Content about Utah
A blog post claiming the UT System Board of Regents may have plans to fire President William Powers Jr. on Wednesday night invoked a series of responses from the UT community, ranging from indignation to justification.
The report was published by Paul Burka, a senior executive editor of Texas Monthly, on his blog on the publication's website. In it, Burka cites an anonymous source with knowledge of the proceedings who said Powers is in hot water because of his "opposition to Governor [Rick] Perry’s insistence on a tuition freeze."
Editor’s note: A 30 column is a chance for departing permanent staff to say farewell and reflect on their time spent in The Daily Texan’s basement office. The term comes from the old typesetting mark (-30-) to denote the end of a line.
For the last time, I have descended the steps to The Daily Texan office — comfortably situated in the mostly windowless basement of a nondescript building on the communication plaza.
Executive director of the UT Autism Project, Pamela Buchanan, said she has always had a passion to do something worthwhile while engaging in community service.
Buchanan received the outstanding faculty/staff volunteer award at the 2012 Tower Award ceremony Wednesday evening. Buchanan has worked with families dealing with autism for 15 years, and co-founded UTAP seven years ago. UTAP pairs an autistic child one-to-one with a UT student who becomes his or her parent, guardian and safety net, Buchanan said.
Laborers and activists around the world, including in Austin, acknowledged the first day of May through political demonstrations on Tuesday.
International Workers Day, or May Day, developed from rallies in Chicago in the early 1900s that called for eight-hour workdays. The event is now a global holiday recognizing workers and labor unions.
Graduation is here and, like most seniors will say, my four years flew by. They were marked by incredible experiences and lessons inside and outside of the classroom. And that is what my column is about — lessons. Those pieces of wisdom you gather through experience and store safely in your memory. It is now, at only three weeks until I walk the stage, that I pull them out and reflect upon them. Here is a lesson for each year at UT:
1. Study what you love or at least something you find interesting .
When George W. Bush was president and Tom DeLay the house majority leader, super lobbyist Jack Abramoff was one of the most powerful men in Washington, D.C. Then, in 2006, he was convicted for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion after a scandal involving Indian casino interests found him and 21 other White House officials guilty of corruption.
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 18 points and the San Antonio Spurs handed Utah its second-worst playoff loss in franchise history, beating the Jazz 114-83 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
NBA Coach of the Year Gregg Popovich practically put the Spurs on autopilot after a 20-0 run in the second quarter that stunned the Jazz, who had vowed to play better after the Spurs easily won Game 1. But this humiliating rout was even easier.
I am opinionated. And I love telling other people these opinions. And even further, I love to shock people with my opinions. If I happen to spark dialogue and evoke others’ passions in this process, then I’m even happier. Thus, working as a columnist for The Daily Texan this year, the ultimate soapbox for shoving my opinions in other people’s faces, was one of my favorite college experiences.
Since this is my last column, I want to self-indulgently take a little time to thank the important people.
Thank you to my friends and family who actually read my column. And thank you to my dad for telling me my columns were good even when commenters said they weren’t. Mostly thank you to my editors for being patient and putting up with me: I sound 10 times funnier and smarter as a result.
Dear South Mall Lawn,
I was asked to reflect on my time here at UT and felt it was fitting to address this letter to you. You have seen thousands of students walk around you and have become a special place for not only me, but for many.
Your lawn was the home of lots of fun adventures including Holi, where I got to throw paint powder and water balloons on my friends, and the gigantic dance parties at “Gone to Texas” and even the days where I just want to twirl around on the lush of your grass.
Growing up, I was taught to work harder because I was a black female and things wouldn’t be handed to me. I knew that people wouldn’t want to see me succeed because of the color of my skin. My mom told me at a very young age that I was different because I was black, but I needed to be proud of my culture and my ancestors who fought so that I could have a better life.
Texas fans rejoiced euphorically on Dec. 6, 1969, as the Longhorns defeated Arkansas, 15-14, in the national championship game.
It was a game that would long be celebrated for what the Longhorns had accomplished on the field, but history was also being made among the members of the team itself.
The majestic University campus is a source of pride for all Longhorns, from the collegiate Six Pack to the ever-photogenic Tower. What most students fail to notice about our campus, however, is the years of racism ingrained in its landmarks and buildings. From buildings named for a KKK Grand Dragon to the three Confederate flags that fly on the 40 Acres, the “legacy of the Confederacy” can be found throughout campus — but hardly anyone notices.
Last fall, while trying to book gigs for his nameless band and juggle hours of practice at the Butler School of Music, music business sophomore Josh Delgado gave what seemed to be a harmless answer to the man recording their demo, who asked what the band’s name was.
“Oh, it’s in the works,” Delgado said. At his answer, the man immediately declared, “That’s it,” and In The Works was born.
Native American students make up a small percentage of the campus community, but seven students speaking out this afternoon hope to show administrators the true significance of their heritage.
Editor’s note: This is the final installment in a three-part series about the legislative student organizations at UT and their transition to new leadership over the next few weeks.
Michael Redding describes being the new president of Graduate Student Assembly as kind of like going on a first date. When he started, Redding said, he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
Women outnumber men at UT, and college-age women care more about having a successful, high-paying career, according to recent research.
Screenwriter Rob Thomas knew early in life he wanted to be a writer and toyed with the idea of novel writing before finally settling on writing for television.
Academi, the private military company formerly known as Blackwater USA that was contracted to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, has acquired a new director with close ties to UT.
Aside from final exams, class selection and registration are among the biggest stresses for students between now and the start of summer.
It’s a process that begets angst over questions such as: “Can I get the class that I need?” and “What’s the best class for me to take?”
Giving students and staffers better online e-advising tools for degree planning is one of the keys to improving four-year graduation rates at UT. And progress has already been made to improve student services and advising tools.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series about the legislative student organizations at UT and their transition to new leadership over the next few weeks. The quotes of the incoming leadership came from their applications for their positions and interviews.
Throughout my journalism education at UT and various internships, I have firmly believed that journalism is not dying but rather is changing in new and exciting ways. As I prepare to graduate and enter the professional world in one month, it is comforting to see those changes acknowledged at the School of Journalism.
The thought of UT students learning something from their traditional rivals in College Station may seem tantamount to blasphemy for many. However, recent campus controversy surrounding a move by John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, to outsource university operations like food, housing and facilities maintenance could serve as a valuable lesson for students and employees at UT.
I want to start off by saying that I have no problem with a tobacco ban on campus; I understand that the funding received from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is critical to continuing to perform cutting edge and potentially life-saving research here at UT, as well as the public health benefits of instituting such a ban. That being said, I find it puzzling in the extreme that CPRIT has chosen to include a ban on electronic cigarettes in its stipulation for funding.
While I thank Nick Roland for his service to our country, it’s entirely misguided and inappropriate for him to use the fifth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings to espouse a pro-guns-on-campus line in his firing line published Monday. His two institutions, Virginia Tech and UT, have been the scenes of some of the most violent mass shootings on college campuses in this country.
