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Sixth Street comedy show Esther’s Follies changes week to week to keep up with cur-rent events, but the show’s owners said they are opposed to certain larger changes, including planned renova-tions on Sixth Street, which they said would disrupt the historical community feel of the area.

Shannon Sedwick, co-owner of the comedy show, said she is not in favor of the city’s plan to redesign the street — which would include widening sidewalks, planting trees and updating plumbing and infrastruc-ture — because she thinks it would destroy the historical nature of the street.

Sedwick said she supports increasing retail businesses in the area, but she thinks some of the city’s proposed

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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8 COMICS PAGE 6 SPORTS PAGE 5

UNIVERSITY

Shared Services specifics releasedKevin Hegarty, execu-

tive vice president and chief financial officer, submitted a response to a Faculty Council reso-lution requesting more information about the Shared Services Plan on Thursday morning.

In his response, Hegarty agreed to add a non-admin-istrative faculty member nominated by the Faculty Council Executive Commit-tee to the Shared Services Steering Committee. Hegar-ty also included information about the role of manage-ment-consulting company Accenture in the implemen-tation of Shared Services

and a list of the University units that volunteered to participate in a pilot version of the plan.

The plan consists of a list of recommendations — scheduled to be submit-ted to President William Powers Jr. in the com-ing months — designed to cut costs through the centralization of human

resources, finance, infor-mation technology and procurement services at UT. The plan also outlines the elimination of at least 500 jobs, which, accord-ing to University officials, will take place primarily through natural attrition and retirement.

Faculty Council passed a resolution requesting

more information about the plan at their January meeting. The resolution, authored by the Faculty Council Executive Com-mittee, asked Hegarty to share specifics of the Shared Services Plan with the public. It passed by a vote of 28-3.

By Madlin Mekelburg@madlinbmek

By Alyssa Mahoney@TheAlyssaM

POLICE

Police school for citizens prepares for 80th session

Many people wouldn’t con-sider spending the night in an Austin Police Department patrol car to be a positive expe-rience. But since the establish-ment of the police department’s Citizen’s Police Academy in 1987, nearly 2,000 have gradu-ated from the academy and been in those patrol cars.

The academy, which will begin its 80th class on Feb. 11, consists of lectures, dem-onstrations, tours and hands-on activities featuring many of the department’s divisions.

“The main goal is to edu-cate the community to where they get involved and gain a better understanding of how the police department runs and why we do what we do,” police department officer Jermaine Kilgore said.

The academy allows stu-dents to join a police officer on a 10-hour patrol shift and sit in the helicopter used for pursuits, search-and-rescue and firefighting.

“When you get that expe-rience of doing a ride-along with an officer, you sit with them for 10 hours, so you re-ally get to see from beginning to end what they go through,” police academy alumna Me-linda Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, who serves as president of the Austin Citi-zen’s Police Academy Alumni

By Julia Brouillette@juliakbrou

SPECIFICS page 2

COMEDY page 2 ACADEMY page 2

CITY

Local comedy gem stands up for Sixth

Helen Fernandez / Daily Texan StaffEsther’s Follies cast members Ellana Kelter, Donnie Loa, Shannon Sedwick and Nathalie Holmes rehearse a skit about Cedar Fever. Esther’s Follies has been performing political satire, magic and musical comedy on Sixth Street for 37 years.

UNIVERSITY

Secretary of Energy says diversity is vital

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a speech Thursday at the Univer-sity that he attributes prog-ress in the field of renew-able energy to the efforts of immigrant citizens.

“The president has been very clear that immigra-tion will be a major focus

this year,” Moniz said. “The Department of Energy can’t avoid that major pushes in the investment of clean en-ergy have come from people who came to this country, were educated in this coun-try and have now contrib-uted to our economy.”

Moniz, who was a pro-fessor at the Massachusetts

The UT System Board of Regents approved Chairman Paul Foster’s recommenda-tions for transparency and approved the establishment of a Task Force on Intel-lectual Property at their meeting Thursday.

Foster’s recommenda-tions will be implemented through revisions to the Regents’ Rules and Regula-tions. The changes call for expanding public access to the System website, which lists all open record requests that have been filed, by pub-lishing the requested docu-ments publicly alongside each request. The changes also seek to specify which individuals are allowed to speak on behalf of individu-al regents and the board as a whole.

Foster said he thinks re-gents should be able to ask questions and pursue infor-mation through the Free-dom of Information Act.

“Members of the Board

of Regents have the re-sponsibility and the right to ask questions, seek in-formation, and the public also has a right to know — that is the law,” Foster said. “But beyond that, such transparency is how we get better.”

Regent Wallace Hall said he appreciated the clarity Foster’s recommendations provide in terms of when requested information will become available.

“[I want to applaud], to

the extent when a regent asks for information, that you reaffirm the individual right of the regent to request information of their own capacity as opposed to act-ing only as a board, which I think is important,” Hall said. “It should not only be the right, but the duty of regents.”

Hall is currently under investigation by the House Select Committee on Trans-parency in State Agency Operations. Some state

legislators accused Hall of overstepping his duties as a regent by filing open records requests with the Univer-sity for more than 800,000 pages of documents. State legislators have also accused Hall of conducting a “witch-hunt” against President William Powers Jr.

Regent Alex Cranberg said he thinks Foster’s rec-ommendations will help increase transparency in Daulton Venglar / Daily Texan Staff

Dr. Ernest Moniz, secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, gave a talk in the Avaya Auditorium on Thursday morning.

By Justin Atkinson@jusatk

By Madlin Mekelburg@madlinbmek

ENERGY page 2

TASK FORCE page 2

SYSTEM

New task force promises transparency

Amy ZhangDaily Texan Staff

At their meet-ing Thursday, the UT System Board of Re-gents approved recommenda-tions made by board Chairman Paul Foster that call for expanding public access to the System’s website.

2

Permanent StaffEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura WrightAssociate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christine Ayala, Riley Brands, Amil Malik, Eric NikolaidesManaging Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shabab SiddiquiAssociate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elisabeth DillonNews Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan RudnerAssociate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonia Gales, Anthony Green, Jacob Kerr, Pete Stroud, Amanda VoellerSenior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julia Brouillette, Nicole Cobler, Alyssa Mahoney, Madlin MekelburgCopy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara ReinschAssociate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brett Donohoe, Reeana Keenen, Kevin SharifiDesign Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack MittsSenior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hirrah Barlas, Bria Benjamin, Alex Dolan, Omar LongoriaMultimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlie Pearce, Alec WymanAssociate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sam OrtegaSenior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Garza, Shweta Gulati, Pu Ying Huang, Shelby TauberSenior Videographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taylor Barron, Jackie Kuenstler, Dan Resler, Bryce SeifertLife&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah SmothersAssociate Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren L’AmieSenior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eleanor Dearman, Kritika Kulshrestha, David Sackllah, Alex WilliamsSports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefan ScrafieldAssociate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris HummerSenior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evan Berkowitz, Garrett Callahan, Jori Epstein, Matt WardenComics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John MassingillAssociate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah HadidiSenior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cody Bubenik, Ploy Buraparate, Connor Murphy, Aaron Rodriguez, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephanie VanicekDirector of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeremy HintzAssociate Director of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah StancikSenior Technical Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Shen, Roy VarneySpecial Ventures Co-editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Blanchard, Chris HummerOnline Outreach Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred Tally-FoosJournalism Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael Brick

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Jonathan Garza / Daily Texan StaffCiara Blossom works on a dress she is handmaking for the Acro Jam event.

FRAMES featured photo

“We would like to em-phasize the need in all discussion on campus for transparency,” said Wil-liam Beckner, mathemat-ics professor and chair-elect of Faculty Council, at the meeting. “We would like to have informa-tion about how the pilots are progressing.”

The resolution requested a

variety of data, including an explanation of Accenture’s role in Shared Services.

In his response, Hegarty said Accenture played a role in the Project Manage-ment for the Committee on Business Productiv-ity, which aims to identify opportunities to cut Uni-versity costs. Hegarty said Accenture also played a role in developing data for the steering committee to determine the potential success of Shared Services at UT. According to Hegar-ty, the combined cost of these services is more than $4 million.

Hegarty said there is no current contract with Accenture.

The resolution also asked Hegarty to disclose which University units have al-ready volunteered to par-ticipate in a pilot version of the plan. Hegarty provided a list of 11 units that have volunteered, including the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Education, the McCombs School of Busi-ness, the Moody College of Communication, the Jack-son School of Geosciences,

the Dell Medical School, the Portfolio of the Chief Finan-cial Officer, the Central Busi-ness Office, the President’s Office and the University Athletics Administrative and Business Affairs.

Hegarty also provided a list of higher-education institutions which have al-ready implemented their own versions of Shared Services, which UT will be observing. The list includes multiple campuses at the University of California, the University of Michigan and Yale University.

Hillary Hart, engineer-ing senior lecturer and chair of Faculty Council Executive Committee, said she appreciated Hegarty’s prompt response.

“The more I know about this and compare it to how things were done at Michi-gan and Yale — the two other Shared Services at universi-ties I know the most about — we are just approaching it so differently,” Hart said. “I think [Hegarty] made a really good start on respond-ing to the resolution and providing the information we requested.”

Association, said the pro-gram helps counter miscon-ceptions the public may have about the police department.

“I feel as though the me-dia sometimes tends to re-lay the negative about the police department, and they don’t always relay the good things about what they do,” Rodriguez said.

According to Rodriguez, one common assumption is that officers spend the bulk of their time ticketing drivers.

“In reality, there’s just far too much crime out there for them to be worrying about some of those petty things, such as speeding,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve got bigger fish to fry, so to speak.”

Each class of academy stu-dents is diverse and typically includes aspiring law en-forcement officers, reporters, citizens and UT students, alumna Susan Reed said.

“We’ve always got a lot of orange T-shirts here,” Reed said.

Reed said the hands-on aspect of the program can be daunting, but the expe-rience gives citizens a com-prehensive education about police work.

“The officers are there to really give you an outstand-ing look at how they do

their work every day, how they interact with citizens and how they interact with each other,” Reed said.

Officers from the SWAT unit, bomb squad, mount-ed patrol and forensics and homicide divisions give lectures and demonstra-tions in the weekly classes.

Jack Darby, former student in the academy and creator of the community policing website krimelabb, said rid-ing along in a patrol car shed light on some of the depart-ment’s biggest challenges.

“One way they analyze their usage of time is how much time is committed to responding to calls and spe-cific tasks they’re responding to versus being proactive,” Darby said. “It’s not like their free time is used for donuts and coffee, it’s used for pro-ductive purposes as well. A lot of times it’s working on resolving issues and things that are not immediate.”

According to Rodriguez, the program offers a valuable insight into the police de-partment and its operations.

“You get to see what these people are dealing with day in and day out,” Rodriguez said. “You don’t want it to be over, you learn so much and it’s really just an eye-opening experience. It really changes how you feel and think about the police department.”

measures are aimed at clos-ing bars.

“I’m afraid that those who are wanting the winding sidewalks are mainly want-ing to get rid of the shot bars,” Sedwick said. “I don’t feel like forcing people is a good idea.”

Sedwick said a 1981 fire that destroyed the original site of Esther’s Follies made her realize how integrated into the community the company had become.

“After the fire, we kind of woke up to the fact that we meant more to the commu-nity than we knew,” Sedwick said. “That’s when I started becoming more a part of the community.”

In the rebuilding process, the troupe rented the Ritz and shared the stage with some now-famous bands.

“We shared the stage with

the Red Hot Chili Peppers and with some other acts,” Sedwick said. “This was a very incendiary time because punk rockers were big.”

Sedwick said she thinks the company tries to keep political commentary and current events balanced.

“We shouldn’t just be put-ting down Republicans — we should be putting down Democrats, too,” Sedwick said. “We do have a lot of stuff about Rick Perry be-cause he’s just so easy.”

Ellen Cameron, a Plan II and business senior, said she saw the show last spring and particularly enjoyed how the troupe interacted with audi-ence members.

“It’s also really cool how they use their space — there’s a window behind the stage, and so you can watch people outside stop and stare, con-fused,” Cameron said.

Cast member Shaun Wainwright-Branigan said

one of his fondest memories involved a bystander on the street about 15 years ago. He said the troupe was doing a bit outside when one cast member decided it would be funny to squirt water in the face of a bystander, and the man began to chase him in-side the building.

“We chased the guy out of the building,” Wainwright-Branigan said. “You just saw Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny tearing off after this guy — in our costumes and everything.”

Sedwick said she thinks old historical buildings should continue to be fea-tured on the street.

“Old awnings would be great, [but] I don’t think it’s a good idea to put more trees,” Sedwick said. “I think that would block the old build-ings and everything from the 1930s to the 1880s is here, and we should embrace what we have here.”

the System.“I’d also like to applaud

the rules change,” Cranberg said. “I think it will help us be able to get much more clarity as to what the extent and requirements would be to satisfy various informa-tion requests, and provide clarity also with the general public as to what is actually being asked for.”

The board also approved the establishment of a Task Force on Intellectual Property. Hall and UT-Arlington President Vis-tasp Karbhari will co-chair the committee.

“Task Force members will be specifically asked to … consider best practices in public University Sys-tems or peer organizations for the disposition and management of intellectual property,” Foster said.

Institute of Technology before his appointment as secretary of energy, said the development of more efficient energy sources is an important nationwide issue.

“There is no ambigu-ity about the need to lower greenhouse gas emissions,” Moniz said.

Moniz, who spoke with engineering students about their ideas on renewable energy, said the solution to clean energy problems will require creating opportu-nities for various ways to fix the issues.

“There is no single low-carbon solution that will be the magic answer ev-erywhere,” Moniz said. “What we need to do is enable all of the fuels, all of the technologies, to have a marketplace position in a future low- carbon economy.”

University Provost Gregory Fenves said he believes the goals of the University were in sync with those of Moniz’s department.

“When we look at the mission of the

Department of Energy and compare that to what we do at the University of Texas, there is tremendous alignment in our educa-tion mission, in our re-search mission, and also in how we get our inno-vations out to serve the world through entrepre-neurship and communica-tion,” Fenves said.

Engineering professor Michael Webber, who in-troduced Moniz, said he has been impressed with the secretary’s perfor-mance since his appoint-ment in May.

“He works hard, he hustles for the American people and he’s an advo-cate for energy solutions that stand the test of time,” Webber said.

Moniz said his depart-ment hopes for a more diverse workforce in future years.

“When we look at what is going to be the resource needed to get the kind of energy system we want mid-century, we’re go-ing to need a really good workforce,” Moniz said. “We just don’t have an en-ergy workforce that reflects our demographics and our future demographics.”

ENERGYcontinues from page 1

SPECIFICScontinues from page 1

TASK FORCEcontinues from page 1

ACADEMY continues from page 1

COMEDYcontinues from page 1

TOMORROW’S WEATHER

High Low70 47

I look forwad to getting to know you and your needs.

W&N 3

SUBMIT IT FOR FUNDING FROM THE UT GREEN FEE!

Proposal applications due

Sunday, March 9th, 2014

THE UT AUSTIN GREEN FEE COMMITTEE

IS NOW ACCEPTING PROPOSALS

FOR THE 2014-2015 ACADEMIC YEAR

AND BEYOND.

Download the applicationBOOKLET AND BUDGET SHEET AT

www.utexas.edu/sustainability/greenfee.php

All students, faculty, and staffare encouraged to submit ideas.

Attend a workshop to

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Friday, February 7th12-1 PMSAC 1.118

Sunday, February 9th2-3 PMSAC 1.118

Sunday, February 16th2-3 PMSAC 3.106

Thursday, February 20th12:30-2 PMSAC 3.112

NEWS Friday, February 7, 2014 3

UNIVERSITY

Reading race in film: UT public forum discusses ‘12 Years a Slave’

Although it’s impossible to truly capture the experience of slavery on film, professors at a discussion Thursday said “12 Years a Slave” came clos-er than any movie yet.

The discussion was or-ganized by the University’s Texas Institute for Literary and Textual Studies — a yearlong, interdisciplinary program focused on “Read-ing Race in Literature and Film.” A panel of professors from UT and Austin Com-munity College led the dis-cussion of “12 Years a Slave,” the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black Ameri-can who was kidnapped and enslaved for 12 years in the 19th century.

Mark Cunningham, a radio-television-film pro-fessor at ACC, said that the amount of violence shown in this film was insignifi-cant compared to the reality

of slavery.“You know that visually,

no matter how difficult it is or how hard it is to watch this film, that this is noth-ing,” Cunningham said.

Shirley Thompson, an American studies associ-ate professor, said the film made the violence inflicted on slaves especially glaring in scenes where it seemingly erupted out of nowhere.

“The way to get at a truth about slavery and violence is to juxtapose violence, or put violence up against the mun-dane,” Thompson said.

Eddie Chambers, UT as-sociate professor of art and art history, said he didn’t think the amount of violence was excessive, but that vio-lence shouldn’t be necessary for slavery and the struggles of African-Americans to be taken seriously.

“We always have to prove that our experiences and our historical trauma — and indeed our present day

challenges — are genuine, and are tangible and are tac-tile,” Chambers said.

Cunningham said while some complain that there aren’t enough stories being told about African-Ameri-cans that aren’t about slavery, the stories that are told don’t get enough attention.

“There are other stories to tell, but you didn’t go see those movies,” Cunning-ham said. “‘Fruitvale Station’ made $16.1 million. What’s the excuse for that?”

“Fruitvale Station” is a 2013 film about Oscar Grant, an African-American man killed by police in Oakland, Calif., in 2009.

Jordan Metoyer, economics and urban studies senior, said the discussion inspired her to learn more about slavery.

“I thought the talk was informative,” Metoyer said. “[It had] the right amount of nuance and a real acceptance of the panelists’ own unsure feelings about the film.”

Miriam Rousseau / Daily Texan StaffUT professors Daina Berry, left, and Shirley Thompson discuss the movie “12 Years A Slave” on Thursday. The roundtable included perspectives on race and gender portrayed in the movie.

By Kate Dannenmaier@kater_tot7

Record four university faculty honored By Madlin Mekelburg

@madlinbmek

Requirements for high school graduation reducedSTATE

CAMPUS

By Alyssa Mahoney@TheAlyssaM

The Texas State Board of Education’s vote to elimi-nate algebra II as a public high school graduation requirement will decrease the student body’s diver-sity and college readi-ness, according to associ-ate professor of education Julian Heilig.

The state’s minimum foundation program dic-tates the 22 credits a student must complete to graduate. The program will require three math credits instead of four after the changes go into effect for students entering high school in fall 2014.

Heilig said African-Amer-ican and Latino students dis-proportionately receive high school diplomas that have lower degree requirements. Heilig said measures such as House Bill 5, the bill that al-lowed for the elimination of the algebra II requirement,

will have a disparate effect on the students.

“Our state is changing, and we really want our University to represent the state,” Heilig said. “[If we] don’t have stu-dents that are college-ready or [they] don’t have the right credentials from high school, then what it will do is impact the diversity of UT over the long term.”

Heilig said in order to be competitive applicants, stu-dents must have four years of math, science and English.

“If you don’t start early on the pathway to college, then by the time a student is a junior and decides he wants to go to college, it’s too late,” Heilig said.

Texas Education Agency spokeswoman DeEtta Cul-bertson said algebra II is still required for students in the top 10 percent of their graduating class to be eligible for guaranteed ad-mission to a state-funded public university.

“We encourage students

to determine what plan they want to choose, and one of the things we emphasize is that students consider in-cluding the Distinguished Achievement Program, es-pecially if they want to at-tend a four-year university,” Culbertson said.

Culbertson said the bill aims to increase coursework options that will allow stu-dents to graduate and to re-duce the number of required standardized course exams from 15 to five.

“The goal is to create more paths to graduation for stu-dents,” Culbertson said. “It mostly gave [school] districts more flexibility.”

Laura Lavergne, assistant to the director at the Office of Admissions, said University

applicants who exceed high school coursework require-ments may benefit during the application review process. Lavergne also said certain colleges within the Univer-sity have a calculus readiness requirement for admission. The requirement may be met by attaining a minimum score on the Advanced Place-ment or International Bac-calaureate calculus exam, or the Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces exam.

Out of 15,335 students ad-mitted to the University for the summer and fall 2013 semesters, 12,517 students graduated from Texas pub-lic high schools, according to Lavergne.

Heilig said after com-pulsory education was

established in Texas, the state created vocational tracks for students who were consid-ered incapable of receiving college degrees. He said the bill eliminating algebra II as a requirement is reminiscent of this historical narrative.

“It’s been reframed as ‘stu-dents need an option,’” Heilig said. “It’s not actually stu-dents who are making these choices — it’s the state and those districts.”

On Thursday, National Academy of Engineering an-nounced that four professors in the Cockrell School of En-gineering were elected to the academy this year.

Those elected were Gregory Fenves, provost and engineering profes-sor; Thomas Edgar, direc-tor of the Energy Institute and chemical engineering professor; Yale Patt, engi-neering and computer sci-ence professor; and Bob Schutz, aerospace and mechanics professor.

Fenves, Edgar, Patt and Schutz are four of 67 new members and 11 foreign

associates elected to the academy in 2014, mak-ing UT the institution with the highest number of new members elected this year.

Sharon Wood, inter-im dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering and member of the academy,

said she thinks this honor will help to attract higher caliber students.

“I think it really enhanc-es our reputation, and it shows that our faculty are at the forefront of their fields,” Wood said. “I’m extremely proud of all the

faculty, and the fact that we have this external rec-ognition makes it clear that other people think highly of them too.”

According to San-dra Zaragoza, spokes-woman for the Cockrell School of Engineering, the

Cockrell School has the fourth most members in the academy nationwide.

At Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting, Chairman Paul Foster applauded the four professors, as well as President William Powers Jr., for their achievement.

NEWS BRIEFLY

Gregory Fenves Provost & engineering professor

Bob SchutzAerospace & mechanics professor

Yale PattEngineering professor

Edgar ThomasChemical engineering professor

STUDENTS ADMITTED IN SUMMER/FALL 2013

Admits (including PACE): 15,335From Texas high schools: 12,517

UTPD investigatesWest Campus assault

City and University police are investigating a reported assault that oc-curred near the intersec-tion of 25th and San Ga-briel streets around 12:30 a.m. on Monday.

A female student told police she was grabbed from behind, knocked down and pinned to the ground by an unidenti-fied male. Although she was able to ward off the attacker, she could not get a detailed physical de-scription of him before he fled the scene, according to the report.

UTPD sent a campus-wide email Wednesday afternoon requesting that anyone with informa-tion related to this inci-dent contact the Austin Police Department.

The alleged assault oc-curred six blocks from 25th and San Antonio streets, where another student reported witness-ing a possible kidnapping around 1 a.m. on Tuesday. No one has been reported missing so far.

Senior police officer Veneza Bremner said APD detectives have no reason to believe that the two reports are related.

“[The Tuesday inci-dent] was closed that night when we didn’t find anybody,” Bremner said. “The other case is still be-ing investigated.”

Bremner said Monday’s reported assault would not cause police to re-open an investigation on Tuesday’s possible kid-napping, because no vic-tims have come forward.

Because of the ongoing assault investigation, po-lice are more visible in the area, Bremner said, but patrols will not increase in West Campus.

“The officers are al-ready out there patrolling all the time,” Bremner said. “They’re not going to add more officers.”

— Julia Brouillette

[If we] don’t have stu-dents that are college-ready or [they] don’t have the right creden-tials from high school, then what it will do is impact the diversity of UT over the long term.

—Julian Heilig, education professor

4A OPINION

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

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

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

TAKE YOUR SHOT

Friday Firing Lines for week of Feb. 3: TFA and course credits

4LAURA WRIGHT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorialFriday, February 7, 2014

QUOTES TO NOTE

Quotes to note: $13,000 degrees and Davis on concealed carry

By Ali BrelandDaily Texan Columnist

@alibreland

COLUMN

Marijuana decriminalization good for Texas’ health, equality

“Yes. And state government should be sensitive to private property owners — in-cluding governmental, education, religious, health care and other institutions — to de-termine whether to allow open carry on their own properties.”

— Wendy Davis in response to the AP question, “Do you support ‘open carry’ of handguns in Texas and why or why not?”

“I’m surprised by it. I don’t think it’s a good signal to our children in this state that people can open carry something that is so dangerous and intimidating to others.”

— Frances Schenkkan, board member of Texas Gun Sense, in response to Wendy Da-vis’ gun control proposals.

“If you’re with [Gov. Chris Christie], he gives you all sorts of political favors. … What’s happening in New Jersey is in a lot of respects a mirror image of what you see here in Texas with Rick Perry and Greg Abbott.”

— Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa’s response to Christie’s upcoming visit to Texas this coming Thursday.

“If you have a lab that gives you two hours worth of credit, but you’re consistently spending five hours a week in a lab, why shouldn’t you get something that accurately represents the amount of work that went into your project? We commonly hear that from engineering and natural sciences students. It is certainly something the University should take a closer look at and be proactive on.”

— Andrew Clark, Senate of College Coun-cils president, on the argument that students shouldn’t spend more time in class than they get credit for.

“[We listened] to what national and re-gional employers are saying they really want: graduates with critical thinking skills who are quantitatively literate, can evaluate knowledge sources, understand diversity and benefit from a strong liberal arts and sciences background. This isn’t just another business degree.”

— Van Davis, director of innovations for the The Texas Higher Education Coordi-nating Board, explaining the launch of the new the Texas Affordable Baccalaureate De-gree Program, an online three-year degree program that will have a total cost between

More work can be done to increase diversity in the teaching force and create a better environment for children. However, TFA is taking an active role in the issue by recruiting people of color into the teaching force.

I would like to respond to Ms. Lucy Gris-wold’s opinion piece on Teach For America — “Teach [For] America can’t offer real solu-tions to education inequality” — published on Feb. 4, 2014. Griswold’s piece presents an interesting perspective. However, she makes a few errors.

I should say that Teach For America has made it possible for me to take advantage of amazing opportunities. I was part of the recruitment team that helped the Uni-versity of Texas at Austin become the top contributing university to the 2013 corps. I also took advantage of the opportunity to intern on the recruitment team at TFA’s Manhattan headquarters.

Griswold makes a few factual errors in her opinion piece. One of the most glaring is that she claims “TFA was a way to [teach in an under resourced district] while get-ting a master’s degree for free.” The link that she provides debunks her claim. TFA corps members may receive $5,350 grants in AmeriCorps funding that can be used to help pay for a graduate degree or repay qual-ified student loans. That is hardly receiving a master’s degree “for free.” It is true, however, that many TFA corps members are required to or choose to complete a M.Ed. while they teach.

Second, Griswold mistakenly attempts to link Teach For America to an attempt to “[apply] business practices such as increas-ing competition, emphasizing data and evaluation and promoting efficiency in the educational sphere.” Her argument is based on TFA “being funded in large part” by the Walton Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The assertion “TFA is funded in large part” is false, and the link between those two groups’ donations and corporatization is not clear. The Bill & Me-linda Gates Foundation is listed along with

Arizona State University, The Dream Fund at UCLA and the UCLA Foundation as “Champion Investors.” The Walton Foun-dation is listed as providing at least $5 mil-lion in support of TFA in fiscal year 2011. However, at least $10 million was donated to TFA from states and the federal govern-ment. TFA receives donations from a wide range of groups and does not seem to rely more heavily on either of the foundations Griswold mentioned. I am not sure why us-ing data or being efficient in the educational sphere is a bad thing. I hope that educators will make the most informed decisions pos-sible when deciding what’s best for their students. Still, a much stronger link to any proved agenda between corporations and Teach For America is needed for her argu-ment to be taken seriously.

Finally, Griswold’s comments on Teach For America’s training is concerning. Gris-wold insinuates that TFA corps members do not receive enough training to be effective teachers. Yet, principals and school leaders are overwhelmingly pleased with their deci-sion to hire TFA corps members and con-tinue to do so. Griswold then quotes corps members who state that they were “learning on [their students]” and who felt that con-versations around race were “superficial” and “offered little insight to corps members of color.” I — and many within Teach For America — will point out the need for bet-ter diversity training. However, it seems that Teach For America is doing more to correct for racism in education that tradi-tional teaching routes. In 2011 only 17 per-cent of the U.S. teaching force were people of color. This matches with only 12 percent of traditionally prepared teachers being people of color. In contrast, 38 percent of Teach For America’s corps was made up of people of color. More work can be done to increase diversity in the teaching force and create a better environment for children. However, TFA is taking an active role in the issue by recruiting people of color into the teaching force.

My goal in replying to Griswold is not to convince anyone to apply to Teach For America. Rather, I think facts are impor-tant — maybe it’s the data thing — as people form their views on TFA.

— Joshua Tang, history senior, in response to Lucy Griswold’s opinion column “Teach [For] America can’t offer real solutions to education inequality.”

THE FACTS ABOUT TFA

Letitia Hopkins @SoulSistahSingsSounds nice til people can’t receive fin aid due to having too many credit hours according to fed guidelines.—In response to the Editorial “Students shouldn’t spend more time in class then they’re getting credit for.”

NOT ILLEGAL TO BE HOMELESS

Every Friday, the Daily Texan editorial board will publish a selection of tweets and online comments culled from the Daily Texan website and the various Daily Texan Twitter accounts, along with direct submissions from readers.

Our intention is to continue the tradition of the Firing Line, a column first started in the Texan in 1909, in which readers share their opinions “concerning any matter of general interest they choose.” Just like in 1909, the Texan “will never express its approval or disapproval of opinions given under the [Firing Line] header.” In other words, take your shot.

Submissions can be sent to editor@dailytexanonline.com.

“It is not illegal to be homeless.” This statement shows the superficiality of the writer’s worldview. If the writer had ever experienced homelessness, perhaps they would realize that it is indeed illegal to make your home on the street. No-loitering ordinances are structured to move-along-now those individuals who basically have nowhere else to go. Guadalupe St. has long been a place of congregation, not just by individuals who don’t have class or work to attend. The University of Texas is not the most important thing in the world. Students who attend this school deserve a safe environment, the same way any citizen does. Implicating the homeless has always been the easiest scapegoat because no one advocates for the homeless. If we’re just going on anecdotal evidence here, I have been more frightened for my safety sur-rounded by good-ol’-boy football fans — who most presumably have homes — raging over a perceived slight by an out-of-towner. Where are the advocates for safe sport watching when you need them, eh?

— Erin Shook, Research Assistant, Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, in response to Ally Triolo’s opinion column, “Homeless Population on Campus pose threat to UT students.”

CREDIT HOURS COUNT

At The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland two weeks ago, Rick Perry spoke in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, stating, “What I can do as the governor of the second largest state in the nation is to implement poli-cies that start us toward decriminalization and keep people from going to prison and destroy-ing their lives.”

Though Perry’s words seemed progressive, they were still just that — words. Words that probably reflect a political rhetoric for Perry’s anticipated national ambitions in 2016.

Perry’s advocacy for decriminalization didn’t include any endorsement of specific policy measures. His statement appeased the pro-marijuana crowd without alienating him from his base; from a political perspec-tive, it’s the best of both worlds. The fact that Perry can endorse decriminalization and potentially walk away without taking too much flack from conservatives is indicative of a growing sentiment in favor of reducing drug penalties.

The changing sentiment is for good reason: Decriminalizing marijuana is highly beneficial for our justice system, our state’s racial equality, and potentially, our health.

Cheyanne Weldon, executive director of the Austin Chapter of the National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Laws, put the benefits in context for Texas: “There are lot of benefits economically and socially from not arresting 80,000 people a year for marijuana possession,” she said. “We’ll save $10,000 per arrest.”

Benefits to the justice system don’t just help us economically; it also is also a significant step toward racial equality. According to the New York Times, blacks are four times as likely as whites to be arrested on marijuana possession charges, despite the fact that, according to the ACLU, there is little difference in the usage rates of marijuana between the two races.

A comprehensive ACLU report released last May cited initiatives like the Edward Byrne

Justice Assistance Grant Program as providing incentives for racial profiling. Programs like this factor in the total number of annual arrests in the performance measures of local law en-forcement, and in so doing, arguably encour-age increased arrest rates.

University of California, Los Angeles psy-chology professor Phillip Atiba Goff elaborated on this in the New York Times. He said that police departments can concentrate on mi-nority and lower-income areas to meet arrest quotas. These kinds of policies exacerbate ab-horrent racial issues surrounding marijuana-related arrests.

In Austin, black people make up about 8.1 percent of the population, according to the 2010 census. According to the Austin Police Depart-ment, however, black individuals make up about 28.1 percent of those arrested on marijuana charges. So if the ACLU’s marijuana usage sta-tistics are correct, then this number is indicative of Austin’s own race issues in law enforcement.

The racial disparity between usage and ar-rests is a blunt example of institutional racism. Decriminalization won’t solve this problem at its core, but it will be a step in the right direction.

There are also potential medical benefits to decriminalization. According to an article published in The Lancet — a medical journal — marijuana is less addictive and harmful than alcohol and tobacco, two legal inebriants. Aside from being relatively innocuous, it can greatly help fight nausea and the loss of appetite from chemotherapy and reduce pain caused by mul-tiple sclerosis. Research has shown that it may be able to help with irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, migraine, cancer growth, abnormal heart rhythms, Alzheimer’s disease, fibromyalgia, incontinence, bacterial in-fections, osteoporosis, intense itching, Tourette’s syndrome and sleep apnea.

Of course, we shouldn’t be too quick to jump on the medical marijuana bandwagon, as more research of the drug is needed. Even so, decrimi-nalization is the first step in allowing scientists to legally undertake research to provide a definitive answer on the potential health benefits of mari-juana.

There are many benefits to decriminalization, but Perry’s comments, which were probably made in an attempt to frame himself as more politically libertarian, aren’t a promise of future beneficial policies. Even so, they are a poten-tially significant step towards a policy that could greatly benefit Texas.

Breland is a Plan II senior from Houston.

There are lot of benefits economi-cally and socially from not ar-resting 80,000 people a year for marijuana possession. We’ll save $10,000 per arrest.”

— Cheyanne Weldon, Executive Director of the Austin Chapter of the

National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Laws

The racial disparity between usage and arrests is a blunt example of institutional racism. Decriminal-ization won’t solve this problem...but it will be a step in the right direction.

I teach a 3 credit hour class that has a lab (PGE 334), and it is listed as 2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab. In additon to the 2 hours of lecture each week, I try to assign another 4 to 6 hours worth of homework and reading. For the two hours of lab each week, most of the work is completely finished during lab time. That means I expect the students to do approximately 8-12 hours of work each week for that 3 credit hour class. In weeks where I have no lab, we meet for lecture for 3 hours per week, and I try to provide another 6 to 9 hours of homework and reading outside of lecture, again adding up to 12 hours of work each week. I think most faculty see these as the guidelines for workload, but for individual students the work may take more or less time. — Jon Olson, Associate Professor, Ge-ology, in response to the editorial “Students shouldn’t spend more time in class than they’re getting credit for.”

SPTS 5

50 YEARS OF SCUBA DIVINGAT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

Feb. 1964 - Feb. 2014

UNIVERSITY SCUBA CLUBHelp Us Celebrate Our

50th Anniversary

Friday, February 7, 20147:00 P.M.

Scholz Garden, North Room1607 San Jacinto

Austin, Tx

Everyone WelcomeCASH BAR

After a long offseason of facing the same batters and the same pitchers, the first tourna-ment of the season is an excit-ing moment for teams.

Playing five games over the course of three or four days allows coaches to see who their starters will be confer-ence play starts, and young players are able to get used to the college game.

“Going into the first tour-nament is always exciting,” junior pitcher Gabby Smith said. “It’s preseason and it’s just so much fun.”

The Longhorns will play their first tournament of the year away from home for the first time since 2007, electing to compete in the Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, La. Tex-as will face North Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Purdue and Northern Iowa in the three-day tournament.

While Texas comes in as the highest-ranked team in the tournament — ranked No. 10 by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association — they’ll face stiff competition, particularly from Louisiana-Lafayette.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are com-ing off of a run to the Super Regional where they fell to Michigan. This season, they are ranked No. 13 in the pre-season ranking and pitcher Jordan Wallace is looking to

continue her success from a year ago when she was 32-9 with 382 strikeouts.

The Longhorns swept all three games the two teams played last year, but head coach Connie Clark knows it will be different this time around playing in Lafayette.

“They usually draw pretty well and they really enjoy their softball down there,” Clark said.

Texas will face North Carolina in its first game of the tournament. The Tar Heels finished last season 40-21 and made it into the NCAA tournament. They return 10 of their key play-ers, including pitcher Lori Spingola, who went 30-15 last year with a 2.50 ERA and 304 strikeouts.

Clark said starting the season with both of those teams will be a needed chal-lenge for the Longhorns.

“I think that’s exactly what we need to get these young players into the fire as quick-ly as we can,” Clark said.

The Longhorns are com-ing off of a 6-1 win over LSU in their opening game of the season. Senior shortstop Taylor Thom boosted the Texas offense with a three-run home run in the fifth to put the game out of hand. Junior pitcher Gabby Smith allowed only one unearned run and struck out two in the complete game.

The Louisiana Classic is part of a tough non-confer-ence schedule for Texas, who will also play Arizona State, Michigan and Washington — all of which are ranked in the top 10 going into the season. With seven fresh-men joining the Longhorns for 2014, senior shortstop Taylor Thom said the team’s

After seven straight wins, Texas has moved from the hunter to the hunted.

The Longhorns (18-4, 7-2 Big 12) sit in second place in the Big 12, despite starting 0-2 in conference play. Texas produced four straight wins against ranked opponents before narrowly escaping against TCU, and now heads north to Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State (15-7, 5-4 Big 12) on Saturday.

“We got to understand that we put ourselves in the posi-tion to win the Big 12 Cham-pionship, but we also put our-selves in [the] position that teams are going to want to beat us every night,” junior forward Jonathan Holmes said.

The Wildcats were part of a four-team spread that Texas was able to overpower late last month, which helped it enter the rankings for the first time since 2011. Holmes hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win the contest for the Longhorns against No. 22 Kansas State.

That win continued a streak for the Longhorns, which currently puts them at No. 15 in the polls after a huge upset victory against No. 6 Kansas last Saturday.

Texas is off to its best 22-game start since the 2010-2011 season, when it started 19-3. That start puts the Longhorns in a position they haven’t been in in quite some time — at the top of the pack.

“We are a good team,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “But it is such a fine line between winning and losing, that if you start drinking the poison and think that you are there, it all gets away.”

Against TCU, who sits in the bottom of the conference, the Longhorns lacked the intensity and aggressiveness that pro-pelled them past four ranked opponents. Texas escaped with a 5-point victory, despite its worst shooting of the season.

If the Longhorns con-tinue to play down to their opponents, they will have even greater trou-ble against Kansas State, who is striving to get back into contention after

losing three of its last four games. The Wildcats started conference play 3-1 be-fore coming to Austin, which began their small downward spiral.

But Barnes isn’t worried about his team’s new status and the risk that comes with it.

“February is a separation

month or a catch-up month, whatever you want to call it,” Barnes said. “There are a lot of games left to play. But I’m not going to buy into the ‘just cause we’re ranked people are going to play any harder.’ I think Kansas State would play just as hard if we were 7-2 or 2-7. I believe that.”

Texas faces the Wildcats led by Holmes, who record-ed 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against the Horned Frogs. Holmes has averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds in his last two contests and is expected to once again lead his team in Saturday’s matchup.

5STEFAN SCRAFIELD, SPORTS EDITOR / @texansportsFriday, February 7, 2014

MEN’S BASKETBALL SIDELINE

NBASPURS

NETS

ARIZONA

OREGON

NCAAB

UCONN

CINCINATTI

“It’s good to know life has a lot to

offer you, but even better to know that

you have a lot to offer life. Unknown

- So go for it”

Mack Brown@UT_MackBrown

TOP TWEET

George, Wall, Lillard in NBA Dunk Contest

When NBA All-Star weekend heads to New Orleans this month, defending slam dunk contest champion and Toronto Raptors for-ward Terrence Ross will be joined by a plethora of stars ready to take his crown.

Sources told ESPN.com that All-Stars Paul George (Indiana Pac-ers), John Wall (Wash-ington Wizards) and Damian Lillard (Port-land Trail Blazers) will highlight the annual Slam Dunk Contest. Golden State War-riors forward Harri-son Barnes and Sacra-mento Kings guard Ben McLemore will round out the six-man field.

The contest, which has historically been the highlight of All-Star weekend, has lost its luster the past couple of years with minimal star power competing in the event. These additions should go a long way in bring-ing back the buzz to the annual dunk-off.

—Matt Warden

SPORTS BRIEFLY

Holmes, Horns seek eighth straightBy Garrett Callahan

@CallahanGarrett

Pu Ying Huang / Daily Texan StaffJunior forward Jonathan Holmes has played huge for Texas during its seven-game win streak and leads the team with 13.7 points per game this season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Shweta Gulati / Daily Texan Staff Junior Gabby Smith starred for Texas against LSU on Thursday, pitching seven strong innings.

By Jacob Martella@ViewFromTheBox

When sophomore guard Brady Sanders suits up for each game, she knows she owes more than 40 minutes of play to her teammates.

As the self-described “en-ergy player” on the team, Sanders doesn’t just average the most minutes (25.8) on the court. And she doesn’t just boast the best 3-point field goal percentage on the team. Sanders makes sure that before the game, during and after, she’s the loudest and proudest competitor there is.

“I hope [competitors] say, ‘That girl never stops,’” Sand-ers said. “‘She plays 40 min-utes, she’ll keep going at you even if her shot’s not falling and she’s an energy player.’”

More often than not, Sanders’ shot is falling. Av-eraging 11.8 points per game through the last four games,

she executes her own of-fense. But she also feeds her teammates both words of encouragement and the ball. Against Texas Tech, Sanders led the team with four assists. It is those fundamentals she takes pride in.

“I make the hustle plays, do the little things that sometimes goes unnoticed but to me and to the team, I know they’re important,” Sanders said. “As long as everyone’s contributing to the team, I’m not the type of person to need all the attention.”

And yet, Sanders garners significant attention from her teammates as she emerg-es as the vocal leader of the team. She said the personali-ties among the team require her to “yell to get her voice heard.” But head coach Kar-en Aston sets Sanders’ words apart from her teammates.

“She’s very loud, doesn’t

mind talking a lot on defense and ‘leading,’ so to say,” As-ton said. “[She] understands that’s what her role is.”

Sanders doesn’t just sport a loud voice. She’s naturally animated, too, whether it’s her fist pump or kicking her legs after drawing a charge.

“I can’t control what I do,” Sanders said. “I just get so excited and caught up in the moment — literally some-thing just comes over me. I just have a huge passion for basketball and even if it’s not me doing something good, I just get so excited for my teammates.”

Sanders’ teammates get excited for her, too. They’ve grown together since last year, as they play what As-ton describes as a “maturity game.” Fellow sophomore Empress Davenport said they’ve learned together.

“Since we clocked so many minutes [last year],

we know what to expect,” Davenport said.

But in its first season matchup against Iowa State on Sunday, Texas might not know what to expect. Before the Longhorns adjusted to the “maturity game,” the Cyclones swept them last season en route to a second-place finish in the Big 12. Texas (15-7, 6-4)

has grown since then — and the team is just inches ahead of Iowa State (16-6, 5-6) in the competition.

Sanders thinks her team “beat ourselves in the games we lost,” and doesn’t think “there’s a limit on what we can be.” Come Sunday, Sand-ers will see how long Texas’ growth spurt will actually last.

Brady Sander’s energy on, off court fuels Texas

Lauren Ussery / Daily Texan Staff Despite an up and down season for the Longhorns, the en-ergy of sophomore Brady Sanders has fueled the charge.

Longhorns open season with tough tourneySOFTBALL

By Jori Epstein@JoriEpstein

focus for the tournament and the rest of the non-conference schedule will be consistency.

“There are a lot of new faces out there and not a lot of experi-ence, so we’re just going to have to continue to work through the ups and downs,” Thom said.

But now that the Longhorns are playing someone other than themselves, Smith said they’re ready to go out and have fun.

“I know we’re all really anx-ious to have a different oppo-nent,” Smith said. “It’s going to be good to see different batters.”

MEN’S TENNISCHRIS CARAVEO

WEEKEND PREVIEWS

Coming off their fifth shutout of the season, the Longhorns will trav-el north for two matches this weekend with a higher ranking in front of their name.

Texas moved up four spots to No. 10 in the ITA Rankings after they scored two wins against ranked oppo-nents on Jan. 26, in Nashville, Tenn.

The Longhorns put themselves in good position by taking ear-ly control of their six matches last weekend — all wins — and by win-ning the doubles point in each one. Texas faces less pressure to win at more positions, needing only three singles wins instead of four after doubles play.

Juniors Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen will lead the way for Texas in doubles with a 5-0 dual-match record and a No. 5 national ranking.

The team will have two more chances to improve their doubles streak when they face No. 31 Michigan on Friday, fol-lowed by No. 22 Illinois on Sunday.

6 COMICS

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DOWN

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57 Sidebar requester: Abbr.

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6 Friday, February 7, 2014 COMICS

Today’s solution will appear here next issue

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Crop it out, or it’ll be the the �shes for ya!

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Crop it out, or it’ll be the the �shes for ya!

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CLASS/JUMP 7

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LIFE&ARTS Friday, February 7, 2014 7

DANCERcontinues from page 8during her pregnancy and her move to Austin.

“I think as an artist, when you leave that part of you out for a significant length of time, you don’t even realize what’s missing until you put it back in,” Patel said. “As soon as I brought back dance into my life, I felt I was a better mom, a better wife and a better person. I was complete again.”

opportunity to hear him speak openly about his work and about his family — how he has been raised in the fine arts and the influence that his fa-ther and his great grandfather has had on him,” said Jacquie Martinez, Russell’s associate gallery director. “There’s a lot of oral history that he shares whenever you are with him.”

Alexandre Renoir recalls

stories of his life and family to guests, such as how his great grandmother used to model for his great grandfather. In addition to stories, Alexandre Renoir often does live painting at his showings, allowing guests to observe his artistic process.

“He’s doing a live painting, which I’m excited to see,” said Savannah Stait, Russell’s art and framing consultant. “His style is so different and his pallet is so saturated. It will be interesting to see how people

receive his artwork since it crosses over with the other impressionists, but it’s defi-nitely his own.”

The Russell collection began incorporating contemporary artists into its gallery of exclu-sively classic artists, such as Pi-casso and Monet, seven years ago. Alexandre Renoir’s work compliments the gallery since he artfully bridges traditional and contemporary style.

“I started off a purely mas-ters gallery, and I’ve always

had my permanent collection, so it was a natural fit to com-bine the two — to show the old and new,” Russell said.

Among his original pieces, the collection contains several works that pay homage to Al-exandre Renoir’s great grand-father, such as a colored litho-graph of the famous painting “The Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881.”

“It’s interesting to look back at his great grandfather and see where art has come

in comparison and watch it evolve,” Russell said.

Saturday’s reception, along with the artworks, will provide a memorable expe-rience for traditional and contemporary art fans alike.

“It’s a wonderful opportu-nity for anyone to come enjoy the masterworks that we have as well as today’s living master artist,” Martinez said. “To have direct lineage present is a phe-nomenal opportunity — one you don’t get too often.”

RENOIRcontinues from page 8

8 L&A

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There’s a long list of ac-tors who have tried their hands at directing, but only a few truly achieve success. For every Ron Howard or Ben Affleck, there are 10 Danny DeVitos — the actor-turned-director responsible for the disastrous “Duplex.” George Clooney’s directo-rial career is neither a deci-sive disappointment nor a smashing success, but after five films one would expect Clooney would have gotten a little better. He’s made four mediocre films as well as one great one, “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Unfortu-nately, “The Monuments Men” continues Clooney’s cold streak, failing to estab-lish any narrative purpose, vivid characters or even a discernible personality.

Set in the tail end of World War II, “The Monu-ments Men” tells the true story of a group of art his-torians tasked with saving art stolen by Nazis. Frank Stokes (Clooney) divides the group, sending them to vari-ous corners of the European front to track down some select artifacts.

“The Monuments Men” boasts a truly impressive en-semble cast, including Cloo-ney backed by the likes of

Matt Damon, Cate Blanch-ett, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Jean Dujardin, but there’s not a single mem-orable character among the bunch. Blanchett is the only cast member whose perfor-mance could be considered memorable, alternating be-tween a charming and cold character that exists purely for narrative convenience and is disregarded in the film as soon as possible. Everyone else is playing variations of their publicly established personas. But there are some moments, such as Murray listening to a recording of his daughter singing a Christmas carol or Damon accidentally step-ping on a possibly defunct land mine, that allow for some pathos to sneak in.

Even the film’s approach to its characters is misguided. After a playful set of intro-ductions, “The Monuments Men” takes a sitcom-esque approach to its characters, pairing them off and sending them on separate adventures. As Clooney ping-pongs be-tween the various members of his ensemble, a tonal in-consistency sets in, with wry comedic set pieces and sarcas-tic exchanges mixed in with sappy, repetitive death scenes and some mythologizing.

But perhaps the film’s greatest misstep isn’t its

scattershot approach to character work, but the ut-terly inconsequential nature of the film itself. Clooney’s directorial hand is work-manlike, staging each se-quence with baseline com-petence but little flair or originality. Ultimately, he’s unable to justify his own film’s existence. Telling a story about war heroes in a bland, forgettable fashion has been done many times before, but to make a film about the importance of art in such an artless, manufac-tured and unfocused fashion borders on an act of hubris.

Despite having little worth mentioning, “The Monuments Men” isn’t a terrible film, just a film un-worthy of the considerable

talent on either side of the camera. It feels like a first draft of a great story, adrift in its tone and lazy in its character work. Clooney’s disappointing, mediocre ef-fort is destined to accumu-late as little fanfare as the film deserves.

HANNAH SMOTHERS, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR / @DailyTexanArts 8Friday, February 7, 2014

DANCE AND THEATER

Indian dance featured in playBy Kritika Pramod

@kritika88

ART MOVIE REVIEW| ‘THE MONUMENTS MEN’

Clooney’s newest directorial attempt falls short, continues mediocre streak

Son of famed Renoir clan to visit gallery

By Alex Williams@alexwilliamsDT

Courtesy of Russell Collection Fine Art GalleryA local gallery is hosting the work of Alexandre Renoir, a de-scendent of the famous impressionist Pierre Auguste Renoir.

By Carmen Rising@carmen_rising

THE MONUMENTS MEN

Director: George ClooneyGenre: Historical DramaRuntime: 118 minutes

Preya Mangalat Patel be-gan dancing at the age of four. Now, as artistic direc-tor and choreographer at the Devi School of Dance in Austin, Patel teaches a small group of young stu-dents Bharatanatyam — an Indian classical dance form. Patel and her troupe will per-form a special garba piece, a traditional Indian dance, during the staging of the “Little Red Chunari” at the Austin Scottish Rite Theatre this weekend.

Born and raised in Phoe-nix, Patel was introduced to dance by her mother who encouraged her to enroll in dance classes.

“My mother loves me a lot,” Patel said. “When I was young, she put me into what-ever dance classes were avail-able at that time.”

When she was six, Patel met her guru — Kalashri Asha Gopal, founder and di-rector of the Arathi School of Dance in Phoenix. Gopal was the only Bharatanatyam teacher in the small Indian community in Arizona at the time. As a young danc-er, Patel lived to hear the beats and the rhythms and learned dance styles like bal-let, tap and jazz, and other Indian classical dance forms like Mohiniattam, Kathak, Kuchipudi and Odissi.

“When you’re younger, you’re shown the moves and you’re told to show the right expressions,” Patel said. “But you are not necessarily feel-ing the dance. It was some time during my Arangetram that I truly fell in love with classical dance.”

A proud moment for most classical dancers, Arangetram is the debut on-stage perfor-mance of a classical dancer that usually takes place when the dancer is 13 years old.

“Once I found the passion for classical dance, I realized the depth and the scope of it when it comes to abhinaya and telling stories,” Patel said. “I feel like I still have a long way to go.”

Abhinaya, a concept in In-dian classical dance, is the art of expression requiring a dif-ferent set of skills and expe-riences. One has to be profi-cient at depicting expression and drama through dance.

Patel graduated as a dance major from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., in 1994. Shortly after, she decided to pursue a condensed, one-year program in cytology from a school in Las Vegas because she wanted space to pursue what she was truly devoted to.

“I chose to pursue cytol-ogy because it allowed me a lot of flexibility,” Patel said. “It allows me the freedom to be a mother and a wife, to dance and to have a job.”

Patel knew the kind of dance she really wanted to do all her life was Bharatanatyam.

“You can be quite creative with [Bharatanatyam] if you have the time and if you have the passion for it while still adhering to the traditions of it,” Patel said. “You can find things that appeal to differ-ent audiences as well.”

Having studied under sev-eral gurus, Patel said she has learned from each one of them.

“The more you are exposed to, the more you are able to find your own path,” Patel said. “That’s what sets you apart

from other dancers.”In 2007, Patel moved to Aus-

tin, and that was when she re-connected with her childhood friend from Phoenix, Sumana Sen Mandala, who had re-cently started a semi-profes-sional dance group called Stage Sanchaar. Mandala and Patel, both students of guru Gopal, had completed their Aranget-ram under her.

Patel and Mandala per-formed together with the Stage Sanchaar troupe to raise awareness and funds for The Arts and Fitness Program for Young Children in Austin and in 2010 they staged a dance production titled “The Power of You.”

“Just as a good actor is able to get into the role, Preya as a talented dancer is able to get into the role,” Mandala said. “She is a versatile and beautiful dancer and she is very professional.”

During her involvement with Stage Sanchaar, Patel also met Minnie Homchow-dhury, a trained Bharatanaty-am dancer from India, who has been pursuing the dance form for more than 25 years.

“Preya is a complete per-former,” Homchowdhury said. “The stage loves her. She is well-versed in both the West-ern and Indian styles of dance.”

In October 2013, Patel started her dance school with

seven students. She trains them in her guru’s style of Bharatanatyam and wants her students to be proficient and comfortable with the form before moving on to other styles of dance.

“I really enjoy teaching,” Patel said. “I’m becoming a better dancer being a teacher, because I tend to look into things deeply, wanting to

answer any question that can come from the students.”

For Patel, classical dance has been a significant part of her life and she believes danc-ing has kept her focused and organized. The only time she has spent away from dance was

It isn’t hard to tell that Alex-andre Renoir’s brightly colored landscapes and vivid florals come from a long-standing family tradition of impression-ism. Alexandre Renoir is the great grandson of French im-pressionist painter Pierre-Au-guste Renoir, and through the end of February, the Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery on Sixth Street is hosting a collec-tion of his paintings.

Alexandre Renoir is a con-temporary impressionist paint-er, depicting subjects similar to those of the masters with a modern spin. He paints classic flowers and landscapes with a pallet knife to create thick, bold textures rather than delicate brushstrokes. Unlike older im-pressionists who used subdued

colors, Alexandre Renoir’s piec-es are full of vibrant color.

“He’s influenced by the mas-ters in terms of imagery, but he has his own style,” gallery own-er Lisa Russell said. “When you think contemporary you’re thinking abstract and very modern. Not a lot of credit is given to the fact that there are contemporary traditionalist or impressionist artists that do an amazing job.”

Alexandre Renoir will visit the gallery on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 11-1 p.m. Children will be able to meet the artist and paint with him. That evening, the gallery will host a free re-ception with the artist to give the public an opportunity to meet Alexandre Renoir and enjoy his work.

“People will have the

LITTLE RED CHUNARI

When: Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.Where: Austin Scottish Rite TheatreAdmission: $6-$9

MultimediaLocal dancer teaches classical Indian dance at the Devi School of Dance dailytexanonline.com

DANCER page 7

RENOIR page 7

Shelby Tauber / Daily Texan StaffPreya Mangalat Patel, artistic director and choreographer at the Devi School of Dance in Austin, and her troupe will perform a special garba piece, a traditional Indian dance, during the staging of the “Little Red Chunari” at the Austin Scottish Rite Theatre this weekend.

Claudette Barius / Associated PresThis image released by Columbia Pictures shows from left, Sam Epstein, John Goodman, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Bob Balaban in a scene from “The Monuments Men.”