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THE DAILY TEXAN Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
LIBYAN TURMOIL
HEALTH CARE Debate continues over Obama’s health care plan
Libyan rebels seize opportunity created by coalition air strikes
WORLD&NATION PAGE 3
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LET’S PLAY TWO
Texas faces Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a doubleheader after returning from a four-game road trip
after its passage one year ago today
SPORTS PAGE 6
NEWS PAGE 5 @thedailytexan
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
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82ND LEGISLATURE
Alum recalls ’66 shooting, urges against guns in school
TODAY Calendar Texas Softball
Longhorns play Texas A&M Corpus Christi at McCombs Field at 5 p.m. Tickets range from $3-$9.
By Melissa Ayala Daily Texan Staff
cuts to the Liberal Arts ethnic studies centers — said it was impressive that students, regardless of affiliation, came together to contribute to the campaign. “Student Government is supposed to be our official voice on campus, so if they’re going to go out there to on our behalf, then I’m going to join because we have the common goal of fighting the budget cuts,” Villasenor said. SG executive director Jimmy Talarico said UT is a lucrative investment for Texas, bringing in millions of dollars in federal research grants, yet
Jim Bryce held back tears as he recounted memories of 45 years ago, when he was supposed to meet a friend for lunch at the Texas Union, but saw a shooter inside the UT Tower on the news. Bryce and classmate Sandra Wilson were students at UT in 1966, when Charles Whitman, a student and former Marine, opened fire atop the Tower, killing 14 people and wounding 31. Both testified before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee about the concealed carry on campus bill Tuesday along with current students, including members of student lobbying group Invest in Texas. The bill would allow concealed handgun licensees to carry handguns on college campuses. Concealed carry is allowed most places in Texas, but college campuses, churches, bars and post offices are some gun-free zones. Bryce told committee members to vote against the bill, continuing his harrowing account of the shooting, which claimed the life of one of his friends. “Sandra was shot in front of what is now the Co-op,” Bryce said. “We’re afraid that allowing others to conceal on campus would create a [confusing] situation where the police could not adequately protect everyone.” Wilson said she was lucky to recover, but that she could not
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Texas Baseball
Texas Longhorns play Houston Baptist at UFCU Disch-Falk Field at 6 p.m. Tickets range from $5$12.
‘Zombieland’
The End of the World Film Series presents “Zombieland” in Burdine Hall 436 A at 5:30 p.m.
‘Noi the Albino’
The European Film Series presents this free film about a gifted 17-year-old boy from Northern Iceland flees his home. The film will be shown in MEZ BO.3-6 at 6:30 p.m.
‘The Songwriters Songwriter’ Danny Schmidt featuring Carrie Elkin will be playing at the Cactus Cafe at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Romeo & Juliet
The Long Center for the Performing Arts will be showing the film at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and $10 for students.
Today in history In 1956 Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world.
Campus watch TRANS STAMP
Gregory Gym, 2101 Speedway A UT student obtained a hand stamp so he could enter the gym without swiping his UT ID. The student left after receiving the stamp. A second subject then entered the gym with a faded stamp on his . During the investigation the officers learned the student had pressed his hand to transfer the ink stamp to the non-UT subject’s hand. The non-UT subject was issued a Criminal Trespass Warning and the student was referred to the Dean of Students’ Office.
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Quote to note “[The opposition] is a completely partisan, corporatebased attack. They want to give our health care back to the insurance companies.”
Fanny Trang | Daily Texan Staff
Petroleum engineering freshman Alberto Tardio marches against budget cuts with his peers at the Capitol on Tuesday.
INVESTEDinTEXAS
By Ahsika Sanders Daily Texan Staff
“It’s 12:36, and UT is still underfunded,” more than 200 students shouted as they marched to the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday to protest the proposed higher education budget cuts. The Invest in Texas campaign organizes students to lobby the Texas Legislature to adequately fund UT, protect financial aid programs and keep the University academically competitive. Student Government, Senate of College Councils and Graduate Student Assembly started the program this semester, and it is open to partici-
Nation’s law schools see overall decrease in student applicants By Shamoyita DasGupta Daily Texan Staff
The number of students applying to law schools around the nation has decreased significantly since last year, according to data from the Law School Admissions Council. Since last year, the number of applicants has dipped 11.5 percent, although the figure may change since only about 90 percent of total anticipated applicants have already applied. For the fall 2010 semester, 87,500 students applied to attend law school, according to the Law School Admissions Council website. Although the number of UT Sports management senior and Japanese native Itsuki Shibakiri is helping raise money for the American Red Cross to aide the victims of the tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.
— Ethan Rome Executive director, Health Care for America NOW! NEWS PAGE 5
pation from all students. More than 160 fourth grade Baranoff Elementary students in front of Bob Bullock Museum on a Texas history field trip joined the marchers’ “Texas fight” chants. Liberal arts representative John Lawler shouted over the crowd, encouraging the fourth graders and teachers to join in the protest. “Help us shout,” Lawler said. “We are marching and fighting for your future — this is for you.” Bernardino Villasenor — a member of Students Speak, an activist group formed last semester in response to the proposed budget
Ryan Smith Daily Texan Staff
Navy official sheds light on spending By Mary Ellen Knewtson Daily Texan Staff
Applicants to UT School of Law The numbers for Fall 2011 will be finalized in September, and the school expects a decrease. Fall 2010 - 5,815 Fall 2009 - 5,275 Fall 2008 - 4,850 Source: UT School of Law
School of Law applicants remains uncertain until the fall, there are significantly fewer applicants so far than the 5,815
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Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Juan M. Garcia, III, assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy, spoke at the Texas Union about the relevance of the branch today.
Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy Juan Garcia said the Navy’s large presence in Japan for relief, the American and European attacks on Libya and the continued burden of the Iraq War are proof of the branch’s continued relevance and necessity. About 100 people at the Texas Union came to hear Garcia speak as part of Navy Week when, in cities nationwide, members of the Navy work to show taxpayers the return on their investment, he said. The sailors will build homes for Habitat for Humanity, work in soup kitchens and visit hospitals and schools. “It couldn’t be a more timely week to come and tell the Navy story,” he said. “As we sit in this room on this beautiful campus, there are 22 Navy ships and a nuclear aircraft carrier off the coast of Japan doing disaster relief.” At the same time, he said, five Navy ships and two nuclear submarines are off the coast of Libya leading the international coalition to prevent the slaughter of civilians. The Navy also conducts research on global warming in the Arctic Ocean and provides medical care in poor countries. They send doctors to offer medical care, such as cleft surgeries and eyeglasses. He said this is in the interest of national security as well as humanitarian efforts
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Japanese students from UT reflect on disaster, aftermath By Allistair Pinsof Daily Texan Staff
After the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, sports management senior and Japanese native Itsuki Shibakiri wondered what would become of his home. Over the past two weeks, he has only seen and heard the situation unfold through Japanese news publications and phone calls to his parents in Chiba, Japan. What he’s heard differs from Western news coverage, he said. Shibakiri used to surf on the beaches of Chiba, located 24 miles
east of Tokyo, where his parents still reside. He said the beaches are now barely recognizable after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake caused trembles within the city and the tsunami, as tall as a four-story building in some places, that hit the Pacific coast. The damage in Chiba pales in comparison to that in Northern regions that were hit the hardest. Nevertheless, electricity blackouts, food shortages and questions about radiation have created an uneasy
JAPAN continues on PAGE 2