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TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019
volume
119,
issue
NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Some students alter their diets in preparation for study abroad experiences. PA G E 2
UT needs to create easier ways for students to connect with advisers. PA G E 4
UT student speaks at Chicago consortium about disability studies and literature. PA G E 8
Following knee surgeries, Reagan Hathaway finds success in comeback season. PA G E 6
STUDY
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WEST CAMPUS
Project MALES encourages Latinos to pursue higher education
Barber shop stands test of time Wooten Barber Shop enters 55th year in business on The Drag. By Elexa Sherry @ElexaSherry
By Areeba Amer @areeba_amer
Latino males along the border are more likely to attend college post-graduation compared to those living in urban areas, according to the first policy brief by Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success), a UT initiative based within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The study, released in early March 2019, uses data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency and tracked students from eighth grade onward, focusing on Latino and black males. This disparity may be due to the generally higher amount of dual-credit courses along the border region, said Emmet Campos, director of Project MALES. “The border regions have a really strong dual-credit early college high school program and initiatives, and we think it may have something to do with that,” Campos said. Another factor may be that teachers along the border may be more understanding of students’ situations, said Rodrigo Aguayo, program coordinator of Project MALES’ mentoring program. “Many students grew up in the Valley … and then stayed there,” Aguayo said. “So these teachers understand where the students are coming from.” Students may be less likely to pursue higher education in urban areas because they tend to be a minority there, said Israel Vasquez, who is from Dallas and works with Project MALES to mentor Latino children in nearby public schools. “At the border, our culture is … celebrated and is a known part of our lives, whereas in
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andre fernandez | the daily texan staff Jaylen Davis, arts and entertainment technologies junior, receives a haircut from Barber Doug Fransen. The Wooten Barber Shop is the longest running independent business on The Drag, cutting hair since 1964.
he Wooten Barber Shop has been cutting hair by the University for 55 years, making it the longest-running independent business on The Drag. The barbershop has been around since 1964, attracting people from all walks of life from both on and off campus. Current owner James Nelson has been at the barbershop since 1992. In 2000, he became the official owner of the shop and has been running it ever since. “It’s a broad clientele here,” Nelson said. “(Everyone) from administrators to professors and TAs and every level of the University is a potential client for us.” Throughout its 55 years of business, the barbershop’s classic feel has remained, Nelson said. He said despite having been reupholstered, the barber chairs are still the originals from the ‘60s. Nelson said his shop still offers traditional, old-fashioned barbershop services using the same type of tools from when they opened. Barber Doug Fransen said he works with many students, such as those who come in looking for professional haircuts. He said he wants the barbershop to be a place for people to escape their everyday stresses. “A part of their home is when they walk in here,” Fransen said. “They can put the stresses of school, their home life and their jobs aside for 25 minutes.” Nelson said he tries to balance paying the high cost of rent on The Drag and making sure haircuts are affordable for students. Biochemistry junior Michael Anderson, who has been coming to the barbershop to get his hair cut since freshman year, said the barbershop’s coupons contribute to the affordability of his haircuts. “I know a lot of students who pay a lot more for haircuts,” Anderson said. “Occasionally (the Wooten) still (gives) coupons for three or four dollars off your next haircut, which gets people to keep coming back.” In March, The Daily Texan reported that American Campus was planning a new student housing community to replace the Goodall Wooten building that houses the barbershop. Nelson said he’s had open conversations with the company about the construction and about expanding the shop. Nelson said he projects the barbershop will be around for years to come. “I call it ‘Wooten forever,’” Nelson said. “I don’t have an expiration date stamped on me.”
CAMPUS
STATE
UT Police Department puts its foot down on non-criminal disturbances
Senate passes sexual assault reporting bill By Chad Lyle @lylechad
By Hayden Baggett @hansfirm
One UT student is no longer allowed to step foot in the Perry-Castañeda Library after UT police say he repeatedly attempted to “take photos of, smell and touch” other students’ feet. According to a Campus Watch update from March 24, the UT Police Department banned the student from the PCL after receiving multiple reports about the disturbance. UTPD then issued a criminal trespass warning and consulted with the Office of the Dean of Students to determine disciplinary action. “It is not illegal to repeatedly ask people to do strange things,” UTPD Officer Dustin Farahnak said in the update. “However, due to the number of calls to police this behavior had generated, it seemed very disruptive to the purpose of the library and to the goal of making our community feel safe.” Farahnak said non-criminal matters that rise to the attention of UTPD are rare, but the department has procedures in place to resolve these issues. “First, we need to identify the relevant parties and get everyone’s side of the story to understand what’s actually happening,” Farahnak said. “Second, we need to make
alekka hernandez
sure that the parts of our community affected by these situations are empowered and educated so they feel safer and are safer.” Farahnak said UTPD then hands the issue over to department leadership or the Office of the Dean of Students, both of which help enforce campus standards and rules. “(The Office of the Dean of
Students is) a great avenue to the Counseling and Mental Health Center, Title IX and their Student Emergency Services office,” Farahnak said. “If the situation is more complicated, I just stop by the Student Services Building and they are always happy to sit down with me to discuss a situation and how we can work together.”
| the daily texan staff
Sara Kennedy, communications director for the Office of the Dean of Students, said UTPD is “an invaluable partner” in the process of investigating student conduct. According to the Office of the Dean of Students, when the office receives a referral regarding an alleged violation,
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The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill last week requiring employees at universities to report cases of sexual assault or harassment if they witness the incident or learn about it afterward. Under Senate Bill 212, authored by state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, university employees who do not report incidents of sexual assault or harassment they are aware of will be fired and charged with a Class B misdemeanor. The offense would be upgraded to a Class A misdemeanor — which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000 — if the employee sought to cover up the incident. “By compelling both public and private Texas colleges and universities to account for incidents of sexual violence on their campuses, Texans can finally understand the pervasive nature of these horrible crimes,” Huffman said in a statement. “The days when an outcry went unheard, unreported or covered up are over in the state of Texas.” The bill makes an exception for university employees who are students and employees who are expected to maintain confidentiality with students, such as mental health staff.
Rylee Trotter, president of UT’s chapter of Not On My Campus, an organization dedicated to preventing sexual assault and harassment on campus, said she had a positive impression of the bill but would like to see additions made to it. Management information systems junior Trotter said she spoke on her own behalf and not her organization’s. “I would like to see an amendment specifying the need for confidential advocates and resources in addition to mandatory reporters,” Trotter said in an email. “I believe survivors deserve both options: To not report, if desired, or to report and ensure that their incident is taken seriously and handled well.” Ashka Dighe, communications manager for UT’s chapter of It’s On Us, another sexual assault prevention organization, said she is a supporter of Huffman’s bill. Dighe, a Plan II and neuroscience sophomore, said she also wants to protect survivors who don’t want their incident reported, but said she was encouraged by other aspects of the bill. (Dighe is a former opinion columnist for The Daily Texan.) “One of the really good parts of this bill is that it has very clearly defined what sexual assault is and what sexual harassment is,” Dighe said.
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