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 Jordan Rudner

Gov. Rick Perry appoints three to serve on the UT System Board of Regents

Jordan Rudner February 22, 2013

Following several days of comments from state legislators about the proper role of the UT System Board of Regents, Gov. Rick Perry appointed three members to the board Thursday. Perry appointed Ernest...

Commencement

Olympic gold medalist, UT alumna Sanya Richards-Ross to speak at commencement

Jordan Rudner February 20, 2013

She stood on the podium at the London Olympics this summer, a gold medal around her neck, and now she will speak at UT’s spring commencement. Sanya Richards-Ross, a UT alumna who won gold medals...

Faculty cite privacy concerns in face of new UT disclosure policies

Jordan Rudner February 19, 2013

On the heels of two controversies involving conflicts of interest in research in the past year, UT has amended its financial conflict of interest and objectivity in research policy.  Juan Sanchez,...

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Board of Regents directs universities to provide fixed-tuition options to students

Jordan Rudner February 15, 2013

Beginning in fall 2014, all nine academic institutions in the UT System will offer a four-year guaranteed tuition option.  The UT System Board of Regents approved the tuition plan at its meeting...

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Overlapping University policies create less clarity in Applewhite and Kearney incidents

Jordan Rudner February 14, 2013

As the UT System Board of Regents conducts a review of policies concerning employee-student relationships, UT uses two separate policies to deal with such incidents, with overlapping disclosure procedures...

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University sees mixed progress in Commission of 125 goals

Jordan Rudner February 14, 2013

Almost nine years after the Commission of 125 issued a list of recommendations for UT to better serve Texas and society in general, the University has seen mixed results. President William Powers Jr....

Available University Fund helps keep tuition low at System academic institutions

Jordan Rudner February 13, 2013

Although the UT System Board of Regents set the University’s tuition in May, tuition policies across the System for the coming years will top the agenda at the board’s meetings Wednesday and...

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UT hosts expert panel to discuss ways to increase college completion rates

Jordan Rudner February 12, 2013

The UT System Board of Regents, President William Powers Jr. and President Barack Obama have all issued calls to raise graduation rates, and in the search for solutions, the University is turning to the...

Provost Steven Leslie to step down at the end of the year

Jordan Rudner February 11, 2013

After six years as executive vice president and provost, Steven Leslie will be stepping down from his position to return to the College of Pharmacy in August. “For the past six years, Provost...

Faculty and student groups push for instituting domestic partner benefits at UT

Jordan Rudner February 11, 2013

While the UT System Faculty Advisory Council will debate with each other about a whole range of issues during the legislative session, they are all on board when it comes to domestic partner benefits. The...

UT will offer financial aid as part of graduation-rate push

Jordan Rudner February 7, 2013

As part of an ongoing initiative to significantly increase four-year graduation rates, UT will commit $5 million to new financial aid programs, including one which provides loan forgiveness or stipends...

UT System Board of Regents in limbo with expiration of three terms

Jordan Rudner February 5, 2013

Paul Foster, vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, was appointed Sunday to lead the efforts to study the System’s policies regarding employee-student relationships. There’s only...

Board of Regents to review employee-student relationships after recent events

Jordan Rudner February 4, 2013

After the second high-profile student-coach relationship in five months was brought to light, the UT System Board of Regents announced it will begin a concentrated effort to review all policies concerning...

Texas Student Media board acknowledges financial hardships, plans action for March

Jordan Rudner February 4, 2013

The Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees acknowledged its financial hardships but declined to take specific actions at its meeting on Friday. The board also certified candidates for The Daily...

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Major Applewhite admits ‘inappropriate, consensual’ action with adult student

Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite engaged in “inappropriate, consensual behavior with an adult student” in 2009, according to a statement released by UT men’s head athletics...

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Powers endorses report geared toward increasing administrative efficiency

Jordan Rudner January 30, 2013

Stressing efficiency as a means for increasing revenue, President William Powers Jr. called for instituting cost-saving measures in administrative functions and employing University assets thoughtfully...

National Association of Scholars has long history with University of Texas

Jordan Rudner January 28, 2013

The National Association of Scholars recently made headlines when it published a critique of the University’s Department of History.  In a paper titled “Recasting History” the...

As UT bans smoking on campus, it continues to benefit from tobacco investments

Jordan Rudner January 25, 2013

Although UT’s on-campus smoking ban will be fully implemented in March, a portion of the University’s endowment is invested in more than a dozen tobacco companies.  The University of...

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor visits Austin to promote new memoir

Jordan Rudner January 24, 2013

People around the world watched U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor administer the vice presidential oath of office to Joe Biden earlier this week, but UT students had the chance to see her in person...

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University names co-chairs of medical school steering committee

Jordan Rudner January 23, 2013

The University has named both co-chairs of the steering committee that will oversee plans for the recently announced medical school, which Travis County voters approved to partially fund via a ballot initiative...

“So You Think You Can Dance” steps through Austin

Jordan Rudner January 18, 2013

The creators of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” are embarking on their 10th nationwide search for primetime-ready dancers, and they are starting in the Live Music Capital of the World. Open-call...

Gathering higher education data on student veterans proves difficult

Jordan Rudner January 16, 2013

As part of recent efforts to gather better data on higher education experiences of veterans, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) asked universities to track their graduation rates. But before UT...

UT launches national security policy center named for former Gov. Bill Clements

Jordan Rudner January 14, 2013

When government officials plan for the future, they look to the past. To fill this need in the area of national security policy the University is launching the William P. Clements Jr. Center on History,...

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New Liberal Arts Building grades out as a gem

Jordan Rudner January 14, 2013

After almost 80 years of being scattered across campus, liberal arts students finally have a space of their own in the new Liberal Arts Building. Although final calculations are still being made, the...

UT launches national security policy center named for former Gov. Bill Clements

Jordan Rudner January 10, 2013

When government officials plan for the future, they look to the past. So to fill this need in the area of national security policy, the University is launching the William P. Clements Jr. Center on History,...

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UT student’s play finds audience at Austin private schools, UT after AISD controversy

Jordan Rudner November 30, 2012

Just like how the baby penguin at the center of “And Then Came Tango” finds a loving family with two male penguins, the play has found an unexpected home at local charter schools, private schools...

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Texas Photography Club offers free photography services, draws large crowd in West Mall

Jordan Rudner November 30, 2012

The Texas Photography Club, active for the first time in several years, is trying to gain notice in the public eye by getting behind the lens. The club set up cameras and lighting equipment Thursday...

#GivingTuesday fights the follies of the holiday season

Jordan Rudner November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving is a holiday for food, family and giving thanks, but it is often overshadowed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Organizations working together on a new movement called #GivingTuesday hope...

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Deadline set for completing Big Tex rebuilding

Jordan Rudner November 20, 2012

The committee in charge of rebuilding Big Tex at the State Fair of Texas has not selected a builder, approved a final blueprint or even generated a cost estimate. What it has done, officials said, is set...

College Republicans optimistic for new session despite Romney’s presidential loss

Jordan Rudner November 16, 2012

In newspapers and on TV screens, Republican Party leaders are analyzing what went wrong with their most recent presidential bid, but members of UT’s College Republicans chapter are focusing on the...

Former first ladies, children share insight into life in the White House

Jordan Rudner November 16, 2012

On his first night in the White House, just a week after President Nixon’s unprecedented resignation from office, Steven Ford, Gerald Ford’s then 18-year-old son, sneaked his stereo onto the...

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New Politics Forum examines American electorate through election results

Jordan Rudner November 12, 2012

For most of the country, the 2012 presidential election served its primary purpose — determining who will be the president for the next four years. For analysts and political scientists, the election...

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Students celebrate Thanks Day, generous UT alumni

Jordan Rudner November 8, 2012

Nov. 6 was Election Day, and Nov. 22 is Thanksgiving. But according to the UT Development Office, November is also significant because it is the month classes would end if the University were funded by...

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Rally continues discussion on diversity following Fisher case

Jordan Rudner October 30, 2012

Although arguments in a U.S. Supreme Court case about affirmative action in UT’s admissions policies ended three weeks ago, campus discussions of diversity are far from over. Several students and...

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Longhorns Teach for America raises awareness on education reform

Jordan Rudner October 24, 2012

Yellow no. 2 pencils are a ubiquitous tool for taking notes and scratching essays, but Tuesday the pencils themselves were the message. New student organization Longhorns Teach for America passed out...

Swastikas concern residents at off-campus dormitory

David Maly and Jordan Rudner October 22, 2012

Austin police received a report Saturday that swastikas had been carved into the doors of two suites in the University Towers private dorm complex located at West 24th and Rio Grande streets. Three Jewish...

UT celebrates National Coming Out Week

Jordan Rudner October 11, 2012

To conclude National Coming Out Week, student organization StandOut will be hosting a “Closet Door Signing” event meant to garner support for LGBT students Thursday. Over the course of the...

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Offensive protest shocks students

Jordan Rudner October 11, 2012

A small group of unidentified protesters using homophobic and anti-Islamic slurs demonstrated Wednesday afternoon outside the Texas Student Union and were quickly joined by counter-protesters from LGBT...

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Students, professors host lectures to discuss social issues

Jordan Rudner October 9, 2012

The presidential debate last week focused almost exclusively on issues of healthcare and the economy. But for voters who want a discussion about social issues like women’s rights and immigration,...

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Gibson discusses judicial election finance

Jordan Rudner September 26, 2012

For the last six years, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has traveled the country, promoting the idea that state judicial elections lead to corruption and a decline in the Supreme...

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Slow preparations for fast

Jordan Rudner September 25, 2012

Jewish students and administrators on campus will begin a traditional Yom Kippur fast Tuesday night, but before that happens, a few will spend hours thinking about and preparing food. Yom Kippur is considered...

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Lecture series focus on freshmen, required for Signature Courses

Jordan Rudner September 18, 2012

Although events that unite the freshman class are rare other than back-to-school events and Saturday night football games, the School of Undergraduate Studies hosted the first in a two-part lecture series...

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Students take initiative, bring back theater honor society

Jordan Rudner September 13, 2012

After a 75-year intermission, national theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega is back for another act at UT. Sophomores Katie Wicker and Martin Rodriguez and senior Oscar Franco, all students in the Department...

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AISD employees will be rewarded with tickets to UT athletic events for attendance records

Jordan Rudner September 11, 2012

Austin Independent School District employees with the best attendance records will get free tickets to UT athletic events after the district begins a new initiative aimed at improving faculty attendance...

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