The Daily Texan 2021-05-07

Looking back, looking forward.

DT VOLUME 121, ISSUE 66 FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

Remembering Jake Ehlinger COVID-19 vaccine demand drops

jack myer

/ the daily texan staff

jacob fraga

/ the daily texan staff

Students push for mental health reform

andrew zamora

/ the daily texan staff

PERMANENT STAFF Editor-in-Chief Emily Caldwell Managing Editor Trinady Joslin Assoc. Managing Editors Emily Hernandez, Ariana Arredondo Director of Digital Strategy Hal Riley Director of Diversity & Inclusion Areeba Amer Internal Relations Director Sanika Nayak External Relations Director Abhirupa Dasgupta Assoc. Opinion Editors Isabelle Costello, Hannah Lopez, Julia Zaksek

Newsletters Editor Maia Borchardt Copy Desk Chiefs Phoebe Hayes, Lawson Freeman Assoc. Copy Desk Chiefs Irissa Omandam, Megan Shankle, Chloe Roman Design Editor Christina Peebles Assoc. Design Editor Megan Fletcher Senior Designers Eunice Bao, Juleanna Culilap Video Editor Brendan Long Assoc. Video Editor Jackson Barton

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06

Looking back at key moments of the spring semester and the future of UT.

Sports

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Looking ahead to the fall semester, students share what they are most excited for.

News

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04

Moving into next semester, UT must improve communication and prioritize its students.

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Life&Arts

Senior Sports Writers Matthew Boncosky, Taylor Hawthorne

Forum Editors Daisy Kielty, Maria Sailale

Editorial Illustrator Charlie Hyman

Opinion

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DT

Contents:

07

Remembering Jake Ehlinger: sophomore linebacker, business major and a Longhorn.

MEN’S TENNIS

@rossfisher23

After men’s tennis head coach Bruce Berque’s men fell short against Baylor in the final of the Big 12 Championship, he told his young team about his 2019 team, which was in the same position and ultimately won a national championship in Florida just a few weeks later.

Nearly two weeks after that heartbreaking loss, Texas will begin their conquest for college tennis’ greatest prize. The journey starts at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin with No. 4 Texas facing Northern Arizona on Saturday in its NCAA Regional, before playing either Northwestern or No. 23 UCLA on Sunday, should they advance past the first round.

Unlike the 2019 team full of upperclassmen, nobody on the current roster has played an NCAA tournament singles match. However, Berque believes this young team is ready to compete for a National Championship this year.

“We’ve proven we can beat any team in the country,” Berque said. “We have wins over three of the four teams that were ranked No. 1 this season, and we’ve got wins over the teams currently ranked No. 1 and 2 in the country.”

In a team composed of guys with little to no college experience, such as sophomore Eliot Spizzirri, Texas was overlooked as a national championship contender.

Spizzirri entered the season having just barely cracked the ITA Top 125.

Now ranked No. 23, he enjoyed success as Texas’ No. 1 singles and doubles most of the season, but he still feels he was overlooked.

“I’ve operated with a chip on my shoulder, and so have the other guys,” Spizzirri said. “I think the reason

for our success, and the way I have been playing, (is) having that chip on my shoulder and wanting to prove we can beat anyone.”

The only current Longhorn that featured in the 2019 championship lineup, junior Chih Chi Huang, told his teammates the reason for their success in 2019 was having five graduating seniors who knew it was their last chance to win it all.

While Spizzirri admits that source of pressure does not exist for him and most of the team, he took Huang’s advice to heart and is motivated to win for those that are leaving.

“I am trying to embrace that mindset that this is the last time I am going to be able to compete with this exact group of guys. We have Jacob (Bullard) leaving and Payton (Holden) graduating, so that is something special to each of us,” Spizzirri said. “I think there is no reason that we shouldn’t treat this like it is our

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Emily Caldwell (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Trinady Joslin (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@thedailytexan.com

NEWS OFFICE

Same situation, fresh faces: No. 4 Texas men’s tennis begins national championship defense with new lineup, high hopes

By Ross Fisher

(512) 471-4591

last chase. If we do that, I think that will give us our best chance of success.”

Texas must first win its two regional matches at home. They will be heavy favorites to put away weaker opposition in Northern Arizona and either Northwestern or UCLA. However, Berque remembers earlier in the season when his team barely scraped by Tulane and Arizona State, who were both unranked at the time, and knows that any team in Division I tennis can be competitive on any given day.

“I think we should be confident, but I hope we retain some of the lessons that we learned earlier in the year,” Berque said. “Just about everyone we’ll play is going to be good enough to beat us.”

If Texas advances from the regional, they will head to Orlando on May 17 to play in the Round of 16, and the quarterfinals, semifinals and final are all slated to take place May 20-22.

hannah clark

/ the daily texan file

Sophomore Eliot Spirizzi returns a serve. Spirizzi is leading a young team in their defense of the 2019 national championship that begins Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center.

(512) 232-2207 news@thedailytexan.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. E-mail managingeditor@thedailytexan.com.

E M I LY C A L D W E L L

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Editor-In-Chief | @TEXANOPINION FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

EDITORIAL

OPINION

UT, prioritize your students for once The editorial board calls on UT to improve communication and listen to students.

By The Daily Texan Editorial Board

Trigger warning: Brief discussions of sexual misconduct and gun violence.

T is a hard place to be right now. With an administration that seems to consistently and often deliberately ignore student demands and instead prioritize the interests of alumni and donors, it’s hard to believe things will change.

This spring, the editorial board covered a variety of topics: persistent problems with how UT collects our tuition, the GALLERY

charlie hyman

/ the daily texan staff

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.

University community’s response after February’s winter storm and the lack of transparency surrounding sexual misconduct reform on campus.

As we wrote, an underlying theme developed — over the course of this past year, UT administration has struggled to show how and why it puts students first.

Maybe that’s because it doesn’t.

Looking back, there are some decisions we can point to that give us hope.

For example, UT still gave students a full week off for spring break after a number of class days were canceled during the winter storm. This break was much needed after our campus community was crushed by failures at the state level.

UT’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been undeniably impressive, with easy access to the vaccine on campus and high rates of full vaccinations. This is undoubtedly due to the hard work of UT staff and faculty members and encouragement from administrators to get vaccinated.

But we can’t ignore the problems either.

UT has still failed to keep students updated on sexual misconduct reform — in fact, despite multiple editorials and pressure from student activists, we haven’t heard from UT President Jay Hartzell (or anyone else) on this issue since July of last year.

Current students have spent years organizing events, leading rallies and working with University leaders to produce meaningful change. Repeatedly, the administration promised it

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

carlyssa phoon

was listening. Now almost a year later, student activists are left waiting –– again.

If UT is hoping students will forget, that’s cowardly. If administrators themselves have forgotten, that’s even worse.

Sexual misconduct reform isn’t the only area in which University leadership has neglected student concerns this year.

The University has still — despite student athlete demands, pressure from student organizations, petitions, protests, a University-commissioned report (along with two reports challenging that report) and the pain and discomfort the song causes for Black students — refused to abandon “The Eyes of Texas.”

We know alumni threatened to withdraw their donations if UT administration did not stand by the song. We know members of the Texas Tour Guides are refusing to give campus tours until the University removes “The Eyes of Texas” plaque in the Admissions Welcome Center.

We know students were threatened by a man who appeared to be loading a large gun on camera at an Orange Jackets-led

/ the daily texan staff

online event about the song.

At this point, defending the song so fervently can’t possibly be worth it. Students are angry and hurt by the University’s refusal to listen, and by its prioritization of financial stability and wealthy alumni over its current students.

It’s not a good look, either — stories about “The Eyes of Texas” are consistently circulating at national news outlets, and not in a flattering way.

Even with the rest of the country watching, the University can’t seem to do what is right — choose a new school song, one that wasn’t used in minstrel shows.

Protests from alumni, and more importantly, donors, repeatedly seem to drown out the voices of students who are currently living and studying at the University. The people who are most directly affected by UT’s decisions.

UT, prioritize your students. As a university, it’s your job.

The editorial board is composed of associate editors Isabelle Costello, Hannah Lopez, Julia Zaksek and editor-in-chief Emily Caldwell.

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.

LIFE&ARTS

A I S L I N G AY E R S

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Life&Arts Editor | @TEXANARTS FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

STUDENT LIFE

‘We’re really going back in (person)’

Students look forward to an in-person fall semester.

By Fiza Kuzhiyil @fiza11k

hen Devashree Shah saw her fall 2021 schedule on the morning of registration, she couldn’t believe it. Beside the course number, every single one of her classes had a room number attached.

“I was like, ‘Wow, we’re really doing this,’” neuroscience freshman Shah said.

“We’re really going back in (person).”

After two semesters of mostly virtual classes, UT announced about 90% of classes will operate in person in the fall.

From walking on campus for the first time to meeting their virtual friends, students are excited about the little things they’ll experience in the fall.

Despite living in a campus dorm, Shah said she has never attended an in-person class at UT. Right after registering for her classes, she plugged the buildings in Google Maps, trying to find the quickest path from class to class.

“We need sunlight, so getting outside (and) being forced to walk more is going to help a lot of people with their mental health,” Shah said. “I need the sun to make (me) feel better, so (I want to) be able to be outside again around people, even if it’s just random people.”

Living in El Paso, freshman Sam Porter has never visited UT, but she said she made friends virtually through her classes. As a radio-television-film student she said she looks forward to working with her friends in person to create films and work on projects.

“I feel like my life has been on hold

for the past year, and it’s really worrisome when I’m in a degree that revolves around communicating and working with others,” Porter said. “Finally getting to start is really exciting.”

Journalism freshman Thalía Menchaca said she looks forward to walking on the Moody Bridge her friends always talk about. As an introvert, she said she found it easier to reach out to people and make friends virtually, but she’s excited to meet them in person now.

“I wonder if they’re gonna think how short I am,” Menchaca said. “I am … exactly 5 feet (tall), and everyone notices … how tiny I am in person. It’s so strange to think we’re going to be in person having a conversation.”

In Helotes, Texas, business honors freshman Ryan Jacob lives five hours away from his friend in Frisco, Texas.

He said they often joke about driving two and half hours each to meet in the middle and get boba together. Jacob said when he moves to Austin in the fall, he can’t wait to find his new favorite boba shop.

“One of the worst things about quarantine is that I could barely see my friends to eat out when that used to be such a big part of hanging out for us,” Jacob said.

“To hear all the food (recommendations) from people in Austin and see how innovative some of the places are is super exciting, and … I cannot wait to say that (I’ve) tried them.”

From smiling at someone on the campus bus to laughing with her peers when something funny happens in class, Shah said she’s excited to experience small interactions with strangers again.

“The trivial moments are the most important because they make you feel like you’re not alone,” Shah said.

rocky higine

/ the daily texan staff

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FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

NEWS

CAMPUS

Student organization collective pushes for increased mental health resources on campus

By Samantha Greyson @GreysonSamantha

jenny devico

/ the daily texan staff

Students Organizing for Support formed in early April to advocate for better mental health support for students and increased funding for the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center.

The group is composed of five UT student organizations: University Democrats, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Texas Rising, Students Fighting Climate Change and Beyond Bernie.

In April, they sent a list of demands to UT administration, including providing students with six free counseling sessions a semester, increased support for mental health case management and mandatory mental health training for faculty.

Along with their list of demands, the organization hosts sit-ins every Friday at the UT Tower in order to raise awareness for mental health support on campus, University Democrats President Brandon Bradley said. On April 16, the day of their first sit-in, Bradley said the CMHC contacted the group to schedule a meeting, which took place the following week.

“A lot of it was a discussion of the initial set of demands that we’re proposing and figuring out what CMHC can do to best incorporate them,” government senior Bradley said. “Our first and central issue (is) focused on the fact that students don’t

feel that appointments with the CMHC are either guaranteed or timely.”

Psychology senior Mackenzie Ulam said the group’s top priority is achieving increased funding for the CMHC. “I don’t know the intricacies of administration and what’s going on up there, but we cannot see why they are able to (increase funding) given the amount of money being pushed for stadium renovations, football and the salary of our new president,” Ulam said.

Marla Craig, CMHC senior associate director for clinical services, said she is happy to listen to students’ needs but feels that the demand for six free sessions per student is unrealistic and would require hundreds of new counselors.

“I don’t know how that would even be possible,” Craig said. “It would be at least 84,000 appointments, just individual counseling and nothing else. All the other great things we do would not be able to happen.”

Architecture fourth-year Andre Rezaie said UT’s lack of mental health infrastructure was highlighted by recent tragic events, including the death of former UT student Farhan Towhid and his family.

“The CMHC has been underwhelming, to say the least, in their care for our fellow student body,” said Rezaie, the outgoing University Democrats campus director. “We decided

that the University should step up in light of recent events and take some action and improve the CMHC, so that more tragedies don’t have to occur later on.”

Craig said the CMHC offers crisis, group and peer counseling in addition to individual counseling sessions and can refer students to off-campus counseling resources through a recently improved case management system.

Nine months ago, Craig said the CMHC had one case manager to connect students with outside resources, but with increased funding, they are currently working on expanding the case management team.

Students Organizing for Support is also pushing for Longhorn EMS, a student organization with certified emergency medical technicians, to be certified as campus first responders to avoid police involvement in mental health crises, Rezaie said.

“UT (Police Department) should have zero involvement in first response to a mental health or a crisis situation,” Rezaie said.

Students Organizing for Support is also asking UT to implement mental health training for incoming students and create a committee to report on the status of mental health initiatives on campus by July 1.

SPORTS

C A R T E R YAT E S

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Sports Editor | @TEXANSPORTS FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

LEGACY

Remembering Jake Ehlinger

By Nathan Han & Carter Yates @NathanHan13 @Carter_Yates16

ake Ehlinger, a sophomore linebacker and business major at The University of Texas and a former standout at Westlake High School, died Thursday. He was 20.

The Austin Police Department announced that Ehlinger was found dead near campus after authorities said they received a call Thursday afternoon. Police did not release any cause of death or any other details but said his death was “not considered suspicious.”

“Our hearts are truly broken, and we are just devastated today to learn of the passing of our Longhorn family member Jake Ehlinger,” Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said in a statement. “Jake was an amazing young man from an extraordinary family with such a bright future ahead of him. It’s just such a tragedy that we are all really struggling with.”

Jake was inseparable with his older brother, former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

Both grew up as avid Texas football fans molded after their father, Ross Ehlinger, and his alumni status. Both had eventually realized their dreams of playing for the Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium,

eddie gaspar

/ the daily texan file

Sophomore linebacker Jake Ehlinger leads the Longhorns out of the tunnel and onto the field on Aug. 31, 2019, to play Louisiana Tech at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

where they had spent so much time with their family watching games as children. And both had bonded together through the shared struggle of their father passing away during a 2013 triathlon event.

“Sam taught me everything I know today,” Jake said to the Austin American-Statesman in October 2018. “He’s always been there for me and the whole family.”

He even began playing tackle football at the age of eight because he wanted to be like his older brother, the Statesman reported.

But Jake forged his own path to The University of Texas. As a linebacker at Westlake, Jake earned All-Central Texas honors his senior season in 2018, racking up a team-leading 97 tackles, six sacks and two forced fumbles.

Westlake head coach Todd Dodge called Jake “the quarterback of our defense,” as the linebacker helped lead the Chaparrals to an upset over Lake Travis, a team that included now-redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card and later went to the Class 6A state semifinals.

Jake stood out in the classroom at Westlake as well. Scoring a 35 on the ACT, he received offers to play college football at Ivy League

schools Penn and Brown as a two-star recruit.

In the end, however, Jake chose to accept a preferred walk-on offer to play at Texas, ensuring that both Ehlinger boys who grew up with the dream of playing together in the burnt orange would turn it into a reality.

While Jake never played in a game for Texas, he suited up on the sidelines every Saturday to learn and develop as a linebacker with the upperclassmen. Coming into his sophomore season after utilizing a redshirt, Jake was looking to find a role on special teams and in the linebacking rotation as a reserve piece.

“Being a Longhorn meant everything to him, and he truly embodied all that it means to be one,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said in a statement. “In the short time we were able to get to know him, he always was a joy to be around and gave everything he had in workouts, meetings, practice and in life.”

Jake was right there for every one of Sam’s touchdowns as the quarterback competed in his junior and senior seasons. And he was also right there to see his older brother, “the best role model anyone could ever have,” get drafted to the NFL, joining in with his mother Jena and sister Morgen as the four Ehlingers embraced.

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LAUREN GIRGIS

News Editor | @THEDAILYTEXAN

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

... Looking Back

NEWS

The Daily Texan takes a look back at the events of the spring semester and at what’s to come.

By The Daily Texan Staff @thedailytexan

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

COVID-19

WINTER STORM

Kiara Kabbara and Ethan Jones were elected student body president and vice president, and Steven Ding and Suseth Muñoz were elected president and vice president of Senate of College Councils.

COVID-19 variants, including B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom, P.1 which originated in Brazil and B.1.429, which originated in California, were detected on UT’s campus this semester.

February’s winter storm canceled class for over a week and caused many students on and off campus to lose basic utilities for days.

‘THE EYES OF TEXAS’

Following demands for the removal of “The Eyes of Texas” as the alma mater, the University released a report in March saying claiming

the song was written in a “racist setting,” but is not “overtly racist.” However, UT history professor Alberto Martínez released a contradicting report.

VACCINES

UT Health Austin began COVID-19 vaccination rollout amid expanding qualifications and administered about 120,000 doses to staff, faculty, students and community members.

LEGISLATION

While the 87th Texas Legislative session has focused on Winter Storm Uri, bills targeting transgender students, expanding constitutional carry and increasing voting restrictions have gained traction in both chambers.

CITY

Austin continued its effort to “re-imagine” public safety through purchasing hotels to house Austin’s unhoused residents and making plans to reform police training. Voters reinstated the camping ban on unhoused residents, criminalizing homelessness in downtown areas.

evan l’roy

Life came to a screeching halt on Feb. 14 when most Texas residents were without electricity or water due to the winter storm.

/ the daily texan file

Looking Forward ...

LONGHORN BAND

Longhorn Band members will be required to play “The Eyes of Texas.” A separate

VACCINE HUB

University band that will not be required to play the song will be created in 2022.

eddie gaspar

UT Health Austin will scale back vaccination efforts and move the vaccine hub from

Gregory Gym to the Health Transformation Building as vaccination demand declines.

/ the daily texan file

Football fans gathered inside the stadium as the Longhorn Band performs on Sept. 7, 2019. After University deliberation, the Band will be required to continue playing “The Eyes of Texas.”

julius shieh

/ the daily texan file

People wait in line inside of Gregory Gym to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations on April 30.

LEGISLATION

UTPD

GRADUATION

UNIVERSITY

The majority of legislation, including bills to expand medical cannabis use and constitutional carry, will pass during the 27 remaining days in the session. Lawmakers will also continue redistricting into the summer.

The UT Police Department plans to open a new satellite office on Guadalupe Street in the fall to increase community outreach efforts. Student activists plan to call for different safety solutions on campus, including alternatives to policing and better lighting and infrastructure.

UT is planning commencement ceremonies for the class of 2020 on Sept. 17 and the class of 2021 on May 22 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

UT is planning for a “near normal” fall semester and advises students and faculty to plan for in-person classes and research, but some aspects of hybrid learning will still be in place.

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FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

CAMPUS

UT Health Austin sees demand for COVID-19 vaccine drop

juleanna culilap

By Kevin Vu @Kevin_Vu_

The University, along with the rest of the country, is seeing a decrease in demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, with UT vaccine allocations dropping by more than half since March 22, according to state health data.

Lisa Jackson, the executive clinical director for UT Health Austin, said within the last week, the number of vaccine doses they are receiving is greater than the number of shots they are giving out every week, so they have not used all that they have been allocated.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services vaccine allocation data, during the week of March 22, UT Health Austin received 11,700 Pfizer first doses. On the week of April 19, they received 8,190, and on the week of April 26, the number of doses went down to 5,850.

“This is being replicated all over the country … there could be a lot of potential reasons for that, but we don’t have people making appointments,” Jackson said.

Julie Swann, the department head of industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina State University, has been working on pandemic models, systems and supply chains since the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign. She said with the decreasing demand for vaccines, achieving herd immunity is going to be difficult for the United States.

“A lot of the projections on how long it would take us to return to normal were based on demand and vaccination pace continuing,” Swann said. “We’re not going to be vaccinating at the same pace this month as we were last month.”

Susan Hochman, associate director for assessment, communications and health information technology

at University Health Services, said in an email that UT Health Austin didn’t receive first doses because of the decrease in demand, so they used remaining doses from previous allocations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doses that are kept in the freezer are safe to use for two weeks.

Despite decreasing demands, Jackson said they have never thrown away any vaccines. She said all the extra vaccines that weren’t used are given to VaxNow, a School of Nursing vaccination program that takes the leftover vaccines and gives them to anyone who is unable to access them.

“We know ahead of time how many people are on the schedule, but we can’t predict how many no-shows we’ll have,” Jackson said. “Now we’ve gotten it down pretty good, and usually, it’s in the single digits if we have any leftovers at the end of the day, so it’s generally a small number.”

/ the daily texan staff

Jackson said UT Health Austin promoted walk-up appointments as a way to increase the number of people getting vaccinated, but that has not significantly increased demand.

“The first couple of days, we were having 50 to 100 (walk-ups), but now, we’re probably less than 50 a day, so very few,” Jackson said. “It’s all just kind of a guessing game.”

Jackson said UT Health Austin’s plan for the summer is to move vaccine administration from Gregory Gym to the Health Transformation Building, located off of Trinity and 17th street, to accommodate for the decreasing demand for the vaccine. She said they will continue to do both walk-ins and appointments.

Jackson said she hopes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will approve the use of the vaccine for people above 12 years old within the next week, which she expects will increase the demand.

NEWS

COMICS

B A R B D A LY & R O C K Y H I G I N E

Comics Editors | @TEXANCOMICS FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

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FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021

LIFE&ARTS

MUSIC

Return of in-person concerts excites students

By Morgan-Taylor Thomas @mtthomas_

Silently sneaking out early through the back door of her Introduction to Math class, Cecilia Garcia frantically whipped out her phone and scavenged the internet to score a “Harry Styles: Love on Tour” ticket.

“It’s always been a special thing to me to go to concerts,” government sophomore Garcia said. “It’s so different than listening to it in a car. Everybody’s singing along, just vibing, and you make a lot of new friends.”

Like Garcia, many students planned to attend performances of their favorite artists in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced many artists to postpone or even cancel their tours. But as the number of vaccinated people increases and COVID-19 cases decrease in Texas, more and more venues are opening back up, allowing artists to once again create their magic.

Linguistics junior Emily Luedke said she’s excited to slowly start getting back to live music. Even though her Julien Baker concert won’t happen until October, she’s still thankful to be attending the show at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, a smaller outdoor venue, rather than a packed arena.

“It’ll be a good way to kind of get back into social gatherings,” Luedke said. “But I do definitely have concerns if things aren’t

better by that point. (I might) have to maybe reconsider, but as of right now, it’s just kind of a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Despite her anxieties, Luedke said not having the experience of live music in quarantine made her appreciate seeing artists perform in person more.

With COVID and there not being (live music), there definitely felt like there was something missing from the city.”

COURTNEY SMITH journalism junior

“There’s a connection that happens between the musicians and the audience,” Luedke said. “I’ve heard (artists) say they feed off of the energy from the audience … so you get to see how they are feeling the song in the moment. Music isn’t stuck in one place; it changes based on how you’re feeling, so I think the artists are able to show us what the song means to them in person.”

Journalism junior Courtney Smith said although her KALEO concert was moved to

ana louise matzner

March 2022, she and her fiancé are ecstatic to finally go to a concert together, regardless of their different taste in music.

“We’ve been dating for five years and have never gone to a concert together,” Smith said.

“I like a lot of folk music and alternative music and … he likes Chris Stapleton and also listens to rap, so we’re both like all over the place. It’s kind of nice we actually found someone we both like enough to go to the concert.”

Smith said her love for music fueled her through the past year of pandemic life. Cautiously, she attended live, socially distanced performances at restaurants around Austin to once again feel the energy from each strum of a

/ the daily texan staff

guitar and each vibrato of a voice.

“With COVID and there not being (live music), there definitely felt like something was missing from the city,” Smith said. “So as soon as people started playing live music again, it was super cool, and I definitely missed it.”

As for Garcia, she said being around others who enjoy the same music and artists she does makes concerts 10 times better. A musician herself, Garcia said even though concerts continue to get postponed, her flame for music will never die.

“Music has always been a huge part of my life,” Garcia said. “Even if I didn’t play any instruments, (music) is still something that I enjoy.”