1

MULTIMEDIA ONLINE

SPORTS PAGE 6

LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8

@thedailytexan

facebook.com/dailytexan

Thursday, April 17, 2014

dailytexanonline.com 

bit.ly/dtvid

Serving the University of Texas at Austin community since 1900

WEST: A TOWN REBUILDS

For many UT students driving on I-35, the town of West 
is best known as a kolache stop. But one year after an 
ammonium nitrate blast rocked the small town of 3,000, 
leaving 15 people dead, residents young and old who call 
West home are inding a way to remember and rebuild.

Legislators 
deliberate 
new safety 
regulations

By Jeremy Thomas
@jeremyobthomas

As a result of a fertil-
izer plant explosion in West 
exactly one year ago, state 
politicians are considering 
new regulations for ammo-
nium nitrate storage in ire-
proof bins or by installing 
ire sprinklers.

Ammonium nitrate is of-
ten used in agriculture as 
a high-nitrogen 
fertilizer. 
When exposed to heat, the 
chemical becomes explosive. 
Investigators conirmed am-
monium nitrate as the mate-
rial that exploded in West. 

he State House Commit-
tee on Homeland Security 
and Public Safety heard rec-
ommendations from several 
state agencies and oicials 
Monday. State Rep. Joe Pick-
ett, D-El Paso, who is also 
chairman of the committee, 
REGULATIONS page 3

A memorial dedicated to the lives lost in the West plant explosion stands in a ield across the site of the incident. One year after the explosion, residents of West are 
still rebuilding houses and businesses in the community. A memorial will be held Thursday evening at West Fair and Rodeo Grounds to commemorate the anniversary.

Pu Ying Huang / Daily Texan Staff

After explosion, school closes 
but prom tradition continues

One year after tragic blast, 
West continues to rebuild

By Madlin Mekelburg
@madlinbmek

One year ater a fertilizer 
plant exploded, killing 15 
people and injuring more 
than 300, the residents of 
West are rebuilding. 

West, a farming town lo-
cated approximately 20 miles 
outside of Waco, has a popu-
lation of less than 3,000 and 
an all-volunteer ire depart-
ment. On April 17, 2013, a 
ire broke out, causing stores 
of ammonium nitrate at the 
West Fertilizer Co. to deto-
nate. Of the 15 people killed 
in the explosion, nine were 
irst responders.

he explosion, which had 

buildings, 

force comparable to that of 
a small earthquake, caused 
severe damage to surround-
including 
ing 
stores and homes. he local 
high school, located across 
the railroad tracks, had to 
be demolished and has yet to 
be rebuilt. 

Small wooden stars with 
positive messages such as 
“God bless West!” stand, 
hang or lie in the yards of 
almost every lot around the 
ield where the plant used to 
be. Some of the surround-
ing properties have been let 
untouched since the explo-
sion — one lot holds a house 
without a roof, windows or 
doors, and a tree bearing the 

remnants of a tree house. 
Other lots are now under 
construction. 

Suzanne Hack, executive 
director of the West Long 
Term Recovery Center — a 
nonproit organization cre-
ated to provide guidance, re-
sources and education about 
rebuilding eforts — said the 
town has issued 28 certii-
cates of occupancy and 205 
building permits since the 
explosion. Hack said many 
local contractors and build-
ers are working to rebuild 
houses in the town. 

David Eubanks, an elec-
trical contractor from West, 
WEST page 3

By Hannah Smothers
@hannahsmothers_

One day before the anni-
versary of the West fertilizer 
plant explosion, Lauren Wer-
net, a senior at West High 
School, picked her red nail 
polish, let over from prom, 
of her ingernails.

Wernet has been to three 
prom dances, but her senior 
prom last Saturday was her 
favorite — even though it 
couldn’t be held in the high 
school she attended for al-
most three years. he prom, 
held at the Knights of Co-
lumbus Hall in West, was 
a Great Gatsby-inspired, 
1920s soiree. 

Wernet picked her dress to 

match the theme.

Group advocates musician-friendly laws

Shweta Gulati / Daily Texan Staff

Cordell Clark (left) and Lauren Wernet are seniors at West High 
School, which currently exists as portable buildings because of 
the plant explosion that destroyed the old school building. 

“It was black — sparkly all 
the way down,” Wernet said. 
“he cut was right here on 
one side. I had red heels and 

silver jewelry. And I did my 
own makeup, and I had my 
SCHOOL page 3

THROWBACK

Since 1972, tuition has 
risen by 8,165 percent

tuition once cost less than a 
year’s worth of Netlix.

A June 1, 1971 article in 
he Summer Texan warned 
students that then-Gov. Pres-
ton Smith had signed a tuition 
increase bill that, by 1972, 
would put tuition on a se-
mester-hour basis and charge 
students a staggering $4 per 
semester-hour. 

“he measure, which passed 
both houses of the Legislature 
May 21, puts tuition on a se-
mester hour basis with resident 
students paying $4 per semes-
ter hour,” the article said. “hus 
a student taking a normal 15-
hour load will pay $60 tuition, 
up $10 from the present $50 

TUITION page 2

By Kevin Sharii
@kevsharii

With some students having 
already registered and some 
about to do so, the coming fall 
semester has Longhorns either 
dreading the $4,000-5,000 blow 
to their inances or wondering 
whether their self-worth will 
allow them to accept another 
several-thousand-dollar dona-
tion from their parents. But 

CITY

By Julia Brouillette
@juliakbrou

It is not uncommon to 
hear 
singing, drumming 
and guitar strumming echo-
ing through the streets of 
the busy entertainment dis-
trict in downtown Austin. 
But according to a group of 
advocates and city oicials, 
performers are sometimes 
mistaken for panhandlers.

he Austin Music Com-
mission, an advisory com-
mittee focused on matters 
that may afect musicians and 
the music industry, passed a 
resolution tasking a group of 
three commission members 
with researching laws friend-
ly to street performers. Ulti-
mately, the group hopes the 
MUSICIAN page 2

Pablo Gigante, who moved to Austin from Missouri to work as a musician, sings on South Con-
gress Avenue on Wednesday. The Austin Music Commission is researching busking-friendly laws 
to clarify the differences between panhandling and performing on the streets. 

Andrea Kurth / Daily Texan Staff

Austin Reggae Festival

April 18-20 • Butler Park
Easy Star All-Stars, Inner Circle
Everton Blender and More

www.austinreggaefest.com
Beneitting the Capital Area Food Bank 

 2

Thursday, April 17, 2014

NEWS

FRAMES featured photo 

Sam Thornton tries on a hat in the Goorin Bros. Hat Shop on South Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

Andrea Kurth / Daily Texan Staff

The measure ... puts tuition on a 
semester hour basis with resident 
students paying $4 per semester hour. 
Thus a student taking a normal 15-
hour load will pay $60 tuition, up $10 
from the present $50 fee.

of the current $16,921.

A UT student commit-
tee’s pending tuition pro-
posal to the UT System 
Board of Regents includes 
an increase in the weight-
ed-average resident tuition 
from $4,899 to $5,026 and 
an increase in the weighted-
average nonresident tuition 
from $16,921 to $17,361. 

For new residents, the 

proposal also ofers what 
would become 
the irst 
guaranteed tuition plan to 
be implemented at UT. If 
this plan were to go into 
efect, students that choose 
the guaranteed tuition plan 
would pay an average of 
$5,433 per semester for res-
ident tuition and $18,880 
per semester for nonresi-
dent tuition.

MUSICIAN
continues from page 1

city will clarify ordinances 
regarding panhandling and 
street performing.

“he challenge is that there 
are a number of ordinances 
that are in place that were 
put into the mix with good 
intentions but that acciden-
tally conlict with one anoth-
er,” said Jennifer Houlihan, 
executive director at Austin 
Music People, a civic engage-
ment group that supports the 
local music economy. “hat 
makes it challenging for the 
musicians 
to understand 
what they’re allowed and not 
allowed to do.”
Houlihan 

current 

said 

TUITION
continues from page 1

fee. Students taking 12 hours 
or less, however, will not ben-
eit because the measure sets a 
$50 minimum tuition fee for 
a regular semester.”

If the culprit for increases 
in resident tuition since 
1972 were merely inlation, 
an in-state student taking 15 
hours at UT today would be 
paying approximately $330 
per semester — just $4,569 
shy of the current weighted-
average tuition for a UT stu-
dent taking 15 credit hours.
he 1971 bill also stipu-
lated that tuition for non-
residents enrolling in 1972 
would increase to $40 per 
semester-hour, meaning 
a total of $600 in tuition 
fees for an out-of-state UT 
student taking 15 hours. If 
inlation were the only fac-
tor inluencing out-of-state 
tuition increases, nonresi-
dent students today would 
be paying approximately 
$3,300 per semester instead 

2

Volume 114, Issue 143
CONTACT US

Main Telephone
(512) 471-4591

Editor-in-Chief
Laura Wright
(512) 232-2212
editor@dailytexanonline.com

Managing Editor
Shabab Siddiqui
(512) 232-2217
managingeditor@
dailytexanonline.com

News Ofice
(512) 232-2207
news@dailytexanonline.com

Multimedia Ofice
(512) 471-7835
dailytexanmultimedia@ 
gmail.com

Sports Ofice
(512) 232-2210
sports@dailytexanonline.com

Life & Arts Ofice
(512) 232-2209
dtlifeandarts@gmail.com

Retail Advertising
(512) 475—6719
lhollingsworth@austin.
utexas.edu

Classiied Advertising
(512) 471-5244
classiieds@ 
dailytexanonline.com

The Texan strives to present 
all information fairly, 
accurately and completely. 
If we have made an error, 
let us know about it. Call 
(512) 232-2217 or e-mail 
managingeditor@ 
dailytexanonline.com.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2013 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.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER

High
79

Low
56

Her accordion?

This issue of The Daily Texan is valued at $1.25

Permanent Staff
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Wright
Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Ayala, Riley Brands, Amil Malik, Eric Nikolaides
Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shabab Siddiqui
Associate Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisabeth Dillon
News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Rudner
Associate News Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonia Gales, Anthony Green, Jacob Kerr, Pete Stroud, Amanda Voeller
Senior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julia Brouillette, Nicole Cobler, Alyssa Mahoney, Madlin Mekelburg
Copy Desk Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Reinsch
Associate Copy Desk Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brett Michaels Donohoe, Reeana Keenen, Kevin Sharifi
Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Mitts
Senior Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hirrah Barlas, Bria Benjamin, Alex Dolan, Omar Longoria
Multimedia Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlie Pearce, Alec Wyman
Associate Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sam Ortega
Senior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Garza, Shweta Gulati, Pu Ying Huang, Shelby Tauber, Lauren Ussery
Senior Videographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jackie Kuenstler, Dan Resler, Bryce Seifert
Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah Smothers
Associate Life&Arts Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren L’Amie
Senior Life&Arts Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eleanor Dearman, Kritika Kulshrestha, David Sackllah, Alex Williams
Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefan Scrafield
Associate Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Hummer
Senior Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evan Berkowitz, Garrett Callahan, Jori Epstein, Matt Warden
Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Massingill
Associate Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannah Hadidi
Roommate to the Comics Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riki Tsuji
Senior Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cody Bubenik, Ploy Buraparate, Connor Murphy, Aaron Rodriguez, 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephanie Vanicek
Director of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeremy Hintz
Associate Director of Technical Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Stancik
Senior Technical Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Shen, Roy Varney
Special Ventures Co-editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bobby Blanchard, Chris Hummer
Online Outreach Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred Tally-Foos
Journalism Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael Brick

Issue Staff

Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hayden Clark, Kate Dannenmaier, Nicole Stiles, Jeremy Thomas, Alex Wilts
Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mengwen Cao, Andrea Kurth, Sarah Montgomery
Sports Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Drew Lieberman, Jacob Martella
Copy Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sean Armas, Pauline Berens, Andy Boyd
Comics Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shannon Butler, Calhan Hale, Holly Hansel, Andy McMahon, Isabella Palacios
Columnists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Olivia Berkeley, Suchi Sundaram
Life&Arts Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brigit Benestante
Page Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny Scherer, Iliana Storch

Business and Advertising
(512) 471-1865 | advertise@texasstudentmedia.com
Interim Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Serpas, III
Executive Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chad Barnes
Business Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Heine
Advertising Adviser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJ Salgado
Broadcasting and Events Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Goss
Event Coordinator and Media Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsey Hollingsworth
Campus & National Sales Associate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carter Goss, Lindsey Hollingsworth
Student Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ted Sniderman
Student Assistant Advertising Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rohan Needel
Student Acct. Execs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dani Archuleta, Aaron Blanco, Hannah Davis, Crysta Hernandez 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robin Jacobs, Erica Reed, Mayowa Tijani, Lesly Villarreal
Student Project Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aaron Blanco
Student Office Assistant/Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mymy Nguyen
Student Administrative Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dito Prado
Senior Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Hublein
Student Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Karina Manguia, Rachel Ngun, Bailey Sullivan
Special Editions/Production Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Gammon
Longhorn Life Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ali Killian
Longhorn LIfe Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Huygen

The Daily Texan (USPS 146-440), a student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin, is published by Texas 
Student Media, 2500 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78705. The Daily Texan is published daily, Monday through Friday, 
during the regular academic year and is published once weekly during the summer semester. The Daily Texan 
does not publish during academic breaks, most Federal Holidays and exam periods. Periodical Postage Paid at 
Austin, TX 78710. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Daily Texan, P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713. 
News contributions will be accepted by telephone (471-4591), or at the editorial office (Texas Student Media 
Building 2.122). For local and national display advertising, call 471-1865. classified display advertising, call 471-
1865. For classified word advertising, call 471-5244. 
Entire contents copyright 2014 Texas Student Media.

The Daily Texan Mail Subscription Rates

One Semester (Fall or Spring) 
Two Semesters (Fall and Spring) 
Summer Session 
One Year (Fall, Spring and Summer) 

 $60.00
120.00
40.00
150.00

To charge by VISA or MasterCard, call 471-5083. Send orders and address changes to Texas 
Student Media', P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713-8904, or to TSM Building C3.200, or call 471-5083.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Texan, P.O. Box D, Austin, TX 78713.
4/17/14

Texan Ad
Deadlines

Monday .............Wednesday, 12 p.m.
Tuesday.................Thursday, 12 p.m.
Wednesday................Friday, 12 p.m.

Thursday.................Monday, 12 p.m.
Friday......................Tuesday, 12 p.m.
Classified Word Ads 11 a.m. 
(Last Business Day Prior to Publication)

laws, which prohibit sitting 
or lying on the sidewalks as 
well as verbal or non-verbal 
solicitation of money, are un-
clear when it comes to public 
performing.

“If you put out a note there 
that says ‘tips welcome’ or 
‘tips appreciated,’ the police 
could ask you to take the note 
out or just stop playing alto-
gether,” Houlihan said. “hat’s 
not because anyone is doing 
anything wrong or anyone’s 
trying to be diicult. It’s be-
cause the laws are conlicting.”
Houlihan said the ideal so-
lution would be a set of ordi-
nances that make it easy for 
both police and musicians to 
follow the rules.

“his should support the 
eforts that the police are 
making for public safety with 
loitering and 
the existing 
panhandling 
laws without 
unfairly penalizing people 
who are 
legitimate artists 
who happen to be on the 
street,” Houlihan said.

APD Cpl. Chris Carlisle, 
who works downtown as a 
patrol supervisor, said the 
department fully supports 
street performers.

“We are more than pas-
sionate about their need to 
work, and we do everything 
we can to not cite them,” Car-
lisle said. “We haven’t issued a 
citation to a musician for so-
liciting in over six years.”

According 

to Carlisle, 
problems arise when musi-
cians block the low of pe-
destrian traic.

“If musicians have their cas-
es or drums set up on the side-
walk, then it forces the public 
to walk closer to the street, 
and because the streets aren’t 
closed, that puts them closer to 
the cars,” Carlisle said.

Linsey Lindberg, a busker 
who heads the Austin Busk-
er Project, a non-proit orga-
nization aimed at promoting 
street performers, said she 
believes the current regula-
tions discourage artists from 
performing.

“You go out to busk and 
you never know if the police 
oicer on the corner is go-
ing to say, ‘Hey, that’s really 
cool what you’re doing,’ or if 
they’re going to tell you that 
you have to leave or give you 
a ticket,” Lindberg said.

Lindberg said while some 
city leaders, such as city 
councilman Mike Martinez, 
have publicly 
supported 
street performing, Austin 
lags behind other cities in 
terms of creating an artist 
friendly environment.

“We say that we’re the mu-
sic capital of the world and 
that we support our artists, 
but what we’re really doing 
is making it impossible and 
pretending there’s no prob-
lem,” Lindberg said. “We 
have to get over the desire 
not to get our hands dirty in 
order to make Austin a better 
place to live.”

 NEWS Thursday, April 17, 2014

W&N 3

1.

1. “When it was exploding, we ran over there. It was scary.” — Jesus Alaniz-
Castillo, age 9, West resident
2. “We’ve been here every day since the blast. We’d drive my little grand-
son to school and sit right over there under that pecan tree, give every-
body coffee and water.” — Beulah Zahirniak, West resident
3. “We knew just about everybody [that was killed], and if you didn’t know 
them personally, you knew of them. West is a small town, but I don’t think 
anybody really realized how close we really are with each other.” — Cindy 
Grones, West resident

West residents recount, recover

William “Pee Wee” Zahirniak watched his house on Reagan 
Street being built from underneath a pecan tree in 1961. Seven 
years later, he and his bride Beulah Zahirniak moved into the 
seven-room home. The two sat under the same pecan tree while 
their new home was constructed last year following the plant 
explosion. “We’ve been here all our life. We’ve been here all this 
time,” Beulah Zahirniak said. The couple is now in the process 
of putting on the inishing touches. “We never thought about not 
coming back,” William Zahirniak said.

3.

Multimedia

Learn more about 
the rebuilding of 
West in a video and 
slideshow online at
 
dailytexanonline.com

(Clockwise from upper left) Photos by Pu Ying Huang, Shweta 
Gulati, Charlie Pearce / Daily Texan Staff

3

2.

WEST
continues from page 1

said he has worked on six new 
houses since the explosion. He 
said people have steadily been 
moving back into their houses.
According to Hack, the re-
covery center received $3.6 
million in donations since 
the explosion last year. 

“I wasn’t here when [the 
organization] 
started, but 
my understanding was that 
whenever the explosion oc-
curred, a number of disaster 
relief organizations were im-
mediately on the scene,” Hack 
said. “he leaders of those or-
ganizations, as well as leaders 
in the West community, got 
together and discussed form-
ing this organization.” 

West resident Trish Webber 
said her family’s lawn mower 
repair business and part of her 
family’s house were both de-
stroyed in the explosion.

“For us, because we had 
the business that was de-
stroyed also, we were not 
only out of our home, but we 
were out of work,” Webber 
said. “Our main focus was 
getting the business back.”

Webber said they were able 
to rebuild the business in two 
months but have only recent-
ly started seeing their custom-
ers come back because April 
is lawn mower season.

“Because we have the busi-
ness, we’re seeing our cus-
tomers come back for the 
irst time, so we pretty much 
talk about the explosion ev-
ery day,” Webber said. “I 
think it helps. I never talked 
about it a whole lot, and now 
I’m having to because I’m 
seeing a lot of people for the 
irst time.”

Cindy Grones, an X-ray 
technician from West, said her 
house, located just across the 
railroad tracks from the plant, 
was destroyed in the explosion.
Standing in the wooden 

skeleton of her new home — 
which is scheduled to be com-
pleted in late August, with the 
help of a local contractor and 
longtime family friend — 
Grones said returning to her 
house ater the explosion was 
an emotional experience.

“I can’t remember what I 
ate yesterday, but I remem-
ber we came back on April 27 
and it was horrible,” Grones 
said. “Just destruction ev-
erywhere. You had to dig 
through your stuf and wipe 
all the fertilizer of.” 

Grones said rebuilding is 
only a small part of the re-
covery process.

“I think this is part of the 
recovery — the building part,” 
Grones said. “he emotional 
part — it’s going to be a long 
time. I don’t think none of us 
will get through this totally. 
People say you can get over it, 
but I don’t think so. You just 
learn how to deal with it day 
by day. You love your family. 
You try to do what you can.”

Grones said the residents 
of West have grown closer 
since the explosion.

“We knew just about every-
body [that was killed], and if 
you didn’t know them per-
sonally, you knew of them,” 
Grones said. “West is a small 
town, but I don’t think any-
body really realized how close 
we really are with each other.”
Cindy Grones’ youngest 
daughter, 15-year-old Anna 
Grones, said things have start-
ed to return to normal in West.
“Right ater it happened, 
people who never talked to 
me before would come talk 
to me,” Anna Grones said. 
“It’s all back to normal now. 
If you try to talk about it, 
sometimes people say you’re 
just trying to get attention.”

Anna Grones said she is 
optimistic about the town’s 
rebuilding eforts.

“It’s no biggie,” she said. 

“We got this.”

Charlie Pearce / Daily Texan Staff
Students and residents painted memorial stars in support of 
the West community shortly after the plant explosion. 

with all of the trims and tas-
sels necessary to transform 
the hall into a party it for 
Jay Gatsby.

For high school seniors, 
spring semester is a time 
for banquets and celebra-
tions. Although springtime 
in West stirs up memories of 
last year’s events, the students 
of West High School ind 

time to relax and enjoy their 
last days of school — and of 
course, to spend a lavish night 
with friends at the prom.

“We just needed a night to 
ourselves to have fun — not 
really like forget about it but 
not have it on our mind,” 
Wernet said. “I think we just 
needed to have that night to 
have to ourselves.”

Pu Ying Huang / Daily Texan Staff
Piles of rubble, such as the remains of this house on Jerry Mashek Drive, still exist a year after the fertilizer plant explosion 
in West. New regulations for ammonium nitrate storage are being considered to prevent any future incidents. 

REGULATIONS
continues from page 1

said he asked state agencies 
to work together to form 
testimonies and recommen-
dations to the committee.

“he goal is to give some 
direction, with [the com-
mittee] support to the state 
agencies on coming up 
with a very speciic plan for 
West,” Pickett said. “We will 
be looking at how to go for-
ward and try to keep these 
situations from happening 
in the future.” 

Pickett said he would like 
to drat legislation by the 
end of this summer for the 
84th Texas State Legislature 
commencing 
January. 
However, Pickett said he 
did not necessarily want to 
ile legislation to initiate a 

in 

statewide ire code but, rath-
er, wants narrow legislation 
on the issue.

State Fire Marshal Chris 
Connealy said 
there are 
nearly 100 ammonium ni-
trate facilities in the state. 
Connealy 
approxi-
said 
mately half of those facilities 
store ammonium nitrate in 
wooden, lammable build-
ings similar to the West Fer-
tilizer Co. facility.

“We have to keep ire away 
from ammonium nitrate,” 
Connealy said. “If you want 
to keep ammonium nitrate 
in a combustible facility, you 
need to put ire sprinklers 
in there.”

said 

Connealy 

investi-
gators still don’t know the 
cause of the initial ire. For 
rural areas, it is more dii-
cult to implement sprinklers 

within 
facilities because 
these facilities typically don’t 
have water distribution sys-
tems, according to Con-
nealy, who said the best way 
to prevent another explo-
sion is to isolate the ammo-
nium nitrate by storing it in 
a noncombustible bin made 
of concrete, stone or metal, 
and keeping vegetation away 
from it.

“Ammonium nitrate 
is 
pretty stable in its normal 
state, and as long as you 
keep ire and those things 
that could catch on ire away 
from it so it doesn’t travel 
and get to that bin, you’ve 
largely ixed the problem,” 
Connealy said.

Connealy said he recom-
mended 
that agricultural 
businesses be given a three-
year time frame to comply 

and accumulate funds to pay 
for the equipment. 

Williamson County Grain 
in Taylor, Texas once deliv-
ered and stored ammonia 
nitrate but stopped doing so 
in July because of the West 
explosion, according to man-
ager Joe Mueck. he facility 
is near a school, which is part 
of a greater residential area.

Pickett said he worries 
people will stop working to 
regulate ammonium nitrate 
storage in the future.

“I think that is our re-
sponsibility and our duty,” 
Pickett said. “Knowing this 
committee and the makeup 
of this committee, I think 
we’ve got enough people 
here that can give us a per-
spective to do something 
that makes sense and keep 
the business acumen alive.”

SCHOOL 
continues from page 1

hair done. I decided to go el-
egant this year.”

Last year, on Saturday, 
April 13, prom guests en-
joyed the last big event the 
old school building, which 
was located a few hundred 
yards from West Fertilizer 
Company, would hold. Four 
days later, the school was 
destroyed in the blast from 
the plant.

in 

Many residents 

the 
small town lost homes, cars, 
pets and other belongings 
in the explosion. For the ju-
nior class, the loss included 
traditions such as a senior 
hallway, senior pranks and 
energetic pep rallies in their 
old gym.

“I wish I could go back 
and just walk the halls one 
more time,” Wernet said. “If 
I had known what was gonna 
happen, what we know now, 

I would go back. I’d give 
anything to go back to that 
place and walk the halls one 
more time.”

he week ater the explo-
sion, the students of West 
resumed classes with their 
former rivals at Connally 
Independent School District 
in Waco. 

“When we got there that 
day, irst day of school, they 
had the whole school deco-
rated with [West’s slogan] 
‘Home of the Trojans’ — all 
the Connally kids did that,” 
said 
Jan Hungate, chief 
administrative oicer of 
West ISD.

he junior high and high 
school students whose build-
ings were destroyed by the 
blast were bused to Con-
nally every day for the last 
six weeks of the 2012-2013 
school year. According to 
Hungate, attendance the irst 
few days back was higher 
than average.

“he commissioner of ed-
ucation said, ‘You’re going to 
probably want to apply for a 
waiver for attendance when 
y’all start back,’ and I said, 
‘No, no, I don’t think I will,’” 
Hungate said. “We had 96 
percent attendance, and the 
next day we had 98 percent. 
More than normal.”

Almost every administra-
tor, teacher and counselor 
around the West campus 
described the students as re-
silient, although the return 
wasn’t easy.

“I’m going to be honest — 
I didn’t want to go,” Wernet 
said. “But ater a few days, I 
was like, ‘Wow, I really need-
ed this.’ I needed to go back 
and make sure my friends 
were OK.”

West High School senior 
Cordell Clark remembered 
calling friends the night of 
the explosion, making sure 
everyone was safe. But just 
hearing their voices wasn’t 

reassuring enough.

“I didn’t physically see 
them,” Clark said. “Once I 
physically saw them, it reas-
sured me that they were OK 
and I could relax.” 

Today, West ISD is in the 
early stages of planning and 
rebuilding a new campus 
that will hold both the ju-
nior high and high school 
students, set to open in a 
few years. In the meantime, 
students attend classes in a 
maze of portable buildings 
connected by wood decking.
“We haven’t gotten to re-
ally see people as much as we 
would’ve because we don’t 
have that senior hallway, but 
we still have gotten closer,” 
Wernet said.

his year’s prom was one 
of the school’s most deca-
dent. Fundraising by the ju-
nior class, combined with a 
$6,700 donation from James 
Martin High School in Ar-
lington, provided the school 

 4A OPINION

LAURA WRIGHT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorial
Thursday, April 17, 2014

4

HORNS UP: TEXAS’ RATE OF UNINSURED DIPS SLIGHTLY 

COLUMN

UGS courses are a mixed 
bag for UT undergraduates

By Suchi Sundaram
Daily Texan Columnist 

Students will register for classes for the 
next two weeks, a process that is diicult 
enough as it is. But many students will face 
the additional burden of trying to ind an 
Undergraduate Signature Course, known as 
a UGS, that is both open and interesting to 
them. Unfortunately, not many will succeed, 
and those who do will have to deal with the 
courses’ nonstandard grading platforms and 
a host of other frustrating problems. 

According to the National Center for 
Public Policy and Higher Education, nearly 
60 percent of irst-year college students in 
the U.S. are unprepared for post-secondary 
studies. UT’s solution to this problem was 
the UGS. It was designed to help transition 
students from various secondary institutions 
to the University by introducing them to the 
resources the campus ofers. Emphasizing 
discussion and core interpersonal skills for 
topics ranging from Odysseus to President 
Barack Obama seemed like a foolproof solu-
tion to address the growing problem of col-
lege readiness. 

But by forcing students to take classes that 
range widely in size, quality and diiculty 
of grading, UT has actually forced students 
into an academic lottery: You can only hope 
you’ll get a UGS that actually increases your 
knowledge and inspires you to learn. Other-
wise, you’re forced to join the growing crowd 
of discontent students who don’t beneit 
from the requirement.

One of the main problems with the 
courses is that the diverse nature of topics 
creates an inconsistent grading platform 
for professors and students. If a student 
takes Fitness for Life, the professor assigns 
grades based on that student’s ability to 
perform a physical activity. But if another 
student takes Sustaining the Planet, that 
student would be graded on his ability 
to create a lab portfolio. Ultimately, each 
class is based on an entirely different grad-
ing criterion. Is that fair for an incoming 
first-year or transfer student who does not 
know what to expect in the class? It’s not. 

By forcing students to take 
classes that range widely in 
size, quality and dificulty of 
grading, UT has actually forced 
students into an academic 
lottery: You can only hope 
you’ll get a UGS that actually 
increases your knowledge and 
inspires you to learn. Other-
wise, you’re forced to join the 
growing crowd of discontent 
students who don’t beneit 
from the requirement.

GALLERY

If a student takes Fitness for 
Life, the professor assigns 
grades based on that student’s 
ability to perform a physical 
activity. But if another student 
takes Sustaining the Planet, 
that student would be graded 
on his ability to create a lab 
portfolio. Ultimately, each class 
is based on an entirely differ-
ent grading criterion. Is that 
fair for an incoming irst-year 
or transfer student? 

It is definitely not the intent of a class de-
signed to stimulate students to learn. It is 
definitely not the solution the administra-
tion was looking for.

Similarly, the University says the courses 
were designed to introduce students to re-
sources such as the Sanger Learning Center 
and the library to encourage research. Un-
fortunately, because of the lack of uniformity 
among teachers and classes, many students 
are not exposed to half of the important re-
sources on campus. he diverse structures of 
the courses have led to a knowledge dispar-
ity among students. Professor liberty should 
be encouraged but not at the expense of 
the student. 

My UGS, Odysseus’ Odysseys, was the 
most difficult class I’ve taken at the Uni-
versity. I registered early for the class, 
expecting to learn more about Odysseus’ 
many adventures. But, by the end of the 
semester, the class had decreased my con-
fidence in my writing skills, and I learned 
that classes with interesting names are de-
ceptive. The UGS discouraged me from 
taking classes to inspire me, which is ironi-
cally the very purpose of the courses in the 
first place. 

he courses should be more focused on 
discussion and class participation to inspire 
students to pursue research and educational 
growth at the University. Students who have 
taken efective UGS classes have talked about 
class intimacy and the approachability of the 
instructor. With successful UGS classes, stu-
dents can value the complexity of the topics 
and the transferability of the skills they learn. 
he topic doesn’t matter as much as showing 
the value of an open-ended class to students. 
It is about showing how each of these class-
es has something to ofer for the growth of 
the student.

To ix this problem, the administration 
should weigh attendance and class participa-
tion as indicators of success in the courses. 
Faculty should have some type of uniform 
grading platform to encourage students to 
take the classes they are interested in rather 
than to choose easy classes. Why don’t we stop 
basing the value of our education on a grade-
disparaged lottery and inspire students to ac-
tually learn? Isn’t that why we are here?

Sundaram is a business honors, inance 
sophomore 

international 

relations 

and 
from Austin.

he percentage of uninsured adults aged 18 to 64 
in Texas dropped slightly from 24.8 percent in Sep-
tember 2013 to 23.5 percent in March 2014, according 
to a report released by the Bakers Institute for Public 
Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation. hough 
the change resulted from an increase in employer-
sponsored health care and not from new sign-ups in 
the federal marketplace, we see the uptick as positive news. More than 5 million adults in our 
state lack insurance, according to the Bakers institute. Even a 1 percentage-point decrease in 
that amount deserves attention. he report also projected that 746,000 Texans had signed up 
for insurance on the exchange, which is certainly a good start considering Texas has consis-
tently had the highest percent of uninsured residents among the 50 states for several years, 
and the insurance exchanges in Texas have only recently been rolled out.

HORNS DOWN: OFFICER USES TASER ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT 

An oicer who had been called to break up a ight be-
tween students at Stony Point High School in Round Rock 
on Monday used a Taser on a 16-year-old boy during 
lunchtime. hough the boy was not badly injured, he was 
taken to the hospital to have the Taser probes removed. If 
the use of a Taser on a minor wasn’t upsetting enough, the 
child who was tased actually did not take part in the ight 
— rather, he was trying to restrain one of the students who was taking part. his is the second 
instance of a high school student being tased this year, and although this instance didn’t result 
in a death like the previous one, there is no excuse for the use of a Taser in either situation. As 
we said in an editorial earlier this year, there is simply no logical reason why school resource 
oicers should carry and use weapons as forceful as Tasers on children in Texas schools. he 
sooner our police realize this, the better it will be for all Texans.

COLUMN

Base your summer plans on 
your passions, not future pay

By Olivia Berkeley
Daily Texan Columnist 
@ oliviaberkeley

Recently, a particularly annoying question 
has been swirling around campus. “What are 
your summer plans?” my friends ask. Unfor-
tunately, my answer is oten met with judg-
ment. When asked how I plan to spend my 
summer — nannying full-time and taking 
one measly online course — I am confronted 
with questioning looks. By some standards, 
it would appear that I am wasting a three-
month period designed to further my educa-
tion and get job experience. But my summer 
plans should not indicate that I am any less 
motivated or driven than the next person. I 
just don’t succumb to the peer pressure sur-
rounding the need for excellence. 

Monica Jackson, a Moody College of 
Communication career adviser, said she tells 
students who express concerns about ind-
ing jobs ater they graduate that “it really 
just depends on how prepared the student is 
with their transition, the number of intern-
ships they have had, the research they have 
done and how aggressive they are with their 
job search.”

When students ask Jackson how they 
should spend their summers, she says it 
“depends on their situation and if they have 
done an internship in the previous fall and 
spring academic year. If so, taking the sum-
mer of is acceptable.” 

“For most [students] depending on [their] 
major, taking advantage of an internship 
during the summer … would be beneicial,” 
Jackson said. 

College is a competitive atmosphere, and I 
completely understand why students forsake 
fun in order to make their resumes more 
impressive. Many college students believe 
summers should be used to take classes, 
work, get an internship and forgo relaxation 
to make themselves more employable indi-
viduals. In a competitive environment such 
as UT’s, having a high GPA and belonging 
to student organizations is not enough to be 
successful ater graduation. he goal of get-
ting a degree from UT is to have a career, 
and having internships is viewed as the way 
to attain one. 

“his summer I’d like to experience the 

I think that working over the 
summer is a great way to ad-
vance both [your] education 
and your own future market-
ability — you can learn so 
much from a summer intern-
ship and sharpen your resume 
at the same time. 

—Travis Lenz,
electrical engineering sophomore 

design side of [civil engineering], to under-
stand the logic concerning the planning of a 
building,” civil engineering sophomore Chi-
Chih Chen said. “I’m not sure if I’ll get paid 
this time for my work, but I’m eager to learn 
nonetheless. [My motivation to intern is] 
more interest-driven.” 

It’s a student’s prerogative to choose how 
to spend his or her summer, but to treat it 
exclusively as a time to increase employ-
ability is neglecting to acknowledge an en-
tire subset of students who use their sum-
mer time diferently. I encourage everyone 
to re-evaluate the motivations behind how 
they spend their summers. If you want to 
be a camp counselor but feel the pressure 
of your peers inluencing you to seek out a 
prestigious internship instead, explore that 
dynamic. I may be old-fashioned — and 
doomed to be unemployed for life — but I 
believe people should do what they love. If 
that happens to be a full-time job or resume-
boosting internship, then so be it.

Of course, it is hard to ignore the beneits 
of spending summer working and interning 
rather than tanning and sleeping. Using the 
three months between the end and start of 
school is invaluable in terms of career explora-
tion, especially with half of college graduates 
working jobs that aren’t worth the prices of 
their degrees. About 48 percent of employed 
U.S. college graduates are in job positions that 
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests re-
quire less than a four-year college education. 
According to he Huington Post and a May 
2013 study from the Georgetown University 
Center on Education and the Workforce, the 
overall unemployment rate for recent gradu-
ates is 7.9 percent. So, as college students lose 
faith in an unreliable job market, internships 
and summers spent frantically improving 
resumes are understandably becoming the 
baseline expectation. 

“I think that working over the summer is a 
great way to advance both [your] education 
and your own future marketability — you can 
learn so much from a summer internship and 
sharpen your resume at the same time,” said 
Travis Lenz, an electrical engineering sopho-
more who will intern at Cadac Group in 
Houston this summer. “It’s not always a bad 
idea to relax during the summer and prepare 
for the next year — whether it be work or 
education. I just decided to take this summer 
as an opportunity to get a head start in the 
[engineering] world.”

We will all fall victim to the rat race at 
some point in time, but I urge everyone to 
make sure it is for the right reasons. College 
is one of the few times in which we get to pick 
and choose what we want to do and shape 
our classes and jobs to what we are interest-
ed in, and summertime should be no excep-
tion. Instead of judging one another based 
on the contents of our summer agendas, we 
should be encouraging each other to seek 
out opportunities that excite, entertain and 
challenge us. here are numerous summers 
during the college experience, and spending 
one away from a work environment isn’t all 
that bad. Catastrophizing the implications of 
taking a summer of is not a productive use 
of time and is certainly something I am tired 
of hearing about. he decision to crat your 
summer as you see it is entirely yours. Don’t 
let anybody tell you otherwise. 

Berkeley is a Plan II Honors and advertis-

ing freshman from Austin.

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are 
those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer 
of the article. They are not necessarily those of the 
UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas 
Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | E-mail your Firing Lines to 
editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more 
than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan 
reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, 
clarity and liability.
 

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. 
Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or 
back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.
EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial 
Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates 
on our latest editorials and columns.

Illustration by Albert Lee / Daily Texan Staff 

 PHONES
continues from page 8

that in some respects, the 
subjects on cell phones ac-
tually drove worse than the 
drunks. he most notice-
able efect was on reaction 
times, which were slowest 
when subjects used their 
cell phones.

Over the course of the 
experiment, which involved 
40 participants, only three 
accidents occurred, and they 
all involved sober subjects 
using cell phones. his is not 
to say that driving drunk is 
not dangerous — it is. But so 
is driving while talking on a 
cell phone, which is still legal 
in Texas.

he researchers 

found 
no correlation between a 
person’s perceived ability 

MENTORS
continues from page 8

the path toward college be-
gins early, so she expanded 
the program 
to mentor 
students starting in their 
freshman year.

“We can help them a lot 
when they are juniors and 
seniors, but if they haven’t 
worked since freshman year 
to get the grades and to get 
involved, then it won’t really 
matter,” Srivastava said.

he program 

assigns 
each high school freshman 
a college freshman men-
tor. Srivastava said the ob-
jective is that both mentor 
and mentee graduate at the 
same time.

“I 

think what’s going 
to be unique about this is 
that, rather than one person 
evaluating the progress of 
a whole class, it will be just 
me and my mentee for all 
four years,” Srivastava said. 
“I will be able to really ex-
plain in detail what she’s im-
proved on.” 

Plan II Honors freshman 
Missy Glasenapp is a men-
tor with Project Activate. 

5

to drive while using a cell 
phone and his actual ability, 
but they did ind evidence 
suggesting that the abil-
ity to talk and drive does 
not improve with practice. 
his is probably because 
driving requires immedi-
ate reactions to sudden, 
random changes — an abil-
ity that does not beneit 
from repetition.

As for the other possible 
driving distractions, such 
as the radio, audiobooks or 
even another passenger, ex-
periments suggest they don’t 
make much of a diference 
at all. One study even asked 
subjects to repeat words said 
to them via a cell phone as 
they were driving — which 
required them to hold a cell 
phone, listen to it and talk 
back into it — and even this 

did not have a signiicant 
impact on their ability to 
maneuver the vehicle safely. 
In other words, listening and 
speaking into a cell phone 
does not impair driving, nor 
does holding a conversation 
with someone else in the car. 
But if a person has an active 
conversation with someone 
on a cell phone their driving 
will sufer. And, since this is 
a result of the brain’s limited 
resources and not control of 
the wheel, using a hands-free 
device does not help.

Our modern electronic 
devices are wonderful — 
they keep our best friends 
and closest family a few 
buttons away at any given 
time. But there is also a 
whole world around us 
that screens can prevent us 
from experiencing.

Glasenapp said she was 
drawn to the idea of a stu-
dent-run organization help-
ing younger students. 

“I had done something 
like this in high school, and 
it wasn’t very successful, 
and I was a little bit disap-
pointed in that,” Glasenapp 
said. “I really wanted some-
thing like this to work out.”

Srivastava said she wants 
the mentors to be a source 
of stability and reliability in 
the students’ lives, as well as 
to help them academically. 

Project Activate currently 
meets four days a week with 
diferent sets of students 
at Reagan and Lyndon 
B. Johnson Early College 
high schools. he group 
has partnered with other 
academic initiatives, such as 
AVID and early college high 
school programs, which 
also 
low-income 
high school students. Proj-
ect Activate currently helps 
around 25 students, but it 
plans to mentor around 200 
by next year. 

target 

Esmeralda Macedo de 
Paz, a freshman at Reagan 
High School, joined Project 

I had done some-
thing like this in high 
school, and it wasn’t 
very successful, and I 
was a little bit disap-
pointed in that. I really 
wanted something 
like this to work out.

—Missy Glasenapp, 
Plan II Honors freshman

Activate this school year. 

“I wanted to get help,” 
Macedo de Paz said. “You 
can also really 
increase 
your communication skills 
with this.” 

Srivastava hopes to im-
plement Project Activate in 
more high schools around 
Austin and possibly expand 
it to other cities in Texas. 
Mentors such as Glase-
napp have committed to 
helping these students for 
four years.

“I think we could do a lot 

of good,” Glasenapp said. 

ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. In the event of errors made in advertisement, notice 
must be given by 10 am the ﬁ rst day of publication, as the publishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect 
insertion. In consideration of The Daily Texan’s acceptance of advertising copy for publication, the agency 
and the advertiser will indemnify and save harmless, Texas Student Media and its ofﬁ cers, 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 attorney’s 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.

Seeks College-Educated Men
18–39 to Participate in a
Six-Month Donor Program

Donors average $150 per specimen.
Apply on-line
www.123Donate.com

860 Engineering-Technical
LICENSED ALARM TECHNICIAN 
Central Security Group is look-
ing for an experienced alarm 
technician in Austin area. Com-
petitive wages and excellent 
beneﬁts. Email resume to: hu-
manresources@csg-guardian.
com 

LICENSED ALARM INSTALLER 
Central Security Group is look-
ing for an experienced alarm 
installer 
in the Austin area. 
Competitive wages and great 
beneﬁts. Email resume to: hu-
manresources@csg-guardian.
com 

watch weekly for the
super tuesday 
COUPONS

910-Positions Wanted

NEEDED 
IMMEDIATELY
Banquet Waiters - $11-$12 per 
hour. Cooks $12-$13 per hour. 
Bellman - $9 per hour PLUS 
tips. Please call: 512-271-4438 
or apply in person at: 2800 IH 35 
South, Suite 135 Austin, TX 7870

Sell Textbooks
SCIENCE FICTION: After cata-
strophic biological warfare, we 
may not agree on what nature is 
or what civilization is. WILDER-
NESS is a novel by Alan Kovski. 
Available via Amazon.com 

SCIENCE FICTION: Life will 
change fast amid genetic en-
gineering, climate engineer-
ing and economic upheavals. 
Will we cope? WONDERS AND 
TRAGEDIES is a novel by Alan 
Kovski. Available via Amazon.
com 

SCIENCE FICTION: What will we 
become, years from now? Better 
or worse? Fools, victims, fortu-
nate souls, survivors in danger-
ous times? REMEMBERING THE 
FUTURE: stories by Alan Kovski. 
Available via Amazon.com 

LIFE&ARTS Thursday, April 17, 2014

CLASS 5

TEXT
continues from page 8

April 18 at the beginning 
of the Fusebox Festival.

“It made me feel like a 
player in the play in this 
great way,” Lynn said. “It’s 
fun to get seemingly pri-
vate messages on your 
phone from a character.”

Over a period of six 
months, participants will 
sporadically receive five or 
six text messages each week 
from Boyd. Moore worked 
to make sure the texts are 
not so frequent that they 
become obnoxious, and 
audience members are free 
to unsubscribe at anytime. 
“Computer Stimulation 
of the Ocean” touches on 
the paradoxical 
idea of 
personal technology. On 
one hand, technology can 
reduce human 
interac-
tion; on the other, it can 
simultaneously 
connect 
people. Moore said that 
a text message can often 
be more intimate than an 
in-person discussion. 

“We have to be careful 
to remember how to have a 
conversation with a person 
face-to-face,” Moore said. 
“But if we consider all tech-
nology and ways of com-
municating that are based 
on technology as bad, or 
put them in one category, 
then I think we’re simplify-
ing things too much.”

Moore 

said he has 
thought a lot about wheth-
er or not this piece can be 
considered a theater per-
formance since it lacks a 
venue, costumes and props. 
He has come to the conclu-
sion that the show is theater 
in the sense that it unites an 
audience in the same story 
at the same time, just like a 
traditional play. The main 
difference is that the play is 
viewed on your phone rath-
er than on a stage.

“hink of theater as a com-
munal experience where you 
go into a space and watch 

Photo courtesy of Stephen Pruitt

Playwright and UT alum Steve Moore’s play, “Computer Simu-
lation of the Ocean,” will not take place in a physical venue. In-
stead, the entire play can be experienced through a six-month 
text messaging subscription.

something happen with oth-
er people,” Moore said. “In a 
sense you still have some of 
that going on because you’ll 
have [these texts] happen-
ing to multiple people at 
the same time even though 
it doesn’t happen on a 
theatrical stage.” 

Fusebox Festival chose 
to feature the play because 
of its unorthodox outlet.

“For us, this is a really 
interesting place to think 
about art,” said Brad Carlin, 
Fusebox Festival’s manag-
ing director. “It’s art that’s 
happening in the tools in 
our everyday lives — in our 
pockets and in our purses.” 
Lynn said the merging of 
theater and technology is 
nothing new.

“I think theater always 
it 

loves technology, and 

Think of theater as a 
communal experience 
where you go into 
a space and watch 
something happen 
with other people,

—Steve Moore,
Playwright

loves innovators who want 
to manipulate the technol-
ogy,” Lynn said. “Frankly, 
so much of our commu-
nication with one another 
is through text message 
that 
characters 
text message you makes 
perfect sense.”

having 

THE DAILY TEXAN

CLASSIFIEDS
CLASSIFIEDS

 Self-serve, 24/7 on the Web at www.DailyTexanOnline.com

A D R U N S 
O N L I N E F O R 
F R E E !
w o r d a d s o n l y
 

 

790 Part Time

875 Medical Study

360 Furn. Apts.
THE PERFECT LOCATION! Five 
minutes to campus, pool, shut-
tle and Metro, shopping, park-
ing, gated patio, summer rates 
available.

Century Plaza Apts. 4210 Red 
River 512.452.4366

Park Plaza and Plaza Court Apts. 
915 & 923 E. 41st St. 512.452.6518

apartmentsinaustin.u 

490 Wanted to Rent-Lease

HOUSE FOR 
LEASE
Six Bedroom. $3000 per month. 
$1500 deposit. Students wel-
comed. Pick your own room-
mate. Located at 5412 MLK Bld. 
Telephone number: 512-461-
0010. Ms. Oh.

762 Health & Fitness
PROFOUND HEALING Massage, 
Chakra Balancing, DNA Activa-
tions, Reiki, Cathartic Guided 
Meditations, Metaphysical Spir-
itual Councel & Ionic Detox. Free 
App includes 2 free lectures. 
April only! $50 p/h. 10am-10pm. 
No Wednesdays. Testimonials 
at CarinaCarinosa.com/tour Due 
to demand, please visit site ﬁrst 
for details. Blessing- 512-333-
1216 

766 Recruitment

$5,500-$10,000 
PAID EGG 
DONORS
SAT>1100/ACT>24/GPA>3.0 N/
Smokers, Ages 18-27. Reply to: 
info@eggdonorcenter.com

$5,500 -$10,000 
PAID EGG 
DONOR

Looking for redhead or straw-
berry blond egg donor. Non-
smoker. Age 18-27. Reply to 
AustinCoupleNeedsEggDonor@
gmail.com

785 Summer Camps
SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS 
Hiring for gymnastics coaches 
and summer camp counselors. 
Must have experience working 
with children and an outgo-
ing and fun personality. Please 
email resume to margo.cham-
pionswestlake@gmail.com. 512-
426-1990 

CALLING ALL 
LONGHORNS!
UTalk is currently seeking ap-
plicants for spring & summer! 
If you are looking for a fun and 
ﬂexible on-campus job, UTalk is 
the perfect opportunity for you! 
Great pay with incentive based 
bonuses and opportunities for 
advancement! Boost your re-
sume while helping your peers, 
your school, and your profes-
sional development! All ap-
plicants must have great com-
munication skills and a drive to 
succeed. For more information 
contact Garron Freddie at gar-
ron.freddie@ruffalocody.com 
or apply online at utalk.thecall-
ingcenter.com

PART TIME PERSONAL AS-
SISTANT Part time female per-
sonal assistant wanted to help 
a slightly disabled female adult 
use Capital Metro bus for trans-
portation to and from UT and 
downtown Austin. Prefer a col-
lege student that lives in River-
side or UT areas and has Tues-
day and Thursday afternoons 
and Thursday evenings avail-
able. Please contact Lori Duran 
at loriduran2003@yahoo.com 
HIRING
Student with architectural de-
sign abilities. Part-time, $15.00 
per/hr. Call/text Larry (512) 461-
9018 to inquire.

791 Nanny Wanted

DRIVER FALL 
SEMESTER
Drive two teens to and from 
school. Starts AUGUST - 

 
austintx78731@gmail.com

 
Read more:

 
http://goo.gl/QVJA74

840 Sales
LICENSED ALARM SALES PER-
SON Central Security Group 
is looking for an experienced 
alarm sales person in Austin 
area. High commissions, great 
beneﬁts and excellent bonus 
plans. Email resumes to: hu-
manresources@csg-guardian.
com 

RECYCLE
RECYCLE

PPD Study 
Opportunities

PPD conducts medically supervised research studies to help 
evaluate new investigational medications. PPD has been 
conducting research studies in Austin for more than 25 
years. The qualiﬁcations for each study are listed below. You 
must be available to remain in our facility for all dates listed 
for a study to be eligible. Call today for more information.

Men and Postmenopausal or 
Surgically Sterile Women
18 to 55
Up to $1500
Healthy & Non-Smoking
BMI between 18 and 30
Weigh at least 110 lbs. 
Thu. 17 Apr. through Sun. 20 Apr.
Outpatient Visit: 24 Apr.

Men and Women
18 to 55
Up to $2000
Healthy & Non-Smoking 
BMI between 18 and 32
Fri. 25 Apr. through Mon. 28 Apr.
Fri. 2 May through Mon. 5 May
Outpatient Visit: 7 May 

Men
18 to 55
Up to $1800
Healthy & Non-Smoking 
 BMI between 22 and 29
Fri. 2 May through Sun. 4 May
Fri. 9 May through Sun. 11 May
Fri. 16 May through Sun. 18 May

512-462-0492 • ppdi.com
text “ppd” to 48121 to receive study information

visit dailytexanonline.com

Sign up for the Daily Digest 
and receive coupons DAILY! 

 

 

Scan this code >

 6 SPTS

STEFAN SCRAFIELD, SPORTS EDITOR / @texansports
Thursday, April 17, 2014

Red River Rivalry isn’t just for football

MAY BREAK TRIPS
YOSEMITE OR COLORADO
ADVENTURESTARTS HERE

6

utrecsports.org

SIDELINE

NHL PLAYOFFS

NBA

STARS

DUCKS

MAVERICKS

GRIZZLIES

ROCKETS

PELICANS

LAKERS

SPURS

MARINERS

RANGERS

ROYALS

ASTROS

a new high as the teams faced 
each other in the Women’s 
College World Series for the 
irst time. Texas took a 2-0 
lead in the top of the third 
before Oklahoma came back 
with six in the bottom of the 
inning, including three on a 
throwing error by Kim Bruins, 
to win 10-2 on its way to the 
NCAA title.

In all, the Sooners took three 
of the four games the teams 
played last year.

“hey were 

extremely 
tough,” senior shortstop Taylor 
hom said.

Like the Cotton Bowl, both 
sotball stadiums are sold out 
for each game of the series. 
Marita Hynes Stadium in Nor-
man presents a unique situ-
ation, as there are bleachers 
also beyond the outield wall, 
creating a “surround sound” 
of noise for the players to 
deal with.

Despite the tough environ-
ment and there being seven 
freshmen on the team, Clark 
said she enjoys taking this type 
of team up to Norman.

“You talk a lot about hostile 
environments, but, until you 
get into it and feel it, you can’t 
that experience,” 
really get 

SOFTBALL

By Jacob Martella
@ViewFromTheBox

he phrase “Texas versus 
Oklahoma” conjures up im-
ages of a packed Cotton Bowl 
in October, but the rivalry be-
tween the two schools on the 
sotball ield has been just as 
ierce. For every “Colt McCoy 
versus Sam Bradford,” there 
has been a “Blaire Luna versus 
Keilani Ricketts.”

“It doesn’t matter what sport 
— when you match up the 
Longhorns and the Sooners, 
it’s always a rivalry,” head coach 
Connie Clark said.

In 49 games, the Sooners 
hold a slim 26-23 edge, and 
the teams have combined to 
win 10 regular season confer-
ence titles and eight confer-
ence tournament titles. With 
the departure of Missouri, 
Nebraska and Texas A&M, 
the rivalry has had a big-
ger role in determining the 
conference champion.

hat will likely be the case 
this season. Oklahoma and 
Texas have each lost a game in 
conference play, but the Soon-
ers hold a slight edge on per-
centage points.

Last year, the rivalry went to 

BASEBALL

By Evan Berkowitz
@Evan_Berkowitz

There were high expecta-
tions for freshman catcher 
Tres Barrera coming in to 
the season. 

Head coach Augie Gar-
rido slotted him into the 
four hole from the get-go. 
Barrera was behind the plate 
that irst night while senior 
catcher Jacob Felts, who led 
the Longhorns to the College 
World Series in his fresh-
man season, watched from 
the bench. 

“Augie had a lot of faith 
in me from the beginning,” 
Barrera said. 

But as the season began 
expectations 
unfolding, 
turned to frustration. The 
highly 
freshman 
was batting .128 just over a 
month ago. 

touted 

“I was [in the four hole] 
for a reason: RBIs and to 
bring guys 
in,” Barrera 
said. “At the beginning I 
was trying to do too much 
and that’s why I think I 
started slowly.” 

He had no multi-hit games 
in the irst 15, and his aver-
age was the lowest on the 
team. Sophomore catcher 
Jeremy Montalbano and Felts 
began getting reps behind 
the plate, and all of a sud-
den, the catching job was up 
for grabs. 

“Of course it got into my 
head,” Barrera said. “But I 
took a step back and realized 
there were a lot of ball games 
let. Ever since then, things 

Former pitcher Blaire Luna pitches against Oklahoma at home last year. Texas went on to 
face Oklahoma in the Women’s College World Series and lost 10-2.

Shweta Gulati / Daily Texan ile photo

Clark said.

Both teams come into this 
year’s edition of the rivalry rid-
ing a wave of momentum. De-
spite losing star irst baseman 
Lauren Chamberlain for six 
weeks and having gotten a slow 
start to the season, the Sooners 
have gotten of to a hot start to 
Big 12 play, highlighted by their 
series win at Baylor last week.

he Longhorns also got of 
to a slow start, going 20-15 in 
non-conference play and strug-
gling to score with runners on 
base. But Texas has scored 82 
runs in its last eight games, in-
cluding 38 in the series against 
led 
Iowa State. hom has 
the charge, hitting ive home 
runs and 17 RBIs in the last 
seven games.

Texas is 6-10 in games 
played in Norman, but, de-
spite that record and the ri-
valry, senior catcher Mandy 
Ogle said the Longhorns are 
focused on just winning an-
other Big 12 series.

“We’re just going to take it as 
another Big 12 series and not 
going to focus on our opponent 
and focus on us,” Ogle said.

MLB

FOOTBALL | COLUMN

Barrera lives up to the hype

Mengwen Cao / Daily Texan Staff

Freshman catcher Tres Barrera got off to a slow start after 
being put into the four hole to start the season, batting .128 
in the irst 15 games. Since then, he’s hitting over .400.

have been going my way.”

A three hit performance 
on March 11 against Texas 
State broke him out of that 
slump, and since that game, 
he has had nine multi-
hit games while batting 
over .400. 

“Augie said he knew it was 
going to come,” Barrera said. 
Barrera’s power that Gar-
rido talked about early on 
has also begun to rear its 
head. Barrera had just one 
extra-base hit in the first 
15 games; in the next 21 
games, he had 11.

But he is not just making 
a difference at the plate. 
He is making one behind 
it also. He is calling pitches 
for the a pitching staff that 
has a 2.12 ERA, which is 
fifth best in the country.

“It’s fun working with 
them,” Barrera said. “I 
lot 
study 

the hitters a 

before the games. They are 
all pretty confident in me.”
As Barrera’s bat start-
ed coming around, 
so 
did Texas (30-8, 9-3 Big 
12), winning 17 of 21 
games since March 11. 
The 
team has climbed 
all the way to No. 6 in 
the country.

“Winning: hat’s all that 
matters to me,” Barrera said. 
Barrera heads into the 
TCU series this weekend 
with the team’s most doubles 
and its third best average 
and slugging percentage.

The opening game will 
be Thursday at 6 p.m. at 
home, as the weekend se-
ries was moved up a day 
for Easter Sunday. TCU 
(23-13, 7-5 Big 12) is third 
in the Big 12, two games 
back of Texas. 
It also 
sports a 2.69 ERA, second 
to Texas. 

T E X A S
S T U D E N T
M E D I A

The Daily Texan • Cactus Yearbook • Texas Student Television 
• Texas Travesty • KVRX 91.7 FM

TEXAS STUDENT MEDIA
BOARD OF OPERATING TRUSTEES

TSM IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 
STUDENT MANAGER & EDITOR POSITIONS.

POSITION

APPLICATION DEADLINE

TERM

KVRX Station Manager

TSTV Station Manager

Travesty Editor

Cactus Yearbook Editor

The Daily Texan 
Managing Editor (Summer)

The Daily Texan
Managing Editor (Fall)

4/21/14

4/21/14

4/21/14

4/21/14

4/21/14

June ‘14 - May ‘15

June ‘14 - May ‘15

June ‘14 - May ‘15

June ‘14 - May ‘15

June ‘14 - August ‘14

4/21/14

August ‘14 - December ‘14

APPLICATION
DROP OFF:
HSM 3.200
Business Oice

Questions? Contact us at:
 serpas@austin.utexas.edu
Download the Application and visit 
our website for more information: 
www.utexas.edu/tsm

Charlie Pearce / Daily Texan ile photo

Freshman Tyrone Swoopes’ redshirt was burnt last year. 
Now, he will battle to start from day one for Texas. 

Dilemma at the helm:
the next quarterback

By Drew Liebermamn
Daily Texan Columnist 
@DrewLieberman

79-12. 
hat is the record Texas 
compiled during a seven-year 
span when it started legends 
Vince Young and Colt Mc-
Coy at quarterback. Texas 
played for two national titles 
— winning one — in addi-
tion to winning two more 
BCS bowls in 2006 and 2008. 
Young beat teams with his 
feet and arm and made the 
team “inVINCEable” during 
the latter part of his career. 
McCoy was one of the most 
accurate passers in NCAA 
history and the winningest 
BCS-conference quarterback.
But over the past four sea-
sons, with the quarterback 
carousel of Garrett Gilbert, 
Case McCoy and David Ash 
in full swing, Texas has gone 
just 30-21. During this time, 
the Longhorns missed a bowl 
game while only winning two 
of three minor bowls from 
2011 to 2013. Gilbert was 
highly touted but lamed out. 
McCoy will be remembered 
for his late game moxie but 
struggled in his last few games. 
Ash can play brilliantly when 
healthy, but his durability ap-
pears to be a nagging concern. 
he quarterback position 
at Texas has been a mess lately 
and will likely remain so in 
2014. he Longhorns will 
play their spring game Sat-
urday with three active quar-
terbacks who have completed 
5 of 13 passes for 26 yards in 
their careers combined.

Only sophomore Tyrone 
Swoopes got reps at quarter-
back in a game last season, 
playing in six games ater a 
controversial burning of his 
redshirt against TCU. With 
such limited opportunities, it’s 
hard to tell whether Swoopes 
will be successful at this level, 
but it’s encouraging that head 
coach Charlie Strong sees 
Swoopes already taking ad-
vantage of Ash’s absence.

“He did a really outstand-
ing job last Saturday,” Strong 
said. ”I know I don’t know his 
numbers, but he had really 
good numbers and threw an 
unbelievable ball to Marcus 
[Johnson] down the side-
line where he beat one of 
our defensive backs. It was a 
big throw, but he did a really 
good job, and he settled in 
and had the conidence and 
just a diferent air about him 
when leading the ofense.”

Texas’ other quarterbacks 
Saturday will be former wide 
receiver and tight end Miles 
Onyegbule, a senior, and 
sophomore Trey Holtz, both 
of whom should play to give 
Swoopes time of the ield.

Many fans believe salva-
tion is on the way with the 
enrollment of touted recruit 
Jerrod Heard on campus 
this summer. Heard led his 
team to two state titles in 
high school, but, while there 
could be temptation to play 
him early, Texas’ smartest 
move may be to redshirt 
him this season. Young and 
Colt both redshirted during 
their irst seasons on cam-
pus, and that may be the 
best way to set up Heard for 
a successful career. 

Texas’ best hope in 2014 
is to keep Ash healthy, but 
it should be prepared in the 
likely event he misses time. 
Perhaps it will nab USC 
transfer Max Wittek, who is a 
talented quarterback looking 
for a change of scenery. he 
Longhorns are thought to be 
the frontrunners for Wittek’s 
services, which would pro-
vide them with a solid backup 
in the likely event Ash sufers 
yet another setback.

he team will likely strug-
gle until assistant coach 
Shawn Watson can develop 
his quarterback, but Heard 
may be the answer in 2015 
or 2016. Until then, Texas 
fans need to remain patient 
as the Longhorns search for 
their next world-beating 
signal caller.

TODAY IN 
HISTORY

1920

The American 
Professional 
Football 
Association, now 
known as the NFL, 
forms.

TOP TWEET

Cat Osterman
@catosterman

Best bday present 
a coach can ask 
for...Being asked 
to throw extra BP 
so they can get 
better!!

SPORTS 
BRIEFLY

Astros’ top prospect 
gets called up to bigs

HOUSTON — Prized 
prospect George Spring-
join the Hous-
er will 
ton Astros 
from Tri-
ple-A Oklahoma City 
on Wednesday.

he 24-year-old outield-
er had 37 homers and 108 
RBIs with 45 stolen bases 
combined in Double-A and 
Triple-A last year. He was 
of to a strong start in Tri-
ple-A this season, too, hit-
ting .353 with three homers 
and nine RBIs.

“It’s just an indescribable 
feeling,” Springer said. “I’m 
speechless right now.”

he Astros oicially 
the move 
announced 
Wednesday and sent out-
ielder Robbie Grossman to 
Oklahoma City. 

Springer was selected 
11th overall by the Astros 
out of UConn in the 2011 
amateur drat.

“As a player, that’s your 
ultimate goal and that’s your 
dream,” Springer said. “And 
when it becomes a reality, 
you’re blown away.”

—Associated Press

 COMICS Thursday, April 17, 2014

7

COMICS 7

Crossword

Edited by Will Shortz

No. 0313

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

15

17

20

25

38

44

49

58

61

63

ACROSS

 1 Swine
 6 “Giant” novelist, 

1952

12 Country that 

calls itself the 
“Abode of Peace”

13 Shakespeare 

character who 
says “Unhappy 
that I am, I 
cannot heave / 
My heart into my 
mouth”

15 Like only one 

Best Picture in 
Academy Award 
history (1969)

16 Essay locale
17 Stylish 1960s 
luxury coupe
18 Louis Malle’s 
“___ Amants”

19 Scottish 

exclamation

20 Fruit juice
21 Like much 

music, starting 
in the late 
1980s

23 Gold units: Abbr.
25 2000 Richard 
Gere title role

26 D
28 Mycobacterium, 

e.g.

30 One of the 

vertices of the 
Summer Triangle
31 Start to break up 

a fight, say
32 Boston legend 
Phil, to fans
35 Rembrandt van 

___

37 Foundation 
stone abbr.

38 Dirty dog
41 Conrad of the 

silents

44 Noted part of a 

book?
45 Eye part
46 Diamond stats
49 Operative: Abbr.
50 Subj. of 1991’s 
Start treaty
52 Women’s shoe 

style

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

M I L K
E P E E
A S A N
D O N T S T A R E

J U I C E
U P B O W
S L A V E

T E A
S L U G
K E R I
P E C A N

S N I T

C A D

O N E S T O P

F A V
C S A
I A M S O
T I M E T O G O
D R I N K S A L L A R O U N D
D E R E K
E A G L E E Y E
S S A
R H O

R I S O T T O

L E S

O I L S

A R C E D
L A I D
E S A U
P O P

P L O T L I N E S
N O T A
E W O K
W I N E

F L I N T
E E N I E
W A T E R

54 Line score inits.
56 Highball?
57 Approval of an 

order

58 Play to the 
balcony?
60 Lassitude
61 Faint
62 11th-century 
founder of 
Scholasticism
63 Not hypothetical
64 “___ lift?”
DOWN

 1 Like the 

Cowardly Lion at 
the end of “The 
Wizard of Oz”
 2 Best on stage, 

say
 3 Re
 4 Bureaucracy
 5 Mashie niblick
 6 Some diet drinks
 7 Teacher’s 

advanced deg.

 8 “___ Man”
 9 2010 installment 
in the Call of 
Duty series
10 Like some 

primitive game 
graphics
11 “The Facts of 
Life” actress
12 Leave a lasting 

mark on

13 Kid’s art activity 
… or something 
seen four times 
in this puzzle’s 
solution?

14 Public
22 SFO opponent in 
the 2012 World 
Series
24 Elate

22

23

24

19

29

37

53

46

47

48

26

27

30

32

33

34

35

36

39

40

42

43

50

51

54

55

56

59

13

14

16

18

21

41

45

28

31

52

57

60

62

64

36 Part of U.S.N.A.: 

48 ___ whale

PUZZLE BY ALEX VRATSANOS

27 Key preposition?
29 Line holder
30 Vietnamese 
currency
32 Title character 

from the village of 
Highbury, 1815

33 Teal relative
34 Not too hard a 

golf hole

Abbr.
39 Certain 
grandson
40 Vatican City 

vis-à-vis Rome

42 Sunbathe
43 “Piece of cake!”
46 Hung
47 Radio activity?

51 Foreshadow

53 Breviloquent

55 Reef dwellers

58 Kind of trail

59 Rejections

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday 
crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS.
AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit 
nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.
Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past 
puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).
Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. 
Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

Prep to 
the highest 
degree.

MCAT® | LSAT® | GMAT® | GRE®
Available: In Person LiveOnline 

Use promo code DailyTexan$150 
to save $150 on classroom prep.

PrincetonReview.com | 800-2Review

 1

SUDOKUFORYOU
t
 7 9 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 9 
 4 8 
 
2 
 5 
 
9 5 7 
 4
3 6 
 
 

 9 3
 2 7 6
 9
 4 
 3 1

 4
 
 

 5 3

 1 

 1

 

 

Today’s solution will appear here next issue
3 4 9 6 8 2 5 7 1
1 6 2 9 5 7 4 3 8
7 5 8 4 1 3 2 6 9
4 8 6 2 7 1 9 5 3
2 9 1 3 6 5 7 8 4
5 3 7 8 4 9 6 1 2
8 7 4 1 2 6 3 9 5
6 1 3 5 9 4 8 2 7
9 2 5 7 3 8 1 4 6

 8 L&A

HANNAH SMOTHERS, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR / @DailyTexanArts
Thursday, April 17, 2014

8

Group mentors low-income college hopefuls

CAMPUS

By Brigit Benestante
@BBenestante

During an ater-school 
study session at John H. 
Reagan Early College High 
School, students struggled to 
inish their geography home-
work because 
the school 
wouldn’t allow them to take 
textbooks home. One stu-
dent, a senior named Ivan, 
worked on an Austin Com-
munity College application 
with the help of two UT stu-
dent mentors, who are mem-
bers of the student-run group 
Project Activate. Ivan said he 
wants to go to art school one 
day, but he is undocumented. 
He is looking to his mentors 
to help him apply to college 
and for inancial aid.

Anisha Srivastava, Plan II 
Honors and business honors 
freshman and Project Acti-
vate founder, launched the 
program on March 19. Its 
goal is to enlist college stu-
dents to mentor low-income 
high school students at least 
once a week.

“I thought about how go-
ing through college apps was 
so overwhelming,” Srivas-
tava said. “I started think-
ing, ‘What are students who 
and 
irst-generation 
are 

THEATER

Anisha Sriv-
astava, Plan 
II Honors and 
business honors 
freshman, is the 
founder of Proj-
ect Activate, a 
program focused 
on mentoring 
low-income high 
school students 
and guiding them 
through college 
applications. 
The program has 
been implement-
ed at two schools 
in Austin. 

Sarah Montgomery
Daily Texan Staff

low-income, who can’t aford 
the resources, whose school 
doesn’t ofer the resources — 
how are they even applying 
to college?’” 

According to the Insti-
tute of Education Sciences, 
the dropout rate for high 
school students in the low-
est income bracket was more 

than 12 percent in 2011. 
Reagan High School, one 
of the two schools Project 
Activate works with, has a 
student population that is 90 

percent below the poverty 
line, according to Srivastava. 
he program currently pro-
vides mentorship to a range 
of students who are low-in-

come, irst-generation and in 
some cases, undocumented.
Srivastava realized 

that 
MENTORS page 5

Text message-based play takes theater of stage

By Eleanor Dearman
@ellydearman

After receiving a 

late 
night text, UT theatre and 
dance assistant professor 
and playwright Kirk Lynn 
looked at his phone expect-
ing to see a message from 
a family member or friend. 
Instead he saw a text from 
Sally Boyd, a 
fictional 
character in UT alum Steve 

Moore’s play “Computer 
Simulation of the Ocean.” 
The play, produced by 
Physical Plant Theater and 
featured at Austin’s annual 
Fusebox Festival, is viewed 
entirely through a series of 
text messages from Boyd. 
the re-
Boyd addresses 
ceiver directly as if the two 
are in a relationship and in 
the middle of a fight. She 
the conversation 
begins 

by apologizing for an un-
known mistake, and the 
messages gradually reveal 
more about the plot. 

The play does not have 
a physical venue, rather, 
it is experienced entirely 
text message 
through a 
lasts 
subscription 
six months. 

that 

Similar projects have 
been done through medi-
ums such as Twitter, but 

usually they are presented 
as episodes in a continuous 
narrative. While Moore’s 
play does have a plot, it is 
not just pieces of a story 
being sent to a receiver. 
The person on the other 
end of Boyd’s texts is a 
character in the play. 

“The idea is that you, 
the person receiving the 
messages, are so mad at 
the person who is writing 

you that you’re not going 
to write her back,” Moore 
said. “So that sets up the 
sort of one-sidedness of the 
conversation.”

Lynn assisted in editing 
the piece and served as a 
test subject for the play’s 
text message delivery sys-
tem. The public will be-
gin receiving messages on 
TEXT page 5

COMPUTER 
SIMULATION OF 
THE OCEAN

When: Begins Friday

Cost: Free

Where: Text “subscribe” 
to (469) 213-2281

 

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Better clinic.
Better medicine.
Better world.

Everybody counts on having safe, 
effective medicine for anything from 
the common cold to heart disease. But 
making sure medications are safe is a 
complex and careful process.

At PPD, we count on healthy volunteers 
to help evaluate medications being 
developed – maybe like you. You must 
meet certain requirements to qualify, 
including a free medical exam and 
screening tests. We have research 
studies available in many different 
lengths, and you’ll ﬁnd current studies 
listed here weekly. 

PPD has been conducting research 
studies in Austin for more than 25 years. 
Call today to ﬁnd out more. 

Current Research Opportunities

Age

Compensation

Requirements

Timeline

Men and 
Postmenopausal or 
Surgically Sterile 
Women
18 to 55

Up to $1500

Healthy &
Non-Smoking 
BMI between 18 and 30
Weigh at least 110 lbs. 

Thu. 17 Apr. through Sun. 20 Apr.
Outpatient Visit: 24 Apr. 

Men and Women
18 to 55

Up to $2000

Healthy &
 Non-Smoking 
 BMI between 18 and 32

Fri. 25 Apr. through Mon. 28 Apr.
Fri. 2 May through Mon. 5 May
Outpatient Visit: 7 May

Men 
 18 to 55

Healthy &
 Non-Smoking 
 BMI between 22 and 29
www.ppdi.com • 462-0492 • Text “PPD” to 48121 to receive study information 

Fri. 2 May through Sun. 4 May
Fri. 9 May through Sun. 11 May
Fri. 16 May through Sun. 18 May

Up to $1800

www.ppdi.com • 462-0492 • Text “PPD” to 48121 to receive study information 
www.ppdi.com • 512-462-0492 • Text “PPD” to 48121 to receive study information

Illustration by Ploy Buraparate / Daily Texan Staff

Study shows cell phones limit
ability to discern environment

they hadn’t. 

Even ater researchers clar-
iied, asking directly if stu-
dents had seen a clown on a 
unicycle, nearly 50 percent of 
people who were interviewed 
still said no.

Not all pedestrians are 
created equal, though. For 
instance, people who were 
walking with another person 
were more likely to have no-
ticed the clown than people 
who were walking alone. 
By a wide margin, the most 
unobservant walkers were 
those talking on their cell 
phones. 8.3 percent of them 
said they had noticed some-
thing unusual, and when di-
rectly asked about the cycling 
clown, that number went up 
to 25 percent.

It may not even be that 
chatty pedestrians 
these 
weren’t looking at the clown. 
Eye tracking studies have 
shown people who are talk-
ing on cell phones ixate on 

the same things as those who 
aren’t, but they don’t really 
see them.

Walking around, this isn’t 
too much of a problem. But 
an overwhelming number of 
people talk on their phones 
while operating vehicles. 

simulator 

How dangerous is this, 
exactly? A paper from 2006 
titled “A Comparison of the 
Cell Phone Driver and the 
Drunk Driver” provides the 
answer. Subjects came in on 
three diferent days to use 
a high tech driving simula-
tor. On one day, they used 
the 
normally, 
on another, they talked on 
their cell phones while us-
ing it and, on another, they 
drank screwdrivers until they 
reached a blood alcohol level 
of .08 prior to their drive. 
hat’s right, these subjects got 
legally drunk — for science.
researchers 
found 
PHONES page 5

he 

By Robert Starr
@RobertKStarr

If you walked around 
Western Washington Uni-
versity during the spring of 
2009, you might have noticed 
a clown unicycling around 
the plaza. 

But, then again, you might 

not have.

he clown was deinitely 
there, but when scientists 
intercepted several students 
who passed through the area 
and asked them whether 
they had noticed anything 
strange, most of them said