The Daily Texan 2015-06-08

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SUMMER EDITION

Presidential payroll

New UT President Fenves rejected a higher salary. See how he stacks up. Page 6

22 NEWSMonday, June 8, 2015

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Volume 116, Issue 1

COVER PHOTOMarshall Tidrick

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Did you ask for a hair in your taco?

CONTENTS

NEWSGov. Abbott signs research initiative into law. PAGE 3UT researchers will contribute to building the world’s most powerful telescope. PAGE 5

OPINIONThe Editorial Board weighs in on President Fenves’ salary negotiations. The Board reasons the recent negotiation reflects the importance of Fenves’ role in the competitive market of top-tier academia and an understanding of his place in a challenging political environment. PAGE 4

LIFE&ARTSStudies show people’s organic matter combines with chemicals in pool to create hazardous substances. PAGE 9

SPORTSAfter a weekend filled with tricks and flips, hundreds of fans and best athletes in the world, X Games Austin comes to an end. PAGE 8

COVER STORYPresident Fenves accepts lower salary yet will still earn more than former President Powers. PAGE 6

FREE SUMMERTIME AUSTIN MULTIMEDIATuesdayTrailer Food TuesdaysEnjoy and evening of live music, games and food trucks, such as The Peached Torti-lla and Chi’lantro.Where: Long Center City TerraceWhen: 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

WednesdayNerd NiteGrab a drink as people give presentations on wearable technol-ogy, noninvasive prenatal testing and the history of the term “freak.” Where: The North DoorWhen: 7:30 p.m.

ThursdayShady Grove Un-pluggedAs part of the weekly concert series, folk-rock group The Oh Hel-los will perform as attendees jam out on the grass.Where: Shady GroveWhen: 8 p.m.

FridayAll Night Long: The Action Pack’s '80s Video Dance PartyShow off your dance moves and ’80s attire at this ’80s-themed dance party.Where: The High-ballWhen: 10:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.

See a full list of this weeks events online at dailytexanonline.com

Austin hosted the summer X Games for the second year this weekend. Visit dailytexanonline.com and check out our video coverage of the intense, high-flying and exciting action that unfolded on the streets of downtown and at the Circuit of The Americas.

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STATE

Calling it a day of celebra-tion, Gov. Greg Abbott on June 4 signed into law his University Research Ini-tiative, which will seek to provide higher education institutions statewide the necessary funding to attract esteemed researchers from around the globe.

“We want to elevate the higher education colleges and universities in Texas to be ranked number one in the United States of America,” said Abbott, surrounded by representatives from high-er education institutions around the state, including System Chancellor William McRaven and UT President Gregory Fenves.

The initiative, which Abbott deemed an “emer-gency item” during the last legislative session, seeks to provide Texas colleges and universities with more than $8 billion in bonds and funding to promote research, compensate re-searchers and build facili-ties that will attract both the current and next gener-ation of high-class students and faculty.

University spokesperson Gary Susswein said the legislation included in the initiative only allows the University to hire faculty in STEM (science, tech-nology, engineering and math) fields and in medi-cine, although he hopes the fund will benefit the entire student body.

“The governor’s fund will allow UT to attract even more renowned

faculty members who will conduct groundbreaking research; teach our students and provide them with new opportunities to par-ticipate in these research projects; and then help us attract other top faculty and students to be part of these efforts,” Susswein said in an email. “We hope all students benefit from being in such a dynamic academic environment.”

Abbott’s initiative will allow Texas colleges and universities access to more than $4 billion to attract Nobel laureates and Na-tional Academy members

to act as faculty, in addi-tion to the funding already granted to them in the state’s two-year budgeting cycle. The initiative re-quires the state to match any amount state colleges and universities already raised to attract such fac-ulty as well.

Colleges and universities will also have access to $3 billion in bonds and allow-ances to build research and other facilities to better at-tract students and faculty. The state will also provide another $1 billion to pro-mote research done at state institutions as well as to

attract what Abbott called the “next generation of No-bel laureates and National Academy members” to at-tend Texas higher education institutions.

Abbott also stressed the importance of making higher education more af-fordable for students. His initiative will allow a score of three or higher on any Advanced Placement test to count for college credit, whereas UT formerly set its own policies regard-ing AP scores. It will also seek to facilitate coordi-nation and collaboration between institutions to

better allow credits to transfer from one institution to another.

“Oftentimes, students begin the higher educa-tion process at a commu-nity college or a two-year college program only to find, after they complete a course there, the class that they take is not ac-cepted at the higher educa-tion institution they go to, meaning they have to pay more money to take that course again — a course they’ve already completed,” Abbott said.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), whom Abbott

called a powerful advocate for higher education, was also present for the sign-ing. She said Abbott is the first governor since John Connally in the 1960s to be committed to the excel-lence of higher education in Texas.

“Matching funds from the state will help UT at-tract additional top world-class researchers and sci-entists, helping ensure it remains ‘a university of the first class,’” Zaffirini said in an email. “Clearly, [Abbott] understands the importance and role of academic research.”

Abbott signs University Research InitativeBy Anderson Boyd

@anderson_boyd

3ANDERSON BOYD, NEWS EDITOR | @thedailytexanMonday, June 8, 2015

Daulton VenglarDaily Texan Staff

Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the crowd after he signed into law his University Re-search Initiative on June 4 at the ACES building. The initiative seeks to gift Texas colleges and universities with over $8 bil-lion in bonds and funding.

The Daily Texan is currently holding tryouts for its summer staff until June 15. We are look-ing for talented writers and artists to join our staff and help us create a sharp opinion page that reflects the diverse opinions on campus. If you want to have your voice heard, come to the Texan.

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In the search for a new UT president, the Board of Regents offered candidates a com-pensation package of $1 million base pay with a potential 12 percent bonus. That offer was a substantial increase from former President Wil-liam Powers Jr.’s peak salary of $625,000. Sur-prisingly, Gregory Fenves, UT’s new president, negotiated his salary down to $750,000 in base pay with only a potential 10 percent bonus.

These salary figures are striking. At a univer-sity where the median salary of faculty members is $50,000, the regents’ salary offer to Fenves, a public employee, is staggering.

However, the dramatic variation in salary for the tiny fraction of administrators and coaches making hundreds of thousands of dollars an-nually can be traced to their position’s potential revenue generation. For example, UT football coach Charlie Strong earns more than $3 mil-lion annually because his program also gener-ates more money than any other in the nation.

Fenves, likewise, may generate lots of revenue for the University, if his history of fundraising success continues during his presidency. As dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering, he spearheaded the college’s fundraising ef-fort, eventually raking in more money than any other school at UT. As provost, Fenves also played a pivotal role in the development of the Dell Medical School, which will be another long-term revenue-generator for the University.

If Fenves can continue to exercise his proven fundraising skills, he will more than pay for his own salary.

Both the University’s bold offer and Fenves’s negotiated acceptance sent distinct yet equally powerful messages. A $1 million base pay was meant to attract the most qualified candidates to lead UT. With the offer, the Board of Regents signaled its intent to remain competitive among top public and private universities by meeting or exceeding peer presidential salaries.

Although the Board’s offer was no doubt a calculated reflection of UT’s place in top-tier academia, Fenves’s decision to accept a sal-ary substantially beneath the Regents’ offer was made with UT students in mind. According to Fenves, a $1 million salary was too high for a public official given UT’s affordability and tu-ition concerns over the last five years. And a $1 million salary could inhibit his ability to work

with the Texas Legislature on financial issues that will affect faculty and students. Fenves ob-viously understands that appearances matter in a challenging political environment.

Still, the Regents’ salary offer was not un-conscionably large. UT’s endowment competes

with Harvard’s and Yale’s. And UT aspires to ac-ademic standards equal to those of Ivy League universities. UT’s top-level executive pay must remain competitive, within reason, to achieve those lofty standards. Thankfully, Fenves helped the Regents compete within reason.

4

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 | Email your Firing Lines to [email protected]. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. 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.

4CLAIRE SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorialMonday, June 8, 2015

EDITORIAL

Fenves salary sends political, personal message in competitive market

Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan StaffPresident Gregory Fenves addresses the media in the Texas Union on Wednesday morning.

Both the University’s bold offer and Fenves’s negotiated accep-tance sent distinct yet equally powerful messages.

ONLINEOur commentary doesn’t stop on the page. For more of our thoughts on the issues of the day, check out our blog, A Matter of Opinion, at dailytexanonline.com.

Name: PPD; Width: 29p6; Depth: 10 in; Color: Black, PPD; Ad Number: -

Daulton VenglarDaily Texan Staff

Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the crowd after he signed into law his University Re-search Initiative on June 4 at the ACES building. The initiative seeks to gift Texas colleges and universities with over $8 bil-lion in bonds and funding.

NEWS Monday, June 8, 2015 5

Scientists are hoping to learn more about the possi-bility of life on other planets, the origin of stars and the in-ner workings of the universe by building the most power-ful telescope in the world.

UT and 10 other founder organizations will partner with the Giant Magellan Tele-scope Organization to lead the charge in gaining a better understanding of the uni-verse. According to GMTO’s website, the telescope will employ a system of seven 12.5 ton mirrors to capture im-ages up to 10 times sharper than that of the Hubble Tele-scope’s. The Giant Magellan Telescope will have the ability to reveal objects never before seen in space.

“GMT will be the first in a new class of extremely large telescopes, capable of exploring the cosmos with unprecedented clarity and sensitivity,” said Patrick McCarthy, director of the GMTO. “The GMT will

peer back in time to shortly after the Big Bang, when the first stars, galaxies and black holes formed.”

On June 3, the GMTO announced that its 11 part-ner organizations have all approved construction for the telescope, securing $500 million in funds and the project’s future.

The other partners in this project include internation-al universities and scientific institutions, such as the Ko-rea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, The Aus-tralian National University and the São Paulo Research Foundation, as well as American institutions, such as Carnegie Institution for Science and The University of Arizona.

“This puts UT at the fore-front of the next generation of technology,” said Rebecca Johnson, publications editor for the McDonald Observato-ry. “We will have time on this telescope based on our buy into it. We’ll be able to be in-volved in making some of the first great discoveries with it.”

Scientists from all over the world have already begun building different instruments for GMT. At UT, astronomy professor Daniel Jaffe is lead-ing the development of the GMT near-infrared spectro-graph, an instrument that will study young stars and the star formation process.

The telescope is being as-sembled at the observation site at Las Campanas Obser-vatory in northern Chile. It is planned to begin working in 2021 and become fully operational in 2024. Las Campanas Observatory’s placement in Chile’s remote Atacama Desert will provide ideal viewing conditions for the telescope, as the desert is located at a high altitude of 8,000 feet with almost no vegetation or rain. The tele-scope will be held in an en-closure 20 stories tall.

“It takes a large communi-ty of scientists and engineers to build a telescope as large as the GMT,” McCarthy said in an email. “We are excited to be able to attract founders from all over the world.”

UNIVERSITY

UT joins partnership to build world’s most powerful telescope

Illustration by Lindsay Rojas | Daily Texan Staff

By Selah Maya Zighelboim@SelahMaya

Monday, June 8, 2015 76 COVER STORY Monday, June 8, 2015

New University Presi-dent Gregory Fenves starts his tenure with a base salary of $750,000 — more than former

President William Powers Jr. earned but still less than the amount he was originally offered.

The UT System Board of Regents offered Fenves a $1 million contract. Instead, Fenves offered to accept a salary of $750,000, comparing it to the presidential salaries of the Uni-versity of Michigan and the Univer-sity of California.

“$1 [million] is too high for a public university,” Fenves wrote in an email to then-Executive Vice Chancellor Pe-dro Reyes. “It will attract widespread negative attention from students and faculty given the difficult budgetary constraints of the past five years. With many issues and concerns about ad-ministrative costs, affordability, and tu-ition, such a salary will affect the ability of the president to work with the Texas Legislature on matters.”

The University of Michigan hired its

current president in 2014 with the base salary of $750,000. Texas A&M’s presi-dent makes $1 million in base pay with an annual $400,000 bonus, and the University of Houston’s president and chancellor makes $1.1 million in total compensation.

UT compares itself to a variety of institutions that it considers to be sim-ilar in terms of funding, research and size, among other metrics. Reyes said these comparisons are used to inform several different financial decisions, including funding and presidential salaries. The University of Michigan is considered comparable, and therefore it was used in making the salary deci-sion, according to Reyes and Fenves’ email correspondence.

“It just happens that Michigan is paying the president less than the av-erage across the other institutions,” Reyes said. “Michigan also has a medical school, but it all depends — there are so many pieces to compen-sation, not just the salary. There are perks within the offer that obviously may be more than the $750,000 that

Michigan is paying. We don’t know the specific elements of the compen-sation program.”

Since UT looks at other flagship re-search universities for comparison, it does not compare itself to other Texas universities in making financial deci-sions, so the salaries for the A&M pres-ident and UH president and chancellor did not factor into the process.

Reyes, who now acts as special as-sistant to the chancellor, said the Board of Regents determines presidential sal-ary based on the market of comparable university presidents.

“Given the talk of execution and responsibilities, that’s how one deter-mines the rate to be used for potential offers,” Reyes said. “We don’t use only one institution to benchmark salaries. We use multiple institutions.”

Fenves’ decision to lower his base salary in comparison to Michigan shows university standards as well as his own, UT spokesman Gary Suss-wein said.

“The fact that he would make that comparison in his email is just

reflective of how he approaches things as an engineer but also what we do as a university,” Susswein said.

Fenves also accepted 10 percent an-nual bonuses instead of the original of-fer of 12 percent. He said in the email to Reyes he did not want any decisions or actions to seem like performance bonuses influenced them.

Fenves declined to comment beyond his emails on his reasons for turning down the original base salary and bo-nuses offered.

Public policy professor Jeremi Suri said he has worked with the new presi-dent on several University-wide initia-tives, including the Campus Conver-sation, a year-and-a-half-long project bringing faculty together in an attempt to improve the quality of undergradu-ate education.

Based on his work with Fenves, Suri said there are three traits that make Fenves worth much more than he is currently being paid.

“So the three things are: He connects people, he raises money and he under-stands the issues deeply,” Suri said.

Fenves rejects regents’ offer

of $1 million

Mack Brown Special intructor to UT athletics

$3,824,856

Shaka SmartBasketball head coach

$2,800,000

Steve PattersonAthletic director

$1,077,778

Augie GarridoBaseball head coach

$1,072,500

Charlie StrongFootball head coach

$3,025,375

Highest salaries at UT

Leadership salaries at other universities

President Larry Faulkner (1998–2006) President William Powers Jr. (2006–2015) President Gregory Fenves (2015–)

$309,083 $628,060 $750,000

Mark SchlisselPresident of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor$750,000

Nicholas DirksChancellor of the University of California at Berkeley$501,404

Michael YoungPresident of Texas A&M $1,000,000

Renu KhatorPresident of the

University of Houston $700,000

$1 [million] is too high for a public university”

—Gregory Fenves, UT President“

By Matthew Adams& Jackie Wang

@thedailytexan

*

*Average salary excluding 2005–2006, adjusted for inflation. †Average salary excluding 2006–2008, 2009–2010.

†

Monday, June 8, 2015 76 COVER STORY Monday, June 8, 2015

New University Presi-dent Gregory Fenves starts his tenure with a base salary of $750,000 — more than former

President William Powers Jr. earned but still less than the amount he was originally offered.

The UT System Board of Regents offered Fenves a $1 million contract. Instead, Fenves offered to accept a salary of $750,000, comparing it to the presidential salaries of the Uni-versity of Michigan and the Univer-sity of California.

“$1 [million] is too high for a public university,” Fenves wrote in an email to then-Executive Vice Chancellor Pe-dro Reyes. “It will attract widespread negative attention from students and faculty given the difficult budgetary constraints of the past five years. With many issues and concerns about ad-ministrative costs, affordability, and tu-ition, such a salary will affect the ability of the president to work with the Texas Legislature on matters.”

The University of Michigan hired its

current president in 2014 with the base salary of $750,000. Texas A&M’s presi-dent makes $1 million in base pay with an annual $400,000 bonus, and the University of Houston’s president and chancellor makes $1.1 million in total compensation.

UT compares itself to a variety of institutions that it considers to be sim-ilar in terms of funding, research and size, among other metrics. Reyes said these comparisons are used to inform several different financial decisions, including funding and presidential salaries. The University of Michigan is considered comparable, and therefore it was used in making the salary deci-sion, according to Reyes and Fenves’ email correspondence.

“It just happens that Michigan is paying the president less than the av-erage across the other institutions,” Reyes said. “Michigan also has a medical school, but it all depends — there are so many pieces to compen-sation, not just the salary. There are perks within the offer that obviously may be more than the $750,000 that

Michigan is paying. We don’t know the specific elements of the compen-sation program.”

Since UT looks at other flagship re-search universities for comparison, it does not compare itself to other Texas universities in making financial deci-sions, so the salaries for the A&M pres-ident and UH president and chancellor did not factor into the process.

Reyes, who now acts as special as-sistant to the chancellor, said the Board of Regents determines presidential sal-ary based on the market of comparable university presidents.

“Given the talk of execution and responsibilities, that’s how one deter-mines the rate to be used for potential offers,” Reyes said. “We don’t use only one institution to benchmark salaries. We use multiple institutions.”

Fenves’ decision to lower his base salary in comparison to Michigan shows university standards as well as his own, UT spokesman Gary Suss-wein said.

“The fact that he would make that comparison in his email is just

reflective of how he approaches things as an engineer but also what we do as a university,” Susswein said.

Fenves also accepted 10 percent an-nual bonuses instead of the original of-fer of 12 percent. He said in the email to Reyes he did not want any decisions or actions to seem like performance bonuses influenced them.

Fenves declined to comment beyond his emails on his reasons for turning down the original base salary and bo-nuses offered.

Public policy professor Jeremi Suri said he has worked with the new presi-dent on several University-wide initia-tives, including the Campus Conver-sation, a year-and-a-half-long project bringing faculty together in an attempt to improve the quality of undergradu-ate education.

Based on his work with Fenves, Suri said there are three traits that make Fenves worth much more than he is currently being paid.

“So the three things are: He connects people, he raises money and he under-stands the issues deeply,” Suri said.

Fenves rejects regents’ offer

of $1 million

Mack Brown Special intructor to UT athletics

$3,824,856

Shaka SmartBasketball head coach

$2,800,000

Steve PattersonAthletic director

$1,077,778

Augie GarridoBaseball head coach

$1,072,500

Charlie StrongFootball head coach

$3,025,375

Highest salaries at UT

Leadership salaries at other universities

President Larry Faulkner (1998–2006) President William Powers Jr. (2006–2015) President Gregory Fenves (2015–)

$309,083 $628,060 $750,000

Mark SchlisselPresident of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor$750,000

Nicholas DirksChancellor of the University of California at Berkeley$501,404

Michael YoungPresident of Texas A&M $1,000,000

Renu KhatorPresident of the

University of Houston $700,000

$1 [million] is too high for a public university”

—Gregory Fenves, UT President“

By Matthew Adams& Jackie Wang

@thedailytexan

*

*Average salary excluding 2005–2006, adjusted for inflation. †Average salary excluding 2006–2008, 2009–2010.

†

Wednesday, June 10 —Track and Field NCAA Championships

After four days of sweat-inducing heat, countless tricks and hundreds of fans a day, X Games Austin came to an end.

Thursday kicked off the first day of competition with Harley-Davidson Flat-Track Racing. The event was new to the X Games and con-sisted of 24 motorcyclists zooming around a 3/8-mile-long oval track with twin-engine motorcycles.

After two heats and a last chance qualifier, the compe-tition was down to 12 racers.

In the 20-lap final, Jared Mees, AMA Pro Flat Track GNC1 champion, was in first place for most of the race and seemed to be in position to

take the gold medal. Unfortunately, a mechani-

cal failure on the final lap opened up a window for Ka-wasaki racer Bryan Smith. Smith won the gold medal with a time of 8:20.168.

“I just hammered down that last corner and went for it,” Smith said. “To survive and come home with gold medal, it’s a dream come true, really.”

Friday’s first event was one of the more memorable ones for the four days. Jamie Best-wick was looking to win his 10th-straight gold medal in the BMX Vert.

Vance Byron had other ideas, though.

In the first round, Byron completed a 540 flair, a trick that had never been complet-ed in X Games history. He

used the momentum from the first round to hold on to win the gold medal, ending Bestwick’s dominance over the sport.

“I knew Jamie [Bestwick] was still going to bring the heat, and he wasn’t going to go down without a fight,” Byron said, after receiv-ing his first X Games gold medal. “To put it all togeth-er is my dream. It’s what I’ve been working toward all year.”

Friday’s ending was perhaps just as exciting as its beginning.

The America’s Navy Skate-board Big Air was the day’s main event, and Tom Schaar, 15, was looking to repeat his gold medal-caliber perfor-mance from last year.

Schaar nailed a slow-spin-ning 720 over the gap to a 900

on the quarter pipe. When Elliot Sloan landed an Indy 7 to an enormous tailgrab 900 — 21.2 feet above the quarter pipe — Schaar settled for the bronze position.

“That’s the best run I could do, and that’s the run I wanted to do, so I’m stoked,” Sloan said.

Bob Burnquist, who broke his wrist earlier in the week, received the gold medal, in part because of accomplish-ing a switch 540 over the gap into an Indy 700 fakie on the quarter pipe.

Saturday’s key event was the GoPro BMX Big Air. Texas native Morgan Wade had the gold medal in his grasp, but, in the final round, Colton Satterfield snatched the gold for the second year.

Satterfield completed a

double flair on the big air for the third and final time.

Once he landed it, the crowd erupted in cheers, and his coach ran up the big air ramp to greet him.

“I did a double flair on a MegaRamp quarter pipe,” Satterfield said. “I’m su-per pumped! The feeling is indescribable.”

Morgan Wade was able to win a gold medal Sunday along with Bob Burnquist, in the Skateboard/BMX Big Air doubles.

It was the first time the event had taken place at the X Games. It consisted of four pairs, one skateboard and one BMX rider, taking turns on the Big Air ramp.

In the third run, the duo took the lead and never looked back.

8AARON TORRES, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansportsMonday, June 8, 2015

SIDELINE

It’s all fun and Games

This Week in Sports

VS

The epic series contin-ues in Cleveland. The last time the Cavaliers played an NBA Finals game at home was in 2007.

Tuesday, June 9 —NBA FinalsGolden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Team USA kicks off its World Cup campaign against Australia. The team hopes to bounce back from its loss in the championship game of the 2011 World Cup.

VS

Monday, June 8 —FIFA Women’s World CupUSA vs. Australia

A total of 21 member of the Texas track and field team — nine men and 12 women — look to bring another champi-onship to Texas, starting with the first day of the NCAA Championships.

By Aaron Torres@aaron_torres95

Amy Zhang (1) and Daulton Venglar (2,3) | Daily Texan Staff1: Daniel Sandoval does tricks in the air while doing a run in the BMX Dirt Final. 2: Bryan Smith bites his gold medal in celebration after winning the first ever Harley-Davidson Flat-Track race in X Games history. 3: Vance Byron completes a 540 flair in the first round to unseat 10-time defending gold medal-ist Jamie Bestwick in the BMX Vert.

1

2

3

UT students will have to make a choice when nature calls at Gregory pool this summer: walk across the car-peted doormat to be blasted with air conditioning while dripping, miserable and dis-tracted from the fun — or engage in chemical warfare.

What these happy swim-mers don’t know is peeing in the pool isn’t just gross, but, by continuing their laps with only a twinge of guilt for subjecting fellow swimmers to the same stuff as their toilet bowl, they are creating harmful chemical substanc-es once used in World War I chemical warfare.

One in five adults admits to peeing in the pool, ac-cording to a Water Quality and Health Counsel study. In an interview with The Telegraph, Olympic swim-mers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte admitted to peeing in the pool. Accord-ing to Madisyn Cox, a UT swimmer and neuroscience junior, competitive swim-mers don’t have the option of getting out of the pool every time they need to use the restroom.

“Everybody pees in the pool,” Cox

said. “At this level, it’s absolutely everyone.”

Disinfection byproducts, or DBPs, are formed when disinfectants, such as chlo-rine, and natural organic mat-ter, such as urine, combine in water. Swimming pools have high levels of DBPs because of the combination of the chlorine used to sanitize the pool and people who ooze organic matter such as skin cells, sweat and urine.

Two noteworthy DBPs form when a swimmer uri-nates in the pool. The pee’s uric acid and chlorine form two substances called cyano-gen chloride, CNCl, and tri-chloramine, NCl3, according to a 2014 study published in Environmental Science and Technology. The same study stated although uric acid is also present in sweat, 93 per-cent of the uric acid in the pool comes from urine.

In 1993, the Chemical Weapons Convention clas-sified CNCl, a lung irritant, as an agent of chemical war-fare. But years before, during WWI, the French used CNCl to infiltrate gas masks. As sol-diers began to face difficulty breathing, they would remove their masks, which then ex-posed them to other poisons

that are deadly in smaller doses.

NCl3 was never used in battle but causes similar symptoms.

In large doses, CNCl re-sults in deadly symptoms, including fluid-filled lungs, seizures, reduced circulation, coma and even death. CNCl is classified as a blood agent, which means the blood-stream absorbs and spreads it throughout the body. Blood agents cause symptoms quickly — CNCl can kill in under eight hours in large enough doses. NCl3 can irri-tate the mucous membranes in the eyes, nose and throat, which causes difficulty breathing and headaches.

Fortunately, there is not nearly enough pee or chlo-rine in any pool to cause death or immediately dan-gerous symptoms. There is still ongoing debate among scientists about how much damage these amounts cause. In small doses, CNCl and NCl3 are still eye, skin and respiratory irritants, adding to the irritation chlorine al-ready causes. Scientists have found links between CNCl and NCl3 and respiratory diseases such as asthma, but these correlations require more study.

There is a way to protect fellow pool-goers from the

dangers of CNCl and NCl3. Just don’t pee in the pool.

8DANIELLE LOPEZ, LIFE&ARTS EDITORMonday, June 8, 2015

SCIENCE SCENE

Research shows urinating in pool forms potentially toxic chemicals

By Ellen Airhart@ellenairhart

Illustration by Connor Murphy | Daily Texan Staff

10 Monday, July 8, 2015 COMICS

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