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 Jody Serrano

News Briefly: UHS offers free STI testing to hundreds of cautious students

Jody Serrano October 21, 2011

University Health Services treated more than 200 students in their free HIV and STI testing workshop on Thursday. UHS holds free STI testing every semester in conjunction with the Austin/Travis County...

Brazil’s energy program could teach US

Jody Serrano October 21, 2011

Editor’s note: Some portions of this interview were translated from Portuguese and Spanish. Renowned Brazilian energy mogul Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello encouraged the U.S. to develop a green energy...

Fire Relief concert raised $750,000

Jody Serrano October 21, 2011

UT President William Powers Jr. presented a $750,000 check to the local charity Austin Community Foundation to aid victims of the recent Central Texas fires. The money was raised by the Oct. 17 “Fire...

Gorbachev visits UT, urges America to pull out of Middle East

Jody Serrano October 19, 2011

Former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev urged the United States to pull out of Afghanistan and work with Russia and other countries to create a new world order in a lecture at the Lyndon Baines...

Exhibition of LBGT athletes establishes power of visibility

Jody Serrano October 14, 2011

A different type of athlete is occupying the halls of Gregory Gym this week. They do not move or speak, but they still have the ability to stop the occasional passerby in their tracks. These portraits...

Politician shares stories from time in office

Jody Serrano October 13, 2011

The University Democrats welcomed a Texas politician who overcame public misconceptions surrounding the gay community to campus Wednesday night. Former state representative Glen Maxey spoke about his...

Students launch group to support higher education

Jody Serrano October 13, 2011

Current UT student leaders and alumni launched a group to call upon elected state officials to support the UT and Texas A&M dual missions of education and research. The Young Texans for Excellence...

ACC institutes smoking ban

Jody Serrano October 7, 2011

Next January Austin Community College will join the ranks of more than 500 colleges and universities by becoming a smoke-free institution. While ACC is already smoke-free inside its buildings, the policy...

National protests spread to campus

Nick Hadjigeorge and Jody Serrano October 7, 2011

In a sea of about 1,200, protesters gathered to express their opinions about corporate greed and political corruption. City Hall saw a crowd of about 150 people at 10 a.m. Thursday morning that grew to...

Photographer discusses Austin street art

Jody Serrano September 30, 2011

About 11 years ago, local photographer Rana Ghana could not walk down Guadalupe St. without smelling spray paint in the air and hearing the sizzle of local street artists doing their work. Those days are...

Pipeline spurs concerns over environmental policy, impact

Jody Serrano September 29, 2011

Hundreds of UT students and members of the community protested for quality environmental conditions Wednesday evening at the LBJ Library, hoping to influence the U.S. State Department to look into greener...

SG concerned with oil pipeline project impact

Jody Serrano September 28, 2011

Student Government passed a resolution supporting student involvement in the proposed Keystone Oil Pipeline Project on Tuesday night. The resolution did not state SG’s opposition to the pipeline...

All preparations for ACL a go

Jody Serrano September 16, 2011

The Austin City Limits festival this weekend not only includes world-famous musical performances but also features an influx of people from all over the world and is expected to boost the local economy. Matt...

UT students memorialize friends, family lost in attacks

Jody Serrano September 9, 2011

Fine arts graduate student Courtney Sale has always had a hard time finding the right words to speak about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Nearly 10 years ago, Sale’s brother-in-law entered...

Man shares struggle with body image

Jody Serrano April 18, 2011

On the outside, Hayden Winkler appeared to be in top condition: He was lean and muscular, he exercised daily and he led a healthy lifestyle. No one knew his heart wouldn’t beat more than 30 beats...

Mother fights for eating disorder insurance coverage

Jody Serrano April 11, 2011

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series about people who have been affected by eating disorders. Because of the mental state of the subject during her disorder, some dates and concrete...

Journalist shares captivity experience

Jody Serrano April 6, 2011

Journalist Laura Ling has spent her career serving as a window for readers into dangerous situations, including government oppression in Myanmar and the inner workings of Mexico’s drug war. On...

Bill may protect doubters of evolution

Jody Serrano March 24, 2011

A state representative and his new bill are stirring the debate on evolution in classrooms. Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, said he believes the possibility that human life began by chance would be like...

Toy drive to improve children’s facilities

Jody Serrano March 22, 2011

Catrina Hyde remembers seeing a mother reading to her daughter in a visitation room at Child Protective Services in Austin. When she looked closer, the scene held one glaring problem: The book the mother...

Cuts to Planned Parenthood spur protest

Jody Serrano March 9, 2011

Memorial High School senior Nicole Vargas stood a head shorter than most of the crowd at Tuesday’s Planned Parenthood demonstration at the Capitol. Her opposition to proposed state cuts for the program,...

Singing out for haitian education

Jody Serrano March 9, 2011

One week after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that destroyed most of Haiti, exercise science sophomore Taylor Lackey remembers switching on the television to catch a “60 Minutes” report. He...

States challenge birthright citizenship

Jody Serrano March 2, 2011

Five states are bracing for a constitutional debate as they consider similar legislation that could change the definition of birthright citizenship in their states. The controversial legislation seemed...

Wrapped in tradition

Jody Serrano February 23, 2011

Editor’s note: The following interviews were conducted in and translated from Spanish. At first sight, Burrito Factory in Dobie Mall does not seem to be any different from any other traditional...

Immigrants rally to Capitol for reform

Jody Serrano February 23, 2011

Editor’s Note: Portions of the interviews were translated from Spanish to English. Chemistry freshman Adrian Reyna and his family filed for citizenship before they came to the United States from...

Visiting former president talks foreign policy, Egypt

Jody Serrano February 16, 2011

Former President Jimmy Carter addressed more than 200 students and community members at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium on Tuesday night about the situation in the Middle East, his own and other presidencies...

UT Arabic senior reflects on time in violent Egypt during protests

Jody Serrano February 14, 2011

On the first day of the protests in Egypt, Jordan Bellquist spent an ordinary day at home with Mama, her Egyptian host parent. Bellquist, a radio-television-film and Arabic senior and Arabic Flagship...

Financial aid offices fall short on staff

Jody Serrano February 9, 2011

More than two-thirds of college and university financial aid administrators faced a moderate or severe resource shortage, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Student Financial Aid...

Year of the Rabbit

Jody Serrano February 4, 2011

A Tenacious New Year Despite the frigid temperatures, students from all cultures celebrated the Lunar New Year with traditional Asian foods, music, and décor in the Texas Union Ballroom Thursday...

Austin records unusual freeze, meteorologists expect snow

Jody Serrano February 4, 2011

This week’s biting cold and frozen precipitation are quite unusual for Central Texas, said meteorologists. The temperatures in the low 20s made Thursday the coldest Feb. 3 on record, according...

Four students evacuated from studies abroad

Jody Serrano February 2, 2011

Recent political unrest in Egypt has prompted UT officials to bring several students studying abroad there back to Austin. The evacuation process for the four UT students studying in Egypt started Jan....

Students protest Chick-fil-A sponsorship

Jody Serrano February 1, 2011

About a dozen protesters held signs in front of the Tower on Monday morning to demonstrate against fast-food chain Chick-fil-A’s sponsorship of a pro-“traditional family” organization, as well as its...

Millennials challenge traditions of news coverage

Jody Serrano November 11, 2010

Envision the television, with its perfectly groomed anchors and catchy theme songs. Imagine the newspaper, with its bold black headlines and the crisp feel of the pages between your fingers. Finally, picture...

Benefits of energy drinks debated

Jody Serrano November 9, 2010

At first glance, an energy drink looks like an advertisement for superheroes and villains, declaring that they “give you wings” and “unleash the beast.” Coffee sales have...

Meryl Streep visits theater students

Jody Serrano November 8, 2010

The UT Department of Theatre and Dance set quite the scene Friday. The commotion didn’t come from the opening of a new play or the excitement of a casting call, but rather from the appearance...

50,000 words; 30 days to write

Jody Serrano November 2, 2010

Last night at 12:01 a.m., more than 200,000 people all over the globe booted up their computers and typed the first of 50,000 words of their novels into a blank document. After 10 long months of...

Día de los Muertos venerates the dead

Jody Serrano November 1, 2010

The day after Halloween brings many discoveries: It can reveal the start of a cavity because of the limitless amount of candy from one’s Halloween pumpkin, or it can mark the passing of this year’s...

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