1 DT VOLUME 121, ISSUE 49 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 ‘It was exhilarating and exhausting.’ Some resident assistants say they felt exploited while working during the winter storm. Starting at $677/month Managed By students, Find your New home (bills Included!) for Students Walk to UT Friendly community at a co-op! High-Speed Internet COVID-19 Precautions units open now & for summer and fall! apply at collegehouses.org 2 Contents: CONTACT US MAIN TELEPHONE (512) 471-4591 News Opinion Life&Arts Sports EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mutual aid Hear from Students Women’s Emily Caldwell funds formed Sanika Nayak, struggled to basketball star (512) 232-2212 DT page page page page to help stu- who’s running cope during Charli Collier [email protected] 05 dents during 04 unopposed to 08 last week’s 10 prepaid for 50 MANAGING EDITOR the winter storm may become the Texan’s next storm as CMHC canceled pizzas to students last Trinady Joslin PERMANENT STAFF qualify as taxable. editor-in-chief. appointments. week. (512) 232-2217 Editor-in-Chief Senior Sports Writers [email protected] Emily Caldwell Matthew Boncosky, Taylor Hawthorne Managing Editor UNIVERSITY NEWS OFFICE Trinady Joslin Newsletters Editor Assoc. Managing Editors Maia Borchardt (512) 232-2207 Emily Hernandez, Ariana Copy Desk Chiefs Arredondo Phoebe Hayes, Lawson [email protected] Director of Digital Strategy Freeman Hal Riley Assoc. Copy Desk Chiefs Statistics department kicks off first semester The Texan strives to present all Director of Diversity & Irissa Omandam, Megan information fairly, accurately and Shankle, Chloe Roman Inclusion completely. If we have made an Areeba Amer Design Editor error, let us know about it. E-mail Internal Relations Director Christina Peebles of online data science master’s program Sanika Nayak Assoc. Design Editor [email protected]. External Relations Director Megan Fletcher By Mae Hutchison Science. The degree program is taught Texas and around the world,” Calder said. Abhirupa Dasgupta Senior Designers Assoc. Opinion Editors Eunice Bao, Juleanna Culilap @mae_hutch entirely online with no on-campus com- The statistics department developed Isabelle Costello, Hannah Video Editor Lopez, Julia Zaksek Brendan Long ponents. Approximately 300 students are the program with the Department of Forum Editors Assoc. Video Editor currently enrolled, Calder said. Computer Science to be entirely virtual Daisy Kielty, Maria Sailale Jackson Barton Illustration Coordinator Sr. Videographers UT’s Department of Statistics and Data The program offers 10 classes at even after UT resumes in-person classes, Abriella Corker Hannah Ortega, Matthew Editorial Illustrator Posey Science started the first semester of a vir- $1,000 per class, according to the pro- Calder said. Charlie Hyman Photo Editor tual master’s program for data sciences gram website. The degree is available to Applications for the fall semester are News Editor Jack Myer Lauren Girgis Assoc. Photo Editors this spring. international students, who don’t need open until May 1 with a priority deadline Assoc. News Editors Kirsten Hahn, Jamie Hwang Hannah Williford, Brooke Senior Photographer The Master of Science in Data Science to apply for a visa because the program is of April 1, according to the website. Ontiveros Connor Downs provides foundational knowledge in sta- fully online, according to the website. Program applicant Brianna Swan said News Desk Editors Comics Editors Anna Canizales, Amanda Barbra Daly, Rocky Higine tistics, computer science and modern “Our goal was to offer affordable and she works as a contract negotiator and Figueroa-Nieves, Andrew Assoc. Comics Editor Zhang Destiny Alexander data science tools, said Kate Calder, chair accessible training in this high-demand hopes to earn a degree through the pro- Beat Reporters Sr. Comics Illustrators of the Department of Statistics and Data field to students from across the state of gram to help her take on a more technical Skye Seipp, Samantha Cynthia Trevino, Sylvia Greyson, Tori Duff, Kevin Asuncion-Crabb role. Swan said she ap- Vu, Sheryl Lawrence, Lauren Abel, Lauren Goodman, Social Media Editor preciates that the pro- Laurie Grobe Katya Bandouil Life&Arts Editor Assoc. Social Media Editor gram can be completed Aisling Ayers Nuzha Zuberi Assoc. Life&Arts Editor Senior Digital Staffers anywhere in the world. Lauren Castro Benjamin Cohen, Chloe Young “It just seemed real- Life&Arts Desk Editors Audio Editor Grace Barnes, Jennifer Errico Aurora Berry ly awesome that it’s 10 Sr. Life&Arts Reporters Assoc. Audio Editor Fiza Kuzhiyil, Morgan-Taylor Addie Costello courses, you do it online Thomas Senior Audio Producers and you could do it full- Sports Editor Carly Rose, Jackie Ibarra Carter Yates Editorial Adviser time,” Swan said. Assoc. Sports Editors Peter Chen Stephen Wagner, Nathan Han Mathematics pro- fessor Peter Müller said the online teach- ing experience for the program works well. ISSUE STAFF Müller said he does not Comic Artists Designers Megan Clarke, Marissa Xiong, Caroline Blanton, Lorena have to accommodate Mindy Van Chiles Copy Editors L&A Reporters social distancing re- Courtney Blair, Meena Dex Parra, Carolyn Parmer quirements or hybrid Anderson, Xavier Rigby, News Reporter Kamryn Brownlee Mae Hutchison instruction methods. “It’s almost easier now to teach online than in the classroom,” said Müller, who co-teaches Probability and Infer- ence, the first course de- veloped specifically for AUSTIN WEATHER the program. Mary Parker, associ- TODAY TOMORROW ate professor of instruc- Feb. 26 Feb. 27 tion in statistics and the course’s other co-teach- er, said the class is de- signed to instruct up to HI 59º HI 75º 1,000 students. LO 55º LO 64º Calder said the de- just so... like... words partment is looking to develop more electives DATA SCIENCE PAGE 5 3 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 CONTACT US NEWS 3 MAIN TELEPHONE STUDENT LIFE (512) 471-4591 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Emily Caldwell (512) 232-2212 [email protected] How to file for loss of MANAGING EDITOR Trinady Joslin property following winter storm (512) 232-2217 [email protected] By Tori Duff personal renters insurance to cover the costs @torianneduff of damages, including by storm, flooding or NEWS OFFICE (512) 232-2207 power outages. An apartment’s renters in- [email protected] surance policy should be stated in the lease Students who experienced flooding or signed by tenants. power outages resulting in property dam- Some renters insurance policies will cov- age or food loss during the winter storm er loss of food or property due to winter may be eligible to be reimbursed or receive storms or weather. Coverage and amount disaster assistance. reimbursed will often vary depending on the Legal Services for Students in the Office renters policy. of the Dean of Students is offering consul- If only filing a claim for food damage, it tations to students to help answer questions might not always be worth it because of de- related to leases. These services are free to ductibles, according to Forbes. However, if currently enrolled students. Students can re- food damage is part of a larger claim, it could quest a consultation by filling out the intake be worthwhile if the monetary amount lost form on the Office of the Dean of Students exceeds the deductible. website or by calling 512-471-7796. According to a tweet from the Office of Available resources if you don’t have the Dean of Students, there may be delays in renters insurance scheduling appointments due to a high vol- The Federal Emergency Management ume of students needing assistance. Agency is offering assistance to people who have experienced damages and are unin- How to gather evidence of sured as a result of winter storms in Texas, property damage according to a Feb. 20 press release. When filing a loss of property claim, which The West Campus zip code, 78705, is covers food, document all evidence of loss currently eligible for severe weather storms possible. This includes taking photos of lost assistance, as is the Riverside zip code, property or food and saving any receipts for 78741, according to FEMA. These claims lost items, which will help to get an accurate can be filed online at disasterassistance. reimbursement. gov or those impacted by winter storms can call 800-621-3362. Available resources if you have FEMA requires proof of identification, an renters insurance insurance determination letter and proof of Some apartments will not assume risks occupancy or ownership at property where of damage and require tenants to acquire the damage took place in order to file a claim. JACK MYER / THE DAILY TEXAN STAFF The shelves of the CVS on Guadalupe Street are empty on Feb. 19. Students who experi- enced flooding or power outages resulting in property damage or food loss during the winter storm may be eligible to be reimbursed or receive disaster assistance. EMILY CALDWELL Editor-In-Chief | @TEXANOPINION 4 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 OPINION GUEST COLUMN To address challenges, I want to listen to you sat on that old, albeit very comfort- Editor-in-chief able, opinion-department couch in almost a year. candidate Sanika These changes, though difficult, Nayak discusses how were necessary. We now operate completely remotely, and as edi- the COVID-19 pan- tor-in-chief, I’ll always be ready to make any sacrifice to make the Texan demic has impacted safe and accessible. The only thing I won’t forgo is the quality of our con- The Daily Texan. tent: an opinion page that highlights and advocates for students. By Sanika Nayak The COVID-19 pandemic has DIANE SUN / THE DAILY TEXAN FILE Editor-in-chief candidate shown me that we don’t have to be physically present to make a repre- not been renamed. Black students used as a mode of accountability and sentative and respectful paper. But have been talking about the hurt they advocacy.