avaa I Z 6 b 01 J lW 3 0 V ,L IH 3 H WT ] T CREATORS SHARE FEARS WITH THE TEXAM Wednesday, June 18, 2 0 0 8 ~ Serving The University of Texas at Austin co m m un ity since 1900 •— ------ ----------------------- ■—— w w w .dailytexanonline.com — ------ ------— . N o t e a s y b e i n g g r e e n S p o rt* P \i;k 5 Terrell Owens to miss first w eek o f training ■ ■■ ■ Health care, tuition on SG agenda Assembly's president discusses meetings with legislative staff By An drew Kreighbaum Daily Texan Staff Stu d en t G ov ern m en t P re si­ dent Keshav R ajagopalan said Tuesday that SG will advocate for affordable tuition, ch eaper — if not tax free — textbooks and health benefits for graduate students during the upcom ing 81st Legislative Session. SG met Tuesday night to update the stu­ dent body on the initiatives its leaders have pursued since the end of the spring semester. A m o n g the 25 s tu d e n t a t­ ten d ees, m ore than h alf w ere SG lead ers or rep resentativ es, an d th e re st w e re s u m m e r freshm en. R ajag o p alan d iscu sse d the m eetings he has had with A u s­ tin M ayor Will W ynn and leg ­ islative staffs at the Capitol. "I'v e been down at the C a p ­ ito l p re tty m u ch e v e ry d a y m eeting with legislative sta ff," R a ja g o p a lan said . "W e 're b e ­ g in n in g to set ou r agend a as far as w hat we can do for stu ­ dents dow n there." R ajagopalan said he w ould also attem pt to gauge stud ent sentiments on the top 10 percent law in the coming semester. SG V ice P resid en t F ran k ie Shulkin presented a list o f 11 initiatives pulled from the plat­ form on w h ich he and R a ­ jag o p alan ran in M arch. The list in clu d es ad d ition al lig h t­ in g on c a m p u s and g ro u p study spaces, a redesign of the ACTION continues on page 2 New students on cam pus for sum m er orientation pass by the Biological Greenhouse, w hich suffered more than $7,500 in dam age follow ing a hailstorm in May. May-Ying Lam | Daily Texan Staff Greenhouse’s future at risk Structure suffered storm damage, faces demolition if restoration not approved By Pierre Bertrand Daily Texan Staff The College of N atural Sciences is in the process of determ ining the fate of an 80-year-old greenhouse on cam pus located betw een H ogg M em orial A u ­ ditorium , the Flawn A cadem ic Center and the Tower G arden. The college is d ecid ing if the green­ hou se can be restored after large hail from a M ay storm shattered 70 to 75 panes o f glass and broke clim ate-con- trol equipm ent in the building. A s ta ff m em b er, w h o d e clin e d to give his nam e for fear of retaliation, es­ tim ated the dam age costs at $7,500. T h e g re en h o u se w as b u ilt in 1927 and is part of the University's original 40 A cres. It hou ses various plants used in u nd ergradu ate and grad u ate plant and biology classes. The greenhouse will be demolished if it is not restored, said C raig Linder, an integrative b iology associate p ro ­ fessor, who uses the plants housed in the greenhouse for his biology classes. There are no plans for w hat will re­ place the building after its possible de­ molition, said the college's spokesman Lee Clippard. "[The building] is a Lord and Burn­ ham greenhouse, and they are consid­ ered architectural gem s by people who GREENHOUSE coimnues on page 2 For Dump the Pump Day, free 7-day bus passes Cap Metro to teach potential riders the benefits o f bus riding said she expects an even greater increase in May. many shuttle buses. Moreno normally drives her car to campus during the summer and rides the shuttle bus during the spring and fall, but has returned to her usual routine due to high gas prices. From January through April, there was a 12.5 percent increase in shuttle ridership compared to the same period last year. Capital Met­ ro spokeswoman Erica McKewen In order to educate students and others on the economical and en­ vironmental advantages of taking a bus instead of a car, Capital Met­ ro is providing "Xtrem e Transit Makeovers" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at 100 Congress Ave. for the third annual National Dump the Pump Day. The event's officials hope to con- vince potential riders who may be apprehensive about riding the bus to try a route free of charge, McKe­ wen said. Capital Metro represen­ tatives at the event will help com­ muters by offering personalized route plans. Participants will also receive help in calculating how much they are decreasing the wear and tear of roads by riding buses. BUSES continues on page 2 By Brett Alexander Daily Texan Staff Marketing senior Kristy More­ no was spending too much money on gas, so she decided to get free rides to campus from one of UT's M in a to r Azem i, a d m in istra tiv e d ire cto r o f S tud en t G o vern m ent, ta lk s to vario u s stu d e n t o rg a n iz a tio n s at th e S tu d e n t S e rvices B u ild in g on Tuesday evening. Matty Greene | Daily Texan Staff Firefighter denies alleged behavior By Sean Beherec Daily Texan Staff An Austin firefighter appealed his termination Tuesday after he was fired for allegedly view ing pornograp h y on city co m p u t­ ers, vio latin g d ep artm en t h a­ rassm ent policies and show ing a lack of good m oral character, according to a statement. A ustin Fire C h ief Jim Evans announced 14-year departm ent veteran Lt. Christopher G iber- son's firing in a memorandum is­ sued to the City of Austin's Civil Service Commission Friday. G iberson and Evans have 10 d ays to m u tu ally agree on a hearing exam iner and seven ar­ b itrators before settin g a date for the proceed ings, according to Giberson's appeal. "H is b eh av io r d em onstrates he has a seriou s problem that the A ustin Fire D ep artm ent is neither qualified nor capable to help him ad d ress," Evans said in the m em o, w hich cites sp e­ cific reason s for the firin g. "I do not feel that I, or any m em ­ b e r of th e p u b lic, sh o u ld be com fortable with him as a pub­ lic servan t." G iberson denied the truth of the charges and said his firing w as not appropriate for the al­ leged offenses, according to his appeal. Evans declined to com ment. H is m em o sta te s th at G ib ­ e rs o n v is ite d in a p p r o p r ia te W eb s ite s on city co m p u te rs b etw een D ece m b e r 2006 and M arch 2 0 0 8 . T h e m em o also notes that he harassed his crew various tim es betw een F eb ru ­ ary 2007 and M arch 2008 by using "n eg a tiv e stereo ty p in g " and "d enigrating nicknam es." G iberson allegedly said "you are dead to m e" in February to m em bers o f his crew in retali­ ation for rep ortin g his b eh av ­ ior, but he denied the com m ent when questioned by investiga­ tors, according to the memo. "L ie u te n a n t G ib e rso n 's b e ­ havior cau ses me extrem e d is­ m ay and co n cern ," Evans said in the d o cu m en t. "I w ish to reassu re both the p u blic and the h a rd w o rk in g fire fig h ters o f the A ustin Fire D epartm ent that G iberson's offensive state­ m ents and actions do not rep­ resent the view s o f the A ustin Fire D epartm ent, nor will they be tolerated ." Stephanie Thomas, an for organizer of AD A PT o f Austin, voiced concern about lim ited access- ability. Craig Handley D aily Texan Staff In d e x Volume 1G8. Number 157 25 cents Potential building ordinance accommodates disabled By Mohini Madgavkar Daily Texan Staff A new version of a lon g-d e­ bated building ordinance being taken into consideration by the Austin City Council Wednesday m ay require some Austin homes to be built with more accom oda­ tions for disabled people. The "v isita b ility " ord in an ce would change the current build­ ing cod e stan d ard s to require sin g le-fam ily h om es and d u ­ plexes to have w ider hallw ays, w id er d o o rw a y s and step less entries. The ord in an ce is su p p o rted by A ustin's C oalition for Visit­ ability, a 15-m em b er coalition that includes ad v o cacy groups for disabled people, low -income housing and the elderly. Several U .S. cities, including A tlanta and C hicago, have im ­ plemented similar ordinances. "We are trying to get basic ac­ cess stan d ard s included in the building code to make Austin a more inclusive city," said coalition spokeswoman Stephanie Thomas. T hom as said w id er h allw ay s a n d n o -s te p e n tr y w a y s w ill m ak e d isa b le d A u stin ite s feel m o re c o m fo rta b le in fr ie n d s ' hom es and allow for a safer exit in the e v e n t of an em erg en cy. The cu rrent bu ild in g cod e only m andates that city m oney fund ORDINANCES continues on page 2 World & Nation.. 3 4 c Life&Arts........................5 c|assif|£,d s .......................... , r Comics.......................... 7 8 s TODAY'S WlATHER u . , . . . . le t s have a videotape chat. . H igh ri,3 n „ ^ - T . L o w WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18,2008 Last day to drop a first-term, nine- week, or whole-session class with­ out a possible academic penalty. PageT wo List announces year’s most ethical companies My sympathy meter just went way down. T h e D a i l y T e x a n TOMORROW'S WEATHER H igh / r " ' \ L °w 98 V j 73 By Ines M in Daily Texan Staff Ten T housand Villages, a non­ profit fair-trade com pany with a retail store in A u stin , h as been n am e d a s on e o f the w o r ld 's m ost ethical retail com panies. F o r b e s M a g a z in e a n d the Ethisphere Institute, a research- b a se d o r g a n iz a tio n th at p r o ­ m otes efficient and ethical b u si­ n ess m o d e ls, an n u ally a list of b u sin e sse s with ethical p ractic­ es. T his year, the organ ization s recognized 93 com panies. The E th isph ere Institute and F orb es collaborate with p ro fes­ so rs, attorneys and governm ent o fficials to ev alu ate com pan ies nom inated for the list. After ver­ ifying the qualifications of every c an d id ate, Ethisphere sen d s an in -depth q u estio n n aire to each com pany to learn more about its b u sin ess practices. G a p , T a r g e t C o r p o r a t io n , Ikea and T rader Jo e's were also aw arded in the retail category. Ten T housand Villages, which h as a retail store on South C on­ g re ss A venue, estab lish es lon g­ term relationships with artisans d a i l c o m See exclusive video content of this story. a ro u n d the w o rld b y s e llin g their p ro d u c ts in the U .S. an d C anada. The artisan s are p aid 50 p er­ cent o f the p rofit u p fron t then receive the rest when their item s sell. The co m p an y offers artisa n s from fiv e c o n tin e n ts a n d 33 countries the opportunity to sell their p ro d u c ts an d p ro v id e s a creative outlet in which they can m ake a fair w ag e, A u stin store m anager Kitty Bird said. The p r o d u c ts fo u n d w ith in the c o m p an y 's inventory ran ge from jew elry to kitchen u tensils to d ecorative d ru m s an d h am ­ m ocks. N an cy M artin, a vo lu n ­ teer who w orks at the A ustin lo­ cation, has been with the com pa­ ny since Septem ber. H er fav o r­ ite pieces are the blue and white glazed ceram ics from Vietnam. "I love the bright prim ary col­ o rs," Martin said . "It's nice to be surroun ded b y beautiful things a few hours every day." The recognition is m ore than an in te r n a tio n a l d istin c tio n , said K risten Jen kin s, a sp o k e s­ w om an for Ten T h ou san d V il­ la g e s. She s a id she h o p es the distinction w ill help "sh ed a lit­ tle m ore light onto the fair-trade m ission." "We are on e of the only non­ profit fair-trad e retailers," Je n ­ kins sa id . "O th er retailers like G ap or T arget C orp oratio n are in tro d u c in g eth ical p r o c e sse s into their d aily businesses. [Ten T h ousan d V illages] is based on ethical p ractices." T h is w as th e first y ear Ten Thousand V illages w as nom inat­ ed for the list. Jenkins said com ­ pany officials w ere unaw are that the q uestion n aire they received in 2007 w as p art of the nom ina­ tion process for the aw ard. The com pany, including its lo­ cal board o f d irecto rs, is m an ­ aged prim arily by volunteers. "We call o u r C EO s 'chief eth­ ical o ffic e rs/" Jenkins said. "E v ­ eryone who w ork s at Ten Thou­ sand Villages is a C EO ." NEWS BRIEFLY Got Milk? tour offers free events, a chance at mustache stardom Got Milk?'s annual Mustache Mobile Tour started the Austin leg of its national pro-milk cam­ paign Tuesday at Zilker Park and will continue today at the H-E-B at 1015 East 41st St. from 5-7 p.m. This year's tour focuses on find­ ing a "Chief Health Officer" among mothers nationwide. "We're rewarding Austin moms for being the gatekeepers of their families' health and nutrition, espe­ cially by incorporating low-fat and fat-free milk into their diets," said campaign representative Sydney Lawson. The free events include entries for a $100,000 sweepstakes; free milk- mustache photographs; milk sam­ ples from HEB, Borden Dairy and Oak Farms Dairy; an exercise cen­ ter furnished by Curves; a "mom- ination" station where attendees can record a 30-second video to nomi­ nate mothers or spouses for the title of Austin's "Chief Health Officer"; and the chance to appear in their own Got Milk? advertisement. The tour has two other Austin stops: Thursday at Rosewood Park from 12-9 p.m. and Friday at the Dell Diamond from 5-7 p.m. Those unwilling to brave the heat can en­ ter the sweepstakes or nominate a mother at http://umriv.zvhymilk.com. — Mackenzie Meador GREENHOUSE: Faculty says structure is necessary tool From page 1 know about these greenhous­ es," Linder said. The greenhouse is necessary because there is no other lo­ cation on cam p u s that could house the plants, Linder said. "F ro m o u r p e r s p e c t iv e , it's an essen tial structure b e­ cause without it we can't really teach," L inder said. "It w ould be pretty devastating to have it tom down with no plans to re­ place it." The anonym ous staff m em ­ ber said the structure is in great need of repair and restoration. "It's in b a d sh ap e, but it's in bad shape because the Uni­ versity never upgraded it," the staff member said. Requests had been submitted to the U niversity throughout the years to repair the building, but m aintenance issu e s have not been ad d re sse d , the staff member said. "I enjoyed it," said biology senior John Pituch, w ho took care of plants in the greenhouse as a student assistant. "It w as kind of old, but I'd be sad to see it go." PRELEASING PRELEASING PRELEASING PRELEASING Summer/Fall Walk to Campus! Littlefield House W est Cam pus Two bedrooms starting at $1300 Covered parking 512-469-0925 granlteproperties.com CONTACT US M ain Telephone: (512)471-4591 Editor: Leah Finnegan (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com M a n a gin g Editor: Adrienne Lee (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office: (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanoniine.com W eb Office: (512) 471-8616 online@dailytexanonline.com COPYRIGHT Sports Office: (512) 232-2210 sports@dailytexanonline.com Life & Arts Office: (512)232-2209 lifeandarts@dailytexanonline.com Photo Office: (512) 471-8618 photo@dailytexanonline.com Retail Advertising: (512) 471-1865 joanw@mail.utexas.edu Classified Advertising: (512) 471-5244 classified@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 manogingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com. Copyright 2008 Texas Student Media. 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F rid a y tuwt Qumnm* Oay Pnor to Pub*c*tt>ri) Jackie Gilíes shop s for a birthday gift at Ten Thousand Villages. With each purchase, the buyer receives a printed story a bou t the item b o u gh t and the village it came from. Callie Richmond | Daily Texan Staff Treatment targets harmful cells By Stephanie Fourqurean Daily Texan Staff T he fu tu re o f c an c er tre a t­ m ent m ay no longer require p a ­ tients to endure the toxic effects of chem otherapy or radiation. R esearchers from U T Sou th ­ w e ste rn M e d ic al C e n te r an d U T -D allas ex p erim en ted with n ew m e th o d s to k ill c a n c e r cells and foun d that m on oclo­ nal antibodies, which bind only to cancer cells, p o sse ss the ab il­ ity to kill tum or cells an d spare norm al tissue. T h e m o n o c lo n a l a n tib o d y th e ra p y w o r k s b y e x p o s in g c an c e r c e lls to n e a r-in fra re d light, the sam e light u sed in re­ m ote controls, to heat the can ­ cer cells. The cells are e sse n ­ tially "c o o k e d " to d eath , sa id R o c k fo rd D ra p e r, c o - a u th o r of the stu d y an d the lead er o f the U T -D allas B io n an o scien c­ es G ro u p , on e of the research team s in volved in the study. "T h e benefits are that cancer cells in tissu e can be reached by sh in in g n ear-in frared ligh t on them , p ro v id ed the cancer cells are not too deep in the tis­ sue, beyond where the light can penetrate," D raper said . P ooja B ajaj, the s tu d y 's c o ­ author and g rad u ate student at U T -D allas, sa id this new can ­ c e r-k illin g te c h n o lo g y h o ld s b e n e fits b e c a u se o f its a b ili­ ty to sp e c ifica lly target h arm ­ ful cells. "F o rtu n ately , b io lo g ic a l tis­ su e is tran sp aren t to this sp e ­ cific region ," Bajaj said . "It sure is a p p e a lin g com p ared to che­ m otherapy a s it is noninvasive to h ealth y tissu e su rro u n d in g the cancer cells." The cancer-killing ap p roach w ill be tested on h ealth y and tu m o r-b earin g m ice fo llo w ed by sim ilar testing in larger an i­ mal m od els before hum an use, D raper said. ORDINANCES: Costs stir mixed reviews From page 1 accom odations for housing. C ity o ffic ia ls e stim a te the c o st o f th ese m e a su re s to be low, ranging betw een $300 and $500 per home. Le N g u y e n , a c o o r d in a to r for A u stin 's A m e ric a n s w ith D is a b ilitie s A ct C o m m itte e , sa id the o rd in an ce w o u ld not be sig n ifican t in ligh t of h u n ­ d re d s of oth er b u ild in g co d e requirem ents. "The ordinance is not that big of a deal," N guyen said. H arry S av io , execu tiv e vice p resid en t o f the H om e B u ild ­ ers A ssociation of G reater A u s­ tin, said the costs of the new ac­ com odations could be between $5,000 and $9,000 per home. E v en s m a ll m e a s u r e s lik e rep la c in g d o o rk n o b s w ith le ­ v e rs an d red u c in g s ta ir s w ill be h elp fu l for m any d isa b le d A ustinities, said Paula M ixson, a m e m b e r o f the G r a y P a n ­ thers, a sen ior citizen a d v o c a ­ cy organization. S avio said builders are w ork­ ing with the city on a com pro­ m ise that w ould in clude m an ­ d a tin g a 32-inch exterio r an d bathroom door, as well as rein­ forcing bathroom w alls in first- floor restroom s. S avio said the coalition's fig ­ ures d o not take into account the cost of reform atting design p la n s an d the a d d e d sq u a re fo o ta g e c reated by w id e n in g hallw ays and doors. "T h e m an d atory c o st to the hom e-buying public w ould be too great," S avio said. Ordinance outlined The “wsitability" ordinance would make newly construced homes more accessible for dia- bled people. The following chang­ es would be made: • One no-step entrance in ev­ ery home • All doors and halls wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs • All doors equipped with le­ ver handles • Reinforced bathroom walls • Light switches lower than 48 inches from the floor • Electrical outlets higher than 15 inches above the floor ACTION: Groups to gauge University perception of Student Government BUSES: Event more popular this year From page 1 U niversity's e-mail server and a meal plan for commuters. A point of contention arose w hen G ra d u a te R ep resen ta­ tive Marina del Sol questioned executives on what action w as being taken on the issue of af­ fordable tuition. R ajag o p a la n said that b e­ cause tuition is tied directly to state funds to the University, it will require longer-term work with the legislature. When I go down to the Capitol, educational affordability is the number one thing. ” — Kesha v Rajagopalan, SG president "W hen 1 g o d o w n to the Capitol, educational affordabil­ ity is the No. 1 thing," Rajago­ palan said. The informal meeting had no set agenda and allowed execu­ tive members to provide a run­ down of their ongoing projects. Attendance w as not taken, and no votes were held. It is against U n iversity ru les to hold re­ quired SG meetings during the summer. C om m u n icatio n s D irector Chelsea Fosse discussed plans for a series of focus g ro u p s that SG will hold next week to attempt to respond to nega­ tive perceptions of SG am ong the student body, which newly elected SG leaders discovered while talking to students dur­ ing their cam paign. The three focus groups, planned with the help of the Office of Public Af­ fairs, w ill each include seven students and attempt to target stu d en ts who are already in­ volved with SG, those new to SG and incoming freshmen. Fosse said the focus groups will be the "first tangible steps we're taking" to dem onstrate that SG is a resource and service to students and to work toward the greater accessibility. In an earlier appropriations meeting Tuesday, SG Adm inis­ trative Director Minator Azemi dispensed $3,500 to student or­ ganizations on campus. That money w as disbursed am ong 20 different cam pus or­ ganizations in am ounts up to $200 for items such as office sup­ plies and publicity materials. From page 1 Participants will receive a free seven -day p a ss on any shuttle. University stu d en ts can alw ays ride the bus free of charge with a UT student ID. M cKewen participated in last year's event and said she has al­ ready seen m ore interest in this y ear's event, even before it has started. "It seem s to be growing in pop­ ularity," she said. People who commute via public transportation rather than personal vehicles reduce carbon em issions by 20 pounds, McKewen said. "We're not asking people to do anything greater than giv e this a try and see how it w ork s for them," she said. "Even just trying the b u s for one day really helps out." Premed junior Terrence Eveline said riding a bus from his off-cam­ pus apartment is easier than driv­ ing himself to class. "[The bus] takes me to the m id­ dle of the cam pus, while if [I] pay for the lot, [I'm] almost parking off campus, and I would have to walk further," Eveline said. "It takes about the sam e time either way." The event will feature a per­ formance by m usician Erik Hok- kanen. Visit CapMetro.org to par­ ticipate in the virtual m akeover and to receive a free seven -day pass by mail. www.da i lytexanon I i ne.com W o r l d & N a tio n T h e D a i l y T e x a n 3 W ednesdayju ne 18, 2008 Virginia Tech settles lawsuit with families of shooting victims $11 million payment includes injured; other suits pending By Larry O'Dell & Dena Potter The Associated Press RICHM OND, Va. — A judge on Tuesday approved an $11 million state settlem ent w ith fam ilies of m ost of the victim s in last year's V irginia Tech slayings that w ill avoid a court battle over w heth­ er anyone but the gunm an was to blame. Fam ilies of 24 victim s — out of 32 killed by Seung-Hui Cho — w ill be com pen sated under the settlem ent approved by C ircu it Court Judge Theodore J. Markow. Four families agreed to the set­ tlement, but were not prepared to go before the judge Tuesday. Four other families did not participate: Two have filed notices of lawsuits, and two did not file claims. Th e settlem ent also covers 18 people injured, but their cases did not require court approval. P eter G renier, an attorney for m an y of the fam ilies, called the settlem en t "th e m ost acceptable an d m o st re a so n a b le ou tco m e w e could exp ect" in light of Vir­ g inia's $100,000 lim it on liability in such cases. G ren ier praised the state for giving victim s' attorneys u n fet­ tered access to a wide array of in­ vestigative reports and other doc­ uments related to the shootings. "W e are professionals and w e represent the com monwealth's in­ terests to the best of our abilities," said Chief Deputy Attorney G en­ eral W illiam C. M ims. "B u t first w e are m others and fathers, sis­ ters and brothers, neighbors and friends. We cannot possibly im ag­ ine the losses they've suffered." C ho killed tw o stu d ents in a dorm itory on April 16, 2007, then more than two hours later killed 25 students and five faculty m em ­ bers in a classroom building be­ fore taking his own life. Another two dozen were injured. U nder the settlem ent, serious­ ly injured victims will have their health care needs covered for life. Representatives of each of those killed will receive $100,000. Funds also were set aside for the injured, with individuals eligible to receive up to $100,000 apiece. The settlem ent also w ill give the injured and victim s' fam ilies a chance to meet with the gover­ nor and university officials several times to discuss the shootings and changes on campus since then. D a n c e r C h a r i s s e D i e s School children walk next to a representation of the ruins of a Darfur village supposedly destroyed during the war, built by U NHCR as part of global com m em orations of World Refugee Day later this week. Lcfteris Pitarakis Associated Press Global refugees increased in ‘07 By Jill Lawless The Associated Press LO ND O N — Conflicts in A f­ ghanistan and Iraq have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, driving up the global num ber of refugees after several years of decline, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. In 2007, 11.4 m illion refugees w ere living outside their co u n ­ tries, compared with 9.9 m illion in 2006, the UN H CR said in its annual report. A further 26 m il­ lion were displaced within their own countries, up from 24.2 m il­ lion the year before. The group said nearly half the w o rld 's refu gees are from A f­ ghanistan and Iraq. UNHCR said there are 3 million displaced A f­ ghans, most in neighboring Paki­ stan and Iran, and 2 million Iraqi refugees, mostly in Syria and Jor­ dan. A further 2.4 million Iraq­ is are internally displaced, an in­ crease of 600,000 since the start of 2007. U.N. High Com m issioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that until 2005, there had been several years of decline as refu­ gees returned to countries includ­ ing Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Li­ beria and Angola. "Now, unfortunately, with the m u ltip lication of conflicts and the in tensification of con flicts, the number is on the rise again," he said. Guterres spoke amid the tents, food rations and jugs of water of a mock refugee camp set up Tues­ day in London's Trafalgar Square ahead of World Refugee Day on Friday Bad governance, environm en­ tal degradation and rising food prices were generating instability and "new patterns of forced dis­ placem ent" in m any regions, he said. "People being forced to move, unfortunately, will be one of the characteristics of the 21st centu­ ry," he said. In Colom bia, w here the gov­ ernm ent has fought a decades- long war with left-wing guerillas, as many as 3 million people have left their homes, while more than 550,000 have becom e refugees in other countries. Around half a million Sudanese and Som alis also have sought refuge abroad, the report said. The num ber of internally dis­ placed people grew last year in A fghanistan, Sri Lanka and Ye­ men, as well as in the Central Af­ rican Republic and Chad, where th o u s a n d s o f re fu g e e s h av e crossed the border from the Su ­ danese region of Darfur. The U.N. estimates that 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since ethnic African tribesmen took up arm s against Sud an 's A rab-d om inat­ ed governm ent five years ago. WORLD BRIEFLY Myanmar bloggers raise funds for those affected by cyclone LABUTTA, Myanmar — Blog­ gers may find their messages blocked by Myanmar's military re­ gime, but that hasn't stopped Nyi Lynn Seek from raising tens of thousands of dollars for cyclone survivors. Now, the 29-year-old IT special­ ist and his friends are getting their hands dirty and putting the dona­ tions to work by helping to build "Budget Huts" in the Irrawaddy delta, a region still reeling from the May 2-3 killer storm. Days after Cyclone Nargis hit, the Yangon resident traveled to the delta to document the survivors' stories. He posted their accounts and his photographs on his Web journal. "I have been blogging for quite a long time and many overseas Myanmar citizens read it. They wanted me to go to the delta and help out," he said. Nyi Lynn Seek quit his job as a manager at a software solutions com­ pany to lead six volunteers, includ­ ing four other bloggers, on a mission to aid villages around Labutta. They have been here since May 9. Car bomb kills 51 as forces prepare to leave Green Zone BAGHDAD — A car bomb ripped through a busy commercial street in a Shiite area of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 51 peo­ ple and wounding scores more in the deadliest blast in the capital in more than three months. Many victims were trapped in their apartments by a raging fire that engulfed at least one building, ac­ cording to police and Interior Minis­ try officials, who also said about 75 people were wounded. The attack shattered the rela­ tive calm in the capital since a May 11 cease-fire ended seven weeks of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shiite militants in the Sadr City district. Ironically, it came the same day the Iraqi parliament announced plans to move outside the U.S.-protected Green Zone. Angry survivors blamed the army and police for failing to pro­ tect them. Kamil Jassim, a witness, said the blast set fire to a generator used by residents and shopkeepers to sup­ plement city power. The blast was the deadliest at­ tack in Baghdad since March 6, when a pair of bombs detonated in the mostly Shiite district of Karra- dah, killing 68 people and wound­ ing about 120. No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blast, and both Sunni and Shiite militants have used car bombs in their attacks. U.S. officials said American sol­ diers were attending a meeting of a neighborhood action committee about 150 yards from the blast but it was unclear if they were the target. - T he Associated Press In this undated file photo, Fred Astaire, right, and Cyd Charisse dance in the 1953 film "The Band Wagon." Charisse, the long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musi­ cals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. Associated Press NATION BRIEFLY CA, artist dash over funds from whale license plate LOS ANGELES — One of Cal­ ifornia's most popular specialty license plates — depicting the tail of a Pacific humpback whale ris­ ing out of misty waters — could soon become endangered itself. Robert Wyland, the artist who created the pale blue image and gave it to the state more than a decade ago to help it raise money for marine programs, is now de­ manding 20 percent of any future revenue for his art foundation. The license plate has gener­ ated nearly $40 million for the state since its introduction in 1997. Twenty percent in royalties would amount to about $750,000 per year. Wyland and the California Coastal Commission have been negotiating since January with little progress, and now the com­ mission is threatening to use an­ other artist to create a new whale tail. But Wyland scoffs: "They're saying, 'We can get anyone to paint a Picasso.' Well, you could, but it wouldn't be a Picasso." The 51-year-old artist and clean-water advocate is known for his life-size murals of whales. He has stamped his work on ev­ erything from $6 keychains to a hotel in Hawaii, a convention center in Long Beach and two cruises. In 1994, he and the Coast­ al Commission struck a hand­ shake deal on the art for the li­ cense plate. The commission says Wyland turned over the rights with no strings attached; Wyland says he never intended for the ar­ rangement to last forever. The commission says that pay­ ing royalties to Wyland would force the shutdown of many of the programs the plate supports. - T he Associated Press New SAT writing test fails to impress critics College Board insists exam is indicator of college performance By Justin Pope The Associated Press The w riting section added to the SAT has done very little to im prove the exam 's overall abil­ ity to predict how students will do in college, accord in g to re ­ search released Tuesday by the test's owner. Critics of the SAT seized on the College Board's findings, which cam e th ree y ears after the re ­ vam ped, nearly four-hour exam made its debut. "A fter all their ballyhoo about how the new test w as going to be a b etter tool for college a d ­ m issions, it's n o t," said Robert Schaeffer, director of the group FairTest. "It's longer and m ore expensive. That's all you can say about it." The College Board defended the SAT, saying that no predictor of college success is perfect, but that the exam is a rem arkably good one. It em phasized the finding that the writing test actually does a slightly better job of predicting freshman-year college grade point average than do the math or criti­ cal reading sections, both of which are multiple choice. "Both tests are very valid, the old one and the new on e," said Laurence Bunin, the senior vice president who oversees the SAT p ro g ra m . " W h a t's im p o rta n t here is that the new SAT places an emphasis on w riting" and of­ fers a valid test of another skill that is "critica l to college su c­ cess." T h e SA T n ow ru n s th r e e hours, 45 minutes — or 45 m in­ utes longer than the old version — and will cost $45 in 2008-09, up from $29.50, though aid is av ailab le. T h e ACT, the o th ­ er lead ing colleg e ad m ission s exam , has an optional w riting section. The College Board added the writing test, including a 25-m in­ ute essay, to help colleges make m ore fin e ly tu ned d e cis io n s about stu d en ts' skills. C ollege a d m issio n s o ffice rs can even download a student's essay and read it. The multiple-choice sec­ tions were also changed som e­ what in 2005. Som e teachers criticized the exam , a rg u in g it en co u rag ed formulaic writing and was sus­ ceptible to coaching. The find ings released Tues­ day are the most comprehensive study yet of the new exam, cov­ ering about 150,000 students. T h e an a ly sis m easured th e conn ection b etw een SAT p e r­ formance for the high school of class of 2006 and college grades. T h e la t e s t r e s e a r c h a ls o found that the new SAT, like the old one, continues to p re­ dict college grades with v ary ­ ing levels of accu racy for dif­ feren t g ro u p s. For in sta n ce , SAT scores "o v e rp re d ict" the college grades of w om en, and are less accurate for minorities than for whites. C ritics contend those varia­ tions reveal fundamental prob­ lems with the SAT that should limit how it is used. 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J T O p i n i o n T h e D a i l y T e x a n Editor in Chief: Leah Finnegan Phone: (512) 232-2212 E-mail: editor@dailytexanonline.com Associate Editors: Josh Haney Andrew Vickers Wednesday, June 18, 2008 V IE W P O IN T Fuzzy logic A June 5 editorial in The Houston Chronicle calling for a reduction in college tuition rates quot­ ed figures from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which determined that tuition at I T has risen 164 percent since it was deregulated in 2003 (we also reported this figure in our June 10 Viewpoint, "W hat if the state controlled UT?") Yesterday, Board of Regents Chairman H. Scott Caven sent a defensive e-mail to the UT News listserv refuting the Chronicle's editorial and their employment of the "m isused fact" from the TH- ECB. "N o one can dispute that tuition has increased," Caven wrote. "But the real increases in the academic cost of attending state institutions are far lower than the misleading and incomplete in­ formation that has been reported — in fact, less than half the figures cited." Caven claimed that tu­ ition has only risen 49.4 percent since deregulation. The THECB is a government agency; thus, the agenda of their statistics may lie with the state. But reading between the lines of Caven's e-mail, it's hard to miss the condescension behind his facts and figures. The e-mail vaguely cites surveys that have revealed that students and parents "generally overestimate the cost of higher education, and while use of the inflated figure is a good headline, its use disserves Texas families by contributing to the tendency to overestimate costs." Caven also writes, "The flexibility to set tuition lets us strategically tailor tuition rates to the vary­ ing needs and student populations that exist across our nine cam puses." He touts improvements at UT campuses across the state, such as new student services and, ironically enough, an increase in financial aid counselors. There's nothing the modem student and his or her family is more aware of than how much they are paving — or overpaying — for an education. If the Board of Regents truly wanted to "tailor tu­ ition rates to the varying needs of student populations," they'd lower them. The Board of Regents should be more responsive to struggling students within the context of this fragile econom y in­ stead of wasting time in their attempt to preserve their image. But the postscript of Caven's e-mail speaks the loudest — The Houston Chronicle declined to run his response. So it's not just us who are tired of listening to our regents on the defensive. U n­ fortunately, we are the ones who must cope with the consequences of their misguided logic. — Leah Finnegan GALLERY Student has opinion, voices it By You Daily Texan Columnist Have som eting to say? Say it in print, and to the entire campus. The Daily Texan editorial board is accept­ ing applications for colum nists and cartoonists. We're looking for talent­ ed writers and artists to provide as much diversity of opinion as possi­ ble. Anyone and everyone is encour­ aged to apply. W riting for the Texan is a great way to get your voice heard. Our col­ um nists' and reporters' work is of­ ten syndicated nationw ide through a service called U -W ire, and ev ­ ery issue of the Texan is a h istori­ cal docum ent archived at the C en­ ter for A m erican History. Sen. Ba­ rack Obam a may not be a frequent reader, but a copy of the Texan runs across UT President William Powers' desk each day, and the opinions on this page have great potential to af­ fect University policy. It's no rare oc­ curence for Texan staff m em bers to recieve feedback from local or state officials, or to be contacted by a read­ er whose life was changed by an ar­ ticle. In such instances, the power of writing for the Texan becom es real, m otivating our staffers to provide the best public service possible. If interested, please com e to the Texan office at 25th Street and W hi­ tis Avenue to com plete an applica­ tion form and sign up for an inter­ view time. If you have any ad d i­ tional questions, please contact Leah Finnegan at (512) 232-2212 or editor@ dailytexanonline.com. You can be a Daily Texan columnist or cartoonist. a Y o u r w ords h e r e . Marginalized by taxes By Joseph Antel Daily Texan Columnist Beginning on June 15, state business ow ners are required to file the new controversial Texas M ar­ gins Tax. Not only are sm all business ow ners across the state up in arms, but Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has called the tax an "a b ject failu re" and Lt. Gov. David D ew hurst is already advocating that it be re­ pealed. This is all for good reason, as the tax has failed in its initial goal and puts undue strain on sm all-business owners. The tax w as originally passed in May 2006 to re­ place the previous franchise tax and to attem pt to offset property tax burdens. It would do so by en ­ com passing a greater num ber business that previ­ ously escaped the franchise tax by filing as lim it­ ed liability corporations, among other distinctions. H ow ever, the tax has com p letely failed to low er property tax burdens. This is partially because the tax is not anticipated to generate enough revenue to m atch the corresponding cut in property taxes. Also, appraisals across the state are increasing by enorm ous rates, m aking the cut in property taxes negligible. For exam ple, the H ouston Chronicle re­ ported that com m ercial property values in H arris county were up 34 percent this year. A cco u n tan ts are a lso baffled by the new tax code. The tax w as originally due May 15, but the state gave taxpayers another m onth so that b u si­ ness ow ners and accountants alike could figure out what w as going on. The reason for the confusion is the so called "m arg in " part of the tax. The new "taxable m argin" is the lowest of three figures: to­ tal revenue m inus the cost of goods sold, total rev­ enue m inus com pensation and benefits, or 70 per­ cent o f total revenue. The taxable m argin is then m ultiplied by 1 percent for m ost businesses and 0.5 percent for retailers and w holesalers (a seem ingly arbitrary distinction), w hich requires accountants and business ow ners to calculate all three possible "taxab le m argins" and deal with the red tape in­ volved with each. Oddly, since this tax is a tax on revenue, not profits (as the previous franchise tax was), ridiculous situations will arise in w hich com ­ panies that are u n p rofitab le or barely profitable end up owing state taxes, but not federal ones. Adm inistrative com plications aside, the N ation­ al Foundation for Independent Businesses, a small- business advocacy group, has been the m ost vocal opponent to the new tax, claim ing that it strangles small businesses. A ccording to an N FIB survey, 84 percent of those w ho paid the form er franchise tax w ill see their taxes increase over 100 percent, and m ore than 40 percent said they w ould pay in ex­ cess of 500 percent over their previous paym ent. At this point, the N FIB is not calling for an all-out repeal of the tax, but rather for reform s of the cur­ rent margins tax to dim inish tax burdens on sm all­ er businesses. T he fo lly o f th is leg isla tio n sh o u ld be clear. Granted, it m ay not be a bad thing to broaden the tax base to businesses that were previously exempt. But to increase the tax burden on sm all business to a degree such as the Texas M argins Tax is doing can only do harm to Texas' econom y and eventually its future tax revenues. In 2007, prior to the new m ar­ gin tax, the state com ptroller reported that 520,000 out of 700,000 tax receipts were filed by taxpayers in businesses m aking less than half a m illion dol­ lars. Though this category generates significantly less tax revenue than other brackets, sm all b u si­ nesses still play a vital role in Texas' economy. U n­ like larger businesses, m any sm all-business ow n­ ers do not have the ability to adjust easily to higher tax rates and are forced to either close or pass their costs onto consum ers. Fortunately, potential guber­ natorial candidates Hutchison and D ew hurst have alread y expressed that they are w illing to m ake changes to nonsensical tax legislation like the new margins tax, and m ake the tax code more equitable for businesses of all sizes. Antel is a philosophy senior. Stop writing off Texas’ students By Heath Cleveland Daily Texan Colum nist Som eh o w , th ro u g h o u t g rad e sch o o l, I n ev er learned how to write. I d id n 't go to a very good school — it w as m ostly con cern ed w ith g ettin g students to pass the Texas A ssessm ent of A cadem ­ ic Skills and Texas A ssessm ent o f Know ledge and Skills tests, and its curriculum d id n't go m uch b e­ yond that. My class w as lucky enou gh to evad e alm ost every w riting e v alu atio n from the fourth grade to my sophom ore year, so I fell through the cracks because of its curriculum . U n su rp ris in g ly , in h ig h s c h o o l, I fa ile d m y sop hom ore English TA K S test, along w ith m ore than 60 percent of the 500 stu d en ts in m y class. By th en our school ju s t assu m ed that w e knew how to w rite, so they d id n 't b oth er to teach us that year. O ther than failing the TAKS test, I w as a great student on paper — I w as in the top ten per­ cent o f my cla ss, took the m o st ad vanced c la ss­ es m y school offered and was very involved. L at­ er th at year, I w as accepted to the Texas A cad e­ my o f M athem atics and Science (TAM S), a selec­ tive p rogram that e n ab les stu d en ts to co m p lete two years of college w hile finishing their last tw o years o f high school. TA M S is know n for its rig ­ orous curriculum , high attrition rate and for hav­ ing th e h ig h est averag e SAT scores o f any p u b ­ lic sch oo l in the U nited States, and they are e x ­ em pt from TAKS tests. So I w ent. The TA M S cu r­ riculum m irrored the cu rriculum that "ad v a n ced " stu d en ts w ould be takin g their last tw o years of high sch oo l, so we w ere tech n ically required to take w ritin g classes, bu t I d id n 't learn to w rite th ere, eith er. H ere's T A M S 's d irty little secret: H alf o f its w ritin g cla sses are tau ght by p ro fes­ sors who d on 't even bother to teach the students how to w rite and give au tom atic A's reg ard less of p erform an ce. U n fo rtu n ately for m e, I w as in those w riting cla sse s, w hich d id n 't help m y s it­ uation. In my entire tim e at TAM S, I w rote eight tw o-page papers. D uring m y sen io r y ear at TA M S, b etw een the SATs and trying to com pose colleg e essays, I re­ alized that not know ing how to w rite w as a seri­ ous problem . A fter I scraped my w ay into U T thanks to my SAT scores, I vow ed that I had one goal for my first sem ester here: I w as going to learn to w rite. I picked the m ost advanced low er-division rheto­ ric class I could find. I ca n 't even count the hours I spent first sem ester reading and re-read ing the pages of my assignm ents ju st so I could com p re­ hend them, along with the hours I spent trying to w rite. The first paper that I turned in that sem es­ ter, despite my b est efforts, received a D. But by the end of the course, I was w riting A papers. Through my m uch-delayed crash course in rhet­ oric, I d iscov ered how to d escribe m y thou g hts and feelin g s and tran slate them in to w ritin g . I d ropp ed m y in ten d ed m ajor o f ch e m ica l e n g i­ neering to take up w riting and rhetoric full-tim e. But I am lucky. I ca n 't tell you w hat has becom e of the rest of the 300 students that d id n 't pass the English TAKS test that year. I'm sure they w eren 't much better off than I was, and I'm sure my school w asn 't the only one not m eeting basic edu cation standards. As the future w eighs upon Texas and equ al-op p o rtu n ity edu cation b eco m es everm ore im portant, it seem s that our state's education sys­ tem is stand in g still, or even m oving backw ard . How many students w ill have to fall through the cracks before som ething changes? Cleveland is a rhetoric an d writing junior. NOTED IN PASSING... Blackboard on the blacklist? After winning a seemingly endless courtroom battle concerning patent infringement against educa- tion-software rival Desire2Leam this year, Blackboard Inc. has found itself the target of another patent lawsuit filed by Texas-based TechRadium, which makes emergency-notification software. The technol­ ogy at the center of this lawsuit allows group administrators to send messages to multiple devices, in­ cluding e-mail, cell phones and landline phones from one source. While we have developed a soft spot for Blackboard over the years, we're pulling for TechRadium in this case. Are none of our technological devices safe from a professor's send button? Gov. is in the air As gay and lesbian couples rushed to the altar yesterday after the California Supreme Court overruled tine statewide ban on gay marriages last month, one study estimates that the ruling will increase wed­ ding-related spending by $684 million over the next three years. Despite the positive impact that several experts are expecting this to have on California's economy, surely Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg­ ger, the same man who vetoed two previous same-sex marriage bills, could see through the dollar signs and stav in line with his conservative moral compass. The highly touted sanctity of marriage is not something that can be sold, right, Ah-nold? But the Govemator put on a civil face in light of his state's lifestyle decision. "You know, I'm wishing everyone gcxxl luck with their marriages, and I hope that California's economy is booming because ev­ eryone is going to come here and get married," he said to the California Chamber of Commerce, as re­ ported by CNN. What's next, Arnold? Hanging up your guns and starting an organic farm? R.I.P. Godzillatron Regardless of whether or not you supported UT's decision to purchase the largest LCD screen this side of the Mississippi for $8 million, you will be disheartened to learn that short-lived title has been un­ duly usurped by the Dallas Cowboys and the $35 million display they plan on installing at their new sta­ dium. The screen, which is divided into four video panels, will measure 9,000 square feet, compared to the Godzillatron's measly 6,850. It just won't feel the same next season when we're down at Royal Me­ morial Stadium, squinting to make out next season's stars of APD's Most Wanted on our tiny screen. The Confederate curse of AISD As evidenced by the recent closure of Johnston High School and the likelihood of Reagan High re­ ceiving a similar fate, we are officially putting forth the theory that Austin-area schools named after high-ranking Confederate officials (Albert Sidney Johnston and John Henninger Reagan) are cursed and, therefore, d(x>med to poor academic performance. Sadly, the bumbling AISD officials, in a desperate at­ tempt to understand what is happening to their district's high schools, might actually heed our warning. Come to think of it, maybe the Travis Rebels are due for a mascot change anyway. LEGALE SE Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the ed­ itor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Re­ gents or the Texas Student Me­ dia Board of Operating Trustees All Texan editorials are written by the Editorial Board, which is listed in the top right corner of this page. RECYCLE! Please place this copy of The Dai­ ly Texan in a friendly recycling bin or back in the burnt-orange stand where you found it. SUBM IT A FIRING LINE P le a s e e -m a il y o u r F ir in g Lines to firin glin e@ dailytexan on - lm e.com . L etters m ust be few er th an 300 w ords. The Texan re ­ serves the right to edit all letters for brevity, clarity and liability. TRYOUTS The Texan is conducting tryouts for entry-level positions in all de­ partm ents until Wednesday, June 18. Jobs available include news reporter, photograp her, co lu m ­ nist, entertainment or sports writ­ er, featu res w riter, copy editor, designer and cartoonist. Please com e to the Texan office at 25th and Whitis streets as soon as pos­ sible to sign up. Don't hestitate to contact us with any questions Wednesday, June 18,2008 Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens chats with team owner Jerry Jones, right, during football minicamp at the Cowboys training facility, June 11, in Irving. Tony Gutierrez Associated Press B A S K E T B A L L Olympic roster will be named Monday, coach says By Aaron Beard The Associated Press D U R H A M , N .C . — C a llin g it "th e toughest d e cisio n " fa c­ ing USA Basketball since it began using professional players, U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Krzyze- w ski said the 12-m an roster for this sum m er's Beijing Games will be released Monday. K rz y ze w sk i, D u k e 's H all of Fame coach, said the roster will be announced during a news confer­ ence in Chicago. "T h e pool of players that we have have all made commitments and have given time and effort," Krzyzewski said Tuesday during his annual summer news confer­ ence in Durham. "Really we have more people qualified for those 12 spots than we can take, so that's what makes it tough." Earlier this month, USA Basket­ ball m anaging director Jerry Co- langelo said the U.S. would pick its squad without a tryout. There are m ore than 30 players in the n ation al team program , but he said officials are dow n to about 14 names. The deadline to submit the ros­ ter is July 1. The U.S. team will go to Las Vegas to train in m id-Ju­ ly and play an exhibition against C anada before opening the Bei­ jing Games against the host Chi­ nese on Aug. 10. Last year, the U.S. team started Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Car­ m elo Anthony, Jason Kidd and D w ight H oward en route to an unbeaten showing in an Olympic qualifying tournament. The roster also included Amare Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, M ichael Redd, Tayshaun Prince, Tyson Chandler and Mike Miller. Sports Editor: David R. Henry E-mail: sports@dailytexanonline.com Phone:(512) 232-2210 www.dailytexanonline.com N F L S po rts T h e D a i l y T e x a n Owens will miss first week of minicamp Receiver excused due to undisclosed family matter out o f town By Stephen Hawkins The Associated Press IRVING — Terrell Owens wasn't on the field for the start of the Dal­ las C ow boys' m andatory offsea­ son m inicam p Tuesday, and the Pro Bowl receiver isn't expected to be around the rest of the week. Coach Wade Phillips said O w ­ ens was excused from the three- day minicamp to attend to a per­ sonal family matter out of town. “He d id n 't w ant to go into it, and I really don't w ant to either," Phillips said. "It's a fam ily m at­ ter and just leave it at that. It's not anything more than that." Owens was at the Valley Ranch facility Tuesday morning, but then left before the first of the team's two practice sessions to catch a flight. Phillips said O w ens talked to him Monday, but wouldn't elabo­ rate on that conversation or where T.O. was going. Messages left for Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, weren't returned. C o w b o y s team ow n er Je rry Jones didn't stop to talk to report­ ers while escorting sponsors and other guests off the field and into the building after heavy winds and an approaching thunderstorm cut short the team's morning workout. " It w asn 't anything that you g u y s w ould go cra z y a b o u t," quarterback Tony Rom o said, re­ fusing to go into detail. "I d on't think it's a big deal." O w ens participated in option­ al w orkouts the past four weeks. Heading into the final year of his contract, the 34-year-old receiv­ er two weeks ago signed a three- year extension worth around $27 million through the 2011 season. "H im missing time certainly is not a big deal, especially a veteran player that knows how to play and do the things and has worked as he has this offseason," Phillips said. "H e's been here so much. H e's worked his butt off," Romo said. "I don't know that (being absent all week) would be a big deal. I'm sure he'll try to be here if he can." O w ens led the N FL w ith 13 touchdow n catches in 2006 and had an NFC-best 15 more last year for a two-year total that is tops in the league. He has 166 catches for 2,535 y ard s in his tw o seasons with the Cowboys. T.O. is ninth on the career recep­ tions list with 882, 10th in receiv­ ing yards with 13,070 and third in touchdowns with 129 — the most am ong active players, and trail­ ing only Jerry Rice (197) and Cris Carter (130). St ea lin g v ic t o r y NBA Finals — ------ — Celtics 131 Lakers 92 • Celtics 17th NBA title • Players Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen each score 26 points SPORTS BRIEFLY Specter calls off the dogs in Spygate investigation WASHINGTON — Sen. Arlen Specter said he won't call for con­ gressional hearings on the NFL's investigation of the Spygate scan­ dal after previously threatening to do so. Specter's office confirmed Tues­ day his comments a day earlier to the Philadelphia Daily News ed­ itorial board. Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Com­ mittee, had written in a Senate floor statement earlier this month that "I believe the NFL should step forward and embrace an in­ dependent inquiry." "If the NFL continues to leave a vacuum," he added, "Congress may be tempted to fill it." No independent inquiry has been announced; NFL commis­ sioner Roger Goodell has indicat­ ed that he considers the investi­ gation closed. But Specter said no hearings were forthcoming. "I haven't pulled back. There's not much more I can do at this point," the senator said Monday, according to his office. "We've exposed a lot. ... But the public attention span is so limited." Specter did raise the issue of whether the NFL and other leagues, the beneficiaries of anti­ trust exemptions, should receive public funding for building sta­ diums. And he told the editori­ al board that he wasn't interested in former NBA referee Tim Don- aghy's claims that playoff games were rigged. Griffey sick and out of lineup on night to honor his 600th CINCINNATI — Ken Griffey Jr. was sick on Tuesday, keeping him out of the Cincinnati Reds lineup on the night picked to honor his 600th home run. Manager Dusty Baker said Griffey became ill on Monday, the team's day off, and wasn't feeling much better. The Reds planned to honor his 600th hom­ er before the opener of a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a pregame ceremony. Also, fans received a post­ er and baseball card showing his swing on No. 600. Griffey hit his 600th homer last week in Rori- da, becoming the sixth to reach the mark. Compiled from Associated Press reports QUOTE OF THE DAY Is it Willie only? No, its u s ,” Minaya said. “1 can t replace 25 players. A nd the players ca re. The players give 100 p e r c e n t. ” O m ar M inara. Mets g e n e ra l m a n a g e r speaking o f the II illie R a n d o lp h fir in g LSU's Derek Helenihi is caught trying to steal second base by Rice second baseman Jimmy Comerota in the fifth inning of an NCAA College World Series baseball game in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday. Eric Francis ¡ Associated Press Rice eliminated from CWS By Eric Olson The Associatd Press OMAHA, Neb. — Blake Dean hit a three-run double off the left- field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep LSU alive in the College World Series with a 6-5 victory over Rice on Tuesday. Dean drove Cole St. Clair's 1-0 pitch on a line to the fence, and he w as m obbed by teammates shortly after he arrived at second base. The celebration was the cul­ mination of LSU's rally from a 5-0 deficit. The Tigers were two outs away from losing a sixth straight game in Omaha since winning the 2000 national title. to pull to 5-2 against St. Clair. In the ninth, M ichael H olland­ er hit an RBI single before Jared M itchell reached on an error to load the bases. Dean then delivered the big hit. Rice ends the season 47-15. The O w ls led 5-0 after Rick Hague's two-run single in the sec­ ond, Jared Gayhart's RBI triple in the fifth, Aaron Luna's homer in the sixth and Diego Seastrunk's RBI single in the seventh. At that point, it looked as if Rice was on its way to advancing and, along the way, restoring its reputation for tough pitching. The Tigers had scored a run in the seventh and eighth innings Two d ay s a fter seven R ice pitchers were battered for four hom ers and a season-high 17 runs on Sunday, R ice starter Chris Kelley limited LSU to four hits in 5 2 /3 shutout innings. Though St. Clair never found his rhythm, he still looked good enough to finish off the Tigers. He struck out national hom e run leader M att Clark with two m en on base to end the sixth inning. The Tigers scored their first run w hen St. Clair w as called for a balk in the seventh. The second run came home in the eighth on Micah Gibbs' double into the right-field comer. Gibbs tried to score on DJ LeM ahieu's two-out single to right. The throw from Chad Mozingo reached the plate just as LeMahieu arrived. Rice catcher Adam Zomes, who was blocking the plate, made the tag but dropped the ball. As LeM ahieu struggled to clim b over Zomes and touch the plate, Zomes tagged him again. LSU 's w inning rally started with one out when Derek Hele­ nihi singled and Sean O chinko was hit by a pitch. H ollander hit his RBI single before M itch­ ell reached w hen H agu e, the Rice shortstop, cou ld n 't come up with a grounder. The Tigers' fans in purple in gold chanted "L -S -U , L -S-U " as Dean came to the plate. His d ouble was his second of the day and the most important. M L B Struggling New York Mets fire manager Willie Randolph The Associated Press A N A H EIM , C alif. — A f­ ter weeks of speculation that his job was in jeopardy, Wil­ lie Randolph finally got fired by the New York Mets while most fans were sleeping. Randolph became the first m anager in the majors to get fired this season, a move the Mets announced in a matter- of-fact new s release around 12:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, near­ ly tw o hours after they beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-6. At 34-35, the M ets seemed w o bb ly after their colossal collapse last September. "I'm really stunned by it," Randolph said as he left the team h o tel sh o rtly b efo re noon. "I was surprised by it." Bench coach Jerry Manuel takes over on an interim ba­ sis. Pitching coach Rick Peter­ son and first base coach Tom N ieto also w ere fired in an enormous overhaul. Randolph led the Mets to I'm the hardw ood flo o r that's getting rip ped out and they're going to replace it with Tuscany tile. " Rick Peterson, fir e d Mew York Mets pitching coach — within one win of the 2006 World Series. They got off to a strong start again last year but plummeted down the stretch and were unable to rebound. A preseason favorite to win the NL pennant, the $138 mil­ lion M ets had won two in a row when Randolph was dis­ m issed. He w as set to earn $2 million this season and is owed $2.25 m illion in 2009, w hen the M ets m ove into new Citi Field. Randolph said he was sor­ ry he w asn't to "fulfill what my dream is, to com e here and h elp this team w in a world championship." Peterson said M ets m an­ agement "w elcom ed me into th eir hom e and hom es go through renovations. "I'm the hardw ood floor that's getting ripped out and th e y 're g o in g to rep lace it with Tuscany tile," he said. "T h is is a team that's un­ derachieved and it w ill get back on tra ck ," he said . "I walk out in peace." Ken O berkfell, the clu b 's m an ag er at T rip le-A New O rleans, and Dan W arthen, pitching coach for the Zeph­ yrs, will join the major league staff along with Luis Aguayo, a Mets field coordinator. A m essage left for general m anager Omar M inaya was not im m ed iately retu rned . The M ets said M inaya and Manuel would be available to reporters at Angel Stadium at 2 p.m. PDT on Tuesday. R eached by phone n e a r­ ly th ree h ou rs a fte r M o n ­ day night's game, Mets util­ ity m an M arlon A n d erson said he didn't know that Ran­ dolph had been fired and he didn't want to com m ent un­ til he heard the new s from a member of the team. "N o t to n ig h t," A n derson said. It was a frustrating end for the 53-y ear-o ld R an d o lp h , w h o w as set to b e an N L coach at the All-Star gam e at Yankee Stadium next month. The 54-y ear-o ld M an u el takes over a squad that still has playoff aspirations. H e's had success before, too. Manuel managed the Chica­ go White Sox from 1998-2003. Seth Wenig ¡ Associated Press New York Mets manager Willie Randolph sits in the dugout before the start of the Major League Baseball game in New York in 2008. After weeks of speculation that his job was in jeopardy, Randolph was fired by the Mets early Tuesday. 6 C lA S S IF IK D S [i T h e D a ily T ex a n S e lf-se rv e , 2 4 /7 on th e Web a t w w w .D a ily T e x a n C la ssifie d s.co m WORD RATES 15 words fo r $12.50 (m inim um ); 50c per additional word 1 d a y ........ $ 1 2 .5 0 5 D A Y S $ 4 2 . 0 8 10 D A Y S . . . $ 6 7 .2 0 DISPLAY RATES C harged by the colum n inch. One colum n inch m inim um . A variety o f typefaoee, sizes, and borders available. $15.09 per colum n inch. WORD AD DEADLINE 10:00 A M , day p rio r to publication date DISPLAY AD DEADLINE 12:00 noon, 2 days p rio r to publication date A ll prinl and on line word ads m ust be submitted on line by v is itin g DailyTexanClaasifleds.com. 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Edited by Will Shortz No. 0507 A cro ss 38 Leading the 69 Puts on 44 Land O Lakes 1 Snack in a shell Dow n 54 With “El,” British victory site of 1942 grp 7 Every last bit 8 End of some 58 Wild 62 Prospects for a league 41 W.C. 42 Ledger entry 43 Coffeehouse order product 46 Air Force hero 47 Earl in the court of Elizabeth I 48 AT&T Park standout? 51 Music booster 53 Adak native 1 Course of action 5 Big jerk 10 Author O’Flaherty 14 J a i___ 15 White house 16 Suffix with govern 17 Musial's 6 and Gibson's 45? 20 Continuously 21 Grabs some shut-eye 22 Bitter drug 26 “Of course!" 27 Pregame practice in Cincinnati? 31 Sting operation 35 Dockworkers’ New York pennant? org. 66 Operatic prince 36 Beach washer 67 Perrier 37 Go too far onstage alternative 68 Part of N.B. ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE M E 0 W s c I R c * T E A M A L 0 u D E L T A F 0 R C E S A L A M 1 E D A M E G 0 P L U S S A R A L E E R A S A R E A L M M 0 D U s m A G 0 f l c 0 N E G V A L I I I E R N I E D R E Y E N T A S 1, M M u N E T A D T E T 0 R G 1 E 1 N E N S P S S T S 0 E u R Q T R S A E S 0 p p s A L A H A U L S 1 N D E L 1 G H T F U L A B E L | A R N E E R 1 C A L E N D _R_ 0_ _T_ S 0 T T 0 1 D 0 V E R 70 Query before a big event 71 Revue segment 2 One of TV's “Two and a Half Men” 3 Give a hoot 4 Snatch 5 Sloth, for one 6 Eagle shooters’ company names 9 Pitcher's place 10 Inspiration for “Rent” 11 Don Juan’s mother 12 Plot component 13 Post meal 18 Not playing 19 Hunted rodents 23 Go (for) 24 Closing passage Missouri 27 Long arm? 28 Inventor Howe 29 Indoor game much seen on English TV 30 Let slip 32 G o for (defend) 25 City in central this Puzzta by Richard Sllvestri 33 Erie Canal city 34 Man of Principle? 39 Clambake fare 50 Rathskeller decorations 52 Highland musician 40 Adjective for a 1 - ^ In the center of Down 55 Block brand 45 I might signify 56 Loads 49 Clump of grass 57 Actress Campbell 59 Comer piece 60 Objecting to 61 Exam for a would-be atty. 63 Org. in T h e Bourne Identity” 64 Tiny amount 65 To some extent For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554 Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1 -888-7-ACROSS. Online subscriptions: Today's puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytim es.com /crossw ords ($39.95 a year). Share tips: nytim es.com /puzzleforum . C rosswords for young solvers: nytim es.com /learning/xwords. Wednesday, June 18,2008 C o m ic s 7 S I i n O K I I F H R Y O I I BROKTia 3 PRY TII1H «X I i t H the u l? n key C t K U k i l l Fry. Oppeitaatiy It k it c k li' i M y < i i i n < I h f H skat tH irer k e y I * e y e * H . Men have dted...DIED in It's pursuit. Men! Oppotcuiuty’ 1 Heu, (he s i t m key a in't ler i he weak of heart Biokyie. • I n ' i c m rk t i i e ytaif T b a t'i ike LEAST el ay . . i i m i A m y m a * ! * ! i * ke ly m » H i | h ala O e ii keanTf I'm a-jo n n a help you. But only Pecaute I ptomtsed a tailor one thousand yeatt ajo. wh« died i n ,fn p u n u u of the titver key, that if I «tas errer the (oddam n fitment of sam e kid s tmatination, an he asked m e ta find this f'ck m key 01 somethin , that I'd do it. B U T T H a T S THE O N L Y R E A S O N I'm H EL P IN ' Y O U H Thank you Fry. Thank you again. You've past my test. You are Indeed my friend. 7 2 9 4 3 6 1 2 Yesterday's solution. 6 8 7 2 4 5 3 1 9 1 5 3 8 6 2 7 4 2 3 4 7 1 9 6 5 8 4 9 8 1 2 7 5 3 6 4 3 6 1 5 9 8 4 2 7 7 5 2 4 6 3 9 8 1 1 4 3 9 7 2 8 6 5 5 7 6 8 3 4 1 9 2 6 8 7 3 £ \ cc^ ^ o u W o u u » L f s r c T e * , tteM h* M.OÚK) yut.ifti»e,V>rfckfto (g^Kix* \* < 'j) h e n i t # ( c / r l 'A f A s 5 e p e r e d a . , . Mtikts a Xe L i r ? \ ^ ' h* os*r L j n«u fufa ~ T oin/ W T*€ f caxxL 6 u s me 6 9 ^ N )s ! l U 0 * fofL a r ^ y a y \ L r r t^ r P t o & u c t p O v W . r ^ ~ P Í ^ 0 h X 4 n J & F F F I a > j a 6 »Pm u v V ________________ J . p i u e L F l A m a c , a m P u w A t A / 'J í í ljtipíns» / h M T F'oOig'TcC-nJ ¡f TufeRt ARe Mo cCJfeLTIt »e- i,. f tolLk. Qt IM CkWtOfe &rr T ^ ^ / k t / - T U f c O M D f c A ü f i u ^ c - r v 4- " I H C O e u * . M s " DOGGIES LIKE TO DANCEII! L if e A rts T h e D a i l y T e x a n W E D N E S D A Y , J U N E 18, 2008 PAGE 8 www.dailytexanonline.com Life&Arts Editor: Alex Regnery Associate Life&Arts Editor: Dylan Miracle E-mail: lifeandarts@dailytexanonline.com Phone: (512) 232-2209 R ESTA U R A N T R E V I E W Callie Richmond | D a ily Te xan Staff A possible meal for two, photographed above, includes dolmas, the mezza sampler, lam b shish kebab and roasted lam b shank. Pharas offers tasty dolmas, steep prices By Chelsea Shannon Daily Texan Staff P h a ra 's M e d ite rra n e a n C u i­ sine on N orth Loop has m a n y en d e a rin g q u alitie s: d e lic io u s dolm as, a hookah lo u n g e d ec­ o rate d w ith life-size E g y p tian p h a ra o h s, a c a n d le lit in d o o r space, an o u td o o r gazebo, late h o u rs (th ey 're open until m id ­ night) and a charm ing w ait staff. T here w ere, h o w ev e r, s e v e r ­ al m om ents that w ere d e c id e d ­ ly off-putting. First, I opened the m enu and nearly choked on the prices. I alone spent $23, and that w as w ith o u t a d rin k an d d e s ­ sert. Though the food w as good, it w asn 't $23 good — esp ecial­ ly considering that I could have just w alked dow n 24th Street to Kismet Cafe and gotten a co m ­ parably tasty Shwarm a plate for less than half the price. T hat said, the food does d e ­ serve some solid praise: The dol­ m as w ere th e best I'v e h ad in A ustin. They w ere d ressed u p w ith an am azing p o m e g ra n ate sauce that I literally licked off the plate. Also, they were reasonably priced — $6 a plate. W hat I feel a sm idge disappointed about is the $ 1 6 1 spent on the Chicken La Jeez, which, though exceedingly tasty and spicy, did not turn out to be nearly the am ount of food I w as expecting. I w as full after­ w ard , b ut I'm a sm all girl an d expect to get tw o or three m eals out of a restaurant excursion. I was disappointed w hen all I had in m y to-go box was a clum p of rice and a few veggies. LIFE&ARTS BRIEFLY Cyrus surprised by daughter's revealing Vanity Fair photo NEW YORK — Billy Ray Cyrus says he wasn't around when An­ nie Leibovitz photographed his 15-year-old daughter, Miley, wrapped in a sheet with her back exposed, for the June issue of Vani­ ty Fair magazine. "1 wasn't there at the time," the 46-year-old country star said in an interview Tuesday on NBC's "To­ day" show. "[Miley's] publicist was there, and everyone seemed in control," he said 1 didn't know they [were] gonna strip her down and wrap her with a blanket." "So I was surprised when I saw it, you know, b u t... stuff happens. That's life. Things happen and sometimes things get a little out of control and you just gotta deal with life," he said. "Again, it's peaks and valleys and ups and downs." Cyrus, who co-stars with Mi­ ley in Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana," said looking back, he would have stayed to chaperone the photo shoot. When asked if that photo was a mistake, Cyrus said: "It's not a mis­ take to me. If it is to someone else, I'm sorry if I offended somebody, but no, that's just a daddy that loves his daughter a whole lot." — The Associated Press A side from the hefty prices, P h ara's also has live en tertain ­ m ent W ednesday through S un­ day nights, and from Thursday to Sunday, the entertainm ent is a bel­ ly dancer and a boombox. I have nothing against either belly danc­ ers or boom boxes — I'm actual­ ly a big fan of both — but close- proximity belly dancing is a little aw kw ard, especially w hen there are only ab o u t five other diners and a boom box. You are also ex­ pected to tip the dancers, w hich is fine b u t does ad d a few bucks onto an already expensive meal. W h ile th e fo o d w a s g o o d , a sid e from th e d o lm a s, it w as not o u tstand ing, and there is no w ay any norm al college stu d en t can afford those prices on a reg­ ular basis. Take dates there if you w ant to im press them w ith your ability to d ro p $50 on an a v e r­ age M editerranean meal. O r just go get th e dolm as. They w ill be hard to beat. BE THE FIRST TO SEE The Love Gum & G e t Sm art T h u rsd ay a t M id n ig h t at R eg ái s G a te w a y 16 w w w .R E G m o v ie s .c o m & E C Z JX L . CI/VE/W/IS OC - OPEN CAPTIONED DA = DESCRIPTIVE AUDiO AVAIL ABLE ★ Pass ' Di-OL" r "«e’ Ppstncnons AprV B a t q u in S h o w s It i ( ) Wednesday • Discount Shows All Day Excluding / Films METROPOLITAN STADIUM 14 80G-FANDANGO 3o8? I-35 S. AT STASSNEV uANE Adv. Tlx on Sale GET SM ART (PG-13) THE HAPPENING (R) - ID REQ D ★ (1155 1230 220 PROMOTION, THE (R) - ID R E Q O 11200 250 520) 800 1015 YOU D 0 N 7 M E S S WITH THE ZOHAN (PG-13) (1220 115 200 350 425 455)650 720 750 940 1010 1040 KUNG FU PANDA (PG) (1145 1215140 210 240 405 435 50h 630 700 730 855 925 955 CHRONICLES OF NARNlA: PRINCE CASPIAN (PGJ (1150 305) 635 950 SPEED RA C ER (PG) Í1200 305) 635 950 IRON MAN ( f G-13) (1205 100 31Ó 415)640 715 935 1025 (1210 245 515) 755 1030 BABY MAMA (PG-13) WESTGATE STADIUM 11 SO LAMAR 4 BEN WHITE 800-FANDANGO 369* Adv Tlx on Sale WALL-E (G) ★ Adv. Tix on Sale HANCOCK JPG- Adv. Tix on Site GET S M A R t (PG-13) ★ THE INCREDIBLE HULK (PG-13) ★ ‘ ' T tT SM ART ( ‘ KUNG FU PANDA (PG) THE HAPPENING (R) - ID REQ'D ★ (1120 1150 200 230 440 510) 720 750 1000 1030 (1145 235 520) 800 800 1020 (1140 1215210 240 435 505) 700 730 920 950 YOU DON'T M E S S WITH THE ZOHAN (PG-13) (1205 240 520)805 1040 THE STRA N G ER S ( R ) -ID REQ'D (110320 530)755 1015 (1200 305) 625 705 930 1010 SEX AND THE CITY (R) - ID REQ'D INDIANA JONES: THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL (PG-13) CHRONICLES OF NARNlA: PRINCE CASPIAN (“ ‘ (1230 415)710 955 IRON MAN (PG-13) (1240 345) (1245 400) 705 955 Free Family Film Festival - Today 10AM G ATEW AY STADIUM 16 CAPITAL OF TEXAS AT 183 BEHIND WHOLE FOODS 800-FANDANGO 3664 Adv. Tix on Sale WALL-E ( (PG-13) ★ THE INCREDIBLE HULK (PG-13) ★ THE HAPPENING (R) - ID REQ D * ] 1 110 1200130 250 350 510)715 750 935 1010 (1130 1230100 230 330 415 520)640 72Ó 800 920 1000 1040 KUNG FU PANDA - DP (PG) (1215 240 505) 735 955 YOU DON T M E S S WITH THE ZOHAN (PG-13) (1120 IE ZOHAN (PG-13) (1120 ____________ 1225 150 305 425 535)710 810 945 1050 (1115 1145140 405 435) KUNG FU PANDA (PG) 1151 5 THE STRA N G ER S (R) - ID REQ'D SEX AND THE CITY (R) - ID REQ D 630 700 85: (1140 200 410) 740 1020 (1155 1240 315 345)650 730 10051035 1245 400)705 1030 INDIANA JO NES THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL (PG-13) CH RONICLES OF NARNlA: PRINCE CASPIAN [PG WAN [PG) 1135 255) 635 940 IRON MAN (PG-13) 1250 340) 655 950 OC & DA KUNG FU PANDA(PG) ,210) 925 * R1 (i AI Arbor Cinema @ Great Hills i r ';',';'-,', " M l JOLLYVILLE RD N. OF GREAT HILLS m ih !V t á Ü i ,D(R)- BAGHEAD 1111 *. 11 n < I I ’ c. < j r. 11 i ' 111 I I i I i h u i r - f l . l i I I I I. ',11 . l i t . l ' l ' ,1 11í Í 1, ,111 i f ' . I . i l l I I I ! ,/illi (O M I O R I I I H r . - i ............ I ' l . . i i ; Í • i f ! > ) i ti I ; h / m i I ' i I . ! « * I / f i . u t i l (*. c i i •,. i ,, i ; W ' l U - i f, ' | . . S r . l ; •//• I . I i r. I / ( 11 ^ r- | I ' M , /1 < I c., j J ' i l ' l . r . i i A j . p l i M n # c- / n i l . / A " i ■. i tt ' ■:< y > , t . . I 1111j i . ill,i \ f , H ( ) R \ I J \ l \ ( , Wednesday,June 18,2008 The Creation o f Austin's Music Scene in Seven Decades Threadgill's, Vulcan Gas Company, Armadillo World Headquarters % m m M l * l i t You Know You Should. Made-To-Order Om elettes Homestyle Pancakes Biscuits and Gravy Migas • T acos • Burritos Sandwiches • Fresh Fruit | L u n g h tim e Ho t Sp o t FREE WIRELESS Feed your face while you update your MySpace. Grab a quick m eal from our super-long soup, salad & potato bar featuring fresh, local produce. NEW JVsM SüRRttOliO Solido ‘new íít’M; Mistas NEW ASB’fiS To Leave Tuiik | Huuse- APT;laa*s {BEERS i # ANYTHING '"nit HOUSE |§ 8TH & CONGRESS 1 ) \ l A U S T I N - 4 7 7 - 8 9 6 8 #7 Photos Andrea Lai By Seamus McAfee The A u stin re s ta u ra n t c h a in a n d live m u sic v enue k n o w n as T h re a d g ill’s has tak en on m a n y form s, n am es a n d addresses in its m ore th a n seven decades o f existence. L o n g -tim e p ro p rieto r o f th e re sta u ra n t E d d ie W ilson co n tin u e s th e tra d itio n , o p e n in g a th ird loca­ tion in C e d a r Park this year. For W ilson, the new location is n o t o nly a business expansion, b u t a c h an ce to reflect on T h re a d g ill’s past. T h e orig in o f T h re a d g ill’s c an be traced back as far as 1933, w hen its nam esake K en n eth T hread gill op en ed a filling statio n just n o rth o f A ustin. A side from au tom obile service, T h re a d g ill’s p rov ided an area for d rin k in g , g am b lin g an d live m usic 24 h o u rs a day. It o w n ed th e first beer license in T ravis C o u n ty an d T h read g ill was the first per­ form er in his estab lish m en t, sin g in g Jim m ie R odgers covers. As th e place grew in n o toriety, it a ttra c te d a rtists such as Janis Jo p lin . In 1974, after T h re a d g ill’s wife M ild red d ied , he d ecided to close th e club, d h e p ro p erty w as soon b o u g h t by E d d ie W ilson , th e m an ag e r o f a rock b an d at the tim e called S hiva’s H e a d b a n d . W ilso n was a form er p atro n o f the filling statio n a n d m usic hall. “I chose th e site because it w as T h re a d g ill’s,” W ilson said. “1 g o t the affliction o f causing pleasure th ro u g h the p resen tatio n o f m u sic.” W ilso n h ad previously been involved w ith a n o th e r A u stin p ro p ­ erty, a n ig h tclu b th a t o p en ed in 1967 located off C o ngress Avenue called th e V u lcan G as C o m p an y . It closed in 1970, m o stly due to high cover charges and an association w ith illegal d ru g activity. Police w ould sw eep th e area, a rrestin g suspects b o th inside an d o u tsid e the club. D espite it’s short ru n , th e venue was fam ou s in th e area, h o stin g such m usicians as Stevie R ay V au g h n , J o h n n y W in te r a n d th e 13th Floor Elevators. S o u th A ustin. For over ten years, the A rm ad illo enjoyed even greater success th a n its predecessor. The first a irin g o f “A u stin C ity L im its” was co m p iled from video shot at the A rm ad illo . T o this day, th e song “L o n d o n H o m esick Blues,’ w ritte n by G a ry P. N u n n a b o u t the A rm a d illo , is used as th e th em e song for A CL. A rtists such as W illie N elson a n d Jerry Je ff W alk er were am o n g the b a n d s th a t cam e to play at th e A rm ad illo , a n d helped to form a d istin ctiv e style o f m usic referred to as “C o sm ic C ow b o y.’ This eclectic c o m b in a tio n o f blues, ro ck n ’ roll a n d c o u n try cam e to be closely associated w ith th e A u stin m usic scene. O fte n , th is blend of m usic p erfo rm ed by u n iq u e p a irin g s o f artists b ro u g h t in diverse crow ds. A t o n e show, c o u n try a rtis t Joe E ly played o n th e sam e bill as B ritish p u n k b a n d The C lash. H elen B row n-K ay, w h o w o rk ed in th e kitch en o f th e A rm a d illo in th e ‘70s, rem em b ers th e u n iq u e a tm o ­ sphere. “Those w ere hazy an d ex citin g d ay s,” B row n-K ay said. “I still have a huge co llectio n o f posters, an d I tell m y self th a t I o u g h t to w rite a b o o k .” U n fo rtu n a te ly like its predecessor, th e A rm a d illo w as ev en tu ally forced to close. C h eap c o n c ert tick ets yielded little profit, a n d th e la n d lo rd sold th e p ro p e rty to a b uy er w ith a m ore g enerous offer in 1980. A t th e close o f his second v en tu re, W ilson d ecid ed to focus his efforts on T h read g ill s, th e p ro p e rty he h ad p u rch a sed earlier. H e m ade th e old site into a re sta u ra n t, k eepin g th e live m usic asp ect w hile a d d in g a p o p u la r m enu o f S o u th ern -sty le m eals. Ih read g ill s lo cation s today m ak e an h o n est effo rt to pay trib u te to th e ir long a n d te n u re d history. A cco rd in g to W ilso n , th e o rig in al n o rth lo c atio n ’s th em e is A u stin betw een th e 1930s a n d 1960s, w hile D e te rm in e d to keep th eir p a rt o f the gro w in g m usic scene alive, the so u th lo catio n celebrates the “ h eyday” era o f th e 1970s. W ilso n an d co -fo u n d er Jim F ra n k lin o f th e V ulcan opened A rm ad illo W orld H e a d q u a rte rs in 1970 at an old N a tio n a l G u a rd A rm o ry in Tank near empty due to gas prices? r f i d You know what’s next! ^HERITAGE co tr /íp¿y(sCcsuL^ ~ The Heritage at Hillcrest is here to help! Where to live is a big question and w e ’re here to make it easy. Our large 1 and 2 bedrooms provide your perfect student es­ cape! We have brand new everything but you! Come enjoy our Cyber Café with FREE Starbuck’s coffee, business/project center, fitness center and 3 pools. Your apartment will have crown molding, black GE energy star appliances, wood finish floors, huge closets and more! UT Shuttle at front door and 4 mins from campus.Call today to tour The Ultimate Off Campus Experience at prices every student can afford! 1200 Broadmoor Dr. 866.833.7717 Tel. visit thehertiageathillcrest.com to apply online Located 7 minutes from campus tit W ilso n said th e new location in C e d a r Park w ill have th re e b usi­ nesses: C e d a r P a rk H all, a venue for b a n q u e ts a n d m usic; R ojo M o jo C a n tin a , a b a r w ith a M ex ican a n d C reo le m enu; an d o f co urse, a T h re a d g ill’s re sta u ra n t. W ilson said I h r e a d g ill’s has also b u ilt a tra in d ep o t in C e d a r Park for th e H ill C o u n try Flyer, a histo ric steam train th a t once delivered stone to th e C ap ito l b u ild in g . “R em em b er,” W ilson said, “Jim m ie R odgers, M r. T h re a d g ill’s idol, was a railro a d m a n .” G racie T aylor, an em ployee at the T h re a d g ill’s co rp o rate office, said th e y hope to o pen th e new lo catio n before th e en d o f th e year. W ilso n has also w ritte n a c o o k b o o k w ith T h re a d g ill’s recipes, and is c u rre n tly w o rk in g on a b o o k a b o u t th e h isto ry o f A rm a d illo W orld H e a d q u a rte rs. D esp ite his role as a p ion eer o f th e A u stin m usic scene, W ilso n cred its th o se w ho b ecam e before h im for th e success of T h re a d g ill’s. “ I th in k o f th e o rig in al [T h rea d g ill’s] as the m a n g e r of the m usic scene,” he said. “A n d M r. T hread g ill as th e g ra n d fa th e r of it all.” For m ore in fo rm a tio n a b o u t T h re a d g ill’s an d its history, visit w w w . th read g ills.co m o r w w w .aw h q .co m . Longhorn Living An advertising supplement o f The D aily Texan ADVERTISING RETAIL ADVERTISING M ANAGER Brad Corbett A C C O U N T EXECUTIVE Carter Goss STUDENT AD DIRECTOR Jalah Briedwell STUDENT AD M ANAGERS Elizabeth Roman LOCAL DISPLAY A C C O U N T EXECUTIVES Charlie M oczygem ba Kathryn Abbas Chelsea Anaya Jared Barker David Helzer Angela Herrington M a x Kennedy M ack Nickelson CONTRIBUTING STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Paul Chouy Emily Bolt Andrea Lai Callie Richmond WRITERS Brett Alexander W illiam Bass Trevor Boehm Emily Bolt Chris Giles Robert Greene Matthew Ingebretson Seamus McAfee Berklee Morganto LAYOUT & DESIGN Elena Watts STUDENT EDITORS Jason Sears Drew Thomas SPECIAL EDITIONS EDITORIAL ADVISER Elena Watts I KLJl-cic Y O U R W O R L D I THE DAILY TEXAN • OAILYTE X ANONLINE COM i TEXAS STUDENT TELEVISION • KVRX SI 7 f M TEXAS TRAVESTY • CACTUS YEARBOOK For advertising info, call 512-471-1865 Wednesday, June 18,2008 L o n g h o r n L i v i n g 3 Summer Movies Square Off, Six Winners for Selective Viewers Sixth Sense”, “U nbreakable”) hopes to reclaim his former glory after the sublimely awful “Lady in the W ater.” The trailer for his new film “The H appening” looks like a creepy thriller, but a pri­ vate screening last m onth has already evoked scath­ ing criticism from industry insiders. A nother prob­ lem is its R-rating com pared to “H u lk ’s” adolescent- friendly P G - 1 3 . Winner: “The Incredible H u lk ” smashes his way to the top. July 25: Comedians take on aliens “Step Brothers” vs. “The X-Files: I Want tc Believe” In “Step Brothers,” W ill Ferrell and John C Reilly o f “Talladega N ights’ team up for anothei comedy. At least I can say that “Step Brothers” isn’i just another sports movie spoof like “Semi-Pro.” The tru th is out. “The X-Files” finally get: another big-screen treatm ent, and series creatoi and director C hris C arter promises that the nev, film will be darker and scarier than the original W ith only a vague idea about the plot, X-philes wil definitely flock to theaters to get their conspirac) theory on. Winner: “The X-Files” beam s to the top. By Brett Alexander If you re like most people, you’ll probably spend m ost o f the sum m er hanging around at the beach, taking a road trip, or begging your way back into your parents’ house for a few m onths. A nd me? I ’ll be w atching movies. The sum m er movie spectacu­ lar is the m ost consistent event each year. There are sure to be movies th at disappoint, movies th at sur­ pass expectations and, o f course, a few unnecessary sequels and remakes. The following week-by-week breakdown features the biggest films that will be released during the next three m onths, as well as my predictions for w hich films will reign victorious at the box office. June 6: Crazy character vs. well, another crazy character ‘You D o n ’t M ess w ith th e Z o h a n ” vs. “K u n g Fu P and a” W ith “Z o han,’’ you know w hat you’re getting: Adam Sandler playing a character w ith a different accent, Rob Schneider in another ridiculous role, and a guarantee that you ll laugh a couple o f tim es. But after the disappointing “I N ow Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,’’ I'm startin g to wonder if Sandler’s charm is w earing thin. Panda’’ is a little unpredictable. W hile this film spares no expense w ith the voice talents o f Jack Black and A ngelina Jolie, the recent deluge o f com ­ puter-anim ated movies leaves a lot to be desired. But parents need a movie for their kids to watch, and this fits the bill. W in ner: “ K ung Fu P an da,” th a n k s to the y o u n g ­ lings. June 27: The heavyweight showing its muscle “W A L L -E ” vs. “W a n te d ” “W ALL-E” is yet another D isney/Pixar collabo­ ration, and if it’s anything like “F inding N em o,” “The Incredibles, and “Cars,” then every person who has a heart will go see and enjoy this movie. “W anted” is based on a popular com ic book series, but like most H ollyw ood adaptations, gen­ erous liberties were taken w ith the plot. The action sequences look fairly entertaining, but “W anted” has an uphill battle ahead w ith the juggernaut that is Disney/Pixar. W inner: “W A LL-E” rolls to the top. August 15: Revenge o f the gee ky fan boys S ta r W ars: The C lone W ars vs. “Tropic T h u n d er” George Lucas refuses to cut and run. Thi: summ er, Lucasfilm will release a C G -a n imatee extravaganza that takes place between episode: tw o and three. The anim ation and action look: well done, and as long as there are no romantic scenes between A nakin and Padme, this shoulc prove to be an entertaining return to that galax) far, far away. “Tropic T hunder” looks entertaining as well Robert D ow ney Jr. always brings a smile to m> face, and Tom C ruise will attem pt to redefine him self in a daring role involving a fat suit. Bui are they a match for the power of the dark side? 1 th in k not. W inner: The force is strong w ith “S tar W ars: The C lone W ars.” Paramount Theatre Entertaining Austinites Since 1915 June 20: Old school comedian vs. new school “G e t S m a r t” vs. “The L ove G u ru ” For the past decade, H ollyw ood studios have generally avoided releasing tw o sim ilar movies w ith big stars on the same day, fearing th a t box office wars are bad for business. But June 20 marks a departure from the norm as tw o com edic giants go tete-a-tete for the crown o f cam p. W ho will win? Based on the old TV show, “G et S m art” features one o f film and television’s m ost visible rising stars: Steve Carell. The trailers have some great moments, but hopefully those aren’t the only ones. A fter “Evan Almighty, Carell needs to redeem himself. “'ihe Love G u ru ,” is an o p p o rtu n ity for M ike Myers to spin the hum or he developed in his “A ustin Powers” franchise. W hile this is not nec­ essarily a bad thing, it remains to be seen w hether Myers can recapture the magic. Verne Troyer o f M ini-M e fame also returns for this com ic romp, but d idn’t we have our fill o f little-people jokes the first tim e around? W inner: “G et S m art,” and see this movie. June 13: Two attempts, at a relaunch “T he In cred ible H u lk ’ vs. “The H a p p e n in g ” The original “H ulk was terrible, and it w ould have been fine if the franchise had retired right then and there. But after seeing trailers for the new “Incredible H ulk, I am actually looking forward to it this year. In my opinion, Edw ard N orton can act circles around Eric Bana, and the com puter­ generated imagery looks better than in the origi­ nal. W riter-director M . N ight Shyam alan (“The By Chris Giles C ontem porary A ustin culture, in all o f its forms, is based on a passion for history, tradition and look­ ing ahead to the future. Few things encompass these aspects as well as the historic P aram ount Theater, located in the heart o f A ustin on Congress Avenue. The P aram ount is a variety theater in the best sense o f the word. A year at the Param ount can include everything from beautiful screenings o f Sum m er Film Series favorites such as “Casablanca” and “G one w ith the W ind, to perform ances by K.D. Lang and Dr. Maya Angelou, to stage-pro- ductions o f classics “To Kill a M ockingbird” and “Sweeney Todd. “The Param ount was once billed as a variety house, and you can say the same about us today,” said Public Relations associate Brooklyn Barbieri. “We embrace the variety o f perform ances and per­ form ance genres that we can offer our audiences.” A schedule as diverse and exceptional as the P aram o u n t’s, along w ith theater’s always accom m odating attitude tow ards its patrons and perform ers is the very thing th at has contributed to its continued popularity over the years. The forefront o f the Param ount staff is the desire to offer the theater’s patrons the best experience pos­ sible. the “W e’ve taken the tim e to truly research and understand who our audience base is and w hat they are interested in attending - w hat exactly will help make them a loyal patron,” said Barbieri. The evolution o f the Param ount has rightly become a fascinating story for the history books, and is all the more incredible considering sev­ eral close-calls when the theater nearly closed its doors. O riginally know n as the M ajestic Theater, it first opened its doors to A ustin in 1915, prim ar­ ily as a venue for the vaudeville acts o f the period. By the tim e o f the 1930’s, the M ajestic underw ent extensive rem odeling to m eet the changing tech­ nology and en tertainm ent o f the time. It was dur­ ing this change that the M ajestic was henceforth know n as the Param ount. The theater flourished du ring the years, pro­ m oting war bonds during W orld W ar II and host­ ing some o f the famous acts o f the tim e - includ­ ing, H arry H o u d in i’s magic act and K atharine H epb urn’s famous stage (and later film) role as Tracy Lord in “The Philadelphia Story,” am ong others. By the 6 0 s and 70’s, however, low -atten- dance forced the Param ount into poor condition and it solely functioned as a “B” movie-theater. Nevertheless, good fortune and perseverance led to the full, albeit gradual, restoration o f the Param ount d uring the better p art o f the 1970’s. It was this tim e when the Param ount began to screen classic movies at affordable prices, a staple of the Param ount tradition that lasts to this day. The full history of the Param ount’s legacy is too detailed and dram atic to chronicle in its entirety here. The theater has gone through periods of suc­ cess followed by recession, but throughout this tim e, the hard work done by its staff and support by m any members and patrons have grow n into a loyal base o f fandom th at only continues to grow. “W e’ve actually tripled our m em bership over the past 3 years,” Executive D irector Ken Stein said. “The com m unity likes the part o f Congress Avenue that hasn’t changed in nearly 93 years.” This m em bership includes all walks o f the A ustin population, patrons o f the arts and cineph- iles old and young. It has ensured the P aram ount’s perm anent place in ou r tow n’s past, present, and future. “We as a theater venue, we are not com m er­ cially viable; w e’re probably losing money when we open our doors,” Stein said. “W e keep our doors open to fundraisers and contributive support. We have little over 3000 members. W h a t’s really unique about our mem bership — we try to tell people that every dollar counts — some donate five dollars; some donate one m illion. The Param ount really has no business reason to be in existence, [but] the com m unity values it for its attributes.” Such a m odest, appreciative attitude is what generally characterizes the P aram ount staff*s stance on their invaluable output to the com m u­ nity: undying love for the talent that they pull in, and an even larger gratitude towards their patrons and custom ers that m ake it all possible. “W e tell o u r members that their mem bership supports keeping the theater open,” Stein said. “The benefits we give the m em ber are easy to deliver: free parking vouchers, free popcorn, [and] we tell our members that they’re going to get the best seats. Because you’ve m ade that show pos­ sible, we w ant to give back to you.” Ihe annual Sum m er Film Series has estab­ lished itself as a custom er favorite, as well as a pop­ ular draw to new patrons. A lm ost consistently, the Param ount kicks off the film series w ith a screen- Walk to UT! Rent starts at $499 Rent includes food, high speed internet, and utilities. All of o u r houses have com puter room s, study room s, on-site laundry facilities, an d fully stocked kitchens. Visit www.college houses.org fo r m ore inform ation. i . r \ 1 1906 Pearl St. Austin, TX 78705 (512) 476-5678 www.collegehouses.org Texas Archive War Eberly fires cannon, protects archives L o n g h o r n L i v i n g Wednesday, June 18,2008 KLRU: Austin's Treasure By Matthew Ingebretson W hen I w as three years old, there were very few things that m y m other approved for me to watch on television. In fact, there were only K L R U . stretch out and play uninterrupted w ithout com m ercials,” says M au ry Sullivan, vice presi­ dent o f m arketin g and com m u n ication s at tw o shows that I had perm ission to view. O ne From the sh ow ’s first concert featu rin g w as hosted by a mellow, cardigan-w earing, W illie N elson to the more recent perform ances m iddle-aged m an, and the other featured an o f N o rah Jon es and R .E .M ., A C L has estab assortm ent o f fuzzy, brightly colored puppets. U nlike other ch ildren ’s shows on television, lished itself as an integral part o f the national m usic scene, as well as a vital asset to the city however, the goal o f P B S ’s “ M r. R ogers” and o f A ustin. Soon “A C L ” will be m ovin g produc­ “ Sesam e Street” w as not ju st to entertain, but tion to a new bu ild in g on Block 21 dow ntow n, also to educate you ng viewers. PB S is dedicat­ where a larger audience can attend the concerts ed to producin g show s for the public interest, in a stu dio design ed specifically to preserve the an d K L R U , A u stin ’s local public television sta­ current atm osphere o f the show. tion, is no different. K L R U serves as an outlet A side from “A C L ,” K L R U focuses on pro­ for nationally produced PB S shows, as well as du cin g content for local viewers. O ne show in regional program s created by and for C en tral particular, “ D ocu bloggers,’ is a series of d ocu ­ Texans. K L R U produces m any o f these local m entaries about life in C en tral Iexas. The d o c­ program s in their ow n stu dios such as “ Biscuit um entaries are created by viewers, blurring the B rothers,” a m usic education show for children, line betw een its producers and the audience. and “T exas M onthly T a lk s,” which features “A nybody in C en tral Texas who has a cam ­ interviews with politicians an d celebrities. era and a story to tell could subm it a story to Like all PBS stations, K L R U is non-prof­ the W eb site says Sullivan. Su bm itted d o cu ­ Photo Paul Chouy it. The lion’s share o f its fu n d in g com es from m entaries are available to watch on the K L R U donations m ade by m em bers o f the co m m u n i­ W eb site, and the best-produced film s air on the By Robert Green in g house and tavern near what is now C on gress ty. A nd because K L R U does not rely on co m ­ television show. Ihe user-generated m aterial in If it were not for an obscure political struggle in and Sixth Streets. In M arch 1842, a M exican the 1840s know n as the Texas A rchive War, rhe arm y under the co m m an d o f G eneral R afael mercial advertising, it can broadcast shows that “ D o cu b lo g g e rs” is gro u n d b re ak in g because m ight not otherw ise be aired, but are beneficial PBS is relin quishing control o f the airw aves to city o f A ustin m ight not exist. V asquez invaded Sou th Texas an d occu p ied the to the public. the average person, while preserving individual T exas declared its independence from M exico city o f San A nton io. President H o u sto n called “A ustin C ity L im its,” now in its 34th sea­ experiences for posterity. It is yet another way in 1836, en d in g a 15-year p eriod o f M exican for an em ergency session o f the Texas C o n gress son, is K L R U ’s only n ationally broadcasted for local artists to “ keep A ustin weird. statehood. W h at followed w as nine years o f independence for the new R epublic o f Texas. to convene in H ou ston out o f fear that A ustin was also in dan ger o f capture. By late D ecem ber, But the you n g nation now had to decide where H ou ston decided that the governm ent archives to erect its capital city. D u rin g the T exas Revolution, several sites be perm anently m oved to H o u sto n a n d sent a com pan y o f rangers into A u stin to retrieve functioned as interim capitals, the last o f which them . A s the rangers loaded the archives onto was located in the city o f W ashington-on-the- w ago n s in dow ntow n A ustin , A ngelin a Eberly, Brazos, not far from present-day H ou ston . H o u sto n ’s form er landlady at the Eberly H ou se, program . W hat started as a sm all perform ance But these show s and others are just p art of show featurin g talented Texas m usicians has a larger initiative called “ Lifelon g L earn in g,’ a exploded onto the national scene as the pre­ program that focu ses on providing educational miere platform for both classic and new artists television for every age group in the co m m u ­ to show case their talent. nity. “ K L R U is a repository o f in form ation for “A C L ” is unique, in part, because it is pro­ the co m m u n ity ’s needs, says Lin d a Sch m id, duced by a public station with considerable senior vice president o f education services. broad castin g freedom . “There aren’t really any “O u r job is to serve all o f our com m u n ity.” The T exas C on gress favored the construction fired the town can n on at them . T his drew the other o p p o rtu n ities where [m usicians] can o f a new capital city in central T exas, but S a m attention o f local vigilantes w ho were op po sed H ou ston , m ilitary leader o f the Texas R evolution to the rem oval o f the archives, sp ark in g what and the first elected president o f the new Texas is know n as the A rchive War. O n Ja n u a ry 1, Republic, blocked th is plan, preferring that the newly renam ed city o f H o u sto n becom e the c a p ­ 1843, the vigilante com m ittee, under the co m ­ m an d o f C ap ta in M ark B. Lew is, overtook ital. However, H o u sto n ’s term in office expired the arch ive-sm uggling rangers near present-day before a decision w as reached.In early 1839, M ira b e a u 'B . Lam ar, who favored the C en tral R o u n d R ock O n ly a few shots were fired before the rang­ T exas plan, replaced H ou ston as President o f ers, in accordan ce with H ou ston ’s orders to avoid the R epublic o f Texas. H e chose a site along the C olo rad o River near the tiny settlem ent o f bloodshed, surrendered the archives, w hich were then im m ediately returned to A ustin . Since W aterloo, p urp ortedly because o f its proxim ity then, A ustin has flourished. In 1871, the city to his favorite hunting groun ds. W ith in a year, unveiled its railroad station, w hich w as the west­ the T exas governm ent had m oved its archives ernm ost railw ay stop in T exas at the tim e. O th er to the new capital city. L a m a r took residence developm ents, such as A ustin’s regional tradin g there, and W aterloo was renam ed in honor o f center, helped to secure the city’s place as perm a­ the recently deceased “ Father o f T exas,” Stephen nent state capital. A n d in 1881, A ustin officials F. A ustin .In 1840, S a m H ou ston w as elected to a second term as President o f the Republic o f p rop osed a plan that w ould reserve 4 0 acres on C ollege H ill for what the T exas C on stitu tion T exas. Im m ediately after ta k in g office, H ou ston o f 1876 described as a “university o f the first voiced his disdain for the new capital city, call­ class.” in g it “the m ost u n fortu n ate site on earth for B u t w ithout the activism o f local residents a seat o f governm ent." R ather than live in the d u rin g the Archive War, it is possible that A ustin Presidential m ansion built by his rival Lam ar, H ou ston m oved into the Eberly Flouse, a b oard ­ w ould have becom e ju st another W ashington- on-the-Brazos, a mere footnote in Texas history. Clockwise from top left: John Michael Stipe, the lead singer from REM; Coldplay; and Tom Spencer and Pro­ ducer Linda Lehmusvirta of "Central Texas Gardener" P h o t o s c o u r t e s y K L R U Shipe House, Ave. B Grocery part of Hyde Park's long history is still open today. Sh ipe’s original vision, in 1974. The A ssociation continues to fight to keep their vision o f an open , front-porch M arb u rg er said, “ Is that the perfect neighbor­ to preserve the area an d has undertaken an co m m u n ity alive. The co m m u n ity recognizes hood w as one that a young child co uld w alk It has not been an across in five m inutes. effort to have H yde Park recognized as a local those challenges. “ The new history o f Hyde h istoric district. A ccordin g to M arburger, the Park is whether we are goin g to save the his­ easy vision to keep. last 50 years o f the n eigh b orh ood ’s history tory that is here,” said M arburger. Sittin g In the 1960s, The University o f T e x as’s have been critical in keeping the com m unity in front o f Avenue B G rocery on a su m m er popu lation boom caused pressure to create and its heritage alive. “ The last two genera­ afternoon, with a cold root beer and a B L T in m ore student h ousin g, an d the a gin g houses tions have saved the n eighborhood, he said, han d, it is not hard to believe that it is a his­ ju st north o f cam p u s looked like excellent referring to the H P N A . tory worth saving. solutions. A partm ents began to appear all over the n eighborhood, destroying or d isp lac­ in g the 70-year-old structures that preceded them . Residents decided som eth in g had to be done to protect their com m unity, and form ed The H yde Park N eigh borh ood A ssociation The tension betw een developm ent and For m ore inform ation abou t the history o f preservation continues today. O n M ay 16, H yde Park, visit the H P N A ’s exhibit, Hyde the H P N A held a can dlelight vigil for a Park: Life on the Avenues, on display at Hyde house scheduled to be dem olished buy its new owner. N ew developm ents and rising p ro p ­ Park M arketplace o ff G u ad alu p e this su m ­ mer. The exhibit w ill feature photos o f life in erty values challenge the residents efforts H yde Park during its first 50 years. P h o t o s A n d r e a Lai Left: Col. Monroe M. Shipe developed Hyde Park, Austin's first planned suburb, tn 1891. The Shipe House, located at 3816 Avenue G, was completed in 1892. Right: Ave B Grocery is located at 4403 Avenue B, a couple of blocks southeast of Guadalupe and 45th Streets. Ave B Grocery is open Monday-Saturday, 8a. m. to 6p.m. The store has been in continuous operation since 1909. Wednesday,June 18,2008 L O N G H O R N L l \ 1NG 5 Austin Zen Center: Minimizing Distractions, Settling Minds By W illiam Bass At 5:30 a.m., the typical Austinite is still asleep. Others may stare into their coffee mugs with bleary eyes, trying to muster the wherewithal to meet another workday. But on 31st Street, a hand­ ful o f people are sitting in silence, regulating their breathing, or walking around a room at the stag­ gering rate of about 15 feet every ten minutes. Ihese practices may seem simple— or even bizarre— to the uninitiated. But they often take a lifetime to master. The practitioners o f the Austin Zen Center strive to achieve inner peace through such ritualistic daily routines. Monday through Friday, the center fosters a quiet atmosphere where participants have the opportunity to sit, walk or meditate in virtual tranquility. The Austin Zen Center follows the teachings of Soto Zen, which focus on meditation, study and m indful work. But what exactly is Zen? The textbook definition o f Zen describes a school o f Buddhism whose followers pursue experien­ tial wisdom. According to resident teacher John Crim es, however, Zen is indefinable since “any­ thing one’s mind produces is not it.” For Grimes, trying to define Zen is a fallacy because, “Zen can’t be nailed down by anything one’s mind claim s.” For the neophyte, the true meaning o f Zen can only be understood through one s own experience. Ihe Austin Zen Center offers everyone the oppor­ tunity to glimpse this higher truth by minimizing the distractions o f the modern world. At the heart o f the Austin Zen Center is the paying attention. According to Grimes, the prac­ titioner “walks very slowly so that [they] can pay attention to the mechanics o f [their] bodies.” This process o f mindful walking reawakens one’s latent experiences, thus revealing the mysteries o f Zen through its practice. Everyone from Buddha to Oprah has used the word “enlightenment when referring to transcen­ dence or higher truth. M ost often, people equate enlightenment with some astonishing religious epiphany. Grimes disagrees with this notion. He considers enlightenment as merely “seeing things as they actually are. Grimes likens the confusion between reality and the spirit to the problem o f try ing to define Zen. “ We see our story about things— not things in themselves, says Grimes. Supreme enlightenment, he maintains, means existing com­ pletely in the present moment, as it is, without the burden o f memory or the uncertainties o f the future. For Grimes, The Austin Zen Center is a place where people “can find out about themselves, what is important, and examine their habits of mind.” Ihe Austin Zen Center is located at 3014 Washington Square, just off West 31st Street, fh ey hold regular Zazen every weekday at 5:30 a.m. and 5:40 p.m. Newcomers are encouraged to attend the discussion Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m. The Austin Zen Center also offers related classes, lec­ tures and volunteer opportunities. More inform a­ tion can be found at their Web site, www.austin- zencenter.org. practice o f meditation, or “Zazen” in Japanese. Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not just some esoteric method for tuning out reality. As Grimes puts it, meditation is “the opportunity to be still and notice what’s going on.” For resident monk Jeff Fields, meditation does not carry any sort o f “existential implications,” rather it is simply P h o to Callie R ich m o n d learning to be comfortable in any given moment.” By settling the mind, meditation affords the prac­ titioner a greater probability o f attaining a Zen-like peace. The Austin Zen Center also encourages the practice Kinhin, or “walking meditation.” Like the sedentary Zazen, Kinhin is primarily the art o f Johnston High Closes Doors, Dashes Hopes By Emily Bolt The bus comes to a stop. A young woman emerges and begins walking toward the front doors o f the school. She is wearing a red shirt with an H .E .B logo on the right pocket. Her eight-hour shift has just ended, and now she must prepare for another four and one-half hours in class. It is 4:15 p.m., and while most students o f Johnston H igh School have already gone home for the day, a few others like Brittany Gom ez are just arriving. The 17-year- old H .E .B . employee is enrolled in the Twilight program at Johnston High School, and her goal is to earn a high school diploma. In addition to its regular daytime schedule, Johnston H igh offers night classes for a select group o f students. These 30 students attend high school classes M onday through Thursday, 4:30 to 9 p.m., allowing them to work dur­ ing the day or care for their children. For them, the Twilight program is a second chance— a path to more and better opportunities. Twilight teachers have designed cur­ ricula that cater to the needs o f work­ ing students. But these needs are not limited to scheduling conflicts. The Twilight School strives to overcome the unique challenges that face each stur dent. vSince many students at Johnston High are Mexican immigrants or their descendants, English is often their sec­ ond language. Moreover, the families o f Johnston students generally subsist below the poverty line. Regardless, Johnston High, along with many Texas schools, has had to adapt in order to better meet the stan- P h o to Emily B o lt G e t a R o o m G e t a C a r XV XIJL wmmmrngmw YOUR PAD IS WACK! WWW.LONGHORNLANDING.COM This 2008 Pontiac Solstice Convertible can be yours! Be seen in the hottest car around! Hurry to Longhorn Landing today! Come live in A ustin ’s #1 choice for off cam pus student living! give your dog a new home. 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They work include Shakespeare’s “ The Tam ing o f the Shrew ” w ith in a wide range o f genres, from light com­ (Ju ly 24 through August 18) directed by Je ff edies such as Tom Stoppard’s “ Rosencrantz and H in ckle and “ W h ite People” (June 12 through Ju ly “ L e t’s do it.” These were the words that motivated Gildenstern are D e a d ” to high drama like A rth u r 6) directed by Charlie Stikes, one o f the com pany’s partners A n d y Berkovsky and Travis T in n in to M ille r ’s “ Death o f a Salesman.” core actors. establish the C ity Theatre Com pany in 2006. The “ Musicals and comedies are probably my favor­ In addition to this summer’s production lineup, C om pany has since become integral to the bur­ ite shows to do,” says Berkovsky. “ W e ’re calling it the C ity Theatre Com pany offers acting workshops geoning theatre scene in the Austin area. the ‘summer o f extremes’ this year. W e ’ve got a every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Austinites have long prided themselves on the lot o f things happening.” Berkovsky is referring, in Ba rry Pineo, an award-winning actor, director, city’s legion o f performing artists, and the local part, to “Alice in W onderland,” w hich the company playwright and author, leads the workshops. To music scene is consistently regarded as one o f w ill be performing Aug. 21 through Sept. 14. “ It learn more about Pineo and his acting classes, visit the best in the world. But the C ity Theatre w ill probably be the most exciting show,” he says. w ww.barrypineo.com . C om pany is not easily upstaged, and dramaturges “ W e ’ll get to have a lot o f fun w ith the music and W ith talented casts and quality productions, the like Berkovsky and T in n in strive to create a theatre the costumes. C ity Theatre Com pany continues to enrich Austin’s experience that is as exciting and robust as their The company produces about eight to 10 shows performing arts scene. For more information about musical counterpart. The company also provides a per season, based on selections optioned an entire performances, show times, tickets and classes, visit forum for local directors and actors to network and year in advance. “ W e try to pick our shows based the com pany’s W eb site at www.citytheatreaustin. exchange ideas. on how challenging they are for our actors, what org. “As a company, we really are o f the city,” says fits w ith in our budget, and whether they’ve been Berkovsky, .who also serves as the com pany’s m an­ played in Austin before,” says Berkovsky. aging director. “ Instead o f being just ten people The com pany’s most recent production is the that do everything all year, we try to get as many Io n y and O livie r Award-winning play “A R T .” actors, designers and directors working onstage as Staged by visiting writer-director Yasmina Reza, we can.” A R T is “ kind o f a comedy-drama, and the w riting The C ity Theatre C om pany holds auditions in it is really, really terrific,” says Berkovsky. The Grand Paramount Theatre Photo Callle Richmond Johnston High School Continued from page 5 dards o f the Texas Assessment of Knowledge surrender Johnston to the wrecking crew. and Skills (T A K S ). Johnston H igh School has Tw ilight student Vanessa Alem an provides struggled over the years to meet these standards, unique insight into life at Johnston H ig h School. and then the Bush administration’s N o C hild Born in Austin, Alem an is o f M exican descent. Left Behind A ct o f 2001, or N C L B , raised cur­ Neither of her parents graduated from high school, riculum standards w ith the goal o f improving yet she is determined to get her diploma. W h en public schools overall. Due to low performance, she was a regular high school student, Aleman Johnston H ig h has been on the proverbial chop­ explains she “ended up getting in a fight and going ping block for the past four years. The T w ilight to the Alternative Learning Center. Johnston program is an attempt by school administrators H igh provided her w ith a fresh start. Alem an is to help students meet the requirements o f both 17, intelligent, hard working, and mature for her T A K S and the N C L B mandate. age. She and boyfriend Rene M artinez are expect­ O n Thursday, June 5, 2008, education commis­ ing their first child, and Alem an is grateful for the sioner Robert Scott finally ordered Johnston H igh flexibility afforded by the Twilight program. “ I am School to close its doors w ithin the 2008-2009 graduating one year early,” she says, “so I can pre­ school year. Again, it seems that Johnston’s T A K S pare for my baby and make my parents proud.” scores did not meet N C L B standards, though Alem an w ill graduate from what may be the they were slightly higher than those o f the pre­ final class o f Johnston H ig h School. Students and vious year. But the debate is far from over. Later teachers are well aware that there is an uncertain in the same conference, Scott permitted A I S D to future in store for the school, and m any attri­ devise a “ repurpose plan” for Johnston H ig h . The bute this to the controversial effects o f the N C L B plan has yet to be established, but some are hope­ mandate. Closing struggling schools seems to be ful that Johnston’s improved T A K S scores bode a counterintuitive solution to the very problems well for the beleaguered school. Some o f these N o C h ild Le ft Behind was created to address. improvements may be the result o f the Tw ilight W ith o u t Johnston H igh, students like Gom ez and program and the efforts o f those who refuse to Alem an may never get a second chance. Photo courtesy Paramount Theatre Continued from page 3 ing o f “ Casablanca, and usually ends the summer “ [W e ] look at each summer as a chance o f get­ on a grand scale w ith “ G one w ith the W in d . (This ting the audience a time capsule o f movie history,” summer w ill conclude on a less epic, although no Beutel said. “ [W e] balance it by decades, [and] try less brilliant, screening o f “ Rear W in d o w .”) The to balance it by genre. I look to see for films that selection in between those two bookends is as people haven’t been overly exposed to.” diverse as one could hope for, from customer favor­ The Sum m er Film series w ill continue until ites such as “ Lawrence o f Arabia and “ Breakfast September, when the Param ount w ill immediately at Tiffany's” to more contemporary fare like “ L .A . move to its following season o f musical, comedic, Confidential and “ Chinatow n.” and dramatic acts. “ It ’s all apart o f educating your audience and “ It ’s a monument,” current programming m an­ m aintaining and growing it," former programming ager Lietza Brass said. “ People want to come to see manager Paul Beutel said. the Param ount Theater. The venue itself has been Beutel, who has since moved on from manage­ extremely lucky over the past 30 years. W e have the rial duties at the Paramount, is still responsible for best acoustics in town. W e get it all here; it’s an all- programming the eclectic Summer Film Series. ages venue.” ULTIMATE STUDENT LIVING SUM M ER IN AUSTIN On the stands 6/25 & 7/ 16/ LARGE MULTI-LEVEL PARKING GARAGE WITH * A PARKING PLACE FOR EVERY BEDROOM AMAZING SPAS 1 SWEET FITNESS CENTER WITH TREADMILLS, WEIGHT MACHINES, ELLIPTICAL TRAINERS AND FREE WEIGHTS MINUTES TO CAMPUS A 11 COMPUTERS IN BUSINESS CENTER 1 TRICKED OUT GAME ROOM WITH LARGE PLASMA TVS, POKER TABLE AND POOL TABLE 2 DELUXE STAND-UP TANNING BEDS 1 INCREDIBLE POOL 7 ou td oor g a s g rills ONE CHOICE TO MAKE... 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