Journalism Articles

News Story #4: Minorities are at a Disadvantage in the School-to-Prison Pipeline

By Chris Thomas

02/23/2011

According to a recent study, minority students are being pushed out of schools and into the juvenile justice system at astonishing rates.

The talk, Race and the School-to-Prison Pipeline was held in Sid Richardson Hall Tuesday afternoon and was sponsored by the University of Texas organization Social, Health and Economic Policymakers (SHEP).

The speaker, Deborah Fowler is the Deputy Director of Texas Appleseed, a public interest law center, whose latest project involves examining the school-to-prison pipeline and use of force in public schools.

A recent report by the group found that minority and special education students are overrepresented in in-school ticketing and arrests. According to the report, black special education students in Texas are six times more likely to receive out of school suspension, four times more likely to be sent to a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP), and three times more likely to be expelled than their white counterparts.

Other minority students also face obstacles to their scholastic success, Patricio Prieto, a Global Policy Studies second-year graduate student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs said.

“Current educational policies encourage a disadvantage to English language learners,” Prieto said. “No Child Left Behind and the zero tolerance policy have made it difficult for English language learners to perform well.”

Under No Child Left Behind, students have to take yearly progress tests in English, which can be difficult if English is not your native language. Texas's zero tolerance policy includes the 90% attendance rule, in which students must attend at least 90% of their classes and provide a valid excuse for all absences.

“It's clear this is a race issue, but people are afraid to talk about it,” Prieto said. “People don't want to be labeled a racist.”

Fowler said America's politically correct culture only compounds the issue.

“Race is still a very difficult topic in the United States,” Fowler said. “The first step towards a solution is dialog.”

Speech Story: Former Xerox Head Wows UT Business Students and Others with Professional Insights

By Chris Thomas

03/08/2011

Budding businessmen listened with bated breath and took notes fervently as each strained to hear the insight, the story, the life experience that would give him a leg up on the competition.

Last Tuesday, University of Texas business students and the general public had the opportunity to hear from Anne Mulcahy, former Chairwoman and CEO of Xerox.

Mulcahy, who began her career at Xerox as a sales representative in 1976, steadily moved up the corporate ranks until she became CEO in 2001. She retired from the position in 2009. She is still on the board of directors for several major companies including Johnson & Johnson and The Washington Post Company, and is also the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Save the Children.

The former Xerox CEO said that, when she took the job, the company was in a bad way.

“We were around $19 billion dollars in debt and all our cash was tied up overseas,” Mulcahy said. “I would say my biggest achievement at Xerox was transforming the company into a services-led technology business and making us profitable again.”

Mulcahy is the latest business leader to appear in the McCombs School of Business VIP Distinguished Speaker Series. Previous speakers have included Lee Scott, former CEO of Walmart, Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc., and Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, among others.

Each event in the speaker series involves an informal interview between the host, McCombs School of Business Dean Tom Gilligan and the speaker, followed by a Q and A with the audience.

During the Q and A session with the audience, Mulcahy emphasized the need to implement engagement strategies, something she said is part of being an effective leader.

“You need to keep them motivated by telling them what you need from them and why what they are doing is meaningful,” she said. “You need to tell them stories they can relate to.”

Jeffrey Wilson, a McCombs School of Business Junior who helped to organize the event said he was pleased with the results.

“Mrs. Mulcahy was very informative,” Wilson said. “She is a powerful woman, and students here can learn a lot from her.”

News Story #3: Father of Evolution is Remembered

By Chris Thomas

3/9/2011

The sun shone bright as children scrambled over the statue of a saber tooth tiger, pointed excitedly at dinosaur tracks made millions of years ago, and listened, mouths open wide, to the sound of a rattle snake’s rattle.

The Texas Memorial Museum celebrated on Sunday the 202nd birthday of one of the most famous biologists in history: Charles Darwin. Darwin Day was organized by the Museum in order to educate the community about Darwin and his works, as well as to kick off its Save the Tracks campaign.

Christina Cid, director of education helped to organize the event.

“We wanted to celebrate Darwin and raise awareness for our Save the Tracks campaign,” Cid said. “Darwin Day is a fun opportunity for everyone to learn about evolution.”

The event featured activities for children of all ages, including a scavenger hunt with each floor representing a different island on a map of the Galapagos.

Laura Naski, paleontology educator explained: “The scavenger hunt is a big hit with the kids,” Naski said. “Participants have to answer questions on each floor in order to get a stamp on the corresponding island on their map. After they get all of their islands stamped, they can choose to get a dinosaur silly band or a skeleton toy.”

Dr. Travis Ladue, assistant curator of herpetology sat behind a table covered in animal specimens.

“The animals we have here are representative of the species that were written about by Darwin in The Origin of Species,” Ladue said. “Everyone’s favorite seems to be this rattlesnake I brought from my lab.”

The museum obtained dinosaur tracks in 1940, from what is now Dinosaur Valley State Park. The tracks were put on exhibit in a small building on the museum grounds. The building is not climate controlled, and the tracks are now deteriorating. The museum is trying to raise money to bring the tracks inside the main building, where they can be restored and protected from further damage.

Dan Lee said it was his first time at the event, with his sons.

“I read about Darwin Day in Parentwise magazine,” Lee said. “My sons love it!”

Jonathan, 5, agreed.

“I like the dinosaurs,” he said.

Midterm Story – Texans rally against Education Budget Cuts

By Chris Thomas

3/23/2011

The blue, cloudless sky contrasted sharply with the umbrellas and signs held aloft by protestors at the State Capitol Building on March 12.

Bearing slogans like “Its raining, its pouring, Rick Perry is snoring” and “Education forecast, its storming!”, the protestors voiced their opposition to the cuts to education proposed by lawmakers to help eliminate the budget revenue shortfall, advocating the use of the Rainy Day Fund instead.

Support for this measure among the protestors at the rally was not unanimous however, as signs emblazoned with “The Rain has not stopped yet, don’t drain the fund” were also in evidence.

What did seem to be unanimous was the protestors dissatisfaction with Governor Perry. Protestors held signs that read “Perry wants to secede, Teachers want to succeed!”, “I'm a parent and I vote!”,  “Flunk Perry”, “But mom, Rick Perry Ate My Homework!” and “Power to the Pupil”.

The Save Texas Schools March and Rally was organized by the American Federation of Teachers, The Texas State Teachers Association, Save Texas Schools and other volunteers around Austin. It was held on the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol Building on March 12.

Teachers, state officials, parents and their families from all over Texas joined in the march from 12th and Trinity streets in Austin to the Capitol.

Approximately 12,000 people attended the rally. Those who did heard from several speakers including Save Texas Schools Rally Chairman, Allen Weeks, Cheryl Bradley from the Austin ISD Board of Trustees, Superintendent of Dallas ISD, Dr. Michael Hinojosa and Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio, TX as well as numerous teachers and parents.

A number of legislators and their representatives were also in attendance, including Sen. Florence Shapiro-Plano, TX and Sen. Leticia Van de Putte-San Antonio, TX.

The positive hip-hop group Cipher performed, the Cliften J. Ozen High School Choir sang songs, and Connor Brantley, a student from Ft. Worth ISD, gave a speech about his idea for a “United” political party.

Facing a budget revenue shortfall of approximately $15 billion, Texas legislators have proposed cutting nearly $5 billion from public education funding, including cuts of 1,153 jobs in Austin ISD, and major cuts to programs and grants that provide funding for arts education, pre-kindergarten classes, teacher-incentive pay and technology.

Statewide, four community colleges would be shut down and funding for Texas colleges and universities would be cut by $772 million, including $100 million for Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin.

While the majority of the protestors seemed to denounce the budget cuts to education pushed by Governor Rick Perry, the event was not a partisan affair.

“I wonder how many of these people voted for Perry?” said Davelin Forrest, a retired Austin ISD teacher and registered Democrat.

The $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund was not the only solution presented to the budget crisis.

“They should increase taxes,” said Gina Castillo, a teacher at Brennan High School. “They could also take federal money.”

Kristen and Kemble White, parents of a student at Barton Hills Elementary, had other suggestions.

“Why don’t they cut administrative salaries?” they said. “They should save layoffs as a last resort.”

Barton Hills Elementary is one of several small schools in the Austin Independent School District that could face closure next year according to current proposals.

Other schools on the line include  Allan Elementary, Becker Elementary, Blackshear Elementary, Brooke Elementary, Dawson Elementary, Govalle Elementary, Joslin Elementary, Oak Springs Elementary, Ortega Elementary, Pease Elementary, Sanchez Elementary, Zilker Elementary, Dobie Middle School, and Pearce Middle School.

“Small schools promote walkable neighborhoods,” White said. “Closing schools shouldn’t even be considered an option.”

Alex Messenger, a UT Women and Gender Studies senior, voiced her concern over cuts at the University.

“The proposed budget cuts throughout UT are just unacceptable,” she said. “Women and Gender Studies, African and African American Studies, and Ancient Languages will all suffer.”

Brian Donovan, the fundraising committee co-Chair for Save Texas Schools said attendance was even more than expected.

“It’s going great, we have handed out 11,000 stickers and counted off about 1,000 more people here,” he said.

Two other rallies are planned to be held at the capitol on March 30 and April 6 respectively. The rallies, organized by The Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards as well as Save our State, will advocate the use of the Rainy Day Fund to combat the budget shortfall.

Save our State is a series of events organized by The Center for Public Policy Priorities, The Children's Defense Fund, Cover Texas Now, Save Our Schools, Texas AFL-CIO, Texas AFT, Texas Forward, Texas Impact, Texas League of Young Voters, Texas Organizing Project, Texas State Employees Union, and Texas State Teachers Association.

Short Profile: Neelam Chaturvedi

By Chris Thomas

4/11/2011

You can find her in the Hindi Urdu Flagship Office, sitting at the table adjacent to the door, eyes devotedly pouring over works of Hindu literature like the Bhagavad Gita or Ramcharitmanas. Day after day this seemingly quiet, unassuming woman from Varanasi, India minds her own. She gives help willingly when asked for it, but otherwise stays out of the hustle and bustle of day-to-day university life.

Quiet and unassuming is a relatively new development for Neelam Chaturvedi, for whom being loud and clear used to be a necessity. A school teacher since 1987, Chaturvedi was forced to change careers upon arriving in the US with her husband in March of last year.

“My parents would have been proud of me,” she says, speaking of her parent's desire for her to take care of her husband and remain a housewife.

Born into a conservative family of immigrants from Pakistan, Chaturvedi grew up sheltered and protected. She was allowed to attend school, but was otherwise confined to the family home, safe from what her parents saw as a dangerous place for women.

Her studies culminated in a Masters of Sociology and a Bachelors in Education from Banaras Hindi University. After which she was expected to marry and perform the role of a devoted housewife.

Interestingly enough, she ended up spending less time at home after she married. Her mother-in-law pushed her to make use of her degrees and work, prompting her to apply for her first teaching job.

She taught third grade at Sunbeam English Medium School in Benaras, Varanasi from 1987 to 1998 and spent the next 10 years teaching in schools around India.

When she was teaching, her days began early and ended late. She was constantly thinking of how to make her lessons more interesting and entertaining for her students.

Things haven't changed all that much she says. She still wakes up early every morning with a cup of chai and goes to sleep late at night after working hard all day. She still worries over making lessons more engaging for students. The only difference is that now she does all these things for her husband instead of herself.

In order to live in the US, Neelam had to obtain a J2 visa, which lists her as a dependent. Her husband, Vidhu, finds this laughable.

“I make sure to remind her as often as possible of her 'dependent' status” he said. “She has never been dependent on me a day in her life!”

The Chaturvedis said they are very pleased with the life they have made for themselves in Austin, and they are planning on staying for some time to come. Neelam plans to apply for a work permit in September. She says she would like to teach Hindi, some cooking classes and maybe even volunteer to do daycare at local churches.

“I don't know if it's southern hospitality or something special to Austin,” Vidhu said. “But people would go out of their way to help us.”

Things here are clean, hygenic, punctual, its not nearly as crowded as it is in India and people are genuinely helpful, he said.

Neelam says her love to teach comes from her affinity with children.

“Both of us prefer the company of those younger to people our own age,” Vidhu said.

It is a child's innocence, positive attitude and unconditional love that draws her to teach, Neelam said.

“No matter how old you are, you will always have those qualities,” she said.

Listening Post Feature: Muslims in Austin

By Chris Thomas

4/11/2011

Arab/Muslim coverage in the media has been dominated recently by the revolts occurring across the middle east.

Before that, coverage most likely would be about terrorism or piracy. Even before that, you would be hard pressed to find a headline that didn't concern the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Thats what it all comes down to,” says Fadi Hussain. “All the wars, the terrorism, the negative press; the root cause is the fighting between Israel and Palestine.”

While Islam, or the various conflicts waged in its name might receive a lot of press internationally, the Muslim community here in Austin is thought by many to be undercovered.

“I feel like we are under-represented in the media here,” said Muhammad Rajabali. “Although that might be at least partly our fault – we don't really advertise or get out enough.”

Outreach programs from the Nueces Mosque are few and far between says Rajabali. Apart from an annual open house event hosted with the Lutheran church, there isn't really any association with the mosque outside of prayer, he said.

Others pointed to the Muslim Students Association as an outlet for Muslims in Austin who want to get together outside the mosque.

“I would say most of our social events, gatherings, get-togethers are through MSA,” said Samin Huque,  a student at UT. “There is a special event called Showdown partly organized by them that happens once a year. During Showdown, Muslims from all over Texas get together and have fun. This year it is in Dallas.”

While some Muslim Austinites are feeling under-represented, others remember a time when their community received media coverage, often in a positive light.

“There have been several articles over the years about the issues facing the Islamic community,” said Imam Mohamed-Umer Esmail. “One that comes immediately to mind focused on the difficulties of being an Islamic student. How many middle and high school Muslims are being teased daily for their faith.”

This is one of several positive articles that have been written about our community, he said. It is positive because it exposes the trials faced by a great number of our youth.

While positive, he said the articles receive many more negative comments.

Esmail believes that religion should not be mentioned when talking about terrorism.

“One thing I would have to complain about is the use of the word Muslim in association with the word terrorist,” Esmail said. “When a Christian or a Jew commits an act of terrorism, he is known simply as a terrorist. But when a Muslim does the same thing, he is a 'Muslim terrorist'.”

Whether one is a Muslim, Christian, Jew or doesn't follow any religion, a terrorist is a terrorist, he said. All this does is put a bad name on the Islamic community.

“I would like to see discrimination covered more in the media,” Esmail said. “Muslims are changing their names in order to prevent discrimination in the job market and elsewhere.”

Courtroom Brief

By Chris Thomas

4/18/2011

Presided over by Judge Tom Sulak, courtroom number 501 at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center held witness to the case GGE vs. Gov. Rick Perry, Thursday.

The Plaintiffs were G.G.E, E.M.B, G.D.E, Disability Rights Texas, DADS and next friend Geoffrey Courtney. The defense,  Governor Rick Perry, Thomas Suehs; Executive Commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services, Chris Traylor; Commissioner of Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, Vira Benso; Director of ATX State-Supported Living Center, William Lowry; Director of Mexia State Supported Living Center and Gale Wasson, Director of Lufkin State Supported Living Center.

The case revolved around the fate of three mentally disabled patients at Austin State Supported Living Center. The plaintiffs claim that the patients have been forcibly confined to the center for a combined 134 years.

Those patients were represented by Attorney Katherine Simkins, who alleged that despite numerous recommendations for release by staff, treatment teams and mental health professionals, no move has been made to discharge the three from the facility.

Simkins also requested periodic judicial review to determine the necessity of each patient's continued stay in state supported living centers.

The defense, represented by Attorney James Todd, argued that it is not the Governor's responsibility to determine whether or not mental health patients should be released from state supported living centers.

“The Governor has the authority to appoint new commissioners, but he does not have the authority to ensure the discharge of mentally ill patients,” Todd said.  

The hearing ended with Judge Sulak deciding that it will continue at a later date, after he has had time to review each side's position.

Final Story: Watergate Scandal Then and Now

By Chris Thomas

5/4/2011

Truth and corruption were in the spotlight as a panel of journalists discussed one of the most famous scandals in American history on Thursday.

A full house of University of Texas students, staff and other interested Austin residents were all on the edge of their seats as The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library Auditorium played host to Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, as well as Peter Baker of The New York Times, Dana Priest of The Washington Post, Mark Miller of the Texas Tribune, and All the President's Men actor/producer Robert Redford during the event: “Could the media break a story like Watergate today?”

Watergate was a political scandal in which several individuals connected to the committee to re-elect then President Richard Nixon were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. The events of the scandal eventually led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, the only such resignation of any U.S. President.

Bernstein and Woodward are the iconic investigative reporters who broke the Watergate scandal to the public in The Washington Post in the 1970's.

“This Nixon was somebody who had no regard for laws or rules,” Woodward said. “He saw his presidency as a way to get back at those on the other side.”

Eying the crowd as if willing them to give him their full attention, Bernstein emphasized Watergate's significance.

“Watergate was about a criminal president and a criminal conspiracy to undermine the constitution,” Bernstein said. “There had never been anything quite like it.”

Bernstein said the pair kept their methods simple when reporting, in order to make sure their assertions were airtight.

“We just stuck to the basics,” Bernstein said. “We only used three types of sources, people, documents and personal observation.”

Bernstein and Woodward relied heavily on anonymous sources in their investigation, especially one source they nicknamed “Deep Throat”, revealed in 2005 to be former Deputy Director of the FBI William Mark Felt, Sr.

“We did most of our work at night,” Woodward said. “We went on foot, going door to door gathering information.”

Looking younger than his years, with a full head of hair and a twinkle in his eye, Redford reminisced about his work on the 1974 film All the President's Men. Released just two years after Nixon's resignation speech, the blockbuster followed Woodward and Bernstein's investigations into Watergate.

“The film didn't really fit in with others in Hollywood at that time,” Redford said. “We had to work hard to make it as authentic as possible.”

All the President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and Robert Redford as Bob Woodward, brought the pair's story to a wide audience. It was a huge success, reviving America's interest in investigative journalism and cementing Redford's place as one of America's most iconic actors.

“I came to see Robert Redford,” said Radio Television Film junior Julianne Robinson. “He is one my favorite actors.”

Stella Wojdyla, an Asian Cultures and Languages junior who attended the event, said she heard about it in her journalism class.

“My instructor Robert Jensen announced the Watergate event in class (J310) a couple of times,” Stella said. “I am very interested in investigative journalism and I knew that Jensen always announces events that will broaden his students' horizon[s].”

Trent Lesikar, a photojournalism junior, came to hear more about Watergate.

“They broke a very important story,” Trent said. “Its something we can all learn from.”

Sasha Weiss, a public affairs graduate student said she came to learn about investigative journalism from the professionals.

“I'm really interested in investigative journalism and whether or not its still as relevant today as it was back then,” said Sasha. “They are so important, I had to hear what they had to say.”

Bernstein, Woodward and the other panelists all weighed in on whether or not journalists now would be able to break something like Watergate.

“Times were different back then,” said Woodward. “There wasn't nearly as much competition.”

“We wrote our stories based almost exclusively on unnamed sources,” Woodward said. “Not only the public, but even people on the Washington Post staff were skeptical.”

“Its a lot easier to get information today,” Bernstein said. “But its also a lot more fast-paced. Impatience and speed are driving today's news.”

The Washington Post's Dana Priest thought today's fast paced consumerism is moving along to quickly to support investigative journalism.

“Investigative reporting cant be done in a normal 24 hour cycle,” Priest said. “You have to create relationships with your sources, spend enough time with them for them to trust you enough to tell you things that could put them in jail.”

Peter Baker, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, discussed the similarities and differences between Watergate and what he jokingly referred to as “Monicagate” or the Monica Lewinsky affair.

“Much like Bob and Carl during their investigation into Watergate, I also went door to door gathering information,” Baker said. “I even went to Monica Lewinsky's house, which is located in the Watergate complex.”

He went on to say that unlike during Watergate, when the public and often other news organizations were skeptical of Bernstein and Woodward's coverage, there was no question of other news outlets reporting as well.

“If we hadn't covered something, we knew someone else was gonna get it.” Baker said.

Attendees were allowed to ask questions of the journalists after the discussion.

People eager to comment or ask the panel questions lined the aisles, including UT journalism professor Bob Jensen. As his turn came to step up to the microphone, Jensen wondered why Watergate was being discussed, over more serious crimes committed by presidents during that time.

“Why are the real crimes, like the Vietnam war not talked about?” Jensen said. “Why is Watergate still talked about instead?”

The event was held to its scheduled time limit of one hour, leaving many eager attendees disappointed.

“I wanted to ask them what impact Wikileaks has had on political journalism,” Weiss said. “I wonder how it would have effected their coverage of Watergate if they had [Wikileaks] back then?”

As the last few hopefuls left the lines to ask questions and settled back in their seats, Bernstein ended the event with a few words of advice.

“People like to tell the truth,” Bernstein said. “If you just let them, you will get some crazy surprises.”

When asked if she thought the media could break a story like Watergate today, Stella smiled.

“Yes, I do. It might not be the most mainstream journalists working for news broadcasting on television but I am convinced that there are a lot of excellent independent journalist who can break stories like that,” she said. “I also think that whistleblower organizations such as wikileaks will help investigative journalist to uncover government spins.”