SINCE 1981
VOLUME 54
ISSUE 10
October 25 - November 1, 2016
UTSA A new study by KimKwang Raymond Choo, an information systems and cyber security associate professor, describes a method for detecting “astroturfing,” a practice where an online user will post comments or reviews using multiple accounts. Based on word choice, punctuation and context, the method is able to detect whether one person or multiple people are responsible for the samples.
Roadrunners fail to
grasp homecoming win
Texas The Obama administration filed notice that it will appeal a Texas judge’s ruling that temporarily blocked federal guidelines directing public schools to accommodate transgender students, by allowing them to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Federal officials say they will ask the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn an injunction issued by Fort Worth-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor.
U.S. Nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers are being forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade. Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.
Defensive back Dashone Smith of UTEP intercepts a pass to wide reciever Josh Stewart in the second half of Saturday’s game between UTSA and UTEP at the Alamodome. UTSA lost in quintuple-overtime 52-49.
Catch a recap of UTSA v. UTEP on page
9
UT System has financial ties to Trans-Pecos pipline Alex Birnel News Editor
@alexbirnel news@paisano-online.com “Natural gas could turn things around (economically) for communities that would literally never be able to afford going sustainable with wind and solar
company, controlled by billionaire magnate Carlos Slim. This consortium of companies was awarded the construction and operation contract by Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in January 2015. Energy Transfer Partners is responsible for constructing and operating the Texas leg of
prompted opposition from activists in the region including ranchers, environmental scientists, archaeologists, indigenous people and concerned residents. An artistic display of their dissent is featured in a short video posted at dearferc.com. Mary Lou Saxon, a Marfa resident in the Big Bend area feels that the
World Venezuelan lawmakers have announced a plan to push for impeachment proceedings against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. In a special session on Sunday, the Venezuelan National Assembly, which is made up mostly of opposition parliamentarians, approved a measure that declared “there has been a breakdown of constitutional order and a continued state of coup led from the highest level of government by President Nicolas Maduro.”
David Guel, The Paisano
Photo courtesy of BBCA Young girls hold signs that draw connections between Trans-Pecos and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
(energy),” said senior environmental science major Andrew Sposato when asked about the construction of the TransPecos pipeline project. The Trans-Pecos pipeline is a subsidiary operation of three companies: Energy Transfer Partners (ETE), MasTech Inc. and Carso Energy. According to the Trans-Pecos website’s home page, the project is “a Texas intrastate pipeline designed to transport 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of clean burning natural gas as part of an agreement with Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s federal electricity commission.” While Energy Transfer Partners, LP and Mastech Inc. are based in the U.S., Carso Energy is a Mexico-based oil
the pipeline. That stretch, a 148-mile, 42-inch diameter pipeline, will originate at the Waha Hub outside Fort Stockton, Texas in northern Pecos County. The pipeline will also include delivery locations for local towns and utilities in Central West Texas and will terminate custody at the U.S.-Mexico boundary near Presidio, Texas. From Presidio, the project joins a Mexico-side pipeline at the U.S.-Mexico border approximately 12.2 miles north-northwest of Presidio. On May 5, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted the required permit authorizing the Trans-Pecos Pipeline construction on this side of the border. That authorization has
Trans-Pecos pipeline is a dangerous project. “This area can not afford to be disturbed,” she said. “This whole area is the Big Bend, not just the national park
area. You would never consider running a pipeline in that park; well, this whole area is like a park. It has avoided urbanization by some kind of miracle or the fact that it can be harsh,” she said. “We are relatively untouched by urbanization and we may one day need this area for more mundane uses, like living, star gazing, watching the sunset, sports, clean air. People need that.” For Saxon, TransPecos compromises the rustic beauty of the area. Before Energy Transfers could begin construction, there was an authorization process by FERC that included conducting an archaeological survey to ensure that important geography was not disturbed. Although a review of the area has been conducted and construction has begun, not everyone agrees that the survey thoroughly assessed the pipeline’s potential impact; the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA), a group that aims to protect the natural and cultural resources of Big Bend argues that “the pipeline system will also impose significant impact on cultural and historic sites and, at an estimated site density greater than one per linear mile, is already
known to have resulted in the destruction of one 7500+-year-old indigenous people’s site, a system of middens, work sites and camping areas.” David W. Keller, Senior Project Archaeologist at the Center for Big Bend Studies, who has an M.A in environmental history, also raised concerns about the nature of the survey. In 2015, he said, “I’ve been conducting professional archeological and historical research in the Big Bend region for almost 15 years; if the methods employed for this survey are indicative of those that may be carried out on other non-jurisdictional portions of the pipeline, then cultural resources along the proposed pipeline route are no better off than if they weren’t surveyed at all. It is difficult to place much faith in an archeological project if the methodology is grossly flawed. That was the case here according to Keller. BBCA found the evidence to back Keller’s claim. According to the group, since much of the route lies along private property, little of it has been subject to pedestrian survey. The company responsible surveyed only 8.4 total miles of the 148mile route. The project will carry 1.4 billion cubic feet of
See Trans-Pecos, page 2
Construction workers from Energy Transfer Partners encounter activists on a segment of the Trans-Pecos pipeline.
Photo courtesy of BBCA