Horns Up: Theatre and dance reconsiders guest-casting decision

The University’s theatre and dance department reversed its decision to cast guest actors (instead of students) for nine out of 12 of the lead roles in the department’s production of the musical “In the Heights,” according to an article in the Texan Monday. Originally, the department had chosen to contract guest actors for the leads in order to reflect the ethnic background of the roles — a move that received warranted backlash from students. We commend department chair Grant Pope for reversing his original decision and instead recasting the musical with undergraduate students. A successful college theatre department must be committed to providing the best possible experience for its students, and part of that experience includes giving students the opportunity to audition and perform.

Horns Up: Former Longhorn returns to Earth

Karen Nyberg, UT alumna and NASA astronaut on Expedition 37 landed back on Earth this past Sunday. The expedition marked the 37th one to the International Space Station thus far, making the journey a remarkable accomplishment. During her expedition, Nyberg tweeted photos of herself and of the planet from the shuttle, educating those of us on Earth about life in space. This move has been popular worldwide, as the astronaut has over 97,000 followers on Twitter. We congratulate this former Longhorn not only for her accomplishment in space, but also for her innovative use of social media during her journey. After all, for many of us on Earth, traveling in space is a difficult concept to grasp. Through tweeting photos of herself and of the earth from the shuttle, Nyberg has brought outer space to millions of people here on Earth.