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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
NEWS PAGE 11
Cool off with refreshing, icy summer treats
City celebrates its quirks with the Keep Austin Weird Festival
SPORTS PAGE 7
Austin Aztex rookie uses music as a fallback
THE DAILY TEXAN Monday, June 28, 2010
THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY WORLD CUP VS. Netherlands
Slovakia
VS. Brazil
Chile
What’s in a name? An open forum on the renaming of Simkins Hall Dormitory will be held from 12 to 2 p.m. in the San Jacinto Hall multipurpose room.
TUESDAY WORLD CUP VS. Paraguay
Japan
VS. Spain
Portugal
WEDNESDAY There’s a heartbreak beat The Psychedelic Furs and She Wants Revenge play Emo’s at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $35.
THURSDAY First Thursday on SoCo Come celebrate the start of July with First Thursday on South Congress Avenue.
Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900
By Nolan Hicks Daily Texan Staff CORPUS CHRISTI — In an interview Saturday with The Daily Texan, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White said he wasn’t in favor of the current gun ban on college campuses. Instead, he said he favors an approach where each university could establish its own policy regarding firearms on campus. “A blanket ban isn’t appropriate,” White said. “The Legislature should allow individual campuses to make their own decisions.” His position on the issue appears to conflict with the 2010 Texas Democratic Party platform, which calls for “weapons-free institutions of higher learning.” White’s position also flies in the face of resolutions passed by the convention delegates that explicitly back the current ban on all weapons on all public university campuses as well as a resolution that called on the party to support background checks fo r w e a p o n s p u rc has e d at gun shows. “I’m not familiar with the existing law, but I believe we need to balance the rights of students,” he said. The resolutions favoring the campus gun ban and closing what gun-control advocates call the gun-show loophole were championed by John Woods, a UT graduate student. “Bill White looked at me in the eye and told me that he didn’t think that guns belonged on campus,” Woods said, referring to a conversation at the “Netroots ‘N’ Boots Bash” in September. Woods said he thought the White campaign might be misinterpreting a report released after the Virginia Tech massacre that recommended allowing campuses to make their own determination on whether or not guns should
WHITE continues on page 9
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White greets supporters following his speech at the Texas Democratic Convention on Friday in Corpus Christi. One main issue at the convention was reforming the law banning guns on college campuses.
Student organizations discuss concealed carry By Collin Eaton Daily Texan Staff Student Government leaders and members of student groups weighed in Sunday on a comment from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White expressing support for allowing universities to choose whether students should be allowed to bring firearms on campus. White also said he does not support the current statewide campus gun ban. His stance is not in line with the 2010 Texas Democratic Party platform, which advocates “weapons-free institutions of higher learning.” SG Vice President Muneezeh Kabir said her perception of the UT student body is that it is against university-by-university determinations on whether there can be concealed carry on campus. “[The student body feels that] we should
not allow it to be campus-by-campus, especially because when students are lobbying for these kinds of issues, it’s a lot more powerful when we’re able to band together with other campuses,” Kabir said. “I don’t foresee any reason why one campus should be treated any differently than another in terms of a basic safety issue.” In the spring semester, SG passed a resolution in support of closing loopholes in a Texas background-check system required before a person is given a license to carry a weapon. In 2009, both the Senate of College Councils and the Faculty Council passed resolutions affirming the current Texas gun ban on campuses. College Republicans President Melanie Schwartz said her student group made lobbying for concealed carry on campus one of its priorities for the next legislative session and that the right to bear arms cannot be de-
By Collin Eaton Daily Texan Staff Citing the natural summertime influx of tiny, soulful-eyed balls of fur in need of a home, the Town Lake Animal Center hosted its third annual adoption-drive “Kitty Palooza” from Friday through Sunday. To capitalize on Austin’s enthusiasm for music, the event featured a rock ‘n’ roll theme and groups of kittens had different band names, such as Purrvana, Red Hot Kitty Peppers, Nine-
Texas 4000 Catch up with our Sense Corp Texas 4000 for Cancer riders as they trek across the country.
Quote to note
LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
termined on a “case-by-case basis.” “With that kind of a mindset, we worry about the slippery slope that if you ban it here, then what about here?” Schwartz said. “We believe that [concealed carry] is our right, and we don’t want to put parameters on it. I think that Mr. White is really trying to stray away from the liberal image that the Perry campaign is painting him with, and just from looking at his record, I’m still not convinced that he’s a moderate.” University Democrats President Michael Hurta said he agrees with White on every education issue except for White’s stance on concealed firearms on campuses. “Just because that’s his opinion on [the current gun ban], it’s not an issue he’s talked about at all — I feel pretty confident that it’s not one of the main issues he’ll be working
GUNS continues on page 9
Cat adoption event ends with many happy kittens
Japan
— Dzintra Dzenis finalist on “The Next Food Network Star”
www.dailytexanonline.com
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
VS.
‘‘
77
94
Democrats rally at party convention
WORLD CUP
“I wanted it so badly that I came off as too powerful. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, though. Que sera, sera.”
Low
High
White supports campus gun law reform
FRIDAY Paraguay
TOMORROW’S WEATHER
Suchada Sutasirisap | Daily Texan Staff
Two refugees watch traditional dances being performed after a naturalization ceremony at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum on Saturday. Refugees from nine different countries participated in the ceremony, which kicked off the museum’s celebration of World Refugee Day.
Refugees celebrate fresh start in US The naturalization ceremony kicked off the museum’s celebration of World Refugee Day. The festivities also included food, games, face painting, information about the countries By Aaron West where the refugees come from Daily Texan Staff Twenty-six refugees from nine and performances by several nations, all soon-to-be American refugee artists. The ceremony was sponsored citizens, filled the first two rows of the Texas Spirit Theater at the by Austin Area Interreligious Bob Bullock Texas State History Ministries, Refugee Services of Museum on Saturday as friends Texas-Austin, Center for Survivors of Torture, Heart of Texand family looked on.
Naturalization ceremony at Bob Bullock Museum honors World Refugee Day
Inch Tails and The Black Stripes. Sarah Hammond, Town Lake Animal Center foster coordinator, said the center pushed for more foster homes to care for kittens earlier this year, and a larger-than-expected increase this year left less room for many cats and kittens to come back to the shelter, highlighting the need for adoption. “There are hundreds of kittens in foster care and no room for them to come back,” Hammond
ADOPTION continues on page 5 Olivia Vescovo, a volunteer with Friends of Town Lake Animal Center, participates in the “Kitty Palooza,” an annual adoption-drive hosted by the animal center.
as Peace Corps Association, MulticulON THE WEB: tural Refugee CoaliCheck out more tion and photos from the the City ceremony of Aus@dailytexan tin Refuonline.com gee Health Screening Clinic, in addition
CEREMONY continues on page 6
Danielle Villasana Daily Texan Staff