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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 Mary Ellen Knewtson

Attempts to further bill slowly progressing

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 28, 2012

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act is among the many pieces of legislation currently gridlocked in Washington, D.C. International relations and global studies senior Philip Tryon said...

State representative in online fight with alumnus

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 27, 2012

A state representative told a UT alumnus last week to go to Afghanistan if the United States was not sensitive enough for him, and said Wednesday that she stands behind her statement. State Rep. Debbie...

MAP-Works surveys connect freshman students with resources

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 26, 2012

The School of Undergraduate Studies will invite UT freshmen to participate in the first in a series of surveys Wednesday meant to identify freshmen struggling with the transition from high school to college. The...

New Texas district map to be used for 2012 elections

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 21, 2012

The United States Supreme Court approved a temporary map for Texas congressional districts Wednesday after ruling the original map drawn by the Texas Legislature unfairly grouped minority populations to...

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Political violence at the US-Mexico border brought on by drug use in the US

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 20, 2012

An Iraq war veteran and UT student said he decided to research political violence along the U.S.-Mexico border after visiting his grandparents in a border town and seeing a grenade launcher in place to...

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LSU investigating a bomb threat

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 18, 2012

Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge received a bomb threat that was called into 911 around 10:30 a.m. Monday, a spokesperson said. The university sent an emergency text alert ordering the campus...

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FBI looking for a connection between Friday’s bomb threats

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 17, 2012

The FBI is searching for a connection between the false bomb threats at UT, North Dakota State University and Hiram College in Ohio that caused the campuses to be evacuated Friday. “One of the many...

Tech companies expand to Austin, providing jobs for graduates

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 14, 2012

With General Motors, Apple and Samsung all announcing plans to bring new operations to Austin, students looking to work in the technology industry will soon have more options close to the 40 Acres. General...

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Students compile professor watch list

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 13, 2012

UT’s Young Conservatives of Texas chapter is compiling a watch list to identify professors who it decides are inappropriately politicizing the classroom. The organization is accepting suggestions...

85 mph speed limit toll road set to connect Austin and San Antonio

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 13, 2012

If they are willing to pay, drivers will be able to travel to San Antonio on a stretch of highway with the highest speed limit in the nation starting Nov. 11. The Texas Transportation Commission recently...

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Crickets make appearance at football stadium, don’t affect performances

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 12, 2012

Saturday football spectators saw UT shut out the New Mexico Lobos 45-0 and stomped out a portion of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium’s crickets in the process. The stadium’s pest control,...

State employees may get a new retirement plan soon

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 7, 2012

With Texas legislators looking for ways to trim spending for the January legislative session, retirement plans for new UT faculty and staff may look more like 401(k) plans than the predetermined pension...

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Students represent UT at DNC

Mary Ellen Knewtson September 6, 2012

With seven students serving as delegates and a recent graduate speaking Thursday, the University has a strong influence on the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., despite Texas’ conservative...

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Crew up the creek

Mary Ellen Knewtson August 31, 2012

UT’s Texas Crew has two weeks to find somewhere to store its 28 boats, previously housed in a Town Lake warehouse sold earlier this month. If the organization does not find alternative storage, it...

UT and Texas A&M compete in establishing South Texas medical schools

Mary Ellen Knewtson August 31, 2012

While UT and Texas A&M University are unlikely to meet on the football field this semester, competition between the two universities to establish a fully operational medical school in South Texas will...

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Women gather at Texas Capitol to protest Planned Parenthood funding cut

Mary Ellen Knewtson August 29, 2012

A quiet congregation of more than 200 people stood at the Texas Capitol building’s south gates Saturday protesting the funding cuts that family planning organization Planned Parenthood will receive...

University Extension considered ‘one of UT’s best kept secrets’

Mary Ellen Knewtson January 19, 2012

Students facing lengthy waitlists or class closings for core courses may not be out of luck, as the University Extension program offers extra classes in addition to UT’s general course listings. The...

SG resolution allows Butler to be involved in budget cuts

Mary Ellen Knewtson May 4, 2011

Student Government members voted to pass a resolution that calls for transparency, student involvement and preservation of research in the Board of Regent’s actions as they decide on budget cuts. The...

Mexican justice system reform proves beneficial, panel says

Mary Ellen Knewtson April 13, 2011

Editor’s Note: Portions of the interview have been translated from Spanish. Although some Mexican attorneys, policymakers and citizens criticized the 2008 reforms to the Mexican justice system,...

Texas House speaker: Rise in tuition sometimes necessary

Mary Ellen Knewtson April 6, 2011

Two days after the Texas House passed a $164 billion budget bill, Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, told a group of students the cuts in the bill were necessary. The Texas Politics Speaker Series,...

P. Terry’s founder gives advice about owning small business

Mary Ellen Knewtson March 30, 2011

  Old ladies often pull up to P. Terry’s burger stand and tell founder Patrick Terry that he and the restaurant make them feel young again, he told communications students Tuesday. “We...

Navy official sheds light on spending

Mary Ellen Knewtson March 23, 2011

Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy Juan Garcia said the Navy’s large presence in Japan for relief, the American and European attacks on Libya and the continued burden of the Iraq War are proof of the...

A year later, health care reform debate rages on

Mary Ellen Knewtson March 23, 2011

One year ago today, President Barack Obama signed a landmark federal healthcare reform law, which has already provided Americans with affordable health care coverage they could not get before the bill....

Political experts discuss future power of Tea Party

Mary Ellen Knewtson March 2, 2011

Although the Tea Party played a key role getting Republicans elected in the 2010 elections, four political observers at a panel Tuesday said they are uncertain how the group will fare in 2012 or what...

ACC administration fights funding cuts, capping enrollment

Mary Ellen Knewtson February 23, 2011

Although a record high of more than 45,000 students enrolled at Austin Community College this spring, the college could have to place a cap on the number of students it accepts or raise tuition if the...

Senate officer, veteran named UT System’s director of police

Mary Ellen Knewtson February 23, 2011

A United States Senate sergeant at arms and Vietnam War veteran will be the UT System’s new director of police, a spokesman for the System announced Tuesday. UT System spokesman Matt Flores...

Former Rep. advocates guns for self-defense

Mary Ellen Knewtson February 16, 2011

Former state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp said to about 50 students Tuesday that she was not mad at the man who shot her parents and 22 others during the 1991 Luby’s massacre in Killeen. “I...

Senator selected as graduation speaker

Mary Ellen Knewtson February 9, 2011

The presidents of UT’s three student governance organizations selected U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as the commencement speaker for the May 21 event on the Main Mall. The senator will speak at a...

Snapshots reveal ‘slice of history’

Mary Ellen Knewtson February 3, 2011

A traveling photographer with an unknown identity captured Great Depression-era Corpus Christi in a set of 473 photographs that the Harry Ransom Center has been unveiling over the past two months. The...

Texans march against profiling legislation

Mary Ellen Knewtson January 26, 2011

A blend of Spanish and English cries rose up to the Capitol’s south steps at a rally against proposed legislation that would target undocumented immigrants in Texas. More than 200 people...

Burrito company plans to expand with more stores

Mary Ellen Knewtson November 28, 2010

After the first Freebirds World Burrito opened in California in 1987, the burrito chain restaurant quickly found a formula for success: Target the throng of hungry students on the nation’s college...

Graduate school celebrates centennial of education

Mary Ellen Knewtson November 11, 2010

UT’s Graduate School celebrated its 100th anniversary with steel drums and sheet cakes on the West Mall on Wednesday. More than 600 graduate students from diverse programs and their coordinators...

Students wake up to talk with deans of communication

Mary Ellen Knewtson November 3, 2010

Three deans of the college stood near a long table with red cups and ping pong balls in the lobby of the communication school on Wednesday. Although it might have looked like an impromptu...

Student summit at Capitol addresses school bullying

Mary Ellen Knewtson October 28, 2010

On Wednesday more than 400 eighth-grade students left the Capitol with new tools to combat the bullying and discrimination they may face in their middle schools. The No Place For Hate Youth Summit...

Indian activist reflects on movie roles

Mary Ellen Knewtson October 21, 2010

An audience of about 400 people jumped to their feet as a security guard escorted actress and activist Shabana Azmi toward the stage of the Texas Union Theater on Wednesday. She spoke to students...

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Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin