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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12
Riverside taco stand provides patrons with tasty treats that won’t break the bank
UT wins award for treating trees with care
Colt McCoy returns to UT to impress NFL scouts
NEWS PAGE 6
SPORTS PAGE 7
The Daily Texan Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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Migrant students receive recognition UT program rewards those who maintain grades while farming
Tamir Kalifa | Daily Texan Staff
Juan Hernandez, a Fabens resident, graduated from The Migrant Student Graduation Enhancement Program on Monday afternoon. The UT-run program offers aid to migrant students by providing them with alternative ways to receive high-school and college credit.
By Gabrielle Cloudy Daily Texan Staff Forty high-school students who have to leave school each year to farm with their families in the summer were recognized Monday during a ceremony in the Texas Union Ballroom for their ability to balance a migrant lifestyle along with academic and extracurricular excellence. The UT Migrant Student Graduation Enhancement Program provides migrant students with alternative methods of gaining credit to graduate from high school. Because migrant students have to leave school early in the spring and return late in the fall, migrant educators, online classes and high school migrant programs help them catch up with their school work. The ceremony recognized high-school juniors and seniors who were nominated by their migrant educators and then submitted applications. “This ceremony is very special because it represents kids who have to go through challenges just to finish high school,” said Gisela Greco-Llamas, UT’s K-16 Education Center director. “We are able to close that gap and help them fulfill that feat.” Many of the students have been migrating across the United States, picking and packaging fruits and vegetables with their parents in fields or factories, since they were children. “This [program recognizes] everything beautiful about our country,” said State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg. “It’s the promise of opportunity that comes from a determination to succeed.”
MIGRANT continues on page 6
Project addresses Student regent search continues energy efficiency, ‘smart’ technology By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff Imagine having your household appliances communicate with your electric meter about the most efficient time of day to operate. This is one component of Smart Grid technology — the image of Austin’s future and a means of reducing energy consumption, as seen through the eyes of the Pecan Street Project. The project, founded in 2008 as a collaborative effort by the city of Austin, Austin Energy, the University, UT’s Austin Techology Incubator, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Environmental Defense Fund, aims to develop new management, storage and energy generation systems using technology like solar power and the Smart Grid — a newer, more efficient method of distributing energy. The project’s group released recommendations Wednesday, outlining planned energy
efficiency measures and maximizing profitability for consumer and supplier. But the recommendations, which will be implemented over the next few years, will not be met without difficulty, said Thomas Edgar, George T. and Gladys H. Abell Endowed Chair of Engineering and member of the project’s board. “This is all a big experiment,” Edgar said. “There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of people [participating]. The challenge will be coordinating all the people to come up with meaningful results.” T h e p ro j e c t re c e i v e d a $10.4-million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009 and another $297,000 grant from the Capital Area Council of Governments in January to help it meet its energy goals. Chemical engineering senior Sam Markolf currently works with Edgar in researching
ENERGY continues on page 2
By Shabab Siddiqui Daily Texan Staff Two Longhorns still stand in the race for one of the most prestigious student positions in the state. John Davis Rutkauskas, a finance, business honors, Plan II and French sophomore, and law student Brad Wright remain as two out of five contenders for the UT System’s student regent position, according to documents obtained by The Daily Texan from the governor’s office through the Texas Public Information Act. UT System students interested in the position applied at the university level in December. The applications were sent to System officials, who selected applications that were then sent to the governor’s office. The governor must make his appointment before June 1. After years of lobbying, the Texas Legislature passed a bill in 2005 requiring every public university system to appoint a student regent to the Board of Regents. Karim Meijer, a fourth-year medical student at UT-Southwestern, currently serves as the UT System student regent. Meijer graduated from UT-Austin in 2005 with degrees in business honors and finance. He also played for the 2005 national championship-winning Longhorn football team. The Longhorns that are now looking to step into Meijer’s position are also involved on campus and use their experiences as UT students to generate ideas for improvement. Rutkauskas, by far the youngest finalist, is a member of the President’s Student Advisory
Stephanie Meza | Daily Texan Staff
MBA and law student Brad Wright, left, and quadruple-major sophomore John Rutkauskas are two of five applicants still in the running for the 2011 student regent position. Council and an alternative representative for the “It’s something that needs to be examined Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. very carefully,” Rutkauskas said. “It’s not He said one of the biggest challenges students just tuition, but revisiting some of the other in the UT System face is the affordability of education. REGENT continues on page 2
Students host event to raise diabetes awareness Group petitions against By Hannah Jones Daily Texan Staff To educate students and faculty about one of the fastest-growing diseases in the nation, a UT student group hosted the first Diabetes Awareness Conference on Monday. Hook the Cure, a student-run nonprofit organization, held the conference to raise awareness about the three different forms of the disease: Type I, Type II and gestational. Type I occurs when the pancreas does not produce insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association. In Type II diabetes, the most common form of the disease, the pancreas produces insufficient levels of insulin or ignores the insulin and, as a result, is unable to convert glucose, or sugar, to energy. Gestational diabetes occurs when pregnant women do not use or produce enough insulin needed for
Fanny Trang | Daily Texan Staff
Dr. Susan Dubois from the School of Nursing talks about diabetes issues with biomedical engineering students during Diabetes Awareness Week at the Texas Union on Monday afternoon. pregnancy, according to the asso- Department in UT’s College of ciation’s Web site. The conference Education. was also sponsored by the KiAn estimated 1.7 million peonesiology and Health Education ple in Texas over the age of 18 are
diagnosed with diabetes, according to the Texas Diabetes Council. People between the ages of 18 and 29 represent only about 2 percent of the diagnosed population. Of the total number of people with the disease, about 7 percent are college graduates and about 14 percent never received a highschool diploma. Oscar Ayala, a biomedical engineering and pre-med senior, started the organization in the spring of 2008 with Truong Lam, a biology and pre-med senior. Ayala and Lam now serve as president and vice president, respectively, of the group. The conference featured an hour of poster presentations highlighting diabetes research, a panel discussion and a benefit dinner. About $350 in proceeds from the conference were donated to UT
DISEASE continues on page 5
changes to K-12 textbooks By Katherine Noble Daily Texan Staff A statewide organization is petitioning against the social-studies curriculum changes proposed by the Texas State Board of Education before they are finalized in May. The Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based organization that aims to counter the influence of the religious right in public schools, is fighting against possible alterations to history, economic and social-studies textbooks by the State Board of Education. The “Just Educate” petition for the Texas Legislature is currently available for Texas citizens on the network’s Web site. The petition is an appeal to politicians to “stop dragging our children’s schools into the ‘culture wars,’” according to the site.
The board met in January and March to revise social-studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools. According to its Web site, the board considered about 300 amendments and, after a 10-5 vote, gave preliminary approval to modified social-studies standards that would be used in Texas public schools. The board will meet a final time in May to consider these standards before they become official. Possible curriculum revisions include the replacement of the word “capitalism” with “free enterprise,” the de-emphasis of events and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and an emphasis on America’s foundation as a Christian nation, according to the
CURRICULUM continues on page 2