The Daily Texan 2019-04-24 by The Daily Texan

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

volume

119,

issue

NEWS

OPINION

LIFE&ARTS

SPORTS

Student Government passes resolution supporting apology to former regent. PA G E 2

Plan II directors need to foster the community they promised students. PA G E 4

Students change course catalogs to suit academic needs. PA G E 8

After offensive surge, Texas surrenders ninth-inning lead to Texas State. PA G E 6

STATE

143

CAMPUS

UT to revitalize East Mall

MJ Hegar announces 2020 run against Sen. John Cornyn By Chase Karacostas @chasekaracostas

MJ Hegar, the Air Force veteran who narrowly lost a Congressional race in Round Rock last year, announced Tuesday she would challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in 2020. A previously unknown candidate, Hegar drew attention from national Democrats after her viral campaign video describing her time as a pilot in Afghanistan and her later battle against the Pentagon’s ban on women from serving ground combat positions. Hegar lost her 2018 midterm race by less than three points to Republican Congressman John Carter. “I didn’t win (my last) election, but we won something much bigger,” Hegar said in a three-minute ad on Twitter. “We didn’t just close the gap in my district by almost 20 points — we helped change the status quo.” Despite Hegar’s November loss, Josh Blank, the manager of polling and research at the Texas Politics Project, said Hegar will still be a strong candidate, because she already has some name recognition and a fundraising and campaign base. “The reality is that the Democrats don’t win a lot of offices,” Blank said. “The bigger problem the Democrats have faced in previous election cycles is they’ve had candidates run races, lose and then not run again … Running for an office again, any office, is a benefit to Democrats.” Last month, a member of fourterm Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro’s campaign team said he is “seriously considering” a run against Cornyn, and Castro himself said last week that he would make a decision soon. “She brings a ton of great qualities to the race and will provide a unique perspective that all of us ought to take seriously — especially Washington John Cornyn,” Castro political adviser Matthew Jones said in a statement

HEGAR

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hannah simon | the daily texan staff Nicholas Strain with UT Landscape Services searched for the source of an irrigation leak at the ongoing East Mall lawn renovation on Tuesday morning. It is likely that the machinery used in the renovation caused the pipe leak.

UT Landscape Services manages erosion, drainage along East Mall. By Nicole Stuessy @nicolestuessy

eavy rainfall, low sunlight and high traffic have been consistent factors limiting grass growth on East Mall for the past few years. Last weekend, UT Landscape Services installed new grass and crushed stone along sections of the mall to widen the walkways and allow student tabling without further damaging the lawn, landscape supervisor Mike Klemmer said. “We also built it the way it is now, with the gravel around the edges, to slow down the water that washes across there and help keep all the soil in place,”

Klemmer said. “We still want to make it usable for people who need to use it.” Landscape Services manager Jim Carse said in previous years, they have replaced the entire East Mall lawn because of how worn down it gets. “We’re just not going to go down that road, or at least not to that extent, because not only is it unsustainable, but it would be cost prohibitive,” Carse said. “So, what we’ve done is a temporary solution.” With the crushed stone, Landscape Services hopes to limit erosion and alleviate the lack of drainage in the area, Carse said. “That site has only two storm drains that are really close to it, and then when you get a big rain, only a little bit of that water can reach those drains,” Carse said. “What that stone does is it helps filter and slow down the rain and storm water in that area.” Because of similar issues, Landscape Services began blocking off the South Mall lawn from foot traffic six years ago and redistributed events held on the lawn to other areas of campus, such as Speedway Mall and the LBJ Lawn, to preserve the grass. However, because

the space on East Mall is still widely used, Carse said they will work to make it accessible to students. “With East Mall, I think it’ll be event-driven,” Carse said. “I think there’ll be times when we will block off those grass areas, but now it’s a much lower amount of grass, and it’s more maintainable.” Psychology freshman Raven Botello said she appreciates that students are still able to use some of the space on East Mall while they work to fix the lawn. “It’s nice students can still use the space to set up booths instead of them blocking the entire lawn,” Botello said. “Last semester, I was walking near East Mall when it was raining a lot, and it was just flat out mud, so I think adding the grass and rocks looks much better.” Going forward, Carse said Landscape Services is looking for a longterm solution to redesign the mall for student use that takes into account environmental factors. “Whatever (the solution) is, it needs to be functional for a huge amount of stakeholders,” Carse said. “We have to rethink that area but also keep in mind that it’s an iconic, historic space.”

CAMPUS

Texas Hillel, Palestine Solidarity Committee clash at Israel block party By Laura Morales @lamor_1217

As Jewish student leaders played music, sold food and brought camels to showcase Israeli culture Tuesday, Palestinian counter-protesters marched up and down Speedway chanting and waving signs. The annual Israel Block Party is a student-led event sponsored by Texas Hillel, a Jewish community organization for students. The Palestine Solidarity Committee, a Palestinian activist group, protested what they say is Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory throughout the event. Ethan Robinson, cochair of the event and supply chain management junior, said the event is important in changing perceptions of Israel, given the ongoing violence in the country. “I think that Israel is a very misunderstood country,” Robinson said. “People hear things in the news that are very negative coverage, and a lot of students in Texas are actually very passionate and care a lot about what Israel has to offer … and seeing so many people engaged in Israeli activities, it brings that to light.” International business junior Shira Hovav said she grew up traveling back and

evan l’roy | the daily texan staff Attendees pick out fruits at a food stand set up at Tuesday’s annual Israel Block Party held at Gregory Gym Plaza. The student-led event aimed to educate students of Israeli culture and to change public views of the country.

forth from the U.S. and Israel to visit her family and is glad to see her culture represented on campus. “Especially for the Jewish community, it’s important for us to share our culture and country with the community so they can understand our food, our music and the innovation that we have to offer,” Hovav said. “I personally have very strong connections with the land. When I am there, I feel most at home.” The PSC marched down Speedway in front of the event

with chants such as “Up with liberation, down with occupation;” “Occupation, endless war. We know what your party is for;” and “Free Palestine.” PSC’s protests focused on the larger abuses of Palestinian people by the Israeli government, according to fliers the group passed out. Rami Shaibani, a PSC member and health and society junior, said he is not Palestinian but believes Israeli aggression and occupation has stretched beyond its borders into his home country of Syria.

He said he believes the Israel Block Party appropriates Palestine culture and erases the conflict. “Unless we come out here to speak out, people are going to see this party, they are trying to have all this extravagance in order to distract you from what is really going on,” Shaibani said. “What you see is what you know, so having some sort of media bias or only hearing one side, you don’t have the necessary information to formulate a proper opinion.”

Registered bike riders outnumber parking spaces

often full for the whole day. “I personally have huge issues with this at my dorm … since people just leave their bikes,” An additional 1,700 bike parkWang said. “But honestly, it’s a ing spaces have been added over problem all over campus for me the last six years to accommodate at least.” for the high number of campus More distant buildings, such bikers, according to the most reas those within the engineering cent Parking and Transportation school, also tend to have more Services report. overcrowded bike However, sturacks. This causes dents say the Unistudents to strugversity still needs gle to find availmore parking able spots before availability due There should be a class starts. to continuously “If the one nearovercrowded bike record to under- est to the building racks. There were stand which ar- is full, it’s often difabout 7,000 spacficult to find a neares for the 9,200 eas have the most by rack that doesn’t registered bikers in bike traffic and require stairs,” civil 2017, according to engineering senior the highest need James Lentz said. the report. “Parking is not for bike racks.” “The rack that provided at a ratio happens to me the of one-to-one,” PTS most on is the one associate direcon Dean Keeton H AY L E Y B I S H O P tor Blanca Gamez under the pedesCHEMICAL ENGINEERING said. “Traffic untrian bridge by the SENIOR dergoes continuous Civil Engineering changes through Building.” the day on campus whether you Chemical engineering senior are driving a vehicle or riding Hayley Bishop said PTS should a bike.” keep better track of what areas of While PTS has been provid- the campus need more bike racks. ing more spaces, they stopped “There has not been enough three years ago when there surveillance of which bike racks were enough racks to accommoare useful and where the racks date for more than 70% of the get overcrowded,” Bishop said. registered bikers. “There should be a record to unPublic health freshman Eric derstand which areas have the Wang said this is not enough, most bike traffic and the highest especially when bike racks at Carothers Residence Hall are B I K E page 2

By Bonny Chu @bbbonny_

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

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SG supports apology to regent Wallace Hall

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mckenzie bentley | the daily texan staff The resolution that supports an apology to Wallace Hall presented by Student Government representatives Connor Ellington (left), Jordan Clements, Lillian Bonin and Jordan Cope (right) passes on Tuesday night. There was an attempt to impeach Hall in 2014 after he investigated UT’s admission procedures.

ISSUE STAFF Columnists Isabella Waltz, Julia Zaks Comic Artists Doris Tang, Dan Martinez, Annette Hui, Adria Tuyman, Elaine McMurry Copy Editors Ryen Holda, Sruthi Rudravajjala, Lauren Girgis Designers Benjamin Tan, Isa Kauffman Illustrators Steph Sonik, Barbra Daly

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Liza Anderson (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com

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Student Government passed an assembly resolution Tuesday night supporting an apology to Wallace Hall, a former UT System regent, and an assembly bill permanently establishing the Gender Inclusivity Coalition in the Code of Rules and Procedures. The assembly resolution, proposed April 9, encourages SG to apologize to Hall, who investigated UT’s admissions procedures and served on the UT System Board of Regents from 2011 to 2017. Hall was censured for his actions, and there was an attempt to impeach him from his office,

said Connor Ellington, atlarge graduate representative and law student. Resolution co-author Lillian Bonin said she received questions about why the legislation is pertinent to SG and how the SG assembly at the time of the controversy around Hall responded. “The Student Government at the time actually did a precedent-setting action where they had a vote of no confidence for this regent, something that had never been done before in Student Government’s history, and I don’t believe has been done since then,” government junior Bonin said. Ellington said this past action means “there is a bit

of a moral obligation on this institution to right … that wrong.” The student affairs committee changed any mention of former President Bill Powers in the assembly resolution to “the former University administration.” “About a week before we heard the legislation, we had … the memorial of President Powers, and we thought it was in bad taste to sort of criticize his presidency just as he was passing and just as we were essentially remembering him,” said Vanessa Cruz, student affairs committee chair. “We felt that the legislation singled him out when it wasn’t just him, and we thought it was a broader problem that

needed to be addressed within the legislation.” Additionally, the bill officially instituting the Gender Inclusivity Coalition, which has been meeting since October, calls upon the Queer and Trans Student Alliance to oversee the group’s efforts. “You already have the Queer (and) Trans Student Alliance as one of your agencies, and we are simply redefining or kind of giving that agency a new task,” said Ben Solder, assembly bill co-author and neuroscience senior. “You all have the ability to define what agencies Student Government has and what they do … and so we are clarifying, then, what that agency specifically is responsible for.”

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jorge corona | the daily texan file MJ Hegar announces her plan to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the 2020 election. The candidate compares her Texan values to Cornyn’s “weakness, partisanship” and ”gridlock.”

hegar

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Tuesday morning. Toward the end of Tuesday’s video, Hegar directly referenced Cornyn, calling him the “tall guy” behind Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in every press conference. “He calls himself Big John, but he shrinks out of the way while Mitch McConnell gets in the way of anything actually getting done in our government,” Hegar said. “Weakness,

partisanship, gridlock — those are not Texas values, John. But maybe you’ve been in Washington so long that you’ve forgotten that.” Cornyn has been in the Senate since 2002 and is the second-highest ranking Republican in the chamber. Republicans were quick to release statements knocking Hegar. “New York liberal Chuck Schumer found his chosen candidate in MJ Hegar,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Jesse Hunt said in a statement.

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anthony mireles | the daily texan file Civil engineering sophomore Joe Jancaus attempts to lock his bike near the Gregory Gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon. 9,200 registered bicycles have to compete for the 7,000 bike parking spaces available around campus.

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need for bike racks.” It is not uncommon for PTS to hear from students and building managers with requests for additional racks in certain areas of campus, Gamez said. “PTS monitors rack

capacity and also engages the campus community to provide feedback, including recommendations for bike rack replacements,” Gamez said. “(Locations where the bike rack should be placed) are determined based on need, available real estate and permission to place racks.”

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CAMPUS

Student activists face harassment By Libby Cohen @libbycohen211

UT student activists supporting gun violence prevention have experienced frequent verbal and online harassment from the progun community over the past couple years. House Bill 357, which would allow Texans to openly carry a handgun without a permit, was withdrawn April 5 after a pro-gun activist visited the homes of lawmakers, such as House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton. While these events garner consistent coverage from media outlets, harassment of student activists occurs as well. Ana Lopez, who helped initiate the Cocks Not Glocks protest in 2016 against concealed handgun carry on campus, experienced harassment after the event. “The Speaker of the House, who is such a high-profile politician, is leaning moderate and received threats from gun rights advocacy groups,” said Lopez, Plan II and health and society senior. “I guess he understands now what activists go through every day.” In 2016, gun rights advocate Brett Sanders posted a video on Youtube depicting Lopez fatally shot with a firearm. While this was the most public threat towards Lopez, she said online

chloe bertrand | the daily texan staff Selina Eshraghi teaches college students how to lobby effectively. Last year, she noticed a lack of a collegiate voice in the March for Our Lives movement and decided to recruit more students to call for change.

harassment typically follows after she speaks to the press. “These are the responsible gun owners that should be trusted with a firearm, but instead, they

are harassing a 20-year-old on the Internet,” Lopez said. March for Our Lives Austin activists also experienced harassment when testifying at

the Capitol on June 25 for redflag laws, which would allow people to petition for the removal of gun owners’ permits. Government freshman Kelly

Choi said Santa Fe High School survivors were present among pro-gun rights activists carrying their weapons. “They were following us

around, filming us and yelling at us,” Choi said. “Eventually, we had to be escorted out by Capitol police.” State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, was the chairman of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Moody said he remembered the students’ intimidation and harassment. “I think it was the most disturbing and disrespectful thing I have ever seen in a committee hearing,” Moody said. “Don’t let this kind of behavior silence your voice. Your voice is critical to this process, and you are a necessary part of where we need to be going as a state.” Selina Eshraghi, chemical engineering and radio-television-film sophomore, said she was also present at the testimony for March for Our Lives and has also been a victim of online threats. “They say, ‘Watch me come kill you or rape you, and you can’t defend yourself because you don’t have a firearm,’” Eshraghi said. Eshraghi has continued lobbying at the Capitol throughout this legislative session. “Nobody wants people to die. We just see very different ways of achieving that goal,” Eshraghi said. “I think when we start seeing that of each other, our first reaction wouldn’t be, ‘Let me start threatening this person and call them names.’”

CAMPUS

UT Law helps clear student records

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hannah simon | the daily texan staff Laura Mahler, a third-year law student, led the Mithoff Pro Bono Program’s Expunction Project on Tuesday evening. The Expunction Project aims to alleviate students with a minor charge related to alcohol under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code.

By Laura Doan @ledoan17

For three hours on Tuesday night, student volunteers from UT’s School of Law offered free legal service to students looking to expunge records of alcohol-related offenses. The Expunction Project, administered by the Mithoff Pro Bono Program, invited students charged with one offense — like possession or consumption of alcohol as a minor or the use of a fake ID — under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code. Law students, supervised by practicing attorneys, advised the students and prepared court petitions to begin their expunction process. Meg Clifford, staff attorney for the Mithoff Pro Bono Program, said the program has hosted expunction clinics since 2014, but the clinic on Tuesday was the first to focus solely on TABC violations. Laura Mahler, lead organizer of the TABC Expunction Clinic, said she advocated for the specialized clinic because she saw a number of students requesting aid. “We know that a criminal record can be an obstacle for students when applying for housing, jobs and state licensure, and we hope that we will be able to continue to offer this opportunity to ensure students do not have to worry about a ticket when planning for life after graduation,”

said Mahler, a third-year law student. Mahler said the TABC Clinic was a smaller pilot event, but she intends to offer larger clinics in the future. According to previous Daily Texan reporting, the TABC began stepping up its inspections of fake IDs around West Campus in September 2018. Some students fail to recognize that their TABC citations stay on their record unless they get them expunged. The point of the event was to inform and serve them, Clifford said. “Lots of times, people are told that when their case has been dismissed it ‘goes away,’as in it no longer appears on your records,” Clifford said. “Well, that’s not entirely accurate.” Clifford said students unable to make the event on Tuesday who want to expunge TABC offenses related to underage drinking should register for a future TABC expunction clinic online. Those with alcohol-related offenses, such as public intoxication and DWIs, that did not fall under the scope of Tuesday’s clinic can return to the broader expunction clinic in the fall. Patrick Marcus, a second-year law student who volunteered Tuesday night, began working at expunction clinics for the hands-on experience. “It’s an absolute privilege to have the skills and access to the resources and knowledge to be able to provide this service, and there’s a definite need for it,” Marcus said. “It’s a pretty vital program.”

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

COLUMN

UT should use Smokey the Cannon to highlight student success alexandra vanderhider | the daily texan staff

By Isabella Waltz Columnist

In 1995, the Texas Cowboys were banned from campus for five years after the death of pledge Gabe Higgins. Following this suspension, the Cowboys passed their tradition of firing “Smokey the Cannon” at home games along to the Texas Silver Spurs. After another hazing investigation last year, the Cowboys are facing suspension once again. In the event they are banned, UT should consider passing the Smokey tradition on to a broader group of students. The Silver Spurs are an honorary service organization, but like the Cowboys, they are a men’s group. While groups like the Silver Spurs deserve recognition, UT could make the Smokey tradition more inclusive by featuring different groups at each game. If UT based its decision on student nominations, women’s groups and organizations that include all genders would have a chance to share their accomplishments in front of massive crowds. Longhorn fans feel a strong emotional attachment to Smokey, which gives students behind the cannon a great deal of visibility. “Smokey the Cannon is a very integral part of

the game day experience,” said Brian Davis, an Austin American-Statesman staff writer. “When you’re talking about firing that thing at touchdowns and at the final score, that’s a big part of what everyone thinks of when they think of game day.” Davis recently tweeted in support of replacing the Cowboys with a women’s group. Other Twitter users fiercely backed this idea, suggesting honorary groups such as the Orange Jackets. Members of the Texas Orange Jackets, a women’s service group, believe increasing representation of women on the field is an important cause. “I have never been in an organization with as much passion for serving others as Orange Jackets,” said biology senior Isabella Stork. In the past month alone, members have won prestigious scholarships, landed groundbreaking record deals and given TED talks. With such an impressive record of accomplishments, it seems obvious to give groups such as the Orange Jackets a fair shot at taking part in this beloved tradition. Davis referenced the Seattle Seahawks’ 12th man tradition. Each game, a different person waves a flag to the crowd. “Why can’t Texas have McConaughey, ROTC people, people who have overcome a lot of tough things in their life — why can’t those people fire

it off?” Davis said. “Then you show them on the jumbotron, and everyone gets excited.” In this new system, students could nominate groups they felt deserved recognition to fire the cannon at a single game. Smokey is featured in all six home games plus OU, which would allow seven different groups to celebrate their achievements each season. Since football games have such a large audience, groups whose hard work often goes unnoticed would have a chance to garner student appreciation. By using Smokey to honor student achievements, UT would encourage student involvement in the game day experience. Getting students to come out and celebrate their accomplishments could combat declining attendance at football games. While not all students are interested in football, they would be more likely to attend a game if they could use it as an opportunity to showcase their hard work. While Smokey’s future is up in the air, UT should consider passing the tradition on to a wider group of students. This beloved component of game day would be the perfect time to honor the hard work of the many ambitious student groups on campus. Waltz is a radio-television-film senior from Dripping Springs.

GALLERY

COLUMN

Plan II’s promised community fails this year’s freshman class By Julia Zaksek Columnist

yulissa chavez

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.

| the daily texan staff

The professors aren’t that great. There are no socials or parties. Pick a different program. Go to another school. It’s lonely. It’s cliquey. The community isn’t real. Every year, the Plan II honors program holds a freshman forum to discuss classes and students’ first year in Plan II. The advisers asked us to type one thing we would’ve told ourselves as high school seniors before joining UT’s program. As anonymous answers appeared on the board, Plan II students expressed disappointment with what they believed was a lack of social community. Plan II program directors need to take an active role in creating and facilitating events that foster the community students were promised. Many first-year students can feel overwhelmed entering a university as large as UT. Plan II’s promise of a tight-knit, small group of students that hold frequent socials, have unique student organizations and go on engaging retreats draws students to the program. However, according to this year’s freshman forum, many Plan II students felt the community failed to provide the small college feel it promised. “I went to a really small high school, a graduating class of 16, so I was a little intimidated by UT as a whole,” said Nathan Fredericks, a Plan II and biology freshman. “I saw Plan II as a potential familiar face in the vast expanse of UT.” Fredericks said while he was initially optimistic about the social life the program offered in the first few weeks of classes, he didn’t find what he expected. Beyond a few friendships

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formed at the one lackluster social Plan II held, he felt somewhat distanced from the program as a whole. Plan II promises what would be difficult for many first-year students not to want — a home on campus. First-year college students report high rates of depression and feelings of loneliness due to separation from friends and family, as well as challenges forming new social circles. Forming friendships and a community is key, and programs shouldn’t advertise an opportunity to form these vital connections if they do not adequately follow through. The Plan II class of 2022 has over 200 students, the largest class ever. Now more than ever, Plan II needs to increase its efforts to build community. While one of Plan II’s other claimed benefits is an academically diverse group of students, that variety — in major and background — is alienating without a connected community. “Instead of being that complete community experience like a (small knit family), it feels more like a huge, extended family,” Fredericks said. “There’s a lot of people that you just kind of know, that you don’t really interact with.” Plan II directors need to foster the community they promised students. The program should hold the socials and retreats they advertised and encourage involvement in Plan II organizations and activities. Students deserve opportunities to create the small college experience they were promised. Plan II director Alexandra Wettlaufer declined to comment on this column. Zaksek is a Plan II and women’s and gender studies freshman from Allen.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

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CITY

Austin nonprofits, student volunteers collaborate to help refugee community with jobs, resources

“Endgame” also provides a unique superhero ensemble adventure. Within the first 30 minutes of the film, it becomes clear that it will not be following the expected path. The plot makes sure to use its iconic characters, locations and events to its advantage. Characters travel to all areas of Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing back fan-favorite locations and sequences. The battle scenes are tightly edited and framed, making sure to retain focus on the actual characters and not just the explosions. Despite its nearly three-hour runtime, the film never seems to lose itself and keeps the viewer engaged. Despite the barrage of out-ofthis-world special effects, the film still manages to provide shockingly humane scenes with its super-charged character roster. Characters grieve and try to move on from the devastating events of the Infinity War. They act like humans, despite their supernatural powers, and it enables the audience to resonate more with a fictional superhero world. One scene in particular involves Johansson’s Black Widow nibbling on a peanut butter sandwich while fighting back tears. It certainly doesn’t get more human than that. While the film is generally an awesome experience, it certainly is not perfect. It falls into the same clichés and weaknesses many modern superhero films often do. Characters magically “figure out” how to invent ridiculous machinery, conveniently survive highly dangerous experiments and often get a bit mudBy Molly Bolf dled in the “rules” of its world. @mollybolf5 But like every film set in a fictional world, suspension of disbelief is necessary. Austin accepted roughly Another weakness of the film 1,000 refugees in 2016 — the is that, despite its unique and majority of which come from surprising first half, it starts to the Democratic Republic of become a bit predictable toward Congo, Burma, Bhutan, Iraq the end of its three-hour run. and Afghanistan. Unlike “Infinity War,” which Texas’ unique geographic marveled in its ability to shatter location and high influx of expectations, “Endgame” starts refugees and asylum-seekto become a bit conventional in ers means major cities of the way it handles its major resothe state play a critical role lution. Regardless, there are still in the integration of these some impactful surprises to spice newcomers, said Nelson up the generics. Dragsbaek, international Texas Student Media will keep you connected Overall, “Avengers: Endgame” relations senior and presdaily links to the sports and culture iswith the satisfying conclusion Mar-news,ident of UT’s Liberal Arts vel fans have been waiting for. the UT stories shaping community. Refugee Alliance. MPAA Rating: PG-13 “As residents of Austin, UT Rating: 4.3 Dust Particles students have the opportunity out of 5 to make a huge difference in

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the lives of refugees here,” Dragsbaek said. “We work for advocacy and education about the refugee and asylum community in Austin and connect students with volunteer opportunities.” The Multicultural Refugee Coalition, an Austin nonprofit, is one of the organizations LARA members volunteer with. MRC works to ease the burden of resettlement by providing dignified, fairly paid and safe jobs for refugees at their local enterprises. MRC’s chief operating officer, Jessica Mann, said the three enterprises are a sustainable farm, environmentally conscious textile manufacturer and an interpretive services center. “All of our industries

match with things that Austin is trying to revitalize — programs for increasing slow fashion, slow food (like local food production) and increasing the language access options,” Mann said. “Those areas match up with both community needs and the unique skills that refugees come with.” Several other organizations in Austin offer resources to both refugees and asylum-seekers for the resettlement process. LARA also works with Casa Marianella, a nonprofit that provides shelter, food, clothes and legal resources to displaced immigrants. International relations sophomore Samuel Gillette said working with the

refugees and asylum-seekers at Casa Marianella and MRC has been especially fulfilling on a personal level. Gillette, who is learning Arabic and Spanish, said he enjoys being able to practice his language skills while also conversing with others. “It was a really unique and special opportunity to talk to the children (at Casa Marianella) in their native language and listen to their stories and experiences,” Gillette said. Dragsbaek said students in Austin are uniquely positioned to have a tangible impact on the lives of refugees and asylum-seekers. “Students have so many opportunities to directly help out the local immigrant

| the daily texan staff

community — organizations like MRC and Casa Marianella are right here, the Capitol is right here,” Dragsbaek said. Dragsbaek said volunteering locally, showing up at the polls and writing local congressmen are all things Austin residents can do to make a concrete difference. In the meantime, MRC continues to provide active opportunities for both refugees and volunteers. “Last year, we started the farm and this year, we’re looking at a business model where we dispatch interpreters from our language services enterprise,” Mann said. “Our goal is to create livelihood opportunities for more refugees in Austin as much as possible.”

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

BASEBALL

Ninth-inning nightmare

Texas unable to hang on to late lead as Bobcats walkoff in San Marcos. By Daniela Perez @danielap3rez

fter five straight innings with little motion on the basepaths, the Longhorns hit their stride in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game against Texas State. But the Bobcats weren’t willing to lay down. With a double in the final frame, Texas State secured its second straight walk-off win, and Texas is once again returning to Austin with more questions than answers. “I mean, we did a lot of good things tonight. We didn’t do everything perfectly, but at the same time, you know we were in a position to win the game, and we just didn’t finish it,” Texas head coach David Pierce said in a postgame interview with Texas Sports. “So, you know we have to deal through adversity, and that’s what it’s about right now, and we got to be able to pick up our team tomorrow and point out the things we did well and understand it and move on.” With Tuesday’s 7-6 loss, Texas has now lost four straight games after being swept by Oklahoma State last weekend. Though the Longhorns had moments of defensive and offensive brilliance throughout the night, the same mistakes they have

pedro luna | the daily texan file Third baseman Ryan Reynolds drops his bat and moves toward first base during Texas’ 7-2 win over Lamar on April 16, 2019, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

dealt with in the past crippled them. The Longhorns and Bobcats struck early in the first, both tallying one run each. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Texas State was on the board again with back-to-back home runs. Texas responded with a scoring barrage in the top of the seventh that began with walks by outfielders Duke Ellis and Eric Kennedy. Fellow outfielder Austin Todd followed suit and reached base on a fielder’s choice, cutting the deficit to one run after Ellis scored. Then, third baseman Ryan Reynolds hit a grand slam down the right-field line, bringing home designated hitter Zach Zubia,

and giving the Longhorns a 6-3 lead. “We put some at-bats together to create a situation for Ryan to hit the grand slam,” Pierce said. “We just gotta understand it, and you know, just take a look at ourselves and ask, ‘Did we do our job tonight?’ And if you feel good about that, then we got a problem there.” Yet, this comeback could not stop the Bobcats’ late surge in the bottom of the ninth. With one out on the count, Texas State began with a double down the right field line and then a home run that weakened Texas’ lead to one run. After one more hit by a Bobcat batter, Pierce pulled pitcher Cole Quintanilla and placed

Tristan Stevens on the mound. This would prove useless, as the Bobcats tallied two more hits and two more runs, giving them the walk-off win. Now, with the Longhorns (24–19) going into conference play against No. 17 West Virginia, Pierce said he is looking to evaluate attitude and skills in order to improve his team. “It starts with attitude, and if the attitude is right and your effort is right and the intent is right, then you build off of that,” Pierce said. “And then you look at, is it skill? And if it’s skill related, then we got to make an adjustment in preparation and so, it’s a process, so we continue the process.”

SOFTBALL

Texas’ confidence not wavering despite Sooners’ weekend sweep By Marcus Krum @marcuskrum

In the wake of defeat, optimism is abound with Texas Softball. Coming off the toughest weekend series of the season, there is still no shortage of positivity surrounding the team. No, the Longhorns were not able to steal a game from Oklahoma, the nation’s No. 1 team. But the high hopes that Texas has played with this whole season have not been dashed. The three losses to the Sooners just displayed what it takes to make that next step as a program. “There’s a lot to learn from playing against Oklahoma,” Texas head coach Mike White said after Saturday’s loss. “They do a lot of things right. They were better in all areas of the game than us, except for maybe pitching. … We’ve got to look at what they did and try and get to that level.” Last weekend, “that level” consisted of solid hitting throughout the Sooner lineup,

defensive prowess that led to multiple SportsCenter Top10

We’ve got a lot to play for right now, as far as home field advantage, trying to get that regional, hopefully a super regional if we can.”

MIKE WHITE HEAD COACH

plays and a stifling pitching staff. Like White said, Oklahoma was simply the more talented team. And despite the completion of

the sweep, the Longhorns came away from the weekend with no doubts about their ability to fight in the future. “We learned that we’re resilient,” outfielder Kaitlyn Washington said after Saturday’s loss. “We never stopped trying to win the games. We bounced back and kept trying to fight to win.” Up next, the Longhorns take on Prairie View A&M (17–9) at home. While the Panthers don’t look to pose a major threat to this Texas squad, recent history has shown no team can be overlooked. Last week’s midweek game against a mid-major team came with a scare. Texas fell down early to UTA and struggled to put runners on base. Eventually, the Longhorns needed a late comeback in order to steal a 4-3 win in Arlington, in what White described as a “trap game.” With just under three weeks remaining until the Big 12 Championship, it’s a push to the finish for White and the Longhorns. Two weekend conference series remain, at Kansas and at

joshua guenther | the daily texan file Left fielder Kaitlyn Washington fields a ball during the Longhorns’ 4-3 loss against Oklahoma on April 19, 2019, at Red & Charline McCombs Field.

home against Baylor. After the losses, Texas will need to use these games to get right back on track.

“We’ve got a lot to play for right now, as far as home field advantage, trying to get that regional, hopefully a super

regional if we can,” White said. “Nothing’s out of reach right now. We’ve just got to keep playing harder.”

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 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 Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Crossword ACROSS

28 Firefighter tool

29 Limit 31 Part of a Swiss roll? 33 Ambulance 5 Like oldfigure, for short fashioned diapers 10 “Selma” director 34 Green stone 35 Rain heavily DuVernay 36 Sexy detective 13 ✮✮✮✮ review 38 Bay ___ 14 “Tiny Bubbles” 39 Force on the crooner ground 15 Onetime ruler in the Winter Palace 40 Abbr. in a criminal profile 16 Insomniac’s 41 Like the posts at complaint the top of a blog, typically 19 Japanese lunch 43 Growling dog box 20 Root beer brand 44 Showy neckwear 45 Fifth book of the 21 Half-___ (coffee New Testament option) 46 Works like an 22 Alternative to anti-aging serum Tide or Cheer 49 West Coaster’s 23 Leaving dirty summer hrs. dishes on the 52 Fed-up feeling counter, say 53 Certain library 27 ___ cava loan 1 What you might do if you skip a step

SUDOKUFORYOU 2 6 8 5 3 1

4 2 8

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

Today’s solution will appear here next issue

4 6 2 3 1 5 9 7 8

3 7 5 6 8 9 4 1 2

9 1 8 4 7 2 6 5 3

1 8 4 7 6 3 5 2 9

7 5 3 9 2 8 1 4 6

2 9 6 1 5 4 3 8 7

5 4 9 2 3 7 8 6 1

6 3 7 8 4 1 2 9 5

8 2 1 5 9 6 7 3 4

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE C O E D D R I P

R U G S

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S A Y S W J K H E N O D O I X I N P R S I O T V W A O E T T R E

L O O M H E D R A A S A B C T S A H A M W A L E D T A U S F I L M N E B O E R O B T U N T P E E L V E X Y H E A R S S S A

U S M R A E I F L O N A T

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

R O F L

D A U B O R E S

54 Lessen, as fears 56 Liquid evidenced by the answers to this puzzle’s italicized clues? 60 Tiny bit 61 Off the table? 62 Part of N.B. 63 First word of many California city names 64 “___ Anatomy” 65 General ___ chicken DOWN 1 Group making a reservation? 2 Go-kart, e.g. 3 Ex of the Donald 4 Confined, with “up” 5 Contents of jewel cases, for short 6 Nabokov novel 7 Last year before A.D. 8 1931 boxing movie for which Wallace Beery won a Best Actor Oscar 9 “___ on it!” 10 “Yeah, whatever” 11 & 12 Actress Joan whose last name consists of two different conveyances 15 Contraction that starts “Jabberwocky” 17 Cat or top hat, in Monopoly 18 Oil crisis? 24 Completely jumbled

Edited by Will Shortz 1

27 31

38 41

52 57

44 46

18 20

No. 0320

53 58

PUZZLE BY ERIK AGARD, AMANDA CHUNG AND KARL NI

25 Wiped out 26 Ralph who wrote “Only the SuperRich Can Save Us!” 27 Not stay the same 30 Split tidbit 31 Grounds for discussion? 32 Alliterative ice cream flavor 33 H, as in Athens

34 Highest-grossing film before “Star Wars” 35 ___-12 (N.C.A.A. conference) 37 “As you wish,” to a spouse 42 Allen or Hawke 44 Rush-hour sound 45 Actress Hepburn 47 The Krusty ___ (SpongeBob SquarePants’s workplace) 48 Egg-shaped

49 Bends at a barre 50 “Book ’em, ___!” 51 Rug rats 55 Rainbow flag initialism 56 Letters at a filling station? 57 Org. with ties to Sinn Fein 58 Part for tuning a guitar 59 Connections

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

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

CAMPUS

Students consider catalog switching

Switching to a new catalog offers option of other requirements, better fit for goals. By Denise Emerson @kaonishidenise

egree requirements can feel restricting on students who don’t know better options are only one advising appointment away. Course catalogs define the degree requirements and available courses for every major, and students adhere to the catalog pertaining to the year they entered UT. However, few are aware they can make the switch to newer catalogs, reinvented every two years for incoming classes of students. Changes to course catalogs are implemented to create or modify courses, minors and even new majors, said Mark Bernstein, associate dean for undergraduate education at the Moody College of Communication. Bernstein and his team work with departments to give students more enriched degree plans. “(Two) years ago, we created the communication and leadership degree,” Bernstein said. “Those are catalog changes that are driven in large part by changes in academic fields and in response to students (and) faculty.” Students can upgrade to a catalog that better aligns with their graduation track. One change from the 2016–2018 catalog to the 2018–2020 catalog across Moody is that students have the option to fulfill their language requirement

through proficiency tracks or pairing language and culture courses. This change was beneficial for journalism senior Cathleen Llamas, because she could use a culture course in the journalism department to fulfill a language and upper-division requirement, she said. “I needed 27 hours of upper-division, and I was only going to be able to take 24 (hours) this semester and next semester,” Llamas said. “Now that I (am) able to knock out three hours to six hours in total, I can graduate on time. It would have thrown things off with career moves.” Exercise science sophomore Brittany Ashworth said she switched her catalog because a required physics class was dropped in the recent catalog. “I did not (so) great in physics one, and I took it forever ago,” Ashworth said. “Physics two is just electricity, and it was like, ‘What does that have to do with exercise science?’” Both Ashworth and Llamas said they heard about the catalog changes through peers and didn’t have knowledge about switching catalogs. Llamas said she had difficulty understanding her course catalog and relied on her adviser to tell her what courses she needed to take. “Switching over, I was able to take initiative,” Llamas said, “and I was able to be more proactive about the courses.” Academic advisers go through training for each catalog, Bernstein said, and can easily switch students onto more recent ones. However, students may not switch to older catalogs, he said, since the new catalogs work to improve upon past courses and requirements. “Part of what we do is to make sure all of that is consistent with University policy, and you don’t have one department going in one direction and others going in another,” Bernstein said. “Otherwise, that would all be very confusing for the students.” Although switching course catalogs may have

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benefits, other differences might require students to take other fundamental courses, or previous credits may not remain in effect, Bernstein said. Llamas said she recommends switching catalogs to people that have similar concerns as she had.

| the daily texan staff

“If you want to do it, I would recommend making an appointment (with your adviser) just to make sure it doesn’t screw up your hours that you need before you graduate,” Llamas said. “But otherwise, it was super easy.”

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‘Avengers: Endgame’ offers satisying farewell, nostalgic send-off for characters

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The ensemble cast of “Endgame” brings the fight to Thanos.

By Noah Levine @ZProductionz

“Endgame” wields a powerful gauntlet of nostalgia, heartbreak and resolution. “Avengers: Endgame” is the culmination of over 10 years of Marvel storytelling, starting with 2008’s “Iron Man.” Anthony and Joe Russo take the directorial reigns to conclude the story they set up in last year’s “Infinity War.” The film follows the surviving Avengers as they band together to try and reverse the effects of Thanos’ infamous snap. The film mostly succeeds

in its nostalgic send-off to a 10-year story. “Endgame” has a large ensemble cast, as most Avengers movies do, that works as effectively as it did in the other films. Robert Downey Jr. is confident as Iron Man once again and is efficiently accompanied by Chris Evan’s Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Don Cheadle’s War Machine. Most performances remain consistent with previous films, while Hemsworth’s Thor has a new comedic persona as a deadbeat version of his godly character.

Additions to the main cast include Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. Rudd adds his unique comic flavor to the ensemble, while Larson’s Captain Marvel lacks a notable presence and usually just serves as a deus ex machina. Renner powerfully portrays Hawkeye as a grieving assassin who is hell-bent on avenging the death of his family. Josh Brolin is back as Thanos, and he’s as menacing as ever. While serving as the climax of a decade of storytelling,

ENDGAME

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