a place on campus to practice their instruments and vocals. Rooms for non-Butler students don’t need to be as specialized or technical as the ones in the music school, but they should exist as a space for students to develop their talents without fear of violating University policy. The University takes care in providing on-campus students with a place to live. However, on-campus housing should not come at the cost of sacrificing musical interests. UT must provide places for amateur student musicians to practice without breaking rules or disturbing others. Springs is a government freshman from Dallas.

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.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

MUSIC

Q&A

NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Family Hour showcases series’ alumni By John Melendez @mister_melendez

A congregation of music fans filed into the pews of the church in anticipation of the concert that was about to begin. On Tuesday night, Central Presbyterian Church held the first Tiny Desk Family Hour showcase, a threehour-long concert series based off NPR Music’s popucarlos garcia | the daily texan staff lar Tiny Desk Concerts series The inaugural Tiny Desk Family Hour showcase brought a on Youtube. The event fea- lineup of past Tiny Desk Concert alumni spanning multiple genres, talents and messages. tured nine artists who had previously been featured in a couple of songs from his the band had their unique the series and was hosted by upcoming EP, “Table of talents and identities on Bob Boilen, co-creator of the Context,” but the moments full display. video series. where he broke into a flute The three final artists Attendees were not privy or saxophone solo showed at the showcase were just to the show’s lineup before- the young artist’s musical as talented as they were hand and were left guessing versatility and talent. different from each other. who came next until the end. The showcase also Amanda Palmer played two Before the music began, brought singer-songwriter Boilen opened up the show John Paul White, former- songs, her musical genre by talking about the Tiny ly one-half of the Gram- style falling in between alDesk Contest, a competi- my-award winning duo The ternative rock and dark cabtion in its fifth year that asks Civil Wars. White’s gentle aret. Palmer’s second song, musicians to submit a vidyet powerful voice touched “The Ride,” was an intense eo of them performing at a on intimate topics such ten-minute piano piece desk in the hopes of finding as missing his children filled with raw, emotional new talent. while touring. storytelling. Haitian rapper The first artist to begin In the spirit of the Tiny and musician Wyclef Jean the showcase was Gaelynn Desk Concerts video series, took the stage and filled Lea, violinist, songwriter the artists spanned a wide the room with a laid-back, and winner of the second variety of styles, genres and carefree atmosphere. After contest. The showcase be- group sizes. The female a brief freestyle, Jean played gan with a deep, soulful per- folk trio Mountain Man three songs, with college harmonized over a shared formance of “Someday We’ll musicians Jeremy Torres acoustic guitar, with their Linger in the Sun.” Her vioand Jazzy Aubra joining him voices blending together lin and message permeated the final two. Torres and Auand adding texture to each through the church. Born bra are both featured on his with Osteogenesis Imperfec- other. Gina Chavez, Latin latest album, “Wyclef Goes singer-songwriter and 10ta, Lea ended her three-song Back to School.” time Austin Music Awards set with “I Wait,” a song Strutting in wearing a about empowering the dis- winner, and her band took black bandana as a mask and the stage in full force deabled community and a need accompanied by a full band spite Chavez’s currently for change and acceptance wearing TSA uniforms, hip in society. ailing throat. hop artist Leikeli47 closed Brooklyn soul-singer Fragile Rock, a musical off the showcase. The crowd Texas Student Media will collective keep you connected Cautious Clay took the stage of musicians/ pupstood, clapped, snapped and next. The artist explained peteers and self-described with daily links to the news, sports and culture danced along to the rhyththat the Tiny Desk Concerts puppet band,” brought stories shaping the “emo UT community. environment had initially a yet unfelt garage rock en- mic bass and beats of the band as her voice flowed made him nervous when he ergy into the church. From over the music until the performed for the series. jokes to jumping off stage Clay’s five-song-set featured and high-fiving the audience, last second.

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Yoshi Flower talks SXSW, inspiration By Jordyn Zitman @jordynzitman

Best known for his collaborations and original, eccentric songs, Yoshi Flower garnered a significant indie fan base before signing with Interscope Records in Sept. 2018. His performances at SXSW are part of his first tour, American Raver Live. A mere 20 hours after touching down in Austin, Flower spoke to The Daily Texan about his fans, comparisons to Lana Del Rey and the inspiration behind his latest single, “Dirty Water.” The Daily Texan: You signed with Interscope Records in Sept. 2018. What has the transition been like from being an indie artist to a signed one? Yoshi Flower: Before I signed, I had a lot of credit card debt, a broken toilet and no car or house to my own. I was pretty much just like a f---ing junkie. Then I signed my deal, and they just support me with my spiritual practices and, like, help me fulfill my ideas. It’s really just the transition to having a little bit of a support system, in my experience. A lot of people are like ‘yo, f--- my label holding me back,’ but I’m like, ‘yo, (Interscope Chief) John Janick is my dad.’ DT: How did you start getting into music? YF: My dad had a classical acoustic guitar with nylon strings, and I would pick it up and try to play along to Jimi Hendrix, and I couldn’t really. My dad looked at me one day and he was like, ‘yo, you either have to get good at that guitar or you have to put it down — it’s really annoying.’ So I just stayed in my room, and then like 10 years later, I got pretty good. DT: Did you ever think you would struggle to find a fan base because your music doesn’t conform to a particular genre? YF: Yeah, I used to. But now I don’t care because my fans are dope, they’re the best fans. It’s like a cult, kind of like ‘if you know, you know’ type s--- right now. All of my fans are supposed to be my fans right now,

carlos garcia | the daily texan staff For now, Yoshi Flower said his fanbase is like a ‘cult.’ Maybe after playing three shows at South by Southwest, it will grow.

and they’re the best people, and they don’t conform to s---, so why would I? You still worry about it, but now I don’t really care at all. DT: You’ve been compared to artists such as Lana Del Rey, what do you think of that? YF: I feel good about it, I feel very spiritually aroused by that. I think me and Lana have very similar psyche and topically share similar themes. I saw her one time from a distance, I don’t think she noticed me. She seemed like a very lovely person, so being compared to her would be pretty good. DT: What was the inspiration for your latest single “Dirty Water”? YF: I like it a lot, I’m very proud of it. I wrote it when I visited Detroit. I picked up a local (magazine) and it said ‘Flint water system switches to Detroit water system.’ People were appealing the switch to the water system, and I noticed in LA that it wasn’t in the news anywhere else anymore. I was like, ‘I guess it’s not a buzzy topic anymore,’ and then I wrote that song. It was a love song, but I had this water s--- on my psyche. I really like performing “Dirty Water” and I love the sentiment of it. I don’t remember writing it. DT: What is your songwriting process like? YF: I pretty much just try to write, I try to be honest. I kinda don’t really try and then it just happens. I kinda just f--around and eventually a song comes. Lately, I’ve been trying to write the biggest, most pop, simple, dumba-- song of all

time. I say I’m gonna do it, and then I just skrt and turn left, and it sounds really complicated and not poppy. I try to write (‘Tik Tok’) and then all of a sudden it’s like ‘I’m a paradox/like dirty socks/stuffed into Dior heels.’ I respect songwriters a lot, like Ben (Gibbard) from Death Cab (for Cutie) , and Ed Sheeran is lit. Songwriting, I respect the craft, so I wouldn’t want to say that I just f--- around, but I just try and have fun with it. DT: One of your bestknown collaborations is on Quinn XCII’s ‘Werewolf.’ What was it like to work on that? YF: Quinn called me up and said, ‘I’m working on my album. I need your help.’ I was like, ‘No you don’t, you’re f---ing crazy.’ He told me to come to the recording session, so I did. I went in and we wrote the song, but I did it really fast. I was ready to leave, and they said ‘wait, get on the microphone for like one second.’ I did one take. They asked me if I wanted to recut it, and I said yes, but they said it sounded worse than when it was just freestyle. So I forgot what we did in that session. A couple of months later, my manager called me and said Quinn wants me on his album. I said awesome, send me the beat. But they were like, ‘The song’s already done.’ I was like, ‘What song? Send me it.’ I thought they must be thinking of the wrong guy, but then I was like, ‘Oh, that song.’ Quinn is the nicest f---ing dude ever, and he’s a super professional recording artist. He’s very polished to work with. It was pretty impressive.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

SOFTBALL

ryan lam | the daily texan staff Outfielder Kaitlyn Washington takes a swing during one of her three at-bats during Texas’ 7-1 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 13, 2019. Washington was tied for the team-high in hits and runs on the night.

Longhorns cruise past Islanders With the bulk of the schedule approaching, Texas picks up a needed home win. By Marcus Krum @marcuskrum

ith a pair of matchups against No. 6 Tennessee approaching, followed by the start of conference play, the competition ahead gets no easier for the Longhorns. For now, however, Texas’ ship was righted as they picked up a much-needed 7-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on

Wednesday. Fresh off a weekend that saw two home losses to Minnesota, a dominant win in front of the home crowd at Red & Charline McCombs Field was a welcomed sight. “It was real important for us,” outfielder Kaitlyn Washington said. “We talked about it at practice, and we wanted to come in today and have a good win and put everything together for the weekend, and just go into the weekend and have some momentum.” It was another excellent performance in the circle from the Texas pitching staff. Pitchers Miranda Elish and Brooke Bolinger allowed one combined hit to the Islanders as they continued to show why this Longhorn rotation is so formidable. After striking out the side in the first inning, Elish struggled in the second, walking two hitters and losing her

command as a run scored. Yet she settled in nicely, striking out eight on the day, a response that was needed as she is still trying to find consistency this season. “Starting Miranda Elish, I wanted to give her a little confidence back, (she) came out roaring out of the gates,” Texas head coach Mike White said. “What you’re seeing in this game right now is you can’t just roll out one pitcher. You need to have a staff. I’m trying to give them all enough work and enough opportunity to prove themselves.” Bolinger came into the game in relief to start the fifth inning and made quick work of the remainder of the lineup. While she allowed the only hit of the day for the Islanders, she finished out the remaining three innings allowing just two baserunners. “There’s a lot of passion and drive and energy that comes from our

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pitchers, outfielder Reagan Hathaway said. “Hitting wise, it gives you more confidence to go up to bat when you know that your pitcher has your back and they’re going to keep runs off the board for you.” While the Longhorns hung seven runs on nine hits against TAMUCC, White knows that in order to keep up with the top-ranked teams that await, the offense will need to be even better. With all the success that has come to McCombs Field this season, Texas is just 3–4 against ranked opponents in the early goings of White’s career at Texas. “We’re not playing well because we’re making mental mistakes, not because we don’t have the ability to play better,” White said of the past losses to ranked opponents. “Right now it’s a matter of us playing to our ability. That’s what I challenged the team with … Tonight, it was an average performance.”

WOMEN’S GOLF

Longhorns continue hot hand in Hawaii, remain atop the standings By Wills Layton @willsdebeast

katie bauer | the daily texan file Forward Jaxson Hayes attacks the rim during an 86-69 Longhorn victory over Iowa State on March 2, 2019 at the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are one game over .500 heading into the Big 12 tournament.

Texas faces off against Kansas with potential tournament bid on the line By Robert Larkin @r_larkintexas

A defeated Jaxson Hayes sat at the media podium following Texas’ 69-56 loss to TCU with his head buried into his chest. The weight of disappointment hung on his shoulders not just because of the loss, but also knowing his team’s tournament chances had taken a drastic hit. On Saturday, the Longhorns were not only outclassed by the Horned Frogs but also just outhustled. The effort begged an important question: How could Texas turn in such a flat effort in a game that would have likely clinched its NCAA Tournament bid? “I don’t know,” Hayes said. Of course, the Longhorns aren’t totally out of the tournament picture. Despite their 16–15 record and a slate of bad losses on their resume, analysts still figure they can slide in thanks to a few quality wins and a lackluster field across college basketball overall. But with the defeat to TCU, all

of a sudden the task to reach the tournament has become more difficult. Many college basketball analysts feel that the Longhorns need to win their first game of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday to secure a spot. Why? Because never in the history of March Madness has a team ever earned an at-large bid with a record at .500. Texas knows the situation it has put itself in. The Longhorns must now figure out a way to put together a win against Kansas, a team who will be playing in front of a largely pro-Jayhawk crowd at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. “I think the team has it in them (to make a run),” Texas head coach Shaka Smart said. “We have to come together around some core components of who we need to be and who we have not been the last couple of games. If we do, we certainly have a shot.” Coming off its first season in 14 years where it hasn’t won at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title, Kansas will be motivated to impress in the conference tournament and show it can still control the conference.

But in the team’s two matchups this season, Texas held its own, splitting the series. And on point differential, the Longhorns claimed an eight-point advantage. Add in the fact that Thursday night essentially marks a do-or-die game, Texas should come in playing with its own edge too. Although the Longhorns feel their season ended in a disappointing way, they still feel they have plenty of postseason in front of them. They don’t think Thursday will mark the end of their season altogether. “(That was) definitely not the way we wanted to finish out our season,” Dylan Osetkowski said following the loss to TCU. “We feel like we have a lot basketball left to play, so we have to decide how we want to finish out.” To ensure that, a win against Kansas is the only answer. Unlike against Kansas State, Texas will have to play with intensity and focus on each possession. If they don’t, the Longhorns will watch their season evaporate in front of their own eyes.

Winning in collegiate sports is usually reserved for one team per match, game or tournament. However, in a sport like golf, teams can walk away co-champions. That is exactly what happened with the No. 1 Texas women’s golf team this week in Hawaii. A few weeks after winning the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Golf Championship and being named the No. 1 team in the country, Texas tied with SMU to win for the second time in 2019 at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, marking a string of successful showings for the Longhorns. Hailee Cooper, who was recently named to the Arnold Palmer Cup team for the United States, finished tied for sixth as the highest finisher on the Longhorn team. She collected her third top-ten

finish of the season, which includes a win earlier this season at the Betsy Rawls Invitational. “It was a solid week, and I hit the ball pretty well,” Cooper said. “I drove the ball well and hit a ton of the fairways out here. Need to work on the putting a little bit.” The rest of the team also put on strong performances with three players finishing tied for 11th. Additionally, Agathe Laisne was absent from the lineup as a different rotation of players competed this week for the team. “The coolest thing about our third win this season is that we’ve done it with three different lineups,” Texas head coach Ryan Murphy said. “Nice to be in that position.” The win made history for the women’s team, as this victory marks the first time since the 1992-1993 season that the women’s golf team has won three regular season tournaments in the same season.

This was also the first time the team had won back-toback tournaments since that same season. While the team did pull off the tie, the team would have preferred to win the tournament outright as they had the lead heading into the final round after being in solo third after round one. “It was nice to get out of here with a tie for first,” Murphy said. “We had a sluggish start and a sluggish finish but hung on just enough. It’s always nice to win, but we’ll need to clean up certain areas if we want to play to our potential.” Texas will have the week off as the University heads into its spring break but will get right back to work next week at the Evans Derby Experience in Auburn, Alabama. The team can break more records by winning yet another tournament, but at worst, will remain in the No. 1 spot for another week.

anthony mireles | the daily texan file Hailee Cooper and the Longhorns left Hawaii co-champions of the Dr. Donni Thompson Invitational. Cooper, individually, tied for sixth on the Longhorn team.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Thursday, March 14, 2019

Crossword ACROSS 1 Wrangler, for one 5 Things kids sometimes draw 9 Carriages in Kew Gardens

SUDOKUFORYOU 6 5 1 4 1 7 6 9 8 3

9 2 1 5 8 3 1 3 7 1 5 2 6 4 7 1 5 9 6 8 4 9

26 Starting point for a platypus 27 Steam 28 Some Windows systems

30 Is nostalgic for 14 Band with a slash 32 Classic song in its name with the lyric “I’ll see you in my 15 Occur to, with dreams” “on” 36 What you may 16 ___ Cinemas, call it? second-largest theater chain in 37 S. Amer. land the U.S. 38 Air condition? 17 Be hot under the 42 World traveler collar since 1985 18 Snap, Crackle 47 What’s honed on and Pop, e.g. the range? 19 Dweller on the 50 Put pressure on Arabian Sea

Today’s solution will appear here next issue

2 4 1 9 7 8 6 3 5

7 9 5 1 3 6 2 8 4

6 3 8 2 4 5 1 9 7

9 5 6 3 1 4 7 2 8

3 1 4 8 2 7 5 6 9

8 2 7 6 5 9 4 1 3

1 7 3 5 8 2 9 4 6

4 6 2 7 9 3 8 5 1

5 8 9 4 6 1 3 7 2

20 “No one can get in a fight by himself,” informally 23 Rum cocktail 25 Robert Burns’s “since”

51 Downed a sub? 52 Goethe’s “The ___-King” 53 Like the German article “der”: Abbr. 56 Welled (up)

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S U N O R I L I B R B E H E L L O R E L A R G A S S O T C I T Y I N E E U S A D I P D A D O R D E T E

F I R E M U R A L A E T T O D G A P A R O T E L E E A S T E S T E C R T O E E N E N A R S E D A N A P I V A N A Y E K N O E R L O C R S E L S

O D E T S R P G N O C H E

T H E R W A R E A L I N L E D C O P E R O A R U E R A S L I S H N C O I G H T C T K O U T S P A S I X

58 Flip out … or a hint to eight answers in this puzzle 61 Diamond datum 62 Adjutant 63 Progenitor of the Edomites, in the Bible 66 Old Scottish title 67 What optical readers do 68 Staples of “Poor Richard’s Almanack” 69 Sir William ___, medical pioneer 70 Far from subtle actors 71 Pro side DOWN 1 Dig, in a way 2 Writer Umberto ___ 3 Where Copy and Paste appear 4 School tech class site 5 Some expensive dental work 6 Rows 7 Jerks 8 Having a white blanket 9 Body building block 10 San ___, Italy 11 Banded stones 12 Get along 13 Babies in a pond 21 Powerful checker 22 “I’ll spring for it” 23 National park in Utah

Edited by Will Shortz 1

25 28 33

30 34

38 45

50 53

37 43

36 42

18 20

No. 0207

51 56

PUZZLE BY MORTON J. MENDELSON

24 Latin word on a dollar bill 29 Pipe part 31 Basted, e.g. 33 Indigenous Peruvian 34 Whack 35 Littlest piggy

43 Current device 44 Delivery door location, often 45 Silky cottons 46 Fired 47 Opposite of staccato

39 “My assumption is …”

48 Foams

40 Time of day, in ads

49 Universal

41 Archived document

54 Supply that no one’s supposed to find

55 Secondlongest-running Broadway musical ever (after “The Phantom of the Opera”) 57 A very long time back 59 Provider of directions to a farmer 60 Mild cheese 64 Wow 65 ___ Constitution

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.

TIANA WOODARD & JORDYN ZITMAN LIFE&ARTS EDITORS @THEDAILYTEXAN

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

SXSW

Panelists talk ‘genius of being black’

Damon + Damon spoke with panelists about, ‘beauty, resilience,’ at SXSW. By Tiana Woodard @tianarochon

udience members awaiting the start of the panel in the The LINE’s Onyx Ballroom were greeted with the soft, catchy sounds of hip-hop instrumentals. The mood set by the music served as a stark contrast of the topics discussed by the panelists. In this SXSW event, Black Lives Matter movement co-founder Patrisse Cullors and young tech whiz Iddris Sandu sat down with Damon + Damon podcast hosts Damon Davis and Damon Turner to share their thoughts on black advocacy. The panel served as more of a live podcast recording in which Davis and Turner would start the conversation and then invite Cullors and Sandu to accompany them on stage. Starting with the discussion of recent events, Davis touched on his dilemma regarding sexual assault cases involving members of the black community such as R. Kelly and Bill Cosby. Davis said this generation’s access to information has made the public more aware of “the duality of humanity.” “The world is a weird place, and maybe it’s always been that way,” Davis said. “But I also think because we have access to a lot of information, we can see a lot more.” As two creatives, the Damon + Damon co-hosts discussed the challenges they’ve faced using art to advocate for their community. To Turner, empowering black Americans is the best avenue for creating change. “This idea of telling children and ourselves that we have the ability to

eddie gaspar | the daily texan staff Led by Damon + Damon podcast co-hosts Damon Davis and Damon Turner, “The Beauty, Resilience and Genius of Being Black” explored the topic of black advocacy.

create life and change the state we’re in is godly,” Turner said. “If we’re not thinking in those terms of how we want to heal our people, we’re doing a disservice.” The duo also saw hope in healing the black community because of the different skill sets advocates have. For Turner, the events in Ferguson best displayed this variety. “It’s a beautiful time that we have so many different people in so many different areas that can really shift power,” Turner said. The panel’s first guest speaker, Sandu, represented the diversity in black advocacy. As a leader in the tech industry, Sandu believes technology has the capability to advance black rights

regardless of the small fraction the community makes up in the field today. “If we use (technology) as a vessel to tell our messages, we’ll always be in control,” Sandu said. “(The problem with diversity in tech) isn’t a technological bias, it’s an algorithmic bias.” Bringing technology into the panel also brought up concerns on encouraging the community to adopt such tools of change. Sandu said the best way of achieving this is introducing technology in ways that show its benefits. “Anything (about technology’s impact) can be said, but it’s about how they’re said,” Sandu said. “It’s not that people don’t care. You just

need to show them how it applies to their lives.” Cullors, the final guest of the panel, entered the stage welcomed by applause and multiple camera shots. Prefacing her ideas with rapper 21 Savage’s recent detainment by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Black Lives Matter organizer said social media has played a pivotal role in the movement’s progress. “The brilliance of social media is that it allowed (black Americans) to tell the stories, and the next step is how we create the next tool first so we don’t have to use theirs to tell our stories,” Cullors said. However, all four speakers agreed pinpointing a founder to the Black

Lives Matter movement was difficult and useless. Because of the country’s tendency to forget the past, Cullors said people disregard that such advocacy has happened for centuries. “Living under white supremacy, you have to (advocate) over and over again,” Cullors said. We live in a country that has amnesia.” Though solving problems involving black Americans is a tough route to navigate, Sandu said with collaboration the answers they’ve been searching for will come to the surface. “We’re only life forms,” Sandu said. “We don’t have all the answers, but as a community we can figure them all out together.”

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LEADERS

CHANGEMAKERS

We’re IDEA Public Schools, and we’re hiring people just like you. People who are driven to innovate and collaborate to change education for the better. People who don’t settle for the status quo. People who have high expectations for themselves and thrive in a high-growth, high-reward environment. And most importantly, people who are united in the belief that every child has the potential to succeed in college and in life. By 2022, we’ll serve 100,000 students at 173 schools across ten regions. As we grow, you grow – at IDEA, your professional potential is limitless.

Explore your future at ideapublicshools.org/careers. Join our community at fb.com/IDEACareers.