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TOMORROW’S WEATHER
HUMP DAY PAGE 6B
SPORTS PAGE 1B
Expectations can make it hard to keep it up
Former coach continues her service to the University, women’s athletics
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THE DAILY TEXAN Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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Controversial bills debated in committee By Erin Mulvaney & Ben Wermund Daily Texan Staff A House committee heard multiple hot-button issues at the Capitol on Tuesday, tackling abortion, human cloning, immigration and state sovereignty bills. Witnesses testified to the House State Affairs Committee in an overcrowded room full of ardent supporters and opponents of the bills, which were left pending in the committee.
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Above, Construction worker Saul Escobedo applies glass siding to an apartment complex under construction on E. 11th Street. The building is part of the Austin Revitalization Authority’s efforts to spur development and lead the area a new image. Below, Freddie Thomas discusses the redevelopment while standing in front of his life-long home on Tuesday afternoon. Thomas wishes to stay in the neighborhood and that he has faced sharp increases in property taxes in recent years.
Redevelopment of neighborhood homes hampering construction By Pierre Bertrand Daily Texan Staff For the past decade, sleek new buildings seen along E. 11th and 12th streets have redefined the look of East Austin. After about nine years of construction, area officials are hoping to finish a slew of redevelopments. The Austin Revitalization Authority was commissioned in 1996 with the role of commercially redeveloping the E. 11th and 12th street corridors. By 2003, its responsibilities changed to include redeveloping 19 homes along Olive and Juniper streets — located between 11th and 12th streets — and the development has since been a source of controversy. Byron Marshall, president and chief executive of the authority, said he originally planned to develop retail businesses and office space on 11th Street and supplement those developments with brandnew lofts. The construction of the lofts, however, could not be commercially viable if new residents looked down on the abandoned homes and vacant properties of Juniper Street. In a meeting at Huston-Tillotson University on Tuesday night, authority offi-
Bryant Haertlein | Daily Texan Staff
cials discussed how to package to contractors the remaining seven homes that are still untouched. “When we came to this neighborhood, it had one of the highest crime rates in the city,” Marshall said. “That was just 10 years ago.” Now, an odd mix of what were 100-year-
Senate passes bill addressing lack of math, science teachers Bill would award grants to graduates who commit to teaching for four years By Mohini Madgavkar Daily Texan Staff Students at public colleges in Texas may have an incentive to go back to school after graduation thanks to state Sen. Dan Patrick’s Texas Teach Corps bill, which cleared the Senate on Tuesday. The program would award $5,000 per year in loan repayment grants to 4,000 students who agree to teach math and science at disadvantaged public schools for four years after graduating from a public Texas college. “Texas is experiencing a severe lack of certified math and science teachers in the public school system, primarily at the secondary level,” said Patrick, R-Houston. “Recent studies have shown that high school science teacher shortages have increased by 80 percent since 2003, and projections suggest the shortage will continue in the next five years.” Assistant professor Jill Marshall, who heads UT’s Science and Math Education program, said scholarship programs are only part of
the solution to Texas’ educational problems. “Especially in this economy, $5,000 does make a difference to students, especially as kids are having trouble getting bills paid,” Marshall said “It’s certainly probably not the whole answer. You can’t just pay students to be math and science teachers and expect that to solve our problems with students not achieving in math and science.” Marshall said new math and science teachers need to be trained to combat fears and stigmas associated with the subjects. Too often teachers focus on student weaknesses in math and science and not student strengths, she said. Marshall said that rather than sponsoring new math and science teachers, the Legislature needs to renew its commitment to current high school curriculum standards that require students to take four years of science to graduate. The Legislature first mandated a fouryear science curriculum in 2006, but Marshall said she has heard rumors that some are pushing for its repeal. “I understand the reasons — the biggest one is that we don’t have
EDUCATION continues on page 6A
old homes coexist with still-abandoned lots, and some residents are still wondering when the authority will finish its project. Kristin Christensen, a research associate in UT’s School of Social Work, said she has lived in her redeveloped house on
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Abortion A bill proposed by state Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, would require pregnant women considering abortions to view ultrasounds before the procedures. Several women, such as Brandi Dudley, offered their personal abortion-clinic experiences and said they wished they had been more informed before the procedure. Dudley, a mother of two from Longview, said women have been lied to about abortion. She said her abortion traumatized her. “I wish I would have known the truth,” she said. “I wish I had had the opportunity to see an ultrasound. It would have made a difference.” Terri Burke, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the union opposes the bill because it promotes interference, not information. “Many women are forced to have this procedure and feel intimidated and stupid,” Burke said. “It violates the First Amendment and violates the right to deny unneeded medical procedures.” A second bill, proposed by state Rep. Geanie Morrison, RVictoria, would require women to offer consent before under-
going the procedure and would collect and report information related to the performance of abortions. “However you feel philosophically about this issue, this bill protects the health of women,” she said. Morrison said she is pushing to require women to sign consent forms because she is concerned about those who are coerced into having abortions. “This statistical data we receive [from the required forms] would answer, ‘What is it that we aren’t doing to help someone who is in this position?’” Morrison said. “We should have the actual statistics of what’s happening.” Although Morrison said the patient’s identity would be anonymous, some lawmakers and witnesses said the measure violated the privacy of the women receiving abortions. “The detailed information required to provide is one thing that concerns me,” said state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. He said that in certain geographic areas with low populations, the patient and physician’s identities would be transparent. He also said state officials and court orders would have access to the identity of the patient.
Human cloning The committee also heard testimony over two bills pertaining to human cloning. The first bill, proposed by Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris, would outlaw procedures that implant human embryos created by methods other than fertilization in a woman’s womb. The other bill, proposed by state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, would ban the use of
BILLS continues on page 2A
Taste tests kick off Earth Day, promote organic produce By Amy Bingham Daily Texan Staff Two piles of sliced red apples sat side by side on a card table on the South Mall Tuesday afternoon. To the naked eye, the stacks of fruit were identical, but to the tongue there was a world of difference. One was organic, one was not, and it was up to the expert taste buds of passing students to decide which was which. “The organic apples tend to be more crisp and taste more robust, like the flavor hasn’t been tampered with,” said advertising freshman Johanna Spencer. The taste test was the first event of a three-day Earth Day celebration held by the Campus Environmental Center. Tuesday’s theme was sustainable food with a focus on local and organic produce. Across the mall, the Division of Housing and Food Service held a taste test of its own, during which it showcased a variety of local produce that ranged from pickled beets to chocolate chip zucchini bread. The division purchases about 1,000 pounds of locally grown produce every week from
Earth Day events r Longhorn Releaf Tree-planting ceremony When: 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Courtyard between Calhoun and Rainey halls r Recycling Roundup Recycle plastic, tin and glass for prizes When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Where: West Mall r “Environmental awareness in the music industry, academia and beyond” Panel discussion with band Guster When: Noon to 1 p.m. Where: GRG 102
Source: Campus Environmental Center Web site
farmers within 100 miles of campus. These local farmers are paired with large cafeterias around Austin through the Sustainable Food Center’s Farm Direct program. Beets, turnips, cabbage, strawberries, baby carrots and spinach are a few of the vegetables that food services received Tuesday through the program. These Texasgrown goodies will be served
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Natural Sciences junior Carson Rabb slices an apple for a taste test on the South Mall. The organic versus inorganic foods test was part of a three-day Earth Day celebration on campus.
throughout the week at Kinsolving Dining Hall, Jester City Limits, Jester Second Floor Dining hall, Littlefield Patio Cafe and Cypress Bend Cafe. While the local produce costs up to twice as much as commercial produce, University executive chef Robert Mayberry said it is absolutely worth the price. “It’s good for the environ-
ment because we are not shipping things long distances, it’s much better quality and flavor because it’s not stored for a long time, and it supports local economies and builds the infrastructure of local food production,” Mayberry said. “I can’t really see any downside to buying locally.” Robert Dull, an assistant
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NEWS
THE DAILY TEXAN Volume 109, Number 132 25 cents
CONTACT US Main Telephone: (512) 471-4591 Editor: Leah Finnegan (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor: Vikram Swaruup (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Web Office: (512) 471-8616 online@dailytexanonline.com Sports Office: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts Office: (512) 232-2209 lifeandarts@dailytexanonline.com Photo Office: (512) 471-8618 photo@dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising: (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu Classified Advertising: (512) 471-5244 classifieds@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@dailytexanonline.com.
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Today’s weather
EAST: Progress
slowed by age of structures
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
FOOD: Local,
Taking a breather
organic often more tasty
From page 1A
From page 1A
Juniper Street for four years but that she had to wait two years just to buy the house from the authority. She said she went through a series of contracts that established a minimum amount of time she would have to own the house — 10 years — before she could turn around and put the house on the market to sell it. In 2007, the Austin Chronicle lambasted the authority because of its changing policies and contracts after some residents who waited for years were denied their homes. “A lot of people were furious and they left the project,� Christensen said, referring to the changing contracts. “Part of the contracts was to keep people in the houses for the long term, and that totally made sense to me. I’m in it for the long term.� Progress has been hampered due to the type of redevelopment the authority is trying to accomplish. Some of the houses are more than 100 years old, and contractors have the unique responsibility of completely rebuilding the older homes from the inside while keeping their old historic facades, Marshall said. “There are people who have lived in the neighborhood for the past 15 years whose lives are better,� Marshall said. Some residents in the area have been negatively affected by the development in the neighborhood. Freddie Thomas, a man in his 60s who has lived in the same house since childhood, said he does not like the new developments. “There is nothing I can do about it,� Thomas said. “It was going to get did anyways. I wouldn’t move for nothing.�
geography and environment professor, said organic produce often has blemishes and is not as presentable and that it takes more land to produce the same amount of food, making it more expensive. On the other hand, organic food may be healthier because herbicides and pesticides are not used to produce it, Dull said. Last year, the Farm Direct program sold about $40,000 worth of local produce to UT, Seton Hospital and other large cafeterias in Austin, said Andrew Smiley, projects director for Farm Direct. This year sales are expected to reach double that amount, Smiley said. All the food from Farm Direct is grown sustainably, using organic fertilizers and natural pesticides, said Suzanne Santos, director of the Austin Farmers’ Market, a component of the Sustainable Food Center. Santos said local food is far better for the environment than just organic food. “Sure, you can get organic produce from the grocery store, but if it’s in the winter and you’re buying organic peppers, they’re coming from Chile,� Santos said. “How much air fuel was used in shipping that here?�
Learning To Fly Goes First Class.
StreamlineAir.com | 800-575-5098
Jeffrey McWhorter | Daily Texan Staff
Megan Murr, 18, rests after a workout beside her mother and Allen White, a Huston-Tillotson University assistant track coach. Murr commutes to Austin to train for her state meet.
BILLS: Ethics of cloning among issues From page 1A human cloning and other human tissue for higher education research. Homer said he intended to ban cloning while allowing stem cell research. Laura Templeton, representing the Austin chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, supported the two bills for the potential medical breakthroughs that could follow allowing stem cell research. “I want to envision Texas as a leader in medicine where scientists are allowed to vigorously pursue all forms of safe, ethical stem cell research,� she said. Most witnesses who opposed the bills argued that they contain bad terminology and voiced fears about the legalization of embryonic stem cell research. “This is an effort to redefine human cloning,� said Linda Flower, chairwoman of the Texas Physicians Resource Council. “There are so many scientific inaccuracies in the bills that
they shouldn’t even get out of have made us richer as a state,� committee.� Gallego said. “By protecting our diversity, they made us be true citizens of Texas and true State sovereignty citizens of the world.� State Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, presented a concurrent resolution that would Immigration reaffirm the sovereignty of TexSome of the six illegal-immias within the rights guaranteed gration bills called for shifting in the 10th Amendment of the the focus of legislation away U.S. Constitution. from the immigrants themThe House and Senate’s two- selves and toward the employyear budget includes at least ers who provide them incentive $11 billion in federal stimulus to cross the border. funds. Gov. Rick Perry rejected “Too often we put focus $555 million in unemployment on those who come here illefunds, drawing criticism from gally [rather] than those who Texas lawmakers. provide incentive,� said state After Perry warned the U.S. Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomgovernment that Texas has the ball, an author of one of the right to secede from the union bills. “This bill specifically if the state’s rights are not re- punishes employers who emspected, his statement garnered ploy illegal immigrants on a national media coverage. cash-only basis to circumvent Creighton stressed that the bill Texas laws.� has nothing to do with secession. Other bills were aimed at en“It’s important for me to re- couraging cooperation between mind you again: This has noth- local law enforcement and iming to do with secession,� migration officials in enforcing Creighton said. “It has every- immigration laws. thing to do with succeeding in Patricia Major, a Dallas resthe union.� ident, testified against these He said it is important for bills, saying that local police Texas lawmakers to manage should put residents’ safety their own bills effectively rath- above immigration issues. er than being subject to federal “I couldn’t tell you how semandates or orders. cure I feel knowing my city poState Rep. Pete Gallego, D- lice know they are there to proAlpine, said a federal mandate tect me. That’s why they are allowed minorities to enter into there,� she said. “I would ophigher-education institutions. pose any bill that takes police “I understand that a lot of away from their work.� things that come down from William Graham, a supporter D.C. are unpleasant, but some of the bill, argued that immigration issues are central to residents’ safety. He said statistics show residents of cities with higher illegal-immigrant populations are at a greater risk of troubles with gang-related activity and crime.
THE DAILY TEXAN
“It’s considering your environment and making decisions about what you use,� — Leah Yngve, biology senior Organic produce is usually grown more locally and picked later, so it tastes better, and organic farming decreases ecosystem disruptions from toxic fertilizer runoff, she said. “Being sustainable with food means thinking of all the stages: where it comes from, how it’s prepared and what you do with what isn’t used,� said biology senior Leah Yngve. “It’s considering your environment and making decisions about what you use so there will be some left in the future.�
This newspaper was printed with pride by The Daily Texan press crew members, who will be laid off in May.
Permanent Staff
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Finnegan Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vikram Swaruup Associate Managing Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen Keller, Gabrielle MuĂąoz Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Audrey Campbell, Josh Haney, Abhinav Kumar, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jillian Sheridan, Abby Terrell, Mary Tuma News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Winchester Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sean Beherec, Katie Flores, Lee Ann Holman Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viviana Aldous, Pierre Bertrand, Amy Bingham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mohini Madgavkar, Erin Mulvaney, Avi Selk Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Muto Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Green, Austin Litzler, Vikkey Packard Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Janie Shaw Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marissa Edwards, Shatha Hussein, Lindsey Morgan, Emily Watkins Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Franklin Associate Photo Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Espinosa, May-Ying Lam Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Chouy, Bryant Haertlein, Emily Kinsolving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Rogers, Jordan Smothermon Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ana McKenzie Associate Life&Arts Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy O'Connor, Leigh Patterson, Raquel Villarreal Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . Roxanna Asgarian, Mary Lingwall, Rachel Meador, Robert Rich, JJ Velasquez Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David R. Henry Associate Sports Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anup Shah, Colby White Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Will Anderson, Blake Hurtik, Laken Litman, Austin Talbert Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carolynn Calabrese Web Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Erik Reyna Multimedia Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Priscilla Villarreal Associate Multimedia Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny Baxter, Juan Elizondo Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard A. Finnell
Issue Staff
Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Melissa Pan, Nehal Patel, Matt Stephens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, Ben Wermund Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamir Kalifa, Jeffrey McWhorter, Elizabeth Moskowitz Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lena Price, Matthew Scarcy, Chris Tavarez Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jonathan Briseno, Brian Lasoya, Michael Thompson Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alisha Brophy, Roberto Cervantes Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lynda Gonzalez, Jordan Humphreys Sports/Life&Arts copy editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Molly Wahlberg Wire Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Austen Sofhaser Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christina Cheng, Ben Lankford, Alexis Mouledoux Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabe Alvarez, Nick Bachan, Josh Flanagan, Jeremy Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melanie Leary, Michael Murphy, Monica Tseng, Zac Wood Web Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ameila Erdman
Advertising
Director of Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jalah Briedwell Retail Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brad Corbett Account Executive/Broadcast Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Goss Campus/National Sales Consultant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Bowerman Assistant to Advertising Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.J. Salgado Student Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Moczygemba Student Advertising Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derek Diaz de Leon Acct. Execs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ford, Landon Blackburn, Chelsea Anaya, Jared Barker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren Aldana, Ann Marie Burnett, Kathryn Abbas, Jenn Muller, Justin Santilli Classified Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teresa Lai Special Editions, Editorial Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elena Watts Web Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danny Grover Special Editions, Student Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Samantha Breslow, Kira Taniguchi Graphic Designer Interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amanda Thomas, Rodrigo Maycotte Senior Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felimon Hernandez
The Daily Texan (USPS 146-440), a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78705. The Daily Texan is published daily except Saturday, Sunday, federal holidays and exam periods, plus the last Saturday in July. Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710. News contributions will be accepted by telephone (471-4591) or at the editorial office (Texas Student Media Building 2.122). For local and national display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified display and national classified display advertising, call 471-1865. For classified word advertising, call 471-5244. Entire contents copyright 2009 Texas Student Media.
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Texan Ad Deadlines
04/22/09
Monday .............Wednesday, 12 p.m. Thursday.................Monday, 12 p.m. Tuesday.................Thursday, 12 p.m. Friday......................Tuesday, 12 p.m. Word Ads 10 a.m. Wednesday................Friday, 12 p.m. Classified (Last Business Day Prior to Publication)
3A W/N
Wire Editor: Austen Sofhauser www.dailytexanonline.com
WORLD&NATION
3A
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
T HE DAILY TEXAN
UN says 4,500 killed in Sri Lanka
NATION BRIEFLY Texas teens may need doctor’s note for fake bake Getting time in a tanning bed may soon be much harder for some teens under a proposal that got initial approval from the Texas House on Tuesday. The bill would require anyone under 16.5 years old to get a doctor’s note before using a tanning bed. Older teens would need parental consent. “We are trying to be responsible parents, and we know the science now is that we have more and more cases (of skin cancer) starting at a very early age,� said Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton. Currently, Texas teens need parental permission as well as a parent’s presence until they are 16.
Surviving Somali teen pirate will be tried as an adult NEW YORK — The sole surviving pirate from an attack on an American cargo ship off the Somali coast will be tried as an adult after he was portrayed Tuesday as the ringleader of a band of pirates who shot at the ship’s captain and bragged about prior acts of piracy. The bravado authorities say 18-year-old Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse displayed as the first pirate to board the Maersk Alabama on April 8 had evaporated by the time he entered a federal courtroom to face a piracy charge that carries a mandatory life sentence. In addition to piracy, he was charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force; discharging a firearm; aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a conspiracy to seize a ship by force; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and brandishing a firearm.
Investigation continues in mass polo horse deaths WELLINGTON, Fla. — Organ by organ, veterinarians are taking apart 21 prized polo horses to uncover what killed them mysteriously over the weekend during preparations for a match in one of the sport’s top championships. With careful cuts to their muscular bodies, the investigators look for lesions, fluids, bruises and hemorrhages, any obvious signs of sickness. They’re removing the hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys and spleens, cutting small samples to be tested for toxins. The process unfolds much as it would for a dead human. State officials believe the horses died from an adverse drug reaction, toxins in their food or supplements, or a combination of the two. Two days after the horses’ deaths, authorities say they have not yet uncovered any crime. The horses from the Venezuelan-owned team began collapsing Sunday as they were unloaded from trailers at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, with some dying at the scene and others hours later. They were set to compete in the sport’s U.S. Open tournament ahead of the finals this coming Sunday, and were seen as top contenders. Compiled from Associated Press reports
Marko Drobnjakovic | Associated Press
Maysa Monem Abdul-Rahim, 24, center left, and Rahim Nouri, 23, center right, arrive at their wedding ceremony in Baghdad,which is basking in the latest calm. With violence down by 70 percent from a year ago, its residents are embracing a new fad: elaborate wedding bashes.
Confetti sprays replace blood in Iraq By Katarina Kratovac The Associated Press BAGHDAD — Three cars bedecked in flowers and ribbons swerve around blast walls and honk through police checkpoints before screeching to a halt outside a Baghdad hotel. A brass band runs up to a shining sedan as the bride, struggling with her gown, emerges. Confetti and rosebuds are showered over Maysa Monem and her new husband as women ululate — while inside the Sheraton’s ballroom, 300 friends and family wait, along with a luxurious, 10-layer wedding cake. The long stretch of relative calm in Baghdad is sparking a marriage boom. Couples who put their lives on hold amid Iraq’s turmoil are rushing to make up for lost time. Not only do more people appear to be hitching up, newly-
weds are throwing lavish wedding parties like those that were once a mainstay of the Baghdad social scene. During the darkest days of Iraq’s sectarian violence in 200607, when Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents were killing members of the rival sects, many couples put off marriages. Weddings did go on, but they were small, quiet affairs to avoid notice. Wedding parties were a favorite target of suicide bombers. Now with violence down 70 percent from a year ago, the freeze on personal lives is thawing. While comprehensive statistics aren’t available, reports from a few local authorities suggest that the number of weddings weddings has jumped dramatically. Shiite imam Ahmed Hirz Al-Yasiri says he certifies
marriages for up to 20 couples a day in the Shiite district of Sadr City twice the rate over the past three years. Ali al-Ukaili, a judge in a Baghdad municipal court, says he gets up to 100 marriage applications a day, compared to 70 only a short time ago, an increase he attributes to the greater security. And newlyweds again want to make a splash. Hotel and social club owners are rushing to meet demand, and ballrooms are booked months in advance, at up to $6,900 a night. Sheraton manager Mustafa Abdullah
says the hotel now hosts about 20 weddings a month. At the Sheraton, Abdullah recalls a newlywed couple scrambling out of their honeymoon suite, wrapped only in bedsheets, when the hotel and the next-door Palestine Hotel were attacked in a suicide bombing in 2005. Security remains a concern. With U.S. troops set to pull out of Baghdad and other cities by the end of June, the blast walls zigzagging through the capital will come down, leaving hotels like the Sheraton more exposed.
Krishan Francis The Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Sri Lanka’s northern war zone face a “catastrophic� situation, the Red Cross said Tuesday, amid fears that a final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels would lead to a dramatic rise in casualties. The United Nations and others have called for a negotiated truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip — and the government says more than 52,000 have escaped since Monday. But it has refused to heed the international pleas to halt the fighting, saying it is on the verge of crushing the separatists and putting an end to the 25-year-old war. The U.N. estimated that more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in the past three months. The rebels said more than 1,000 civilians died Monday in a government raid, while the government said it rescued thousands after they broke through a barrier built by the insurgents that protects their last stronghold. Human rights groups say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding many people in the enclave against their will and using them as human shields. Those groups have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the region. Both sides deny the allegations. Thousands of civilians also fled in packed small boats. More than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up Monday.
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OPINION
4A Wednesday, April 22, 2009
T HE DAILY TEXAN
Editor in Chief: Leah Finnegan Phone: (512) 232-2212 E-mail: editor@dailytexanonline.com Associate Editors: Audrey Campbell Josh Haney Jillian Sheridan Abby Terrell Mary Tuma
GALLERY
VIEWPOINT
An agenda for your car The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services approved a bill Tuesday with a 6-to1 vote that would allow specialty Texas license plates to read “Choose Life.” In a typical move, Gov. Rick Perry backed the trivial anti-abortion measure, which will now go to the full Senate. There is a similar measure in the House. Texans cannot currently buy pro-choice license plates. Though the measure is touted as simply pro-adoption — proceeds from the license plates go to supporting designated adoption causes — its message is blatantly anti-abortion and emerges as just another attempt by the state to alienate those who disagree with the good ole values of common decency and respect and don’t conform to the so-called Christian values of our nation. Perry has long sought non-traditional ways of exerting his social views on abortion, most prominently in 2005 when he signed into law a bill that requires girls under 18 to have their parents sign off on an abortion. The Office of the Governor’s Web site proudly touts, “As a result of these efforts, Texas witnessed double-digit drops in abortion rates among its teenagers.” Perry has a history of alienating his constituents in other ways, too. According to The Associated Press, in 2002 he called a law banning homosexual sex “appropriate,” and in 2005 he proudly slapped his signature on the Texas Marriage Amendment, which defined marriage as the “union of one man and one woman.” The objectionable part of this license plate bill is not just the fact that Texas lawmakers are seeking extinguish their opposition, but that the license plate’s message, rather than supporting a positive view — one of adoption — displays a message that demands that its readers agree. Many felt similar sentiments of coercion when, in the early years of the Iraq war, thousands of Texas cars displayed car magnets that read, “Support the Troops.” Though it was difficult to disagree with the magnets’ message, many objected to the fact that the magnets were not informing the public of their owners’ beliefs but instead demanding that everyone hold their views. Instead of “Choose Life,” the least a state-manufactured license plate could do is read, “I support life” or, better yet, “I support adoption,” as the latter is the message of the cause supposedly being supported. As evidenced by the recent media blitzkreig that raises questions not only of Perry’s ability to lead but of his mental competency, the right’s grip on Texas is waning. The 2008 presidential election marked the first time in decades that all four major Texas metropolitan areas, including Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Houston, went blue, and Perry’s most recent gubernatorial race was closer than most expected. These legislative initiatives are not just a waste of taxpayers’ time. They are an immature way for conservatives to hold onto the power that’s slipping through their fingers.
THE FIRING LINE Questioning Earth Week
Texan’s coverage biased
Earth Day, started in 1970, has now metastasized into Earth Week. It is a time during which humankind essentially apologizes, to nothing but nature itself, for existing. We are even exhorted to turn off our “unnecessary” (deliberately left undefined) lights for Earth Hour, where we pretend for one hour to be non-technological beings, secure in the knowledge that we can go back to our warm, dry homes with running water, lights and computers once we’ve performed our symbolic penance. One problem with this is that “sustainability” is a hoax. In “The Ultimate Resource,” economist Julian Simon conclusively demonstrated that although the earth is literally finite, resources mankind needs are in unlimited supply. We will never run out of “fossil fuels,” lumber, tin, water, etc. because any scarcity of these resources automatically provides an economic incentive to develop further supplies. Either less will be used, new sources will be found or economically viable substitutes will be developed. This economic incentive implies that green programs that can only operate with an injection of government funding, such as wind or solar power development and most recycling programs, consume more resources than they save. The heart of the matter is that environmentalism is in principle anti-human. The more consistent — and honest — environmentalists will admit as much, as in this chilling quote from a discussion of disposable diapers: “From the earth’s point of view, it’s not all that important which kind of diapers you use. The important decision was having the baby.” You should ask yourself about the wisdom of accepting the recommendations of a movement that considers your comfort irrelevant, your use of any resources suspicious and your existence a fundamental error. On Earth Day, please turn on your lights in celebration of man’s hard-won achievements in rising above the state of nature.
The April 21 article “Concealed weapons restricted at Capitol” is, without a doubt, the most lopsided, misleading articles in The Daily Texan’s long series of lopsided articles and misleading editorials on the issue of concealed carry on Texas college campuses. The only place in the Texas Capitol where concealed carry is restricted is in the viewing galleries of the House and Senate, when the House and Senate are convened. During those times, those two small balconies are secured with metal detectors and armed state troopers. Legislators with concealed-handgun licenses are still allowed to carry concealed handguns on the floors of the House and Senate, and the metal detectors securing the galleries are turned off as soon as the bodies adjourn each day. Concealed carry is always allowed throughout the rest of the Capitol, including in the committee chamber where the Texas House Committee on Public Safety recently held the public hearing on Texas House Bill 1893, the “guns on campus” bill. In fact, Texas legislators aren’t even allowed to restrict concealed carry in their own Capitol offices. Therefore, it’s more than a little unfair to suggest that they’re looking to require anything of public colleges that they don’t already require of themselves. Any thinking person realizes that it is absurd to compare an open college campus the size of a small city to an easily secured area like a balcony, where metal detectors can ensure that the area is gun free in more than name only, and where visitors are never out of the sight of armed state troopers.
Alan McKendree UT staff
Jeff Shi Computer sciences junior Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Longhorn chapter president
An analogy, for what it’s worth
Speaking out For the third time in the last eight days, I have read in The Daily Texan the claim that, as a University staff member, I am somehow prohibited from publicly commenting on Texas House Bill 1893 (affording CHL licensees the right to carry on campus) (“The petty theft equation,” The Firing Line, April 20). Well. As a staff member, I did not check my First Amendment guaranteed rights at the door, and I certainly would not be in favor of others checking their Second Amendment rights at the “door” to a public university. I feel completely at ease in the company of those staff members that I socialize with who own a CHL. I would feel equally comfortable knowing they may be carrying on campus along with other concealed-carry licensees. Please do not insult me by retracting my name from this letter.
To assess the effectiveness of banning guns on campus, we need only look to the effectiveness of banning marijuana on campus. While imposing a ban may satisfy those opposed to the activity, reality indicates that bans have little deterrent effect on those determined to bypass them. Marijuana is banned in society at large and yet it still finds a way to campus. Thus, it seems disingenuous or naive to think a campus ban on something that is allowed outside the edges of campus can be effective. How many of the campuses that have endured a shooting did not allow guns on their grounds? Since there seems to be no efficient way to prevent guns on campus, why not allow those licensed by the state to carry so that the law-abiding among us may be armed as well as the criminals?
Gary Joslin UT staff
LEGALESE
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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 welcomes submissions for guest columns. Columns must be between 500 and 700 words. Send columns to editor@dailytexanonline.com. The Texan reserves the right to edit all columns for clarity and liability if chosen for publication.
Travis Youngblood UT law student
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Commemorating Barbara Jordan impeachment hearings. In a true sign of changing times, Jordan was the first black woman to enjoy such a prominent role in an American This column, which usually lambasts the role political convention, making her a household Texas and Texans play on the national stage, will name. take a radically different tack this week. The ocShe retired from electoral politics in 1979, later casion deserves no less. Throughout this week, becoming a professor at the LBJ School of Pubthe University will honor the memory of icon- lic Affairs and chairing an immigration reform ic stateswoman Barbara Jordan, commencing task force at the behest of President Bill Clinton with a statue-unveiling at the Battle Oaks (24th in 1995, a year before her death. and Whitis streets) at noon on Friday. Jordan, a Jordan was most definitely ahead of her time, Houston native, will be the first woman and sec- and much recent political rhetoric has echoed ond African-American to be honored on the UT her philosophy. After decades of politics mired campus with a statue. in partisanship and pettiness, Jordan’s words Of Jordan’s extraordinary distinctions, one have since made a triumphant return to the thing was clear: When she walked into a room, mainstream of American politics. she commanded attention with President Barack Obama, her towering stature, boomwho has long stressed a ing voice and resounding eloshared responsibility for our Jordan was most quence. And though the ramcountry’s future, owes a great pant sexism and racism she debt to Jordan’s belief that “a definitely ahead of encountered as she rose to pospirit of harmony” can exist her time, and much litical prominence surely had in America “only if each of us recent political its effects on her demeanor, remembers ... when bitterness Jordan always wore her “magand self-interest seem to prerhetoric has echoed isterial dignity like an armor vail, that we share a common her philosophy. because she needed to,” as coldestiny,” as she said at the ‘76 umnist Molly Ivins described convention. it. In these times, Jordan’s legFor a woman who often said she didn’t intend acy continues to demand our attention not mereto become a “run-of-the-mill person,” Jordan’s ly because of the obvious obstacles she overcame careers in politics, law and education spanned (born a black woman into both poverty and the nearly three decades and were anything but or- segregated South) or the numerous “first” titles dinary. she acquired. Seeing Jordan in a historical conElected to the Texas Senate in 1966 on the heels text alone does nothing to honor her memory. of two unsuccessful campaigns, Jordan was the Now more than ever, it seems as if we need an first black woman to hold a seat. In 1972, she abundance of Barbara Jordans in public service. went on to win a seat in the U.S. House, repre- Her standards of perseverance, ethical leadersenting inner-city Houston. ship and courage of conviction are qualities any She would gain national fame after two speech- American would desire in a political leader, rees that openly displayed her remarkable orator- gardless of party. ical skills and devotion to America’s founding She was unique to her moment in history. It is ideals. Jordan’s 1974 speech to the House Judi- our responsibility to bring Jordan’s legacy and ciary Committee in favor of President Richard relevance into 21st-century politics, particularNixon’s impeachment, televised in full, galva- ly those of us who are tomorrow’s political elite nized a nation that longed for accountability. — many of whom undoubtedly walk this camThe second was her keynote address at the pus today. 1976 Democratic National Convention, an inviCervantes is a government sophomore. tation she recieved largely due to her role in the By Roberto Cervantes Daily Texan Columnist
An ode to Austin By Alisha Brophy Daily Texan Columnist I grew up in the country on the East Coast in a house with pelts decorating the walls. Deer heads would glare down at me as my mother would lie about what was going to constitute our meals. Squirrel stew is not the easiest delicacy to convince a child to taste. As an adult, I headed for the city life on the West Coast, a part of the world I thought would better suit my tastes. I was wrong. On a date with a sushi connoisseur, I nibbled at the guts pouring from the belly of an uncooked fish. Turns out, as long as you’re in an urban area and pay top dollar, eating unusual animals is considered “sophisticated.” But once I got to Austin, I discovered the joy that is Shiner beer, guacamole queso and all-ucan-eat brisket. My taste buds had finally found a place to call home. It’s not just my stomach that has fallen in love with Austin. In my small hometown, my two left feet had always found refuge along gymnasium walls during school dances. In fact, one year, my feet wouldn’t even cross the property line. All dressed up for the Winter Dance, I ended up hiding in the woods behind the school. While living in the big city, weekends meant downtown clubbing. I quickly found a link between martinis and a willingness to awkwardly gyrate. But when I saw photos of myself and realized I danced with my thumbs in the air, my feet regressed once again to searching out walls. Here in Austin, my girlfriends dragged me to my first honky-tonk. But just as I found a friendly wall to adorn, a man asked me to dance. I turned him down, and my friend immediately scolded me. I didn’t know it is a southern rule never to turn down a dance. My face went white. My
thumbs started itching. As it turns out, two-stepping is nothing more than a simple right-right-left, and I found myself gliding along, each song with a different cowboy twirling me through the crowd. The old men were the best dance partners. They had been stepping, in pattern, around wooden floors for longer than I’d been alive. If I lost the timing, they leaned back and used their bellies to set me back on beat. By my third honky-tonk, I invested in a Texan necessity: My feet now have a pair of russet-red cowboy boots to call home. But it’s my heart that is the happiest here. In my small hometown, I dated the cliched country guy. He chewed tobacco, had camouflage bedding and wasn’t a fan of the “hippies.” This was a man who would move his gun and dog from the passenger seat to make room for me ... sometimes. Moving to the big city did not solve my problems. At first, it was satisfying to find others that were like-minded. Liberal and educated worldtravelers were sprinkled throughout the bars, the grocery stores, even the gas stations. But relationship conflicts brewed when I realized they often would have rather built their stock portfolios than campfires. Willie Nelson settled into Austin because this is the one part of the country he could be a “redneck hippie.” Thirty years later, I made the same discovery. Standing at the UT polls, wearing my new cowboy boots, I voted for Obama. My bleeding heart finally felt at home. Tonight, I’ll pull into my driveway and smile at the presidential sticker in my window. I’ll tap my cowboy boots to the country music my roommate’s usually playing in the backyard, and I’ll rummage through the fridge, looking for some Shiner. I am home. Brophy is a screenwriting graduate student.
5A UNIV
Mayoral candidates to debate on campus after near cancellation By Melissa Pan Daily Texan Staff A public affairs student group nearly canceled a mayoral debate Tuesday that it will host tonight at the school’s library. Invitations to the debate were originally offered to the three frontrunners — Lee Leffingwell, Brewster McCracken and Carole Keeton Strayhorn — out of the five mayoral candidates. Earlier on Tuesday, Leffingwell and Strayhorn said they would not participate in the debate unless candidates David Buttross and Josiah Ingalls were invited as well. Invitations to the debate were extended to all five candidates at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. According to the KXAN Web site, time constraints, high-profile endorsements, fundraising totals and polling data determined who was originally invited to the mayoral debate. KXAN was unavailable for comment. If the televised event is sponsored by a private group like KXAN, inclusion of all candidates is not required, said associate journalism professor Robert Jensen. The debate, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., will be simulcast on KXAN’s TV station and Web site. The group, Citizens for Local and State Service, organized the debate with the LBJ School of Public Affairs’ Center for Politics and Governance and KXAN Austin News. About 10 LBJ School students founded the organization in the fall of 2008 to promote involvement in state and local gov-
NEWS BRIEFLY In run-up to statue unveiling, students honor Barbara Jordan A dozen engrossed students gathered around the Littlefield Patio Cafe as music performance graduate student Nicole Taylor boomed “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot� over the trembling speakers. Taylor and others held a celebration honoring Barbara Jordan, who will be remembered with a statue that will be placed at 24th Street and Whitis Avenue on Friday. “She had one of the most distinct voices, not only in what she
5A
NEWS
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
ernments, said Lauren Rose, a founding member of the group and a public affairs graduate student. The group received background information and feedback from the Center for Politics and Governance, which has hosted City Council debates. In addition, members of the group contributed articles to KXAN’s debate Web site on the student group and on different issues on which members say the future Austin mayor will need to focus.
The debate, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., will be simulcast on KXAN’s TV station and Web site. The group has worked with the panelists and moderators to flesh out the debate questions, leaving room for audience questions and for questions submitted online via KXAN’s Web site. The organization also plans to incorporate other student communities in setting up future mayoral debates, said Kate Mason, a founding member of the group and a public affairs graduate student. “Getting involved with local government is an opportunity to affect people’s lives every day in small and large ways,� Mason said. “In these times of uncertainty, it’s very important to inform people on issues and help each other get through the financial crisis.�
wrote but how she said it,� said County Judge Eric Shepperd. “Speaking truth to power is what she did so well.� Along with being one of the most dynamic speakers in U.S. history, Jordan was also the first black female in the Texas House of Representatives and the first black female from the South to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, Shepperd said. Jordan’s statue will be the first statue of a female on campus. “We can’t escape the diversity on campus, and that statue will remind us of that,� said Lauren Williams, president of the Black Honor Students Association. — Matt Stephens
The Harry Ransom Center presents
Wednesday April 22, Noon Marathon reading of Shake-speares Sonnets (1609) View a live webcast of this event at www.hrc.utexas.edu/ webcast. Birthday cake will be served at this free event to honor William Shakespeare’s birthday on April 23.
21st and Guadalupe Streets www.hrc.utexas.edu
Researchers explain brain functions By Viviana Aldous Daily Texan Staff UT researchers explained brain processes to hundreds of Austinites at the Erwin Center on Tuesday night. The Center for Learning and Memory hosted the second annual Memory Matters: Exploring Memory Through Research event, where attendees viewed seven research demonstrations, including memory testing, computer simulations of the brain and how the brain learns navigation. “Basic research is typically not well-understood and not wellrecognized as the foundation that leads to new discoveries of treatments and diseases,� said center director Dan Johnston. “We thought having a public forum of this sort would allow us to explain it better.� Neurobiology professors Kristen Harris and Richard Aldrich provided an overview of brain functionality. “A small change in a molecule can actually have very profound effects of the structure of the brain that can then have effects on learning and memory and other functions,� Aldrich said. Studying basic functions of the brain can help researchers understand how it works, Johnston said. “I would love to have my memory not fail,� Johnston said. “Everyone wants a solution, but it’s a practical problem of biology.� Johnston explained that the brain stores short-term memories and long-term memories at two different locations in the brain. “I try not to cram for exams because it’s not effective for learn-
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Neurobiology professor Richard Aldrich speaks at the Erwin Center as part of the annual Memory Matters symposium, hosted by the Center for Learning and Memory on Monday. ing the material,� said undeclared sophomore Lance Twomey. “But cramming can work for the short term.� Some professors use the Learning Record, a database of students’ observations and findings, to monitor students’ performance and help them effectively learn and process information. “The Learning Record allows students to learn about their process of learning and how they can make it work better,� said Margaret Syverson, an associate rhetoric and writing professor. “It helps me as a teacher because it gives me some insight as to the obstacles for students and how I can
help support them learn better.� Memorization can be effective for certain skills and limited contexts, said integrative biology professor Dick Richardson. But creative thinking is a more complex form of learning that’s important for understanding contextual details, he said. “I can help [students] learn, but learning is ultimately a personal experience,� Richardson said. “What a student learns represents an interaction between the effort and time they invest, and the teacher is a guide to help this process work effectively.� Richardson gives his students essay tests to avoid what he calls
“superficial study habits.� “Cramming just makes things more stressful,� said communication studies sophomore Leah Wise. “But self-discipline is needed to stay on track.� Nine faculty members constitute the Center for Learning and Memory, which aims to combine research on different parts of the brain to better understand it as a whole. “Most people don’t know a lot about how the brain functions,� said Gisela Gandara, a St. Edward’s University psychology senior who attended the event. “We never have these types of events on campus, but this one is really informing the public.�
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Forbes names Austin-Round Rock best area for jobs By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert Daily Texan Staff Texans looking for a job might not have far to go, according to Forbes. The Austin-Round Rock area had topped the magazine’s list of the Best Big Cities for Jobs, followed by four other Texas metropolitan areas: Houston-Sugarland-Baytown, San Antonio, Fort Worth-Arlington and Dallas-Plano-Irving. Austin also is the only city out of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas that added jobs
in the past months, said Beverly Kerr, vice president of research at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. “From February to March, there has been a net growth of over 3,000 jobs in Austin,� Kerr said. Jobs have been lost in the city’s private sector, but state employment and the government sector have seen increases, Kerr added. Kerr said that to many, Austin is attractive for its quality of life, real estate stability and relatively stable economy. The number of layoffs in Austin’s tech-oriented in-
Former Texan comics artist loses battle with cancer By Matt Stephens Daily Texan Staff Jeffrey Mikeska, a 25-year-old former Daily Texan cartoonist and UT alumnus who died last week, was buried Monday. Mikeska lost a battle with squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2006. “He was very optimistic and very determined to live a normal life,� said his mother, Mary Mikeska. Following his graduation from the LBJ Science Academy, he started college at UT in 2002. Mikeska graduated in 2008 with bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering and biology. He received the Mike Wacker Award in 2007, which honors hardworking students who face adversity while attending the University. During his time at UT, Mikesa received treatment for multiple tumors. Mary Mikeska said her son had planned to attend graduate school and had applied to as many as eight different schools for aerospace engineering or biology. She said her son was “very proud to be a UT student.� Following the burial Monday, “The Eyes of Texas� was played to honor his time as a UT student. Mikeska said her son was also “very proud that his cartoon was in The Daily Texan.� “I know that he really loved doing the comic strips,� she said. Mikeska started drawing“Rocket Surgeon� in 2006 under then-Comics Editor Joseph Devens. “He was incredibly talented,� Devens said. “His comics were incredibly inventive and unique. His skills as a comedy writer were great by any standard.� Devens said he enjoyed his time working with Mikeska during their two years together and knew him outside of the Texan. “He always went to my parties,� Devens said. “He was always friendly and warm. And he was always making jokes.�
dustry is less dramatic compared to those in major out-of-state cities, she added. “Austin has always had a high net migration,� Kerr said. “The city has a yearly growth of over 3 percent. A large part of that is migration compared to growth in other cities.� UT economics professor Daniel Hamermesh said Austin atrracts many job-seekers because of its high-tech appeal and unique qualities that give the city character. Both state and national unemployment rates, however, are rising overall, according to a report by the
Texas Workforce Commission. The numbers are seasonally adjusted to include factors such as college graduates entering the workforce for the first time, said commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt. The state unemployment rate rose from 6.5 percent in February to 6.7 percent in March. The number still lies below the national rate, which rose from 8.1 percent to 8.5 percent during the same time period. Hamermesh said it would be more accurate to describe Texas as “among the less bad� rather than the best when it comes to jobs.
“The recession is less severe here compared to states like California, Arizona and Nevada,� Hamermesh said. “There was not much of a housing boom here, so there was not much of a housing bust.� Hamermesh said that, in comparison, California was hit much more severely by the real estate crash and that its unemployment rate has climbed above 10 percent. Though Texas’ education, health service and transportation industries have been growing, its construction and manufacturing in-
dustries saw significant job losses last month, Hatchitt said. An increased reliance on foreign oil has diminished the petroleum industry’s role in the state’s economy, Hamermesh said. Hatchitt said Texas cities have broadened their industry base. She added that Austin’s diverse industries offer a wide range of jobs. “Michigan is very manufacturing-based and has relied on the auto industry for years,� she said. “But the auto industry has been facing challenges. That’s why it’s good to have a diverse industry.�
A spin in the park
Jeffrey McWhorter | Daily Texan Staff
Hillary Savage, a resident of the Juniper-Olive Historic District in East Austin, spins her 2-year-old daughter Zoe in front of their home Tuesday afternoon.
EDUCATION: Students already receive scholarships from AISD From page 1A the teachers, particularly to teach physics,� Marshall said. “There’s also some concern that the dropout rate will increase. I personally don’t think that’s true. I think some people have kind of been raised to fear science somewhat and to not think well
of science. They think of it as an optional thing.� Richard Mattingly, the College of Education’s assistant dean of student affairs, said education students were awarded more than $300,000 in scholarship money last year. Mattingly said many UT students received $5,000 scholarships from the
Austin Independent School District for specializing in underserved subjects, including math and science. He said those scholarships have no service requirement. The majority of UT’s education students specialize in elementary education, but Marshall said that more than 400 students are on track to become
math and science teachers as part of the University’s UTeach program, which trains non-education majors to teach math and science after graduation. Patrick’s bill will now go to the House, where it has been introduced by state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands. The bill has not yet had a committee hearing.
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1B SPTS
SPORTS
B
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sports Editor: David R. Henry E-mail: sports@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2210 www.dailytexanonline.com
T HE DAILY TEXAN
BASEBALL
No.2 Rice 7, No. 5 Texas 4
Missed opportunities abound in Texas loss By Austin Talbert Daily Texan Staff Baseball is a game of inches. As overused as the cliche is, it certainly rang true for Texas on Tuesday. The reason for this sports cliche: games played exactly like Texas’ 7-4 loss to Rice. “They had three balls just inside the line,” said Texas head coach Augie Garrido. “We had three balls just outside the line. That is a point of separation. You can measure it up any way you want, but the luck factor played a role.” Yes, Rice (28-10) outplayed Texas (29-9) all over the diamond. Texas had five hits, the Owls had 13. Texas committed an error, the Owls played spotless defense. Texas pitchers, who came into Tuesday leading the NCAA in ERA, struggled with a hodgepodge combination of five pitchers, but so did Rice, us-
ing six pitchers who combined to walk 12 Texas batters. The Longhorns didn’t allow a single walk. But on Tuesday, a few inches separated Texas from taking down the Owls in a showdown between two of the nation’s top-five teams. In the second, Rice scored two runs and Texas answered with one. Rice added two more in the third. Texas answered with one more. Rice always seemed to put the ball just where it needed to be. Down the line in left, through the right side of the infield on a hit-and-run, a blooper that fell right between a charging center fielder and the sprinting shortstop — those few feet kept Texas always a step behind. The first inning was a microcosm of Texas’ struggles. The Longhorns led the game off with back-to-back walks, and a liner hit by Brandon Belt looked to give Texas the early
lead. But instead of sneaking past the charging Rice fielder for a two-run triple, the ball was snagged by Rice center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh, who then threw out Travis Tucker for a double play at second. So went the game. Texas had its chances, but time after time came up just a few inches short. “The line drive that [Texas outfielder Tant] Shepherd hit, the center fielder didn’t have to be in that close. He didn’t have to be that close to the alley,” Garrido said, referring to a highlight-reel catch Sultzbaugh made in the seventh. “But they were in position to make the plays all night and they made them.” The Longhorns couldn’t convert in clutch situations.
Bryant Haertlein | Daily Texan Staff
Rice’s Jimmy Comerota tries to tag Texas’ Connor Rowe at first base.
LOSS continues on page 2B
Conradt keeps adding to legacy
SOFTBALL
No. 23 Texas at Baylor
Horns adjust focus for rematch with BU By Lena Price Daily Texan Staff The last time the Texas softball team faced Baylor, head coach Connie Clark said it was suffering from a case of the “right at” syndrome. “We hit the ball hard right at people,” Clark said. “It’s sort of the nature of the game. You can have a great atbat, hit a shot right at someone, and it can be an out.” The outs eventually added up and cost the Longhorns (34-14, 10-4 Big 12) a win at home against Baylor (33-17, 9-5 Big 12). Tonight, Texas will take on the Bears again — this time in Waco. “[A win in Waco] would be significant, since we only have four conference games left,” Clark said. “Three of those four games are on the road, and the first one starts with Baylor. We need to really get focused.” The team will need to focus to defeat Baylor’s top freshman pitcher Whitney Canion, who held the Longhorns to just two runs in the game earlier this month. “I think we need to have the mindset going in that we did hit the ball fairly hard off her,” Clark said. “We’ll make a few adjustments because we’re almost certain we’ll face her again.” Junior designated player Loryn Johnson was one of the few Horns able to on-base against Canion with two doubles, a home run, a walk and an RBI. “The offensive lineup has already seen a lot of her pitches,” Johnson said. “She throws a lot of strikeouts, so they are going to happen. We just need to keep plugging away each at bat.” In preparation for a win against the Bears, Johnson said the team worked on not hitting pop flies and allowing easy outs.
Shaun Stewart | Daily Texan file photo
Jody Conradt, former Texas women’s basketball coach and athletics director, has worked to put Texas and women’s athletics in the spotlight since joining the Longhorns in 1976. She won 900 games as a head coach and is currently a special assistant to the women’s athletic director.
Legendary coach still spends time representing Longhorns, women’s athletics By Will Anderson Daily Texan Staff Jody Conradt might not be the head women’s basketball coach anymore, but that doesn’t mean her job is any easier. By the time Conradt retired as head coach at Texas in 2007, she had already served as women’s athletics director for nine years. She had been at UT since 1976 and won 900 career games, 12 conference championships and a national title. She had been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as only the seventh female coach in the hall’s 31-year history. Conradt has faced many changes in her personal life in the two years, one month and 10 days since her departure, but one thing that’s stayed the same is her place as the face
of women’s athletics at the University. “I always will feel like I’ve had a chance to be a part of [the legacy],” Conradt said recently, speaking from her cell phone on her way back from a UT-related engagement in San Antonio. “I am so thankful for my opportunity to come here.” Conradt is listed as special assistant to women’s athletics director Chris Plonsky. She continues to represent the interests of women’s sports at the University and also serves in an ambassadorial role in fundraising and representing the school around the country. But those are only her official duties. Conradt also talks with female high school athletes around the state, upholding her sporting legacy and cultivating various projects in the athletics department.
“We wanted her to get what she earned — her retirement,” Plonsky said of Conradt’s decision to retire in 2007. “But everyone also wanted her to stay connected with the University.” At one point in her career, Conradt coached both volleyball and women’s basketball at Texas. She continues her Superwoman-like performance in her current capacities, traveling all over the state to “talk at public engagements and just spread the goodwill of the University,” Conradt said. Conradt is supposed to work 20 hours a week as a special assistant but estimates that she usually exceeds that number by a fair amount. She spent some time in Taylor last
CONRADT continues on page 2B
SOFTBALL continues on page 2B WEDNESDAY: No. 23 Texas (34-14) at Baylor (33-17) WHERE: Getterman Field (Waco) WHEN: 6:30 p.m. ONLINE: TexasSports.com
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Second baseman Kelly Melone makes a catch earlier this year. Texas goes for its fourth-straight win tonight.
NFL DRAFT This is the first in a series profiling three Texas prospects for this weekend’s NFL Draft
Quan Cosby, wide receiver
Brian Orakpo, defensive end
Bulked-up Miller impresses with strength, speed
Jeffrey McWhorter | Daily Texan Staff
Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller, right, was a strong run stuffer for the 2008 Longhorns and will likely be a mid- to late-round pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft.
By Blake Hurtik Daily Texan Staff It’s easy to get overshadowed when you played on the same defensive line as Brian Orakpo — even when you weigh 313 pounds. That’s the situation Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller finds himself in. While Orakpo is projected to be a top15 pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft, Miller has spent his time trying to make a name for himself and to prove that the Longhorns’ 2008 defensive line wasn’t just a one-man show.
Most draft experts predict Miller will be drafted in the mid to late rounds. Miller established himself as one of the top run-stuffers in the Big 12 last season, forming a perfect complement to Orakpo’s pass-rushing abilities. He finished with 49 tackles and 5.5 sacks, third-best on the team, and started all 13 games. The conference’s coaches named him to the AllBig 12 first team while The Associated Press and other media outlets tabbed him as an All-Big 12 second teamer.
But Miller’s work didn’t end with Texas’ Fiesta Bowl win, where he was named the game’s defensive MVP. After graduating in December with a degree in corporate communication, he turned his full attention to preparing for the draft. At the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 18-24, Miller showed his strength with 36 reps in the 225-pound bench press, second-best among defensive linemen, and ran the 40-yard dash in 5.09 sec-
DRAFT continues on page 2B
2B SPTS
2B
SPORTS
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
DRAFT: Miller
CONRADT: Former
coach has become a Longhorn icon
out to prove scouts wrong
From page 1B
From page 1B onds. He said a strained hamstring was the cause for his underwhelming time. He also showed up 15 pounds heavier than his 2008 playing weight of 295. By Texas’ Pro Timing Day on March 25, Miller had added another three pounds, tipping the scales at 313 pounds. Even with the added weight, he managed to run an impressive 4.88-second 40-yard dash. “I strained my hamstring two weeks before the Combine, so I was just kind of babying it,” Miller said after Pro Day. “I was glad to be able to come out here and show that I’m kind of fast.” The combination of strength and quickness is essential to playing in the NFL. Miller said he made a conscious effort to bulk up yet still maintain his athleticism with a 4,800-caloriea-day diet and a strict regimen of heavy lifting. “I wanted to gain the weight to show that I could run and still be athletic at 313, and I did,” he said. While he has impressed in those areas, he isn’t without weaknesses. His short, squatty frame won’t get much bigger, and he isn’t a natural passrusher. But he does fit the role of a run-stuffing nose tackle in the 3-4 formation or a one-technique in the 4-3. Having a tall frame isn’t necessary for a defensive tackle, as current Pittsburgh Steeler and former Longhorn Casey Hampton proved. The 6-foot-1-inch, 325-pound Hampton was taken 19th overall in the 2001 draft and has made the Pro Bowl four times. Miller said he can see himself filling a similar role. “I think I stack up very well against the other guys,” Miller said.
Bryant Haertlein | Daily Texan Staff
Texas coach Augie Garrido, right, and pitcher Cole Green, left, suffered through a frustrating 7-4 loss to second-ranked Rice Tuesday night. The Longhorns couldn’t take advantage of the Owls’ pitching troubles and had a 10-game winning streak broken.
LOSS: Owls get timely plays; Horns don’t From page 1B “They didn’t get the hit they needed when they needed it,” said Rice coach Wayne Graham. “The big key to [the] game is if the ball gets by [Sultzbaugh], it is a different game. Fortunately he can make those plays, and he made it tonight.” In the eighth, already with a 6-4 lead, Sultzbaugh hit into a similar situation with a line drive to center. Texas center fielder Connor Rowe charged the ball and nearly made a spectacular diving catch and, with Michael Fuda already rounding third, it would have been a surefire double play. Instead, the ball glanced off the heel of Rowe’s glove and Fuda easily scored to extend the Owls’ lead to 7-4. “Those are the points of separation [the line drive they caught, and the one we
“They had three balls just inside the line. We had three balls just outside the line. You can measure it up any way you want, but the luck factor played a role.” — Augie Garrido, Texas baseball coach didn’t],” Garrido said. “They are the little nuances in baseball that people miss. But there were definitely turning points. They separated the teams. Baseball is about a lot of little things like that.” Throughout the night, Texas struggled to make the most of its opportunities. Diego Seastrunk, who began the game as the Owls’ designated hitter, took the mound for Rice in the eighth and walked the first two Longhorns. Brandon Loy would attempt to bunt for a hit, but instead only
advanced the runners to second and third. But the Longhorns couldn’t get anything — Rowe flied out to the shortstop and Tucker grounded out to kill the rally. “We got frustrated when balls weren’t falling where we wanted them to fall,” said Texas pitcher Chance Ruffin, who pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings to end the game. “They make a diving play, and that takes some air out of our balloon. That mental hurdle was too much to overcome.”
SPORTS BRIEFLY Kirkland transferred to ATF after traffic stop, arrest The case of rising boxing star James Kirkland, who was arrested during a traffic stop Sunday, was transferred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms early Tuesday morning. A spokeswoman for the bureau said the Austin Police Department contacted them after the department found that Kirkland was on probation from a 2003 armed robbery arrest. The bureau will handle Kirkland’s case from here on out, the spokeswoman said. Kirkland, an Austin native, was set to fight Michael Walker on the undercard of Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao bout on May 2. Kirkland’s co-manager and lawyer Michael Miller said he wasn’t sure of the fight’s status but that it would become clearer in upcoming days. Kirkland was rumored to be seeking out WBO light middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk in August if he defeated Walker. Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) was on the path to stardom after signing with Golden Boy Promotions. The signing came shortly
after his second-round TKO of Ricardo Cortes at the Austin Music Hall was aired on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. His two fights since — both TKO victories — were aired on HBO and have put him in the favor of the sport’s prime network.
— Colby White
Mutumbo injures knee, leaves game on stretcher PORTLAND, Ore. — Houston Rockets reserve center Dikembe Mutombo injured his left knee in Tuesday night’s playoff game against the Trail Blazers and left the court on a stretcher. Mutombo appeared to get tangled with Portland center Greg Oden and came down hard on the leg late in the first quarter of Game 2. Mutombo stayed prone on the court under the Blazers’ basket for several moments before he was taken from the court. A preliminary examination revealed a knee strain and he was ruled out the rest of the game. Mutombo played 18 minutes in Game 1 of the series and had nine rebounds. The Rockets won the opener, 108-81. — The Associated Press
SOFTBALL: Texas bats prepare
for stingy Baylor freshman From page 1B
we decide to swing. We tend to like to swing, and if we Texas is third in the Big can hit behind runners, that 12 and leads the Bears by a helps us advance.” game. “We’re pretty much neckto-neck with them in the Big Big 12 honors Barnhill 12 standings,” Johnson said. Texas pitcher Brittany “We took a low blow at Barnhill was named Big 12 home, and it took us a while Pitcher of the Week after goto recover from it.” ing 3-0 last week and pitchThe Longhorns have ing three complete games, built up a three-game win- two of which were shutouts. ning streak, and the mo- In 21 innings last week, the mentum might help the sophomore allowed just one team earn a win on the run, giving her an ERA of road tonight. 0.33 for the week. “We’re just trying to get Barnhill leads the Longback on track to having more horns with a 22-9 record in productive outs,” Clark said. 35 appearances (27 starts), “Whether we set bunts down 135 strikeouts in 178 innings and go to the short game or if and an overall ERA of 2.56.
week and has plans to visit Waco in a few days to speak. She has helped charities around Austin since her earliest days at the University. Recently she was involved with the Neighborhood Longhorns Program, an organization dedicated to the development of local elementary and middle school students. In 2006, the organization honored her for her lifetime contributions to the program. Conradt is well-respected across campus and across the state. She is in numerous halls of fame and has had everything from legislation (SR 653 and HR 1339) to, most recently, UT rowing shells named after her. “She did win championships, she did go undefeated, but what she’ll be remembered for is her class and her role as a pioneer of women’s basketball,” said men’s athletics director DeLoss Dodds. “Jody will be remembered always as someone who took the program from nothing to something special nationally.” When former women’s athletic director Donna Lopiano started looking for a coach to replace Rod Paige at the helm of women’s basketball in 1975, she turned to the Big East, planning to snag a bigtime coach from a powerhouse conference. Conradt wasn’t even on Lopiano’s radar — let alone her list of candidates. Lopiano called Conradt, who was then an athletic director and multi-sport coach at UT-Arlington. Lopiano just wanted some advice on picking a candidate, but Conradt gave her some sound guidance that wound up slightly prophetic. “Donna,” Conradt said on the phone that day, “if I were you, I’d be hiring somebody who understands this state.” Conradt’s name kept popping up when Lopiano asked coaches around Texas and, considering Conradt’s 117-62 record, Lopiano ended up making an easier decision than she could have imagined. Conradt came in 1976. Headlines in the newspapers called her $19,000-per-year stipend a mansized salary, something Plonsky and Conradt laugh at today. Along with Lopiano, Conradt helped make women’s athletics what it is in 2009. “They were Mutt and Jeff,” Plonsky said about the duo. “Donna was the brash, aggressive Yankee. Jody was the quintessential Texan: gentile, a true lady who grew up in a small Texas town.” Both worked in their own ways to promote the agenda of female student athletes on campus and knew that athletics was just another way to teach young women about life. “You couldn’t tell the story without Jody Conradt,” Plonsky said. “While Donna was working feverously with the administration to gain support, Jody’s program and her players became the face of what we did. She knew that this place would succeed. She knew it was a sleeping giant. She believed that through sport and education women could succeed in a way that men traditionally had.” A self-proclaimed fan of all things Texas, Conradt has been involved with the University for more than 30 years. At 68 years young, she says she sees herself continuing to work for some time to come. “I stay busy, but I’m having a good time,” she said. “It’s like coaching: I don’t have a timetable. The University of Texas is a big part of my life and I never envision myself leaving the city of Austin.” Conradt said the role of a women’s basketball coach today is nothing like what she signed up for in 1976. It is a full-time investment, just like the men’s job, with recruiting, scouting and networking. But if not for Conradt and other early pioneers of the women’s game, female athletes might still be playing six-on-six ball in a sport separate and totally unequal to its male equivalent. When asked how she responds to the claims that she helped change the landscape of collegiate sports, Conradt speaks with conviction, as if she’s been asked this many times before. “All of this would not have happened if I was not part of a bigger picture,” she said. “I’m just a teeny part of the whole thing. I just feel very fortunate for my tenure here.” The female athletes, coaches and assistants at Texas probably feel the same way.
3B CLASS
3B
LIFE&ARTS
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
MUSIC: Group’s first
event will award cash to songwriting winner From page 6B
Rachel Colson | Daily Texan Staff
Nate Kornegay, a student at the Media Tech Institute, records songs for his roommate Holland Angel on Friday afternoon. Angel is a member of Austin Entertainment United, a group that is attempting bridge the gap between students and the entertainment industry.
to the entertainment industry. Trey Gutierrez, a radio-television-film freshman, runs his own DJ company called DJ Trey Entertainment. He said he joined the organization primarily to network and to connect himself, as well as others, to the real world. “It’s like the perfect collaboration of student minds to get people heard,� Gutierrez said of the group. Michael Loredo, also an executive director and co-founder, said there is a dearth of student organizations aimed at getting the messages of aspiring entertainment industry professionals heard. Loredo said that for a campus of about 50,000 students, especially one set in the Live Music
Capital of the World, the creation of such a group at the University “took way too long.� The group will host its first event, a singer-songwriter contest, on May 8 in the Texas Union Show Room. The winner will receive $12,000 to put toward a sixsong, professionally recorded EP. The winning artist will perform on campus at an event hosted by Austin Entertainment United and have his or her CD digitally distributed in the fall. All students can register to enter the contest, not just those who attend UT, and it is open until 5 p.m. on April 29. Austin Entertainment United is currently an open-membership group with no membership fees until the fall. Interested students may register at the group’s Web site: aeutexas.webs.com.
HUMP: Sense of ‘duty’ causes erectile dysfunction in young men In older males, ED can be a result of numerous medical conditions and diseases, but in younger males, the causes are a little bit more difficult to pin down. At the 2008 fall Sexual Medicine Society meeting, Sydney Galina, a medical researcher based in Brazil, presented information on the prevention of erectile dysfunction. In his presentation, Galina noted that the leading factors causing ED in younger males are “emotional stress, general unhappiness and dissatisfaction with partner.� Erectile dysfunction is a real medical condition that warrants medical treatment. However, when our culture and even our medical community is so
From page 6B sort of sexual problem, according to a 2006 ABC News health report by Khama Ennis and Boston Urologist Dr. Irwin Goldstein. But let’s examine a little more carefully just what exactly all of this “dysfunction� is about. Erectile dysfunction is defined as “the repeated inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse,� according to the National Kidney and Urological Diseases Clearinghouse. And despite the initial impression given by Viagra commercials, ED affects approximately “50 percent of males at some point in their lives, including young men,� according to the company’s Web site.
CLASSIFIEDS
a healthy way to express emotions. When we bog sexuality down with notions of “duty,� we miss the point. Furthermore, when you take these messages into consideration and reevaluate the existence of “sexual dysfunction� in young men, maybe the failure to achieve and maintain an erection isn’t due to some medical condition — maybe it’s just in his head. As in, maybe he can’t stay hard because he doesn’t actually like who he’s sleeping with. And maybe, just maybe, there is so much pent up anxiety about the shape, size, girth and hardness of his penis that sex isn’t sex so much as it is a battle for his masculinity. What guy could stay in the moment with that kind of burden on his back?
THE DAILY TEXAN
UNS AD IRNE FOR ONL
E! FRE ad s
for female partners. These manuals are a response to new research on female sexuality — mainly, the importance of clitoral stimulation in orgasm and the typical need for situational desire in order for women to become sexually aroused. In the pages of these guides, young men are pounded with the message that it is their masculine duty to provide their female partners with sexual satisfaction. Not to say that the old model of male sexual satisfaction’s superiority is any better, but maybe the idea of “duty� is in itself harmful. Sex is an interpersonal act, and while empathy for your partner is nice, energy could be1 better spent getting to know yourself and to come at sex from the perspective of it being
CLASSIFIEDS
day, month day, 2008
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quick to label something a “dysfunction� and slap a prescription down, I think we forget that stereotyped expectations of males can be just as harmful as a physical or physiological irregularity. Men are constantly told to be virile. Pick up any men’s health magazine and you will see some svelte jock on the cover and read messages about how to get ripped abs and please a woman. To exacerbate the already existing myth that a man’s worth is tied up in his ability to attract the finest of women and get hard at the drop of a hat (because, of course, if she’s hot, then he must want to have sex with her), the new batch of male-marketed sex literature now supports an ideal of “sexual empathy�
on l y
ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFLY Farrow vows hunger strike after Sudan expels aid groups LOS ANGELES — Mia Farrow plans to begin a hunger strike next week in solidarity with the people of Darfur. The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian says she will begin a “fast of only water� on Monday “as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease.� Farrow was moved to begin the hunger strike after the Sudanese government expelled international aid agencies from the country last month. Farrow says she is calling on world leaders to “help build a credible peace process� to end the violence in Darfur. — The Associated Press
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400 Condos-Townhouses
AVALIBLE IMMEDIATELY 2/2 Condo, $1,395/ month, 1200sqft. 5min. UT/shuttle. PERFECT for Graduate Students. GREAT VIEW! NEWLY DECORATED paint/carpet, NEW appliances, W/D, pool, Water paid. Call Nancy 352-284-0979
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1/2 MILE TO CAMPUS. Nice 4Beds/2Baths $1,750. Celling fans, Central AC/Heat. Wash/ Dryer. 3009 Cheerywood Rd. Owner Pays water & yard care. Pre-leasing for Aug. John 512-809-1336
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4BR HOUSE JUST 2 BLOCKS NORTH OF INTRAMURAL FIELD. Avail immed. $1,500 $1,00 Sec Dep. Fenced in yard, big trees, on IF bus route, w/wood floors and gas cooking. A Must See! 301 Genard, Austin, 78751. CALL 404474-7077 to tour.
5 BLOCKS TO CAMPUS Large 3bdrm/2.5bath, CA/CH, large deck, hardwood flrs. Pre-leasing for fall, $1,450/mo plus Deposit-32nd & Duval. lynnleifeste@yahoo.com x ID 2780943
WOOTEN VILLAGE 8705 Parkfield Drive, 3Beds-2Baths, $1250/ month. CA/CH, onecar-garage, large bonus room w/fireplace, covered porch, brand new fence, W/D conn., pets negotiable. Call Robert 512-426-3880 x ID 2783905
424 Dorm
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Safe, Charming Neighborhood, 10min UT/ shuttle. Perfect for Graduate and International students, Share Utilities. Unfurnished. Call Nancy 352-284-0979
40th St: Near Red River Shuttle, Huge Back Yard, $1,830/mo. Call 512-231-1007
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CK’S HOMES ALL-BILLSPAID FOR STUDENTS. Drugs-No, Alcohol-No, Nice/Clean, Free Laundry & Cable-TV, Transportation-to-UT. Call Kiara 512-498-7575 ext.74 x ID 2754391
440 Roommates ROOMS FOR RENT Includes backyard, DISH TV, Wireless Internet, Stadium Seating plus more. Rent is 400/month with equal share of utilties. Sam 817-929-4360
ANNOUNCEMENTS
560 Public Notice
CTC WILL BE holding a Free Self defense seminar for Women April 25th & May 2nd. Please call 512-330-4269 for details x ID 2764844
EMPLOYMENT
766 Recruitment
GETTING MARRIED SOON? RECENTLY Married? You may be eligible to participate in a study for understanding how couples adjust to the early years of marriage. We are looking for couples entering their first marriage and who currently have no children. Eligible couples can receive up to $330 for participating. Please contact The Austin Marriage Project at The University of Texas 512-4757527
ATTENTION AUTHORS Publisher seeks new talent. All Genres. Thesis work welcome. Submit online. www.strategicbookpublishing.com
785 Summer Camps SWIM CAMP COACHES NEEDED Teaching children ages 4-7yrs. JuneAugust, Wed-Fri mornings 8:30am-12:30. 12 hrs per week at $120-$150/ wk. joyner.rachel@gmail. com. 512-266-8400
790 Part Time MUSCULAR MALES ages 18-28 wanted for physique photography. $200. 512-927-2448. GYMNASTICS COACH (WESTLAKE) Enthusiastic, talented individual to teach gymnastics to a range of ages in a noncompetitive gym 10 min. from campus. www. wearechampions.com 512-426-0997 HAWTHORN SUITES HOTEL: Relief Night Audit and Part Time Front Desk. Apply in person. 512-459-3335
791 Nanny Wanted
AFTER SCHOOL CHILDCARE NEEDED Looking for individual to pick up and care for children (7 & 11) after school (Brykerwoods Elementary) for the entire school year. Monday to Friday 2:30-5:00pm. Call 512-922-0317 TUTOR/NANNY Tutor/ nanny wanted to help with education of two boys. Professional parent, with large home near campus, will provide secure lodging, food and car, if needed, in exchange for management of children’s educational needs. Position is open immediately and can extend through summer and next year, if desired. 512-965-6242
WEST LAKE TWO CHILDREN 6th & 2nd grade, Car Pooling, Study, Light Dinner, Live-in. Call 407-405-7801
800 General Help Wanted
ATHLETIC MEN ATHLETIC MEN $100 $200 hour Up To $1,000 a day for calendars and other projects. 18+. NoExperience Needed. 512684-8296
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PARADIGM IS HIRING Paradigm is accepting applications for Store Help for the Summer and Fall Semester 2009. Please stop by our store at 407 W. 24th St. for more info. 512-472-7986
810 Office-Clerical PARALEGAL CLERK TRAINEE near UT. Will train. Create form documents, assist clients, obtain state records, fax, file, proof. Flexible hours, casual dress. PT $11, FT $12-12.50 + benefits. Apply online, www. LawyersAidService.com
810 Office-Clerical
FULL-TIME SUMMER CLERKS Assists with filing, copying, faxing and other general clerical duties as needed. Must be very familiar with personal computers, general office equipment and ten key. Reliability and punctuality required. Works 40 hours per week. Position is temporary, for the summer only. Salary $8.00 per hour. All applications must be received by 1:00 p.m. CST May 1, 2009. To receive an application and complete job description call 512/4271562, visit our website at www.texasbar.com/jobs or come by 1414 Colorado. 512-427-1485
820 Accounting-Bookkeeping ACCOUNTING TRAINEE Walk to UT. Bookkeeping tasks, estate accounting, tax-related projects, clerical. Type 30 words/ min. Accounting experience or classes a plus. Flex hours, $11 PT, $12$12.50 FT. Apply now: LawyersAidService.com
870 Medical Seeks College-Educated Men 18–39 to Participate in a Six-Month Donor Program
Donors average $150 per specimen. Apply on-line
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PARAMEDIC paramedic/student needed to teach EMT on campus. Good pay, great classes. kgaines@ lhsems.org
890 Clubs-Restaurants BARTENDING! $300/DAY POTENTIAL No experience necessary. Training provided. Age 18+. 800965-6520 ext 113
All Transportation, Announcement, Services and Merchandise ads are 50% off regular rates!
4B COMICS
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The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 500 Seventh Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Edited by Will Shortz Across 1 Parroting sorts 6 Stud on a stud farm 10 Good name, casually 13 Venue for some clowns 14 Word before city or child 15 Basis for some discrimination 16 Mystery desserts? 18 Thing to roll over, in brief 19 East ___, U.N. member since 2002 20 Central part 22 Oscar winner Sorvino 25 Acquired relative 27 Musical with the song “Mr. Mistoffelees� 28 Equal to, with “with�
30 O.K. to do 32 Orange feature 33 Bates’s business, in film 35 Video shooter, for short 38 Direction from K.C. to Detroit 39 Stir up 41 ___-Ida (Tater Tots maker) 42 Top end of a scale 43 Miming dances 44 Visibly frightened 46 Bucky Beaver’s toothpaste 48 High-hats 49 Soprano Gluck 51 Refrain syllables 54 “Spare me!,� e.g. 55 Place for a lark 57 Winter coat feature 59 Diamond corner 60 Sculler’s affliction?
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53 ___ sausage 56 Tolkien beasts 58 “Beowulf,� e.g. 61 Modus operandi 62 Courtroom vow 63 Barely beat 64 The “all� in “Collect them all!�
For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554. Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information. Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.
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Gaming developers extort players through downloadable content By Jonathan Briseno Daily Texan Staff The success of Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network over the past few years has brought to console gaming a number of new options previously exclusive to the PC realm — online multiplayer capabilities, patches for game-breaking bugs and, of course, downloadable content. But, downloadable content is something of a double-edged sword. Developers can use it to add new items, levels, maps and multiplayer modes after the game has already been shipped (“Halo 3�, which was released in November 2007, is still getting new maps on a regular basis). Yet more often than not, developers or publishers use downloadable content to simply wring a few extra bucks out of the player. They can make them pay for features that are already on the disc but must be unlocked with an extra charge, or add game-breaking elements to multiplayer formats that force the player to pay just to stay competitive. Here’s a quick look at some of the worst offenders to avoid.
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‘Street Fighter IV’: Shadaloo, Classic, Shoryuken, Femme Fatale and Brawler packs I’ll cut right to the chase with this one: Each pack is roughly $4. What does it get you? Alternate costumes. Yep, the same alternate costumes you can unlock by simply playing in just about every other fighting game will cost you a total of $20 to get in “Street Fighter.� I understand “Street Fighter� is Capcom’s cash cow, but this is ridiculous. This makes paying to get Darth Vader or Yoda in “Soul Calibur IV� look like nothing.
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‘Prince of Persia’: Epilogue
Wait, let me get this straight: In addition to not being nearly as good as the last three games, Ubisoft has the nerve to ask me to pay $10 so I can see the ending? Yeah right. Way to alienate your fanbase, Ubisoft.
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‘Resident Evil 5’: Versus Mode
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‘Skate 2: Time Is Money’ pack Yeah, it sure is, isn’t it, Electronic Arts? Five dollars to unlock everything and basically remove any and all challenge from completing your game. Granted, Namco did it worse with “Tales of Vesperia� level boost DLC, but this is pathetic. Cheat codes should not cost five bucks.
I won’t get into the argument as to whether Versus Mode is any good. I’m sure there’s plenty of “Resident Evil� fans who find it a blast. What chafes me, though, is that Capcom Entertainment wants $5 for two extra modes on a 2-megabyte file, which, to me at least, screams “paying to unlock stuff that came with the game.� Thanks but no thanks.
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‘The Elder Scrolls IV’: Oblivion horse armor
Of course, what downloadable content ripoff list would be complete without this atrocity? With $2.50, you can get some armor for your trusty steed, which, considering how expensive horses are in “Oblivion,� might have been OK if the armor actually did something. But it doesn’t. Bethesda Softworks has a sense of humor about it, though: For April Fools’ week, it halved the price of all Oblivion downloadable content and doubled the price of the horse armor.
Broadway Across America fall schedule to delight enthusiasts, intrigue skeptics By Brian Losoya Daily Texan Staff Theater lovers, rejoice! The fall Broadway Across America schedule for Austin has been released, and it looks like it will satisfy musical lovers of all tastes. Boasting productions of the last two Best Musical Tony winners as well as some Broadway classics, there is a show for everyone in the lineup. Fans of older musicals will enjoy the inclusion of standards such as “A Chorus Line,� “The Color Purple� and “Fiddler on the Roof.� Fans should definitely get tickets to “A Chorus Line.� This
piece revived musical theater in the ’70s, when it was considered to be a dying art. With its honest depiction of dancers auditioning for a Broadway musical, the show chronicles the stories and experiences lived by the original cast members who performed the show. “Fiddler on the Roof� is also a musical that has earned its place in Broadway history and is worth seeing while it’s here. What I’m most excited about are the two most recent winners of Tony Awards: “Spring Awak- deals with a family of immigrants Most memorable is the hip-hop ening� and “In the Heights.� The from the Dominican Republic that infused number “96000,� in which latter won four Tony Awards and runs a bodega in New York City. the characters muse about what
they would do if they won such an amount in the lottery. The writer/composer Lin-Manuel Miranda brings together real characters and wonderful music that makes this one a must-see. As for “Spring Awakening,� maybe I’m a bit biased, but this is the best musical I have ever seen. Set in late 1800s Germany, it tells the story of sexual awakening and intellectualism, coupled with an incredibly complex rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack composed by Duncan Sheik (writer of the ’90s hit “Barely Breathing�). The play won eight Tony awards and is perhaps the most relevant piece of musical
theater to come out of Broadway since “Rent.� The complex and multifaceted issues that it addresses (premarital sex, abortion, overbearing parents) have been part of our society for centuries. Regardless of one’s particular tastes, UT’s Broadway Across America schedule has something to offer everyone, from hardcore musical junkies to people who absolutely hate them. I was worried that the next season would not amount up to this current one, but it actually outdid it. The UT community is a lucky one and is in for a wonderful fall program.
FILM: Contrived moralizations
ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFLY Miss USA contestant defends anti-gay-marriage comments LOS ANGELES — Miss California says she stands by her anti-gay-marriage comments, even if they may have cost her the Miss USA crown. Carrie Prejean defended her views Tuesday on NBC’s “Today� show, telling host Matt Lauer that she spoke from the heart during Sunday’s pageant when she said that “marriage should be between a man and a woman.� During the pageant, blogger Perez Hilton asked Prejean if every state should follow Vermont in legalizing same sex marriage. “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other,� Prejean responded. “But in my country, and in my family, I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.� Hilton, who also appeared on the “Today� show Tuesday, said his question was relevant and that Prejean should have “left her politics and her religion out because Miss USA represents all Americans.� — The Associated Press
documentary because it makes up tacky stories as opposed to teaching lessons. One such narrative follows a family of polar bears, in which the mother and her cubs thrive but walruses devour the father bear. It would have been interesting to find out how polar bears hunt or how they have become an endangered species, but the movie only tells us that the courage of the cubs’ dead father lives on in their hearts. It’s never enough just to let nature unveil her beauty — producers always have to add overly dramatic music or turn a natural wolf pack hunt into a struggle between good and evil. In “Earth,� themes like these turn trite early on, in the
end only serving to portray the planet as something it’s not. “Earth� does not fail from any fault of the cinematography. In fact, the cinematographers should be commended for shots that show off places and characteristics of nature that most will never see. It’s hard not to be impressed by an entire forest changing color through passing seasons, or watching a cheetah run down an antelope in cinematic perfection. These beauties will make future generations think, “The creatures are so magnificent. Why didn’t our ancestors do anything to save them?� Then they’ll hear Mufasa’s voiceover, realize how clueless we were, and it will come full circle.
From page 6B
overshadow cinematography
6B LIFE
LIFE&ARTS
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Life&Arts Editor: Ana McKenzie E-mail: lifeandarts@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2209 www.dailytexanonline.com
T HE DAILY TEXAN
ump D H ay
Students promote music industry careers
By
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Mary Li
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EDucation: Debunking ‘the fallacy of phallus’
Rachel Colson | Daily Texan Staff
Advertising freshman Anastasia Garcia, music business sophomore Holland Angel and audio management sophomore Juan Lopez gather in a recording studio in the music building Friday afternoon. They are members of Austin Entertainment United, which connects music students to the entertainment industry.
Austin Entertainment United aims to jump-start careers of aspiring UT musicians By JJ Velasquez Daily Texan Staff Graduating seniors preparing for careers in the music business may feel their future is a bit bleak these days. That’s because, throughout the last decade, their industry has been riding a Tilt-A-Whirl, thrusting its passengers into a centrifuge of unfamiliar modernities: online social networks, peer-to-peer downloading and digital distribution — to name a few. By offering a resource through which students can establish their professional careers, a new campus organization is taking steps to alleviate the dis-
connect between students and the entertainment industry, where they will invariably face the challenges of the new era. A group of UT students established Austin Entertainment United in April. The group seeks to promote aspiring musicians, producers, filmmakers, visual artists, audio engineers, music business professionals and independent record labels, according to its mission statement. The group includes various resources on its Web site for students and professionals alike, such as lists of entertainment-industry internships, local artists and artist management professionals.
Executive director and co-founder Holland Angel said the group aims to spread the word of professional endeavors taken on by University students. “Everybody [in the group] has some connection with the music industry,â€? said Angel, a music business sophomore. “They’ve all done stuff already on their own. They’re pursuing their own careers, and we’re just taking those gifts and passions ‌ and using them throughout the organization to promote not only [the group] but promote the individuals.â€? Many of the group’s members already have ties
MUSIC continues on page 3B
“Her fingers opened his suit, and he sprang out at her like an angry lion from its cage.� This lusty sex-scene opener from Harold Robbins’s 1978 novel “The Betsy� is an appropriate introduction to an age-old phallus fallacy that plagues modern misconceptions of male sexuality. Within the last 10 years, research on female sexuality has begun to look into the mechanics of sexual desire and encourage women to explore their own bodies and take autonomy over their own orgasmic destiny. This has been a positive development spurred by the efforts of a new wave of female sexologists and sexual researchers. Also during this time, research on male sexuality has become even more focused on the singular importance of erections — their length, width, hardness and, of course, the ability for a man’s erection to stay long, wide and hard. As if the anxieties and insecurities looming over the acceptability of the size and shape of men’s penises weren’t pervasive enough, pharmaceutical companies have flooded the media with messages about male enhancement and male sexual dysfunctions, namely erectile dysfunction. Nowadays, an “angry lion� of a penis is seen as practically a necessity for any sexually active male. Between 20 and 25 percent of college-aged males have some
HUMP continues on page 3B
Disney’s ‘Earth’ documentary suffers with sentimental narration By Michael Thompson Daily Texan Staff A lynx appears prowling in the frozen conifers of the tundra. Then a voiceover comes on from Mufasa himself, James Earl Jones, calling this lynx the essence of wilderness. Wait. What? What does the screenwriter mean by “the essence of wilderness?� This kind of problem presents itself far too frequently in the new Disney documentary “Earth.� All of the beautiful cinematography goes to waste when the needless-
Disney will undoubtedly make millions selling the DVD to schools, but kids watching it won’t learn anything.
ly sentimental narration is cued, making watching the movie a brain-deadening experience. “Earth� has actually been pieced together with footage from the BBC and Discovery Chan-
nel documentary “Planet Earth.� Trimmed down to 90 minutes and repackaged by Disney Nature in an attempt to earn a quick buck, the epic BBC series has been transformed into what is essen-
tially a manageable kids film. Disney will undoubtedly make millions selling the DVD to schools, but kids watching it won’t learn anything. The biggest problem with “Earth� is that gorgeous shots of life on Earth get bogged down by inane and useless dialogue. For example, when a few adorable ducklings fall out of a tree, Jones chuckles and quotes “Toy Story� by saying, “Falling with style.� It’s hard to call “Earth� a
James Earl Jones, voice of Mufasa in “The Lion King,� narrates the Disney documentary film “Earth,� which hits theaters today.
FILM continues on page 5B
Courtesy of Disney
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UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICES