Texas and President Barack Obama are at odds again over proposed EPA regulations that would affect Texas’ coal industry. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Distrist of Columbia has just ruled that the EPA has the right to regulate Texas’ 19 coal plants such as the Fayette Power Project near La Grange, constructed in 1979.

 

This fight comes during a time of continuing unemployment nationally, which currently stands at 7.4 percent, and sub-2 percent GDP growth.  But it also comes as the president is trying to make good on a pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 (according to a 2013 report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, carbon emissions dropped by 12 percent from 2007 to 2012). 

Economic times are tough, although James Taylor, senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute,  argues that Gov. Rick Perry avoided the worst by capitalizing on the state's energy production. Writers like Taylor argue that times could only get tougher with regulations that in the short term run the risk of taking jobs away from some in the energy sector when jobs are most needed.

Indeed, there is an economic cost to reducing emissions. The Texas coal industry is an example of the economic perils of dealing with climate change. According to James Osborne of The Dallas Morning News in “For East Texas Coal Belt, Dread over New Climate-Change Rules,” many small towns like Fairfield, between Houston and Dallas, have been revived by coal plants but fear that these older plants will not be refitted, instead being forced to close down, costing hundreds of jobs for the town. According to Osborne, some in the industry are trying to develop what they see as viable alternatives, such as “clean coal,” which allegedly extracts the carbon pollution from the burning process, but the technology is new and untested, and might not be perfected in time to meet more stringent regulations. Recognizing the economic difficulty of transition, I still see creating jobs at the cost of environmental destruction as a Faustian bargain that  that won´t address our country´s long-term environmental problems.

The overall picture for the planet’s climate is bleak. Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere reached 399.89 parts per million in May according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This measure is well above 350 parts per million, the point at which “feedback loops” begin to cause significant environmental damage. These are caused by an increase in carbon dioxide, which traps heat, and a corresponding melting of ice that would normally reflect sunlight, accelerating the rate of climate change. This acceleration could possibly cause sea levels to rise two feet by 2050, according to a 2013 report commissioned by Maryland Gov. Martin O’ Malley.

While there is a cost to addressing climate change, there is a cost for remaining idle. Natural disasters are growing more costly. According to Chris Mooney of Mother Jones magazine, 14 natural disasters cost $1 billion or more in 2011, and the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 topped $33 billion, compared to the $700 million (in today’s dollars) of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, according to the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University, and the estimated $25 billion caused by the 1992 Hurricane Andrew, at that time the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Fred Beach, a research fellow at UT’s Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, attributes the political gridlock on this issue to a lack of “political will [and] understanding in the general population.” He is partially right. Even conservatives recognize the reality of climate change. According to a 2013 poll by George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication, 62 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe that the nation should take steps to address climate change, and 77 percent support renewable energy sources.

Even as voters recognize this reality, however, climate change does not resonate with the public as strongly as jobs. According to an April 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of Americans feel that protecting the environment should be a priority for the Congress, as opposed to 79 percent who want them to improve the job situation.

Ultimately, the fault for the climate gridlock lies not with our political leaders but with ourselves, although economic interest groups help in creating a disconnect between public perception and political discourse on the issue. The U.S., and Texas, with the country’s second-largest state population, must begin to see climate change as a threat to national stability and economic well-being. Until we muster the political will to prioritize climate change over short-term economic gain, the economic costs of the rapid transition necessary will always seem to be a little more than we are willing to pay. Until climate change resonates with voters, however, we should applaud the  decision and additional EPA regulation, which should force a state with an array of energy possibilities to look toward an energy future instead of remaining stuck in an energy past.

Knoll is a first-year Latin American studies master's student from Dallas. Follow Knoll on Twitter @tknoll209K.

Although the U.S. has made strides toward equality during the last few decades, UT alumnus Ryan Yezak feels many people in the LGBTQ community are treated like second class citizens.

Yezak is currently working on a documentary discussing the various forms of discrimination encountered by LGBTQ persons around the country because of their sexual orientation. Yezak said the documentary, called "Second Class Citizen," will cover issues such as the barriers to adoption, lack of employment protection and anti-bullying statues and high rates of homelessness facing LGBTQ people.  

Yezak looked to Kickstarter, the online fundraising platform, to raise money for his documentary. Although his original goal was $50,000, he ended up raising $176,000. 

“I thought this isn’t right, this is me, and I’m a part of our community,” Yezak said. “We’re being treated as people of a lesser class in a way they discriminated against race and gender in the past.”

Earlier this month, Yezak called gay and bisexual males nationwide to donate blood at their local blood centers in an effort to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to lift a policy banning gay individuals from donating blood. 

When he participated in the National Gay Blood Drive on July 12, Yezak said he and hundreds of other men nationwide were turned away from blood collection centers. 

Cindy Rowe, spokesperson for the Blood Center of Central Texas, said their center had to turn away ten donors from the blood drive because of their sexual orientation. 

The FDA established the law in the 1980s, saying it would prevent HIV transmission, but Rowe said the Blood Center believes the law is no longer relevant because of the precision of modern blood testing. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Texas’ anti-sodomy law unconstitutional in 2003, but the law is still technically on the books, meaning Texans can be cited for “homosexual conduct.” In 2009, two men in El Paso were told by police they could be charged under the law after being kicked out of a restaurant for kissing. 

Yezak began his fight against discrimination when he was at UT in 2008. That year, he helped form the UT chapter of Delta Lambda Phi, an international fraternity that describes itself as “a brotherhood for gay, bisexual and progressive men.” 

“People don’t seem to care about those issues because they’re not as sexy as marriage,” Yezak said. “One goal in mind is to transcend to that level of attention that marriage has with all these other issues.”

A $2.7 million grant by the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation has helped establish the Texas Invasive Species Program, which will research foreign species introduced into the state and methods to reduce their threat to native ecosystems.

Before receiving the grant, the group of researchers behind the program was already working as a part of the Texas Fire Ant Lab to reduce the ecological impact of the foreign ants that were unintentionally introduced into the United States from Argentina during the 1930s.

South American fire ants have had a great detrimental effect on Texas ecosystems, said the program research associate Edward LeBrun. He said the fire ants have displaced native ant species, including seed-harvesting ants that are the main food source of the Texas horned lizard.

“That’s why horned lizards are almost extinct in Texas,” LeBrun said. “They’re very, very rare now, and that [lizard] was a very iconic species in Texas for a long time.”

The grant from the Bass Foundation will fund half of the projected costs of expanding the Fire Ant Lab’s focus to other non-native species that threaten Texas. The Bass Foundation expects the program to match their grant with financial support from other private groups.

About 80 percent of the group’s budget will be used to pay salaries and benefits for researchers and technicians, said Larry Gilbert, professor of integrative biology and director of the Program. The rest of the sum is going toward other expenses, including travel and equipment.

The Bass Foundation awarded the grant for the founding of the program because of its experiences of working with its director in the past, said Pete Geren, executive director of the Bass Foundation.

“There is a long relationship between the foundation and Mr. Gilbert,” Geren said. “The foundation sees his work as important for the state of Texas in addressing an issue that often goes overlooked by many organizations that invest in environmental research.”

Gilbert said the program is attempting curb populations of invasive species by introducing a species into Texas that is a predator of a specific invasive species in its original environment. This method does not completely eliminate the presence of the targeted species, but does help to lower its population to a point where it is no longer considered a pest.

“That is the approach we’ve taken because we’re ecologists,” Gilbert said. “We’re working on ecological methods of controlling species as opposed to dumping poisons on them.”

The Texas Fire Ant Lab has already been using this strategy, LeBrun said. In order to curb the population of fire ants, they’ve introduced phorid flies, predators of fire ants in their native environment in Argentina. 

These flies target the foreign ants specifically, leaving native ant populations alone.

Gilbert said Invasive species like the fire ant are almost always introduced into a new environment by humans. Gilbert said sometimes species are introduced originally for commercial purposes before spreading out of control, like many species of exotic fish that are sold for aquariums. Often they are introduced unknowingly, riding in the cargo hold of ships or in potted plants. Once they establish themselves in foreign environments with few natural predators, they rapidly multiply, crowding out native species and reducing the diversity and overall health of ecosystems.

Among the invasive species the program is focusing its attention on is buffelgrass, a grass native to Africa that was originally introduced to South Texas for cattle to graze on but has now spread and become a fire hazard. One of the species the group is most concerned with is the tawny crazy ant, a newcomer to Texas that poses perhaps an even greater threat than fire ants.

“It’s very different from fire ants in many ways,” Gilbert said. “It is being spread around pretty rapidly now, and it’s really going to be pretty devastating to the wildlife where it lives. It even knocks out fire ants.”

The program is also studying species that have not yet arrived in Texas but could cause significant damage when they do. One such emerging threat is cactoblastis cactorum, a moth that acts as a parasite to opuntia cacti, which include prickly pear. The moth has been spreading through the Southeastern United States, where it has no natural predators.

“When they get to Texas, [the moths] will expand dramatically and cause pretty dramatic system changes,” LeBrun said. “Especially in South and West Texas, where opuntia cacti are such an important part of the ecosystem.”

Though intact ecosystems have many tangible economic benefits, such as naturally purifying water supplies, LeBrun said, this should not be the sole reason to be concerned about the damage to ecosystems caused by invasive species.

“People grew up with these systems, and they have intrinsic value,” LeBrun said. “They’ve been around for millions of years, and the wide-scale disruption of them and the loss of species diversity is something people should just be concerned about, because we care about things that are bigger than us.”

Follow Tucker Whatley on Twitter @tuckerwhatley.

Editor's Note: This column is the second in a series on higher education abroad from UT-Austin students who are currently studying or traveling outside the U.S. 

Trinidad and Tobago, two small islands in the Caribbean that make up one country, could be seen as fraternal twins. While Tobago fits the ideal, touristic description of the Caribbean lifestyle, with its tranquil beaches and easygoing ambience, Trinidad is a busy, oil-rich island. In October 2009, Trinidad was removed as a “developing nation” from a list created by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation.  

From the 45-minute drive from the airport to my family’s new home, I was shocked (and admittedly disappointed) at the amount of industry I saw along the way. However, from a local’s point of view, this hustle and bustle means job opportunities in the oil and energy sectors, which influences the focus of higher education within its borders.

While many aspects of higher education in Trinidad differ from those of the United States and Texas, the major difference is the most popular type of curriculum. While the United States greatly respects the liberal arts, Trinidad – along with many other nations – focuses on offering career-oriented studies for its university students.

It is important to understand that globally, having the luxury to study the liberal arts is made possible by individual and societal privilege. However, the unpopularity of the liberal arts in developed nations equivalent to the U.S. isn’t due to a lack of wealth, but the cultural perceptions of the liberal arts as valueless.  

In the United States, there are more than 500 colleges entirely dedicated to the liberal arts, 15 of which are within Texas. In contrast, majoring in the liberal arts is relatively uncommon outside the U.S.

A liberal arts student has the freedom to carve out his or her future, at a cost. Those majoring in the liberal arts take on opportunities in school such as unpaid internships, fellowships and pricey study abroad programs (which may be required in some cases). After receiving an undergraduate degree, many students who majored in the liberal arts must then take extra time to establish a career path (except those students who attend graduate school.) Despite its popularity, majoring in the liberal arts isn't entirely uncontroversial in the United States, as it is a road that does not set out a specific career path after college.

In Trinidad, the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine (UWI) is part of a larger public school system in the Caribbean known for its engineering programs which attracts students from all around the region.

Kristianna Aird, a recent graduate of UWI with a degree in accounting, illuminated the unpopularity of the liberal arts in Trinidad when she answered my question about the extracurricular involvement of students at the university without mentioning liberal arts students at all. 

“It depended on the degrees that people were doing, because the law, medicine and engineering students don't have much school spirit, but the business and management students tended to attend all the football games and be at all of the UWI parties,” Aird said.

Nici Syriac, a student in her third and final year at ROYTEC, a subsidiary business school of UWI, explained that the Trinidadian higher education system doesn’t exist without its drawbacks, such as underemployment.

With free tuition through the government-funded program Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) leading to many students graduating with education in a technical profession, graduates are being released into a job market with a high demand for - but low supply of - jobs.  

“Now there are many young people with degrees and no job because we are over-qualified with no experience,” Syriac said. “When we do want a job, we have to get low-class jobs in order to gain experience.”

In the United States, there is a tradition of having the freedom of exploring your education and career options and taking your time to figure out what you as an individual are best suited for.

With the exception of certain majors that are better defined, a liberal arts degree generally offers the flexibility to perform creatively and analytically at many jobs. Possessing a "blank slate" in the job market can be liberating for some, yet overwhelming for others. It is no surprise that the process requires time and money. In other nations, acquiring the education for a professional trade as fast and cheaply as possible is often your best option.

Manescu is an international relations and global studies sophomore from Ploiesti, Romania.

Eduardo Luna, a government senior and international student, learned to appreciate and dispel any misconceptions he had of Middle Eastern cultures while undergoing a transformative and enlightening experience on his study abroad program in Turkey. 

His only regret was that he couldn’t stay longer.

“More often than not, ignorance breeds conflict,” Luna said. “I think it is tremendously important for students to study other cultures, especially ones that are as heavily stereotyped as the ones in the Middle East.”

Being that it is a nation that has had a changing political evironment in the last decade, Turkey was always fascinating and inspirational for Luna. 

However, Turkey is currently facing civil unrest arising from religious and political conflicts between the Turkish people and their government. Secular Turks are rebelling against the government’s mishandling of religious regulations and fighting for religious freedom. Being a political, cultural and geographic bridge between the United States and the Middle East and an important American ally, Turkey’s current situation could impact its relations with America.

“Turkey is making history right now,” Luna said. “If the protests in Turkey are successful, I think it will embolden an already interesting U.S.-Turkish relationship.”

According to Jeannette Okur, a lecturer in the Middle Eastern Studies department, Austin and Antalya, a city in Southern Turkey, became official sister cities which facilitated intercultural and interfaith dialogue as city officials and diplomats have gone back and forth between the two cities. Antalya is home to polytheists, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and thus has a tradition of peaceful coexistence among faiths.

Senay Ozdemir, a journalist, visiting professor at UT and an international exchange agent, is currently working on creating an independent news outlet to report on Turkey. Ozedemir is a strong advocate of opportunities for students to travel and study in Turkey.

Ozdemir said since the end of the Cold War, no region has been more critical to United States foreign policy than the Middle East, whether as a source of oil, international strife or terrorism. Being a mediator between the these regions, Turkey plays a significant role.

“Turkey is the place where American students can discover how Islamic values can be combined with modernity, feminism and a contemporary way of living in Middle Eastern countries,” Ozdemir said.

Ozdemir said globally important institutions such as UT-Austin should foster understanding of Turkish government and society through multiple channels, which she proposes could be achieved through emphasis on Turkey for UT students studying in relevant disciplines in study abroad programs.

“American academics should acknowledge that Turkey is an opportunity for the West to see it as a bridge to the Middle East, not only for the generations that govern today, but for future generations,” Ozdemir said. “The academic study and resulting awareness and increased knowledge will help US students – tomorrow’s leaders – understand a world of 350 million Middle Eastern Muslims.”

Okur led the UT students on an exchange program to the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBB-ETU) in Ankara, Turkey.

Okur said Austin’s city, academic, business and religious leaders have developed strong ties with Turkey.

For about 15 to 20 years, UT has had full campus exchange programs with Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey and the Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara. Okur said students and faculty members have regularly travelled to both campuses on study and teach abroad and exchange programs. 

“The most active exchange is between the engineering schools in these universities but we’re hoping to expand that to other disciplines,” Okur said. “At this time we have eight students in Istanbul and about the same number in Ankara.”

Such a program has not only increased Luna’s exposure but also contributed greatly to his understanding of the region and its issues, Luna said.

“A little understanding goes a long way, and visiting a foreign country while immersing yourself in a different culture is the best way to develop that understanding,” Luna said. “I think that Westerners should make a little more effort to understand and educate themselves about the diverse Middle Eastern cultures and the different issues afflicting the region.” 

Follow Rabeea Tahir on Twitter @rabeeatahir2.

Editor's Note: This column is the first in a series on higher education abroad from UT-Austin students who are currently studying outside the U.S. 

After having studied in both Argentina and the U.S., I’ve come to the conclusion that the U.S. has better research institutions, but that Latin American universities are more rigorous in their general course material. The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and the University of Texas are similar in size, both are public institutions and daily life shows the common annoyances that students around the world face: unhealthy snacks on breaks from a jam-packed class schedule, students seeking refuge in outdoor areas and panicking over final exams.

However, the differences between the two institutions reflect a divergence in educational philosophy. These differences sometimes elicit moral judgments about the superiority of the U.S. and European university systems over Latin American universities, which are perceived as “politicized” and “old-fashioned,” according to the Economist article “Universities in Latin America: The Struggle to Make the Grade.”

But this parochialism prevents higher education institutions in the U.S. from learning from the strengths and the weaknesses of their Latin American counterparts. 

The strength of the U.S. system is its emphasis on originality, while its weakness is its tendency to downplay theoretical questions in the humanities. 

And while Argentine universities are solid on philosophy and critical thinking, they place more emphasis on memorizing eminent scholars than getting a head start on contributing to the debate.

Economics also drives differences between Latin American universities and American ones. 

Since the formation of the Argentine education system by President Julio Argentino Rocha in 1884, Argentina’s education has been both high-quality and free. This allows for student diversity. 

It has also made Argentine education more attractive to South American neighbors. However, a free system without much private money can easily be drained by high dropout rates (76 percent, according to Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, a private Argentine university, compared to 44 percent for the U.S., according to the Harvard Graduate School of Education), due in part to the lack of requirements for re-entry or repayment. 

This system is in stark contrast to the U.S., where students pay, and a system of private endowments maintains facilities and provides abundant funding for students like myself to study across the world.

Of course, the downside is that the quality of U.S. education and resources available has not risen with tuition, for example the 4 percent rise each year at UT before the tuition freeze.  Rising costs saddle students even from “affordable” schools such as ours with more than $24,000 in student debt in an economy with a youth (typically ages 18-25) unemployment rate, according to USA Today, of 16 percent. 

Another difference between the two systems? In Argentina, academic tracks are precise; specifying which courses will be taken which semesters. When I enrolled in fourth- and fifth-year courses simultaneously, there were more than a few raised eyebrows. 

And while, according to Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa in their book “Academically Adrift,” U.S. universities are offering less reading than they used to, Argentine courses provide a range of theory that U.S. students, in our obsession with case studies and practical application, tend to underemphasize. (Anyone who has attended a survey course can testify to its “breadth over depth” approach.) 

Cultural differences play a role in academic freedom and the student-teacher relationship as well. Professors in Argentina can seem distant, and many Argentine students are surprised when U.S. professors go out of their way to make themselves “approachable.” 

In Argentina, professors do not receive tenure, instead passing through “concursos” which re-evaluate their performance every few years. It is possible for professors to be replaced as a result of these “concursos,” for both academic and political reasons. 

While re-evaluation prevents complacency, some, such as Julio Durand, a Fulbright Scholar from Austral University in Buenos Aires who has studied the Argentine university system, believe this lack of stability negatively affects research quality and professor retention.

This has all created an image in the U.S. of Latin American universities as inferior (QS World Rankings are often used to justify this perception), and indeed, in areas like the natural sciences, where material resources such as lab equipment are key, Latin American universities are at a disadvantage. 

However, the inferiority generalization is a mistake. Resources do not make the student; the ability to think critically does. Instead of looking down on other systems, we must ask ourselves: How do we continue to capitalize on our ‘originality’ emphasis? Is our reading too light? Are we too focused on practicality over ideas? By recognizing what Latin American universities offer, as well as what they don’t, we can better reflect on and improve our own system.

Knoll is a first-year master's student in Latin American studies from Dallas.

After playing in seven games with the USA Baseball Collegiate National team, sophomore shortstop C.J Hinojosa has been placed on the final roster and will compete in international play this month.
 

This is not Hinojosa’s first time playing for USA Baseball, as he held spots on the 14U and 16U national teams before coming to Texas.
 

Hinojosa is the 20th Longhorn to make the team and the first Longhorn player since Jordan Danks, Hoby Milner, Corey Knebel and Erich Weiss were on the squad in 2011.
 

In his few games before being finalized on the roster, Hinojosa made an impact. In his seventh game, he hit a double to drive in three runs for USA to win 5-2 and keep its perfect record.

“As a young student-athlete who has played for several teams in the USA Baseball organization, C.J has been comfortable playing at the highest amateur levels,” Texas baseball head coach Augie Garrido said when Hinojosa was picked to attend training camp in June.
 

Hinojosa played every game at shortstop for the Longhorn baseball team this season and was named to the 2013 Big 12 All-Freshman Team. He finished the regular season with a .309 batting average, second on the team, and recorded 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 29 RBIs and 11 errors.
 

“As his game went on throughout this season, he continued to improve,” Garrido said. “He made tremendous defensive strides as a middle infielder, especially with his accuracy. He has proven to be one of the top collegiate all-around shortstops in the nation.”
 

The national team began international play on July 5 in Japan with an exhibition match against the Matsuyama Industrial League and then the 39th U.S.A.-Japan series July 6. The team will come back to the U.S. for two more exhibition matches before taking on the Cuban national team July 18 in Des Moines, Iowa.

While revelations on the federal government’s surveillance of U.S. citizens’ phone records and emails continue to become public, UT has also disclosed its own forms of on-campus data collection using UT IDs.

Whenever students, staff and faculty swipe their UT IDs to enter a building on campus, the University of Texas Police Department can find out where they have been, without a warrant. Information gathered through card swipes is stored in a data log immediately accessible to UTPD for 30 days and then removed, UTPD spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.

Although the National Security Agency has been the subject of criticism for its surveillance, local officials say such monitoring is not uncommon and does not break the law. UT officials say its information on UT IDs is only accessed on a limited basis for specific purposes.

“Access control records are turned over to UTPD if they are needed to investigate criminal activity in specific areas,” Weldon said. “The security system card access records are never used for employee management or student time and attendance purposes.” 

UT IDs are required for access to “controlled areas,” such as student living areas in Jester Dormitory and Kinsolving Dormitory, as well as research laboratories on campus. All new buildings opened in the last five years, including the Belo Center for New Media and the Liberal Arts Building, have been installed with card access points.  

Cynthia Posey, UTPD spokesperson, could not provide a number of times the data has been accessed, but said UTPD has asked for these records on “numerous” occasions. UTPD also advises Information Technology Services, the department that distributes IDs and manages technology on campus, on where to install new card access points. 

The Austin Police Department uses a similar technique with city employees at controlled municipal buildings, said Samantha Park, spokeswoman for the city of Austin.

Park said city employee access card data could be obtained by APD without a warrant, but that a formal process requiring approval of building managers was necessary for access. Park said most inquiries from APD on card data are related to criminal investigations. 

“If APD makes a request, Building Services tries to work with them as best as possible,” Park said. “If there is ever a question about the request, the best course of action is determined internally between Building Services, APD and management.”

UTPD’s access to the proximity access data does not require a warrant because of current legal precedent, said Robert Chesney, associate dean of the school of law.

“It may be the case that not a lot [of] students know this is going on, but we’re talking about the information that’s being gathered because you were using UT-issued IDs to access UT property with permission from UT,” Chesney said.

Chesney said he thought it was a practical measure to use the information for administrative purposes and crime prevention because of the high value of technology and goods stored on campus facilities. 

“Recent events have all made us stop and think about what the rules should be,” Chesney said. “That’s a question we should all ask. But I don’t think it’s constitutionally required, or that there’s anything illegal or untoward about UT handling information in this way.”

WASHINGTON  — With a solemnity reserved for momentous occasions, the Senate passed historic legislation Thursday offering the priceless hope of citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in America's shadows. The bill also promises a military-style effort to secure the long-porous border with Mexico.

The bipartisan vote was 68-32 on a measure that sits atop President Barack Obama's second-term domestic agenda. Even so, the bill's prospects are highly uncertain in the Republican-controlled House, where conservatives generally oppose citizenship for immigrants living in the country unlawfully.

Spectators in galleries that overlook the Senate floor watched expectantly as senators voted one by one from their desks. Some onlookers erupted in chants of "Yes, we can" after Vice President Joe Biden announced the bill's passage.

After three weeks of debate, there was no doubt about the outcome. Fourteen Republicans joined all 52 Democrats and two independents to support the bill.

In a written statement, Obama coupled praise for the Senate's action with a plea for resolve by supporters as the House works on the issue. "Now is the time when opponents will try their hardest to pull this bipartisan effort apart so they can stop commonsense reform from becoming a reality. We cannot let that happen," said the president, who was traveling in Africa.

In the final hours of debate, members of the so-called Gang of 8, the group that drafted the measure, frequently spoke in personal terms while extolling the bill's virtues, rebutting its critics — and appealing to the House members who turn comes next.

"Do the right thing for America and for your party," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who said his mother emigrated to the United States from Cuba. "Find common ground. Lean away from the extremes. Opt for reason and govern with us."

Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said those seeking legal status after living in the United States illegally must "pass a background check, make good on any tax liability and pay a fee and a fine." There are other requirements before citizenship can be obtained, he noted.

He, too, spoke from personal experience, recalling time he spent as a youth working alongside family members and "undocumented migrant labor, largely from Mexico, who worked harder than we did under conditions much more difficult than we endured."

Since then, he said, "I have harbored a feeling of admiration and respect for those who have come to risk life and limb and sacrifice so much to provide a better life for themselves and their families."

The bill's opponents were unrelenting, if outnumbered.

"We will admit dramatically more people than we ever have in our country's history at a time when unemployment is high and the Congressional Budget Office has told us that average wages will go down for 12 years, that gross national product per capita will decline for 25-plus years, that unemployment will go up," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

"The amnesty will occur, but the enforcement is not going to occur, and the policies for future immigration are not serving the national interest."

In the Senate, at least, the developments marked an end to years of gridlock onimmigration. The shift began taking shape quickly after the 2012 presidential election, when numerous Republican leaders concluded the party must show a more welcoming face to Hispanic voters who had given Obama more than 70 percent of their support.

Even so, division among Republicans was evident as potential 2016 presidential contenders split. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was one of the Gang of 8, while Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas were opposed to the bill.

The legislation's chief provisions includes numerous steps to prevent future illegalimmigration — some added in a late compromise that swelled Republican support for the bill — and to check on the legal status of job applicants already living in the United States. At the same time, it offers a 13-year path to citizenship to as many as 11 million immigrants now living in the country unlawfully.

Under the deal brokered last week by Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee and the Gang of 8, the measure requires 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, the completion of 700 miles of fencing and deployment of an array of high-tech devices along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Those living in the country illegally could gain legal status while the border security plan was being implemented, but would not be granted permanent resident green cards or citizenship.

A plan requiring businesses to check on the legal status of prospective employees would be phased in over four years.

Other provisions would expand the number of visas available for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program. In addition, the system of legal immigration that has been in effect for decades would be changed, making family ties less of a factor and elevating the importance of education, job skills and relative youth.

With the details of the Senate bill well-known, House Speaker John Boehner said at a news conference the separate legislation the House considers will have majority support among Republicans. He also said he hopes the bill will be bipartisan, and he encouraged a group of four Democrats and three Republicans trying to forge a compromise to continue their efforts.

He offered no details on how a House bill could be both bipartisan and supported by more than half of his own rank and file, given that most of the bills that have moved through the House Judiciary Committee recently did so on party line votes over the protests of Democrats. None envisions legal status for immigrants now in the country illegally.

Boehner declined to say if there were circumstances under which he could support a pathway to citizenship, but he made clear that securing the border was a priority.

"People have to have confidence that the border is secure before anything else is really going to work. Otherwise, we repeat the mistakes of 1986," he said, referring to the last time Congress overhauled the immigration system.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, also said he favors a bipartisan approach. At the same time, she noted that Democratic principles forimmigration include "secure our borders, protect our workers, unite families, a path to legalization and now citizenship for those" without legal status.

While the outcome of the Senate vote was not in doubt, supporters scrambled to maximize the vote and fell short of 70, a level they had talked of reaching. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., spoke with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday night as he lobbied — successfully — for the vote of the state's Republican Sen. Jeff Chiesa, whom the governor appointed to his seat.

The athletics department announced June 17 that Bubba Thornton, Texas' men's track and field head coach, will not be reprising his position next year, as he and men's athletics director DeLoss Dodds reached a mutual agreement to terminate the last year of his contract. 

"It has been a singular honor to serve as track and field coach for the University of Texas men's indoor and outdoor track teams, as well as oversee the cross country team, for the past 18 years," Thornton said after the announcement was made. "It was a privilege to serve this great university with its extraordinary heritage of developing scholar athletes." 

Thornton arrive at Texas after coaching at Texas Christian University, spending 18 of his 31 seasons of coaching with the Longhorns. While a head coach, Thornton produced 26 NCAA champions, one relay champion and 19 NCAA top-10 finishes, while leading 94 student-athletes to 222 All-America honors. 

This past season, the Longhorns finished No. 6 with two individual championships. Thornton finished his career with 12 conference championships. At Texas, athletes hold 18 of 29 indoor school records and 14 of 29 modern outdoor school records. 

"Not only has he amassed a notable record here at UT, but his capabilities have been recognized internationally when he was named head coach of Team U.S.A's 2008 Olympic Men's Team," Dodds said. 

In addition to his work at Texas, Thornton worked on the Olympic ad World Championship circuits. He served as an assistant coach for Team U.S.A. at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, working with athletes competing in the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdle and the 4x400-meter relay. He coached athletes to three gold medals and one silver medal. 

In 2008, Thornton was selected as the head coach for the U.S. track and field team at the Beijing Summer Olympics. The U.S. finished with 14 medals overall, including four gold, at those games, more than any other country. Thornton was awarded the Order of Ikkos medallion for his serve to the United States Olympics Committee for his work as a coach. 

Following Thornton's retirement, which becomes effective Aug. 31, Dodds and women's athletics director Chris Plonsky will be restructuring the track and field program, combine the men's and women's programs under one head coach for the first time at Texas. Merged track programs have been on the rise and Texas is currently the only Big 12 Conference school with a split program. Texas announced Thursday that the new, combined head coaching position would be filled by Mario Sategna. Sategna, who has spent the last 10 seasons as an associate head coach under Thornton, ran track for Louisiana State University and has experience coaching on both the collegiate and Olympic level.

 "Mario's a really hard worker," senior hurdler Keiron Stewart said last week. "He's been here for a while, he's worked in Bubba's shadow for a long time. He knows the ropes, he knows the institution, he knows what it stands for and he will push everyone to do their best, to give the most that they can give to the team." 

Thornton's decision to step down comes on the heels of women's track and field head coach Beverly Kearney's departure this past January, after the revelation of her relationship with a student-athlete in 2002. Kearney resigned upon learning that Texas was prepared to begin the termination process. 

Based on documents obtained from 2004, Kearney filed a complaint with Dodds, stating that Thornton tried to undermine Kearney and accused her of breaking NCAA rules. The two head coaches had a history of friction and Thornton spoke openly about eventually hoping to take control of both programs. 

"With everything that happened here, the good, the bad or the ugly, he always remained Bubba," Steward said. 

According to a statement released by Texas, in retirement Thornton plans to take a a greater role in community interests and spend more time with his wife of 43 years, Kay, daughters Courtney and Piper and his two grandchildren, Sam and Sophie. 

"I think it was time," Stewart said. "Bubba's been here for 18 years. He's done his time, put in a lot of work and now he gets to relax. He gave me great opportunities here." 

Thornton, who is currently on vacation, could not be reached for further comment.