Horns Up: SG votes to support undocumented students

Last night, amid a crowd of protesters, the Student Government Assembly passed by a vote of 18-9-2 a heavily-debated resolution in support of undocumented students at UT-Austin. The resolution had twice been sent to the Legislative Affairs Committee, where the portion of the resolution that called for SG’s support of immigration reform was contested by some as too overtly partisan and political to be within the purview of SG. We appreciate the perspective brought by SG Vice President Ugeo Williams during the debate, who was quoted in a Daily Texan news story on the debate as saying, “Remember, we don’t make laws. They’re just asking for support.” In choosing to pass a resolution that will help students feel welcome on this campus, SG did a good job of representing the campus community and serving students.

Horns Down: Dan Patrick still can't play nice with others

As the lieutenant governor’s race revs up, it appears that state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, is the clear leader — in contention and misinformation. The Patrick campaign released its second televised campaign ad yesterday, hot on the heels of his previous spot condemning in-state tuition for undocumented students. In the ad, Patrick touts his vote against the 2013 Texas budget, saying, “The only thing you need to know about the lieutenant governor’s current budget is every Democrat praised and voted for it.” Problem is, so did almost every Republican, too — the bill passed the Senate 27-4 (19 Republicans and 12 Democrats) and the House 118-29 (95 Republicans and 55 Democrats). In previous discussions, Patrick claimed that his no vote was in response to inadequate education funding. But that, too, proved problematic, when Senator Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, pointed out that Patrick, as chair of the Senate Education Committee, didn’t actually propose or advocate for extra education funds, and even amended out one provision that would provide them himself. We know bending of the truth and being quarrelsome is kind of Patrick’s schtick, but we’d rather have a politician than a shock-jock at the Lt. Gov’s mic next session.

Horns Up: UT and A&M are together again

Researchers from UT, in partnership with researchers from Texas A&M and other universities, have discovered the oldest and most distant galaxy yet identified. According to the researchers, observers on Earth see the galaxy as it appeared 13 billion years ago, only 700 million years after the universe itself was born. The galaxy is estimated to now be 30 billion light years away, which is such a difficult distance to grasp that you’ll just have to take our word that it’s quite a bit further than your friend’s place in Far West. Hopefully the inhabitants of the galaxy came up with a better name for it than z8_GND_529, which is apparently the best we earthlings could come up with. We like to imagine the scientists settling on that uninspiring moniker only after a bitter fight over whether to name it after Vince Young or Johnny Manziel.