Latest news with #UT-Austin
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After college students protested Israel-Hamas war, Texas Senate votes to restrict time, place and manner of future events
The Texas Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would restrict protesting on college campuses in reaction to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year. The bill's author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said he wants to prevent disruption and unsafe behavior, but opponents have said it contradicts the Legislature's previous commitment to campus free speech, championed by conservative lawmakers six years ago. Senate Bill 2972 would give university systems' governing boards the power to limit where protests can take place on campus and more tools to police them. Lawmakers voted 21-10 to advance the bill without debate. Under the legislation, students and staff would not be allowed to use microphones or any other device to amplify sound while protesting during class hours. The bill largely prohibits them from protesting at all overnight and during the last two weeks of a semester. They'd also be barred from erecting encampments, taking down an institution's U.S. flag to put up another nation's or organization's and wearing masks, facial coverings or other disguises to avoid being identified while protesting or to intimidate others. Finally, students and university employees at a protest would be required to present a valid ID when asked by law enforcement. In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 18, which required colleges and universities to ensure that all outdoor common areas of campus were traditional public forums. This meant anyone could protest there as long as they weren't breaking the law or disrupting the function of the college or university. SB 18 also said any restrictions institutions placed on protesting had to be 'narrowly tailored to serve a significant institutional interest.' SB 2972 would walk those provisions back, allowing governing boards to designate which areas on campus are traditional public forums and allowing them to restrict protests in these areas as long as it is 'reasonable in light of the purpose of the area.' Cate Byrne, a third-year law student at the University of Texas at Austin, said during a Senate K-16 Education Hearing last month that because the bill doesn't define what is 'reasonable,' it could lead to administrators discriminating against protesters based on their viewpoint. Other current and former UT-Austin students pointed out that some protesters must wear masks because they are immunocompromised and that this legislation would also impede conservative speech — which lawmakers sought to protect when they passed SB 18 in 2019. They pointed out that candlelight vigils for the unborn would not be allowed under this proposal because they would occur at night, for example. 'These restrictions create an impossible situation,' said Sameeha Rizvi, Texas policy and advocacy coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a UT-Austin graduate. 'Protest silently during the daytime or don't protest at all after hours. Whether students are advocating for human rights or religious freedom, all speech across the political spectrum will be constrained.' Following Hama's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, students across the country demanded their universities divest from Israel or manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Hillel International also reported a sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents on campus, which lawmakers vowed to address this session. When students protested at UT-Austin, administrators called in armed state troopers, who arrested more than a hundred people over several days. Several colleges across the country have since imposed limits on protesting that clamped down on pro-Palestinian encampments. The Indiana University board of trustees adopted a policy similar to the bill the Texas Legislature is considering that prohibits camping unless it is part of a university-approved event, protesting overnight and amplified noise that 'materially or substantially' disrupts university life. The Trump administration has also demanded that Columbia and Harvard universities ban masks at campus protests. Columbia agreed. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Axios
08-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Oil prices falling into zone that discourages production growth
President Trump's social media celebration of falling oil prices highlights how — intentionally or not — his policies favor lowering fuel costs over boosting output. For now, anyway. Why it matters: The swoon should send consumer gasoline costs downward, which Trump ran on. But oil prices are falling into a zone that discourages production growth — especially if a prolonged trade war badly dims the global economic and demand outlook. Friction point:"The oil industry expected strong support from this White House, but there's no way production will grow at $60" per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, energy analyst Ben Cahill of UT-Austin told Axios via email. Exploration and production companies "have to worry about a recession, so they'll take a cautious approach to [capital expenditure] and planning. Production growth is off the table unless the macroeconomic outlook improves," he said. Yes, but: An Energy Department spokesperson said Trump's lowering energy costs by cutting "red tape." "These policies benefit American consumers while also reducing regulatory burdens on energy producers, making it less costly to operate in the United States," the spokesperson said in a statement to Axios. The big picture: "Drill, baby, drill" is also a long-term idea. White House policies aim to expand access to federal lands and ease regulations, which could be bullish for growing production or at least compensating for eventual shale declines. "'Drill, baby, drill' and 'low fuel prices' don't have to occur simultaneously in Trump's energy agenda," oil expert Ellen Wald said. Conventional production can have years-long — or in the case of offshore, even decades-long — planning and development horizons, she noted. Threat level: Wald nonetheless said the effect of today's trade policies can cloud that long-term development vision. She said the economic uncertainty Trump has introduced will lead companies to act conservatively and avoid major capital allocations. If Trump wants to have lower fuel costs and promote future drilling, he'll need to reassure execs and investors that he's "taking steps to promote stability and security in the near and longer-term future," she said via email. What we're watching: Whether U.S. producers publicly criticize Trump's trade policies, which a number of them were anonymously grousing about even before April 2. An exec with shale heavyweight Diamondback Energy, which has seen its share price battered lately, offered some rather ambiguously stated concern on X (Bloomberg has more). State of play: U.S. regular gasoline is averaging over $3.20 per gallon. But Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said prices will soon fall as crude slides and recession risks loom. Oil prices are at their lowest levels since 2021, with WTI shedding roughly $10 per barrel since April 2 and trading at $61 Tuesday morning. What's next: "If tariffs aren't scaled back soon, the national average could fall below $3 per gallon in the weeks ahead, with no clear indication of how long it might stay there as market volatility persists," De Haan said in a blog post.
Axios
22-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Why oil markets are calm in Trump's global storm
Seismic policy shifts underway in Trump 2.0 are having surprisingly little effect on oil prices so far. Why it matters: Crude costs ripple across the economy. And their movement signals what traders think about how policy upheaval will — or won't — change supply and demand. The big picture: Oil has traded in a narrow range since President Trump's election, with Brent mostly chilling in the $70-$80-ish band, and prices were also pretty stable throughout 2024. That's especially true compared to huge swings when COVID crushed demand in 2020 and then Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine sent prices skyward (check out the chart above). State of play: There's no shortage of market-moving news lately, including tariffs, but lots of it rows in opposing directions. Trump's hopes to boost supply with a "drill baby drill" blitz, though macroeconomic forces influence oil companies more than regulatory changes. A near-term surge doesn't look likely. Trump is also pushing for more Saudi barrels but plans to ratchet up Iran sanctions enforcement, which could take lots of supply off the market. What they're saying:"The market is tuning out a lot of policy pronouncements from Washington, because there are conflicting signals," oil expert Ben Cahill of UT-Austin tells me via email. "Will Trump offer sanctions relief for Moscow? Will he tighten the screws on Iran and restrict supply? Hard to tell," said Cahill, who's with the school's Center for Energy and Environmental Systems Analysis. The current price band could also have a self-sustaining energy. Cahill notes that macro concerns are keeping prices below $80, and he calls $75-$80 the "Goldilocks" zone. That means "high enough to keep producers humming, but not so high that prices harm economies and depress growth." Friction point: Tariffs against trading partners create headwinds that can hurt demand. But then there's the added wrinkle of whether Trump will actually follow through on a given threat — including against Canada, a huge oil supplier to U.S. refineries. "Tariffs are legitimately a mixed bag for oil prices," Clayton Seigle of the Center for Strategic and International Studies tells me. " The supply side is bullish because refiners' costs will increase, but the demand side is bearish as trade wars threaten to pull down GDP and oil demand along with it," Seigle, a senior fellow in energy security, said via email. What we're watching: Trump's efforts to negotiate an end to Russia's war on Ukraine, with sanctions relief reportedly on the table, are yet another variable. The intrigue: The calm isn't limited to oil. Lots of asset classes have been fairly stable. The only ones really moving this year are hedges against tariffs and inflation — think gold prices breaking records like they're going out of style. The bottom line:"The noise-to-signal ratio is overwhelming oil traders," Seigle said. "Headlines with conflicting implications for supply-demand balances are coming too fast for traders and portfolio managers to effectively process."
