The Daily Texan 2014-12-05

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini proposed a bill in November that, if enacted, would update and clarify the legal definition and repercussions of hazing.

Senate Bill 33 amends Texas’ hazing statute, created in 1995 and followed by uni-versities statewide. Zaffirini filed similar legislation in 2007 and 2009. This version, which would take effect on Sept. 1, 2015, is a refile of the 2009 ver-sion, Zaffirini said in an email.

The amended bill includes a narrower definition of im-munity from prosecution and adds that coercing a student to drink alcohol or creating “an environment in which the student reasonably feels coerced” is part of the definition of hazing, among other amendments that

specify terms and procedures.Zaffirini included more

specific descriptions of al-cohol-related hazing and cases of immunity in SB 33 because she felt the state’s current hazing statute was inadequate.

“[T]he statute does not ad-dress adequately the dangers of alcohol-related hazing,” Zaf-firini said in an email. “[T]he immunity provisions for those reporting hazing are unclear and arguably create the per-verse possibility that students can avoid liability by reporting their own acts of hazing.”

The Office of the Dean of Students declined to com-ment on the proposed bill.

“Once a [hazing] case has been filed, I know the Dean of Students takes it very seriously,” Interfraternity Council President Edwin

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SPORTS PAGE 7 COMICS PAGE 6 LIFE&ARTS PAGE 8

CAMPUS

Students protest Garner decisionUT students staged a “die-

in” Thursday afternoon at the intersection of 21st Street and Speedway to protest the Eric Garner ruling.

At the demonstration, black students performed a die-in, where they laid down as if they were dead, while non-black supporters kneeled around them with signs reading “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” The actions were meant to

protest the non-indictement of Officer Daniel Pantaleo in Garner’s death, a decision that was passed down by a Staten Island grand jury Wednesday.

Tyler English-Beckwith, theatre and dance and ethnic studies junior, made the die-in Facebook event Wednes-day night. With a large crowd and over 500 Facebook us-ers marked as “going” on the event page, English-Beckwith was astounded by the turnout despite the short notice.

“I think what we made

collectively was an extremely organized demonstration,” English-Beckwith said. I didn’t imagine this many people at all. I was thinking like maybe 15 people since it was so last-minute.”

Biology junior Julia Ay-cock said she participated to advocate for fair treatment.

“I came to the protest be-cause it’s necessary for young people to gather and stand for what’s right,” Aycock said.

Based on new data, 86 per-cent of current University sophomores are on track to graduate within four years, according to David Laude, senior vice provost for en-rollment and graduation management.

As part of a University-wide effort to increase graduation rates, Univer-sity spokesman Joey Wil-liams said programs such as Progress to Degree have been implemented to track how close students in the class of 2017 are to com-pleting their degree re-quirements.

Williams said the Progress to Degree program imple-ments a University-wide au-dit to identify which students are, and are not, on track.

“The audit is conducted by the Registrar, who com-plies a snapshot of where the students are in their four-year progress,” Wil-liams said in an email. “That list is then given to all the colleges, who then proactively work with each student who is not on track to graduate in four years.”

In 2011, President Wil-liam Powers Jr. announced his goal to increase the four-year graduation rates to 70 percent. He subsequently appointed the Task Force on Undergraduate Gradua-tion Rates, which published a report in 2012 stating that the University could achieve

Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan StaffStudents, faculty and others protested the decision in the Garner case at the intersection of Speedway and 21st street.

By Sebastian Vega@sebantoniovega

By Eleanor Dearman & Jackie Wang

@thedailytexan

PROTEST page 2

Q&A

Powers looks to last semester as UT president

Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan Staff President William Powers Jr. is stepping down from his position as president, effective June 2015. Powers has held this position since February 2006.

William Powers Jr. is set to serve his last semester as Uni-versity president this spring. Some answers in this Q&A have been edited for clarity and brevity.

The Daily Texan: What’s one item you hope to ac-complish in your last se-mester as president?

William Powers, Jr.: Next semester, we’ll have the leg-islative session, which starts in January, so that will take a lot of my time. That’s impor-tant for the University. The economy is coming back. There’s a little more where-withal in the state budget. I don’t anticipate some huge increases in higher education funding, but that will be an important issue.

DT: In your State of the

By Alex Wilts@alexwilts

POWERS page 2 RATES page 2

CAMPUS

Class of ’17 on track to graduate on time

Proposed Senate billseeks to define hazing

STATE UNIVERSITY

By Alex Wilts@alexwilts

By Aimée Santillán@aimeesan17

HAZING page 2

LBJ School appoints director for new center

The LBJ School of Public Affairs announced this week Thomas O’Donnell as the in-augural director for the new LBJ Washington Center.

In the past, O’Donnell has worked in the White House, the U.S. Senate and the Hu-man Rights Campaign.

“My goal is to create an outpost for UT at Washing-ton D.C.,” O’Donnell said in a statement.

Beninning in fall 2015, the LBJ School will provide an 18-month federal policy master’s degree curriculum, which will involve six months of graduate school coursework at the Washington Center and an opportunity to be involved in federal policy making.

“Our goal is to follow what President Lyndon B. Johnson once dreamed, which is to in-volve people from Texas and other parts of the country who

want to contribute to public policy,” O’Donnell said.

In addition, O’Donnell said the Washington Center will provide this platform of student engagement in pub-lic policy by pursuing ex-tended research, workshops and speaker series, among other activities.

“We want to produce more public leaders at a fed-eral level,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell served as a U.S. Senate chief of staff, managing both national and state offices and as a liaison to the White House and ex-ecutive branch.

“We are pleased to have such an experienced and proven professional lead our Washington Center and join us in empowering the next generation of leaders to take on national leadership roles,” said Robert Hutchings, dean of the LBJ School, in a state-ment. “At this time of great change around the world and

growing concern about the effectiveness of government, the LBJ Washington Center represents our call to action to advance a new generation of skilled and committed leaders. [O’Donnell] will be essential to the execution of that call to action.”

O’Donnell said the LBJ Washington Center will train future policy

makers by playing an open role in the national policy discourse and debate.

“After 20 years in the federal public policy arena, I understand the need for aspiring young policy pro-fessionals to be equipped not only with solid theo-retical thinking, but also with practical policy skills,” O’Donnell said.

Photo courtesy of Susan Hochman

Thomas O’Donnell will be the inaugu-ral director of the LBJ School of Public Af-fairs’ Washing-ton Center.

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Ethan Oblak | Daily Texan StaffStudents stand in front of the partially demolished Engineering-Science Building on Thursday.

FRAMES featured photo

CORRECTIONIn the Dec. 4 edition of The Daily Texan, a headline for a story on a cellphone law was incorrect. It should have read “UTPD will not enforce cellphone law.”

“A lot of people of color — more specifically for this issue, black people — they don’t really understand that racism still exists. Every-body is living in this big state of denial and nobody wants to talk about what the real problem is.”

Charles Gee, an applied learning development se-nior, said the demonstration will bring awareness of racial mistreatment to the campus.

“I saw solidarity,” Gee said. “I saw people being unified and acknowledging

that there are issues that are going on in the world, spe-cifically in the black com-munity. [This die-in will] make people more aware of what’s going on around us that’s right in our face.”

According to English-Beckwith, social media will continue to help minority groups receive justice.

“This [injustice] has been happening,” English-Beckwith said. “This is not anything that’s new. I think what’s happening now is that we have the technology to say, ‘Listen, we saw this, and we can spread the word about these things happening.’

[Offenders] can no longer cover it up anymore. We see what [they’re] doing, and we are going to make sure that [they] know we see [them].”

English-Beckwith said she believes police officers are using the excuse of fear to cover up their actions.

“What we’ve seen now is that [police are] saying that they feared for their lives,” English-Beckwith said. “What’s beneath that fear is a justice system that pro-motes that racial prejudice. Mike Brown’s black skin was that weapon, and it’s not fair. We’re not going to stand for it anymore.”

University address, you talked a lot about the importance of students receiving a diverse educa-tion, including becoming versed in a variety of sub-ject areas. What are some ways the University can better focus on diversity in education?

Powers: I am so proud of what this campus has done over the last 10 years — really focusing on un-dergraduate experiences. The Freshman Research Initiative actually puts freshmen in real labs. They’re not just seeing the results of somebody else’s research — they’re actually doing the prob-lem solving. I think we can expand that into the humanities, into the so-cial sciences. That’s what I mean by a diverse set of experiences — some in the classroom, some in internships, some inte-grated flipped classrooms and online.

DT: When you first

became president, one of your main goals was to make the University a more diverse campus. In what ways can UT work to improve higher education access to low-income stu-dents and students from underrepresented minor-ity backgrounds, that it

hasn’t already achieved? Powers: We have made a

lot of progress in diversify-ing our student body. I’m very proud of that. We’ve made a lot of progress in diversifying the faculty and staff. I think that’s very im-portant. Are we there yet? No. It takes energy all the time to continue to im-prove that.

DT: If you could rewind

the past few years, spe-cifically looking at your relationship with the UT System and Board of Re-gents, is there anything you would have done dif-ferently?

Powers: There are al-ways things in detail that we might have done dif-ferently. By large, I be-lieve deeply in UT and in public universities like UT — world-class teaching and research universities. I think it is very impor-tant for the future of our state and the future of the country. We’re losing our competitive edge around the world — the Chinese and India, Singapore, Ko-rea — other places are in-vesting more in universi-ties like this. It drives the economy.

DT: Do you think there

is a difference in vision with the regents of where UT is going?

Powers: I think there’s a debate around the coun-try about what the overall higher education ecosys-tem [should] be. Should it include community col-leges, or technical colleges and regional universities? But I think that if we don’t support our major teaching and research universities, it will be very bad for the state and the country go-ing ahead. I just think that’s something being debated around the state. I think we need to support places like UT.

DT: After you step

down in June, what are some things you’re look-ing forward to doing?

Powers: I’ll stay at the University when I step down in June. I’ve done this for nine years. I’ll be about three months short of being the longest serving presi-dent at UT. That’s not a par-ticularly important goal in and of itself, but I’ve done this for a long time. I’ve re-ally enjoyed this, but it is a hard job. Getting to wake up on a Sunday morning and thinking I don’t have to worry about stuff will be kind of a luxury for me.

DT: What are some

pieces of advice you will give the next president when he or she is chosen?

Powers: My predeces-sor, Larry Faulkner, was asked that same question: “What trait does the new president need?” And with some seriousness, it’s stamina. You don’t get ev-erything done in one day. It takes a lot of energy. Loving UT, I think, is crit-ical. And loving the kind of place UT is — a major world-class teaching and research university.

this goal by 2016 through enhancing the first-year orientation experience and by improving advising and student tracking.

According to the Uni-versity, UT currently has a four-year graduation rate of 52 percent, which is the highest four-year gradu-ation rate in Texas but straggles behind peer insti-tutions nationwide.

Laude said that since there is now a focus on get-ting students to graduate in four years, the University is able to more easily identify students not on track and find ways to help them.

“For many of them, it can be as simple as they had to take a semester off because they studied abroad, or maybe they had family issues that

they had to deal with,” Laude said. “But for oth-ers, it may have been a matter of changing ma-jors. I think, for a lot of those students who have fallen off track, if they work closely with their advisors and find degree plans that are better fit for them, they can make up that difference.”

Laude said one of the rea-sons why a large percentage of the class of 2017 is set to graduate in four years is be-cause students are aware of the rising cost of education and the burden of debt. He said increased graduation rates will also improve the efficiency of the University.

“In the end, it’s going to mean a lot more students get to enroll at UT and graduate at UT because we do a better job of get-ting students through,” Laude said.

PROTESTcontinues from page 1

RATEScontinues from page 1

POWERScontinues from page 1

HAZINGcontinues from page 1Qian said. “As for the details of the investigation process or the mutual agreements after that, it’s determined by the Dean of Students and the organization itself.”

Zaffirini said she filed the bill because hazing is a seri-ous issue in Texas and the rest of the country.

“A study by the Children’s National Medical Center reported that, in the last 57 years, English-language newspapers reported more than 250 cases of death linked to bullying or hazing — at least 55 of which were associ-ated specifically with hazing,” Zaffirini said. “What’s more, the problem has shown no signs of abating. A recent Bloomberg article reported that ‘more than 60 people [nationally] have died in

fraternity-related events since 2005, many involving alcohol abuse and hazing.’”

Qian said updating the bill is important because, like with any law, people find loopholes that must be addressed. He said that pub-licizing this information to student organizations, Greek and non-Greek, is necessary to prevent hazing on campus.

“It’s really to get the mes-sage out and be proactive from the law enforcement side — letting organizations know what is okay and what is not,” Qian said. “If you want people to follow the rules, you have to tell them about the rules and help them understand the rules.”

In the proposed amend-ments, an individual who reports his or her own haz-ing will have immunity from prosecution. Zaffirini said maintaining discussion and

state regulation on hazing is essential to keeping students on college campuses safe.

“The safety of students on campus must be our top pri-ority,” Zaffirini said. “Efforts to combat hazing and to protect those who come for-ward to report hazing would not only help keep students safe but also enhance the educational experience of students statewide.”

Qian said the amended immunity clause of the bill will keep the Greek system and other organizations accountable.

“Some people might be afraid to be the whistle blower, so having that in there is really going to help people understand why it is important to report these actions and encouraging people in a way to help this campus become a hazing-free campus,” Qian said.

You can spell several things with the letters in “The Daily Texan.” Anxiety. Denial. Hate. Exile. Death. I tried to make some positive words to mitigate those ex-tremely dark ones but failed to find any.

I’m not going to lie and say I never felt any of these things through my time at The Daily Texan. Anxiously awaiting to hear whether I made staff or whether I nar-rowly avoided “Worst Of.” Denial that I could get pro-moted. Hating several of my first wild takes and, occa-sionally, other people. Death of the soul, as some claim — you lose it once you sign your name on the Employee Handbook.

But I can’t say I’ve ever felt exiled. My first steps into this office were the first steps into a strange, goofy, tal-ented family, and, while any normal person would prob-ably trace those steps back to the exit and proceed to run away, I stayed. It was the best decision I’ve made in my college career.

There are so many mem-ories here that I probably won’t be capable of reciting them all. There’s being awk-ward the entirety of my first semester; actually, make that my entire career here. Clum-sily running a mile, camera in hand, for an assignment.

DRAGON KEEPER! Nigel. Surviving endless girl power music on you-know-who’s editing night. Beehr. That hour during tryout selec-tions we spent in the studio. So many life talks. Remi-niscing about high school journalism. Falling in love in Kansas. Then getting lost on the Kansas Tollway. Are you Star Wars? Touching Bryan Cranston’s back. Verts — all day, every day. Farting Boston Terriers. Mammatus clouds. Shelbeluga. My occa-sional inability to speak like a normal human being at meetings. And Marla, well, although I claim she never existed, her spirit will for-ever remain in the basement.

To all the editors before me, thank you for mentor-ing me and helping me be-come the photographer and person I am today. To my current p-staff, thank you for all your hard work this semester and working with me through thick and thin to produce only the best content. We not only man-aged to survive, but we came out better than we were be-fore. You’re an incredibly talented bunch, and I cannot wait to see where we all end

up. Hopefully not sleeping on that green couch. To the rest of staffers, I hope to have left you all with at least some inspiration to continue mov-ing forward in your photo ventures. Don’t stop where you’re at now — if there’s anything I’ve learned from working here five semesters, it is that there’s always room for improvement.

Shoot. I don’t know what college life is like without The Daily Texan. I’m re-ally not sure what I’m go-ing to do with all this free time. I’ll probably sleep more. Honestly, I’ll prob-ably find my way back into this basement with the ex-cuse that I have homework to do and have nowhere else to go. The Daily Texan is more than just a student newspaper — it’s a second home. I’ve learned more here than I could from any classroom or lecture. I have no regrets. Every last min-ute, all-nighter or tiresome effort I’ve put into this pa-per alongside all the other crazy people who decided not to run away have been worth it. I could not be more grateful.

-30-

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-30- Friday, December 5, 2014 3

Photo editor says goodbye to Texan

In all honesty, I have not been at the Texan a very long time. I stayed away for almost two years before I finally made my way into the basement. But now, I’ve made it to the end of the line, and I have no regrets about working here.

The Texan allowed me to grow in so many ways. Reporting made me more aware of the world we live in and sharpened my thinking and writing. Editing — and working as news editor, espe-cially — taught me so much about being a leader and working well with others.

The Texan is a special place where students — a good number of them studying subjects other than journalism — give up their free time every week and work together to run a me-dia organization. And that’s just it: The Texan works be-cause it is by students and for students.

My time here has not al-ways been an easy one; there was a point when I never wanted to come back. But the best part of all of it will

always be the people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with. When I started, there was Bobby, who first hired me and later became a close friend. Next, I met Christine, whom I quickly developed a crush on. We’ve been together for more than a year, and she still makes me smile.

There are so many people I can’t help but mention. Thank you, Amanda, for always having my back and doing the podcast. Jordan, thank you for bringing me back to the Texan, and good luck being the boss. Sam, thank you for always having a good attitude, even in bad situations. Pu, you were the world’s coolest boss. Elisa-beth, thank you for run-ning the show, even when you didn’t want to. Brett and Omar, it has been a blast. I will miss putting the paper together with you guys.

Andy and Toni, thank you for all the fun nights. Julia, Madlin and Nicole, never stop learning and growing. Alex, Elly, Jackie and Nata-lie, you are all incredibly tal-ented reporters. It was truly a privilege to work with you all this semester. You guys

have set the bar high for the department going forward. Keep it up in whatever you do next.

Finally, thank you, R.G., for sharing your wisdom with us this semester.

The Texan’s future is full of uncertainties. College news-papers across the country have had to make some dif-ficult choices. What I have come to realize is that the Texan isn’t really a college newspaper or even a media organization. Rather, the Texan is a place for students to grow, whether that be as reporter, writer, editor, de-signer, artist, photographer, videographer, leader or just as a person in general.

That doesn’t mean the Tex-an can’t produce high quality journalism — because it can and does. But here, students get to learn from their own mistakes and take responsi-bility for their own actions in a way that can’t be replicated in a classroom. Not that the journalism school isn’t valu-able, but the Texan is too. As long as the Texan is student-run, it will be able to teach its students in the best way possible.

-30-

Lauren Ussery | Daily Texan Staff Photo editor Shelby Tauber joined The Daily Texan in fall 2012 as a staff photographer. Since then, she has worked as a senior photographer, page designer and photo editor.

By Shelby Tauber@shelbytauber

By Jacob Kerr@jacobrkerr

MULTIMEDIAGo to www.dailytexanonline.com to see The Daily Texan Multimedia Department’s Fall 2014 Recap and tons of other great video cover-age from the past semester.

News editor thanks department, friends

Jonathan Garza | Daily Texan Staff News editor Jacob Kerr bids The Daily Texan farewell. In his time at the Texan, Kerr worked as a general reporter, senior reporter, associate news editor, podcast host and news editor.

My first steps into this office were the first steps into a strange, goofy, talented fam-ily, and, while any normal person would probably trace those steps back to the exit and proceed to run away, I stayed.

The Cigarroa family has had a long and af-fectionate relationship with the University of Texas at Austin. My father attended UT in the 1940s and left when Harvard Medical School admitted him after his junior year. That’s a strong endorsement of UT’s academic prepa-ration, even 70 years ago. He is still practicing medicine to this day, and he credits UT for his success and for inspiring him to be a critical thinker and lifelong learner.

In the summer after my freshman year at Yale, I took a course in physics here at UT. It was the most difficult course I’ve ever taken. I wanted to do research on cell biology, so I looked at the syllabus and discovered that Dr. Guy Thompson was an expert in cell mem-brane physiology. I knocked on his door and asked if I could do research in his laboratory that summer. Even though he didn’t know me, he was pleased by my interest and de-termination, and he welcomed me into his lab. He taught me the fundamentals of ba-sic science research, and to this day, I credit Dr. Thompson for my love of biomedical re-search.

The lives of three generations of Cigarroas from South Texas as well as many other lives have been transformed by their educational experiences at UT Austin. What starts at UT truly changes the world, and that is one of many reasons this great flagship university is regarded with the utmost admiration and respect. It is also why one of my most impor-tant priorities as chancellor of the University of Texas System was to advance excellence at the UT flagship and strive to make it the best public university in the nation.

Over the past six years, the System leader-ship team and I — in close collaboration with the Board of Regents and institution presi-dents — focused our attention on several im-portant initiatives:

We worked on accessibility and affordabil-ity for UT students and their families, with a special emphasis on controlling tuition in-creases and student debt.

We improved student advising. We provided greater safeguards for cam-

pus security and addressed a growing need for mental health counseling in the university community.

We developed and implemented best-in-class blended and online learning and greatly expanded access to online educational tools.

We supported a flurry of new state-of-the-art centers and complexes that are indicative of UT Austin’s growth and national stature in

a wide range of fields, including the Belo Cen-ter for New Media in the Moody College of Communication, the Engineering Education and Research Center, the Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall and the Liberal Arts Building.

After several years of planning, the UT System, working in close collaboration with President William Powers Jr. and his leader-ship team, are building the new Dell Medical School at UT Austin, which will educate and train new generations of doctors and health professionals and give the University a major biomedical research component. It will also solidify Austin as a world-class center for re-search, technology innovation and entrepre-neurship.

And we are funding the establishment of major institutes which will benefit UT Aus-tin in the fields of neuroscience and neuro-technology, engineering education, energy research and computer science.

As I leave the chancellor’s office and re-turn to transplant surgery at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, I see a very bright future ahead for UT Austin and all UT institutions across the state. Retired Admiral William McRaven will serve as the next chan-cellor, and he is an experienced and effective leader with impeccable integrity and a long and distinguished career of service to our na-tion. The System is in excellent hands.

Serving as chancellor has been an extraor-

dinary experience. People have asked what motivated me most, and it’s a very easy ques-tion to answer. What inspired me most ev-ery day was my interaction with remarkable people and the knowledge that, while the dai-ly work was challenging, the end result was eminently worth it. My days were enriched by getting to know students, alumni, presidents, donors, faculty and staff members at UT in-stitutions spread across this great state. I cher-ish those many interactions, and I will carry their memory with me for the rest of my life.

University of Texas students — you are our future, and you will shape the intellectual and economic landscape of our state and nation in the years ahead. I have complete faith in you. If your educational experience on this cam-pus has been like my father’s and mine, and countless others for more than a 130 years, then UT has instilled in you a love of learn-ing that will lead you toward an abundant and fulfilling life. Embrace this experience. It is a rare and wonderful thing.

As I prepare to step down from this truly extraordinary job, I want to take the time to thank you, the students of the University of Texas, for entrusting your education to us. Education is an investment that will never fail you. I know that sometimes pursuing higher education takes great personal sacrifice, and being a part of your journey has been the honor of my lifetime.

Cigarroa is the outgoing chancellor of the UT System.

4A OPINION

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE OR GUEST COLUMN | E-mail your Firing Lines and guest columns to [email protected]. Letters must be between 100 and 300 words and guest columns between 500 and 1,000. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

4RILEY BRANDS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / @TexanEditorialFriday, December 5, 2014

COLUMN

For Cigarroa, connection to UT runs in family

Amy Zhang | Daily Texan StaffUT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa speaks at the Student Government meeting in Octo-ber. Cigarroa, who has held his position for over five years, is leaving his role as chancellor in January to return to medicine.

By Francisco Cigarroa Guest Columnist

-30-

Editor’s note: -30- columns present the chance for permanent staffers to say their final goodbyes to the paper.

If someone had asked me a year ago if I would ever work for a newspaper, I most likely would’ve laughed at them. It’s fascinating how things changed so quickly after the current ed-itor-in-chief, Riley Brands, was elected by the student body, and he approached me with this opportunity. I follow current events closely, and have read The Daily Texan since I first set foot on campus, so it was something I simply could not turn down.

I want to personally thank all of my readers during my time with the Texan. Many of my favorite times were receiving emails and com-ments from readers on my columns.

I secondly want to thank my fellow staff members at the Texan — many of whom I have become good friends with. It has been an extremely rewarding experience and I am positive my writing skills have improved im-mensely during this time. The biggest perk of writing for the Texan has been working with different associate editors providing feedback and suggestions for my columns. This is in stark contrast to writing and submitting a pa-per and simply receiving a grade from a pro-fessor or TA without much feedback, if any at all.

I personally have no desire to continue writ-ing columns after graduation, but for anyone even considering applying next spring, I would absolutely encourage doing so.

-30-Daywalt is a government senior from Cop-

peras Cove. He has served as a senior columnist since June.

Senior columnist values editors’ feedback, time spent with friends

Editor’s note: -30- columns present the chance for permanent staffers to say their final goodbyes to the paper.

What an amazing experience the past three and a half years have been. Coming to this Uni-versity has allowed me to be involved in incred-ible things. I have had the privilege to serve in our government at the state and federal level; I have been a part of the leadership in a number of organizations here on campus and worked with amazing people. I was also given the opportu-nity to write for The Daily Texan as an opinion columnist. I am very thankful for all of these experiences and the positive impacts that they have given me.

In particular, writing for The Daily Texan has been tremendously rewarding. Those that know

me well might all agree that I am a very opin-ionated and passionate person, and if you agree or disagree with my views will probably deter-mine whether you grant this a virtuous personal characteristic or not. Regardless, my role at The Daily Texan has allowed me to voice these opin-ions and improve my writing abilities. I have no doubt that my experience here will positively af-fect my professional career.

Through my involvement, I have been amazed by how hard The Daily Texan staff works every day to continue the paper’s legacy. Passionate students spend many hours making this profes-sional newspaper. I want to specifically thank my editors for pushing me to develop and craft persuasive arguments that are firmly based on facts and solid reasoning. I have no regrets in accepting this position. It has been a great ride.

-30-Olsen is a finance senior from Argyle. He has

served as a senior columnist since August.

Texan presented senior columnist with platform to express opinions

-30-

Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan Staff Stephanie Tacy | Daily Texan Staff

By Clay OlsenSenior Columnist

@olsen_clay

By John DaywaltSenior Columnist

@JohnDaywalt

FIRING LINE

Texan shows no brains on missing brains

I find the Texan’s choice to put the story of the missing brains only in the Life & Arts section confusing. While I can see that the fairly odd story may convey a light-hearted, and merely local, sense of incompetence re-garding University officials and of rushed press officials, the Texan missed an opportu-nity to engage with some important questions about UT’s stewardship of its own historical patrimony. The issue got coverage in every national media outlet from ABC to USA To-day, to The New York Times, so clearly it was worthy of some serious reporting. As student reporters, the staff at the Texan have a unique opportunity to experiment, and not merely react, to University news gone national. Small issues like this are great for young journalists to cut their investigative teeth before reach-ing the stifling environment of the corporate newsroom, with all its perks and drawbacks. I appreciate the thorough commenting on the brains’ historical importance, such as Charles Whitman’s brain and the down-syndrome brain, which shows that special-needs stu-dents could attend college. Nevertheless, I feel like other departments of the paper could have dug deeper into the internal control sys-tems of this University. If we are supposed to be a business, the newspaper should act as au-ditors and quality control, not mouthpieces, for officials.

— Travis Knoll, a second-year Latin Ameri-can studies master’s student from Dallas and a former opinion columnist for The Daily Tex-an, in response to the Thursday article titled “Book helps solve investigation on UT’s missing brains.”

Our commentary doesn’t stop on the page. Check out our editorial on the Fergu-son and Staten Island decisions at www.daily-texanonline.com.

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-30- Friday, December 5, 2014 5

“Well, now I want to die.”Of course I don’t, but this

classic Royal Tenenbaums line is a pretty accurate exag-geration of my feelings con-cerning my departure from The Daily Texan.

It’s been a long time, a lot longer than some of the staff who’ve known me this semester may think, and my weary bones will appreciate the rest, especially consider-ing how calming graduating can be.

Ever since spring 2012, I’ve felt so welcomed by all the staff members I came into contact with at the Texan, even those I was a little scared of at first (here’s looking at you, Chris, Aleks, Audrey — stay sexy).

Vince, thanks for mak-ing me try out and telling me only positive things about working here. Tony, we all appreciated your pants. Ryan, we all loved your dog (R.I.P.). Hayley and Hannah, I feel like I really grew to know you both well, in and out of the

Texan. G.A., you were al-ways so avant suave.

To my first semester design peeps, Bobby, you ended up doing everything at the Texan (and well), but I always appreciated your vivid lifestyle the best. Na-tasha, I became better ac-quainted later on, but it was absolutely great warming up to each other (quite pos-sible with two cold people), and I’m glad I did; you were a great contribution to the Texan and many things would be so different had it not been for your pres-ence. Pu, mother to us all, you shepherded the photo team, the design team, the whole paper (we re-ally tried to do something different!), all while stay-ing as mysterious as you are. Kudos.

Jack, you came in fast but kept it smooth and proved that a “long hair, don’t care” (OK, whatever) attitude can be really great. When you’re around, the office is filled with great tunes and great laughs. Woof woof!

Hirrah and Jenny, from “the Westlake girls” to some of my favorite people, you’ve

always known how to fill a room with only the best. You know how I feel.

To the current design team: I see you every week; I love it every week.

Every semester has had its team, and I’ve loved them all. Elyana, repping the Pecos; Kristine, shoe gaze, more like amaze; Audrey, incredible humility; Aleks, unrivaled wit (I’m going to need a mop); Trey, enjoy-ably jocular; Shabab, run-ning toward fires (in a long- sleeve tee).

Charlie, Shelby, Jona-than, everybody, stay chill, stay sharp.

Stefan, it was sweet work-ing with you. Riley, stay sane. Brett, you’re a великий Совет. Jacob, you are so zany; you’re the best. Elisa-beth, we broke your shell and out came someone as sweet and realistic as a vegan treat.

There are just too many of you, but I love you all in my own way.

Was the Texan worth it? Has it changed my life? Are you all wonderful?

“Totes.”-30-

Years later, when I look back at my time at The Dai-ly Texan, there are several things I won’t remember. I won’t remember all the times we missed scriptset — there are probably too many to count. I won’t remember all the commas I added that, in my opinion, made each story worlds clearer. And I certainly won’t remember all the times I relied on my own knowledge rather than the AP Stylebook and caused the Texan a lot of grief.

I won’t remember these things because they didn’t really matter; what mattered, and what I’ll remember, are the times I spent with some of the greatest people I know. These people gave me a place at UT, and they helped make me who I am.

I’ll always remember Sara as the greatest mama cat we ever had at the copy desk. She kept Kevin, Brett and me together and rallied us to sur-vive tryouts, as well as many late nights spent at the Texan editing stories. She showed us

how to edit stories, and most importantly, she showed us how to have fun.

I’ll always remember Brett and his love for Russia and learning languages. The copy desk wouldn’t be the same if Brett weren’t there to teach us all — or attempt to teach us all — Russian. I’ll even remember the times he taught me more about gram-mar than I ever thought was possible, all with the enthu-siasm of a kid opening pres-ents on Christmas.

I’ll always remember Shabab as the managing editor who almost never left. Perpetually a student, Shabab stuck around seem-ingly just to share his wise adages with us; I’ll always re-member the way he pushed us to be better.

I’ll always remember Elis-abeth as the managing edi-tor who made tough deci-sions and stuck by them. I’ll remember how she taught me to understand my staff. Mostly, I’ll remember the baked goods she brought to the office that were devoured almost as soon as she set them down.

Years from now, I’ll re-member the way I felt walk-ing down to the basement the first time as a freshman, nervous and completely ig-norant of all things news-paper-related. I’ll remember the way it felt when I got hired as a copy editor, the way it felt when I got pro-moted the next semester to associate copy desk chief and the way it felt when Elis-abeth asked me to be her as-sociate managing editor.

I’ll remember the utter cluelessness I felt throughout my career at the Texan and the way I was, and always will be, amazed at how a room full of 20-somethings with virtually no experience came together each night to make one hell of a newspaper.

But most of all, I’ll re-member all of you: my fellow editors, writers, designers, comics artists, photogra-phers, videographers — my fellow comrades and friends who made me feel at home and important at a univer-sity full of other extraordi-nary people. I wish you all the best.

-30-

Jonathan Garza | Daily Texan Staff Design editor Omar Longoria prepares to say farewell to the design department and the rest of the Texan.

Jonathan Garza | Daily Texan Staff Associate managing editor Reeana Keenen formerly worked as copy desk chief.

Design editor recalls favorite staff members since arrival at the Texan

Associate managing editor: Texan gave me a home at UT

By Reeana Keenen@KeenenReeana

By Omar Longoria@OmarJLongoria

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6 Friday, December 5, 2014 COMICS

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COMICS 7

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7GARRETT CALLAHAN, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansportsFriday, December 5, 2014

VOLLEYBALL

Texas overcomes errors, sweeps pesky DemonsComing into Thursday

night’s NCAA volleyball match, Texas had earned the top seed in the Minneapolis region while Northwestern State, at 16-16, was only there because it managed to win the Southland Conference Tour-nament.

But on the court, the match was played as closely as any late-round match can be played.

The Longhorns struggled to shake off the pesky De-mons because of both Texas errors and strong play from the visitors, and each set was a dogfight.

In the end, Texas got the sweep it needed to advance to a second-round date with Ari-zona State but left with some concerns.

“I told our team we’re go-ing to have to play at a much

higher level than we did to-night to have a chance [against Arizona State],” head coach Jerritt Elliott said.

After the first few points of the match went according to plan, Northwestern State re-sponded with a 6-1 run of its own to take a brief 7-6 lead. But, with the score 14-13 in favor of the Demons, senior outside hitter Haley Ecker-man drilled two straight aces to give the Longhorns a 15-14 lead. Texas never looked back and won the set, 25-21, despite a .088 hitting percentage.

The second set was a near copy of the first. Texas took a 5-2 lead before Northwest-ern State made a run to take an 8-7 lead. Then, with a 13-10 lead, sophomore middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu hit two straight aces to put the set out of reach.

Elliott said the team did a much better job managing its

game in the second set.“We had 14 errors [in

the first set], and when you make 14 errors, it’s al-ways going to be close,” Elliott said. “We just talk-ed about managing qual-ity sets, and we felt like Northwestern State would have a hard time if we kept our numbers.”

The third set was also similar to the first two, as the Longhorns jumped out to a 6-2 lead, only to have the De-mons fight right back to tie the set, 13-13, a few minutes later. But, smelling the sweep with a 17-15 lead, Texas went on an 8-3 run, aided by five blocks, to close out the match with a 25-18 set win.

Although Texas walked out with a win, the Longhorns will have much to work on before the second-round match. Tex-as had 18 attack errors, seven service errors and only out-blocked Northwestern State

seven to six.The Longhorns will square

off against Arizona State,

which defeated Texas A&M, 3-1, on Thursday.

“[Tonight] is going to be

a big battle, and we’re going to have to perform at a much higher level,” Elliott said.

Rachel Zein | Daily Texan Staff Despite a rough night from middle blocker/outside hitter Khat Bell and outside hitter Haley Eckerman, Texas swept Northwestern State to advance in the NCAA tournament.

By Jacob Mortella@ViewFromTheBox

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No. 6 Texas men’s basketball enters Friday’s matchup against No. 1 Kentucky fresh off its worst offensive performance of the season.

The Longhorns shot 30 percent from the field and 18.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in their victory over UT-Arlington on Tuesday.

For a chance to beat the Wildcats on Friday, those stats will have to improve.

“We understand if we [play like that] against Ken-tucky, we’re going to lose,” senior forward Jonathan Holmes said.

Kentucky’s depth is un-matched, as the Wildcats have 10 players who average at least 15.3 minutes per game and seven players who average at least 8 points.

They’re experienced, too. After advancing to the NCAA tournament championship game to face Connecticut last season, the Wildcats saw most of their 2013-2014 ros-ter return for this season.

The Longhorns and Wild-cats match up well, as they are two of the biggest teams in the nation. Two of Kentucky’s better players, junior forward Willie Cauley-Stein and soph-omore center Dakari Johnson,

each measure in at 7 feet. Tex-as boasts five players of at least 6 feet 8 inches who see regular playing time.

“We go against some big guys in practice, so it’s not too much different from what we see every day,” Holmes said. “We’ll be fine going against another team that has some of the same size we have.”

Kentucky, however, figures to present some mismatch problems for a Texas team that’s missing its starting point guard. The Wildcats have en-joyed premier guard play this season from sophomore Aaron Harrison, who leads the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game, and standout freshman Devin Booker, who is tied for second on the team with 10.3

points per game.So far this season, the Long-

horns have racked up impres-sive wins over Iowa, California and Connecticut, but Kentucky presents their toughest test yet by far. The Wildcats beat then-No. 5 Kansas 72-40 on Nov. 18.

“What they did against Kan-sas was impressive,” Holmes said. “They deserve all the cred-it they’re getting right now.”

The Longhorns deserve con-siderable credit, too. They’ve won six of their seven games by double figures this year.

Both teams are 7-0 this season. A strong showing against the nation’s top-ranked team would go a long way in cementing Texas on the short list of the nation’s elite teams.

I knew I brought my win-ter jacket to Austin for a reason.

Coming from Winnipeg, Manitoba — the coldest major city in the world — I wasn’t ready to scratch the down-lined peacoat from my wardrobe. My parents told me I was crazy; what use would I have for such a thing in the South?

Sure enough, it spent the first six months collecting dust and wasting valuable space in my puny Jester dorm room. But on a frig-id evening in late January 2011, that long black jacket was just what I needed to stay warm in a surprisingly cold hockey rink.

I met up with a pho-tographer I’d never see again and hopped on a CapMetro bus heading for Chaparral Ice that night. I needed a story for my Dai-ly Texan tryout piece, and the Longhorn club hockey team had an interesting one to tell.

I had spent a couple weeks on the team when I first arrived at Texas and had a chance to meet the inspiring Coach White, who was battling can-cer. I didn’t end up play-ing on the squad, but, a few months later when I needed an angle, he was the first man who came to mind. I wrote the story and got the job.

My work at the rink earned me a gig at the pool, where I covered women’s swimming and diving in my first semester at the Texan.

I worked alongside Lauren Giudice, who was covering the men’s team, and togeth-er we learned what it meant to be a beat writer.

I returned in the fall and spent a couple weeks cov-ering women’s golf before I got a call from my editor, Trey Scott: “Wanna cover women’s basketball?” Be-fore I knew it I was in the bowels of the Frank Erwin Center, covering women’s hoops alongside Nick Cre-mona. Nothing was more entertaining than two hours on press row with Mr. Cremona.

I returned to the Texan as a junior and worked with Chris Hummer as his as-sociate sports editor. That fall, Chris and I had the opportunity to work with a phenomenal staff and watch Rick Barnes resurrect his career on the men’s basket-ball beat.

On New Years Eve, I re-ceived an email from our managing editor, Shabab Siddiqui, notifying me that I’d been selected as the sports editor for the

spring. And what a spring it would be.

I spent the majority of my semester in the infamous Texan basement, fighting with Shabab and associate managing editor Elisabeth Dillon for an extra couple of inches. In the words of Al Pacino, “We claw with our fingernails for that inch.”

When I wasn’t in the cel-lar, I was on the road, driving through the night to see Tex-as play Kansas at “The Phog” or watch Augie Garrido lead his Longhorns to the brink of the College World Series finals in Omaha, only to lose on an infield single.

In my final semester, I’ve had the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream and cover the Longhorn football team. I was also fortunate enough to serve as editor of Double Coverage this fall, and our hard-working staff made it the most rewarding experi-ence of my college career.

I’m glad I came to Tex-as, I’m glad I covered the Longhorns, and I’m glad I brought my jacket.

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Canadian leaves the Texan on topBy Stefan Scrafield

@StefanScrafield

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Horns face top-ranked challenge

Jenna VonHofe | Daily Texan StaffSenior forward Jonathan Holmes and the Longhorns will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday to face the No. 1 Wildcats.

By Peter Sblendorio@petersblendorio

Jonathan Garza | Daily Texan Staff From covering women’s swimming to being sports editor, se-nior Stefan Scrafield has worn many hats at The Daily Texan.

Kelly Ruiz, costume de-sign graduate student, dresses up once a week in Lolita — a Japanese street fashion. When she wears it out, people in their 20s usually just look at her and keep walking.

“What’s fascinating is usu-ally really young children and really old people love it,” Ruiz said. “They have no qualms about coming up to you and telling you how awe-some you look.”

Lolita fashion generally consists of wearing wigs, Victorian-style dresses, bows and necklaces and is most popular with doll makeup. People who dress in Lolita fashion call themselves Loli-tas. The style has been popu-lar in Japan since its believed inception in the 1970s and has had an increasing fol-lowing in the United States. Ruiz is a part of a group called ATX Lolitas, which hosts gatherings such as an upcoming trip to a tea house in Gruene, Texas, in honor of International Lolita Day on Dec. 6.

“It’s an underground sub-culture fashion,” Ruiz said. “Based on the frills, colors and patterns of Rococo garments with the modesty feel of the

Victorian era. It was a fashion phenomenon that came from something called visual kei, another fashion subgroup in Japan based off music.”

ATX Lolitas plans gath-erings, such as going out to have bubble tea, as an excuse to dress up in Lolita. Cath-erine Ramos, a social media coordinator for the ATX Lo-litas, said that during gather-ings, people get curious and ask what the group members are wearing.

“I usually don’t use the word Lolita because of the connotation it has here, and it also really isn’t that de-scriptive of a word,” Ramos said. “I’ll say we’re part of a Japanese fashion group in town, and if they want to know more about it, then I’ll describe it further.”

Ruiz’s friend Kristina Guidry — a greyhound park worker in Mobile, Alabama, and former ATX Lolita member — remembers what Ruiz was wearing the first time they met.

“I remember the print per-fectly,” Guidry said. “It was Cinderella Bunny from Body-line, and it was in purple, and she had the pink blouse and everything and I just thought, ‘Oh, that’s so sweet.’ She looked absolutely stunning.”

According to Ruiz, the main

topic of conversation at the group’s gatherings is what ev-eryone is wearing, to find out what a print is and where it was bought, because few plac-es sell Lolita. When an entire, outfit seamlessly coordinates they refer to it as a “coord.”

“Even if people have the same dress they are always go-ing to accessorize differently or wear a different wig than you, so it’s fun to see,” Ruiz said. “We say, ‘Your coord is really cute,’ if you’re wearing a dress with strawberries and you have a

strawberry hat, strawberry ear-rings and a strawberry ring.”

Ruiz has always wanted to design Lolita fashion. Af-ter graduating, she plans on moving to Taiwan and creat-ing a line based off of fairy kei and Lolita.

“I keep doing it because it’s fun,” Ruiz said. “I know Lolitas in their 50s that are still dressing in Lolita. It has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with the way you see yourself and what you want to wear.”

8 L&A

LAUREN L’AMIE, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan 8Friday, December 5, 2014

CAMPUS

Japanese street fashion hits UT

During winter break of his sophomore year, UT alumus Leon Chen asked his crush on a date, and she stood him up. Nearly 15 years later, he owns a successful business with his wife — the same girl who didn’t show up.

“Tiff stood me up to hang out with her friends,” Leon said. “Afterwards, she felt bad and baked me a batch of cookies from her family’s recipe. I’m not into sweets that much, but I thought, ‘Wow, I love those cookies.’”

At the time, Leon was a sophomore marketing stu-dent looking to get a job in business. When he and Tiff, who studied advertising,

started dating, he asked her if she would be interested in starting a cookie delivery company with him. Togeth-er, they created Tiff ’s Treats.

“Two weeks after we got back from winter break, we started working,” Tiff said. “We sent out flyers to dorms and promoted it, but in the first two days we got no calls. We thought it might be a failure, but we got an order the next day.”

Leon said that at the time, getting five to 10 orders in one night was both exciting and overwhelming.

“We were doing the busi-ness out of my Hyde Park apartment,” Leon said. “We were open from 8 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday. We were still col-

lege kids and wanted to go out on the weekends.”

For the first three years, they made enough to run the business with little remain-ing for themselves, accord-ing to Leon. Soon, however, 10 orders a night turned into 20, and 20 turned into 40.

Since the focus of their business was delivery, they needed to hire delivery driv-ers, most of whom were UT freshmen and sophomores. Today, the first three driv-ers they hired 15 years ago work in management at Tiff ’s Treats.

“That’s probably my fa-vorite part of it all,” Leon said. “Watching them grow up and go from delivery drivers to really good de-partment leaders is cool.”

Jeff Sartor, the company’s executive vice president of marketing, is one of those original drivers.

“My favorite part about working at Tiff ’s is mak-ing people happy,” Sartor said. “Whether it is our customers or our employ-ees, I love that we can create smiles and special moments for anyone.”

Since starting Tiff ’s Treats in 1999, Tiff and Leon have expanded to 16 stores in four different cities.

“We look back on how we used to do things, and we always have a good laugh about how inefficient we were,” Tiff said. “[In college], we were just making it all up on the fly. We have grown so much since we started.”

After watching an a capel-la show on campus, business freshman Santiago Rosales and a group of friends came up with UT-themed lyrics to the tune of Christmas carols and wrote them on napkins. What started as a string of jokes developed into the JC-Elves, a Christmas caroling group.

Next week, the JC-Elves, who named themselves af-ter a play on words with JCL, will outfit themselves in ugly Christmas sweat-ers and go caroling on cam-pus. Rosales said the initial group of four has grown to seventeen carolers.

“We’re not good at singing, but we really love Christmas carols,” Rosales said.

Rosales said the time of the day the Elves carol will depend on the schedules of each group member, though, they plan to sing for about an hour each day of the upcom-ing week.

“I feel like there’s always been groups that carol,” said government freshman Patrick Golden, a founding member of JC-Elves. “But I don’t think they’ve made parodies of songs that make carols relatable to people that don’t celebrate Christmas.”

According to Rosales, the only requirement to be in the JC-Elves is to wear a sweater and sing carols.

Business freshman An-drew Cordova said that since he is not much of a singer, he will be in charge of taking group pictures and videos.

“I want to document peo-ple’s reactions to the lyrics

because they’re pretty clever,” Cordova said.

Among the carols on the Elves’ seven-song set list are songs such as “Here Comes Charlie Strong” to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Claus” and a Bevo-themed “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Golden said his favorite song is “JCL Sucks” to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” inspired by the food offered at JCL.

Rosales said he plans on continuing the JC-Elves throughout his four years at UT.

“I would love for it to be-come a tradition, but, right now, we’re just focusing on it going well this year,” Rosales said.

The JC-Elves have al-ready established that they will carol around Jester, Kinsolving and the SAC, and Rosales said they are also considering caroling outside of the PCL and the Tower.

“We’re all really big fans of UT sports teams and the school in general,” Rosales said. “We do this because we really love the school. Helping spread a little joy during a really tough time in the year would be very good, not only for oth-er students, but also for ourselves.”

By Estefania de Leon@estefaniadeleon

I stumbled upon The Daily Texan by accident. I was a freshman. I saw a flyer pasted on a bulletin board in the art building calling for tryouts, I stumbled into the fluores-cent lights and stale air of the basement, and I stumbled upon my new home.

The basement is where I found a community of individuals who care im-mensely about the world around them and our place within it. I have made con-nections with some of the most driven, curious lead-ers at UT who seek the truth and work incred-ibly hard to find it, even if they make mistakes along the way.

I used to be afraid of the Texan. I was intimidated each time I entered the base-ment, very conscious of im-pressing the people around me. But I’ve realized this place is just a collection of kids who are exactly like me — we were all looking for a place to make mistakes and learn from them.

Not only are the people at the Texan creative, they have taught me to use my creativ-ity in a way that I feel is pro-ducing real change.

Sarah-Grace and Kelsey taught me the fundamen-tals of Life & Arts queen-ship: to write what I believe in and to never let my age undermine my ability. To take ownership of what I do and recognize when I need to ask for help. To flawlessly, unapologetically rock crop tops and nose rings in every situation. To shine. To remember that I will mess up, and it will be OK.

Kat and Sarah and Lau-ren continue to teach me every day that this place is just the beginning. We have watched each other make mistakes — from overflow-ing the office coffee pot and eating way too many baked

goods to feeling lost and overwhelmed and taking long naps on the decades-old gray couch.

Hannah taught me ev-erything else — that I can-not be afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings; I can only be afraid of letting people stand in my way. That there is a Spotify playlist for every month, every mood and every long night spent editing stories that often felt like they wouldn’t get any bet-ter. That the best friend-ships are formed while waiting in line for fancy pastries at 1 a.m., or when you’re crammed into the trunk of a Smart car on the way to cover South By

Southwest. We have learned how to

become better journalists, of course. But more im-portantly we have learned how to tell the stories that matter.

To Kat - welcome to the L & A legacy. You have worked so hard to be here, and I can’t think of any-one who possesses your wit, know-how or ability to make people listen.

To everyone else still re-siding in the basement — the people who live there with you are what make this place your home. Learn from each other and keep discovering new things. You are in the best place to begin.

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BUSINESS CAMPUS

Life & Arts diva ready to dance on her own

Tiff ’s Treats founders recount business origins

By Lauren L’Amie@LameLAmie

By Lauren Velez@laurenvelz

JC-Elves sing UT-themed Christmas carol parodies

By Amanda Booth@wordswithamanda

Ethan Oblak | Daily Texan Staff Business freshman Santiago Rosales and government freshman Patrick Golden helped create JC-Elves, a caroling group.

Lauren UsseryDaily Texan Staff

Life & Arts editor Lauren L’amie affec-tionately relates what she has learned and experienced during her time at the Texan.

We’re not good at sing-ing, but we really love Christmas carols.

—Santiago Rosales, Business freshman

Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan StaffCostume design graduate student Kelly Ruiz dresses in Lolita, a Japanese street style. Ruiz is a part of ATX Lolitas, a group that meets to dress and talk about Japanese fashion.