THE DAILY TEXAN Friday, September 9, 2011 Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900 www.dailytexanonline.com EditorÕs note: This Sunday, people across campus and the country will remember exactly what they were doing UT students ten years ago when two planes hit the Twin Towers and killedapproximately3,000Americansinaterroristattack. memorialize The Texan asked Longhorn head coach Mack Brown, CFO Kevin Hegarty, lecturer Sherri Greenberg and Journalism School Director Glenn Frankel where they friends, family were and how they reacted on Sept. 11. lost in attacks By Allie Kolechta By Jody Serrano MACK BROWN Daily Texan Staff UT football head coach Fine arts graduate student Court¥ney Sale has always had a hard time ÒWhat I remember finding the right words to speak about that day, Sept. 11, about the 9/11 attacks on the World 2001, is I was sitting in Trade Center. Nearly 10 years ago, my office watching prac¥SaleÕs brother-in-law entered the tice video and [Assistant North Tower to attend a conference Athletics Director for at the top floor of the tower. He nev-Football Operations] Ar¥er emerged. thur Johnson walked in Sunday will mark the 10th an¥and said, ÔCoach, I just niversary of the 9/11 attacks and want to make you aware the anniversary of her brother¥that a small plane has hit in-lawÕs death. After years of do¥one of the Twin Towers ing research and having conversa¥in New York.Õ tions with other families affected And my first thought was, what a tragedy for some by 9/11, Sale has finally found the airplane to have gotten off course or somebody must words to talk about her experience have had a heart attack or something to hit the Twin and will debut them in a produc-Towers. And then Arthur came back in and said, tion called Òseptember play.Ó ÔCoach, I think itÕs more than that. Another plane hit ÒFor me, a lot of the play is dia¥the Twin Towers.Õ And then I turned on the television logue I have on a daily basis with my and started watching, and from that point forward, we own family,Ó Sale said. ÒItÕs [talking] understood that we were under terrorist attack. about a personal loss thatÕs situated in My first thought was Ñ with the Bush family living public loss.Ó in Austin and one of the daughters being at the Uni¥SaleÕs play is one part of UTÕs versity of Texas Ñ what about the safety of our players? three-day 9/11 commemoration, What about the safety of their families? which will begin with a flag lowering We stopped our meetings immediately, and we in Main Mall Friday morning and a got on the phone and started calling and texting our carillon concert at noon. Students are players to make sure that they were OK, trying to get encouraged to leave notes of remem¥them to this building, trying to get them downstairs brance, individual perspectives and so that we could all put some sense into what was memories of 9/11 at the UT Tower, going on with our country. according to the UniversityÕs website. There were some scary moments because it took All notes will be collected and saved some time to communicate because so much of our in official University archives in the communication was down. It was an open date week, Dolph Briscoe Center for Ameri¥and I do remember we decided not to practice that af¥can History. FridayÕs activities will ternoon and we decided to sit and talk as a team and conclude with a 9/11 panel entitled a football family about what had happened. We talked ÒConversation 9/11: A Decade After, about the potential impact on them, their children and Looking ForwardÓ hosted by the LBJ their grandchildren. School of Public Affairs. We played Houston the next week, and every one The commemoration has been of our players carried a flag for the National Anthem. a joint effort of the Office of the And since that point, we have carried at least two flags President, Student Government, out onto the field. We try to have each of the young Office of Relationship Manage¥men that are carrying the flag onto the field have some ment and University Events. Di¥sort of affiliation with our armed forces by having a ei¥rector of University Media Rela¥ther a relative or a dear friend in the military. tions Gary Susswein said recogniz-And as you look back ten years ago, our incoming ing and commemorating 9/11 is freshmen were eight years old at that time. So weÕll go very important to the University. back through some of the changes in history over that ÒIt was an event that had a pro¥moment this afternoon with our team.Ó Jim Collins | Associated Press found impact on our nation and In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, the south tower starts to collapse as smoke billows from both buildings of the MORE REACTIONS continue on PAGE 2 World Trade Center in New York. MEMORIAL continues on PAGE 2 DOUBLE COVERAGE Iraq war veteran, UT student hopes football game provides sense of normalcy | ONLINE SUNDAY StudentsÕmemories of 9/11 bit.ly/dt_video | ON THE WEB PDF edition of our Sept. 12, 2011 edition and more dailytexanonline.com changed the [lives] of many people here at the University,Ó Susswein said. ÒWe think the events weÕre putting forward and the opportunities weÕre giving students to express their feel¥ings are an appropriate way to mark this event.Ó Student body president Natalie Butler said she remembers wak¥ing up on 9/11 to the news of the first tower being hit on the radio and talking about it in her seventh grade class. Butler said Student Government and the administra¥tion thought the tenth anniversary was particularly important to the campus and the community. ÒI hope the student body will have a chance to reflect and think about the impact 9/11 has had on all of our lives,Ó Butler said. Saturday and SundayÔs events will include a moment of silence at the Texas football game against Brigham Young University, a dark¥ened Tower and a Tower display of the American flag. Sunday will also feature the debut of SaleÕs play at Anna Hiss Gym at 8 p.m. Sale said the play would only run once a year coinciding with the com¥memoration of 9/11 and she hoped the play would compel people to en¥counter 9/11 in a different way. ÒI want the audience to leave something at the play, to remem¥ber and think about a better fu¥ture [and] to open up to each oth¥er a little more,Ó Sale said. ÒThatÕs all I ask.Ó MEANING continues from PAGE 1 back,Ó he said. ÒPart of that act of re¥construction requires a lot of imagi¥nation and so these different respons¥es through film, novels, etc. give us a chance to examine those things and compare them with our own.Ó His hope is that by looking at the event and understanding how differ¥ent communications media interact interdependently within the cultur¥al discourse that has formed in the wake of the attacks, he might be able to bring a moral and intellectual clar¥ity to 9/11. He admits that this is difficult to do, mainly because of the simplistic view of 9/11 often reinforced in news media. ItÕs a dialogue he describes as destructive rather than didactic. ÒSept. 11 so neatly maps onto real¥ly simplistic binary views of the world as being divided into good and evil,Ó Junker said. ÒThese are really kind of archetypal narrative forms and so itÕs really easy to look at this and filter it through a really kind of narrow and simplistic view of the world.Ó Though the attacks on Septem¥ber 11, 2001 are purported to be the most extensively photographed and documented events in human history, because of the role the me¥dia has come to play in shaping the reality of those events by break¥ing them down into a repetitious stream of constantly narrowing complexity, there exists an infor¥mational vacuum that Junker be¥lieves can only be filled by careful analysis of the cultural response. ÒThereÕs all kinds of these stories that weÕll never know right Ñ about the people who died in that event Ñ and so these sloganistic tributes to me are in a way inevitable,Ó Junker said. He described the current com¥memoration of the event in the me¥dia, such as Life magazineÕs anni¥versary photo book that features an overtly sentimentalized picture of a fireman clutching an American flag, as well-intentioned but largely mis¥guided. As a faculty member of the advertising and public relations de¥partments, Junker said he under¥stands the need to market, promote and eulogize sometimes. ÒBut if thatÕs all we get, we are real¥ly impoverished as a culture, as a na¥tion and as a people.Ó MUSLIM continues from PAGE 1 need to make greater efforts than that. Elshanshory said she felt the heat¥ed rhetoric calm down toward the middle of the decade, but she en¥countered negativity similar to 2001 when public debate began about the construction of a Muslim communi¥ty center near ground zero. ÒAgain politicians from the high¥est level began openly attacking the religion because Muslims wanted to build the Park 51 mosque,Ó Elshan¥shory said. ÒI felt a little dŽjˆ vu.Ó Kristen Brustad, chair of the de¥partment of Middle Eastern Studies, said the attacks of 9/11 brought out the best and the worst in Americans. She said the attacks inspired heartfelt outreach toward Muslims but also some uneducated outrage toward the Muslim community. Brustad said the Middle Eastern Studies department has seen an in¥crease of students pursuing Muslim¥related courses since 9/11. ÒThis is one of the few good things that came out of 9/11,Ó Brustad said. ÒPeople have become more globally aware. Students have been more in¥terested in the language study and the historic culture of the region.Ó Nadia Ahmad, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Communi¥ty in Round Rock, said she felt sor¥row that many Americans were in¥troduced to Islam in such a horrible way after 9/11. Ahmad said she believes a majori¥ty of the negative image of Islam has cleared out in the 10 years since 9/11, especially after the death of Osama bin Laden. ÒAll people think justice has now been served since this mass murderer has been taken out,Ó Ahmad said. ÒIn a way 9/11 has been avenged now.Ó Ahmad said it took much outreach on behalf of the Muslim community over the past 10 years to clear IslamÕs name in America. She said the Mus¥lim community in the U.S. has been dedicated to get active in the com¥munity and spread good words. ÒWe as Muslims had to defend the honor of Islam and convey this mes¥sage that condemns any bloodshed, any terrorism and values the sancti¥ty of life,Ó Ahmad said. we could to explain the situation in the context of what was clear¥ly a new reality,Ó Lunsford said. Lunsford called the Federal Aviation AdministrationÕs for¥mer associate administrator for aviation security. He said the administrationÕs retired of¥ficial had been worried about security on jetliners. Lunsford contributed fore¥sights to the article about in¥creases in passenger searches, weapon scanning improvements and tighter airport access. ÒPeople who make decisions are going to be reading what you wrote, so what we tried to do was set the agenda and make sure the debate was fo¥cused in the right direction,Ó Lunsford said. He said it was a thrill to re¥ceive the Pulitzer Prize, one of journalismÕs top honors, but never forgets the approximately 3,000 people who died that day. Before taking a job at The Wall Street Journal, Lunsford worked as a reporter at the Dallas Morning News, where a fellow aerospace reporter from the Washington Post took him under his wing. This friend and competitor, Don Phillips, covered Sept. 11 from Wash¥ington, D.C. that day. ÒIt was such a jumble,Ó Phil¥lips said. ÒIt was keeping ahead of the game as best you could.Ó Phillips said at the time, Wall Street Journal reporters didnÕt cover breaking news as much as they covered storiesÕ big pictures. ÒThe Journal was a newspa¥per that wanted to sit back and get the background,Ó Phillips said. ÒThis was so big that they had to go full tilt and thatÕs where Lynn [Lunsford] would come in handy.Ó Lunsford said his editors knew he could think on his feet and didnÕt get rattled by breaking news stories. ÒAn experienced reporter sort of goes into an out-of-body ex¥perience,Ó Phillips said. ÒSo the emotion just doesnÕt hit you.Ó Jonathan Friedland, the for¥mer LA bureau chief, said The Wall Street Journal bu¥reau chiefs around the coun¥try had to divvy up the work for the next dayÕs issue because the New York headquarters were destroyed by debris from the towers. He said it was clear Lunsford and the other avia¥tion journalists would be cen¥tral to the reporting that day. ÒHe and the rest of the team pulled out all of the stops to provide Pulitzer-level report¥ing in a day marked by con¥fusion, misinformation and in our case, the loss of our [head¥quarter] operation,Ó Friedland said. ÒI remain enormously proud of the work we collec¥tively did that day. It was spot reporting at its very best.Ó FOR WEB EXCLUSIVE STORIES VIDEOS PHOTO GALLERIES & MORE GO TO dailytexanonline.com By Ben Feller The Associated Press WASHINGTON Ñ Confronting an economy in peril, President Ba¥rack Obama unveiled a larger-than¥expected $450 billion plan Thurs¥day night to boost jobs and put cash in the pockets of dispirited Ameri¥cans, urging Republican skeptics to embrace an approach heavy on the tax cuts they traditionally love. With millions of voters watching and skeptical of Washington, Obama challenged Congress to act swiftly. The newest and boldest element of ObamaÕs plan would slash the Social Security payroll tax both for tens of millions of workers and for employers, too. For indi¥viduals, that tax has been shaved from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for this year but is to go back up again without action by Congress. Obama wants to deepen the cut to 3.1 percent for workers. ÒThis plan is the right thing to do right now,Ó Obama said after a di¥vided body rose in warm unison to greet him. ÒYou should pass it. And I intend to take that message to ev¥ery corner of this country.Ó In his televised address to Con¥gress, Obama sought to provide a jolt for the economy, still stagger¥ing on his watch, and for his own standing at one of the lowest marks of his presidency. He put forth a jobs plan that he hopes can get bi¥partisan support and spur hiring in a nation where 14 million people remain out of work. Public confi¥dence in his stewardship of the economy is eroding. Obama did not venture an esti¥mate as to how many jobs his plan would create. He promised repeat¥edly that his plan would be paid for, but never said how, pledging to re¥lease those details soon. Obama also proposed spending to fix schools and roads, hire local teachers and police and to extend un¥employment benefits. He proposed a tax credit for businesses that hire people out of work for six months or longer, plus other tax relief aimed at winning bipartisan support in a time of divided government. Under soaring expectations for results, Obama sought to put him¥self on the side of voters who he said could not care less about the politi¥cal consequences of his speech. ÒThe question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy,Ó Obama said. Human evolutionary link uncovered By Randolph E. Schmid The Associated Press WASHINGTON Ñ Two mil¥lion-year-old bones belonging to a creature with both apelike and human traits provide the clearest evidence of evolutionÕs first major step toward modern humans Ñ findings some are calling a poten¥tial game-changer. An analysis of the bones found in South Africa suggests Austral¥opithecus sediba is the most likely candidate to be the ancestor of hu¥mans, said lead researcher Lee R. Berger of the University of Witwa¥tersrand in South Africa. The fossils, belonging to a male child and an adult female, show a novel combination of features, al¥most as though nature were exper¥imenting. Some resemble pre-hu¥man creatures while others suggest the genus Homo, which includes Homo sapiens, modern people. ÒItÕs as if evolution is caught in one vital moment, a stop-action snapshot of evolution in action,Ó said Richard Potts, director of the human origins program at the Smithsonian Institution. He was not among the team, led by South African scientists, whose research was published online Thursday in the journal Science. Scientists have long considered the Australopithecus family, which includes the famous fossil Lucy, to be a primitive candidate for a hu¥man ancestor. The new research establishes a creature that com¥bines features of both groups. The newly studied bones were found in 2008 in the fossil-rich cave region of Malapa near Johan¥nesberg. BergerÕs then 9-year-old son, Matthew, found a bone that was determined to belong to the child. Two weeks later Berger un¥covered the fossils of the female. The journal published five pa¥pers detailing the findings, includ¥ing separate reports on the foot, hand, pelvis and brain of A. sediba. Berger said the brain, hand and foot have characteristics of both modern and early pre-human forms that show a transition under way. It represents a bona fide mod¥el that could lead to the human ge¥nus Homo, Berger said. Kristian J. Carlson, also at Wit¥watersrand, said the brain of A. sed¥iba is small, like that of a chimpan¥zee, but with a configuration more human, particularly with an expan¥sion behind and above the eyes. This seems to be evidence that the brain was reorganizing along more modern lines before it began its ex¥pansion to the current larger size, Carlson said in a teleconference. ÒIt will take a lot of scrutiny of the papers and of the fossils by more and more researchers over the coming months and years, but these analyses could well be Ôgame-changersÕ in understand¥ing human evolution,Ó according The right hand skeleton of the adult female Australopithecus sediba against a modern human hand, from the journal Science. A detailed analysis of 2 million-year¥old bones found in South Africa offers the most powerful case so far in identifying the transitional fig¥ure that came before modern humans. Peter Schmid Associated Press to the SmithsonianÕs Potts. This is a good candidate to rep¥resent the evolution of humans, he said, but the earliest definitive example of Homo is 150,000 to 200,000 years younger. The name Australopithecus means Òsouthern ape,Ó and Òsed¥ibaÓ means natural spring, foun¥tain or wellspring in the local Sotho language. After the bones were discov¥ered, the children of South Afri¥ca were invited to name the child, which they called ÒKarabo,Ó mean¥ing ÒanswerÓ in the local Tswana language. The older skeleton has not yet been given a nickname, Berger said. The juvenile would have been aged 10 to 13 in terms of human development; the female was in her 20s and there are indications that she may have given birth once. The researchers are not sure if the two were related. OVERVIEW Redistricting As the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the newly¥ drawn Texas legislative district maps, a number of lawyers have filed suit in federal district court to speed the process of judging whether or not the new lines violate the Vot¥ ing Rights Act of 1965. The suit alleges racial discrimina¥ tion in that the new districts were drawn to marginalize minority voters. The new district lines also marginalize UT student vot¥ ers. The new congressional district map drawn by the 82nd Legislature splits the major UT student communities into four separate districts. The current map includes most stu¥ dents in three districts. The new lines, for instance, separate the University campus and West Campus into two separate districts along Guadalupe St. in an obvious attempt to dilute the student vote. Currently, the two areas are included in the same district. Neither of these new districts includes the Riverside area, another student living hub, and many stu¥ dents living in the North Campus and Far West neighbor¥ hoods are in another district entirely. This new plan means that students living on campus will share a representative with Texans living as far north as the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson but will not share a repre¥ sentative with colleagues living across the street. Moreover, students in West Campus will share a representative with Texans living as far west as Rocksprings and as far south as central San Antonio. The new district lines present a problem to advocates of student civic participation. The student vote, already vastly underrepresented because of low turnout, has been diluted even more. To the extent that low student voting numbers are influenced by a low sense of efficacy, the new districts will make the problem worse. And representation of student issues in Congress will become less important to individual congressmen as students become an ever-decreasing part of their respective constituencies. With luck, the federal government will recognize these new districts for the partisan creatures that they are and or¥ der them to be redrawn along more reasonable lines. PerryÕs performance at the GOP debate Gov. Rick Perry participated in his first political debate in years Wednesday night at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Widely polling as the current frontrunner for the GOP nomination, his performance at the debate was neither exceptional nor damning. While his record on education was not discussed, other aspects of PerryÕs record as governor of Texas were heavily questioned. His opponents attacked his position that young girls be vaccinated by the state against human papillomavi¥ rus (HPV), and he had no real answer to questions about his position on global climate change and evolution. But the sharpest attacks, both by the moderators and his opponents, centered on his past contention, which he af¥ firmed last night, that Social Security is a ÒPonzi schemeÓ and constitutes a Òmassive lieÓ to young Americans. Al¥ though he focused on the lack of sustainability of the pro¥ gram as it is currently funded, he accused the program of being unconstitutional in his much-maligned book, ÒFed Up!Ó PerryÕs position that it should be essentially abolished was rightly criticized by his Republican opponents during the debate. While he perhaps deserves a small amount of credit for remaining faithful to his opinion, his position will likely haunt him into the future. As Texans, we have seen the effects of PerryÕs Òsmall gov¥ ernmentÓ conservatism for the past decade. Texas ranks dead last in the percent of adults without health insurance, according a recent Gallup poll. Perry has argued against funding our schools adequately, which will damage the state economy in the future. And PerryÕs decision to cut funding for the Texas Forest Service has had devastating consequenc¥ es for residents of Central Texas over the past week because of the wildfires. WednesdayÕs debate revealed PerryÕs fading novelty in the face of serious scrutiny. Combating arrogant ignorance By Eric Pianka Daily Texan Guest Columnist Ignorance can be overcome by education, but arro¥gance is more difficult to combat. When combined, arrogant ignorance is virtually impossible to defeat. Because of this, it is spreading rapidly. People in de¥nial refuse to examine evidence, often adamantly. Among many examples, a case in point is climate change deniers, whose proponents have gone to great lengths to assert that climate change is a hoax. Such people have even set up websites using biased statistics. Another example is the widespread refusal to confront the human overpopulation crisis. Simi¥larly, proponents of so-called Òintelligent designÓ ag¥gressively deny the overwhelming body of evidence in support of evolution by natural selection. These people are threatened by the concept that humans are naked apes who share a common ancestor with chimpanzees and gorillas. When faced with unpleasant dilemmas or chal¥lenging situations, humans are extremely prone to enter into denial. While refusing to face reality may make you feel safer, it is actually much more danger¥ous than being realistic. When people accuse me of being a pessimist, I say ÒNope, IÕm a realist and youÕre a blind opti¥mist.Ó Pessimists see the glass as half empty, whereas optimists like to think of it as half full. Realists see neither emptiness or fullness, but simply see half a glass. Optimists feel better by refusing to face up to reality. However, like arrogant ignorance, blind op¥timism can be a dangerous form of denial. For ex¥ample, blind optimists like to think that technology will solve all our current problems. Technology has lured us out on to thin ice and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Technological advances, especially the Haber-Bosch process, by facilitating food production, have allowed the human popula¥tion to double and then redouble to present unsus¥tainable levels. One of the many symptoms of the human over¥population crisis is that we now face serious energy limitations. Most people seem to think that we just need more energy. In fact, people need to under¥stand more about energy Ñ humans are not exempt from the laws of thermodynamics. Earth can no lon¥ger dissipate the heat it receives from normal inci¥dent solar radiation fast enough to stay in balance. Waste heat generated from burning fossil fuels and nuclear reactors only adds insult to injury. Our vo¥racious and insatiable appetite for energy is doing us in. We must learn to live more frugally using much less energy. Humans are extremely versatile, and although we seem to think that we exist outside the laws of nature, we do not. We are Earthlings first and foremost, and space and other planets will always remain hostile environments for us. Until recently, spaceship Earth has provided us with a rather nice place to live. But now, EarthÕs life support systems are failing. We have overpopulated the planet and fouled its atmosphere Ñ the resultant pollution is contributing to global weather change, and the Earth is warming rapidly Ñ ice caps are melting and ocean currents are chang¥ing. Polar bears and penguins are facing extinction, and though many refuse to face the facts, humans might not be far behind. Pianka is an integrative biology professor. LEGALESE Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessari¥ly those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees. EDITORIAL TWITTER Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@DTeditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns. SUBMIT A FIRING LINE Email your Firing Lines to firingline@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability. SUBMIT A GUEST COLUMN The editorial board welcomes guest column submissions. Columns must be between 600 and 800 words. Send columns to editor@dailytexanonline.com. The Daily Texan reserves the right to edit all columns for clarity, brevity and liability. RECYCLE Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. By Nick Hadjigeorge Daily Texan Staff While pundits and politicians de¥bate whether climate change is a real phenomenon, Diana Liverman, co¥director of the University of Arizo¥naÕs Institute of the Environment, has been studying various policies and programs around the world that at¥tempt to reduce carbon emissions. Liverman gave a lecture yester¥day at the Nettie Lee Benson Lat¥in American Collection outlining the effects a Kyoto Protocol car¥bon offsetting program known as the Clean Development Mecha¥nism has had on developing na¥tions that have participated. The Kyoto Protocol requires par¥ticipants to reduce their carbon emissions by certain percentages each year. If these targets cannot be reached, then a country can choose to invest in projects such as wind farms or reforestation in exchange for carbon credits which offset their extra emissions. These credits are then sold on the global carbon market, which functions like a commodities ex¥change and incites investment in sustainable development to receive more credits, Liverman said. LivermanÕs research focused on carbon offsetting projects taking place in Latin America, and her lec¥ture detailed the results from the field studies conducted in Honduras and Mexico. In certain Honduran commu¥nities, LivermanÕs study found that people were more enthusiastic about the increased number of jobs and ac¥cess to electricity that was a result of the offsetting projects rather than di¥rect carbon credit profits. In Mexico, LivermanÕs study fo¥cused on the La Venta wind farms and their impact on the local community. The study found that opponents of the wind farm mis¥takenly argued that the turbines would damage crops and cattle, but there was no harm to local ag¥riculture after construction and they switched positions. Liverman said she was in favor of communities making these sustain¥ability decisions for themselves. ÒWe should allow communities to decide which offset projects, if any, to go along with and who they sell [their credits] to,Ó she said. Katherine Lininger, a geog¥raphy and environment gradu¥ate student, said she thinks a car¥bon market may solve the climate change issue and she believes the average individual can play a role in improving the environment. ÒA lot of change can happen if many people take part in reducing their emissions,Ó Lininger said. ÒBut itÕs really helpful for the government to regulate and give incentives to take action.Ó Advertising graduate student Me¥lissa Messer said she is happy to see private companies take interest in sustainability and green issues, but she wonders why there is a lack of national consensus on the issue. ÒMy office complies with [sus¥tainability standards], which is ex¥citing to see corporations taking these actions,Ó Messer said. ÒCli¥mate change is scary, and itÕs inter¥esting that the issue is under de¥bate in the U.S.Ó Fate of US recession depends on politiciansÕ capacity to face truth By Megan Strickland Daily Texan Staff The United States is experienc¥ing its worst recession since World War II, and education will play a key part in the recovery, McCombs School of Business senior lecturer John Doggett said Thursday. During his lecture for the Tex¥as Enterprise Speaker Series, Dog¥gett said the U.S. must admit it has a debt problem and dedicate itself to fixing it. Doggett said the country needs to be aware of the metaphorical Òugly babyÓ that is our national debt and admit that the U.S. cannot sustain itself by running on credi¥torsÕ good graces. ÒItÕs not a Tea Party issue or a Republican issue or a Demo¥crat issue, itÕs a math issue,Ó Dog¥gett said. ÒWhen youÕre in business you donÕt have the luxury of lying about whatÕs going on. We are in the midst of the longest and deep¥est, in terms of jobs, recession for our country since World War II, and our politicians are lying about this ugly baby.Ó Doggett said that as the U.S. con¥tinued to accumulate a national debt that has reached more than $14.5 trillion, nations that were previously underdeveloped and predominantly communist during the Cold War adopted the United StatesÕ love of capitalism, resulting in economic powerhouses such as China and India that hold most of our debt. Many U.S. citizens hold a grudge instead of capitalizing on the idea, he said. ÒThey are playing our game and they are playing our song and weÕre blaming them,Ó Doggett said. ÒThatÕs the dumbest thing I have ever heard. We are facing compe¥tition that has bought into our vi¥sion and are executing it in ways we couldnÕt imagine.Ó One facet of DoggettÕs many¥tiered solution to jump start the U.S. economy focuses on education and marketing university research. ÒThe first thing we do is under¥stand the impact of our university system,Ó Doggett said. Doggett said he hopes UT will soon become a leader in research that has practical and marketable uses, similar to the far-reaching impact of the Massachusetts In¥stitute of TechnologyÕs research and innovation. He said changes in the educa¥tional system, coupled with in¥dustry changes, can turn the U.S. economy around. Finance senior Eva Agoulnik said she believes the issues Dog¥gett spoke about tie into many fields and students of all majors should be worried about the na¥tional debt crises. ÒItÕs all one big problem,Ó Agoul¥nik said. ÒItÕs all interconnected.Ó During his lecture Doggett said UT has been making strides to¥ward marketing its research more effectively, and that research entre¥preneurship is a cause he will con¥tinue to advocate. Ruth Shear, program assessor for the Freshman Research Initiative, a new University program that will place freshmen in a research set¥ting, said the University is already taking steps to market its research. ÒThe Colleges of Natural Scienc¥es has a new dean to develop jobs and companies in the program,Ó Shear said. Associate dean for innovation and science enterprises Skip Porter will host two lectures in early Oc¥tober focusing on student research and entrepreneurship, Shear said. McCombs School of Business senior lecturer John Doggett dis¥cusses econom¥ic strategies to eliminate international debt and create new jobs dur¥ing a lecture for the Texas Enterprise Speaker Series at the AT&T Conference Center on Thursday. Skyler Moore Daily Texan Staff TEXASSTUDENTMEDIA By Jillian Bliss Daily Texan Staff Campus construction workers involved in a scuffle at Texas State University caused alarm on the San Marcos campus Thursday morning. Texas State University Police said 29-year-old Aleczandar Yorick Lov¥ern fled the campus after attempt¥ing to assault another construction worker with an 8 to 10-inch knife. Students and administrators near the North Campus Residence Hall con¥struction site who saw the suspect fleeing the scene described him as a six-foot, approximately 160-pound white male with short hair. Police said no one was harmed in the incident but continued to search for Lovern after he fled campus. Lovern was located in San Antonio on Thursday afternoon and made arrangements to turn himself over to police. ÒWe do not believe he was trying to hurt anybody, he was just trying to leave campus,Ó said Mark Hen¥dricks, director of Texas State Uni¥versity News Service. ÒSince my time at Texas State, I donÕt recall any assaults of this type.Ó Texas State Police began send¥ing alerts to students, faculty and staff via text message, email and a marquee system displayed in cam¥pus classrooms at approximate¥ly 11:27 a.m. and continued un¥til the state of emergency ended at around 2:30 p.m. Texas State psychology sopho¥more Amber West said she was in class when her teacher noticed the alert appear on the marquee mount¥ed in the back of the room. West said she did not feel extremely frightened and class continued as usual. ÒIt didnÕt scare me as much as it would if he had a gun,Ó West said. ÒIn high school when we had bomb threats, they took way more precaution than they did with this situation.Ó West said she received several text message alerts from Texas State Po¥lice regarding the suspect. ÒI think they [the text messages] are annoying, but I would rather be notified 20 times than be blindsid¥ed by things that I wasnÕt expecting,Ó West added. UT government freshman Bren¥da Aguilar said she has a cousin at¥tending Texas State and was very worried about her when she learned of the suspicious incident. ÒIt is scary to think that my cous¥in along with many other students were in danger,Ó Aguilar said. ÒIt also makes you wonder if you are ever going to be in a situation like that. I think all students should at least be mentally prepared if they ever en¥counter something like what hap¥pened at Texas State.Ó Man attempts assault, flees Texas State campus RECYCLE YOUR COPY OF THE DAILY TEXAN VOLLEYBALL Top teams await Horns in Nike Big Four Classic By Chris Hummer Daily Texan Staff The Longhorns are coming off of a pair of disappointing straight-set losses to Minnesota last weekend on their first road trip of the season. With TexasÕ tough non-confer¥ence schedule there is no rest for the weary, as it might face three top-10 teams in the Nike Big Four Classic this weekend in California. In order to quickly turn things around from their rough weekend up north, the team has hit the prac¥tice court with authority. ÒWeÕre working on a lot of things that we may not have done as well in the Minnesota games. ItÕs been going really well,Ó said outside hitter Bai¥ley Webster. ÒWeÕve been really open to the coachesÕ feedback and things theyÕve been telling us to do ... WeÕve had some great practices this week so itÕs been really exciting. We are look¥ing forward to this weekend.Ó The Longhorns have worked to get back to the basics: passing, blocking and serving. While every position on the court is working on different individual aspects of the game, it always comes back to those basic tenants. NIKE continues on PAGE 7 WOMENÕS GOLF ÔMOÕ MORIAL INVITATIONAL SOCCER USC TROJAN INVITATIONAL Texas goal¥keeper Alexa Gaul, pictured to the left, was named the Big 12 Defensive player of the week for her two shutout performances last week. Gaul has helped the Longhorns to a 5-1-0 record on the season. Fanny Trang Daily Texan Staff Texas will face Toreros, Trojans in California By Anthony Mannino Daily Texan Staff The Longhorns will try to con¥tinue their winning ways as they head west to play in the Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, Ca¥lif. Texas enters the tournament with a five-game winning streak, which has been fueled by great defensive efforts from the Long¥hornsÕ back line. The leader at the back is the lady between the posts, keeper Alexa Gaul, who has started off the season with four shutouts in the first six matches. However, GaulÕs skill set is not limited to saving shots; she also has the abil¥ity to use her feet to set up chanc¥es for the Texas offense. Last week in the game against UTSA, Gaul made an assist that helped set up the LonghornsÕ sec¥ond goal of the game. ÓMost people try to kick it out, but Alexa tried to find a pass and [junior forward Hannah Higgins] worked hard to get it,Ó said junior forward Vanessa Ibewuike. ÒAnd I would hope that my goal assist¥ed both of them. I hope they both get credited the assist on that one. It was a great job by both of them.Ó GaulÕs kicking ability gives Tex¥as an extra-woman advantage from goal kicks. Most teamÕs keep¥ers are unable to kick off a restart like a goal kick. For Gaul, this is not a problem: The junior can kick the ball 60 yards downfield. This means Texas does not have to use a defender to kick the ball, and in¥stead the defender can help win the ball for Texas. Having an ex¥tra woman helping to win the ball can make all the difference, espe¥cially in the procession style attack of Texas. ÒOne of our mottos for this year is to play fast and get the ball, so thatÕs what IÕm trying to do,Ó Gaul said. ÒJust looking quick and being ready.Ó In the Trojan Invitational, the Longhorns should face some stiffer competition. The San Di¥ego Toreros average two goals per game and also give up less than a GAUL continues on PAGE 7 High hopes for Longhorns after winning title last year By Stefan Scrafield Daily Texan Staff They say the only thing harder than winning a cham¥pionship is defending one. For the first time since 2004, the Texas womenÕs golf team will be faced with such a challenge. The Longhorns won their first Big 12 title in seven years last April when they edged out Texas A&M at the conference champi¥onships in Columbia, Mo. ÒWeÕre looking to go even bigger and harder this year,Ó said junior Haley Stephens of Greer, S.C. ÒWeÕre looking to continue to be strong, com¥pete at a high level and win the Big 12 Championship like we did last year, but we also expect ourselves to be even better, to improve our results and have an even better finish at the regionals.Ó Head coach Martha Rich¥ards also believes the team can be better than last year. ÒWe have very high goals,Ó she said. ÒWe want to repeat as Big 12 Champions but we also want to make it past the regionals and into the NCAA championships and finish in the top 10. We lost one of our top golfers in Rebecca [Lee-Bentham] and that hurts, but weÕre still very talented and I think weÕre one of the favorites in the Big 12. IÕm excited about our enthusiasm and energy.Ó GOLF continues on PAGE 7 THE STAT GUY BYU could join Big 12 ranks By Hank South A&MÕs imminent departure. Daily Texan Staff So what is the Big 12 to do? There are two options, the first Never has college football seen of which is give up, let the con¥ such a whirlwind in conference ference break apart and poten¥realignment. Yes, beloved con-tially lose money and historic ri¥ferences have been disbanded valries. Or, Big 12 Commissioner over the years, such as the clas-Dan Beebe can add to the confer¥sic Southwest Conference (1914-ence. You may be asking yourself, 1996), but nothing at this acceler-what schools are out there? The ated pace. Last year, Nebraska and answer is quite simple: Brigham Colorado bid farewell to the Big Young University. 12, and now the conference is on the brink of extinction with Texas BYU continues on PAGE 7 SIDELINE NFL MLB LHN picks up five UTSA games, first will air on Saturday The Longhorn Network, which is struggling to pick up national distribution on cable, has agreed to broadcast five games for the new University of Texas-San Anto¥nio football program. Network of¥ficials announced the deal Thurs¥day. The first Roadrunners game on the Longhorn Network will be SaturdayÕs matchup against Mc-Murray. UT-San Antonio is playing as an independent in its first sea¥son. The Roadrunners are coached by Larry Coker, who led the Mi¥ami Hurricanes to the 2001 national championship. The network that showcases Uni¥versity of Texas sports broadcast the LonghornsÕ season-opening win against Rice, and is scheduled to have the Texas-Kansas game on Oct. 29. ÑThe Associated Press ESPN CEO speaks with students, offers advice about industry George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, spoke to students Thursday evening at the LBJ Auditorium as a part of the UniversityÕs Distinguished Speakers Series. ESPN has been the talk of the University the last few months, as they have partnered with UT to form the Longhorn Network. Despite the problems that the network has experienced early on, Bodenheimer considers the project a success, and thinks over time it will continue to grow and get better. ÒI consider the Longhorn Net¥work to be a great success right off the bat,Ó Bodenheimer said. ÒI canÕt tell you how proud I am in the staff that came out here, the program¥ming looks first class and is terrific.Ó Bodenheimer also shared some insight into the world of sports¥casting and offered advice to stu¥dents wishing to pursue a future in the business. ÒBe a student of the business, you never stop learning,Ó he said. ÒIÕm looking for people who have pas¥sion, integrity and are detail-orient¥ed and above all, positive.Ó ÑChris Hummer NIKE GOLF continues from PAGE 6 GAUL continues from PAGE 6 prove on the results they putt WeÕre not concerned with expectations because those are Webster said. of Lee-Bentham, a freshman placed on us by others. WeÕ on our own business and our own goals. Ò Ñ Martha Ri continues from PAGE 6 The program has every rea¥ ards said. ÒBut we have to son to believe they will im¥ remember that sheÕs half¥ ÒWeÕre taking it step-by-step and way around the world and goal per game. If Texas wants to in¥crease its winning streak to six, the realizing what we did wrong a year ago. They are returning itÕs going to take time for and itÕs been going great so far,Óevery golfer with the exception her to adjust. ThereÕs go¥ defense will have to slow down the ing to be days where she re focused TorerosÕ offense. Senior forward This weekendÕs tournament fea¥ last year who left the team to shows her youth, but weÕre Stephanie Ochs is the main threat tures some of the best teams in vol¥pursue a professional career. just going to take it step at a time and let her get one going forward from San Diego. The leyball, with No. 2 Penn State, No. senior has already tallied four goals this season. ÒNobody sets the bar high¥ Ò 3 Stanford and No. 7 Florida. Texas chards, Head coach comfortable.Ó er than we do,Ó Richards said. isnÕt intimated, though. Instead, the The team will get its first The Longhorns will face Southern ÒWeÕre not concerned with ex¥chance to prove itself this Sunday when they head to California in the second game of the players are excited to test themselves pectations because those are against such tough competition. tournament. Like Texas, the Trojans were off to a slow start at the begin¥placed on us by others. WeÕre continue to improve.Ó ic, but itÕs not just how hard she ÒAll of the teams in the tourna-College Station for the AggiesÕ focused on our own business The competition will be works, itÕs how productive she ment are great and we may play ÒMoÓMorial Invitational. The ning of the year but are heading into and our own goals.Ó even greater with the teamÕs is when she works. SheÕs been them,Ó Webster said. ÒA good team is a good team, and thatÕs everyone at teamÕs first tournament of the the tournament with a three-game winning streak of their own. Despite the added pressure of offseason addition of top re¥being the reigning champions, cruit and incoming freshman er older girls some new things able to teach me and the oth¥year will run until Tuesday. It is offense-by-committee for that tournament so weÕre just excit- Stephens, who worked with her Bertine Strauss. The South Af-already. She does a great job ed to play anybody there because the of staying balanced, she works Richards will expect Strauss ida, the Longhorns may play Penn State, the team that knocked them out of the last two NCAA tourna¥ments, including the national cham¥pionship game in 2009. While the players are downplay¥ing this potential match-up and talking in coach-speak, it is easy to see they would love to get another shot at the Nittany Lions. ÒWeÕre really excited,Ó Webster said. ÒPractice has been going so well.Ó BYU continues from PAGE 6 The Big 12 North Division hasnÕt had much success in football in re¥cent years and is especially vul¥nerable now without the Corn¥huskers or the Buffaloes. Adding a school like BYU would contribute serious talent to the division and open up the West Coast audience to the conference. Some skeptics out there donÕt believe the Cougars (a recently declared independent school) could succeed in a BCS di¥vision; however, the statistics could certainly raise some eyebrows. To start, BYU has never lost to Texas in football. Albeit the two teams have only met twice on the gridiron, but the Cougars held their ground against the Long¥horns with a 47-6 win in 1988. BYU has never lost to Oklahoma, most recently defeating the Soon¥ers in 2009 with a score of 14-13, a game in which Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game. BYUÕs winningest coach, LaVell Edwards, tallied his first win against current Big 12 member Kansas State. BYU has posted an impressive 8-3 record against current Big 12 schools since 1980, and their all¥time record of 12-14 is not too shabby. Certainly, these are num¥bers worthy of consideration. Football, however, isnÕt the only item taken into consideration when realignment talks occur. Schools have to provide athletic oppor¥tunities to many student athletes that stretch far beyond the football field. BYU fields 21 NCAA varsi¥ty teams and consistently finished at the top of its old conference, the Mountain West Conference (80 conference titles, including 14 of 17 in 2007). In 2005-06, 234 stu¥dent athletes made the Academic all-MWC team, a conference high. The school has excellent facilities, a great fan base, very strong aca¥demics and has established a win¥nerÕs reputation. The Big 12 would be smart to sign the Cougars up right now. personal coach in Houston over to come in and perform but rican is expected to fill in the caliber of this tournament is great.Ó After their first game against Flor¥ the summer, feels the returning sheÕs also demanding an in¥ void created by Lee-BenthamÕs hard but she has fun too.Ó talent will push the team to the departure.Richards has been equal-creased effort from the rest of next level. Her fellow teammates and ly impressed but knows thereÕs her team. ÒItÕs never a bad thing to coaching staff have been im-going to be a learning curve ÒBertine will step in right have this much talent com-pressed by her work ethic and with Strauss, just as there is away,Ó she said. ÒWeÕre also peting against each other on talent and are excited about the with any freshman. going to need the rest of the one team,Ó she said. ÒCompe-energy she brings to the team. ÒSheÕs very talented, has a team to step up. WeÕre going tition makes us better, it fu-ÒShe has been a blessing to great way about herself and to need all the girls to com¥els the fire and it will ultimate-have on our team,Ó Stephens I know she will make a con-pete at a high level and put up ly help us be dominant and said. ÒShe has a great work eth-tribution to the team,Ó Rich-low numbers.Ó Manning could miss more games with neck injury Indianapolis Colts quarter¥back Peyton Manning stands on the Indianapolis Chatard side¥line and watch¥es the PeyBack Classic football game between Chatard and Brebeuf on Aug. 20 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Matt Kryger Associated Press USC, with seven different players having already scored for the Tro¥ jans this year. Defensively, they are less than impressive. Texas should be able to find the back of the Tro¥jansÕ net; USC averages more than a goal-and-a-half per game. Back-to-back wins for Texas should mean that the Longhorns will be ranked in the top 25 for the first time all season. By Michael Marot Shortly after ESPN first reported the sur-rennial Super Bowl contender. Without him, hold up a microphone or the ball would drop The Associated Press gery, team officials confirmed that Manning the most dominant team in the AFC South out of his hands with a slight bump.had an anterior fusion procedure to treat the since its creation faces a daunting challenge Addai figured the ensuing bye week would INDIANAPOLIS Ñ Another neck surgery nerve problem that was continuing to give Ñ trying to become the first team to play a give him enough time to heal, but it took has put Peyton Manning back in rehab and him trouble. Super Bowl in its home stadium without hav-him more than two months to get back into left his status for the 2011 season in jeopardy. For Manning, one of the leagueÕs true iron-ing Manning behind center for what could a game and he still didnÕt feel 100 percent un- Manning underwent surgery for the third men, it was a continuation of the most frus-be a significant portion of the season. til this season. time in 19 months Thursday, a procedure trating offseason of his career.The biggest question is when he will be back.ÒAfter a while it came back, but you donÕt that is likely to keep the four-time MVP out He already has dealt with a 4¥¥¥-month If he does come back, Manning also will really know when itÕs going to come back,Ó significantly longer than just SundayÕs season lockout that prevented him from working be playing behind an offensive line that Addai said. ÒItÕs frustrating.Ó opener at Houston Ñ the first game he will out with team trainers after his May 23 sur-has three new starters and a fourth, Ryan Addai said Manning had asked him about miss in 14 NFL seasons. gery to repair a nerve. He also couldnÕt ne-Diem, who is moving from right tackle to the experience, something the two have ÒThe procedure is performed regular-gotiate a new contract with the Colts during right guard. discussed at length since players reported ly throughout the county on persons of all the lockout. Then he started training camp The player who can empathize most with to camp July 31. Addai said he has not yet walks of life, including professional football on the physically unable to perform list, Manning is running back Joseph Addai, who caught passes from Manning at full speed players,Ó the team said in a statement. ÒRe-which prevented him from working out with injured a nerve in his left shoulder Oct. 17 and he canÕt say where ManningÕs recovery habilitation from such surgery is typically an teammates until Aug. 29.against Washington, then missed the next is right now.involved process. Therefore, there will be no The 35-year-old Manning, who signed a eight games. Instead, heÕs worried about playing the estimation of a return date at this time. We five-year, $90 million contract in July, also There were times, Addai recalled, that he Texans without Manning. will keep Peyton on the active roster until we had neck surgery in February 2010.would wake up during the night with sudden ÒYou know how important Peyton is,Ó Add¥have a clear picture of his recovery process.Ó With Manning, the Colts have been a pe-pain. There were other times that he couldnÕt ai said. ÒI think everybody has to step it up.Ó SUDOKUFORYOU YesterdayÕs solution 3 1 1 4 7 3 2 9 6 2 7 1 4 8 3 7 5 4 1 1 2 3 9 7 9 8 4 1 6 1 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 publishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect THE DAILY TEXAN insertion. In consideration of The Daily TexanÕs acceptance of advertising copy for publication, the agency and the advertiser will indemnify and save harmless, Texas Student Media and its ofÞcers, employees and agents against all loss, liability, damage and expense of whatsoever nature arising out of the copying, print¥ing or publishing of its advertisement including without limitation reasonable attorneyÕs fees resulting from claims of suits for libel, violation of right of privacy, plagiarism and copyright and trademark infringement. All ad copy must be approved by the newspaper which reserves the right to request changes, reject or properly classify an ad. The advertiser, and not the newspaper, is responsible for the truthful content of the ad. Advertising is also subject to credit approval. C L ASSIFIEDS 4 BLOCKS FUN JOB, SEEKING ITÕS THE GREAT PAY! 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POTENTIAL candidates for 6 Admin/ application systems, Apply online. www.step¥ or the ability to work inde-ing and experience now! http://www.texasmojo.net TIONS!!! pendently. Must possess Hiring energetic teachers ÔContagionÕ depicts realistic viral chaos Element of realism adds an entirely new dimension of terror, chaos to thriller film By Robert Starr Daily Texan Staff Monster movies are scary, but they arenÕt that scary. Sharks, snakes, spi¥ders, mutant beasts Ñ sure, they can kill you, but thatÕs about all they can do. Viruses, on the other hand, are a whole different beast. Not only can they kill you, but theyÕre far too small to see and work by invading your own bodyÕs cells and using them against you. And theyÕre everywhere, including on the silver screen in Ste¥ven SoderberghÕs latest movie, ÒCon¥tagion,Ó opening today. Not that this is any new territo¥ry. ItÕs been explored before in ÒOut¥breakÓ and ÒThe Andromeda Strain,Ó among others, but itÕs a cautionary tale worth repeating. The seasonal flu, in an average year, hospitalizes some 200,000 people in the U.S., accord¥ing to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, with some years be¥ing worse than others. The infamous 1918 Spanish flu, for instance, killed an estimated 50 million people, mak¥ing it responsible for more deaths than World War I. The virus in ÒContagion,Ó how¥ever, puts the 1918 epidemic to shame. And, though the trail¥er suggests something along the lines of an obsessive-compulsiveÕs alarmist nightmare, the final re¥sult seems a bit more consistent with reality. The virus is scary, but well within the realm of be¥lievability, which makes it all the more frightening. The speed at which it spreads is much lower than it could have been in a more brainless Hollywood mov¥ie, with a reproduction number, or R0, of four or so. This means that a given individual who has contract¥ed the virus will, on average, spread it to four people. Thanks to exponen¥tial growth, however, thatÕs more than enough to generate a full-blown epi¥demic. If one person passes the virus on to four people over the course of a few days and then they pass it over to another four and so on and so forth, there could be a million people in¥fected in less than a month. However, not all viruses spread from human to human. For in¥stance, the ongoing H5N1 (avian flu) scare hasnÕt yet caused a pan¥demic. So far, it has only spread from infected chickens to people who come in close contact with them, but not from those people to other humans. The fictional vi¥rus in ÒContagion,Ó rather, follows a similar trajectory to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: it originally spread among pigs on Mexican farms, then from pigs to humans and ultimately from humans to humans. Like the seasonal flu or common cold, the ÒContagionÓ disease spreads through direct contact with an in¥fected individual, though not all in¥teractions with infected people lead to transmission. The book ÒUnder¥standing VirusesÓ by Teri Shors ex¥plains that viruses have a tough time getting through our skin since it is dry, acidic and contains bacterial flo¥ra designed to protect the body from infection. The skin could, however, be used as a transport to somewhere on your body where itÕs easier for a vi¥rus to get inside. If you shake an in¥fected personÕs hand after he coughed in it, for instance, and then use that hand to rub your eyes, the virus can get inside you that way. ÒContagion,Ó while definitely sci¥ence fiction, has enough scientif¥ic fact behind it to address genuine issues and suggest a very real and scary possibility. ÒThe 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic turned out to be relatively mild, and, consequent¥ly, the general public and funding agencies may have lost sight of the importance of pandemic prepared¥ness,Ó said Associate Director for the Division of Statistics and Sci¥entific Computation, Lauren Mey¥ers. ÒThere will be a next pandem¥ic, which could be much more se¥vere than the one in 2009. This mov¥ie reminds us of the importance of a quick and effective medical and hu¥manitarian response.Ó The virus itself is just a jumping¥off point to explore a very human sto¥ry about paranoia and fear. However, ÒContagionÓ will still hopefully raise awareness of how delicate we humans are. Though we may feel like weÕre the dominant species on this plan¥et, something we canÕt even see could take us out in the blink of an eye. Suspenseful tale of infection proves a worthwhile watch By Alex Williams cy amongst the large-scale apocalyp- Daily Texan Staff tic material. ItÕs refreshing how effort¥ lessly Soderbergh juggles a dozenma¥ ÒContagionÓ may be the most un-jor characters, keeping the film mov¥expectedly terrifying movie of the ing quickly and not feeling the need year. ItÕs not exactly a horror movie to have every single storyline inter¥in the traditional sense of the word, sect and overlap with another, like so since there are no axe murderers, many large ensemble dramas. ghosts or zombies, but its step-by-Every member of the filmÕs sprawl¥step breakdown of the spread of a ing cast pulls their weight. Matt Da¥potentially apocalyptic virus is ev-mon shines as Mitch, husband to ery bit as unnerving as anything PaltrowÕs Beth, and his helpless ter-George Romero or John Carpenter ror at the plight he and what remains has ever accomplished. of his family are in is contagious. The film As an epidem¥ doesnÕt waste ic specialist, Kate a minute, in-Thanks to its matter-Winslet starts troducing off as authorita¥ of-fact structure, Beth (Gw-tive and impos¥yneth Pal-ing, and Winslet speedy pace and trow), whoÕs makes her char¥returning mostly strong actersÕ slow de¥from a busi-terioration hurt performances, ness trip us just as much overseas, and as it does her. As ÒContagionÓ is a p r o m p t l y a self-righteous making her reliable, often chilling blogger, Jude one of the Law is shame¥first victims thriller. lessly smarmy, of the dead-but his character ly virus that functions as the filmÕs villain. From there, ÒContagionÓ takes on a vaguely novelistic structure, introducing the key figures trying to prevent the epi¥demic and then slowly toppling their every effort. Scott Z. BurnsÕ script moves deliberately, laying out each government agency and their differ¥ent actions, never portraying them as right or wrong decisions, but as the acts of people trying to do their best in the situation from hell. Director Steven Soderbergh has been publicly threatening to re¥tire, and ÒContagionÓ makes it crys¥tal clear what a shame that would be. Soderbergh builds relentless ten¥sion throughout the film, weavingin small moments of human decen- Contagion Steven Soderbergh Genre: Thriller Runtime: 106 For those who like: 28 Days Later, Traffic Grade: A¥ never quite de¥velops into a very compelling figure. Marion Cotillard is the filmÕs weakest link, playing another medical special¥ist whose character arc makes some pretty huge leaps that the screenplay canÕt quite justify. Thanks to its matter-of-fact struc¥ture, speedy pace and mostly strong performances, ÒContagionÓ is a reli¥able, often chilling thriller. 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