Daniela Capistran

Published Work

The Daily Texan •

Tariffs cause uncertainty for bars near the University

The Trump administration halted tariffs on most nations on April 9, excluding Mexico and Canada, and the tariffs could increase prices at bars that heavily rely on import-based alcohols, said Mark Baker, a business and law emeritus professor.
The United States placed a 25% tariff on all items imported from Mexico and Canada that are not a part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement List, which was created in 2020 to manage trade between the countries. The tariffs are meant to reduce the sm...
The Daily Texan •

The flag system was removed. What’s next?

The University removed the Skills and Experience Flag courses as a graduation requirement on April 7, leaving students with questions and confusion on the future of their curriculum and class requirements. 
The University removed the requirement due to two reasons, according to Art Markman, senior vice provost for academic affairs. The first reason was to simplify the “curriculum by removing potential barriers to graduation,” and the second was to recognize career-level skills in the curriculum...
The Daily Texan •

National Endowment for the Humanities grants cancelled, affecting Austin-based projects

The federal government cancelled National Endowment for the Humanities grants and reduced the organization’s staff following an April 2 notice. 
The National Endowment for the Humanities is a federal agency that allocates funding towards museums, colleges, universities and libraries. According to the agency, UT has over $850,000 in active grants currently funded by the agency. The cuts to the agency come after the government rearranged funding to align with Trump administration policies.
Humanit...
The Daily Texan •

Austin reports ‘little to no detectable traces’ of synthetic chemicals in drinking water

Austin drinking water has “little to no detectable traces” of polyfluoroalkyl substances, or synthetic chemicals, according to an April 2 annual Water Quality Report for 2024. 
The Environmental Protection Agency will require water systems to comply with their polyfluoroalkyl substance limits by 2027. Polyfluoroalkyl substances dissolve slowly over time and exposure to certain levels of the substances could lead to possible risks, such as cancer or obesity, according to the EPA. There are only a...
The Daily Texan •

Interim President Jim Davis speaks out about his goals for UT developmental scene, affordability

Interim President Jim Davis intends for the University to evolve in the city’s developmental scene, he said at a breakfast event with the Urban Land Institute March 26.
Davis said one of the biggest challenges the University faces is its deferred maintenance due to approximately half of the buildings on campus being about 50 years old.  Davis said the University brought in a new landscape architect to preserve the campus grounds. Nursing freshman Hope Luensmann said she would want the University...
The Daily Texan •

New executive order aims to cut funding of Institute of Museum and Library Services, possibly impacting UT programs

The Trump administration signed an executive order on March 14 reducing the functions of various governmental entities, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which funds programs across UT.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a federal agency that places grants for libraries and museums nationally. Following the order, the entire institute’s union published a statement notifying that awarded grants would likely “be terminated.” The order did not entirely eliminate t...
The Daily Texan •

SB 3 passed by Texas Senate, growing concerns for future of West Campus smoke shops

Senate Bill 3, which would ban all non-medical hemp-derived cannabis products statewide, passed the Texas Senate on March 19. 
The Texas House of Representatives still needs to approve the bill by June 2, and it would need to be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott before it could completely go into effect. However, the House still has to consider House Bill 28, a bill concerning the regulation of hemp products, rather than an entire ban. 
Texas law currently permits less than 0.3% tetrahydrocann...
The Daily Texan •

UT alumnus donates $5 million to robotics undergraduate program

A UT alumnus is investing $5 million in UT Austin’s robotics undergraduate program, the College of Natural Sciences announced on March 6.
Venture capitalist Bill Gurley donated the funds to the Texas Robotics program, with the investment being used as a “matching fund,” meaning the program is aiming to match the $5 million by the end of the year with an end goal of $10 million, said Sridevi Rao, the Texas Robotics managing director. While Gurley and UT signed the contract in January, she said th...
The Daily Texan •

‘We’re all here for the same reason’: Protesters rally at Texas Capitol to recognize International Women’s Day

Hundreds of people gathered at the Texas Capitol on Saturday in observance of International Women’s Day, calling for the protection of reproductive rights and an end to discrimination and sexual violence against women and the LGBTQ+ community.
Austin Students for a Democratic Society, known as SDS, held the protest in response to the state of women’s rights in Texas, particularly abortion access and healthcare, said SDS member Aidan Magner. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in...
The Daily Texan •

Student Government approves University-paid printing program for off-campus students

Student Government passed a resolution on Tuesday in support of introducing a pilot program to provide a University-funded printing allowance for UT students residing off campus.
The University provides $100 per semester in Bevo Pay for students living on campus, which could be used for different University services including printing, according to University Housing and Dining. The Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering states students within those majors alread...
The Daily Texan •

UT to prohibit Tiktok, other ByteDance-owned apps on devices used for University-related operations

The University will ban all “prohibited technologies,” including apps owned or created by ByteDance Limited, like TikTok, on personal devices used for University business beginning Feb. 27, University Risk and Compliance Services announced in an email Monday. 
The ban is in compliance with UT System Board of Regents policies prohibiting the use of ByteDance-owned apps, such as TikTok, DeepSeek, RedNote and Lemon8, on all government-issued and owned networks and devices. The System implemented th...
The Daily Texan •

Student Government executive alliance candidates debate for 2025-26 election

The Student Government executive alliance candidates for the 2025-26 academic year are debating now on the first floor of the William C. Powers Student Activity Center. Moderated by the opinion department of the Daily Texan, the debate will ask the candidates various questions ranging from their goals if elected to their platform standpoints. 
The six alliances running —  Grayson Oliver and Elizabeth Tomoloju, JD Romero and Erin  McCormick, Amy DonJuan and Chris Zapata, Hudson Thomas and Thierry...
The Daily Texan •

College of Natural Sciences dean named UT’s interim provost

David Vanden Bout, the dean of the College of Natural Sciences, will be interim provost and replace Rachel Davis Mersey in the role, interim president Jim Davis announced in an email Thursday. 
The University appointed Mersey to the position of provost and executive vice president in January after serving as interim provost since August 2024, according to a news release. Mersey also served as the dean of Moody College of Communication in 2023 and the associate dean for research at Moody College...
The Daily Texan •

UT fraternity protests Trump administration’s immigration policy

Around 300 students and community members marched from Littlefield Fountain to the Texas Capitol on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The protest, which fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta organized, began at the Littlefield Fountain at 10:00 a.m. and brought together multiple student organizations, including Students for a Democratic Society, the Sigma Lambda Alpha sorority and the Chicano Association of Law S...
The Daily Texan •

Gov. Greg Abbott prioritizes education, public safety in state address

Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his legislative priorities in his biennial State of the State address at the Arnold Oil Company on Sunday to members of the Texas House and Senate. 
While the Texas Legislature cannot pass laws within the first 60 days of a legislative session, Abbott discussed several “emergency” items, including measures on property taxes, education, bail reform and water security, which would allow the Legislature to act on them before the 60th day of the session. 
Abbott called for...
The Daily Texan •

UT Outpost updates spring 2025 guidelines to address rising student demand

The UT Outpost announced on Jan. 6 a new set of policies for spring 2025 to meet an increased need from students. 
Previously, the Outpost allowed students to take 25 pounds of food each month for free, but reduced the weight to 20 pounds this semester. According to the UT Outpost’s Instagram, they are also now separating the weight of personal items from the total weight of food items. Items such as toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo will now be limited to one of each item per month, but student...
The Daily Texan •

Turtles relocated from their pond until mid-December

The University temporarily relocated the turtles from the turtle pond to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus until mid-December to repair a leak in the pond. 
University contractors prepped the pond for its necessary repairs by draining the water over a series of nights, said Travis LaDuc, a curator of herpetology at the UT Biodiversity Center.  LaDuc said students removed the turtles last month either by hand or with dip nets, and the turtles have adjusted well to their new environment. 
“The ponds...
The Daily Texan •

Hogg Memorial Auditorium wins 2024 Preservation Austin Award  

The Hogg Memorial Auditorium received a city preservation award for restoration after a two-year renovation, the School of Architecture announced on Oct. 24.
Preservation Austin, a nonprofit advocating for the preservation of historic places in the city, gave out the awards. The organization will host the 64th Annual Preservation Merit Awards Celebration on Nov. 12, where they will honor all recipients of the restoration awards. Rosa Fry, programs manager for Preservation Austin, said the event...
The Daily Texan •

Four hours in: UT students gather to await 2024 general election results

As polls across the nation began to close at 6 p.m. CST, hundreds of UT students joined watch parties around campus to follow the results of the 2024 U.S. general election. By 10 p.m., students were beginning to head home, but votes were still being counted nationwide.
6 p.m.
Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania polls have closed, and officials started counting the first 2024 presidential election ballots.  Around twenty freshmen gathered at Garrison Hall over Raising Cane’s as MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki...
The Daily Texan •

Initiative supporting Puerto Rican arts receives $1.2 million for third phase

An organization supporting Puerto Rican artists received $1.2 million from the Mellon Foundation to move into its third phase to invest in contemporary art practices, according to an Oct. 15 press release.
The Puerto Rican Arts Initiative, which added UT’s College of Fine Arts as a partner in 2021, will launch new workshops, curatorial projects and exhibitions in its third phase, according to the release. Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, COFA dean and principal investigator of the initiative, said the p...
The Daily Texan •

‘It’s been really inspirational’: Austin adopts regional food plan

The city of Austin adopted its first food plan Oct. 10, with the Travis County Commissioners Court expected to vote on the plan in the upcoming weeks, according to a press release.
The Office of Sustainability and Travis County originally introduced the food plan in June 2021 to target rising food insecurity in Austin. The final plan contains nine goals varying from strengthening local food production to restoring agricultural land. Amanda Rohlich, Office of Sustainability food policy advisor, s...
The Daily Texan •

Lady Bird Johnson’s Wildflower Center starts developments for growth in facilities

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center plans to expand to accommodate future growth, the center announced Sept. 25.
The center will work with Lake Flato, an architecture firm based in Austin and San Antonio, and Studio Outside, a landscape architecture company based in Dallas, according to a press release. 
The center began gathering data to understand the necessary steps to meet the needs of the community, said Lee Clippard, executive director of the Wildflower Center. The center will finish c...
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