When I received a text message Monday morning while at work, I went through my normal routine of concealing my phone and cautiously peering between my legs to read the message.
We are Texas, and we want to be the best.
When columnists are self-righteous Nick Prelosky’s July 2 column “When guns are safe” saddens me as someone who teaches rhetoric. Literally none of the evidence he provides actually supports the conclusion he draws. First off, he says that during the 1966 Tower shooting, people ran home to get their guns to return fire at the sniper.
Drama and internal conflict dominate the headlines at Texas A&M University once again. Tuesday night, the A&M Faculty Senate declared “no confidence” in A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney by a vote of 55-9. In addition, a survey of over 1,300 faculty conducted by the Senate revealed 83.5 percent of faculty members have no confidence in McKinney’s leadership.
At 2 p.m. sharp this Saturday, the 132nd annual Wimbledon finals are scheduled to begin. And since I am a typical American sports fan, I have only one request: Please, ladies of Wimbledon, do anything but make me uncomfortable.
One of the most awe-inspiring sights on our impressive campus is, of course, the Tower. Truly discovering the meaning of the term “better late than never,” I took my first Tower tour last week after a mere three years on the Forty Acres.
Cooper-Robertson’s proposals for the Brackenridge tract would downsize or relocate the Brackenridge Field Laboratory. Either option would be a serious blow to the University of Texas’ biology program. We are currently ranked among the nation’s 10 best integrative biology departments, and our urban field laboratory comprises a vital educational and
scientific resource.
We have been optimistic lately about the rate at which the LGBT community is gaining ground in the country. States are considering bills that grant more legal rights to gay couples, while Congress considers legislation addressing workplace discrimination and hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
One does not typically associate sustainable lifestyles with the Greek community. Green living conjures images of a barefoot philosophy major ordering a falafel from a Smart Car at the drive-through of Veggie Heaven on his way to the Ecology Action recycling center.
College is a social environment — people meet each other for the first time on a daily basis. Some of these new relationships flicker and die as quickly as they’re born. The only interaction two people have in their entire lifetimes might be, “Hey, do you have the time?”
In Pierre Bertrand’s July 1 article “Investigators look for clues in early morning stickups,” APD Detective Billy Parks comments on robberies, saying, “It’s pretty basic. They’ve displayed handguns, things like that. It’s not very cost-effective when they can go to jail.”
Lately, the nightly news has become hard to distinguish from a Twitter account. From members of Congress tweeting during President Obama’s State of the Union address in February to tweets from Tehran, the media is captivated with the immediacy of Twitter.
Last Sunday was the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City’s famous Greenwich Village.
Enticed by brats, strudel and home-brewed beer, I made a trip to Fredericksburg this past weekend. Though I did make a conscious and successful effort not to drive while intoxicated during this trip, I did take a big risk behind the wheel.
Another summer, another scandal for Sergio Kindle, a starting defensive end on UT’s football team. In July of 2007, Kindle was arrested for driving while intoxicated. As a result, he was suspended for the first three games of the season. Now, a plywood-covered hole on the first floor of Jefferson West Apartments attests to his latest faux pas.
In a 5-4 ruling this month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided there was no constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the federal courts’ answers to questions of post-conviction DNA rights would not be any better than those of state courts and legislatures.
I was born and raised in Austin, brainwashed by Longhorn culture throughout my upbringing. I remember when Darryl K. Royal-Memorial Stadium had an open field on the South End Zone and a small horseshoe enclosing the North End Zone. I remember Austin’s skyline before the Frost Bank Tower was completed in 2003, forever altering the city’s small-town look.
Saving the Bract Tract I; Saving the Bract Tract II
The revolution will not be televised. It will, in fact, be tweeted.
What is UT doing in the business of real estate development?
Lowering standards for higher education; Advancing LGBT rights, one Stonewall at a time
Syeda Hasan’s June 26 article “FAFSA application made easier and less exhaustive” is right on.
The struggle to limit Congressional earmarking practices hit a roadblock yesterday, when House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), denied a House vote on Texas Representative Mike McCaul’s (R-Texas) “No Monuments to Me” amendment.
In the summer, it’s easy to forget that campus is as dangerous as it is during the rest of the year. Even with fewer people around, thieves and brigands lurk about in full force, committing unspeakable crimes.
On March 2, 2009, the University of Chicago’s student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon, published an editorial about gender equality. Within weeks of its publication, the article and its author were misunderstood across the nation.
A federal judge at the height of Texas’ legal system has given the time-honored tradition of impeachment an entirely new meaning.
Troubling times are on the horizon for the Brackenridge Tract and the University.
Amazon is now in the process of testing a Kindle prototype that will be adequately equipped for textbooks.
Executive power trip; Equal rights come to Texas
Trees in need; Capital Metro is cost-effective
If you’re like me, your parents are starting to nudge you out the door of the house where you grew up.
A grassroots movement is under way by avid soccer fans in the Austin area to erect a natural grass, soccer-specific stadium to be the new home of the Austin Aztex.
Capital Metro falls off the track; Perry and his lobbyists; The Supreme Court preserves equal rights, for now
Economists like to draw a distinction between “positive” economics and “normative” economics. Positive economics is defined as analyzing the variables and trade-offs of a choice without value judgments, while normative economics is usually disdainfully described as “making judgments about what the world should look like.”
Austin offers plenty of fun activities for out-of-towners during the summer. However, if the guests you are entertaining are not into the whole “having fun” thing, there is a special legislative session coming up at the Capitol that you may be able to catch.
Even in an ivory tower, someone has to pay the bills. As universities around the country auction off art collections, let faculty members go and cut staff pay, the economic decisions that must go into keeping higher education afloat have never been more obvious.
Republicans love football.
Finding out from a professor that I have what some consider a disability was painful and humiliating.
The legislature is right, says The Daily Texan, to propose more national research universities for Texas, but should start by adequately funding the ones it has (Texas’ fragile top tier, June 18). The analysis suffers, however, in assuming that a “Texas national research university” is an unchanging static target.
On June 2, the Election Review Task Force submitted a report containing its recommendations for election reforms to the new Student Government Assembly.
This summer, thousands of freshmen will journey to the 40 Acres for freshman orientation and begin their lives as Longhorns.
This month, the Texas state government enacted a law that will change the face of higher education in this state. With its population booming, Texas may be on the verge of supplying higher education that meets the demands of most of its citizens. However, many prospective students will still remain underserved in their areas.
I would like to thank The Daily Texan for its coverage of the freeze on non-faculty salaries at UT.
Research. It’s the stuff extraordinary universities are made of. For the most part, a university’s reputation and prestige are most commonly measured by how many millions of dollars it has at its disposal for research by its top-notch faculty.
Vibrant. Expanding. Bustling. The second-fastest growing urban area in the country, according to a recent count by the U.S. Census Bureau, Austin has definitely charmed many. However, the recent tragic deaths of three Latin American immigrant construction workers in West Campus have brought a more startling view of the city into focus.
During summer orientations, one of the first things incoming freshmen encounter is the wide array of student organizations on campus. The first Tuesday of this summer was no different, as many University groups met with new students and distributed information.
Police offer to share in sacrifice; Soundcheck Austin violates voters’ trust; Washington and Texas square off
After graduating high school, my second thought after “I’m free” was that I’d never have to fill out another arduous college application ever again. But thanks to an economy that’s gone belly-up and the realization that a Bachelor of Arts won’t take me far, I’ve found myself going through the same process that I swore off a couple of years ago: applying to grad school.
During a segment on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” last week, senior correspondent Jason Jones attacked The New York Times in a tactless yet sobering way. He showed nerve marching through the Gray Lady’s midtown New York City offices, sarcastically interviewing Executive Editor Bill Keller and accusing the paper of producing “aged news.” Jones’ point: The New York Times is “the last of a dying breed.”
In light of the tragic and blatantly fraudulent presidential elections in Iran, a group of Iranian and non-Iranian students are coming together to march at the Texas Capitol today to show our support of Iranian demonstrators and our disapproval of the country’s election results.
In the world of college athletics, NCAA rule infractions are a big deal. So when a collegiate football program as renowned as the University of Alabama’s is stripped of 21 wins — the most wins ever repealed by the NCAA — and Alabama players are forced to pay fines, one would assume that whatever rule was broken was very severe. The NCAA’s decision to punish the University of Alabama’s football team last week proves this is not the case.
A student and a staff member weigh in on the decision to forgo staff raises in the next fiscal year
The University Budget Council and I have reviewed the budget for the coming fiscal year in light of the current economy and the actions of the 81st Legislature.
The Texas Legislature has never been a shining example of the benefits of democracy. But the 81st legislative session should motivate a substantial change to the Texas constitution.
We rarely, if ever, find ourselves cheering the work of Sen. John Cornyn. His record in the United States Senate has often been combative and his motives highly partisan. But as political reality continues to slap national Republicans in the face daily, Texas’ junior U.S. senator seems to be waking up.
Sports are kind of a big deal here at UT. Every fall, our football team monopolizes campus life. We hear about nothing but Colt McCoy and whether or not he was robbed of a Heisman trophy. Our bank accounts are a little emptier after buying season tickets, tailgating and participating in post-game celebrations.
When Harvard announced its $1.3 million F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender and Sexuality last week, gay advocacy groups at UT took the opportunity to express their desires for the University to follow suit and create more classes and possibly even a program pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.
I was automatically admitted to UT under House Bill 588, or what is more commonly known as the top 10 percent rule. There’s a good chance that you were admitted under the top 10 percent rule, as well. If not, you probably either got into UT through the Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP) or entered the University as a summer freshman. If not, you were one of the very small group that was admitted normally (and you are are most likely an athlete.) Or should I say the old fashioned way? While all of these programs have served a worthy purpose, everything needs changing eventually.
Though many legislative priorities were sacrificed this past session because of the partisan voter ID bill, the University of Texas Medical Branch made out like a bandit. According to a press release from UTMB, the institution is expecting a flood of new dollars somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion.
New standards set by the Supreme Court Monday provide an opportunity for Texas to initiate desperately needed reforms to its justice system. Whether the state will properly heed the Court’s advice is crucial to bolstering the judiciary’s already waning integrity.
In May, Kathryn Winkfein — a 72-year-old woman — was pulled over on Highway 71, just west of Austin. She had been travelling at 60 mph in a 45-mph zone. But she didn’t think she should get a ticket. A video from a dashboard camera in Deputy Constable Chris Bieze’s car was recently released, showing how a routine traffic stop devolved into Bieze Tasing the woman as she lay on the side of the highway.
“If you like it then you should’ve put a ring on it.” This message has been hard to ignore since Beyoncé Knowles released “Single Ladies” last fall.
Horns up: Perry’s decision to call a special session; Horns down: City budget cuts; Horns up: A new day for direct lending
With the recent assessment of UT’s greenhouse gas emissions, the University and student activists are talking about what they can do to shrink our now very large carbon footprint.
During the Student Government elections last semester, a particularly loony presidential candidate made the comment that UT should be trying to catch up to Harvard and Yale and all of the other Ivies. He declared that what separated UT from these prestigious schools was legacy. This struck me as particularly outlandish.
In response to the firing line “Political Crucifixion” by Joseph Allen Kozuh on June 5, how sad that someone with a Ph.D. after his name does not understand the difference between science and religious fantasy.
Representative of the ridiculous; Optimism about the Brackenridge Tract; Irresponsible leadership; Free the journalists
UT-San Antonio is looking to bolster its campus experience by creating a Division I football program. The decision makes sense, as successful programs can provide the university’s athletic department with a huge source of revenue.
Internal conflict at Texas A&M boiled over this week with the release of Texas A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney’s caustic review of Texas A&M President Elsa Murano. A year and a half ago, McKinney thought of Murano as a “teammate” with “enthusiasm” and the “Aggie Spirit,” according to KBTX News. But last week, he gave Murano the lowest possible marks on following through, acting decisively and timely and being a team player in her first full year on the job, according to the Dallas Morning News.
For the past few years, the magic letter in Hollywood has been R. R for raunchy, R for racy, R for ridiculously funny. R-rated comedies are the newest gold mine in the movie biz. They’ve been around since 1978’s “Animal House,” but only lately have they become a mainstream fixture of cinema, with hits like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Wedding Crashers” topping the box-office charts.
It’s the summer semester here at UT, and you know what that means: waking up at 11 a.m., trudging through the merciless heat to a class you will sleep through, drinking excessively until your esophageal lining is as stripped as your liver, and reading The Daily Texan opinion page before passing out in what you can only hope is a pool of your bodily fluids every day for two months straight.
A district in Austin is trying to prevent federal oversight of elections in areas with histories of racial discrimination.
With the announcement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s retirement this month, President Obama has the opportunity to make a long-term impact after just a few months in office. In Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the president has found a fresh face to embody his mantra of “change.” But conservative pundits have quickly jumped on Sotomayor’s judicial record, particularly a controversial ruling regarding race in hiring practices.
Stars in the firmament; Political crucifixion
Top ten percent overruled; Broadening the top tier; A voice but not a vote; McLeroy’s education; A sobering landmark
I’ve always been a fan of the printed word in general. But as a political junkie, journalism has a special place in my heart, because journalism, in its purest form, is all about using a free press to inform the electorate. Democracy would be severely crippled without it.
I’ve never been much for planning. After a semester of being “undeclared,” I chose Liberal Arts Honors Rhetoric and Writing as a major. One semester later, I added Radio-Television-Film. If you’re thinking, “it sounds like he has no idea what he’s going to do with his life,” you’re right.
Everyone has a favorite part of a newspaper, the section you just can’t throw out — assuming you’re not reading this online. Some turn immediately to the sports page or the World&Nation page, while the rest of the paper can be used to wrap fish or fragile glassware.
The McCombs School is proud of the environmental initiatives we have been working on for the last several years, so it is disheartening to see the story, “Lab employees: Custodial staff mixed recycle bins improperly” by Lena Price in the Daily Texan on May 12, that implies we don’t care about recycling.
When I first moved to Austin, I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself. At a loss for alternatives one caustic August afternoon, I decided it was time to start going to the gym.
Free the journalists; A summer to remember
When a New York Times reporter took to the streets of Manhattan to ask random passersby if they thought the American Dream was still alive, the overwhelming optimism was surprising.
Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In the consumer-driven, pop culture-infested reality of 21st century America, the philosopher’s words have never been more true.
Debunking concealed carry myths; Higher GPA and good health attributed to campus recreation usage
Unfunding mandates; Where’s the passion?; High on schoolwork; Free flow bill rolls on
How do you feel about handguns in elementary schools, preschools, hospitals and bars? UT’s campus includes all of these, and today, the potential passage of HB 1893 — a bill to allow concealed carry of guns on school grounds — would legalize guns in these locations.
As the semester wraps up, I wanted to send you a final communiqué. It has been a lot of fun getting to know and mentor you this spring through the Students Partnering for Undergraduate Rhetoric Success program.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer. Raised in Singapore, a post-colonial city-state, I wanted to dress in a black robe and frou-frou wig and preside over a courtroom. I wanted to gesticulate dramatically while verbally pressuring suspects to admit their guilt.
Today is either the beginning of a blissful respite from the rigid structure of formal education or the grand finale of nearly two decades of early classes, inane homework assignments and countless hours spent studying formulas and definitions vaguely recalled after tests.
With the semester winding down and papers and exams piling up, many of us are likely feeling a little stressed. For some of us, the stressors extend past the last few weeks of the year and beyond academics to finances, summer plans, housing, family problems and relationships. Some are struggling with grief, some with addictions, some with insomnia.
Chapter 151: The faction factor
Pom reject repugnant; Alleged assumption
Political appointments grease the wheels of the Texas political machine.
Ready or not, here it comes — If you’re an undergrad and plan to stick around for at least another semester, prepare to change your GPA calculation skills.
While we temporarily overreact to swine flu, the developing world is being ravaged by many more-serious diseases.
How sweet it isn’t; UHS mishandled swine flu case
Controversy and curiosity have surrounded Kirby Dick’s documentary “Outrage,” which opens in select cities Friday. The documentary poses the question: Would Washington politicians be more supportive of gay rights if they themselves came out of the closet and openly confirmed their homosexuality? Dick’s examination of the lives of numerous politicians and key members of the political elite includes, among others, Florida Gov.
Lack of pink-eyed, white critters on campus may disprove superstition
Campus lore suggests that seeing an albino squirrel on the way to your next test will guarantee you an A, but students may be less lucky than the legend implies.
As the job market continues to sour, many graduating seniors will inevitably end up turning to that time-honored method of weathering the storm: graduate school.
I have always been thin, the kind of thin that’s unfair because I’ve never dieted or worked out. I have always been that girl who eats a bag of Doritos for dinner then wipes her greasy fingers on her size-zero jeans. In fact, when I was 16 and learned that breasts are made up of fat, I ate a cheesecake every day for an entire summer. My chest size didn’t change
Calling Texans For Israel’s bluff Harold Fisch’s May 5 Firing Line (“Working for peace, not conflict”) is factually wrong and logically absurd. First, the Palestine Solidarity Committee did agree to do a joint charity event.
“Make sure your skirt is not too long,” my high school teacher told me...
If a proposal that was pushed through the Texas Legislature last week becomes law, Texas could reduce its number of uninsured children by 338,000, down from the current dismal 1.5 million. Twenty-two percent of the state’s children are uninsured, leaving Texas with the most uninsured children in terms of both number and percentage of population.
To the University of Texas class of 2009
SG historically overfunded, irrelevant;
A victory for Zaffirini; Cinco de Mayo; UT System Board of Regents; Brewster Nation
When Iowa lawyer T.M. Zink died in 1930, he left a will that laid out plans for what he dubbed the Zink Womanless Library. As he envisioned it, the institution would not feature a single female author nor allow women on its premises.
While pundits, comedians, constitutional scholars, politicians and average Americans come to terms with Gov. Rick Perry’s belief that Texas could secede from the United States, we might ask what the consequences would be for us at UT.
The pedestrian problem; Objections to Ebadi roundtable; Growing out moustache despite face
In the drawn-out battle between Democrat Al Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman for a Minnesota Senate seat, a new development has arisen that may change Republican politics.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood on the floor of a textile factory in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, earlier this month and talked about America’s commitment to the island nation. “I pledge we will do more to create more good jobs for the people of Haiti,” she told an audience of textile workers.
On Tuesday evening, I attended “Was Darwin Wrong?,” a debate sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Outside, some people handed out pocket copies of the New Testament. Others were pushing “Stand up for Science” stickers. One person held a sign reading “What’s to Debate?”
YCT chair responds to accusations
On Saturday, George Zinkhan, a marketing professor at the University of Georgia, got into an argument during his wife’s theater group picnic, left in a rage and came back with two guns.
Few groups of earnest, well-intentioned people are regularly confronted by the police on campus, but such students, staff and faculty who ride bicycles on campus are finding that they are now a
police target.
House Bill 1893, which would allow for concealed carry on college campuses, deserves to have more light shed upon it.
YCT off-base; YCT off-base II; Pseudo headline; Discretionary tolerance
It’s hard to be a biker;
Truths behind the crackdown?;
Leffingwell the smart choice;
Support Keller impeachment;
When fraternities do good;
Austin is an incredibly pet-friendly city. Bars always have water dishes on their patios, and parks have leash-free zones.
When asked about her stance on gay marriage last week by gossip blogger-turned-pageant-judge Perez Hilton, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, responded by saying that she thought marriage should be between a man and a woman. The salient part of the pageant was not this controversial answer, but the fallout afterward.
The depth of personal information about us on the Internet can be frightening, and rightfully so. No matter what legislators say or do, the Internet has proven itself too vast and too nebulous to control. To that extent, parents and universities alike extol the virtues of restricting the information students voluntarily reveal about themselves by locking MySpace or Facebook profiles — or, better yet, by not creating these profiles in the first place.
Lean times call for Leffingwell
Joining an exponentially increasing number of voices from across the city, we firmly endorse Lee Leffingwell for mayor of Austin.
he skull and crossbones flag flew at half-mast on April 17 when the Stockholm district court found the four operators of The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent search engine, guilty of assisting making available copyrighted material.
A bill that seeks to award more compensation to people who have been wrongly imprisoned passed through the Texas House on Friday with an overwhelmingly favorable vote. House Bill 1736, authored by Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, proposes an increase in the lump-sum payment given to citizens who have been wrongly convicted of crimes.
In the past few weeks, frumpy Scotswoman Susan Boyle has rocketed to fame due to her popular rendition of the song “I Dreamed A Dream,” from the musical “Les Misérables,” on the U.K. TV show “Britain’s Got Talent.” I’ve watched the YouTube video of her performance easily a dozen times by now, and each time I’m struck more and more with the same sentiment: Why, exactly, does this woman — according to Facebook — have more fans than God?
Philo-philanthropic I; Philo-philanthropic II
On Tuesday, the Austin Chronicle hosted a candidate forum it dubbed the “Hustle for Mayor.” The forum featured mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken in an informal discussion at the Mohawk downtown. But Leffingwell and McCracken are not the only candidates running for mayor. The three other candidates did not participate in the event.
Some liberal arts majors have known since birth that they want to be doctors, lawyers or college professors. For the rest of us, the job search facing us after four years is the source of some anxiety. When we were filling out our college applications, we might have harbored some romantic notion of following our academic passions during our time in school, indulging in Shakespeare and Plato and Rousseau and then magically emerging as fine upstanding citizens, ready to make a difference and change the world and do great things. Then we got to the career fairs and realized that we would more than likely have to settle awkwardly into the business world or the public sector after all. Or we’d have to teach. That was the perennial option.
A little mayoral flair, please?; To secede or not to secede; Micromanaging abortion?; Horowitz no better than a cable talk show host
In November, the UT Medical Branch in Galveston underwent massive layoffs in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
It’s been a busy week in Texas politics. The Texas Senate accepted federal unemployment stimulus money, despite tea-baggers’ cries of “overspending in Washington.”
When Bill Nye talked about cutting back on meat products during his April 8 lecture at the Texas Union, a tense murmur rippled through the crowd.
I will not be participating in your “Student Philanthropy Month,” primarily because I have already contributed to the greater McCombs community via my tuition payments.
This column, which usually lambasts the role Texas and Texans play on the national stage, will take a radically different tack this week.
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.
The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services approved a bill Tuesday with a 6-to-1 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.
Logical fiscal lore goes that one’s student loan burden should never be more than what he or she can realistically earn one year out of college.
In light of the protests during conservative writer David Horowitz’s recent lecture and the upcoming visit from political scientist Norman Finkelstein, it seems appropriate to examine the oftentimes hypocritical nature of academic freedom.
Chapter 42: Burn it ...and weep?
It’s difficult to go anywhere without overhearing people discuss the imminent collapse of the newspaper industry, though this may be only indicative of where I spend my time.
More Horowitz hot air; Missing a faith
Independent as a hog on ice
As Gov. Rick Perry publicly debates the merits of secession, the editors ponder what it really means to be a Texan.
In the aftermath of the 2009 Student Government election, students demanded change in how the democratic process is carried out at the University. Last Monday, that change occurred: The Election Reform Task Force decided The Daily Texan must stop its practice of endorsing SG candidates, saying that the Texan receives some student fees to produce the paper and should not be paid to make biased recommendations.
Melessa C. Rodriguez
Everyone knows Austin is unique, but a recent study found that the city is setting itself apart for reasons that should concern every student who wants to call Austin home.
The petty theft equation; Food for thought
Horns up: Faculty representation on Board of Regents; Horns up: Oversight for UTIMCO bonuses; Horns down: Smoking age raised to 19?; Horns down: Rick Perry
On Wednesday, in more than 300 locations and in every state in the Union, ordinary people assembled at city halls and state capitals to protest higher taxes and unrestrained government spending at TEA (“taxed enough already”) parties.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 694,000 Americans lost their jobs in March.
Tea for everyone; Facts first, safety second; Protesters helped Horowitz
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars ... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” The words of Martin Luther King Jr. continue to ring true regarding the current debate surrounding concealed carry on campus.
There is the United States, and then there is Texas.
We could not be more different from one another. We are white and brown, lesbian and straight, underclassman and upperclassman, type A and type B. We are particular about our competing loyalties to Central Market and Whole Foods. We major in government and English; effectively, we are political and romantic.
Have sex, burn calories
As Mary Schmich, a Chicago Tribune columnist, once famously wrote, “Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.”
A materialistic hegemony
Most of us can agree that we live in a society that upholds a male value system that encourages violence, chauvinism and excess in several forms.
Rather than clarifying and strengthening the vague, porous election code it was appointed to review, the Election Reform Task Force has decided that the way to fix the Student Government election system is to censor the media.
In the wake of the financial crisis, when virtually every American’s wealth has contracted at least in part due to the executive decisions of the Wall Street elite, Americans are all too eager to see the heads of companies — like those at American International Group Inc. — roll.
As much as I appreciate the willingness of levelheaded people like Curt Nichols to remain perched above the fray and chastise us other ruffians for taking our politics too seriously, I think letters like his, again, betray a misunderstanding of precisely the kind of threat David Horowitz poses (“Protesters baited Horowitz,” The Firing Line, April 13).
Two weeks ago, theaters, classrooms and other spaces in and around the F. Loren Winship Drama Building were graced with the presence of the Cohen New Works Festival, a student-organized celebration of all-new projects in various media created by UT students
Despite the many cyclists on Austin’s streets, our city hasn’t kept up with the growing interest in bicycling as a means of getting around town. As a result, few Austinites currently use a bicycle as their primary transportation.
The Texas State Board of Education has been criticized by everyone from Nobel laureates to prominent Texas politicians for the textbook standards they approved this March regarding the teaching of evolution and global warming.
“The radical academic project at the University of Texas is not confined to just one professor or even one academic department. It spreads across multiple departments, tarnishing the academic mission of a prestigious university,” claim David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin in their new book, “One-Party Classroom.” It’s an ominous claim, and Horowitz reiterated the sentiment in his speech on campus Thursday.
This Thursday at 11:30 a.m., you’ll have one of the most legitimate reasons ever to leave class.
Protesters baited Horowitz; Rush in context;
Texas is known for its southern hospitality.
Back in December, I remember hearing constant assessments of consumer spending.
Chapter 36: Ironyitis
I’ve been sick recently. I thought it was only a cold and fever, but I’m pretty sure my malady has been making me hallucinate.
Austin’s double standard; Make the Grande switch; End animal testing at UT; Longhorn ultimatum
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could earn A’s on tests we didn’t take or become fit and healthy without ever having to eat a salad or step inside a gym?
If only we had listened to the cries of Morgan Spurlock.
A month and a half ago I decided to go to Ciudad Juarez during the last weekend of spring break to report on the drug war for this newspaper.
When I was 6, my father converted our dirt driveway to pebbles, and my rock obsession was born.
You may soon want to think twice before downloading an entire season of your favorite TV show. If you’re using too much bandwith, Time Warner, Austin’s largest Internet provider, doesn’t mind making you pay for it.
College is supposed to be a place where new ideas and information allow students to develop their own unique viewpoints.
Right-wing culture warrior David Horowitz has come out with yet another anti-academic-freedom book and accompanying campus tour. The book, “One-Party Classroom,” is a virtually unreconstructed rehash of his previous books, “The Professors” and “Indoctrination U.”
The decline of newspress, by the numbers
A few months ago, I came back from the semester break to find my roommate already studying — for the LSAT.
The University of Texas sells grass.
This past weekend, I served on a panel at the annual convention of the New York Press Association in Saratoga Springs, New York. The topic of my session: blogging.
The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays brought about 40,000 visitors to Austin last weekend, most of them high school and college students ready to compete.
From President Barack Obama to Jesse Jackson, Jr. to GOP Chairman Michael Steele, there is a new type of black politician — and a new black body politic — that was not born of the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s yet continues to benefit greatly from that era’s successes.
Retroactive legislation; Legalize it; Writing against reality; The stamp act
In 1997, Austin voters passed the “A Little Less Corruption” ordinances that limited how much money prospective city officials could raise and spend during their campaigns.
I feel bad for the current generation. I’m not much older, but those few years have made a huge difference in how I experienced my teens and early 20s.
Upwards of 6,300 people were killed last year in Mexico due to the violence of drug cartels, and since the beginning of 2009 there have been at least 15 drug-related deaths per day in Ciudad Juarez.
A common humanity?; Keep Austin real; Cartoon off base
It was a digital smoking gun — an otherwise foolish e-mail — that brought to light the twisted inner politics of our campus’ governing body last month. The sensational story, which implicated prominent student leaders, administrators and a secret society in Student Government fraud, set off a chain reaction of events that cracked the shell of the organization and discredited its operation.
You may not notice it, but the second you walk onto campus, you cross a border.
After prolonged discussion and with a 21-10 vote, the state Senate passed a measure Monday allowing police to establish sobriety checkpoints throughout Texas.
For the past week, controversy was sparked in South Bend, Ind., and subsequently around the nation as a result of the announcement that President Barack Obama would deliver the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame and receive an honorary degree.
Over the past couple of months, the issue of concealed carry on campus has come to the forefront of debate in both our Student Government and this newspaper.
Celebrating GSA week; Marching against freedom; Denigrating reason
Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Perry rejected approximately $555 million in federal stimulus money designated to expand state unemployment benefits from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, citing a lack of sustainability as his chief objection.
They are everywhere. Lonesome souls walking down the Drag muttering prayers (or curses), frantically scanning major news networks for any hint of an economic upturn or paying for a Wendy’s dollar menu chicken sandwich with nickels and dimes.
With the closing of Follett’s Intellectual Property this month, a sad truth has finally come to pass — there is no mainstream bookstore within walking distance of campus.
Investing in TSTV; Concealed carry preventative
The House Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing today to debate a bill that would permit college students to carry handguns on campus.
No one would try to deny that big-time college football is a fraudulent enterprise.
It’s no longer a secret that Student Government at our University is a sham.
Taking from the Texan; Dirty Laundering; Finding a place in the Neon Herd
After a decade of dictating college admission decisions, the controversial top 10 percent rule may now be brought under control thanks to state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano.
Political agendas do not belong in schools
The debate over what should direct science education has come to Texas, as the State Board of Education will vote today on controversial standards for science education across Texas.
Due to the sheer size of our state, the Texas State Board of Education’s decision today could impact the content of textbooks nationally, and, of course, the decision is significant for Texas scientists who believe board chairman Don McLeroy’s suggested curriculum — one that is more critical of evolution — will undermine education.
I have to protest Andrew Martinez’s front page report on the John Ashcroft speech Wednesday night (“Ashcroft gets mixed reception,” March 26).
The pivotal Supreme Court decisions of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations concerned free speech and equal rights.
For a university that prides itself on diversity, creativity and opportunity, UT’s curriculum doesn’t allow for much individual academic exploration.
When Jose Sucuzhanay was killed in Brooklyn last December by men shouting anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs, his death became a cause celebre for civil-liberty groups and the Latino immigrant community.
Political double standard?; Wear green for evolution; King UT
On Monday, the Texas Legislative session marked its halfway point without a single bill being passed, despite the many pressing issues on the table: a crumbled Galveston, schools in danger of having creationism added to their curricula and the perennial thorn in the side of every college student in the state: needlessly rising tuition rates.
As a Cultural Studies in Education doctoral student, I wanted to pursue a doctorate that would allow me to learn more about education while helping me figure out how to be of service to my local community.
Spring Break is over and students’ minds have been wiped clean of all events and classwork that occurred before the break. It therefore pains me to return to the events of two weeks ago, when the unethical actions of Student Government President Keshav Rajagopalan and Election Supervisory Board Co-chairman Cesar Martinez Espinosa came to light.
On February 26, the Texas State Employees Union held its University Mini-Lobby Day at the Capitol.
Emerging from the legacy of the Bush administration is a task more difficult than anyone imagined.
“Don’t conservatives support deregulation?”
I am a fan of Internet stalkers. I have yet to experience the fear that comes from Peeping Toms or dead flowers on my doorstep. I’m sure if I actually experienced true stalking, I would lose my taste for it. But as it stands, I am quite the aficionado, both as a stalker and as the stalked.
On March 6, the NCAA Committee on Infractions found Florida State University guilty of unethical conduct, academic fraud, providing athletes with extra benefits and failing to monitor its office of Athletic Academic Support. As punishment, the NCAA has placed FSU on probation for four years and forced the school to vacate wins in 10 sports.
Bring-your-gun-to-work day?; Bring-your-gun-to-work day?; Fairey mural shelved; Hurricane relief bill makes it out of House committee
Moving on with SG; Moving on with SG II; Creationism does not belong in Texas schools
Earlier this month, a Texas House committee heard testimony concerning one of the most important pieces of legislation that will be presented this session: House Bill 670, the Texas Free Flow of Information Act.
Opening the Eyes; Give Keshav credit; Give Keshav credit II; SG elitism serves no one; SG elitism serves no one II; Questioning the editorial board; Questioning the editorial board II; The truth is out. Time for change.; A petition for the little guys
The Student Government system has long been defective. In 1978, SG was suspended completely.
Last Wednesday, the state Senate Higher Education committee approved a bill that would only allow a maximum of 50 percent of UT’s incoming freshman class to be admitted based on class rank, with the rest being considered “holistically.”
SG should be abolished; SG should be abolished II; Focus on reformation; SG story paltry gossip; The real news was on page 3; Viva la revolution; In support of legitimate elections (in Texas)
In an interview with The Daily Texan on Sunday, Student Government President Keshav Rajagopalan said he “wanted to make sure to the utmost degree that there was transparency, accountability and fairness for the students” during this year’s SG elections process.
Texas lawmakers will go head-to-head today in a heated contest over what is arguably the least important issue facing the state today: voter identification.
Loss can come in many different ways, and on Monday, March 2, University of California, Davis students mourned the death of a very important figure in their lives — affordable education.
The time has come to fight back against the ravenous, tireless adaptation machine Hollywood has become.
Who is going to take responsibility?, Keeping the Texan introspective, Editor election must be reformed
The race for editor-in-chief of The Daily Texan was not decided Wednesday night, as was previously announced. Since the vote between candidates Jillian Sheridan and Audrey Campbell did not end with a majority winner, the race will be determined in a run-off election this Tuesday and Wednesday.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The old adage seems to also ring true for Texas Lutheran University’s new scholarship program, which is designed to lure prospective freshmen away from UT-Austin and Texas A&M University with the promise of a private school education at a public school cost.
Texas Lutheran University is attempting to compete with Texas public universities.
Better late than never; Keeping good company; Double jeopardy; Editor runoff
As the flurry of obligatory smiles and ironed shirts settles from this week’s student elections, we can breathe freely until the next big electoral earthquake — the city of Austin’s mayoral race.
Numerous complaints and questions have arisen over the years concerning the Austin Police Department’s relationship with local bicyclists. This prompted Austin’s Bicycle Advisory Council to organize a Q-and-A forum with Police Chief Art Acevedo last
Monday.
Going green too expensive a trend; Treating terror; Abortion debate universally distorted;
Law needs to be revised now
It’s no secret that some Texas legislators want to turn UT into the factory farm of colleges. But like massed-produced, processed meat products, that approach doesn’t do much to intellectually nourish human beings.
Sorry, Grandma. I went to an atheist meeting last week.
President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill included a much-disputed $100 billion for education. Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill focused their almost unanimous opposition to the bill partly on the education spending, which they claimed would not stimulate the economy. Former education secretary Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the stimulus bill “ought to be oriented directly toward those items that would specifically create jobs now. It should not go toward good-sounding ideas such as Head Start and Pell grants for college students.”
A warm welcome. A display of support. Illegal abortion a Soviet throwback. Article off the mark.
A display of counterproductivity
“Keep your laws off my uterus!” an incensed passer-by wrote on one of the free speech boards on the Gregory Gym Plaza last Thursday afternoon.
Craigslist’s Missed Connections are ruining the possibility of love, one lonely post at a time.
The Texan regrets the error; Think before you vote; Anti-abortion backfire; Abortion exhibit a common tactic; Thinking the issue through; Faith at no tangible cost; Give swimmers credit; Special thanks for the Jo Bros.; Keller needs to go
Student Government endorsements.
“Government lacking respect, hopefuls say,” reads a headline in the March 2, 1984 edition of The Daily Texan, referring to the then upcoming Student Government elections. Sound familiar?
The problems created by big-time college sports on university campuses were identified back in the 1920s by such notables as President (of the United States and Princeton University) Woodrow Wilson and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Upton Sinclair. A major article in Harper’s magazine in 1928 described college football as a “first-class octopus which is strangling many of the legitimate concerns of [our] educational institution[s].”
Chapter 17: The debate’s the thing
Chapter 17: The debate’s the thing
Phillip Tau for relief now; Capitol disconnect; Graduate students: Band together; An unwelcome wake-up call; Can’t censor the truth about abortion?
