The Daily Texan 2016-01-22

The U.S. Senate’s televised broadcasts have impaired its ability to discuss important po-litical issues, according to a UT student who gave a talk during a TEDx event in Reno, Nevada.

William Dodd, a economics and rhetoric and writing se-nior, presented the talk to more than 350 people at a TEDx event that aired online Jan. 18. TEDx events are designed to spread ideas and encourage intellectual collaboration.

In his talk, Dodd identified what he called “The Senate’s Failed Experiment,” or what he sees as the Senate’s inabil-ity to have collaborative non partisan conversations, in part because the sessions are aired on television.

Dodd said he first saw evidence of this phenom-enon when he worked in Washington D.C. as an in-tern in 2013 and watched a

congressional hearing.“’Who are [the senators]

talking to?’ That’s really what

UT Ph.D. candidate Bart Pitchford is raising money to research how Syrians living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan use theater perfor-mance to help rebuild their community and identity.

The Zaatari Camp was established in 2012 to host some of the 7.6 million dis-placed Syrians fleeing ongo-ing civil war violence in their country. The camp currently holds just under 80,000 refu-gees, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Pitchford, a war veteran, was deployed in an Army psychological operations di-vision to Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen, where he helped

develop theater programs that addressed issues about social justice. He hopes to raise enough money to fi-nance his research using a UT HornRaiser page. Pitch-ford hopes to go to Jordan this weekend and stay until the end of May to research theater performances in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, where at any given moment over a half-dozen theater projects are in rehearsal or in play.

Theater is suited to popu-lations where political rights have been lost or denied, and can be used to reimagine citi-zenship in a way that supports refugee’s political and social rights, according to Pitchford.

“Theater becomes a safe space, and allows you to imagine different possibili-

ties about how life can ex-ist,” Pitchford said. “When we do performances, we are usually looking at slices of life that present things that concern us.”

Pitchford hopes to docu-ment theater performances so they can be discussed — so the voices of Syrian refugees may be heard.

Performances can also act as a method of protest for ref-ugees as they seek citizenship, according to Paul Bonin-Ro-driguez, an assistant professor of theater and dance.

“If you consider that the suf-fering experienced by those displaced and disempowered is physical and psychical in nature, then you can see that theater programs respond to

Around 20 students gathered on campus Tuesday to support recent UT graduate Huey Rey Fischer in his race for House District 49, eager to begin reg-istering their fellow students at the launch of Students for Huey, a student campaign group.

Fischer’s campaign aims to actively reach out to voters on campus in anticipation of the Feb. 1 voter registration dead-line. The group plans to use so-cial media, tabling on campus and speaking to student orga-nizations, all efforts Students for Huey can help with.

“If students wanted to, they could decide this election, and this is what we’re riding on,” Fischer said. “This is the first time in 25 years that students have had this opportunity to elect somebody to the Texas House that looks like them ... and who understands their is-sues intimately.”

Fischer, a former legislative aide and 2014 graduate, is vy-ing to replace Democratic State Rep. Elliott Naishtat — who has represented West Campus since 1990 — against six other candi-dates after the incumbent an-nounced in December he would not seek re-election.

Each of the other candidates in the race have previously stat-ed in interviews with The Daily Texan that they plan to reach out to the large base of student support residing in the district.

The other six candidates — all Democrats — in the race

are attorney Aspen Dunaway, former Austin ISD president Gina Hinojosa, attorney Kenton Johnson, former NARAL Pro-Choice Texas counsel Blake Ro-cap, attorney Matt Shrum and UT law professor Heather Way.

While concurrently speaking

to other organizations on cam-pus, Fischer, a former president of University Democrats, will speak to UDems members on Feb. 7 in an attempt to secure a highly coveted endorsement from the student group.

If elected to the state House,

Fischer plans to support a $15 minimum wage, push for stu-dent debt relief and oppose the expansion of firearms on cam-pus.

“As progressive Democrats,

The School of Social Work has part-nered with Recreational Sports to create an expe-riential learning course for students and help the Austin community.

The School of Social Work piloted the course in the fall 2015 semes-ter. According to Chris Burnett, the course in-structor and RecSports’ senior assistant direc-tor, students undertake a two-semester curriculum that combines leadership training, group work and recreational sports skills.

In the fall, students worked with Caritas of Austin and Foundation Communities to help people transitioning out of homelessness. The ex-perience helped students mature by teaching them how to process their emo-tions and handle difficult situations after college, Burnett said. This spring, the students will train to teach rock climbing to women and children from the Settlement Home of Austin and then use the experience to discuss overcoming challenges.

“By taking this approach to the reali-ties of homelessness and leadership through expe-rience, we put students in an environment that makes them explore emo-tions and ideas that make them uncomfortable — and that’s good,” Burnett said. “We all go through assumptions and gen-eralizations in life. Un-derstanding welfare and homelessness through this hands-on approach is

Chancellor William McRaven conceded to being “guilty as charged” of not collaborating with lawmakers on a plan to expand the UT System in Houston during a higher education board meet-ing Thursday.

After receiving backlash from Houston-based lawmak-ers and civic leaders, McRa-ven said in a meeting with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that he should have discussed the plan

with lawmakers and higher education officials, accord-ing to the Austin American-Statesman. McRaven said he did not want to disclose the price of the land being bought by the UT System to prevent the price of the land from rising.

“It probably would have been a good idea [to consult with the coordinating board],” McRaven said. “If the word gets out, the next thing you know, the price goes up.”

In his strategic plan for the future of the UT System, McRaven said he

hoped to build a 300-acre cam-pus in southwest Houston near the downtown area to increase UT System research funding and advance underdeveloped research projects. A UT Sys-tem press release said the Sys-tem did not intend to dupli-cate the efforts of existing UT home institutions and would convene a task force primarily composed of Houstonians to advise on possible uses of the land.

The land would cost a total of $450 million over 30 years,

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COMICS PAGE 6 LIFE&ARTS PAGE 5 SPORTS PAGE 7

100th anniversary of ‘Hot Science, Cool Talks’.

PAGE 3

Students to present at SpaceX competition.

PAGE 3

NEWSRefugees must be seen as more than a number.

PAGE 4

Athletics dodges a bullet and gains an opportunity.

PAGE 4

OPINIONMen’s basketball set to take on No. 3 Kansas.

PAGE 7

Women’s basketball hosts Oklahoma on Saturday.

PAGE 7

SPORTSBehind the scenes look into ACL’s first episode.

PAGE 8

Drunk actors perform in “Shit-faced Shakespeare”.

PAGE 8

LIFE&ARTSLooking for ways to

enjoy the (relatively) cold weather? Check out our five favorite ideas in a

video recap atdailytexanonline.com

ONLINE REASON TO PARTY

PAGE 6

McRaven discusses Houston expansionSYSTEM

By Caleb Wong@caleber96

Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan file photoUT System Chancellor William McRaven said Thursday that he should have discussed plans to expand the UT System into Houston with lawmakers and higher education officials.

Fischer campaign calls for student votersCITY

Mike McGraw | Daily Texan Staff UT Alumnus Huey Rey Fischer talks to students at the Sanchez Building on Thursday evening. Fischer is running to represent House

By Forrest Milburn@forrestmilburn

UT student hosts TEDx event on televised Senate broadcasts

NATIONAL

By Wynne Davis@wynneellyn

WORLD

Ph.D. candidate researches power of theater on refugees

By Vedant Peris@v_hobbes

HOUSTON page 2

FISCHER page 3

Hands-on leadership class helps community

CAMPUS

By Rund Khayyat@rundkhayyat

COURSE page 2

REFUGEE page 2TEDX page 2

Alec Ploof | Daily Texan StaffWilliam Dodd, a senior economics and writing senior, returns to UT to finish his last semester after giving a TEDx talk to over 350 people in Reno, Nevada.

I asked,” Dodd said. “That’s when I saw the cameras on the wall, and then I was, like, well there it is: [The seanators are] talking to the world. That’s going to go on their Facebook page in a few hours, and [the taping is] go-ing to be tweeted out and go on their YouTube.“

Although Dodd first noticed the problem as an intern, he researched the problem in-depth when he chose it as the topic for his rhetoric and writing honors thesis that he wrote last year.

Associate rhetoric and writing professor Linda Fer-riera-Buckley, who served as Dodd’s thesis advisor, said Dodd really wanted to work on an idea he could bring to the people, which he did at the TEDx event shortly after submitting his thesis.

“It was amazing at how quickly he brought it to the next level,” Buckley said. “He’s figured out how he can create opportunities. … It’s about effecting change in society — change that he knows to be vital, and I ad-mire that.”

During his talk, Dodd said the legislature isn’t al-ways at a standstill. He refer-enced former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in the ’90s, when the com-mittee hearings were not televised. When the cameras are off, senators are able to participate in a more open discussion and not worry about arguing their political party’s ideals, Dodd said.

In order to remove cam-eras from the floor, Dodd said the senators just had to have a majority vote, a fact his friend Robert Maxwell, who attended the event, said he was surprised to learn.

Maxwell said he thinks removing cameras from the floor would be a good idea, but it could lead to some complaints from viewers.

“I think there would ad-verse knee-jerk reactions by many constituents who would initially view the movement as nothing more than another way to increase the opacity between us and our elected officials,” Max-well said in an email.

Giving the talk was a ca-thartic experience, Dodd said, and one well received as members of the audience came up to him after the talk saying they were going to call their senators.

“That is the ultimate com-pliment, because that really means the talk wasn’t about me, and people were talking about the message and not the messenger,” Dodd said. “I think that means I did my job.”

a powerful experience.”The instructors gave

students tools that helped them develop real-world experience in leadership, social work senior Elizabeth Cook said.

“Before this class I didn’t see myself as a leader, and I thought you had to be in an official role to lead others,” Cook said. “I now see that we each have the ability to lead our peers and use our privilege and strengths to work towards goals.”

Burnett believes pushing students will help them better develop these leadership qualities.

“We don’t just show up,

work and leave,” Burnett said. “[The students] have dinner with these residents, so there is a powerful en-gagement. … That’s an ex-perience they’ll never forget from this class.”

Applied learning and development senior Han-nah Ross said each class session had specific chal-lenges the students had to solve together.

“It was unlike any other course I’ve taken at UT,” Ross said. “It encourages cooperative work but also pushed each of us individu-ally to conquer fears and rely on strength we didn’t know we had.”

Burnett believes the ex-periential learning structure should also be implemented

in other subject areas.“It’s much more engag-

ing,” Burnett said. “[The students] have to talk and debrief each other, which is quite painful for [them]

because so much commu-nication is through social media. There’s a way to put this approach in many more educational experiences that will deepen the learning.”

the circumstances of suffer-ing,” Bonin-Rodriguez said in an email.

Zaatari is becoming a

permanent settlement as some refugees having lived there for more than two years. Now, the UN is working with global non-profit organizations and corporations to brainstorm ways to develop this small area into a sustainable city.

Pitchford said Syrian refu-gees developing a sense of community through theater will only draw them closer to this self-sufficiency.

Kira Stein, a biology and theater and dance junior, also appreciates the potential of

theater performance to bring people together.

“Fine arts give me a sense of belonging and community,” Stein said. “I get to connect with others from different back-grounds who share a passion for the same art form.”

McRaven said Wednes-day to the House Higher Education Committee.

Welcome Wilson Sr., chair-man of the University of Houston’s political action committee, said that a new System campus in Hous-ton would inhibit the abil-ity of Houston-based higher education institutions to re-ceive limited resources and would not be a good use of taxpayer money.

“Competition may be good for business, but

universities are not busi-nesses. Universities oper-ate on taxpayers money. That money belongs to the taxpayers,” Wilson Sr. said.

In a letter to McRa-ven, Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) said the System’s expansion could adversely affect the abil-ity of Houston-based institutions to remain com-petitive for faculty and research dollars.

“In my 42 years of ser-vice in the Texas legisla-ture, I have not seen such an affront to the legislative process and conservative

deliberations of the higher education community,” Whitmire wrote. “I would strongly urge the University of Texas leadership to hold off on any action … until the Legislature reconvenes.”

Even as McRaven acknowledged communica-tion shortcomings with other higher education officials, he emphasized the plan would benefit the state as a whole.

“This is about help-ing the people of Texas, not just Houston,” McRa-ven said. “I intend to make this unique opportunity a reality.”

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Alec Ploof | Daily Texan StaffDaniel Ellenberger, a graduate student in the College of Pharmacy, extinguishes a fire as a part of his portable fire extinguisher training on Speedway on Thursday afternoon.

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Volume 116, Issue 84

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COURSEcontinues from page 1

HOUSTONcontinues from page 1

2 NEWSFriday, January 22, 2016

REFUGEEcontinues from page 1

Courtesy of Chris BurnettSome social work students are enrolled in part two of an experi-ential leadership course that focuses on helping the community.

Permanent StaffEditor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Claire SmithAssociate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander Chase, Davis Clark, Mary Dolan, Mohammad SyedManaging Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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A group of UT under-graduates known as the 512 Hyperloop Team has created a design of a Hy-perloop pod, or high-speed transportation system, and will present it in College Station this weekend.

“The Hyperloop involves moving a pod resting on air bearings at nearly su-personic velocities through an evacuated tube,” said Michael Rakavina, me-chanical engineering ju-nior, founder and captain of the 512 Hyperloop team. “The implications would mean being able to get from Austin to Dallas in 30 minutes.”

The students will pres-ent the design as part of a design competition by SpaceX, a technology com-pany that specializes in aerospace transport. In Au-gust 2015, SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote a paper about his idea for high-speed ground transporta-tion. As part of an initiative to promote student innova-tors Musk proposed a com-petition that encouraged students to design their own Hyperloop pods.

“Our pod, named the Auroch, an ancestor of the Longhorn, will glide on a cushion of air,” aerospace engineering sophomore Matt Morris said. “Think air hockey, but the puck shoots the air instead of the table.”

The competition, which was open to anyone, began in early September and fi-nal designs were submitted

in December. Out of over 1,200 teams, the 512 Hy-perloop team is one of only 124 teams to qualify for the next round.

This weekend the team will present their pod de-sign at Texas A&M Uni-versity in order to gain feedback, alter designs and receive final approval to construct the pod.

“The team aims to devel-op a working prototype of a Hyperloop pod, capable of moving at 330 mph,” said Khushbu Patel, aerospace engineering senior and lead on the project.

Computer Aided Design, or CAD models, were used to design the pod, mechan-ical engineering freshman Alex Choi said.

“One of the issues that has come up is the tech-nical limitation that we have,” Choi said. “For in-stance, one of our fluid simulations would have taken over 80 hours to run. Because of this, we had to design simplified models which would both emulate the original simulation and be runnable within a rea-sonable time frame.”

On Monday, the team launched a fundraiser through the UT Hornraiser website and hopes to raise $15,000, a portion of the $50,000 required for con-struction. The team hopes to reach out to corpora-tions for additional dona-tions.

The 512 Hyperloop team will compete against other finalists in Hawthorne, California, at a test track constructed near SpaceX headquarters in June.

we know the past 20 years of playing defense against the Republicans has gotten us nowhere,” Fischer said. “If we want to start leading this state again, then we need to push back with an agenda that is positive, progressive and truly meaningful.”

Fischer’s campaign offi-cials believe his progressive campaign platform, as well as being the only openly LGBT candidate in the race, will help encourage students to not only turn out but to also choose him at the ballot.

“I think it’s really cool that someone who is queer [and] is the son of a formerly undocu-mented immigrant is also run-ning because generally those viewpoints are not represented in the legislature as it stands,” economics and math senior Daniel Chapman said.

Fischer said he would need about 3,000 students to support him in order to win a majority and avoid a runoff election.

“We are going to gun for as many as possible, because the sky’s the limit with 52,000 students here on campus,” campus director Doug Sny-der, business and government freshman, said. “Ideally, we’d

love all of them to register to vote.”

Fischer’s campaign is confi-dent it can secure enough sup-port to win and avoid a runoff election through increased turnout from the competitive primaries on both sides for president.

“We anticipate a spike be-cause the Texas primary is going to matter this year,” campaign director Allison Heinrich said. “We’re going to reach as many [voters] as we can through outreach on cam-pus, working in the communi-ties, spreading the word and really just making sure folks we meet know about this election.”

UT System Regent Wallace Hall filed an appeal Thursday afternoon against Chancellor William McRaven in an at-tempt to access to confidential student records in the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.

The appeal came after a judge dismissed the case in Decem-ber. A February report, com-missioned by the UT System, found that found several dozen under-qualified students may have been improperly admitted to UT System schools through admissions connections. Hall then requested to access unre-dacted student records, which contain applicants’ personal information, from the System. McRaven said Hall could ac-cess redacted versions of those records for privacy reasons, but Hall said the redacted records are useless without identifying information.

In a statement Thursday, System officials said they had expected Hall to appeal the dismissal.

“We were anticipating the appeal,” a System spokesper-son said. “Last week, Regent Hall’s attorney filed a motion for expedited consideration of his appeal, which Chancellor McRaven did not oppose.”

After the lawsuit was filed, the Board of Regents approved an admissions policy in August to curtail the number of under-qualified applicants to UT Sys-tem institutions by requiring presidents of each institution to personally approve each ad-mission case under a limited set of guidelines. However, Hall has continued to pursue the case, attempting to access doc-uments that Kroll, a corporate investigations firm, used to cre-ate the report, according to the Texas Tribune.

When the lawsuit was first filed in June, McRaven said in a statement that a regent’s actions are not above the law.

“Where federal or state law

makes confidential informa-tion that relates to a specific individual, whether it is pri-vate health information or an individual student’s protected information, it is our duty to ensure that we strictly comply with those confidentiality re-quirements,” said Chancellor McRaven in a statement. “I regret that Regent Hall believes the lawsuit is necessary or ap-propriate, but I am confident that my actions are in compli-ance not only with what the law requires, but also with what is in the best interest of our stu-dents, patients, and employees across the UT System.”

Hall’s lawyer, Joseph Knight, said Hall would be filing an appeal in December after the judge dismissed the case.

“Both sides recognized, as did the judge, that the fi-nal word in this case would come from an appellate court,” Knight said to The Dallas Morning News. “This is just step one.”

—Caleb Wong

Twelve graduate students from the School of Architec-ture, along with regional plan-ning experts, have partnered with the Hill Country Alli-ance to publish a study con-taining strategies to protect the Texas Hill Country and its resources.

The Alliance is dedicated to preserving natural resources in the area, which reaches from northern San Antonio to western Travis County. The re-cently published study proposes establishing a Hill Country Endowment to finance con-servation and infrastructure improvement efforts, distin-guish between areas suited for preservation and areas suited for development, and establish a Hill Country Trinity Water Conservation Area to manage the use of groundwater.

The continued growth of surrounding metropolitan areas and their influence on the landscape is a concern for

the area, according to Britin Bostick, a community and regional planning graduate student who was involved in the study.

“The delivery of resources to large and growing urban areas often results in infrastructure construction that utilizes emi-nent domain to reduce proj-ect costs,” Bostick said. “This burdens landowners, devalues their property values and the routes often destroy beautiful, uninterrupted landscapes.”

The students, with the help of visiting professor and proj-ect leader Robert Yaro, did land surveys in the area and researched its features to de-termine how best to preserve its resources.

Nearby cities’ dependence on the Edwards Aquifer made preserving it a high prior-ity for researchers, accord-ing to Fritz Steiner, School of Architecture dean.

“Both San Antonio and Aus-tin rely on surface and ground-water from the Hill Country for their water supply,” Steiner said.

“It is extremely important to the cities to preserve the Edwards Aquifer so we have a good sup-ply of water into the future.”

Along with environmental concerns, the researchers also considered the importance of preserving the culture and heri-tage of the Hill Country. The study also proposed modifying land development practices by establishing conservation com-munities that would consider the area’s rural character when planning developments.

Business freshman Katie Conover, who does equestrian training at a ranch in the Hill Country, said the area has a rich cultural history that could fade due to its continued develop-ment, if not protected.

“The Hill Country has so many ranches and farms that have been passed down through generations and small towns that have a very quaint feel to them,” Conover said. “These ar-eas continue to develop, though, and I sometimes worry that they will lose the unique feel that the Hill Country has always had.”

With stunt men, tornado clouds and a 13–foot long T-Rex puppet named Manny, “Hot Science — Cool Talks,” lecture series held on cam-pus six times a year, will be celebrating its 100th episode in style.

For its 100th episode, the series is partnering with the Austin Independent School District and will hold the lec-ture this Friday at 5:30 p.m. in AISD’s brand new Performing Arts Center. Within 60 hours all 1,200 seats were sold out, Banner said.

“It’s wonderful to have sci-entists engaging with the com-munity in this way,” outreach program coordinator Melinda Chow said. “The fact that over a thousand seats were reserved in less than three days speaks to the value of this series in our community.”

The lecture, co-emceed by geology professor Jay Ban-ner and music professor Bob Duke of the podcast “Two Guys on Your Head,” will feature geology associate professor Julia Clarke, a lead-ing researcher in the field of dinosaur evolution. Clarke’s presentation, titled “The Se-cret Lives of Dinosaurs,” will explore what science has revealed about dinosaurs.

“This milestone is a huge

indicator of how important and successful this program is,” Duke said. “What sci-entists do is cool, and this program allows even non-experts to get excited about scientific research.”

Prior to each lecture, the talk series holds a public commu-nity science fair with hands-on activities for students of all ages. For the 100th episode, the lecture’s science fair will feature Steve Wolf, ATX Dino’s mascot, “Manny the T-Rex,” and 25 other exhibits, present-ers and interactive demonstra-tions of scientific concepts.

Since its founding in 1999, “Hot Science — Cool Talks” has gained national recogni-tion for its efforts to engage the public in STEM topics. The series, which is held live and broadcast online, dedicates itself to engaging the public

in science, specifically scien-tific research happening on UT’s campus.

“The things that are hap-pening at UT would not as eas-ily get publicized if it weren’t for our series,” Banner, who is also the series’ co-founder, said. “The research happen-ing here would otherwise take years to get into textbooks, and we want people to get excited about it now.”

Since its first episode, the program has experienced im-mense growth. Over 17 years, the series has expanded from crowds of 400 to accommo-dating crowds of 1,200 people.

“Every event we do is spe-cial,” Banner said. “Seeing ev-eryone doing the hands-on ac-tivities and discovering things for themselves is amazing. It’s a great way to get people involved in science.”

W&N 3

thedailytexan

FISCHERcontinues from page 1

NEWS Friday, January 22, 2016 3

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

512 Hyperloop advances in design competitionBy Jasleen Shokar

@jasleenshokar

Courtesy of 512 Hyperloop

The 512 Hyperloop team will present their design of a Hyperloop pod, or high-speed transporta-tion system, in College Station this weekend for a design competition by SpaceX.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

By Catherine Marfin@caaatheerineee

‘Hot Science’ lecture series celebrates centennial episode

UT graduate students begin Hill Country Alliance study

By Ellie Breed@elliebreed

STATE

UT System Regent Hall files new appeal

NEWS BRIEFLY

Courtesy of Julia Clarke Geology associate professor Julia Clarke will be featured in the 100th episode of “Hot Science — Cool Talks.”

The verdict is in: The University of Texas’s athletic department has been cleared of alleged academic dishonesty and, in some respects, applauded for its academic efforts.

On Jan. 13, a third-party investigation mandated by President Fenves early in his tenure delivered an encouraging review of the state of academics in the University’s athletics department. In light of the inves-tigation’s favorable conclusion, the NCAA will not pursue any further investigation or proceedings of its own.

The athletic department can be satisfied beyond just official proof of innocence as many facets of its academics earned com-mendation. UT student-athletes cumula-tively earned a GPA of 3.08 in the fall of 2015 and not one was on academic proba-tion. The academic resources, such as fa-cilities and tutors, available to student-ath-letes as well as the requirements expected of them were singled out for praise.

The report surely provides immediate relief in the face of a potentially damaging hit on the reputation of the University and its athletic department. But, over time, the most critical element of it will likely be-come its proposals for future action.

Athletic departments at the nation’s largest universities now wield immense power at their respective institutions.

Their huge fan bases and ever-increasing financial power have granted them large independence from — and even influence over — the academic side of universi-ties. This trend poses a real threat to the vaunted (and contentious) NCAA ideal of a “student-athlete.”

In the face of this rising power, univer-sities are faced with a dilemma: how to balance lucrative on-field success with rig-orous academic training expected of all stu-dents. Fortunately, the academic proposals of the type mentioned within the report es-tablish a streamlined balance.

The proposals center upon structural rearrangement. The athletics department should consider, according to the report, establishing stronger connections between the largely in-house operations of the athletic department and the University’s traditional academic offices. Offering stu-dent-athletes an academic advisory outlet outside the athletics department, perhaps through the office of the provost, would

lend much-needed integration. Also, en-suring student-athletes consult regularly with advisers in their respective colleges, rather than over-relying upon those within the athletic department, would integrate athletic and academic spheres.

If such changes — and others like them — are implemented, it would aid student-athlete education and, in so doing, con-tribute to the greater goal of ensuring that the academic goals of university life are not entirely eclipsed by sporting con-

cerns. These types of changes are impera-tive to reestablishing the ultimate goal of being a student. With student-athletes spending dozens of hours a week on practice, traveling for events and postur-ing for potential professional careers, it is tempting to let slide the academic em-phasis at the heart of college life. But the importance of an education for personal development and long-term financial success cannot be overstated.

Clark is an English senior from Dallas.

On Jan. 8, Governor Abbott called for a constitutional convention to adopt nine proposed amendments to the U.S. Consti-tution. Among the most important of the proposed amendments is the balanced budget amendment, which would require Congress to not spend more than it re-ceives. Almost every U.S. state, as well as some other countries such as Germany, is required to balance its budget. Balancing the budget is common sense. No govern-ment can constantly spend more than it has without going bankrupt, and America will face this dire result if it does not pass a balanced budget amendment.

In 2000 the national debt was $5.7 tril-lion and 44.7% of the GDP; today it is $18.9 trillion and 115% of the GDP. Throughout these years, not only was there a failure to pass a balanced budget, but the U.S. ran immense budget deficits which tripled the national debt. In 2015 the Federal Gov-ernment received $3.249 trillion but spent $3.688 trillion, thus running a $439 billion deficit which was added to the national debt. It is just as problematic that the in-terest payment alone on the national debt was $430 billion in 2014.

This path is unsustainable, and we only have to look at Greece to see where we will be in the near future if the U.S. does not start balancing its budget and pay-ing off its debt. Just ten years ago Greece had about the same debt-to-GDP ratio

we have today. Politicians of both par-ties lack the political will to balance the budget, thus they should be required to do so through a balanced budget amend-ment to the U.S. Constitution.

Opponents claim that requiring Con-gress to balance the budget would leave it unable to act in times of national emer-gencies, such as war or economic reces-sion. These opponents, however, tend to ignore that the proposed balanced budget amendment does create exceptions for such emergencies.

Other opponents claim that balancing the budget would involve painful cuts to government spending. But by not cutting spending today, we are all but ensuring even more devastating cuts to government spending in the future. For example, per-haps to balance the budget today we will need to make cuts to Social Security, Medi-care, Medicaid, defense spending and more. On the other hand, if we do not balance the budget today, future generations might not even get the benefits of these programs.

The examples set by states such as Texas and countries such as Germany

prove balancing the budget is not only doable, but the right thing to do. To ensure that future generations receive the same benefits as those today, the

U.S. needs to adopt the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Hung is a second-year law student from Brownsville.

When President Obama gave his final State of the Union address, one guest in attendance ensured that he had not forgotten about reset-tling refugees.

Refaai Hamo, a scientist and Syrian refugee, was featured on the renowned photoblog Hu-mans of New York this past month when Syr-ian refugees were preparing to embark on their new journey to the states.

The father of four told HONY the story of his precocious knack for science as a child. Starting from the bottom, he pursued a PhD while working construction jobs at night, and later married his college sweetheart. Once an established professional, Hamo built his fam-ily a compound. Hamo’s life story prior to the Syrian War can be likened to the “American dream.” His compound was later destroyed in

the midst of the civil war, leaving his family members either injured or killed.

“We survived but we’re dead psychologically,” Hamo said in his HONY interview. “Everything ended for us that day. That was our destiny.”

Following the Paris attacks in November and San Bernardino in December, a number of state governors and Republican presidential candidates called for a halt to Syrian refugee re-settlement. Refugees like Hamo show the value of such individuals, who come from different walks of life and struggles that caused them to lose everything in the war. Yet, they are still hopeful for the bright future that America can provide for them.

Despite being a brilliant scientist in Syria, Refaai was unable to get a job as an engineer-ing teacher in Turkey. This included a university that was using the textbook he wrote himself.

“I still think I have a chance to make a difference in the world,” Hamo said. “I have several inventions that I’m hoping to patent

once I get to America.”In response to publicizing the inventor’s story

on the HONY blog, photoblogger Brandon Stan-ton not only received increased attention from his 16 million Facebook followers — who do-nated over $700,000 in the course of three days during the holiday season — but from President Obama, who read and responded to Hamo’s emotional story. “Welcome to your new home,” President Obama commented in response to the story, calling Hamo an inspiration. “You’re part of what makes America great.”

Texas, as the state that resettles the most refugees in the nation, is at the forefront of the refugee inclusion issue. Hamo’s story, like that of thousands of other refugees from Syria, is an example of the sheer wealth these individuals have. They are working individuals like our-selves, whose dreams were squashed because of the civil war, but are still hopeful for a new start. Instead of viewing refugees as aliens to the country, we should understand that they

have more in common with us than we realize. “I was thrilled when I heard that President

Barack Obama is welcoming us into the United States,” Hamo said in a statement. “I felt that hope was revived as well as the strength to continue my dreams and ambition in my new country. I am so proud and honored to be in this country and look forward to one day becoming an American citizen so that we can be part of making America a strong and great country.”

Saifullah is a neuroscience sophomore from Richardson.

4 OPINION

4CLAIRE SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorialFriday, January 22, 2016

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 | E-mail 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.

COLUMN

Future is promising for student-athlete balance

By Khadija SaifullahDaily Texan Senior Columnist

@Coolstorysunao

Jenna Van Hofe | Daily Texan file photo

COLUMN

It is past time to adopt a balanced budget amendmentBy Daniel Hung

Guest Columnist @Texaneditorial

COLUMN

By Davis ClarkDaily Texan Associate Editor

@DavisClarkDT

Refugees should be seen as more than just numbers

Illustration by Justin Cheon | Daily Texan Staff

In the face of this rising power, uni-versities are faced with a dilemma: how to balance lucrative on-field success with rigorous academic training expected of all students.

To ensure that future generations receive the same benefits as those today, the U.S. needs to adopt the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Texas, as the state that resettles the most refugees in the nation, is at the forefront of the refugee inclu-sion issue.

The first time Daniel Berger-Jones performed in a Shakespeare play while drunk, he initiated a yoga competition onstage and managed to pull his leg be-hind his head in a whiskey-fueled feat of athleticism.

Such antics are all in a day’s work for the classically trained actors of Shit-faced Shakespeare, a touring theater troupe that per-forms serious Shakespeare plays with one drunken cast member thrown into the fray. The brainchild of Lewis Ironside and fellow actor Christopher Snelson, Shit-faced Shakespeare de-buted in the UK in 2010 and expanded to Boston last spring under the di-rection of Gabriel Kuttner and Berger-Jones. In addi-tion to the Boston and UK casts, the show will open in Austin at the Spider House Ballroom this Friday, where audiences can expect a raucous, booze-filled pro-duction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“The thing is these were once very lively, interactive bits of theater, and that’s just almost dead,” Ironside said. “People go to Shake-speare, and they appreciate it. We don’t like that. We want people to come to our shows and actually enjoy them. And we work bloody hard to make sure that the show that underlies it is good.”

UT alumnus Isto Barton is part of the newly formed Austin cast. As a student, Barton spent two summers studying and performing Shakespeare as part of UT’s Shakespeare at Winedale program. Now, Barton will prepare to add an element of improv to his Shake-speare performances, as the

sober actors must move the play along in spite of the single inebriated actor.

“One of my favorite things about any play is when something goes hor-ribly, horribly wrong and you have to figure it out and make it work,” Barton said. “This whole show is based around the idea of entering that little bit of chaos.”

Berger-Jones and Iron-side recall instances of par-tial or full nudity, power tool-wielding drunkards and swordfights conduct-ed with prosthetic limbs

borrowed from audience members. Each actor gets chosen to drink based on a rotation and starts drinking four hours before the show.

“It’s a blast, and it’s a blur,” Berger-Jones said. “You’re trying to be cogni-zant of the audience. At the same time, you’re trying to fuck with your friends onstage, and it’s super fun. That said, I think most of the laughs actually come from the sober cast bounc-ing off of the unexpected thing that the drunk just threw at them.”

Audience members are encouraged to interact with the actors and audibly react to what is happening on-stage, making the perfor-mances more similar to the Elizabethan atmosphere of Shakespeare’s productions. They can also stop the show at any time if they believe the drunk actor is in dan-ger of sobering up, at which point the actor will have to drink more.

Despite the debauch-ery during the play, Berg-er-Jones said one of the most important parts of the show is taking care of

the drunk actor when the curtain closes.

“You have to be sup-portive because these ac-tors are in their absolutely most vulnerable state in the world,” Berger-Jones said. “Who knows what’s going to come out of you when you’re drunk? There’s an excessive amount of bravery on the parts of these actors to be will-ing to put themselves in this situation.”

Some have referred to Shit-faced Shakespeare as a gimmick, but Ironside said he embraces the label.

“The word gimmick has its roots in a physical trick or device a magician will use in order to show you one thing but really give you another,” Ironside said. “And to me, that’s exactly what we do. We’re fooling an audience into actually enjoying the Shakespeare that they’re watching.”

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THEATER & DANCE

‘Shit-faced Shakespeare’ arrives in AustinBy James Rodriguez

@jamie_rod

Mike McGraw | Daily Texan StaffShit-faced Shakespeare is a touring troupe of classically trained actors who perform Shakespeare plays with the added wrinkle of one drunken cast member. Daniel Berger-Jones said that having a different drunken actor each show keeps the play fresh and interesting for both the cast and the audience.

LIFE&ARTS Friday, January 22, 2016 5

‘SHIT-FACED’ SHAKESPEAREWhere: Spider House BallroomWhen: Today at 6:30 p.m.Cost: $18

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Head coach Shaka Smart, junior guard Isaiah Taylor and senior guard Javan Fe-lix sat slumped at the podi-um following a loss at TCU on Jan. 9.

Neither Smart nor the two veteran guards had much to say after los-ing 58-57 to the Big 12’s worst team.

But two weeks later, a much different vibe sur-rounds the team. The Longhorns head into their showdown at No. 3 Kansas on Saturday riding a three-game win streak, including two wins over ranked op-ponents — Texas beat then-No. 17 Iowa State last week and No. 6 West Virginia on Wednesday night.

Felix said Texas’ new mentality has been its biggest difference.

“Ever since then, we’ve made a conscious effort to come out aggressive, not only in the games but each and every day in practice so it can be a habit for us,” Felix said.

Despite the wins, the last three games haven’t been pretty for the Longhorns, who now sit tied for second in the Big 12. Outside of the overtime win over Iowa

State, Texas has struggled to shoot, hitting just 40 per-cent in the last two wins.

But the key for the Long-horns has been finishing games. Against TCU, the Longhorns failed to hit the clutch shot, but the win streak has seen a wide-ranging cast come through in the end.

Junior guard Kendal Yan-cy said Smart’s insistence on being more aggressive has helped them pull out close wins.

“If we come in with an aggressive mindset and wanting to win and com-pete, we’re pretty hard to beat,” Yancy said.

But keeping that going against Kansas, where Al-len Fieldhouse isn’t a home court advantage as much as it’s a near-guaranteed win for the Jayhawks, is a much different story.

The Jayhawks haven’t lost in Lawrence since 2014 and have won more consecutive Big 12 titles —11— than lost

games at home — 9 — dur-ing head coach Bill Self ’s 12 years at the helm.

Texas hasn’t won at the “Phog” in its last four tries. The last win came in 2011 when Tristan Thompson and J’Covan Brown took the floor for Texas. Top Big 12 teams, Baylor and Oklahoma, have already fallen victim to Kansas’ home success.

Felix said the most dif-ficult part of playing at Al-len Fieldhouse is the fans

surrounding the court.“It’s hard to hear,” Felix

said. “They’re up and into it the whole game. It’s a really good environment.”

The Longhorns know the 11-time reigning Big 12 champs won’t be an easy out. Still, they’re look-ing forward to potential-ly notching another win against a ranked team.

“Let’s go have fun, play loose, play aggressive, play together,” junior forward Shaquille Cleare said.

The men’s and wom-en’s track and field teams will split up this weekend with the majority of the teams heading to Birming-ham, Alabama, while the throwers and pole vaulters compete in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In Alabama, the Long-horns will compete in the Power Five Invitational. Four of the competing men’s SEC teams are ranked in the Top 25 and two women’s SEC teams are also ranked.

Throwers and pole vault-ers will be traveling to New Mexico for the Cherry and Silver Collegiate Invitation-al. The meet will feature na-tionally top-ranked special-ists, including five of the top 25 women pole vaulters in the nation.

The No. 3 women’s team is coming off many vic-tories from the meet at A&M last week, including freshman Teahna Daniels’

record-breaking perfor-mance in the 60-meter.

“It was very impressive by Teahna to open up that fast,” head coach Mario Sat-egna said. “It wasn’t just her time, but here she is beat-ing her teammate, Morolake Akinosun, one of the most decorated athletes we have on campus.”

Daniels and Akinosun re-corded the second and third best times for the 60-me-ter in the nation last week. They will compete against other top ten runners in the 60-meter from Tennes-see, Auburn and Alabama this weekend.

“The last meet boosted my confidence a lot because I didn’t know how I would come into my first collegiate meet,” Daniels said. “Moro-lake has been one of my sup-porters and we’ll be going head-to-head all season. It’ll be a good season for both of us.”

The No. 2 men’s team is also bringing record-setting competitors to Birmingham

after placing second at the meet last weekend at the Tex-as A&M Team Invitational. Redshirt junior AJ Bailey, a Texas A&M transfer, re-corded the sixth-best overall 200m time in school history last week.

“It was a long time com-ing, and there was a lot of stress and pressure on him to go to his old track last week, but he looked good in that burnt orange,” Sategna said. “It was good to see him competing.”

Junior Ryan Crouser, the three-time NCAA cham-pion of the shot put, will join the group going to Bir-mingham this weekend to familiarize himself with the location of the national in-door championships, which will be held in March.

“It’s a new venue for us, so we want to make sure we give those ath-letes who will be there for the National Champion-ship an opportunity to get the lay of the land,” Sategna said.

The last time No. 6 Texas (17-1, 6-1 Big 12) played No. 19 Oklahoma (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) at the Frank Erwin Cen-ter, the Longhorns needed 50 minutes of regulation to seal the deal.

After 13 ties and 14 lead changes, the Longhorns es-caped with an 84-81 win in double overtime.

Then-freshman guard Ariel Atkins led Texas with 21 points, while then-junior center Imani Boyette added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Then-sophomore guards Peyton Little and Gioya Carter led Oklahoma with 16 points apiece.

The rivals will meet once again at the Frank Erwin Center on Saturday at 11 a.m. Head coach Karen Aston said having a rival game on Texas Exes weekend adds to the importance of the game.

“Exes weekend is a big deal to us and playing Oklahoma is a big deal,” Aston said. “It’s home.”

Aston said she hopes Sat-urday’s matchup will have a similar showing to the Baylor game. Just under 9,000 fans attended that game last Sun-day, compared to the 2,813 people who showed for last year’s matchup between the Longhorns and Sooners.

“It’s great that everyone showed up,” Aston said. “It was a great matchup and all of that, but so is Oklahoma at 11 a.m. next Saturday. And we would love to have more than 1,000 show up for that game or two.”

Regardless of who is in the crowd, Aston said the goal of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament is still within reach.

“The main thing is we really do want to focus on trying to put ourselves in a position to host and we’re in that position right now,” As-ton said.

In order to host, Aston said winning on home turf is incredibly important. Texas is 2-1 at home against ranked opponents this season. OU is 0-2 against

ranked opponents on the road.

The Sooners are com-ing off a blowout 92-53 win against Texas Tech on Wednesday. Senior forward Kaylon Williams leads the Sooners in scoring and

rebounding with 14.0 points and 8.5 rebounds a game.

The Longhorns are com-ing off from a road win at TCU. Boyette leads Texas with 13.0 points and 10.1 re-bounds a game.

Texas leads the series

27-23. The Longhorns have 998 all-time wins in pro-gram history and are just two short wins of becoming just the fifth NCAA Divi-sion I women’s basketball program to reach 1,000 all-time victories.

COMICS 7

7JACOB MARTELLA, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansportsFriday, January 22, 2016

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Texas hopes to upset No. 3 KansasBy Jacob Martella

@ViewFromTheBox

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

By Jasmine C. Johnson@AllThatJasss

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan file photoSenior center Imani Boyette boxes out against Stanford on Dec. 13. The Longhorns take on the Sooners at home on Saturday at 11 a.m.

TRACK AND FIELD

By Leah Vann@Vanntastic_Leah

Rachel ZeinDaily Texan Staff

Senior guard Javan Felix drives past an Iowa State defender on Jan. 12. Felix had 17 points in Texas’ win over No. 6 West Vir-ginia on Wednes-day night.

Sooners visit Erwin Center on Saturday

Texas set to travel across countryTENNIS

Longhorns ready to travel to Alabama

The Longhorns will re-turn to action this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Texas will compete against Alabama, Penn and Purdue.

The tournament will kick off the ITA regular season for women’s tennis and will take place in 15 different locations across the coun-try, each showcasing four college teams.

Texas will send its entire roster to compete in the event. Seniors Breaunna Ad-dison and Lana Groenvynck, junior Neda Koprcina, soph-omore Dani Wagland and freshmen Chelsea Crovetti, Katie Poluta and Daniella Roldan will all be partak-ing in singles match play. In the doubles draw, Addison and Wagland, who have a winning overall record of 9–4, will team up. Koprcina

and Groenvynck will pair up in hopes to add a win to their 2–8 record. Fresh-man duo Roldan and Poluta will compete as first-time doubles partners.

Texas will start the tour-nament squaring off against Purdue on Saturday and will either face Alabama or Penn on Sunday. The win-ner of the tournament will advance to the ITA Nation-al Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, on Feb. 5.

SIDELINEKENTUCKY

80ARKANSAS

66

TODAY IN HISTORY

2006Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scores a career-high 81 points in a win against the Toronto Raptors.

“‘All of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.’ Walt

Disney”

Mack Brown@ESPN_CoachMack

TOP TWEET

Men’s tennis travels to ITA Kick-Off

The Longhorns return to action this weekend at home at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Texas welcomes No. 21 Flor-ida, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 17 Ole Miss.

The tournament will take place in 15 differ-ent locations across the country, each showcas-ing four college teams. All teams will be com-peting for 15 available spots in the upcom-ing ITA National Team Indoor Champion-ship at The University of Virginia.

Texas will have a nine-man roster competing in the event. Senior Mi-chael Riechmann, junior George Goldhoff, soph-omores John Mee and Adrian Ortiz, freshmen Colin Markes, Harrison Scott, Johnny Goodwin and Rodrigo Banzer and redshirt freshman Julian Zlobinsky will all partic-ipate in the singles and doubles draws. In dou-bles play, Ortiz will team up with Riechmann, Goldhoff will pair off with Zlobinsky, Banzer will be with Scott, and Mee and Markes will be a doubles duo.

Last year, the Long-horns came out strong, defeating Minnesota 4-1. They continued their streak and took down Florida State 4-1, securing them a spot at last years ITA Na-tional Team Indoor Championship. At the ITA National Team In-door Championship, Texas walked away with two wins.

Texas will face Florida at 10 a.m. Saturday and will square off against Texas Tech or Ole Miss. Matches will be played at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center, with the championship match on Sunday.

—Alana Kaufman

SPORTS BRIEFLY

By Alana Kaufman@akauf810

No.9 IOWA

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Breaunna AddisonSenior

8 L&A

CAT CARDENAS, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan 8Friday, January 22, 2016

After Willie Nelson filmed the pilot for Austin City Limits, co-creator Bill Arhos used the tape to pitch the show to PBS. The show began production, approaching Asleep at the Wheel to perform on the first episode of the series in 1976. The Daily Texan spoke with the band’s frontman Ray Benson, ACL audio engineer David Hough and photographer

Scott Newton to discuss the iconic television series 40 years later.

Before the famous Austin sky-line backdrop framed ACL art-ists’ performances, Asleep at the Wheel appeared on the first epi-sode of the fledgling show’s inau-gural season in 1976.

With the series’ production just beginning, the band’s frontman Ray Benson said they didn’t think much of getting asked to perform.

“It was their first year, so we just kind of did our own thing,” Benson said. “We had no idea that it would last this long and be as important as it is to so many people.”

Benson and the band have ap-peared on the show 10 times since their first appearance. The show set out to recreate the at-mosphere of local venues and showcase rising trends such as progressive country.

As the show went on, Benson said he witnessed its focus shift to include acts from all over the world.

“The whole idea was to show-

case Texas and what was happen-ing in the clubs,” Benson said. “It was just a gathering of people ex-cited to hear some music.”

With the focus on the audience, Benson said artists were more comfortable treating the televi-sion show like a regular gig. The show’s staff members also placed an emphasis on the artists’ visions for their performances.

“At ACL, they just say, ‘Go,’” Benson said. “They ask for your approval; they let you mix your songs if you want. They’re very concerned the artist gets to pres-ent the show they want.”

Looking back, Benson said the band has changed and grown in the years since the show, but he’s still impressed with where they started.

“To be honest, I was pretty amazed at how good we were at such a young age,” Benson said. “We just wanted to play our mu-sic and have the performance fo-cus on that.”

Ray Benson | Asleep at the Wheel frontman

Courtesy of Scott NewtonAsleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson performed with his band for the first episode of Austin City Limits in 1976. Forty years later, he reflects on that performance and how Asleep at the Wheel has changed.

David Hough | ACL audio engineerWhen ACL audio engineer and UT

alumnus David Hough was in high school, he played the drums and mic’d up the jazz band he had with friends. He wanted to pursue music, but with the Vietnam War drafting musicians to perform for troops overseas, he decided to study electrical engineering at UT.

“I kept sneaking over to the music department as much as I could be-cause it was what I really wanted to do,” Hough said.

Shortly after graduating, Hough worked at KLRN where he met ACL co-creator Bill Arhos and several other people instrumental in the creation of the iconic TV show. When it came time for the show’s first episode, Hough as-

sumed the role of audio engineer, a po-sition he’s maintained from day one.

Though he’s been there for decades, Hough said in the early years of ACL, he briefly flew to California, where he considered moving to pursue another job but couldn’t bring himself to leave the family he found at the show behind.

“Everyone [in California] wanted to hire me,” Hough said. “I came back confident, and that’s when we started getting that family feeling. I didn’t need California. I didn’t need the money. What was more important to me were my friends.”

Since then, Hough said the show and the equipment he used to record it with continued to evolve together. But once

each taping is through, his 40-year-old routine remains the same — he shuts the door to his soundproof room, letting the music fill the space so he can focus on piecing together the episode’s audio.

For years, Hough has worked with the show’s musicians. He said the friendly atmosphere that kept him there is what attracts the musicians as well.

“When Johnny Cash came to the show, he was used to Nashville’s style,” Hough said. “He came to our show just terrified. But after he finished the first song, he realized no one was going to stop him, and the audience was paying attention to his performance. After-ward, he said it was the most pleasant experience he had on television.”

Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan StaffDavid Hough, ACL audio engineer and UT alumnus, had a love for music and electronics from an early age. He has been working with ACL since the very beginning.

Scott Newton | ACL photographerAfter spotting an empty spot in

the front row of a Rolling Stones concert, UT alumnus and ACL pho-tographer Scott Newton snagged the seat, took out his camera and 30 shots later began his career photo-graphing musicians.

“When I got back to Austin with these shots, people were throwing $50 a picture at me,” Newton said. “I’d never heard of anyone doing [photography] for a living, but right then the light bulb went off.”

He briefly worked at the Univer-sity as a photojournalism professor but left just a year and a half later to pursue his photography full-time. A few years later, when a friend intro-

duced him to ACL producer Terry Lickona, Newton applied to become the show’s photographer.

Without any formal training, he turned to his education on the Ancient Greeks for inspiration. In-stead of photographing the musi-cians themselves, Newton said he tries to photograph the muse he sees within them.

“You’re shooting the essence of things,” Newton said. “Photons can’t bounce off of energy and spirit, but that’s what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to pass on the experience. I’m trying to show you what muse I felt, the message that was there.”

In the 37 years Newton worked

for the show, he said the constantly rotating door of acts kept his photog-raphy fresh, and he lets himself dance to the music if he ever gets stuck.

“If you throw yourself into the music, it’ll take you to new and in-teresting places,” Newton said. “The spirit that flows through musicians is always interesting. It takes me to new angles.”

At the end of the day, Newton said it’s his love of photography that keeps him going.

“I’m getting recognition, and I’m making money, but all of that is just secondary,” Newton said. “Once I get a camera in my hand and some-one’s performing — it’s just heaven.”

Mike McGraw | Daily Texan StaffScott Newton is a photographer with 37 years of experience covering Austin City Limits. Newton said he tries to capture the message behind the music so his audience will feel what it was like to be there.

By Cat Cardenas @crcardenas8

Iconic show celebrates four decades of music

As ACL expanded to include na-tional acts, Ray Charles appeared as one of the first non-Texas acts. The performance, which included “Georgia on My Mind,” is among

Ray Benson’s favorites.

A life-changing experience for photographer Scott Newton was

when singer Leonard Cohen made a rare TV appearance on

ACL on Oct. 31, 1988.

Loretta Lynn, who was inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame in 2014, was a repeat guest on the series.

Austin artist Stevie Ray Vaughn took the ACL stage for a second

time in 1989, delivering a memo-rable performance of Buddy Guy’s “Leave My Girl Alone” just one year

before his death. Photos courtesy of Scott Newton

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel has performed at ACL with

the band 10 times during the show’s 40-year run.