@thedailytexan dailytexanonline.com Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900 MONDAY, JULY 31, 2017 Volume 118, Issue 9 Learn about UT’s most famous falcon. Read more on Page 6. Monday, July 31, 2017 NEWS CONTENTS 6 Cover Story Robot birds could help lead real locks away from dangerous situations. Legislators and oficials react to Trump’s tweet concerning transgender individuals in the military. Columnists condemn regressive attitudes toward transgender persons and explore new bike paths. 3 News 4 Opinion 8 Sports Junior safety P.J. Locke III established himself as a leader of the Longhorn defense prior to fall camp. 10 Life&Arts Puppet rock band plays songs based on children’s books for audiences at the Austin Public Library. VIDEO FEATURE A rundown of the latest exhibits at Blanton Museum. 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KAYLA MEYERTONS, NEWS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, July 31, 2017 3 NATIONAL Trump’s policy repeal tweets garner mixed responses By Claire Allbright @claireallbright Attempts to regulate the lives of transgender in- dividuals were advanced both nationally and across the state of Texas this week. On Wednesday, Presi- dent Donald Trump an- nounced, in a series of tweets, transgender individuals would no lon- ger be able to serve in the U.S. military, overturning a 2016 change in poli- cy under the Obama ad- ministration that allowed transgender Americans to serve openly. that “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Gov- ernment will not accept or allow … transgender indi- viduals to serve in any ca- pacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump’s tweets read. “Our military must be focused on decisive and over- whelming … victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” Trump’s statement left many wondering when this policy would go into place and what the an- for nouncement means transgender individuals currently serving in the military. However, at this time, it appears there will be no immediate change following the announce- ment, according to White House officials. Pentagon in- cluding Gen. Joseph Dun- ford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed leaders, the confusion and said until formal policy mea- sures are taken, transgen- der individuals would still be allowed to serve in the armed forces, and the mil- itary would “continue to treat all of (its) personnel with respect.” “There will be no mod- ifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been re- ceived by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance,” Dunford wrote in a letter to other top military officials. Trump’s announcement sparked a deluge of re- sponse, from harsh back- lash to others jumping to support the president’s new position. Many supporters of the announcement said his policy change came after talking with mili- tary officials, while those against the announcement said it was another way to discriminate against the transgender community. “There are those who’d like to use the military to experiment or to try dif- ferent ideas out, includ- ing ones like this,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said on a radio show. “But what I always do is rely upon the experts, and I’m confident that’s what the president has done … And I be- lieve that that’s the correct course of action.” for Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, who has de- clared his bid the Senate in the 2018 elec- tion, spoke out against the policy on the same platform Trump took to announce it. “Nevermind that trans- gender Americans are to- day putting their lives on line, serving (with) the honor, praise earning from their commanders,” O’Rourke said on Twitter. “Every time we’ve made the military more reflec- tive of America, it’s been made stronger.” Closer to home, legisla- tion that would prohibit transgender individuals from using the bathroom of their choice was ap- proved by the Texas Senate last week. Senate Bill 3, the special session’s version of the con- troversial “bathroom bill,” authored by state Sen. Lois R-Brenham, Kolkhorst, would require transgen- der individuals to use the bathroom in accordance with their birth certificate or government-issued I.D. in government buildings and public schools. No action on the bill has been taken in the House. The first step will be a pub- lic committee hearing, and the committee must ap- prove the bill before it can be debated and voted on by the full House. The Texas Senate has taken action on almost all of Gov. Greg Abbott’s 20 priorities. However, Ab- bott said he won’t add any more topics to the call un- til bills for the initial 20 are sent to his desk. While the special session can last the full 30 days, it won’t be cheap. The San Express-News Antonio estimates that the session has already cost taxpayers more than $416,000 over the first 13 days. President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that transgender individuals will no longer be able to serve in the U.S. military. Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff check out ONLINE Name: 5923/Kunik Orthodontics; Width: 19p4; Depth: 4 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: 5923 stories videos photo galleries dailytexanonline.com LAURA HALLAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanOpinion Monday, July 31, 2017 4 COLUMN COLUMN Bigotry, not pragmatism, at root of anti-transgender policy MoPac bike bridge stunning, but too hidden to prosper By Sam Groves Senior Columnist @samgroves Can there be any justiication for President Donald Trump’s recently announced intention to ban transgender people from serving in the military? In one of the tweets he ired of last Wednesday morning announcing the ban, Trump cited the “tremendous medical costs” that would supposedly burden the military if transgender people were allowed to serve. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas’ irst congres- sional district made a similar argument on the loor of the House of Representatives earlier this month, bemoaning that the “United States Con- gress is in favor of taking men and surgically making them into women with the money that they would use to protect the nation otherwise.” he argument that caring for transgender service member would be too expensive has been thoroughly debunked in the media since Trump made his announcement. A widely shared Washington Post article explains that medical care for transgender servicemen and women would cost just 0.0014 percent of the U.S. defense budget — ive times less than the military spends annually on erectile dysfunc- tion pills. Besides, the price is not as important as the fundamental principle that in America, we are willing to invest in the physical and mental health of those who ofer up their lives in service of our country — no matter their gender identity. here’s another argument, though, one that Trump hinted at in his tweets when he referred to the “disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” his “disruption” was more colorfully invoked by Texas Agri- culture Commissioner Sid Miller, who said Wednesday that the “military is not the place for letist social experimentation.” But if the armed forces are a ine-tuned ma- chine — and allowing transgender people to serve would be like throwing a wrench in that machine — then we have to consider the al- ready-functioning components of that machine. here are 15,500 transgender soldiers currently serving in the military. Transgender people are disproportionately represented in the military, and the military is the single biggest employer of transgender people in the United States. Some of these people will be determined to serve no matter what. Will forcing them into hiding, requiring that they keep secrets from their fellow troops and live in constant fear of discovery, really make the military function bet- ter? It hardly seems likely. he true motivation behind this ban — or in- tended ban, anyway — is not so diferent from the motivation behind Senate Bill 3, the “bath- room bill” making its way through the Texas legislature right now. Defenders of both policies ofer “pragmatic” arguments for their imple- mentation. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a champion of SB3, has said that the bill is about protecting women’s privacy in public restrooms. But transphobia, or at least an overwhelming discomfort with the idea that gender is not so rigid as we once thought, lies at the root of both. he secret hope of those who support anti-trans- gender policies is that their eforts will make it impossible to be transgender in America — that the whole phenomenon of gender-nonconfor- mity will simply melt away. hen the minds of people like Donald Trump, Louie Gohmert, Sid Miller and Dan Patrick can be at ease. But that will never happen, nor should it. Can there be any justiication for banning transgen- der people from the military? Not unless you value the precious sensibilities of the few over the lives and livelihoods of many thousands. Groves is a philosophy junior from Dallas. By Ryan Young Senior Columnist @OldRyanyoung A bicycle and pedestrian bridge opened along South MoPac last month, giving cyclists and joggers a new way to cross Barton Creek. Visitors can enjoy nature, gaze at the beauty of the hill country and take a break from a busy Austin lifestyle. Besides being a destination itself, the bridge is supposed to ill a big gap in Austin’s growing urban trail network and encourage more bicy- cle travel. But ater spending $14.5 million and nearly four years on its construction, some are wondering if the efort was worth it. Ben Wear, Austin American-Statesman transportation reporter, did an informal head count a week ater the bridge was inished. Dis- counting people just out for exercise or leisure, Wear igured there were only about three cy- clists per hour commuting to work on the new route. he city plans to install a counter to track the bridge’s precise usage next month, according to city engineer Janae Spence. Wear concluded Austin had just spent a “heck of a lot of money” on a “gloriied scenic over- look.” Austin cyclists immediately ired back, ar- guing that the bridge simply needed some more time — and cooler weather — to get discovered. I have my own theory as to why the new bridge isn’t popular yet — it’s only halfway built. he Mobility Bridge’s southern end lets of at Gaines Ranch, a small hill topped with a few oice buildings and apartment complexes. Fur- ther south, toward Sunset Valley and Oak Hill, MoPac crosses the Gaines Creek Greenbelt on another set of bridges. However, the project did not include a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge across Gaines Creek. hat’s expected to be built as part of the future Y at Oak Hill to Barton Creek Trail. Without this second crossing, the new bridge over Barton Creek is a great way to reach a se- lect few locations at Gaines Ranch, but it stops just short of connecting to anywhere else in South Austin. he only way I could get to Sunset Valley, where I planned to run errands at Walmart and get lunch at Mama Fu’s, was to ride my bike on the shoulder of MoPac’s frontage roads. here was no barrier that separated me from other traic, nor was there a marked bike lane to give me a legitimate place on the road. A few feet away, cars zoomed past at 60 miles per hour preparing to enter and exit the freeway. Only the most experienced, hardcore cyclists are willing to put up with such harrowing com- mutes. Bicycle infrastructure like the Mobility Bridge is supposed to provide a comfortable al- ternative, but the dedicated lanes have to reach all the way to your destinations to be useful. I give the new MoPac Mobility Bridge an A-plus for its awesome views, but a C for its value as a bridge. It doesn’t connect me to the places where I want to go. housands of South Austinites will say the same. Young is a computer science senior from Ba- kersield, California. ONLINE Our commentary doesn’t end with the page. Visit dailytexanon- line.com for more content. Don’t write off Greek life What Trump doesn’t understand about the Boy Scouts Prisoners must be granted basic human rights 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 (@TexanOpinion) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns. NEWS Monday, July 31, 2017 CITY 5 Marchers celebrate defeat of ‘skinny repeal’ bill By Wesley Story @wesleystory0 A march in support of health care developed a vic- torious tone Saturday morn- ing as Austin participants celebrated the recent de- feat of the Afordable Care Act repeal legislation in the U.S. Senate. Protesters had intended to rally at Austin City Hall to protest the Republican health insurance repeal bill, but af- ter Friday’s senate vote, the focus shited to a broader de- nouncement of the attempt to strip millions of Ameri- cans of health care, according to the event’s Facebook page. Indivisible Austin Pres- ident Lisa Goodgame said now that the repeal legisla- tion has been defeated, the focus needs to be on look- ing forward to other health care challenges. “here are still a lot of that we need challenges to meet,” Goodgame said. “his win happened be- cause millions of people across the country organized and told their members of Congress that repeal of the ACA and gutting Medicaid was unacceptable.” he ACA repeal bill of- in the Sen- icially died ate early Friday morning John McCain, ater Sen. R-Arizona, “no,” rejecting the so-called “skin- ny repeal” bill on the Senate loor. he “skinny repeal voted bill,” or Health Care Free- dom Act, would have re- pealed or rolled back several Obamacare measures, in- cluding the individual and employee mandates. said some of the challenges that still need to be addressed in- clude the ACA and securing Med- for everyone who icaid needs it. Goodgame improving Saturday In addition to the Aus- tin march, people gath- in 151 cities across ered to states 43 participate in a nationwide day of action known as “Our Lives on the Line,” according to the event’s website. Af- ter the rally, protesters iled into lines to march down Congress Avenue, where they formed “life lines,” sym- bolized by a physical string. Participants brought written testimonies of their personal health care stories to hang on the string. Maria R. Palacios, founder and president of the Nation- al Women with Disabilities Empowerment Forum, said she attended the event to rep- resent the health care rights of people with disabilities. the are on “For millions of dis- abled Americans whose line, lives this ight has meant the diference between life and death,” Palacios said. “Peo- re- ple with disabilities fuse to be the throwaways of society.” Many of the speakers encouraged the crowd to take a more civically ac- tive role and to continue to ight for their health care rights. Registered voter dep- uty registrars also attended the event to sign people up to vote. Some cars honked in sup- port as they drove by City Hall and saw the signs held by protesters lined down Congress Avenue. Akhil Mulgaonker, one of the event’s organizers, told the crowd the defeat of the Obamacare repeal bill was a testament to their passion and tenacity, but they must remain vigilant because of the issues still being faced. “Because of you, 22 million Americans have been spared of the journey and pain of having no health care,” Mul- gaonker said. “At the end of the day, our people power prevails. When millions of together Americans come with one voice, there’s noth- ing that can’t be achieved.” RECYCLE your copy of Name: 6035/AF1 Racing; Width: 29p6; Depth: 5 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: 6035 Evelyn Moreno | Daily Texan Staff Dozens took to the streets to celebrate the defeat of the health care repeal bill. Despite the victory, however, people marched to raise awareness on what is left to be done to improve and expand health care coverage. @thedailytexan Follow us for news, updates and more. 6 Monday, July 31, 2017 COVER STORY Monday, July 31, 2017 7 FOR THE BIRDS From bird-bots to UT’s resident falcon, this week the Science&Technology section is celebrating our ine feathered friends. Illustration by Rachel Tyler Daily Texan Staff Robot birds could inluence light direction By Kate Thackrey @Kate_Thackrey he computer simulations of research- intelligence artiicial er Katie Genter could help robot birds lead real locks away from dangerous situations. Genter, who presented her Ph.D. dissertation on locking behavior and other research in UT’s Learning Agents Research Group to a panel of computer scientists this May, want- ed to know if she could control the movement of virtual locks by add- ing certain autonomous agents into the mix. In computer science, an agent is a computer program that acts on its own by following a series of pre-writ- ten rules. In this case, Genter devel- oped “locking” agents, which acted in the way a normal bird would, and “inluencing” agents, which learned from the lock to push all the lock- ing agents in a certain direction. “Once you know who the neigh- bors of a bird are, (you can deter- mine) what behaviors of the neigh- bors afect the behaviors of the agent,” Genter said. “he model av- erages the orientation of the neigh- bors, and that determines the orien- tation of the individual agents.” Genter said she doesn’t control these agents: hey must observe neighbors to make their own deci- sions through a type of artiicial in- telligence called ad hoc learning. “You’re joining a team that you haven’t pre-coordinated with and that you might not be able to com- municate with, and you’re still helping them accomplish the goal,” Genter said. hrough her thesis and a series of papers published through computer science journals and conferences, Genter tested how diferent combi- nations of neighbors and environ- mental factors afected the agents. “Intuitively I thought that the birds that were closer to the agent would have a stronger impact,” Genter said. “But … inherently there’s no reason that closer agents should have more knowledge than further agents.” Peter Stone, director of the re- search group and Genter’s Ph.D. ad- visor, said researchers normally ap- proach locks by studying where they end up rather than how they can be pushed in one direction or another. “Everybody up to this point had thought of locking as something where all of the birds or ish are do- ing the same thing, rather than hav- ing this separation of locking agents and inluencing agents,” Stone said. “But we can insert some birds our- selves and inluence what the rest of the lock is going to do.” Genter said that these models have applications in real-life situa- tions: Robot birds programmed with similar algorithms could iniltrate real locks of birds and lead them away from dangerous areas such as airports and wind farms. “If you design a robot bird that has the same silhouette and the same wing-lap pattern, (birds will) actual- ly think the robot bird is just another member of the lock,” Genter said. “Our method would … not scare the birds, not kill them, not take away their natural habitat, but just … lead the lock safely around the airport.” Dutch company Clear Flight Solu- tions has already developed working robot falcons and eagles, with proto- types operating at the Edmonton In- ternational Airport, but Genter said that these robots must be controlled by a human operator and rely on scaring birds away rather than lead- ing them in a speciic direction. A representative from the city of Austin Aviation Department said in an email that the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport currently uses habitat management, spikes in roosting areas and propane cannons to keep birds away and scare them when necessary. “Bird challenges vary by time of year,” they wrote. “(he airport is) currently rated as moderate.” According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s wildlife strike data- base, the airport reported 35 strikes in 2016, with 289 strikes reported across Texas. Genter added that the models could also be applied to insects, ish and even herds of grazing animals. Stone said that artiicial intelligence could lead locks towards areas as well as away from them. “The airport is a representation of something that you want the flock to avoid, but in principle you could have them try to go some- where, not avoid something,” Stone said. “You could have them try to go to wildlife preserves or avoid … areas where there’s not a lot of food for them.” Genter, who moved to Florida af- ter her dissertation defense, said that although she plans to tour universi- ties around the world as a guest lec- turer, there are still many questions let open by her research. “(Researchers) could actually be able to take locking models that biologists are proposing, try them out in our simulators and see if the resulting behavior is the same as what they’re experiencing in nature,” Genter said. “If it’s not, there’s some- thing wrong with the model that they’re using — if it is, it validates their model.” ‘Tower Girl’ lays eggs, continues to excite local bird enthusiasts By Alice Kanitz Sanchez @thedailytexan UT Tower’s resident peregrine fal- con laid her second batch of eggs this year, but they didn’t hatch and were taken to Texas A&M University for research. he falcon was nicknamed “Tower Girl” by a few bird-lovers who ob- served her progress and egg-laying process, among them Bruce Calder, bird enthusiast and UT alumnus. Calder said he was surprised when he irst saw the bird near the Tower on July 21, 2013. “(he bird’s presence) was aston- ishing to me since peregrine falcons are not expected to be found in central Texas past about mid-May,” Calder said. When he saw the falcon, Calder said he decided to take steps to entice her to stay and breed near the Tower. Calder introduced himself to former UT President Bill Powers with an un- usual request. “I gave him a quick 30-second pitch for UT installing a nest box on the Tower in order to entice this rare bird to stick around and breed,” Calder said. Shortly ater, Calder said Powers delegated this to Pat Clubb, former vice president of university opera- tions, who sent it to Animal Make Safe, a group where Carin Peterson coordinates training and outreach. Peterson said her team secured the nest box for the falcon’s eggs up at the top of the Tower. Peterson also acted as mediator. “he experts … were kind of feed- ing us information based on what they were observing, and we were giving information to (Project Man- agement and Construction Services), because they were the ones who had access to it,” Peterson said. “We were saying, you know, ‘Don’t go out there … now it’s okay to go up there.’” Peterson added that peregrine fal- cons are fairly rare — they’re listed as threatened in Texas. Calder said the box was inally in- stalled February 14, 2014, with the hopes that Tower Girl would lay eggs there during the spring. he bird mostly ignored the nest box until the spring of 2015, Calder said. Even then, no eggs were laid un- til a year later. Most of the eggs were found too late to salvage, and one remaining egg was taken to Texas A&M for analysis and determined to be infertile last summer. When bird enthusiasts, including Calder, noticed she was laying eggs again this past spring, the excitement began. “I’d just like to see it work out for her,” bird watcher and photogra- pher Chris DuCharme told KUT this April. Peterson said her group eventually removed the eggs because they were past the point of being viable. “It was decided that there was a date past which the egg would not be viable; it was an estimation but it was a very generous estimation,” Peterson said. “We wanted to give the eggs any chance they had of hatching”. he eggs were sent to Texas A&M to ind out if the eggs were ever fertile at all and if something went wrong. “We are still awaiting the results; however, we are 99 percent certain that those eggs will be found infer- tile, as well,” Calder said. Peterson said her department may set up a webcam to watch Tower Girl next spring. “We’re hoping to get a webcam up there so we can monitor from the ground,” Peterson said. Illustrations by Geovanni Casillas | Daily Texan Staff 8 L MICHAEL SHAPIRO, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports Monday, July 31, 2017 TRACK & FIELD Gordon, Burton bring bond outside Texas for World Championships By Michael Shapiro @mshap2 he last time Chrisann Gor- don dug her spikes into the track donning burnt orange, she was at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Or- egon. In the inal meet of her collegiate career, Gordon saved her best for last, winning the 400m in 50.51 seconds. She led from start to inish, becoming just the seventh Longhorn to win the event in school history. from Texas in the spring. Now, she’s eyeing victory on a greater stage: the 2017 IAAF World Championships, beginning on Gordon graduated Aug. 4 in London, England. “his year I’m living my moment,” Gordon said. “I get to leave Texas knowing I’m an NCAA champion, and that’s a good feeling … I can’t wait to step on the track (in London) and run the way I train.” Gordon is no stranger to competing on the world stage. She earned a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Jamai- ca’s 4x400m relay team and ran for her country at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships in 2016. But the championships in London will be Gor- don’s irst solo mission in international competition. Instead of running as a member of Jamaica’s relay team, Gordon will be all alone, with goals of a med- al placed squarely on her shoulders. “It will be a diferent feel- ing (at the championships),” Gordon said. “I’m always in the relay pool, but this year I have a lane to myself. Hope- fully I can get some more (personal records) and get on the podium too.” Joining Gordon in London is a Longhorn with decidedly less experience in internation- al competition. Fellow Jamai- can and rising sophomore Rushelle Burton will aim to parlay her strong showing at the collegiate level into podium placement at the world cham- pionships next week, compet- ing in the 100m hurdles. Burton had nearly unpar- alleled success as a freshman. She dashed her way to the top time in the NCAA in the 100m hurdles at the Texas Invitation- al in April and was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week soon thereater. She also racked up the accolades during the indoor season, earning Big 12 Out- standing Freshman of the Year. “For Rushelle to come in as a freshman and have the suc- cess that she did, making the national team at such a young age, that’s quite the feat,” head coach Mario Sategna said. “I think she’s raised the bar. No- body else compares to what she’s done at such a young age.” he two runners share a unique relationship on and of the track. he veteran Gordon has taken to mentoring Burton in her irst year with the Long- horns, dolling out advice on how to navigate both the colle- giate track circuit as well as life in a new country. Despite being nearly 1,600 miles from home, Burton has found a sense of family in Austin with the help of her older teammate. “(Gordon) is always there for me — she’s like my mom,” Bur- ton said. “She’s always on my back, telling me what to do, tell- ing me what’s right … She really helped me believe in myself.” he pair’s time together in Austin is over, but the bond they share extends outside of the 40 Acres. Burton and Gordon will sport the same green and yellow jersey in London on Aug. 4, and continue their careers side-by- side at international competi- tions for years to come. “his is very big for us, the irst time with both of us going to the world championships,” Gordon said. “We’ll get togeth- er, and I’ll make sure to give her a pep talk like I always do.” Name: 5855/Dobie Twenty21; Width: 29p6; Depth: 5 in; Color: Pro- cess color; Ad Number: 5855 SWIMMING & DIVING Licon claims Big 12 Athlete of the Year By Trenton Daeschner @TrentDaeschner Former Texas swimmer Will Licon has been named Big 12 Men’s Athlete of the Year for the 2016–17 season, the con- ference announced hursday. Licon is co-recipient of the award along with former Kansas point guard Frank Mason III. It’s also the irst time a swimmer, male or female, has won Athlete of the Year in the Big 12. Licon is the 11th Longhorn to have won the award, a group that includes Vince Young, Ricky Williams and Cat Osterman. “It’s really special and hum- bling to receive this award, and I appreciate the consideration from the media panel and the fans,” Licon said. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch Frank Mason the years, and I’m honored to share this award with him. College swim- ming and diving is stacked with some really deep conferences. My teammates and I are happy through Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff Former Longhorn swimmer Will Licon dominated the competi- tion in 2016-17, winning an NCAA title in ive separate events. to have carried the lag for the Big 12 and keep the league on top these last three years.” his past season, Licon won an NCAA title in all ive events he competed in. He ended his career in Austin with 11 cham- pionships in total. His perfor- mance helped the Longhorns win a third-straight NCAA men’s swimming and diving title, giving Texas 13 all-time. Licon was also named Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Year for the second time in three years. “his wouldn’t even be re- motely possible if not for the training environment we have at Texas,” Licon said. “I’ve had the best coaches I could have ever asked for — from Eddie Reese and Kris Kubik to Wy- att Collins and Chase Kreitler — and my teammates are like brothers to me. his is a team award, and it’s all for them.” Locke takes leadership role before fall camp @thedailytexan Follow us for news, updates and more. 9 ♲ Recycle after reading your copy SPORTS Monday, July 31, 2017 FOOTBALL By Alex Briseno @Alexxbriseno A forgotten water bottle in the players’ lounge one evening during summer practice originally appeared to be little more than a harmless mistake by junior cornerback P.J. Locke III. But he quickly learned to never make it again. Soon ater arriving back to his dorm room later that evening, Locke received a text from head coach Tom Her- man in a group message with him and his position coach Jason Washington. “He sent pictures of the water bottle and it had my name on it,” Locke said. “So I was like, ‘Oh Lord.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I was looking for that.’ He said, ‘Well, it’s not OK to not know where your water is. Meet me in the morning.’” Long before the sun came up the next morning, Locke reported to the ield, knowing a full day of hard work was ahead of him. And the pun- ishment wasn’t without pur- pose. It was all part of Her- man’s bigger message. “You can do it another way, you really can,” Her- man said. “We had a talk the other day. You can go party all you want, you can go en- joy Austin, enjoy college, en- joy Texas. You can do all of those things, but don’t come to me and say you want to win a championship then. hose two can’t coexist.” Locke stood at the goal line preparing to do “air raids,” where he sprinted up and down the length of the ield, touching the turf and returning to the goal line ev- ery ive yards. But that wasn’t all. Two hundred yards of air raids later, Locke found him- self with a bottle of Windex in one hand and a rag in the other. He was tasked with cleaning the weight room and scrubbing the weights — all of them before the 5:50 a.m. workout that morning. Locke hasn’t spent the ofseason in Herman’s dog- house. In fact, he was praised by Herman on several occa- sions upon the coach’s arrival to Texas. Herman even went as far as to call Locke’s par- ents in the spring to express his gratitude for the way they raised their son. “hat is as favorite of a guy that I’ve got on this team and that was not a very fun meeting,” Herman said. “We called an actual meeting, me and his position coach, and I undressed his position coach and him for leaving his water bottle where he couldn’t have access to it.” However, if anything was better than Herman’s reaction to a forgotten water bottle in the player’s lounge, it was Locke’s response soon ater. “he next day I tied my shoe string around it and hooked it around my neck,” Locke said. “You never know.” One thing everybody does know, however, is the play- making ability Locke brings to the Longhorn secondary. He started in nine games as a sophomore, recording 33 total tackles, two intercep- tions and one fumble recov- ery. Pro Football Focus even highlighted Locke as one of the top cornerbacks in the nation in 2016, citing oppos- ing quarterbacks’ miniscule passer rating when throwing the ball his way. “He makes plays,” Her- man said. “He does every- thing right … his work ethic is phenomenal and he is vo- cal. hat is one thing we’re missing a little bit, is some vocal leadership.” As week one approach- es, the spotlight now shines After picking off two passes and totaling 33 tackles last year, junior cornerback P.J. Locke III will eye an increased role in 2017. Zoe Fu | Daily Texan Staff brightly on the Beaumont native. here’s no escaping it. However, Locke doesn’t seem to be too phased by the extra attention. “Yeah I see it,” Locke said. “But I don’t really pay a lot of attention to it because I just always try to focus on being better than I was the year be- fore and just keep working on my crat.” As Texas prepares to open fall camp next week, one thing is for sure. he entire secondary will need to be better in 2017 if the program wants to take a signiicant step forward. Locke has es- tablished himself as one of the team’s premier cover cor- ners and is in now prime po- sition to bring the Longhorn secondary back to promi- nence. Now that’s something he won’t forget. Name: 4862/Timothy Hynes; Width: 19p4; Depth: 4 in; Color: Black; Ad Number: 4862 Name: CLASSIFIEDS; Width: 19p4; Depth: Name: CLASSIFIED; Width: 19p4; Depth: 6 6 in; Color: Black; Ad Number: - in; Color: Black; Ad Number: - Name: 5193/Fairfax Cryobank; Width: 19p4; Name: 5936/Dirty Martin’s Kum-Bak Ham; ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. 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Advertising is also subject to credit approval. tion in 2016-17, winning an NCAA title in ive separate events. xan Staff peti- MORGAN O’HANLON, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, July 31, 2017 10 At Austin Public Library, books are brought to life in music by librarian band Echo and the Bats. Julianne Graper | Daily Texan Staff Name: 5940/he Pizza Press; Width: 29p6; Depth: 5 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: 5940 MUSIC Librarians make folk rock out of folktales By Acacia Coronado @acaciatree18 A puppet singing rock and roll and the story of a pigeon driving a bus to the tune of he Beatles might not seem like an everyday experience. But at Austin Public Library, this is the average show routine for Echo and the Bats. librarians his summer marks the two-year anniversary of lo- cal band Echo and the Bats, composed of four children’s literature from the Austin Public Library. Since their inception, the band with a name straight out of a children’s book have dedicated themselves to the art of adapting kid, tween and young adult books into rock and roll melodies. Band founder and drum- mer Jessica Hyink said she irst came up with the idea ater attending We Rock Camp, a rock music camp for ages 19 and up, where to she became begin playing drums. inspired “When I got back, one of my colleagues Gabriel was suggesting, I think as a joke, that we could start a library band,” Hyink said. Soon, Hyink gathered a group of volunteers willing to take part in the band and met for their irst rehearsal, unsure of what to play and for who. heir irst show attracted mixed age groups, but they soon found their audience to be younger chil- dren and focused on themes they would ind relatable. Band bassist Gabriel Ransenberg said though he never imagined they would play for such a young age group, the band has en- joyed the sincerity and re- sponsiveness of their fol- lowers. Children, he said, are always very honest about whether they like the performance or not. “We played a pretty large preschool and there were 150 preschoolers in crowd,” Ransenberg the said. “It was really excel- lent. he entire back of the cafeteria was up and dancing around.” Last year James Loom- is, band guitarist and UT alumnus, said they got the opportunity to play back- ground music and during breaks for children’s mystery book novelist R.L. Stine’s reading at the library’s event Band Books: Libraries Rock. his, he said, was a signii- cant moment for the band ater growing up reading his books. For lyricist and UT alum- na Kathleen Houlihan, com- posing the children’s book- themed adaptations of rock songs came naturally. She said the process includes picking the book, inding lyr- ics within and then inding a rock song from the last half century to mold it to. “I try to pull our phrases from the book that match up with the rhythm of the song and the mood of the song,” Houlihan said. When choosing sto- ries to spotlight, Houlihan said they try to give equal focus to new additions and classic tales. “We want to both rein- force and validate kids’ love for books they already know, but also introduce them to books they might not have heard of before,” Houlihan said. “Part of the library’s mission is to support a love of reading in our commu- nity, especially with our youngest readers, and one of the ways we like to do that is through immersive book-related experiences.” Hyink said past play- lists include picture book “I Like Myself!” adapted into the Ramones’ “Cal- ifornia Sun” and wood- land animal-themed “he Mitten” into he turned Choir’s “It’s Cold Outside.” Currently, they are working on “Goodnight Moon” to Radiohead’s “Creep.” Ater playing music since age 15, Ransenberg said the most enjoyable part has been encouraging chil- dren to pursue literature and the arts as more than a mere hobby. “I think it is important to show kids that music and the arts are also things that you can work towards and have a career in,” Ran- senberg said. “hey are not just hobbies or ways to pass the time — you can make something impactful.” RECYCLE your copy of COMICS Monday, July 31, 2017 11 Paid Content Name: 5926/Information Security Oic; Width: 29p6; Depth: 5 in; Color: Black; Ad Number: 5926 Name: CROSSWORD; Width: 29p6; Depth: 5 in; Color: Black; Ad Number: - Name: 5930/Capital Metro; Width: 60p0; Depth: 10 in; Color: Process color; Ad Number: 5930