Thursday, March 11, 2010 Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900 www.dailytexanonline.com Parks, Kabir win top SG seats Strong turnout in runoff marks end of highly charged race for presidency By Audrey White Daily Texan Staff After months of preparation, campaigning and controversy, an intense silence pervaded a conference room in the Main Building on Wednesday night as about 100 students waited to hear the results of one of the most energetic and competitive Student Govern¥ment elections in recent history. When Election Supervisory Board Chair Charles Maddox announced that the executive alliance of Scott Parks and Muneezeh Kabir had won, half the room erupted into cheers while the other half offered respectful applause. ÒBefore it was announced, we kept saying Ôthe next student-body president is Minator AzemiÕ to SG RESULTS continues on page 2 SG Runoff Results Scott Parks and Muneezeh Kabir won the Student Government Executive Alliance race with a 55-percent majority after a weeklong runoff against Minator Azemi and Justin Stein. Votes for 4,801 Parks/Kabir Votes for 3,853 Azemi/Stein Total votes cast 8,654 In last weekÕs general election, Parks/Kabir received 42 percent of the vote, while Azemi/Stein received 46 percent. Total votes cast in last 9,247 weekÕs general election Reporter challenges US media coverage of Iraq By Michael Moran Daily Texan Staff On Wednesday, an American journalist for Al-Jazeera criti¥cized the American news me¥diaÕs coverage of recent Iraqi elections and warned of a possi¥ble civil war in northern Iraq af¥ter the U.S. military withdraws most of its troops later this year. Josh Rushing, a UT alum¥nus, spoke before a crowd of about 40 in the Texas Union. Rushing recently returned from Iraq after reporting on the state of the country prior to its elec¥tions Sunday. He said that while there, he saw evidence that a civil war may soon break out in northern Iraq between Kurd¥ish forces and the Iraqi military over control of major oil fields in the region. ÒThe reason the fighting hasnÕt happened already is be¥cause the U.S. is there, but the thing is, everyone knows the U.S. is leaving,Ó he said. Tarek El-Ariss, a Middle Eastern studies professor, said he invited Rushing to give in¥sight into the U.S. involvement in Iraq. ÒThere is obviously great in¥terest in the Iraqi elections for the American audience and the debate about the presence of our troops in Iraq,Ó El-Ariss said. ÒSomeone who has a firsthand account can help enrich the de¥bate about the war on terror.Ó Rushing criticized the Amer¥ican news media for portraying the elections as successful. He said people in Iraq vote based on candidatesÕ religion and race rather than on policy. ÒThereÕs seemingly no pro¥tection for the minority in their system, so everyone has to vote for their own group,Ó Rushing said. ÒAny vote for someone other than your own group is seen as a vote for your future oppressor.Ó Rushing enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 18 years old, and in 2003, the mili¥tary sent him to the Middle East to be one of its spokesmen at the start of the Iraq war. He drew controversy in 2004 after his appearance in a documentary about media AL-JAZEERA continues on page 2 Popular fictional sport inspires campus group Texas Quidditch becomes first official University league, keeps booksÕ spirit By Gerald Rich Daily Texan Staff ItÕs a beautiful day in the Hon¥ors Quad, and a crowd has gath¥ered to gawk at students holding brooms between their legs, throw¥ing dodgeballs and chasing some¥one running around in a yellow jumpsuit. Quidditch has finally come to UT. Texas Quidditch, UTÕs first offi¥cial league based on the popular fictional sport from the Harry Pot¥ter series, got off the ground earlier in the spring with a surge of sup¥port from students. With the first two meetings averaging about 50 attendees and a Facebook group with approximately 300 members, Texas Quidditch hopes to unite the University through spirited rival¥ry and capture some of the fun de¥scribed in J.K. RowlingÕs novels. A basic quidditch team consists of seven members: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and a seeker. The chasers try to throw a volleyball Ñ or quaffle, in Harry Potter lingo Ñ past the quidditch goalie, or keep¥er, into one of three hoops. The beat¥ers throw dodgeballs, or bludgers, at other players to ÒknockÓ them off their brooms. Finally, and most importantly, the seeker is responsi¥ble for catching the snitch Ñ a flag SPORT continues on page 5 UT initiative collects large sum in Haiti relief effort By Nehal Patel Daily Texan Staff The ÒHold Up for HaitiÓ fund¥raising initiative on Feb. 8 raised $56,136, Student Government Pres¥ident Liam OÕRourke announced Wednesday during a presentation at the Main Building. In February, about 600 stu¥dent volunteers stood at 30 ma¥jor street intersections in Aus¥tin to Òhold upÓ traffic and solic¥it donations. Volunteers also went to various malls in Austin with laptops to ask shoppers to do¥nate online via PayPal. The initia¥tive was a joint effort between SG, the Student Volunteer Board, Tex¥as Round Table and the Volunteer and Service Learning Center to raise money for the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. About $28,000 was raised, with an additional $5,000 in anonymous donations, said Reilly Milton, a marketing senior and president of Texas Round Table. The Entrepre¥neurs Foundation of Central Texas matched the $28,000 with another $28,000 for a total of about $56,000. ÒOur initial goal was $12,000, but we raised $23,000 from the hold-up alone,Ó Milton said The Entrepreneurs Foundation donated the collected money to the American Red Cross, Save the Chil¥dren and Partners in Health. ÒWe chose organizations that people can trust,Ó Milton said. ÒThese organizations were doing the most for Haiti.Ó Initial Haiti relief efforts fo¥cused more on awareness, said INITIATIVE continues on page 2 NEWS Thursday, March 11, 2010 INITIATIVE: Haiti needs more than immediate care From page 1 Berenice Medellin, sociology and social work junior and vice chair of the Student Volunteer Board. ÒWe tabled and made people aware of how they could help [Haiti victims] through Web sites and text-messaging servic¥es asking for donations,Ó Medel¥lin said. Juan Gonzalez, vice president for student affairs, said what the Haitians need most is a lifetime of care Ñ not just a one-time com¥mitment. With the recent earthquakes in Chile and Turkey, the Student Vol¥unteer Board is focusing on assist¥ing relief efforts sponsored by or¥ganizations around Austin. ÒMost of the organizations un¥der the board are going to help lo¥cal efforts instead of creating their own events like ÔHold Up for Hai¥ti,ÕÓ Medellin said. SG has not talked about relief efforts for Chile or Turkey, said SG spokeswoman Danielle Brown. ÒWeÕve just finished with the Haiti initiative, and weÕre current¥ly in a transition period, so we donÕt want to start something that we canÕt do to the best of our abil¥ity,Ó Brown said. AL¥JAZEERA: Alumnus reflects on threats, experiences in Iraq Desserts for music SG RESULTS: Parks, Kabir finish strong From page 1 coverage of the Iraq war. He said his superior officers let him know that they did not ap¥prove of what he said in the film. After the documentary aired, he left the military to co¥host the show ÒFault LinesÓ on the Al-Jazeera English channel. Al-Jazeera is an international news organization funded by the government of Qatar. ÒBasically, Josh RushingÕs job as marine officer was to dis¥tribute propaganda,Ó UT jour¥nalism professor Robert Jens¥en said. ÒHe was critically self¥reflecting on the nature of that propaganda and commenting on it in that film. That obvious¥ly put him at odds with the mil¥itary that hired him to distribute that propaganda.Ó Al-Jazeera has been accused in the past of being biased against American involvement in the Middle East. Rushing said that after he joined Al-Jazeera, he had to hire bodyguards to protect his family and himself. ÒThere were death threats online,Ó he said. ÒTo this day, IÕm still called a traitor and a turncoat.Ó Rushing said he hopes to es¥tablish a relationship with UT so he can come back periodical¥ly and talk about what he sees during his travels to the Mid¥dle East. Glenn Washburn, a UT alum¥nus, said he attended the event to learn more about Iraq than what American news outlets report. ÒI do think that we, as Ameri¥cans, do not get a lot of good in¥ternational news,Ó Washburn said. ÒTo have someone who has been there and can speak with that kind of authority is very re¥freshing.Ó From page 1 prepare ourselves because we didnÕt think we would win,Ó SG President-elect Parks said. ÒBut then, Charles said my name.Ó In last weekÕs general election, 9,247 students voted in the execu¥tive-alliance race. The Parks/Kabir alliance received 42 percent while Azemi and his running mate, Jus¥tin Stein, received 46 percent of the vote. These results called for a runoff because neither candidate earned the required more-than¥50-percent majority vote. In what both candidates called an unprecedented turnout, 8,654 students voted in the first presiden¥tial runoff since 2002. Parks and Ka¥bir won with a 55-percent majority. ÒI hope this turnout means in¥creased awareness,Ó Maddox said. ÒI hope this means the av¥erage student now knows their vote matters more than ever, that if everyone turns out and votes, it is the best thing for SG and for all parties involved. It shows a great commitment to the civic process that UT students have.Ó There were tears from both di¥rections, some of joy at victo¥ry and some simply expressing the exhaustion of an extended election cycle. Parks, Kabir, Aze-mi and Stein greeted one anoth¥er with hugs and mutual congrat¥ulations. Azemi said that despite the loss, he is glad to see the di¥rection SG and students are mov¥ing in. ÒIt was a tough three-week race, and IÕm glad the students spoke,Ó he said. ÒIÕm happy with the great turnout, and IÕm happy with this election cycle. This [involvement] is something SG has worked to¥ward for a long time, and IÕm glad weÕve reached this point.Ó Parks and Kabir said their team is ready to start working on de¥livering the promises they made during the campaign, which in¥clude working for lower text¥book costs and creating a more inclusive SG environment. ParksÕ campaign manager, Jimmy Ta¥larico, said that after a rigorous campaign process, he believes the hard work has just begun. ÒStudents voted for us in such large numbers because we prom¥ised them certain things, and the hard part is delivering on those promises,Ó Talarico said. Ò[Today] weÕre going to start meeting to look forward.Ó Kabir said they plan to continue to advocate for students who have been voiceless in the student body. ÒIt was our pipe dream to get students involved who had nev¥er been involved in SG and didnÕt care,Ó Kabir said. ÒIn the end, we had people from all over different parts of campus supporting us, and thatÕs what made me keep go¥ing every day. Scott and I are very good at figuring out what we can do with what we have, and weÕre going to take that strategy and ap¥ply it to being in office.Ó Members of both campaigns said the results show a renewed interest in the SG process that they hope will carry on through¥out the year. One student in a ÒScott & MuneezehÓ shirt shook AzemiÕs hand and said she hoped he would keep doing the good work for students that he has al¥ways done. ÒThe fact that there was sus¥pense, the fact that you had two sides of this, thatÕs a big deal for SG,Ó Talarico said. ÒThis election is what starts the change we want to see and the things we want to clean up.Ó But for tonight, the Parks/Ka¥bir campaign is celebrating a vic¥tory that they never thought they would see. Their slogan, ÒTogeth¥er, students can,Ó has taken on new meaning, Parks said. ÒTogether, students did,Ó he said. THE DAILY TEXAN Volume 110, Number 167 25 cents CONTACT US Main Telephone: (512) 471-4591 Editor: Jillian Sheridan (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor: Ana McKenzie (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News O¥ce: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com Web O¥ce: (512) 471-8616 online@dailytexanonline.com Sports O¥ce: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts O¥ce: (512) 232-2209 dailytexan@gmail.com Photo O¥ce: (512) 471-8618 photo@dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising: (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu ClassiÞed Advertising: (512) 471-5244 classiÞeds@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all infor¥mation fairly, accurately and complete¥ly. If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@dailytexanonline.com. COPYRIGHT Copyright 2009 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission. TODAYÕS WEATHER LowHigh 47 74 IÕm not going to lie to you, you look like you belong on a farm right now. Wire Editor: Keith Gardner www.dailytexanonline.com Thursday, March 11, 2010 WORLD&NATION THE DAILY TEXAN Woman faces terrorism charges By Maryclaire Dale The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA Ñ Colleen LaRose spent long days car¥ing for her boyfriendÕs father in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia. But federal authorities say she developed a daring alter ego, re¥fashioning herself as ÒJihad JaneÓ while helping recruit and finance Muslim terrorists Ñ and eventu¥ally moving overseas to kill an artist she perceived as an enemy to Islam. LaRose, 46, was charged Tues¥day with conspiring with over¥seas fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of radical extremism. The indict¥ment was announced hours af¥ter authorities arrested seven suspected terrorists in Ireland al¥legedly linked to LaRose, who has been in prison since her Oct. 15 arrest while returning to the United States. In e-mails recovered by the FBI, LaRose agreed to marry an online contact from South Asia so he could move to Europe. She also agreed to become a martyr, the indictment said. Born in Michigan, LaRose moved to Texas as a girl and had married twice by age 24. Her first marriage came at 16, to a man twice her age in Tarrant County, Texas, public records show. There are no records or reports of any children from either union, both of which were long over by the time she met Pennsylvanian Kurt Gorman in 2005 or thereabouts. LaRose lived with Gorman and his father in Pennsburg, car¥ing for the older man while Gor¥man worked at his familyÕs small business in another town, Gor¥man said this week. ÒShe was a good-hearted per¥son,Ó he said. ÒShe pretty much stayed around the house.Ó But online, she grew increas¥ingly devoted to a loose band of what authorities say were violent co-conspirators from around the world. They found her after she posted a YouTube video in June 2008 saying she was Òdesper¥ate to do something somehow to helpÓ ease the suffering of Mus¥lims, the indictment said. She eventually agreed to try to kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had angered Muslims by de¥picting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog, accord¥ing to a U.S. official who wasnÕt authorized to discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Israel maintains construction plan amid controversy By Karin Laub & Steven Gutkin The Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank Ñ An open diplomatic row dur¥ing the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deep¥ened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal. BidenÕs handshakes and em¥braces gave way to one of the strongest rebukes of Israel by a se¥nior U.S. official in years after Is¥raelÕs announcement during his visit that it plans to build 1,600 homes in disputed east Jerusalem. Israel apologized for the poor tim¥ing but is sticking to its plan to build the homes, enlarging one of the settlements that have impeded negotiations with Palestinians. The vice president on Wednes¥day assured Palestinians the U.S. is squarely behind their bid for statehood and urged the sides to refrain from actions Òthat inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks.Ó ÒItÕs incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations, and not to com¥plicate them,Ó Biden said, stand¥ing alongside Palestinian Presi¥dent Mahmoud Abbas. IsraelÕs announcement was widely seen as a slap in the face to its all-important U.S. ally. It stirred significant anger among U.S. offi¥cials and widespread skepticism about whether the Obama admin¥istration would have the courage or the backing to take Israel to task as the U.S. relaunches long¥stalled peace negotiations. The fu¥ture of those talks was called into question late Wednesday when the Arab League recommended withdrawing support for them. ÒThis is a global message of American weakness and Israeli arrogance,Ó said Palestinian law¥maker Hanan Ashrawi. Editor in Chief: Jillian Sheridan Phone: (512) 232-2212 E-mail: editor@dailytexanonline.com Associate Editors: Jeremy Burchard David Muto Roberto Cervantes Dan Treadway OPINION Thursday, March 11, 2010 Lauren Winchester THE DAILY TEXAN The recession hits Texas Ñ and may hit hard A plan for the West Campus parking problem By Santo Brocato Daily Texan Guest Columnist University Area Partners is looking into poten¥tially putting resident permit parking and me¥tered parking into certain sections of West Cam¥pus. Rebekah Mata and I are the two Student Government representatives to the UAP Board. As a part of this board, our decisions are based on three principles: 1) Safety and accessibility 2) listening to and communicating studentsÕ opin¥ions and 3) being a good neighbor to the larger Austin community. UAP is a group of neighborhood businesses, residents, landlords, apartment managers and students who live and work in the West Cam¥pus area. In a sense, UAP is the ÒHomeowners AssociationÓ for our area. The group is impor¥tant to students because decisions made within UAP affect UT students that live in West Cam¥pus the most. For the past few years, UAP has studied the present parking and pedestrian facilities in West Campus. The following is a summary of the cur¥rent situation: Parking garages are not filled to anywhere near their capacities, on-street park¥ing in most areas is free, sidewalks and lighting are in poor condition Ñ with the exception of a handful of areas adjacent to newly redeveloped properties and Ñ long-term street parking is not regulated by city, county or state law. The main cause of parking garagesÕ inabili¥ties to meet their capacities is their high parking prices. Rebekah and I have repeatedly recom¥mended to garage owners that they lower their rates, and in response, theyÕve stated that lower rates do not effectively increase vehicle occupan¥cies. Currently, rental contracts for apartments GALLERY This past September, Gov. Rick Perry, when speaking on the national recession, facetiously stated, ÒWeÕre in one?Ó The governorÕs question was de¥finitively answered Monday when John OÕBrien, director of the Legisla¥tive Budget Board, informed the leg¥islative committee that Texas would face a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion next time it meets in 2011. To put that $11 billion Ñ a figure that, to OÕBrienÕs admission, is a con¥servative estimate Ñ in perspective, the recent 5-percent cuts that state agencies, including UT, just proposed will account for a mere $1.7 billion in savings. It looks like lawmakers are going to have to either cut state spending drastically or raise taxes Ñ or do a little bit of both. The state constitution, which requires Texas to have a balanced budget, will make them do so. But, what if this round of cutbacks and tax adjustments is just the begin¥ning? What if these budget shortfalls are not merely cyclical but are the new structural norm that any state in a declining economic empire must inevitably face? I wouldnÕt venture to say that such to monetize debt. Could that scary, an idea is the elephant in the room, Third-World word, Òdevaluation,Ó because it hasnÕt quite reached that play a role in AmericaÕs future in the amount of public discourse yet. How-decades to come? ever, this elephant in the hallway is In January, President Barack an idea worth entertaining, for the Obama spoke in his State of the sake of keeping an open mind about Union address about his plan to ini¥ future scenarios. The United States is up against many economic challeng¥es. The rise of com¥petitors like China and India, the pos¥sible replacement of the U.S. dollar as the worldÕs re¥serve currency, the de-industrialization of the U.S. econo¥my, the never-end¥ing rise of the na¥tional debt and a costly case of im¥perial overstretch are all threatening the hegemonic role that has paved the way for American prosperity. If recent Treasury auctions of U.S. John OÕBrien, director of the Legislative Budget Board, informed the legislative committee that Texas will face a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion by the next time it meets in 2011 tiate a three-year budget freeze on non-security discre¥tionary spending. While mandato¥ry programs like Social Security, un¥employment insur¥ance and Medicaid will not be affect¥ed, domestic social programs Ñ pro¥grams that directly fund scientific re¥search and many state social safe¥ty nets Ñ are des¥tined for the chop¥ping block. Furthermore, on Dec. 31, many states will receive a rude awaken¥ing when most of ObamaÕs stimulus costly benefits that go along with do¥ing so. ItÕs also relevant to note that when unemployment figures include dis¥couraged workers, economically ne¥cessitated part-timers and the un¥deremployed, the national rate jumps from 9.7 percent to 16.5 per¥cent and that the official Texas unem¥ployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in December 2008 to 8.2 percent in December 2009. Perhaps the equity markets are ac¥tually indicative of a renewed recov¥ery, and weÕre on the right path. Per¥haps not. American economic domi¥nance, when looked at from a histor¥ical perspective, has not really lasted all that long. It will be interesting to see if this current Òjobless recoveryÓ will actually bring us into another era of opulence. If it doesnÕt, state services are go¥ing to be slashed not just in 2011, but also in 2013, 2015, etc., and itÕs hard to imagine that the University would be spared in the process. With its large endowment, UT is certainly in a better position than most public universities across the country to handle a prolonged downturn, but, just like the state it¥self, would only be able to weather the storm for so long before a major adjustment in budget policy would have to take place. Sloan is a government senior. debt are any indication of things to package expires. One out of every come, America is set to face a day four American children is currently of reckoning. With China and other on food stamps at a time when the foreign governments slowly backing opposite side of the age demograph¥away from the table, one has to won-ic, the baby boomers, are set to retire der for how long the Fed will be able in large numbers and assume all the and vehicle spots are separate. We believe that combining the two could move vehicles current¥ly parked on the streets into garages. After months of carefully reviewing the situa¥tion, UAP is about to propose replacing the cur¥rently non-regulated parking in West Campus with resident permit and meter parking. Let me clarify that adding residential permits and meters in this area is only an idea Ñ it is open to discussion, which I encourage. I will lis¥ten and reply to any student or neighborhood resident with constructive ideas. Again, I genu¥inely encourage you to contribute your insights by e-mailing us at uaprepresentatives@gmail.com. Our desire to see a safer West Campus by making much-needed lighting and sidewalk improvements drives our support for this idea. Many sidewalks, specifically on 21st Street and on 25th Street, are in dire need of repair. Pedes¥trians, especially those in wheelchairs, have a dif¥ficult time navigating stairs, curbs without ramp access to crosswalks and the myriad of broken concrete that make up many West Campus side¥walks. Many sections of West Campus also lack proper lighting at night. These improvements would come at a cost. In this case, parking meters would be installed to pay for the construction of new sidewalks, lighting and trees Ñ what is referred to as Òstreetscape.Ó As SG representatives on UAP, we must balance lobbying for much-needed safety improvements with the costs these beneficial im¥provements may incur. We are dealing with a classic Catch-22. West campus needs better walking facilities. To con¥struct these facilities, revenue needs to be raised. Students are being asked to help raise this rev¥enue by paying for their parking, but parking¥garage owners stand to make large amounts of money as cars will have to move from free spots on the street into these structures. Without an in¥crease in revenue, sidewalk and safety condi¥tions will only continue to further deteriorate. The Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Action Committee is currently discussing this idea, as well. CANPAC consists of neighborhood boards from all areas bordering the UT campus. We agree with their sentiments that the side ef¥fects of UAPÕs proposed plan must be adequate¥ly addressed. We need to be good neighbors and address concerns of residents in outlying areas. One of CANPACÕs proposals is to develop a sep¥arate parking plan for the entire Central Aus¥tin area. If this separate larger plan can solve our current sidewalk and lighting challenges with a smaller neighborhood impact than with UAPÕs current proposed plan, we will of course be supportive. Right now, this is an idea with significant de¥tails still to be decided. Once a plan is put on paper, Rebekah and I will make every effort to let you know the pros and cons of the plan and to solicit feedback from students. Addi¥tionally, UAP and CANPAC leaders will meet with students on campus to further gather face-to-face input. We will ensure that this newspaper receives information about proposed parking plans and student forums so that you, as students, will know about these student forums well in advance. Finally, as I mentioned above, this parking plan is just an idea. As representatives of the stu¥dent body, we openly welcome your feedback. Brocato is the SG external representative to University Area Partners. THE FIRING LINE UT School of LawÕs dean speaks out on a practical legal education I am writing in response to the opinion piece written by three students which appeared in The Daily Texan on March 4 under the title, ÒLaw students need a prac¥tical education.Ó A little more than halfway through their first year of law school, the authors of this call for practicality have not yet confronted the law schoolÕs extraordinary array of courses, ranging from Admiralty Law to Wind Power Law. In between are dozens upon dozens of courses of undeniable practicality in top¥ics such as complex litigation, intellectual property, family law, innovation and entre¥preneurship, tax, trusts and estates. Nor have the authors encountered our legal clinics (educational programs in which students deal with the real problems of real clients), our Advocacy Program or our clerkship and fellowship programs. We have 17 clinics ranging in areas including criminal law, environmental law, trans¥national worker rights, childrenÕs rights, national security, community development, legislative lawyering, domestic violence, immigration law and Supreme Court litigation. Our Capital Punishment Clinic had four cases pending in the Supreme Court in a single recent term and won all four. More than half of UT LawÕs students take at least one clinic, and their experiences are remarkably intense, rewarding and exquisitely practical. Terry Tottenham, the president-elect of the State Bar of Texas, took umbrage at The Daily Texan piece; he has taught all phases of litigation to our students for the last 20 years and is only one of 41 adjuncts pres¥ently teaching in the Advocacy Program. Hundreds of students participate in the program each year, and many more par¥ticipate in various interscholastic advocacy competitions. As a result of an intense clerkship pro¥gram unparalleled in American legal edu¥cation, 14 percent of UT LawÕs graduates clerk with judges, from the Supreme Court to Federal Courts of Appeals and District Courts to state courts and international tribunals. Many more are supported by fellow¥ships to work with public-interest legal groups and human rights tribunals throughout the world. To be sure, all this represents just one face of UT Law. Throughout our rich cur¥riculum and almost overwhelming array of lectures, symposia and conferences, the air is thick with law and economics, legal phi¥losophy and legal history, taught widely and taught well. It would be a deep embar¥rassment if it were otherwise. Good lawyers in our time need a good deal more than familiarity with legal doc¥trine and traditional legal skills. And at UT Law, it is our ambition to graduate not just good lawyers but good citizens Ñ good human beings Ñ prepared to take on the world with its manifold problems and promise. Ñ Larry Sager Dean of the UT School of Law LEGALESE Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor or the writ¥er 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 firingline@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity and liability. RECYCLE! Please remember to recycle this copy of The Daily Texan by placing it in a recycling bin around campus or back in the burnt-orange stand where you found it. Thursday, March 11, 2010 NEWS SPORT: Players adjust to broomsticks, plan game against A&M From page 1 attached to the backside of a neu¥tral-party runner. As Oliver Wood explained in the first Harry Potter book, ÒYou catch the snitch, Harry, you win the game.Ó Quidditch, as described in the books, is played completely in the air as players use their brooms to fly. The real-life quidditch rules were solidified in 2007, when Middle¥bury College in Vermont founded the Intercollegiate Quidditch Asso¥ciation, or IQA for short. According to its Web site, there are currently about 200 teams around the world who have signed up. The majority of them are from the U.S., but there are also teams in Canada, Mexi¥co, Argentina, England, Iceland, France, Israel and Australia. Among the many institutions who have signed up with the IQA, A&M joined in the fall of 2008 and went on to place seventh out of 21 at the world cup in Middlebury. ÒIn the southwest region, thereÕs no real rivalry yet because most of the teams are new,Ó said Laura Pa¥gels, a spokeswoman for the A&M team and ÒTeam GryffindorÓ beat¥er. ÒGuess weÕll find out in the com¥ing tournament if thereÕs any teams we need to keep our eye on.Ó A&M will be hosting a quidditch tournament on April 24. Until that time, Texas Quidditch, composed of house teams and one main trav¥eling varsity team, plans to hold a number of intramural scrimmag¥es and practices before competing in the tournament and, eventual¥ly, the world cup. In its last scrim¥mage, Hufflepuff made a comeback and won two out of three matches against Gryffindor. The seven-part Harry Potter se¥ries is set mainly at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizard¥ry. Protagonist Harry Potter, who belongs to Gryffindor, one of four Hogwarts Òhouses,Ó is a star on the Gryffindor quidditch team. The other three houses are Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Although members of the UT team were already sorted into houses based on a mixture of pref¥erence and a desire to have an even number of players per house, there are still spaces open for the snitch and an announcer. So far, the most difficult thing for players has been learning to play with one hand holding a broom between their legs. Since there is currently no known way to play quidditch on a flying broom, the IQA adapted the rules from RowlingÕs books to accom¥modate for this setback. ÒYou wouldnÕt think you could get such large bruises from run¥ning with a broom, but you do,Ó said Cate Boyle, varsity team chas¥er and elementary education soph¥omore. ÒWhen you hold it between your legs while youÕre running, it keeps knocking into them.Ó Another major difference from RowlingÕs version is the use of three bludgers rather than two. Ac¥cording to the IQA rulebook, this is to Òensure that each team, with two beaters, will always be in pos¥session of at least one bludger.Ó Once a player is hit, he or she has to drop the broom and any ball in possession and run around the hoops three times Ñ the approxi¥mate amount of time it would take one of RowlingÕs quidditch players to recover after being knocked off his or her broom. Despite these technical setbacks, the biggest challenge of any new team is establishing chemistry on the pitch. ÒFor example, our Gryffindor team has close to 30 people, but only seven can play at a time,Ó said Al¥exandra Young, co-founder and hu¥manities sophomore. ÒThe biggest challenge is selecting those seven and having them know each other.Ó Young, like many other fans, be¥gan reading the series at a young age and eagerly awaited each new book at midnight bookstore parties. ÒI think I was in second grade, Photos by Shannon Kintner |Daily Texan Staff Above, keeper Cate Boyle tries but fails to block Allison Burton from scoring the quaffle through one of three hoops. Below, left to right, Allison Burton, Jacob Adlis, Christopher Morris, Alexandra Young and Maris Gonzalez comprise only a few of the members of the newly formed UT Quidditch Team, based off of the wizarding game in J.K. RowlingÕs ÒHarry PotterÓ series. For more information on Texas Quidditch and how to join, visit www.utquidditch.com. and it was my birthday,Ó Young said. ÒOne of my friends had giv¥en me this book and said it was good, and I was a massive read¥er, I read everything. So I was like, ÔOK, sure.Õ From page two, I was hooked. After that, there was no going back.Ó ItÕs a shared love of Harry Pot¥ter that has brought college-age stu¥dents together to play the game they first fell in love with as children. Ò[Quidditch] is just so geeky and nerdy, but itÕs universal,Ó Young said. ÒWeÕve got people from the business school, liberal arts, natural sciences and engineering. There are players from all over the Universi¥ty. I donÕt know how they all found out about it, but itÕs just been really awesome.Ó A REAL WORLD JOB TO JUMP-START A REAL WORLD CAREER. The largest college media agency in the nation, Texas Student Media, is looking for a few business-minded college students to work as Media Sales Consultants HERE ON CAMPUS! Do you think you have what it takes? Find Out! Email us and send your resume to: jbcorbett@mail.utexas.edu Or stop by the William Randolph Hearst Building 2500 Whitis Ave. Ð Rm. 3.210 NEWS Thursday, March 11, 2010 McCombs helps student entrepreneurs By Shabab Siddiqui as mentors in the program. ideas, establishing product licens-The program will work similar Daily Texan Staff ÒEntrepreneurship has thrived es and creating business plans. to a venture-capital firm without Entrepreneurially-minded stu-here at the University in the past, but Thomas Gilligan, dean of the the capital part, Adams said. dents no longer have to wait until itÕs just a core group of entrepreneur-business school, said the program Daniel Nelson, a UT alumnus, co¥graduation to turn their ideas into ial faculty and students that have will allow greater interaction be-founded Phurnace Software shortly cash-churning businesses. kept it alive,Ó said Rob Adams, di-tween the business school and other after earning his MBA. The compa- The McCombs School of Busi-rector of the program and manage-colleges of the University, as the pro-ny, which was acquired by a larg¥ness announced the launch of ment lecturer at McCombs, during gram is not exclusive to McCombs er software firm earlier this year, Texas Venture Labs, a University-the announcement. ÒTexas Venture students. It will also enhance the makes it easier to install networks wide entrepreneurship program, Labs is centralizing those resources entrepreneurship program at UT in homes and offices. Nelson said Wednesday afternoon. for you.Ó by giving students hands-on expe-the Texas Venture Labs program The program is designed to Currently, the program will riences, Gilligan said. mirrors the process he had to go guide students through the en-work with students only on the ÒStudents do best through ex-through to start his own company. tire process of starting their own latter stages of the entrepreneur-periential education,Ó he said. ÒIt creates the model for compa¥business. It will combine edu-ial process, which includes raising As a studentÕs business idea de-nies to follow,Ó he said. ÒIt tells you cation, mentoring and network-funds, guiding management and velops, students who have just what you need to do and how to ing, among other resources, to di-fostering growth of a business. By graduated will fill managerial po-build on it.Ó rect students from the initial idea September, the program will work sitions while current students will For more information on the to the final launching stage. Mc-to incorporate earlier stages, such run day-to-day operations and re-program, including how to apply, Combs faculty members will serve as generating and researching ceive course credit in return. visit texasventurelabs.net. Austin aims for GoogleÕs high-speed Web service By Gabrielle Cloudy Daily Texan Staff Austin residents and busi¥nesses are vying against cities across the nation for a chance to obtain Internet 100 times faster than its current speed from Web giant Google. On Feb. 10, Google announced Fiber for Communities, a project that would provide between a 50,000 and 500,000 homes with gigabit-network speed. The Big Gig Austin Initiative was creat¥ed by the city to bring the proj¥ect to Austin. GoogleÕs high-speed Internet would provide a network speed of up to 1 billion bits per second. Residents can go to the Web site www.biggigaustin.org to post ideas or vote on already-posted sugges¥tions for possible uses for the fast¥er Internet. The city must present Google with its formal proposal by March 26. The Big Gig Austin initiative held an open forum Wednes¥day evening to discuss how to proceed with the project, and residents were invited to make presentations of ideas to sub¥mit to the city. The forum featured a panel of speakers, including Joe Faulk, the division manager for library in¥formation systems, and Linda Li¥towsky of channelAustin. Faulk talked about the librariesÕ under¥standing of the possibilities that faster Internet might bring. ÒItÕs important because we are a deliverer of content,Ó Faulk said. ÒIf everybody had a gigabyte to their desktop, what could that content become?Ó However, it will take a commu¥nity initiative to bring the project to Austin, said Kyle Carvell, a city of Austin spokesman. ÒCommunity support is real¥ly important in the entire pro¥cess because thatÕs what Google evaluates,Ó Carvell said. ÒThey will be heavily looking at per¥ceived community support and demand for the project from the community and its residents. We should do everything as a community to prove that Austin would benefit from this high¥speed Internet.Ó Austin City Council member Laura Morrison said she was ex¥cited that, if Austin is chosen, the project could help the city evolve, allowing it to be more technolog¥ically sound and providing it with more opportunities. ÒRemote learning, download¥ing, having access to high-def¥inition movies and medical ap¥plications Ñ lots of things could happen if you move them 100 times faster,Ó Morrison said. She said they are formulat¥ing a good proposal and that Austin is a great candidate for the project. ÒGoogle is interested in a city where they could put it in quick¥ly and efficiently,Ó Morrison said. ÒWe have a lot to offer in regard to that since we own our own utilities.Ó ChannelAustin has tried to in¥volve the community with aired promotional videos, Constant Contact messaging and phone calls and by providing informa¥tion to those who enter the build¥ing, Litowsky said. ÒWe also will be interview¥ing people during this weekendÕs South by Southwest Interactive, finding out why they think Austin is a great candidate,Ó she said. ÒIt would be wonderful for the film mecca [to] allow for large amounts of data and video files to be trans¥ported and shared quickly.Ó Lecturers suggest preservation solutions By Aziza Musa Daily Texan Staff Ascientist, a conservationist and a policy maker each stressed the importance of an integrative ap¥proach to the preservation of vari¥ous life forms in a lecture Wednes¥day at the UT School of Law. The lecture offered three per¥spectives about conservation: one about funding from Kathryn Full¥er, former president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund and a UT School of Law alumna; one about science from Christine Hawkes, UT integrative biology professor; and one about policy from Laura Huffman, state director of the Na¥ture Conservancy. Fuller, the main speaker, is now the chairwoman of the Ford Foundation, an orga¥nization dedicated to social jus¥tice. She addressed the need to protect the worldÕs biodiversity, or the assortment of life forms, in light of climate change. ÒThe sad truth is, the natu¥ral world is disappearing before our eyes,Ó Fuller said. ÒEven the expanse of Amazonian rainfor¥ests arenÕt safe and could disap¥pear within decades.Ó Fuller noted numerous statis¥tics about the reduction of bio¥logical diversity, including for¥est, freshwater and marine life. She said deforestation is responsi¥ble for 15 to 20 percent of all car¥bon dioxide emissions and that In¥donesia is the third-largest emit-animals and humans to live and ter of these types of gases. Recent-also provides viable econom¥ly, Indonesia, among more than 20 ics for people. The concentration other countries, fully endorsed the should no longer be on a species-Copenhagen Accord, a document by-species preservation but rath¥created by the United Nations Cli-er the conservation of the ecosys¥mate Change Conference to re-tem as a whole, she said. duce emission levels worldwide. Huffman and Fuller agreed While climate change has been that agencies related to ecolog¥active for decades, it is current-ical preservation need to raise ly the largest threat to the envi-public awareness about the ben¥ronment, Huffman said. She said efits the natural environment keeping freshwater clean allows can provide and how humans can affect the environment. ÒWhen we think about the hu¥man impact on the environment, the first organisms we think about are charismatic megafauna,Ó Hawkes said. ÒThese are usually big, fuzzy animals, like penguins, or beautiful, rare and big plants, such as orchids and redwood trees. However, the vast majority of things on earth are microbial, not charismatic megafauna.Ó Scientists are unsure of the ex- Students look to Ôsave our historyÕ By Shamoyita DasGupta Daily Texan Staff Students from the Coalition of Students for a Smarter State Board of Education marched from Littlefield Fountain to the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday to protest the changes the State Board of Ed¥ucation has proposed regard¥ing social studies curriculum in Texas. University Democrats, Mov¥imiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan and the Texas Free¥dom Network Student Chap¥ter formed the coalition two weeks ago. The state board began its three-day meeting Wednes¥day in Austin and will vote on a modified social studies curriculum for the state. The board meets every 10 years to revise and set the curriculum for public schools in Texas. In recent months, the board has con¥sidered removing significant historical figures like Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Mar¥shall from textbooks. Be¥cause of backlash from stu¥dents and elected officials, board members decided at their last meeting in January to keep these notable figures from the Civil Rights Move¥ment in textbooks. Other controversial cur¥riculum revisions the board proposed included re-word¥ing ÒU.S. imperialismÓ to ÒU.S. expansionismÓ; remov¥ing Benjamin O. Davis, the first black general in the U.S. Air Force and the command¥er of the Tuskegee Airmen; and Betty Friedan, feminist and author of ÒThe Feminine Mystique.Ó Any discussion of both legal and illegal im¥migration and any reference to the actions taken Òby peo¥ple from racial, ethnic, gen¥der and religious groupsÓ in expanding economic oppor¥tunities and political rights in American society would also be removed. The changes would af¥fect social studies curricu¥lum taught to approximately 4.7 million public-school stu¥dents from kindergarten to 12th grade, UDems president Melessa Rodriguez said. Representatives from each organization held a press con¥ference to explain their goal of preventing the state board from implementing these changes in curriculum reform. Students at the rally wore T-shirts embla¥zoned with the words ÒSave our History.Ó ÒI think that what the school board is trying to do is absolutely ridiculous, high¥ly politicized and also some¥thing that I completely dis¥agree with,Ó said Jenny Kut¥ner, a freshman and member of Texas Freedom Network. ÒYou canÕt bias history. It hap¥pened, it happened a certain way, and itÕs their duty as the State Board of Education to educate the students of Texas accurately.Ó The attempt to remove historical figures of col¥or has been a major issue for many students and was part of the reason MEChA joined the coalition. ÒI feel that if children see themselves reflected in text¥books, not just in white peo¥ple but also in minorities Ñ people of color, young fe¥males Ñ theyÕll be more mo¥tivated to learn,Ó said Di¥ana Gomez, an ethnic stud¥ies sophomore and mem¥ber of MEChA who testified twice before the board in No¥vember about these changes. ÒTheyÕll feel more connect¥ed to the people that theyÕre learning about.Ó act number of living microbes, or small organisms such as bacteria and algae, but they estimate there are about 4 million to 5 million, Hawkes said. These microbes are responsible for ecosystem func¥tioning, and with warmer, drier climates on the horizon and the shifting of species in certain geo¥graphical regions, it is necessary to use microbial pathways to re¥store the environment to its natu¥ral state, she said. Norma Fowler, a UT integra¥tive biology professor who at¥tended the event, said the lecture emphasized the importance of preservation, restoration and ad¥aptation but that an integrative approach is necessary. ÒNo single way [to conserve] is enough,Ó Fowler said. ÒWe need everybody in all different approaches, from policy to gov¥ernment to science, [to fix the problem].Ó Council commission seeks public feedback Affordable housing for low-income families is high priority, group says By Destinee Hodge Daily Texan Staff The Community Development Commission held its annual up¥date meeting Wednesday to kick off discussions concerning the city of Austin budget. Each year, the Austin City Council begins its budget talks with a meeting with the com¥mission, which provides the Council with resident feedback. The commission is the only sec¥tion of the Council that specifi¥cally addresses the needs of the people of Austin who live below the poverty line. ÒWe cover everything from health, to parks to recreation,Ó said commission director Mar¥garet Shaw. ÒBut we focus espe¥cially on job creation and afford¥able housing.Ó The commission discussed the Elm Ridge Apartments on Air¥port Boulevard extensively be¥cause they are a major housing project in Austin. ÒWe were able to refinance, so we can ensure that it will be available for the next 100 years,Ó Shaw said. Each year, the commission re¥ceives between $20-25 million from both the city and federal government that will go toward public services. This year, they received about $30 million be¥cause of the General Obligation bonds that voters elected to give the commission in 2006. ÒOur funding can be used for everything from childcare to rental assistance to mediation between tenants and landlords,Ó Shaw said. John Limon, the chairman of the board, acts as an intermedi¥ary between the community and the board. Limon was appointed to the position in 2009. Limon said that affordable housing is a high priority be¥cause it affects not only jobs, but also the ability of citizens to con¥tribute to society. The commission also helps to keep other housing in Austin af¥fordable for low-income families. ÒWe try to provide homes that are $200 to $700 per month,Ó Shaw said. ÒThat might not seem like a big deal, but the Austin average is about $1,000 to $1,200.Ó Shaw said there were also nonprofit organizations con¥tributing to the cityÕs attempt to provide affordable housing. Limon said the public can play an important role in assign¥ing funds by attending hearings held throughout the year to ad¥dress needs and concerns to rep¥resentatives like him. ÒThe public has the oppor¥tunity to come and share their needs,Ó Limon said. ÒThere are appointees for each community, and then there are overheads to communicate the information.Ó Limon said that his position is specifically effective because he can relate to the people he is representing. ÒBorn and raised here in Aus¥tin, I see what the needs of my community are, and thatÕs the only way to know,Ó he said. Sports Editor: Blake Hurtik E-mail: sports@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2210 SPORTS www.dailytexanonline.com Thursday, March 11, 2010 THE DAILY TEXAN WOMENÕS TENNIS Ellis brings unexpected talent, drive to UT tennis By Alexandra Carreno Daily Texan Staff For many collegiate tennis play¥ers, an NCAA career is a mere step¥ping stone after their successes in high school and junior-level tennis. TheyÕre usually the best of the best from their hometowns or teams, and they expect to be extraordinary at the college level, as well. But, imagine entering the colle¥giate tennis circuit as a little-known, unranked player after choosing to take a year off from school to pur¥sue a professional and teaching ca¥reer in tennis. ThatÕs the situation Texas fresh¥man Aeriel Ellis found herself in. Despite her status upon entering the UT team, the Hayward, Calif., native has created a name for her¥self as a top member of the Long¥horns and has climbed to No. 17 in the national rankings. EllisÕ dominance in both high school and junior tennis was fueled by the composure and maturity she regularly displays on the court. Her successes led her to pursue a pro¥fessional career upon graduation, but Ellis quickly realized that her heart was not in the game enough to successfully make her mark on the professional circuit. She instead spent the year teaching tennis les¥sons to young, eager students as well as traveling on recruitment trips to keep tennis fresh on her mind. She chose Texas over Geor¥gia Tech and home-state UCLA. The Longhorns are thankful that she had a change of heart. El¥lis has locked down the top sin¥gles spot for Texas, despite being the only freshman on the squad. ÒI knew that going to college was where I needed to be, and I am just so glad I made that decision,Ó El¥lis said. ÒTo be a part of a group of people and follow such a legacy is empowering. When I step out onto the court, any match is mine.Ó The fact that this is her first sea¥son in the world of collegiate tennis makes EllisÕs success impressive. ELLIS continues on page 8 SOFTBALL Texas survives the Cyclones By Will Anderson Daily Texan Staff Damion James is quickly be¥coming a household name in Kansas City, Mo. Playing at the Sprint Center for the third time this year, he had his best game yet, scoring 28 points and grab¥bing 16 rebounds in an 82-75 win over Iowa State on Wednes¥day night in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament. ÒDamion James, he was ter¥rific,Ó Texas coach Rick Barnes said. ÒWhat he did on the boards É He came over to me and said, ÔIÕm getting them all.ÕÓ James averaged 15 points and 10.5 rebounds during the OÕReilly Auto Parts Classic in Kansas City in November but outdid that effort with one of his strongest outings this year. And thanks to James, the Longhorns will play at least one more game in Kansas City this season, as they advance to the second round of the confer¥ence tournament to face third¥seed Baylor on Thursday. Gary Johnson, promoted to starter after a career-best 25 points at Baylor on Saturday, registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. ÒNo one has improved more than Gary,Ó Barnes said. ÒWe wanted him to drive it [to¥night], which he did.Ó Johnson replaced freshman JÕCovan Brown, a guard with prolific scoring ability who has struggled recently. Brown played just three minutes Wednesday night and had no points. The bench came up big for Texas. Junior Matt Hill snagged three rebounds and scored three points, while sophomore guard Jai Lucas made three as¥sists and ran the point for Texas in lieu of Brown. ÒI was impressed with Jai. I was impressed with the way he responded,Ó Barnes said. JAMES continues on page 8 GAME 1: TEXAS 9, UTEP 0 GAME 2: TEXAS 6, UTEP 1 Longhorns sweep Miners using flawless baserunning Late offensive run sparks Texas to pair of victories against cross-state rival Matt Hohner Daily Texan Staff In what appeared to be a pitch¥ersÕ duel, the Longhorn offense came to life in game one of a dou¥bleheader sweep against UT-El Paso on Wednesday. Blaire Luna was in command of the Miners in the LonghornsÕ 9-0 shutout in game one. Luna struck out nine of the first ten batters and went on to retire 15 of the 21 batters she faced with a complete game. However, the rest of the team couldnÕt seem to support Luna by putting runs on the board until the bottom of the fifth inning. But, Luna knew her team would back her up sooner rather than later. ÒI have a lot of trust in my of¥fense,Ó Luna said. ÒVersus Ten¥nessee we were down, and I had a lot of trust that they were going to come back, and they did. I think something weÕre good at is not giving up.Ó Just a little extra effort by out¥fielder Taylor Hoagland opened the floodgates by beating out a groundball toward the shortstop. A series of infield hits put the bases loaded for the Horns, and first baseman Lexy Bennett brought in the first run for Texas en route to a six-run inning. Bennett then put the finishing touch in the next inning by sending a three-run home run over the fence to seal the deal for the Longhorns. Texas continued to cruise to an easy 6-1 victory in game two. WIN continues on page 8 Horns choose to put the pressure on opposition when stealing the bases By Kate Guerra Daily Texan Staff The Texas softball seems to stroll between the 60 feet sep¥arating each base on a softball field. In 2009, the University of Ala¥bama had the highest stolen bas¥es per game in Division I softball, averaging 2.78 steals a game. The Longhorns arenÕt up to that kind of production yet, but they still put lots of emphasis on aggres¥sive base-running. TheyÕve attempted 40 steals since the beginning of the 2010 season. The Longhorns, who won the first game of a double¥header against UT-El Paso 9-0, attempted two in the first in¥ning alone, both resulting in suc¥cessful stolen bases. That perfor¥mance puts the season average to 72.5 percent (29/40). ÒThis group is too good to let the little things in the way,Ó Texas head coach Connie Clark said af¥ter the teamÕs 6-1 win in the sec¥ond game of the twin bill. ÒWe needed to work on some base running, and whenever we work on something in practice, this group just applies it right away.Ó Being aggressive on the bases is a gamble, but itÕs one that the Longhorns are willing and pre¥pared to take. The team spends around 45 minutes during each practice running bases. ÒI think weÕre very aggres¥sive on the bases,Ó Clark said. ÒThere are so many things that have to go right when youÕre trying to steal second. Catch¥ers that are All-Americans are throwing out half the runners. You gotta have the great throw, the receiver on the back end and the catch, so we like to put STEALS continues on page 8 WOMENÕS BASKETBALL Upset-minded Missouri looks to eliminate Horns By Dan Hurwitz Daily Texan Staff Despite winning only two conference games and finish¥ing last in conference stand¥ings, MissouriÕs season starts to¥day Ñ they are only four wins away from clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament. It is not an exaggeration to say it will take a miracle for the Tigers to win the Big 12 Tournament, which starts for them against the fifth-seeded Longhorns. Just one week ago, the Longhorns beat Missouri by 19 points in Austin. But that means nothing anymore, as any team has a chance of end¥ing up on top, come SundayÕs championship match. ÒItÕs just a new season,Ó Tex¥as head coach Gail Goesten¥kors said. ÒEvery single pos¥session matters.Ó With Missouri scouting re¥ports fresh in the minds of the Texas players and coach¥es, preparations for the Ti¥gers will not be extensive. But in Columbia, Mo., head coach Cindy Stein and her team have some adjustments to make after scoring only 41 points against the Longhorns last week. The recent success of a zone defense the Tigers briefly saw last week will likely be seen again today. Yet, Texas put posts Cokie Reed and Ashley Gayle in at the same time in the second half against Bay¥lor on Sunday and held the Bears without a field goal for 16 straight minutes. ÒWeÕve worked on it some during practice, but itÕs not something that weÕve used much at all during the course of the year,Ó Goestenkors said. ÒItÕs probably something weÕll use mor, now that weÕve got some success with it.Ó With Reed and Gayle both standing at 6 foot 4 inches, the Longhorns are one of the tall¥est teams in the Big 12. The two combined for all eight of the teamÕs blocks in SundayÕs win. Other adjustments made to TEXAS continues on page 8 SIDELINE No. 9 Texas Tech 82 No. 8 Colorado 67 No. 12 Nebraska 75 No. 5 Missouri 60 No. 10 Oklahoma 67 No. 7 Oklahoma State 81 No. 11 Iowa State 75 No. 6 Texas 82 Big East Tournament No. 9 South Florida 49 No. 8 Georgetown 69 No. 5 Marquette 57 No. 13 St. JohnÕs 55 No. 10 Seton Hall 56 No. 7 Notre Dame 68 No. 6 Louisville 66 No. 11 Cincinnati 69 C-USA Tournament No. 7 Houston 93 No. 10 East Carolina 80 No. 6 Southern Mississippi 57 No. 11 Tulane 47 No. 5 Tulsa 73 No. 12 Rice 62 No. 8 SMU 53 No. 9 Central Florida 69 Northeast Conference Final No. 2 Robert Morris 52 No. 1 Quinnipiac 50 Big Sky Final No. 4 Montana 66 No. 1 Weber State 65 NBA New York 87 San Antonio 97 New Jersey 87 Dallas 96 New Orleans 83 Oklahoma City 98 Denver 110 Minnesota 102 LA Clippers 97 Miami 108 Utah 115 Detroit 104 Memphis 111 Boston 91 Charlotte 102 Philadelphia 87 Toronto 90 Sacramento 113 SPORTS BRIEFLY Nowitzki struggles as Mavericks come from behind to beat Nets Top scorer Dirk Nowitzki was struggling, and the Dallas Mav¥ericks needed points from other sources. Jason Kidd, Caron Butler, rookie Roddy Beaubois and Shawn Marion picked up the slack. Kidd had 20 points and nine as¥sists, hitting 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and the Mavericks re¥covered from a lethargic start to match the NBAÕs longest win¥ning streak this season with their 13th straight victory, 96-87 over the New Jersey Nets on Wednes¥day night. Butler and Beaubois each added 16 points and Marion had 14 points and 13 rebounds, helping the Mav¥ericks equal ClevelandÕs winning streak from Jan. 10-Feb. 11. Nowitzki, whoÕs had 16 games this season with 30 or more points and two with 40-plus, went 3 for 16 from the field and finished with 12 points. ÒDirk didnÕt play that well, but heÕs not always going to have 20 or 30 points,Ó Kidd said. ÒSo every¥body stepped up. When I get the ball, I know what to do with it.Ó New Jersey led by as many as 18 in the first half before the Mav¥ericks got untracked to match the third-best winning streak in fran¥chise history, even while Nowitz¥ki was falling 13.3 points under his season average. ÒMy jump shot was all over the place,Ó Nowitzki said. ÒBut the guys were great. We really wanted this game.Ó ÑThe Associated Press SPORTS Thursday, March 11, 2010 WIN: Luna, Bruins dominate UTEPÕs bats, striking out 22 MENÕS TENNIS Horns return to winning ways By Rishi Daulat Daily Texan Staff After a disappointing doubles performance against Virginia Ñ the No. 4 Longhorns dropped only their second doubles point of the season Ñ UT assistant coach Ricardo Rubio was hoping to see a much better performance in the doubles. The UT players responded perfectly. UT came out firing against a very formidable opponent in No. 19 Florida State and won comfortable victories at first and third doubles to clinch the doubles point and ultimately the match, 6-1. ITA No. 19 Jean Andersen and Daniel White¥head were the first to finish when they beat Anderson Reed and Andres Bucaro, 8-4, at third doubles. TexasÕ No. 4 dou¥bles team in the country, Dim¥itar Kutrovsky and Josh Zava¥la, were the next to finish with their 8-6 win over Vahid Mirza¥deh and Connor Smith. ÒEveryone fought out there tonight,Ó Texas head coach Mi-got back on track with his 6-2, 6-4 in his match at fifth singles, a doubles partners in junior tennis, chael Center said. ÒWe have dis-domination of No. 35 Jean Yves-6-0, 6-3 dismantling of Smith at 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9). cussed when we get those first Aubone. It is the seniorÕs second-fifth singles and clinching victo-ÒIt was a great win for us to¥sets that we need to increase straight singles win over a top-ry for Texas. Andersen, a South-night,Ó Center said. ÒI feel like our intensity and keep pushing. 40 singles opponent; his last win African transfer, was fifth to fin-we are starting a new portion of I looked up at the scoreboard came against the second-ranked ish and continued a solid run of our season with a pretty signifi¥and saw that we did a great job player in the country, Michael form with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Bu-cant home stretch coming up, so of that.Ó Shabaz of Virginia. caro at fourth singles. we wanted to get off on the right TexasÕ hot streak didnÕt end UTÕs Vasko Mladenov finished UTÕs junior from Colorado, foot tonight. I thought we played with singles, either. The Long-his match a few moments after Kellen Damico, got the final win a good match across the board.Ó horns won five quick singles Kutrovsky, a 6-3, 6-1 win for the for the Horns when he grinded Next up for the Horns is a matches in a row, all in straight-Bulgarian freshman over Reed out a three-set victory over Clint home match against No. 25 Mich¥sets. No. 7 Kutrovsky officially at the sixth spot. Zavala rolled Bowles, one of DamicoÕs former igan on Saturday at 4 p.m. JAMES: SeniorÕs double-double holds off ISU From page 7 In a losing effort, Marquis Gil¥strap scored 17 points for Iowa State while Craig Brackins added 15. But James stole the show, record¥ing his sixteenth double-double of the season. The senior forward had an answer every time Iowa State got close. Iowa State got within one when Gilstrap hit a pair of free throws with 8 minutes, 55 seconds left. But the Longhorns responded with 11 straight points to finally establish some breathing room. During that run, the Cyclones TEXAS: Point guardÕs status still unknown for tourney weÕre used to playing a lot of From page 7 minutes at a time.Ó MissouriÕs strategy will in-Awaiting the winner of to¥clude the possibility of TexasÕ dayÕs game between Texas starting point guard Ashleigh and Missouri is Texas A&M. Fontenette missing the game Although it is tempting, the because of an injury. Longhorns donÕt plan on look- With Lauren Flores out for ing past Missouri. the year and FontenetteÕs sta-ÒWe know going into post¥tus questionable in todayÕs season that itÕs one and done, match, the LonghornsÕ point-so we have to play every guard duties will likely be game like itÕs our last,Ó Ra¥split between Yvonne Ander-ven said. son, Erika Arriaran and Brit-But, no matter what hap¥tainey Raven. pens with the Longhorns in ÒIf Ashleigh Fontenette isnÕt the Big 12 Tournament, they ready to play, that is a big con-know where they will be for cern of ours because we need their opening game of the From page 7 First baseman Shelby Savony, who leads the team in home runs, connected on a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth. The Longhorns have shown their muscles at the plate, belting 37 total home runs. Clark suggests their strategy in pitch selection is why the balls have been heading out of Mc-Combs Field. ÒAnytime youÕre getting into home-run mode, youÕre trying to change up your pitch selection and hit the ball out of the park,Ó Clark said. ÒWhen you do that, typically, good things occur.Ó Kim Bruins, who has struggled in her most recent outings, found her stride against UT-El Paso. The freshman struck out seven Min¥er batters and allowed one run on of five hits in her fourth complete game of the season. Catcher Amy Hooks has been more than pleased with the fresh¥men contributions. ÒYou really wouldnÕt know theyÕre freshmen out there,Ó Hooks said. ÒTheyÕre still learning, as I am with them, but further into the sea¥son, weÕre going to grow together. ItÕs going to be a fun ride.Ó Hooks believes the team has ex¥ceeded early expectations, but the Longhorns are staying hungry. ÒWeÕre going to need to get stron¥ger,Ó Hooks said. ÒWeÕre striving to be the best team in the nation.Ó The Longhorns will travel to the Dallas metroplex tonight to take on the UT-Arlington. STEALS: Hoagland continues to safely reach second base From page 7 ÒI think you need that over¥all mental aspect of the game,Ó some pressure on the defense, Hoagland said. ÒYou have to know and we feel it pays off for us.Ó the situation beforehand and think For some, the constant game of about Ôwhat if this, what if that.Õ cat-and-mouse is too much pres¥ThatÕs how youÕre ready, and once sure. The technique behind know¥that pitch is gone, itÕs just explosive ing when to go and when to hold power and reaction. We all help your place takes a lot of intelligent each other out. Ó self-timing that comes only with Getting by on a little help from experience. Freshman outfielder their friends (and drill upon drill Taylor Hoagland is five for seven in practice), the Longhorns are on in stolen base attempts this season track to break their 2009 total of 74 and is learning what it takes to be stolen bases this season. a successful base runner. ELLIS: One-handed backhand improves From page 7 it every time she needs it.Ó Ironically, Fendick-McCain uti¥DonÕt let this petite Califor-lizes the same tricky swing in But it didnÕt just sprout out of nia girl fool you. Her one-hand-her game, as well. The two have nowhere Ñ she has always had ed backhand, one of the most rec-developed an excellent rapport. the determination and willpower ognizable parts of her game, is a ÒAeriel is really fun to work to thrive in her sport. As she grew force to be reckoned with. with. She tries to give her best up, being the best became her ul-ÒTo be honest, when I was all the time. SheÕs extremely tal¥timate goal. younger, I hated it. It is such a ented and a smart tennis play¥ÒMy parents played, and I re-hard shot to hit, and no one else er,Ó Fendick-McCain said. ÒTo ally look up to my brother,Ó Ellis really used it. I kind of looked at work with someone whoÕs such said. ÒHe started playing, and I it as a disadvantage,Ó Ellis said. a good person and so talented always felt like anything he could ÒBut, my complaints didnÕt stop makes it such a pleasure to come do I could do better, so I began my dad from working with me to work every day.Ó playing, too.Ó on it, and it has paid off in the Only time can tell what fur- Growing up in a family of ten-end. It still gets frustrating to-ther successes Ellis is capable of nis players had its advantages for day, though. People say it looks achieving in her tennis career. a young Ellis. Her game quickly like IÕm not even trying, which ÒIÕm only a freshman,Ó she evolved thanks to playing against is not true at all. But, apparent-said. ÒAnything I can accom¥older opponents. She began play-ly it looks pretty, which is good plish is great, and honestly, I am ing tournaments at 7 years old. to hear.Ó happy with whatever happens.Ó ÒThe TV was always on tennis, Thursday, March 11, 2010 LIFE&ARTS Thrift stores offer unique items for home decor EditorÕs Note: This is the second rabbit hole. the reason for her interest in interi-hand stores. ple can feel overwhelmed by the spongeonline.com, apartementther¥in a three-part series highlighting UT In the entrance, a classic straw or design Ñ one of many areas of ÒI enjoy hunting for the treasure process of decorating, Schmal-apy.com and decor8blog.com. One studentsÕ creatively designed apart-hat with a black-ribbon brim is aesthetic art she loves. among the trash,Ó she said. ÒGive bach said to find an anchor piece day, she hopes to be featured on ments, dorms and houses. used as a table lamp alongside a Even though me a pile of junk, such as a bold couch or table and these sites. By Layne Lynch mid-century red chair. An abstract Schmalbach and let me search. build from there, but to remember Schmalbach said not to buy Daily Texan Staff Italian painting of women with works at Anthro-If you want some-that what makes a home a home is too many things from Anthro-Furious cleaning, organizing color-blotched cloaks hangs on pologie, she isnÕt thing and you look the details. pologie and and redecorating often lead peo-another wall above a buffet with getting most of hard enough, you To create a nostalgic, comfort-IKEA for de¥ ÔÔ ple to fill their cars with boxes of outdated clothing, displaced household items and even the occasional sofa Ñ all in a mis¥sion to unload their belongings onto local thrift shops. One stu¥dent is particularly appreciative of a bowl of cork screws, corks and two tall, empty bottles. The book¥shelf houses a picture of Schmal¥bachÕs grandmother sunbath¥ing, two brass duck-head book¥ends and what looks to be hun¥dreds upon hundreds of books. her home decor at the store. On the contrary, she uses her spare time to browse through local thrift shops. I enjoy hunting for the treasure among the trash.Ó Ñ Heidi Schmalbach Urban planning will find it.Ó For students try¥ing to decorate their residences, Schmal¥bach suggests us¥ing items such as a vintage containers, ing home environment, Schmal¥bach uses pictures of her grand¥parents in their youth; more than 30 paintings and prints from local artists, famous artists and friends; and antique lamps and oth¥er knickknacks she has acquired cor, howev¥er, because your home could lose its nov¥elty and originality. these people. Heidi SchmalbachÕs home is By using mustard yellow and acid green as her color pallet, Schmal- She has deco¥rated her home graduate student old wine boxes and canisters that can throughout her life. She also advises people to look ÒI think that us¥ing your own creativity and tak¥ painted blue and features a dark¥ bach has perfected the art of using items serve a dual pur¥ at storeroom displays at Anthro¥ ing a piece of fabric or furniture blue door, an unusual motif but home decorating. found mostly in pose Ñ as decora¥ pologie and IKEA, designer blogs and painting over it, covering it not out of the ordinary for Aus- Schmalbach, an urban planning thrift shops and tion and as storage and designer books to find inspi¥ or making something complete¥ tin. But stepping through the graduate student, cites an early said that 99 percent of what any¥ for books and other necessities. ration for decorating. Schmal¥ ly new out of it is all the more front door is like falling down the exposure to art by her parents as one needs can be found in second- Understanding that some peo¥ bach uses the Web sites design¥ creative,Ó she said. Photos by Shannon Kintner | Daily Texan Staff Above, Heidi Schmalbach searched through thrift stores in Austin and other cities to create the vintage-inspired and homey feel of her homeÕs dining area. Right, The matching color of the pillow and the painted living-room wall, in addition to the accenting paint and vintage fabric, bring the room together. Schmalbach suggests viewing storeroom displays at IKEA or Anthropologie for inspiration. THE DAILY TEXAN ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. In the event of errors made in advertisement, notice must be given by 10 am the Þrst day of publication, as the pub¥lishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect insertion. 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Age 18+. 800-965-6520 ext 113 COMICS Thursday, March 11, 2010 YesterdayÕs solution Thursday, March 11, 2010 LIFE&ARTS ON THE WEB: Check out interviews with Sleigh Bells and the Young Mammals @ dailytexanonline.com Fan takes indie music to Mexico By Mary Lingwall Daily Texan Staff Todd Patrick has become a household name in the indie scene in New York City. PatrickÕs week¥ly free ÒShowpaperÓ list of indie, DIY, all-ages and free shows is a hub for indie fans throughout the thriving city, but this UT alum and Dallas native hasnÕt forgotten about his Texas roots. For the past five years, PatrickÕs grassroots promotional company, ÒTodd P,Ó has curated and pro¥moted a series of free shows and parties at Ms. BeaÕs on East Sixth Street and at a series of other hous¥es throughout Austin. This year, Patrick plans on expanding his DIY enthusiasm across the bor¥der with the first MtyMx festival Ñ which he hopes will become an annual event Ñ in Monterrey, Mexico during the last weekend of South by Southwest, March 20¥ 22. He has collaborated with Yo Garage to put the event together. Patrick has had a love/hate re¥lationship with SXSW. With his fervor for all-ages shows featuring cutting-edge indie rock, the corpo¥rately funded entity of SXSW has been increasingly antagonistic to¥ward his provisions of free music. ÒSXSW has already tried to mess with us,Ó Patrick said. ÒBut luckily, we already have all of our permits, and there is nothing much they can do. But I wouldnÕt put much past those guys because they have the ear of the city gov¥ernment. [And] honestly, the peo¥ple who built SXSW built it up from nothing, and I can respect that. But with that said, I donÕt particularly care for the kind of show that they put on.Ó Underfunded and underage music fans are largely ignored by official SXSW events, since an all¥access platinum badge can cost up to $1,225 and the film badge, the cheapest of all the badges, can cost up to $475. Patrick said that discrepancy loses sight of what makes rock ÔnÕ roll great. ÒRock music is one of the only art forms left that goes from the bottom up, and thatÕs why itÕs im¥portant that people arenÕt exclud¥ed from it,Ó he said. But the people excluded from music events such as SXSW arenÕt just underage Americans. For many Mexican artists, U.S. travel restrictions keep them from tour¥ing the U.S., thereby interfering with the bandsÕ chances of play¥ing with similar American artists or garnering any attention from a potential U.S. fan base. While the goals of the MtyMx festival are focused on provid¥ing cutting-edge indie music to a Monterrey audience, PatrickÕs pro¥motional activity has highlighted another meaningful objective: to debunk the myth that Mexico is a dangerous place. ÒIÕve spent a lot of time in Mex¥ico, and let me tell you, all of [the stereotypes] that the media gives Americans about Mexico is just fear-mongering, and I aim to prove all of it wrong,Ó Patrick said. ÒDo I expect huge amounts of people to follow me along? No. And I donÕt really care. What will really prove my point is not if a bunch of smart people understand me and come with me, though that would be great. But whatÕll really prove the point is when they see in pictures 2,000 hipsters who happen to speak Spanish. That, in itself, ne¥gates the caricature that we have WHAT: MtyMx All Ages Festival of Arts and Music WHERE: Monterrey, Mexico WHEN: March 20-22 WEB: toddpnyc.com/mtymx TICKETS: $30 for a 3-day pass. of Mexico as some Third World, Stone Age society.Ó Suspicions may surround Pat¥rickÕs timing of his MtyMx festival and his open dissatisfaction with the current state of SXSW. But in reality, the festivalÕs timing was more about the logistics of getting a solid group of indie bands down to Mexico via buses in a timely manner. Austin just happens to be a great launching point. ÒThere are a lot of people who donÕt particularly like SXSW and the way itÕs operated,Ó Patrick said. ÒBut, MtyMx is by no means meant to be that alternative on any level. I would never say that. It is much smaller and much more homegrown.Ó COMPANY: Co-founderÕs enthusiasm keeps spirits up From page 12 ÒThis says so much of his sense of humor, his lightness when deal¥ing with nervousness,Ó Kelly said of the videos, which were a way of practicing a speech for a tech con¥ference. ÒThis video shows that he is a determined guy. He will prac¥tice things over and over.Ó Born in New Delhi to doctors Ñ his father a gastroenterologist, his mother a pathologist Ñ Bansal moved to England and then to New York, where his parents still reside. He attended Columbia Uni¥versity for his undergraduate ed¥ucation and moved to Austin five years ago to attend graduate school at UT. Between spurts of quick conver¥sation, he sips his Earl Grey tea, his fatherÕs drink of choice, with cream. Every other hand movement is a tug at his dark, shaggy hair, either out of habit or stress. Bansal said he is hedging his bets balancing a physics doctoral degree and working with an innovative start-up company, but his Ph.D. ad¥viser and physics professor, Mike Marder, sees imaginative potential. ÒWhat UT-Austin does, at its best, is to attract some of the most creative minds in the world to Aus¥tin and turn them loose in fields [ranging] from music to informa¥tion technology. Dhruv is a great ex¥ample of that sort of creative spirit,Ó Marder says. ÒHe is pursuing fun¥damental knowledge and work¥ing as an entrepreneur at the same time. He also is a terrific communi¥cator, has a fine sense of humor and likes bringing people together to work on problems.Ó After a long conversation full of technological jargon, Bansal moves on to talking about his quirks and interests, including his Burning Man-style house known as ÒThe Pink Palace,Ó where famous Aus¥tinites like Janis Joplin have lived and which won Austin ChronicleÕs award for best house. He also com¥ments on obsessive hand washing, playing squash, playing jazz pia¥no and his girlfriend Shruti Saran, whom he gushes about in a way that seems true and not annoying. ÒCan you write this down? I will get so many brownie points,Ó he said, adding in a breathy voice and trailing off. ÒIf it werenÕt for her, I wouldnÕt be able to ... [laughs]Ó As the interview comes to a close, there is a brief downpour of rain and Bansal notices that his si¥nuses immediately clear up. This somehow reminds him of an ad¥ditional quirk, or ÒdisabilityÓ as he calls it Ñ constant yet unconscious whistling and singing. Maybe this ÒdisabilityÓ is just an¥other side effect of his hectic and quirky life, maybe not. Either way, Bansal has fervor for every task he completes and every word he says, a characteristic he recognizes in himself. ÒI sing badly, very badly,Ó he said. ÒBut I guess I sing enthusias¥tically, which I suppose is the only way to sing. Right?Ó TITUS: New Jersey group gears up for national tour From page 12 With each contextual flourish and every lyrical catharsis of Stick¥lesÕ vocal arrangements, Titus An¥dronicus remains grounded in a fast and tight rhythm section that main¥tains and strengthens the albumÕs punk spirit. Even when the lyrical aesthetics begin to incorporate typi¥cally non-punk tones of Americana, the foundational punk spirit is nev¥er hard to find. ÒWe mustnÕt get too attached to any one particular thing as far as the [musical genres] that we like,Ó Stickles said. ÒAnd that [sound] came about a lot, because since we made that first record, I really fell in love with the band The Spider Bags Ñ the greatest band in the world ... Because Spider Bags are very punk themselves, but theyÕre never afraid to try and indulge their love of pret¥tiness or sensitivity or anything like that ... They have definitely brought us to a hilltop, so to speak.Ó And from this hilltop, Stickles screams. The emotional rawness of his voice and the self-deprecat¥ing, dark humor of his lyrics lends an unmistakably distinct sound to Titus Andronicus. But The Monitor also explores a more carefree side of SticklesÕ musings, as evidenced in ÒTheme Song from Cheers,Ó with its main aesthetic being screaming drunks. In short, the variation on The Monitor is a refreshingly mature step in TitusÕ evolution as a band. ÒI kind of just feel that it is best to just follow the muse, wherever it may lead,Ó Stickles said. ÒAnd just try and keep it real. As Daniel John¥ston once said, ÔItÕs better off my chest than out of my mind.ÕÓ Early critical acclaim for TitusÕ The Monitor coupled with a recent snowballing of popular interest Ñ the band recently sold out the Bow¥ery Ballroom in Brooklyn, New York Ñ have set this XL recording artist up for an eventful SXSW stint here in Austin and, potentially, an even more eventful national tour in the following weeks. ÒEven though [the attention feels] great, there is still a lot of work to be done. This is a big country,Ó Stickles said. ÒSo, maybe I can tell you at the end of this tour how many civilians we actually got in touch with.Ó BSS: Side projects keep band busy From page 12 Social Scene album has been re¥leased, at least in name Ñ did it take long to record because every¥body had so many other things go¥ing on? BC: In the grand scheme of things, it was just because we toured for the self-titled [album] until the end of 2006, and Kev¥in was well on the way with the Spirit If record. And then, I had just started recording. In the fall of Õ08, we were touring for my re¥cord, as well. Lots of rehearsing and recording. So, actually, five years seems like a short time in the grand scheme, especially with An¥drew [Whiteman] with his band Apostle of Hustle and Charles [Spearin] with [his album] The Happiness Project. DT: Yeah, and I heard a rumor that Amy Millan [of Stars], Les¥lie [of Feist] and Emily Haines [of Metric] all recorded a track to¥gether, which is kind of unexpect¥ed, seeing as how theyÕre former bandmates. BC: Well, we all kind of started together in Broken Social Scene, and itÕs always been ground-zero as far as how we all got together. We are the band where everyone had everything together. I think we just wanted to include every¥one again, like old times. ON THE WEB: Read the complete interviews with Titus Andronicus and Broken Social Scene @ dailytexanonline.com Courtesy of Norman Wong Broken Social Scene has had 24 members in various lineups since its inception, giving way to many solo projects, including Metric and Feist. BandÕs members come in and out; style stays same Touring, collaborations are on list of things to do for Broken Social Scene By Francisco Marin Daily Texan Staff It has been nearly five years since the Toronto supergroup Broken So¥cial Scene has released an album Ñ in name, at least. Between 2005Õs self-titled album and the present, theyÕve released two semi-solo al¥bums focusing on two band mem¥bers, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. TheyÕve also scored four separate films, chief among them, 2006Õs ÒHalf Nelson.Ó But mostly, theyÕve toured Ñ a lot. Fortunately for diehard Bro¥ken Social Scene fans, the groupÕs fourth studio album, Forgiveness Rock Record, will be released May 4, and the first track on the album is available as a free download on the bandÕs Web site. And, there have been many more side projects and solo work released by bandmates. ItÕs important to keep in mind that 24 members constitute the bandÕs past and present lineup, and many of them have gone on to lead suc¥cessful projects including Met¥ric, Feist, Do Make Say Think and Stars. WHAT: Broken Social Scene WHERE/WHEN: StubbÕs BBQ: Thursday, March 18 at 12:45 a.m. The Parish: Friday, March 19 at midnight WRISTBAND?: Yes, for both. In preparation for the bandÕs SXSW appearances next week, The Daily Texan spoke with founding Broken Social Scene member and indie-rock veteran Brendan Can¥ning about the bandÕs upcoming tour and collaborations. The Daily Texan: Hi Brendan, how are you today? Brendan Canning: Yeah, IÕm good. You? DT: Good. Where are you speak¥ing from? BC: I am in Toronto at the mo¥ment. Rehearsing, becoming a rock ÔnÕ roll machine. DT: Ah, your hometown. Tour¥ingÕs going to start up again really soon, isnÕt it? BC: WeÕre starting this Friday, ac¥tually, in Florida. DT: ItÕs interesting that itÕs been nearly five years since a Broken BSS continues on page 11 Titus Andronicus continues to grow with Ôpunk spiritÕ Latest release employs voice-overs, quotations to contextualize content By Mary Lingwall Daily Texan Staff Donning the name of Shake¥speareÕs least popular and most critically controversial work, Titus Andronicus is a band that lives out its name in ways almost be¥yond irony. Born almost five years ago from the hearts and minds of two college freshmen, the bandÕs aesthetic has matured without losing passion. The band, which hails from Glenrock, N.J., is finally garnering some of the critical ac¥claim that its ruthless touring and emotionally intense musical con¥tent deserves. From Pitchfork to Rolling Stone magazine, critics across the coun¥try are psyched about Titus An¥dronicusÕ sophomore LP, The Mon¥itor, which was released Tuesday. And yet, national cache is still in the works for Titus Andronicus. The Monitor Ñ a concept album centered on spoken-word overtures of Civil War-era quotes Ñ is a tech¥nically tighter version of the bandÕs debut LP, The Airing of Grievances. However, the groupÕs rawness and punk spirit is still in full force. The Monitor retains the rebellious and WHAT: Pitchfork Showcase with Here We Go Magic, The Very Best WHERE: The Scoot Inn WHEN: Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m. WRISTBAND: No, free; RSVP only, ages 21+. existential spirit of Grievances with lines such as, ÒIÕm at the end of my rope, and I feel like swingingÓ; ÒYouÕll always be a loserÓ; and the albumÕs conceptual refrain, ÒThe enemy is everywhere.Ó With a concept as intense as the Civil War and album collaborators ranging from Ponytail to the Vivian Girls and a litany of literary and his¥torical allusions, The Monitor has all the ingredients to become stymied by over-intellectualism. But the product refrains from any cliches. ÒWeÕre just trying to contextual¥ize things a bit [with the historical voice-overs] to try to hammer the point home that the stuff that weÕre trying to sing about isnÕt unique to our own time and that people from the [Civil War] were going through the same things,Ó said Patrick Stick¥les, frontman for Titus Andronicus. ÒWeÕre trying to establish a cross¥generational dialogue of sorts.Ó TITUS continues on page 11 Courtesy of Titus Andronicus Titus AndronicusÕ latest LP, The Monitor, attempts to set up a cross¥generational American dialogue from the Civil War to the present. Data experts monkey around By Amber Genuske Daily Texan Staff When Dhruv Bansal arrives at Epoch on North Loop, he is sick with a cold. His hair is messy, and he is wearing a gray, hooded Assumption College sweatshirt paired with loose jeans. He immediately and enthusias¥tically offers me half of his oatmeal raisin cookie, presenting one last chance before he pokes and consequently claims it with his germy fingers. This seemingly juvenile act of cookie¥prodding is part of BansalÕs humor, a side far removed from his status as a phys¥ics doctoral student at UT and co-found¥er of the online data library, InfoChimps.org, which will be featured at the Data Cluster Meetup on Sunday during South by South¥west Interactive. Bansal met fellow physicist and Info-Chimps co-founder Flip Kromer through an adviser at UT. He was turned on to KromerÕs idea for a site where people could share, organize, buy and sell large amounts of data about Òanything and ev¥erything.Ó Business entrepreneur Joseph Kelly joined the project soon afterward, and Bansal said things started to gain mo¥mentum from there. A rough prototype of the site was launched about two years ago with an al¥pha version debuting at a tech conference in San Diego in September. Though Info-Chimps is not yet at the level of operation they would like it to reach, Bansal said the passion to create it is there. ÒWe would love to take out of business [the closed intellectual property data sites] and replace them with a more distributed mechanism in which data is being posted by individuals who are closest to it, who care the most about it,Ó Bansal said, wip¥ing the exhaustion from his eyes with the back of his hand. ÒMuch like the quality of Wikipedia, that comes from the obsessive¥ness of nerdy people, I would love to bring that same level of detail to InfoChimps, to the world of data.Ó Do a quick search on YouTube for ÒDhruv explains InfoChimps,Ó and a hand¥ful of videos appear with Bansal mak¥ing the same pitch in various scenarios. In ÒDhruv explains InfoChimps to himself in the bathroom,Ó he feigns surprise when he Festival provides gamers Author chronicles with industry interaction Austin film history By Kate Ergenbright Daily Texan Staff In ÒChainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids: 30 Years of Filmmak¥ing in Austin, Texas,Ó Alison Ma¥cor, a former film critic, chronicles the evolution of the Austin film scene, from ÒThe Texas Chain¥saw MassacreÓ to ÒSpy Kids.Ó The UT graduate Ñ who has a doctorate in radio-television-film Ñ sat down with The Daily Tex¥an to talk about her new book, interviews and the future of the Austin film scene. The Daily Texan: Where did you get the idea for ÒChainsaws, Slackers, and Spy KidsÓ? Alison Macor: Initially, I had an idea to work on a biography of Thelma Schoonmaker, Mar¥tin ScorseseÕs longtime editor. IÕd done a lot of research and had contacted her to see if sheÕd par¥ticipate, and she came back and said she was doing her own au¥tobiography. At that time, I was still covering the film scene for the Statesman and sort of had noticed a few things going on. ÒSpy KidsÓ had just come out and was doing really well, and ÒSlackerÓ was having its 10th anniversary, and it felt like Aus¥tin was at an interesting place. I wondered: WhatÕs the history of this place? DT: You conducted a lot of in¥terviews for ÒChainsaws, Slack¥ers, and Spy Kids.Ó Were these people hard to get in con¥tact with? AM: A lot of the Amanda Martin | Daily Texan Staff Left to right: Joseph Kelly, Carl Knutson, physics doctorate student Dhruv Bansal, Flip Kromer and Jacob Perkins are the brains behind InfoChimps.org, a site that allows users to share, organize, purchase and sell large amounts of data. finds a camera filming him as he steps out of the shower. He begins to explain the ease of In¥foChimps while brushing his teeth and primping before he puts on the gloves and mask of a chimpanzee suit Ñ the mascot of a site Òso simple to operate, even a chim¥panzee could do it.Ó COMPANY continues on page 11 WHAT: Data Cluster Meetup WHERE: Opal DivineÕs WHEN: Sunday at 6 p.m. WRISTBAND?: No, free; RSVP required at datacluster.infochimps.org. debuts, interactive exhibits and a local people were the verge but nev¥ laptop battle where local electron¥just really helpful. er really want¥ ic musicians go to war exchanging With the filmmak¥ ing to cross over. Òbleep-bloopsÓ rather than lyri¥ers, I had to work IÕm not quite sure cal beat-downs. You may not be around their sched¥ what keeps that drawn to this event by name rec¥ ules for sure. The tension going, but ognition of the lineup, but AMO¥people who were hard IÕve felt that working DA seeks to put on an eclectic were, like, Matthew McCo-here as a film reviewer or event that will seamlessly blend naughey. That took a year and going to SXSW every year. ItÕs the music and interactive aspects a half to get, and I never did get just a sense that itÕs probably of SXSW for a crowd of drunken to talk to Willie Nelson. I went not going to change. I could partygoers. HereÕs the bad news: through all channels Ñ his man-be wrong, but my sense is that $8 entry. ager, his publicist, his brother-in-it will always be a place that law, his best friend. Somebody stays on the verge and may Open-to-all alternatives at SXSW Interactive WHAT: ScreenBurn at SXSW Arcade WHERE: Austin Convention Center, first floor WHEN: Friday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday - Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHAT: AMODA Digital Showcase WHERE: Club de Ville WHEN: Sunday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. WHAT: Diggnation Live Show (with The Walkmen) WHERE: StubbÕs BBQ, outside WHEN: Sunday at 7 p.m. Diggnation Live Show (w/ The Walkmen) Alex Albrecht and Digg.comfound¥er Kevin Rose met a packed, uproar¥ious audience when they took their drunken, geeky WayneÕs World¥esque show to SXSW last year (epi¥sode 194 on diggnation.com). TheyÕre hoping to spill a couple more beers while inciting a nerd debate between audience members again Saturday. StubbÕs voice-mail calendar says itÕs a SXSW Interactive badge-only event, but there is enough evidence to make me believe that others will have a chance to attend. There is lit¥tle information about the event on the showÕs or the venueÕs Web site, and itÕs not directly associated with SXSW Ñ not to mention that last yearÕs show was free and open to all. So, keep an eye on the Web site as the date draws near. Alison Macor Courtesy of Alison Macor WHERE: Day Stage Cafe WRISTBAND?: Yes. DT: Do you ever think that Austin could become the next Hollywood? AM: No, I donÕt think it will. I think it will keep a lo¥cal feel. ItÕs not because I donÕt think the filmmakers are ca¥pable of making a film that would attract that much at¥tention or that much box office [revenue]. I just see a ten¥sion in Austin of kind of wanting to be on By Allistair Pinsof Daily Texan Staff South by Southwest Interac¥tiveÕs keynote speakers may not be performing at your local re¥cord store for free. But SXSW has enough free, open-to-all alterna¥tives to keep geeks happy and give any curious bystander a tem¥porary safe haven from the chaos SXSWÕs musicians and fans bring to the cityÕs streets. Whether you are hoping to land an internship at a local start-up or want design advice from the peo¥ple who make the games youÕll be addicted to this year, this is an ex¥cellent opportunity and a novelty worth seeking out. ScreenBurn at SXSW Arcade While the name may be a bit misleading, as there are few Ñ if any Ñ arcade cabinets pres¥ent, SXSW Arcade is an open-to¥all event that lets attendees min¥gle with game designers and, if theyÕre lucky, see what theyÕve been up to. Harmonix (Rock Band) and Twisted Pixel (ÔSplo¥sion Man) are among the most notable studios present, but the event offers more for those who are interested in the industry be¥hind the games and the possibil¥ity of becoming part of it. AMODA Digital Showcase AMODAÕs Digital Showcase includes a blend of international electronic performers, visual art¥ists, established performers and said to me, ÒWillie is Willie. HeÕll not hit the big time in a way INSIDE: Check out the interior design story on page 9 do it, or he wonÕt do it.Ó that some people want it to.                                      /ZZAV]ea$EWbV1]ZZSUS72 eeeZO\R[O`YbVSOb`SaQ][ 2   Fri: (5:00) 7:25, 9:40 SatÐSun: (2:30, 5:00) 7:25, 9:40 MonÐThur: 7:25, 9:40 7)..%27!2$3 ).#,5$).'% DIRECTED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW Fri: (4:15) 7:15, 10:00 SatÐSun: (1:15, 4:15) 7:15, 10:00 MonÐThur: 7:15, 10:00    Fri, MonÐThur: 7:45 SatÐSun: (2:45) 7:45    FriÐSun: (5:15) 10:10 MonÐThur: 10:10       Fri: (4:00) 7:00, 9:50 SatÐSun: (1:00, 4:00) 7:00, 9:50 MonÐThur: 7:00, 9:50        0O`UOW\AV]ebW[SaW\           ž(&'&BJ9 Healthy Vegetarian Cuisine with a Delicious Oriental Flair              !"!#    #$%!&!' ¥¥-¥ monÐfri/¥¥Ð¥ satÐsun  ($ TABLE OF CONTENTS editorÕs note Getting ready for South by Southwest can be a frustrating and overwhelming process, but with proper preparation, come festival time, all your incessant Facebook event checkups, RSVPing and late nights searching for the suddenly elu¥ sive Fader Fort party list will have been worth¥ while. We humbly offer our guidance. WeÕve previewed some (but not nearly all) concerts throughout the festival, and most of the acts are playing at least one free, unofficial show. As students, most of us are working on a next-to-nothing budget, and SXSW is one of the only times you can consume more than your fair share of great food, booze and music for free. WeÕre taking it to the next level with a comprehensive map of free-food vendors and hot-spot venues to hit up in between free¥ booze binges. Follow us on twitter (@DTWeekend) for up- SXSW 101 3 Rage on Minimum Wage 4 Music venue & food guide music 6 Piano man parties hard 7 Austin hip-hop acts combine forces 8 Join in the delirious fun of GIVERS Musical powehouses collaborate as broken bells 10 Sarah Jaffe brings heart to SXSW 11 Pop-rock band shows Austin some love 12 Singer-songwriter Meiko talks fame 13 JBM earns fans at first sight and listen 14 Quirky Tally HallÕs harmonies delight arts 15 Catch them if you can: top five SXSW films 16 Thax Douglas lives the good life dates throughout each day of the festival on where to be, where not to be and where to find the party people (aka us). WeÕll have writers slathered all over the festival, from wristband¥exclusive shows to no-cost venues, and weÕll even have someone reporting directly from the highly coveted Fader Fort every day. DonÕt be dismayed if you canÕt afford a wrist¥band, miss the RSVP deadline or, even more embarrassingly, forget your fake ID when you go to pick up your well-deserved party wrist¥bands. As long as you do some minimal coor¥dination with a few friends, youÕre guaranteed to have a great time. Happy spring break. WeÕre halfway there. Love, 8 Photo by Scott Squires editor Rachel Meador associate editor Jessica Billeaud art director Shatha Hussein cover artist Giulio Yaquinto photo editor Lauren Gerson copy editor David Muto writers Tori Daughtrey Melanie Gasmen Joe Holloway Mark Lopez Layne Lynch Han Park Michele Pierini Marla Segura Caitlin Wittlif Giulio Yaquinto photographers Bobby Longoria Scott Squires Derek Stout contact us at dtweekend@gmail.com     SXSW 101 SXSW: Tips for surviving and thriving RAGE ON MINIMUM WAGE A column by Han Park & Marla Segura Are you prepared to take on South by Southwest? Are you really in it to win it? If you re¥ally want to take full advan¥tage of this time in Austin, when the city is catering to droves of international hip¥sters, you must come ready. There is no time for rest, and utility is key. You have the re¥sources, but itÕs the warrior mentality and the proper gear that separate the seasoned veterans from the inebriated partygoers who drunkenly decide to walk home to get a change of pants because they pissed themselves and end up passing out on the Capitol lawn. These things happen, so you must come correct. To do SXSW right, all you need is the knowledge.If youÕre on Facebook (face it,your mom friended you months ago), then youÕre halfway there. ItÕs easy-peazy. Get on Google and type in ÒSXSW 2010.Ó Use your resources to your advantage. Hell, weÕll even help you out a little. Step across the campus and hit up the Urban Outfit¥ters day shows. YouÕre already on your way! LetÕs focus on flexibility this week, and make sure to keep an eye out on every flyer and maintain a sense of adventure, because those rumors floating around all week always start out with a little bit of truth. Getting around Austin dur¥ing SXSW isnÕt that big of a chore. Look at it from the DIY level: If thereÕs an opportunity, take it. That cab is never going to stop for your drunk ass after last call (they got to make their money, too), so donÕt plan on getting a cab every night. You could always walk, but that PI charge isnÕt going to look pret¥ty when your friends buy up all the Busteds in Austin. In¥stead, cash in on your favors! You know you got that friend who drew the short straw at work for spring break and she owes you. Take a chance and you might get lucky. Other¥wise, walk, bike, bus, etc. Ñ itÕs all the same.WeÕre just not go¥ing to take a chance on biking back after a 12-hour drinking stint. Just saying. So this brings us to your itinerary for the week. Basical¥ly, make a group effort to get out on the street and stay on top of the buzz. If youÕre the only one interested in catch¥ing that Japanese transvestite who plays with a backing band made up of two sets of Danish CONTINUES ON PAGE 5 SXSW 2010 Music Venue Guide featured 1. EmoÕs Jr. 603 Red River St. 2. EmoÕs Annex 600 Red River St. 3. Beauty Bar 617 E. 7th St. 4. Continental Club 1315 S. Congress Ave. 5. Side Bar 602 E. 7th St. 6. Auditorium Shores 950 W. Riverside Dr. 7. Stubbs 1614 W. 5th St. 8. Buffalo Billiards 201 E. 6th St. venues 9. The Parish 214-C E. 6th Street 10.Purevolumehouse 504 Trinity St. 11. The Hideout 617 Congress Ave. 12. Alamo Drafthouse Ritz 320 E. 6th St. 13. Habana Calle 6 709 E. 6th St. 14. La Zona Rosa 612 W. 4th St. Illustration by Shatha Hussein 15. The Scoot Inn 1308 E. 4th St. Check the map to see where DT WeekendÕs featured bands are playing during SXSW. The scoop on free food at SXSW Friday 1. For those who love late¥night and carnival food, Molo¥tov (719 W. Sixth St.) will have free funnel cake from 8:30 p.m. until 1 a.m. RSVP now. http:// sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. March 12-20 2. PureVolume House (504 Trinity St.) will host one of the rare free food events that will last all week long. Free tacos from Taco Bell will be served for the entirety of the festival. RSVP at http://sxswfreenoms. tumblr.com. Saturday 3. From 6 p.m. until 3 a.m., Shangri-La (1016 E. Sixth St.) will be serving free beer and barbecue. RSVP at http://sx¥swfreenoms.tumblr.com. Sunday 4. Free breakfasts are a rari¥ty during SXSW. Luckily, a free brunch will be served starting at 10 a.m. at the Adobe Day Stage (500 E. Cesar Chavez St.). RSVP to the Facebook event. 5. For the nighttime, stop at the ÒLate Night with Cheez¥burgerÓ event to eat as many burgers as you can at Cedar Door (201 Brazos St.) from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. The first 250 arrivals will receive a drink ticket for a margarita. RSVP at http://sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. Monday 6. From 4 p.m. until 9 p.m., Kung Fu Saloon (510 Rio Grande St.) will serve free beer and hot dogs provided by Man CONTINUES ON PAGE 5 SXSW 101 More free grub spots Bites Dog. RSVP at http://sx¥swfreenoms.tumblr.com. Tuesday, March 17 7. Stop by PeckerheadÕs (402 E. Sixth St.) from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. to pick up some local Sweet Leaf Tea and ever¥popular late-night tacos from Taco Cabana. RSVP at http:// sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. Wednesday, March 18 8. Stop by the ÒCovert Curi¥osityÓ and ÒSonic Itch MusicÕs Eastside Get DownÓ Party at TheIndependent(501Studios) from noon to 6 p.m. to pick up some free Salvation Pizza and Lone Star Beer. RSVP at http:// sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. 9. French music artists, in¥cluding Uffie, will be at the ÒFrance Rocks Austin PartyÓ from noon until 6 p.m. at Klub Krucial (614 E. Sixth St.). You can pick up free food, cham¥pagne and beer. RSVP at http:// sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. Thursday, March 19 10. The Parish (214-C E. Sixth St.) will be serving free Mexican food while hosting The SXSW Music Stimulus Party at noon. RSVP at http:// sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. 11.For those who have grown tired of pizza, beer and tacos, Meteor Records, (419 Colorado St.) will have sushi from AustinÕs popular Kenichi. RSVP is required Ñ e-mail as¥sist@luckmedia.com. Friday, March 20 12. Soho Lounge (217 E. Sixth St.) will be serving free cocktails and a variety of vegetarian op¥tions from noon until 5:30 p.m. RSVPisrequiredÑe-mailRSVP@ mpressrecords.com. 13. Free ice cream and juice from The Daily Juice will be served at the Galaxy RoomÕs (508 E. Sixth St.) The Brooklyn Vegan and M for MontrealÕs Official SXSW Daytime Party, which will last from noon until 6 p.m. RSVP at http://sx¥swfreenoms.tumblr.com. Ice Cream Man will be serv¥ing free ice cream throughout the week. No location has been specified, so just keep your eyes peeled. RSVP at http://sxswfreenoms.tumblr.com. Ñ Layne Lynch RAGE: Festival street smarts FROM PAGE 3 twins (that sounds awesome), then consider your options. You could split with your group and go alone, planning to meet them up later, put¥ting up the rest of the night to the fates and cell phone net¥works hoping that there isnÕt a blackout in the area because several thousand people are texting at the same time. Or you could just skip that show and go with your group to the next party, potentially miss¥ing the best show of the en¥tire festival. The best possible advice we have to offer you is to stay flexible and keep your options open. WeÕre all hitting up SXSW for the same reasons Ñ aka booze, bands and booty Ñ so rigidly going by your itinerary will definitely lead to some problems. The free parties arenÕt secret by any means, and youÕre essen¥tially competing with ev¥eryone else for entry. Side note: Keep track of where you RSVPÕd, because you want to avoid causing a scene while your friends are hoisting you into some tiny window because you donÕt want to risk not being on the list. ThereÕs too many things going on to be able to do everything, so donÕt sweat it. Just keep this in mind: If youÕre having fun, no matter where you are during SXSW, youÕre doing it right. Trust us, South Padre is sleezy, and hanging with Goofy at Disney World is fun. But SXSW reigns supreme if youÕre in Texas. ItÕs spring break and youÕre in col¥lege! Look forward to letting go of your inhibitions for a week while still being able to wake up in your own bed (no shame). Maybe a few emer¥gency phone calls will have to be made when you wake up in a stupor and get on the wrong bus and have to give your friend directions how to find you based on build¥ing colors and street signs because youÕre in that haze between drunk and hungover. Our collaborative past SXSW experiences are somewhat hard to recount, but our best advice is to just go with the flow. Roll with the punches, even if that means checking your humility at the door. Yes, youÕre going to have to choose between some shows you re¥ally want to see and some parties you know you have to go to, but itÕs going to be great either way. Just follow the music. Piano man parties hard Andrew W.K. talks music and marriage By Michele Pierini As your brain interprets the name Andrew W.K., it likely associates a couple of other words with it: party and hard. In June, W.K. and his band will tour the country for the first time in six years in sup¥port of his new album, which drops March 23. The release actually includes two different compilations: One, Close Calls with Brick Walls, was previously only sold in Asia, and the oth¥er, Mother of Mankind, consists of rare and previously unre¥leased recordings. Both are clearly Andrew W.K. with his signature piano-driven heavy power ballads, but the process behind making the music was significantly different. ÒThis album was the first time that I opened up my pro¥cess to recording in different ways than I had in the past,Ó W.K. said.ÒThe whole idea was going against my old ways of working and going against my old instincts and trying to challenge myself and doing the opposite of what I would have done in the past.Ó But W.K., who likes to gener¥ate the fun about as much as he likes participating in the fun, just wanted to make some more songs that are fun to listen to. In 2008, not only did he marry per¥former Cherie Lily, but he also founded Santos Party House, a dance hall and club, located be¥tween Tribeca and Chinatown in New York City. Ò[Getting married] was amaz¥ing. It was the most exciting day of my life so far,Ó W.K. said. ÒIt was real, real life-changing.Ó Before W.K. was the man that we know him as today, he was a high school senior apply¥ing to college. He was accepted by the Chicago Institute of Art and was excited to attend. ÒI realized that I just worked so hard to get out of high school that now I had time to do the things I really wanted to do: pursue my work in performing and entertainment,Ó he said. W.K.Õs was introduced to mu¥sic at an early age. His moth¥er encouraged him and his younger brother, Jake, to chal¥lenge themselves. He took his first piano lesson at the age of 4 1/2, and he continued for 10 years, studying piano through high school and experiment¥ing on his own. W.K.Õs profession has provid¥ed him with access to various areas of artistic expression. ÒIt allows you to do all the what: ANDREW W.K. where: BUFFALO BILLIARDÕS when: WEDNESDAY AT MIDNIGHT other things Ñ not just play songs Ñ but thereÕs perfor¥mance, you get to work with visual elements, visual design, graphic design,clothing design,Ó he said.ÒAnd then of course you get to record, and play music, work on videos, anything that you ever want to do.Ó W.K. said he finds content¥ment in sharing his art with the public. ÒThe thing I love about en¥ tertainment is that youÕre reaching out to the whole world,Ó W.K. said. Though he enjoys art as a medium, W.K. said he views artwork hanging in galleries that reaches a small audience as limiting. ÒI want the artwork that I do to be alive,Ó he said.     PPD conducts medically supervised research studies to help evaluate new investigational medications. PPD has been conducting research studies in Austin for more than 20 years. Right now, PPD is looking for healthy and non-smoking women ages 18 to 40 to participate in a medical research study. The study will require the participants to have a BMI between 19 and 30 and weigh between 110 and 220 lbs. The study will require 2 weekends in our overnight research facility and multiple brief outpatient visits. Study participants will receive up to $4000 upon study completion.        462-0492 ppdi.com PPD MUSIC Austin hip-hop acts combine forces Soulful to political, showcase has it all By Giulio Yaquinto When the topic of Texas hip-hop arises, itÕs easy to fo¥cus on Dallas or Houston and forget about Austin. Rap-A-Lot Records and rapper Scarface put HoustonÕs name on the map 20 years ago, and recently Dallas has been making news with a steady string of club bangers. Austin, on the other hand Ñ despite the amount of talent here Ñ seems to have been passed over. Enter The League of Extraor¥dinary Gz, a hip-hop super group formed by local acts Southbound, Dred Skott, C.O.D, and producer Matt Schad that who will be performing Wednesday at La Zona RosaÕs Texas hip-hop show. Individu¥ally, everyone brings different elements to the table, and itÕs this diversity that makes The League so exciting. The second you try and pigeonhole them into a singular category, they offer you something totally different. If anyone in Austin deserves to finally be recog¥nized, itÕs these guys. Southbound, composed of twin brothers Sandman and Lowkey, has been wrecking Austin for a while. The first time I saw them at the Same Photo by Bobby Longoria Austin DJ Matt Schad will be performing with his group The League of Extraordinary Gz at La Zona Rosa on Wednesday as part of the SXSW: Best in Texas Showcase. Struggle Blue Theater Party in hand, has a more soulful sound 2007, I was amazed. IÕd never permeated by socio-politcal heard of these guys before, awareness. Rapper Esbe Da and the level of lyricism they 6th St. Bully has ferocious brought was unreal. I was a flow that I can only compare fan after the first song. to some of the material from Dred Skott, on the other Goodie MobÕs 1995 release Soul Food, while producer/rapper Reggie often uses a warm sing¥ing voice on hooks to keep the tracks sounding smooth. Even outside of Texas, there arenÕt very many groups that can compete with their diversity. what:BEST IN TEXAS HIP- HOP SHOWCASE where:LA ZONA ROSA when: MARCH 17 AT 8 P.M. Then thereÕs C.O.D. ItÕs prob¥ably easy to write these guys off as street dudes, but youÕd be making a huge mistake. The first time I saw them perform was at an otherwise forgettable Killer Mike show in 2008 at The Par¥ish. They brought so much en¥ergy and presence to the stage that I had more fun watching their set than Killer Mike. Lastly is producer Schad. Several sentences simply arenÕt enough to do this guyÕs music justice. Every time I hear one his beat CDs, itÕs as if someone is throwing me into a magical place where early Õ90s hip-hop still reigns su¥preme. His ear for samples is ridiculous, and his beats will make you press replay again and again. So do yourself a favor: Go to the show. Along with some of TexasÕ other best hip-hop acts, The League will be out in force, wrecking shop. Be one of those people who years from now will say, ÒI saw the group that put Austin on the hip-hop map in their early daysÓ.                    !   "! #  ! "  #   !!      &'  '  &( +#$%''     & &'   % #) # * & +&" ! )))) #$ % Emerging indie-pop band gives it all Join in the delirious fun of GIVERS By Jessica Billeaud These days, bands come and go quicker than you can remember their names, often dropping off the scene before their sound can fully come into fruition. But then there are those bands that make an indelible impression Ñ bands whose infectious energy ele¥vates a performance to some¥thing somewhat magical. WhatÕs even more impressive is when said band only has one year under its hip belt. GIVERS, hailing from South¥west Louisiana, have made a significant splash in the mu¥sic industry since their recent debut. Their dynamic mix of sounds and structure left a wake of enthusiasm by new¥comers and critics alike dur¥ing their fall tour with Dirty Projectors. Bright-eyed and bushy¥tailed, these five skilled in¥strumentalists pour ecstatic energy into their live perfor¥mances, creating a feel-good vibe that can turn even the most stoic of crowds into gid¥dy, dancing fools. Simply put, GIVERS creates smiles that canÕt be wiped off, especially when all five chant Òup, up, up!Ó in a frenzy of heavy guitar riffs, ball-busting percussion and electronic goodies. ÒThis is the dream team IÕve always wanted,Ó Tif Lamson, the glittered yet down-to¥earth lead singer and back¥up percussionist, said before the bandÕs show at EmoÕs last month. ÒYour dreams are nev¥er too big.Ó Each song off their self-titled EP is like a musical journey for the ear. GIVERS is skilled at melding together calypso, afro-pop, hard rock and even Zydeco elements, all polished with a smooth, indie-pop feel. Their sound airs perfectly on the side of whimsy with the harmony of guitarist Taylor GuariscoÕs youthful voice and LamsonÕs gritty, playful vocals. Their surprise elements are tenfold, as Lamson will pound on a cowbell and then switch to a ukulele as bassist Josh LeBlanc suddenly whips out a trumpet. Backed by keyboardist Wil¥liam Henderson and lively percussionist Kirby Campbell, the departure from your regu¥lar indie band is held in the art of how they mix their sounds, each song bringing to mind a unique painting of perfectly blended colors. Music is cer¥tainly brighter and bolder with GIVERS, as evidenced by the bouncing bodies in the au¥dience. GIVERSÕ edge can be traced to the roots of the bandÕs cul¥ture, having grown up in the rich atmosphere of Cajun mu-sic.ÒThe jovial,celebratory sort of approach is translated in Zydeco music as pure dance. And itÕs an awesome thing when bands can mix that with more Ñ I guess you could say Ñ art music,Ó Guarisco says. ÒMixing the listening experi¥ence with the full celebratory dance experience.Ó But despite being one of South by SouthwestÕs buzz bands, GIVERS remains hum¥ble, even surprised, by the warm welcome theyÕve re¥ceived by fans. As for what itÕs what: GIVERS where: GALAXY ROOM when: MARCH 17 AT 12:30 P.M. where: EMOÕS ANNEX when: MARCH 18 AT 5 P.M. where: SIDE BAR when: MARCH 19 AT 1:30 P.M. where: THE CONTINENTAL CLUB when: MARCH 19 AT 4 P.M. where: BEAUTY BAR when: MARCH 19 AT 12:15 A.M. like for such a young band that seems to be riding waves of success that will only get big¥ger, Guarisco offers an analogy that hints at what to expect from each of the bandÕs five performances during SXSW. ÒItÕs kind of like having a re¥ally crazy dream, and youÕre telling different people every night. YouÕre really excited to tell them this dream, and ev¥erybody responds differently,Ó he says, giggling throughout his explanation. ÒSome people get really serious, and theyÕre like Ôwhoa,Õ and theyÕre analyz¥ing it. And then some people just look at you like Ôyeah!Õ and laugh and say, ÔThat dream is funny.Õ And some people are like, ÔUm, thatÕs really weird.ÕÓ No matter how youÕll react to this crazy dream of GIV-ERS, their heads are certainly not in the clouds but rather grounded solidly in rich new music. You should hear this fun, colorful dream before it explodes. Musical powerhouses collaborate as Broken Bells By Mark Lopez But Burton and Mercer have some of the sounds that made they both shared similar mu¥ what: BROKEN BELLS While it may suffice to say created something so ex-The Shins a household name, sical tastes, the pair started to where: STUBBÕS that the birth of creative ge-tremely melodic that touches meaning that this creative converse and record in secret, when: MARCH 17 AT 11 P.M. nius has stemmed from re-on so many psychedelic and team has taken its inspira-until they finally announced nowned producer Brian Bur-formative styles that any lis-tion from not only other psy-that their secret meetings had where: LUSTRE PEARL BAR ton, aka Danger Mouse, and tener could find something chedelic influences, but from spawned a new single, ÒThe when: MARCH 19 AT 11:15 P .M. singer/guitarist James Mercer worthy. each other. High Road.Ó of The Shins, it might also The pet name for this duoÕs Burton, who has worked Their debut album, aptly ti¥seem contrived to assume project is Broken Bells. Yes, I with a diverse group of musi-tled Broken Bells, is available on piano to drive the vocals and that their sounds have molded thought that was ironic, too. cians,including Beck,Gorillaz, their MySpace page.They defi-production to a place where to befit a brain child of cosmic The band is reminiscent MF DOOM and The Black Keys, nitely play on spacial quali-even outer space has trouble musical wonder. of Beck while also homing in met Mercer in 2004. Realizing ties, using percussion and reaching them. Soulful songstress tours the world, yet calls Texas home Sarah Jaffe brings heart to SXSW By Caitlin Wittlif Denton native Sarah Jaffe is on the move. She just finished a tour of Europe opening for fellow Denton indies Midlake and is now on tour opening for Norah Jones. Her debut full-length album, Suburban Nature, will drop digitally on April 6 and hits stores May 18, and she intends to continue touring through the year in support of it. Despite all the traveling, Jaffe is still happy to call Texas home. ÒFor me itÕs a good point.I can move around and come back and always feel welcome,ÓJaffe says of Denton. ÒIÕve thought about living other places, but at this point IÕm totally com¥fortable where I am and com¥pletely inspired by the people there and the music scene. For now, Denton is home.Ó In Denton and all over the world, Jaffe is earning fans with songs that are at times heartbreaking and at oth¥ers smirk-worthy tongue-in¥cheek. All feature the singer/ songwriterÕs rich, raw, power¥ful voice, punching through to the heart of the matter. JaffeÕs biggest goal with Sub¥urban Nature was to unblock her brain. ÒI have a hard time writing if things arenÕt really progressing,Ó she says. ÒIt was like I couldnÕt really mentally move on.Ó Jaffe says sheÕs thankful to be performing with such well-established acts, such as Jones and Midlake. ÒThey both draw [large] crowds that are really respectful, that ac¥tually know the lyrics and listen to the instrumentation, and so itÕs been really good in that way,Ó she says. ÒBeing out on the road with Norah right now and playing these hauntingly gorgeous theatres was really amazing Ñ very historical, gorgeous places.Ó what: SARAH JAFFE where: RED EYED FLY when: MARCH 18 AT 3 P.M. where: ST. DAVIDÕS HISTORIC SOCIETY when: MARCH 18 AT 6 P.M. where: THE PALM DOOR when: MARCH 20 AT 1 P.M. where: J. BLACKÕS when: MARCH 20 AT 2 P.M. As for SXSW,Jaffe lives by an Òin the momentÓ mantra. So what is her goal for the fest? ÒI think mainly Ñ this may sound dumb Ñ but probably just to have fun. You know at the day parties, and kind of the chaos of SXSW, youÕve got to keep lighthearted about it. ThereÕs just so much going on, there canÕt be one goal. IÕm just gonna go and play with my band and do what I love the most, which is play music.Ó MUSIC 11 Pop-rock band shows Austin some love Fanfarlo talks music, sunshine By Caitlin Wittlif Fanfarlo seems to be the indie-band-that-could as of late, both because of their ability to sign with a Warner affiliate, Canvasback, while maintaining control of their art and connection with fans, and also because of their van trouble. As they toured around the world, the groupÕs members posted pictures of their rot¥ted white wagon with flat tires and a murderous trailer that tried to drag them to their doom on icy roads. Despite treacherous weather, the band has persevered, garnering press, praise and comparisons to that modestly successful group you might have heard of, Arcade Fire. The bandÕs orchestral ar¥rangements, ambitious pop¥rock opuses and sweet, war¥bled vocals find inspiration all over the place, though ac¥cording to bassist Justin Finch, not all of these influences can necessarily be picked out just by listening to the band. ÒSimon [Balthazar, lead singer] was listening to a lot of Belle and Sebastian, a lot of Sufjan Stevens and Neutral Milk Hotel, stuff like that Ñ old Modest Mouse,Ó Finch says. ÒAnd that really did creep into our sound at the time. ... Now weÕre listening to a lot more new wave. Talking Heads, a lot of ESG. The guitar style of bands like the Dirty Projectors really blow our minds, you know? We shed a member as well Ñ we created some space and Simon decided to pick up what: FANFARLO where: GALAXY ROOM when: MARCH 17 AT 10 P.M. where: THE ALE HOUSE when: MARCH 19 AT MIDNIGHT an electric guitar for our new songs.Ó The band is often asked about its literary influences as well, which Finch says are indeed present Ñ but no more than with any other band. ÒWhen the band got together, we were all kind of reading a lot of philosophy; we were all kind of reading a lot of old literature and stuff like that,Ó Finch says. ÒWe read a whole lot less than we used to Ñ the roadÕs too distracting. ThereÕs always a lot of pretty things going by the window Ñ I mean scenery, of course!Ó never really well-traveled Finch is emphatic about his when I grew up, and all of a adoration of touring, though sudden IÕve just seen amaz¥he also admits that it can make a person weary. ÒI was CONTINUES ON PAGE 14 Singer/songwriter Meiko talks fame By Melanie Gasmen MeikoÕs words mirror her songs almost perfectly. Her momentary thoughts spill without strain, her tone is softened around the edges and a slight southern twang laces it all together. Her down¥to-earth demeanor radiates, even via phone, and by the sound of it, sheÕs more than ready to jump into the South by Southwest scene for the fourth time in her career. The indie pop/folk rock sing¥er/songwriter has five shows lined up, rather than the one or two shows she originally planned. ÒThe whole point [of SXSW] is to play shows, not hang out withfriendsandgetdrunk,Óshe said jokingly, with a tone hint¥ing that she may have done the latter in previous years. Now based in Los Angeles, Meiko was born and raised in Roberta, Ga., population 808. A self-proclaimed Ògood girl,Ó she grew up listening to her father play his classic Gibson guitar while she pretended to strum along. When she was 13 years old, he taught her how to play. ÒIt was a little bond [my dad and I] had,Ó she said. ÒEvery night we would play the guitar and try to write a song.Ó Meiko cites Mariah Carey Ñ whose songs she would listen to and sing for hours Ñ as her vocal coach. And since her small town had few rec¥reational options, Meiko used songwriting as an outlet and would Òstay home like a big dork and just practice.Ó what: MEIKO where: THE PARISH when: MARCH 18 AT 10:30 When Meiko was 18 years old, she ventured with her sister, fashion designer Kelly Nishim¥oto, and her sisterÕs boyfriend to L.A. There she worked as a smoothie maker at GoldÕs Gym and became the first waitress at HollywoodÕs Hotel Cafe, a small music venue. ÒI got to work and watch amazing bands at the same time,Ó she said. The Hotel Cafe has grown into one of HollywoodÕs hot spots for talent. Before she started playing there herself, she said, her favorite act was Australian songstress Sia. She also saw artists such as Katy Perry play before their popu¥larity blew up. Meiko said the hardest part about starting up was over¥coming her shyness on stage. ÒWhether I sold a million re¥cords or even won a Grammy, the greatest accomplishment is talking to people and not feeling like they hate me,Ó she said. ÒIÕm really comfortable now, and I love that feeling.Ó Her career went into hyper mode in 2008. When playing SXSW for the second time, she caught the ear of Luke Wood of Interscope Records, who helped her nab a deal with MySpace Records. After she re-released her self-titled al¥bum, she said, the Òhigher-up peopleÓ started caring, and her fan based started growing. Los Angeles¥based singer/ songwriter Meiko is another buzz artist at SXSW, known for her unique blend of indie pop and folk rock. Photo couretsy of Meiko ÒThat was the year I was able to quit waitressing,Ó she said. That same year, she toured with Mat Kearney, performed in the Hotel Cafe tour, graced Conan OÕBrienÕs ÒLate NightÓ stage and was featured on primetime shows, like ÒGreyÕs Anatomy,Ó which she called Òthe biggest, awesomest thing that ever happened.Ó 2009 may have been busier. She played shows with Eric Hutchinson and headlined her own tour. And the 28-year-old songstress opened 2,000-to 5,000-seat venues for JewelÕs solo tour. The majority of her songs have a distinct sadness to them, such as the giving¥up-on-love ballad ÒSaid and DoneÓ and the appropriately titled ÒSaddest Song in the World.Ó But Meiko said she has changed as a person dur¥ing the span of her career and is now happier. ÒI didnÕt try to make [my music] sound a certain way,Ó she said. ÒI was struggling with everything, but now IÕm optimistic.Ó Meiko said sheÕll be sure to include happy songs on her SXSW set list, along with some new material. ÒIÕve been writing a zillion songs with a zillion different people,Ó she said. She said that after SXSW she will spend about three months recording her newest album with the goal of releas¥ing it by the end of the year. Thankfully, MeikoÕs first per¥formance is on aWednesday.If it was a day before, the ÒLostÓ fanatic would have to catch a replay online. Her favorite character is Sawyer, the south¥ern outlaw played by Josh Hol¥loway, also a Georgia native. Meiko said that before ÒLostÓ was on air, she met Holloway at a barbecue in L.A, thought he was cute and talked to him about his auditions. When she found out Hol¥loway had made it onto the show, she tuned in and Ògot sucked in.Ó As for choosing her child¥hood nickname for her artist name, Meiko, who is a quarter Japanese, said her sister gave her the name at camp and it just stuck. ÒIt just seemed like the natural thing to do,Ó she said. ÒAnd it sounded cool to me when I was a kid.Ó MUSIC 13 JBM earns fans at first sight and listen By Caitlin Wittlif Jesse Marchant is the kind of person who can make friends wherever he goes.HeÕs caring enough to ask about how youÕre doing, even if the response takes up precious minutes from his breathless touring schedule. Accordingly, as JBM, March¥ant is the kind of musician who captures fans wherever he goes. He plays in an inti¥mate, straightforward man¥ner for the real music lovers in the audience. Without miss¥ing a beat, he picks out a pret¥ty tune on the guitar he wears like an extension of himself, and by the time he sings his first lilting words, the crowd finds itself enraptured. Marchant was born a musi¥cian in Canada and took clas¥sical guitar lessons at a young age, though he didnÕt pursue life as a career musician for some time. Now, Marchant lives in New York when heÕs not on tour with indie-music staples like St. Vincent, El¥vis Perkins in Dearland and Sondre Lerche. In fact, he just embarked on a tour with Rogue Wave, randomly catch¥ing their attention after just one fateful performance. With all of this touring, youÕd imagine it would wear a person down, but Marchant seems unfazed. ÒYou know, I think you have your days where you get really tired or not in the mood to play be¥cause you may be feeling le¥ what: JBM where: ST. DAVIDÕS BETHEL HALL when: MARCH 17 AT9 P.M. thargic or whatever, but all in all I think itÕs fun,Ó Marchant says. ÒThe camaraderie of it is nice Ñ being around other people, meeting new people. On this tour, so far the high¥lights have been getting to know these new people in this band and that energy, the newness of it.Ó The constant touring has caused South by Southwest to blend into MarchantÕs hec¥tic schedule. ÒIt just feels like another show that IÕm play¥ing,Ó he says. ÒI know once I get there itÕll be different.Ó Though this will be March¥antÕs debut at the festival, he has toured Austin before and understands the importance of transportation. ÒI donÕt have a car this time, so IÕm going to have to figure out whatÕs going on with that,Ó Marchant says. Though MarchantÕs music is distinctly, delicately metic¥ulous,the man himself seems most at ease when he lets the world steer him where it will. Whether itÕs planning a tour schedule or trying to organize the chaos of SXSW, Marchant is letting the universe take control. ÒIÕm kinda just gonna roll with it. IÕm not good at making plans; I just let what happens, happen.Ó Quirky Tally HallÕs harmonies delight By Melanie Gasmen Straight from Ann Arbor, Mich., Tally Hall obviously knows how to dress to im¥press. During shows and ap¥pearances, bandmates Rob Cantor, Ross Federman, Joe Hawley,Andrew Horowitz and Zubin Sedghi sport matching dress shirts and their own specific colored tie, signifying their individuality. The University of Michigan alumni channel a sort of Beat¥les-meets-Nintendo vibe, a slight geekiness that easily at¥tracts listeners. On their site, they call themselves a Òwonky rock-and-roll band.Ó Still, their music is so multifaceted that they technically have includ¥ed different genres within their own album. Their sound is incredibly eclectic, like a carnival for your ears. From fake English accents to monk-like chants to suburban raps like Òhop in your momÕs car, back up the WindstarÓ to simple piano and guitar accompaniments, Tally Hall knows how to pro¥duce good, witty music. Though the friends formed the band back in 2002 during their time at college, I first what: TALLY HALL where: EMOÕS JR. when: MARCH 18 AT 12:15 A.M. heard Tally Hall in 2006. IÕm not sure if I first heard their pop-rock ÒTwo WuvÓ song, lyrically dedicated to the Ol¥sen twins, or if I saw their ridiculous, Caribbean-tuned ÒBanana ManÓ music video, which instantly became a YouTube viral. After a two-year album dry spell,theyÕve come armed and ready to South by Southwest Ñ where theyÕll make their third appearance Ñ with new material. Following a 2009 tour with Rooney, theyÕre put¥ting the finishing touches to their newest album, which they worked on with pro¥ducer Tony Hoffer (Beck and Depeche Mode), titled Good & Evil, set to release this year. Their newest leaked songs, like ÒThe TrapÓ and ÒWhat About You,Ó have more of a folk-rock slant to them. But they will still probably show¥case songs from MarvinÕs Marvelous Museum, their re¥released debut album from Atlantic Records. FANFARLO: Excited for SXSW, Tex-Mex FROM PAGE 11 ing things, like breathtakingly amazing things,Ó Finch says. Still, Fanfarlo are incred¥ibly thankful for the interest theyÕve received. And Finch is especially excited about South by Southwest. ÒGod, I love South by Southwest. ItÕs just incredible,Ó he says. ÒWe love it because, for starters, right now weÕre just desper¥ate for the sun. ItÕs such an awesome atmosphere down on Sixth Street, and there are so many bands to watch.Ó Apart from a few perfor¥mances, the band has excit¥ing plans for SXSW. ÒWeÕre making a movie with a guy. HeÕs a sort of video artist, and itÕs gonna be a very, very sort of abstract documentary, if you like. ItÕs not gonna be entirely real; itÕs gonna be quite fictional. ItÕs gonna be weird. IÕm not sure what to expect from it, but itÕs gonna be fun.Ó And how does the group feel about Austin? ÒItÕs one of my favorite cities in America, possibly, for me personally, my favorite city in America,Ó Finch says. ÒIÕm really into Americana, that sort of mu¥sic Ñ Tex-Mex and stuff. ItÕs got all the best things about some place like New York mi¥nus the shit things. ItÕs got the open space and the weather. ItÕs got the best of everything if you ask me.Ó Catch them if you can: Top 5 SXSW films By Tori Daughtrey ÔKick-Ass,Õ March 12 Paramount, 7 p.m., 106 minutes A top pick, this pathetically action-packed comedy will have you wiggling in your seat with laughter. A young teenager picks up a mask and dubs himself Kick-Ass. He decides to save the world, despite his complete lack of experience beyond the stack of comic books resting in his bedroom. ÔBejingTaxi,Õ March 15 G-Tech, 2:30 p.m., 78 min¥utes See the transformation of urban China through the eyes of several Beijing taxi driv¥ers: one a veteran driver, one a mother, one a young op¥timist. With preparation for the 2008 Olympics dominat¥ing the backdrop, questions challenging tradition and capitalism in rapidly chang¥ing China are encountered and answered by those who know the city best. ÔThe Myth of an AmericanSleepover,Õ March 17 G-Tech, 9:30 p.m. 97 minutes Relive your adolescent youth by accompanying Mag¥gie, Rob, Claudia and Scott as they stretch the last days of summer into memories that will last forever. Witness nos¥talgic days of first loves and parties that inevitably lead to a self-realization only found in suburban summers. ÔThe Erectionman,Õ March 18 Alamo Lamar 3, 10:15 p.m., 52 minutes Boldly armed with humor and an ever changing Ameri¥can social norm, this film documents ÒHow one little pill changed the course of sexual evolution.Ó ÔTrash Day,Õ March 20 Alamo Lamar 3, 1:15, 3 min¥utes Love lingers in the unlikeli¥est of places Ñ including in garbage. Watch as a young woman tries to seduce her garbage man by placing gifts in her trash. Based on a popu¥lar craigslist ad in Colorado. THAX: Amplifying music, engaging audiences with original poetry FROM PAGE 16 tribution to the music scene there. HeÕs written more than 2,500 band poems. He has performed for audiences of fewer than 10 and crowds thousands deep. He has writ¥ten about musicians as ob¥scure as Cavashawn and as famous as Andrew Bird and Dirty Projectors. Before he performs, Thax politely ap¥proaches a group he appreci¥ates and asks if he can read the piece heÕs written for them before they take the stage. Most oblige. Thax isnÕt starstruck. ÒWeÕve been introduced with the usual sort of an¥nouncement, but having an introduction from Thax was always much more under¥stated and awesome,Ó says Clap Your Hands Say YeahÕs Robbie Guertin.Thax has read for the indie-rock band sev¥eral times, including its Lol¥lapalooza main stage show in 2007. ÒThe crowd hushed and was totally rapt while he read,Ó adds Sean Green¥halgh of Clap Your Hands. ÒIt was such an interesting juxtaposition of oral and literary tradition in a venue normally associated with dancing, booze and stage¥diving.Ó As ThaxÕs popularity grew, so did his disenchantment with his hometown. He says the only time he received media attention was when he did something the pub¥lic disliked, including the time he moved to New York City for a few months. Or the time a friend hacked ThaxÕs Facebook page to report his death. ÒI was just a character,Ó he says. ÒI never got attention for my work.Ó Aware of ThaxÕs growing discontent in Chicago, some friends recommended Aus¥tin as a good fit for the poet. He came here in October to perform his very first gig, the Austin City Limits Music Fes¥tival, in the Live Music Capi¥tol of the World Ñ and never looked back. ÒThere are so many more great bands, and everyone knows each other,Ó Thax says. ÒEverything I thought I would miss about Chicago has been replaced by something better.Ó He wakes up around noon everyday, goes to the library to listen to music and adds his latest masterpiece to his MySpace library. Thax rec¥ognizes how close he is to homelessness. But he also thinks his role in the music world offers more satisfaction than a reliable paycheck and a mattress. ÒIÕve had jobs, and thereÕs not that great of a difference,Ó Thax says. ÒYou spend so much of your money decom¥pressing from your crappy job.Ó For now, Thax is content. His confidence is growing, as is his popularity. ÒIÕm shy, but when IÕm reading, thereÕs a sense that I belong,Ó Thax says.ÒItÕs ironic, but I really am living the good life. IÕm poor, but what I do satisfies me to the core.Ó Thax Douglas lives the good life By Rachel Meador Thax Douglas sits to the side of the abandoned out¥door stage at Mohawk on a recent Thursday night. Silent, stoic and a little hunched over, he is absorbed in writing in his notebook. His shy demeanor effectively disguises a beloved rock poet. ÒThis is my favorite place in Austin,Ó Thax says. ÒIt always has such great vibes.Ó Thax has shared the stage with some of todayÕs most popular musicians, like Animal Collective and The Flaming Lips, and thereÕs a documentary about him on YouTube. HeÕs got an ever¥expanding Wikipedia page of accomplishments and a na¥tionwide fan base. He is un¥employed and doesnÕt charge for his creations. At Mohawk, Thax introduc¥es himself to local pop-rock group, Ideal Soul Mart, striking a brief but enthusiastic part¥nership with the ON THE WEB: band heÕs Read the full listened story and see to a few more photos times on YouTube. @dailytexanonline.com With their permis¥sion, he gets to work. Seated away from the crowd, he is en¥tranced as he works, unaware of the people staring curiously. After about two minutes, he is satisfied with his creation and makes his way to the stage. ÒHello people,Ó Thax says in his monotone performance timbre. ÒThe excitement is about to begin.Ó Expressions in the crowd range from pessimistic confu¥sion to reverence. ÒIdeal Soul Mart,Ó Thax be¥gins. It is the title of his poem about a band he met only 10 minutes ago. ÒAn assortment of differ¥ent eggs, not only different from one another, but differ¥ent species, fills an egg carton sampler with a crazy quilt of species.Ó The distaste on some view¥ersÕ faces melts into smiles. The band is almost giddy. Famed underground poet calls Austin home Thax is in the zone now,car-vitingoldhomeonEastCesar possession: his ÒcheesyÓWalk¥ what: THAX INTRODUCES rying a captive audience to the Chavez Street that has been man. He canÕt remember be-BAMORHEA end of the poem. Once unsure transformed into an exhibi-ing happier. where: CENTRAL PRESBYTE¥about ThaxÕs role, the audi-tion gallery for independent ÒWhen I hear music, I get RIAN CHURCH ence now embraces his pres-artists. His longtime friend, an image,Ó Thax says. ÒNo, not when: MARCH 17 AT 7 P.M. ence as Ideal Soul Mart plays Kevin Foot, operates the stu-even an image Ñ an electrical its first song. dio where he helps Thax lead charge in my head from hear-systematic and effective. The ÒWe got started off with his modest existence. ing the band that I translate poem takes on the name of some poetry,Ó says Ideal Soul ÒHeÕs one of the most well-into words.Ó the band that inspires the MartÕs lead vocalist, Clay. spoken, witty and articulate His poetry is disjointed yet piece. Each subsequent poem ÒCourtesy of Thax. We wel-people I know,Ó Foot says. universal, descriptive yet ob-for the band earns a digit ap¥come it with open arms,ÓClay HeÕsseenThaxperformover scure.Each poem is construct-pended to the title: for exam¥says as people cheer. Some 100 times in Chicago, ThaxÕs ed in 10 minutes or less, some ple, Spoon #4. Thax does not turn around to get a look at hometown. in less than a minute. Thax edit his work. the poet, now standing in the ÒIf you close your eyes and carries a few professionally ÒThe poem is a living crea¥middle of the crowd. A strang-open your mind he can really bound copies of a compilation ture,Ó Thax says. ÒItÕs like with er reaches out to shake his paint a spot on picture,Ó Foot of his rock poetry titled ÒThe Dolly the sheep. They learned hand. says. Good Life.Ó He sells the books about cloning from her, but ÒI guess thatÕs part of why I Thax expertly dodges the for $20 a pop, which is all he they couldnÕt go in and fix her do this,Ó he says. ÒI donÕt want new installation in the gal-needs to cover his incidental problems. They just have to to creep someone out, so I lery as he makes his way to expenses. use what they learn for the donÕt start conversations. Peo-his room. Before settling down ÒWhen you make the deci-next time.Ó ple see me read, and it breaks onto his blanket on the hard-sion to be a poet, you vow to Thax became a celebrity in the ice.Ó wood floor where he sleeps, a life of poverty, if necessary,Ó Chicago for his unique con-After the set, he hitches a he pops a CD on loan from Thax says. ride to the Birdhouse, an in-the library into his one earthly His approach to poetry is CONTINUES ON PAGE 15