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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

All content by Aziza Musa
2011-05-06_Thirty_Columns_Portraits_Thomas

I think I cry at least once a week in this office

Aziza Musa May 6, 2011

Something big happens every semester. At least, that’s what I have come to believe and remember. This spring, President Barack Obama announced Osama bin Laden died, and the United States...

Accomplices receive sentences from judge for ’09 drug murders

Aziza Musa and Lena Price April 11, 2011

A judge closed the book on a nearly two-year-old case by sentencing two accomplices in the 2009 West Campus murders to prison after they pleaded guilty. Samuel Gifford, 20, received a 50-year sentence...

West Campus murder accomplices sentenced to prison

Aziza Musa and Lena Price April 8, 2011

Two men accused of assisting in the 2009 murder of two UT alumni pleaded guilty to their charges today. Samuel Gifford, 20, received a 50-year sentence, and Roy Renick, 22, received a 35-year sentence....

SWAT, Austin Police negotiating with armed non-UT student at Venue apartments

Aziza Musa and Lena Price February 5, 2011

Austin Police responded to a SWAT call Saturday afternoon after a man, who police believe is not a UT student, locked himself inside his apartment at the Venue on 29th and Guadalupe Streets. Police...

Finalists selected for police monitor

Aziza Musa December 8, 2010

The four finalists in the running for the city’s next police monitor all seek to administer one change if selected for office: more public outreach. The city created the position, along...

Lake Patrol brings service offshore

Aziza Musa December 7, 2010

Unlike the Austin Police Department’s area command patrol, the agency’s Lake Patrol Unit takes a more service-oriented approach to enforcing the law. Austin Lake Patrol ­—...

Lake Patrol brings service offshore

Aziza Musa December 7, 2010

Unlike the Austin Police Department’s area command patrol, the agency’s Lake Patrol Unit takes a more service-oriented approach to enforcing the law. Austin Lake Patrol ­—...

Texas judge to examine lawfulness of execution

Aziza Musa December 3, 2010

A district judge will decide if the Texas death penalty statute is constitutional for the first time in the state’s history in a hearing scheduled for Monday. Harris County Judge Kevin Fine...

UT filmmakers create documentary investigating flaws in Willingham arson case

Aziza Musa December 1, 2010

After facing closed doors, statewide traveling and long editing hours, a UT radio-television-film lecturer and UT alumnus are close to the completion of an independent documentary chronicling the aftermath...

Odd investigations increase for UTPD

Aziza Musa November 28, 2010

The three men responsible for on-campus criminal investigations said they have been exceptionally busy because of the higher amount of unusual cases this year. The UT Police Department’s Criminal...

APD reports increase in homicides during 2010

Aziza Musa November 16, 2010

The Austin Police Department is facing its fifth spike in the number of murders committed during the past 15 years — despite an overall drop in the violent crime rate. Murder rates usually average...

Former UT equipment manager arrested for filming female athletes in showers

Aziza Musa November 14, 2010

University Police arrested former UT women’s track equipment manager Thursday night in his Uvalde County home for 10 counts of improper photography. Rene Zamora, 30, placed equipment in an...

UT staffer arrested over shower footage

Aziza Musa November 14, 2010

A former UT women’s track equipment manager faces 10 counts of improper photography or visual recording after UT police found footage of team members in stages of undress in his home. UTPD...

Misuse of surge protector causes fire in North Campus

Aziza Musa November 11, 2010

An electrical fault caused a fire in a North Campus apartment near Dean Keeton Street and Harris Park Avenue on Wednesday, displacing one woman and killing her cat. No one was inside the unit at...

Quintana out on bail, awaiting trial

Aziza Musa November 11, 2010

Former Austin Police Department Officer Leonardo Quintana was released from the Williamson County Jail on Tuesday night after posting his $8,000 bond. Police arrested Quintana on Tuesday for four...

Lawyer defends controversial former APD officer while pursuing doctorate at UT

Aziza Musa November 11, 2010

Deadlines have ruled attorney Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez’s life for the past 31 years. From completing doctoral assignments to writing briefs, the lawyer has become an expert in time management....

Injured woman aided by coworkers

Aziza Musa November 10, 2010

Before last Tuesday, Austin resident Jasmin Rodriguez could carry out mundane tasks, such as walking and sitting, without any aid. Now, she cannot stand for an extended period of time without becoming...

Former officer Quintana jailed for assault, trespassing charges

Aziza Musa November 10, 2010

Leander police charged and arrested former Austin Police Officer Leonardo Quintana on Tuesday for misdemeanors, said Wayne Vincent, Austin Police Association president. The Austin American-Statesman...

Woman shot in North Austin by boyfriend dies in hospital

Aziza Musa November 10, 2010

A woman died Monday after a man shot her outside an East Austin establishment over the weekend. Eula Nutall, 37, and her boyfriend Johnny Barr, 37, had a confrontation at the Airport Bar and Grill,...

Former Longhorn killed by gunshot, woman left injured

Aziza Musa November 8, 2010

Family and friends laid to rest two former UT students this weekend after a Nov. 2 incident in North Austin left them dead and one woman injured. Phu Truong and Howard Huynh met through their...

Shooting injures one woman; search underway for suspect

Aziza Musa November 8, 2010

Austin Police are investigating a shooting that left one woman injured near Martin Luther King Jr. and Airport boulevards early Sunday morning. At approximately 1:08 a.m., police received...

Top Texas cities up in arms

Aziza Musa November 7, 2010

Texas ranks fourth among all U.S. states in the number of guns sold that are eventually used in crimes. One of every 50 guns recovered by Texas law enforcement agencies during criminal investigations...

City of Austin covers costs for Quintana shooting case

Aziza Musa November 5, 2010

Although Austin Police Department officials fired former Officer Leonardo Quintana in late October, the city is still responsible for finding him legal representation. City Council members...

Central Texas leads state in deportation cases

Aziza Musa November 4, 2010

A federal program, recently implemented in all Texas counties, that scans local jails for undocumented immigrants with criminal records has spurred controversy because it might lead to racial profiling...

GOP reclaims House, fails to secure Senate

Aziza Musa November 3, 2010

As Republicans trounced Democrats nationwide on Tuesday night — reclaiming control of the U.S. House of Representatives — two Texas Democratic incumbents also lost their bids for re-election....

APD to update car camera system

Aziza Musa November 2, 2010

The Austin Police Department will be the first law enforcement agency in the nation to use door triggers to activate an updated dashboard camera system in patrol cars and motorcycles. Public...

AP calls Texas District 17 for Bill Flores

Aziza Musa November 2, 2010

The Associated Press has called Texas Congressional District 17 for Republican challenger Bill Flores. Flores defeated 10-term Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco). MSNBC reports that with 32...

Police investigating into city’s 30th murder of the year

Aziza Musa November 1, 2010

Austin police are investigating the city’s 30th murder that occurred late Sunday night near Riverside Drive and Pleasant Valley Road. At about 10:11 p.m., officers were dispatched to the crime...

Austin Police apprehend suspect in three-victim murder case

Aziza Musa November 1, 2010

Police arrested a man they believe is involved in a triple homicide in several Austin homes. The APD apprehended the suspect, Marco Antonio Garcia, 45, in a hostel near Riverside Drive on Friday....

‘No Refusal’ weekend brings in 50 arrests

Aziza Musa November 1, 2010

Austin Police Department arrested 50 people during the Halloween “No Refusal” weekend. APD implemented the policy for Friday and Saturday nights, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., expecting large...

Daily Texan wins ‘Best of Show’ among collegiate newspapers

Aziza Musa November 1, 2010

The Daily Texan won “Best of Show” at a national college journalism conference Sunday for its coverage of the Sept. 28 campus shooting, when UT mathematics sophomore Colton Tooley fired...

False alarm disrupts campus; weapon proves to be fake rifle

Aziza Musa October 29, 2010

Texas A&M University resumed normal activity Thursday evening after campus police responded to a report of a possible campus gunman. A campus bus driver saw an individual carrying what he thought...

UT officers encourage safety on Halloween

Aziza Musa October 29, 2010

Officers from the UT and Austin police departments are encouraging students to engage in safe practices, including awareness of alcohol consumption and alternatives to drunken driving during this year’s...

Assault charges, violations lead to officer’s second firing

Aziza Musa October 28, 2010

Austin police officer Leonardo Quintana was fired Wednesday for the second time in five months for violating company policy, said Austin Police Department spokesman Cpl. Scott Perry. A dismissal...

State attorney general race heats up

Aziza Musa October 28, 2010

If elected as state attorney general, Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democrat, promises to sue Wall Street firms. But Republican incumbent Greg Abbott is already involved in a suit against...

Texas A&M campus put on alert after report of armed subject

Aziza Musa October 28, 2010

Texas A&M University Police are responding to reports of a possible campus gunman. A campus bus driver saw an individual carrying what he thought was a rifle near Rudder Tower at about 4 p.m.,...

Quintana scrutinized for assault allegations

Aziza Musa October 27, 2010

Less than a week after being reinstated to the Austin Police Department, Officer Leonardo Quintana is facing new scrutiny from the department after allegations of assault from his former girlfriend....

Quintana reinstated to police force

Aziza Musa October 22, 2010

An arbitrator reinstated Austin police Officer Leonardo Quintana on Thursday after five months off the force following a drunken driving offense earlier this year. Quintana’s indefinite suspension...

University scrutinizes text alert pros, cons

Aziza Musa October 21, 2010

After internally assessing its response on Sept. 28 — the day mathematics sophomore Colton Tooley fired 11 rounds of his AK-47 on campus before taking his own life — the University’s...

Witnesses recount school lockdown

Aziza Musa September 29, 2010

Computer science freshman Ashley McCrory got off the Forty Acres shuttle bus near Dobie Center on what she thought would be a regular Tuesday morning. McCrory was debating whether she should return...

One suspected shooter dead at UT campus library, no one else injured

Aziza Musa and Nolan Hicks September 28, 2010

The University was put under lockdown just after 8 a.m., after at least six shots were fired on campus by an unknown gunman. The gunman, who officials said appeared to be a UT student, is now confirmed...

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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin