University of Texas to Discuss Tobacco-Free Campus Policy

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, announced in early February that in order to continue receiving grants, institutions, including the University of Texas, must become tobacco-free by March 1, 2012. Now, members of the UT community must wait for the metaphorical, and, appropriately,  physical, smoke to clear regarding whether or not the university will adopt the policy and secure millions of  dollars that are currently appropriated for cancer-related research.

According to data available on the CPRIT website, the University of Texas has received a cumulative total of more than $30 million in grants that have funded cancer prevention and treatment research. Additionally, the university is eligible to receive $88 million in grants to further research efforts.

According to the Live Tobacco Free Austin campaign, a function of the Austin Tobacco Prevention and Control Coalition, more than one in six adults in Travis County smoke or use other tobacco products. Furthermore, tobacco-related deaths total higher than deaths related to AIDS, crack, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, car accidents, fire, suicide, and murder combined, totaling an average of 11 people a week in Travis County in 2001.

 Dr. Philip Huang, medical director for the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department, said that because these deaths are almost completely preventable, he believes a tobacco-free campus is necessary to help lower those statistics.

“It’s the right thing to do to create a positive health environment, and a more positive environment in general for the students, staff, and faculty,” Huang said. “Some of the highest smoking rates are among youth ages 18 to 24, and if we create a climate where it is just not the norm, that will help people who want to quit to quit, and also help people who might have started smoking to not start.”

The University Health Services already provides several means to help students and staff quit tobacco use, including the Quitters Cessation program through the Counseling and Medical Health Center. Additionally, the university offers lowered copays for nicotine replacement therapy and pharmaceuticals through the UT Select Prescription drug plan.

            Susan Hochman, manager of the UT Health Promotion Resource Center, could not comment on the proposed policy change, but said that she believes the current support given to students and faculty who want to quit is positive.

            “Our office is involved in the prevention side, in terms of helping people to not start smoking and helping people who do smoke,” Hochman said. “We are involved with ensuring that resources and services are provided to support students in case they do want to quit.”

            The City of Austin already has implemented a smoke-free policy in restaurants and city parks, and as of Jan. 16, 2012, tobacco use is prohibited at CapMetro-owned bus stops and transit centers. Additionally, all Austin Community College campuses and Huston-Tillotson University in Austin have recently become tobacco-free.

Eva Valilis, a public health sophomore and member of the Texas Public Health student organization, said that she believes a university ban on tobacco products will make the campus a safer place for smokers and non-smokers alike.

“Texas Public Health has been promoting a ban on tobacco use on campus for nearly a year by reaching out to faculty and students,” Valilis said. “A tobacco-free campus will not only reduce the harmful effects of second hand smoking, but also force smokers to limit their tobacco use and hopefully motivate them to quit altogether.”

source: City of Austin

Renewing a Cultural Heritage

On Wednesday evening, members of the African-American Resource Advisory poured over hundreds of mismatched portraits and histories in an attempt to choose 100 of East Austin’s  African-American cultural district’s most influential residents, both past and present. The faces of these men and women will be tiled around the mural that will adorn the walls of the African-American Cultural Heritage Center, currently under construction and set to open in time for this year’s Juneteenth celebrations.

The center, originally commissioned in 2006, will be built as an expansion around the home of Dedrick Hamilton, one of Travis County’s first freed slaves. The facility will be home to the African-American Visitors Center, the Capital City African-American Chamber of Commerce, and Pro Arts Collective, an organization recognized for its work in spreading knowledge of African-American culture through community involvement in programs such as dance and visual arts. The center will be finished by the summer of 2012, and will cost $4.4 million. But despite the cost, many community members such as Chiquita Eugene, who serves as the chair of the African-American Advisory Commission, believe that the addition of the facility to the neighborhood will help address many problems faced in the East Austin area and revitalize the once culturally-rich area.

“Some issues have to do with cultural events, health issues, educational issues, safety issues…and the concern of business,” Eugene said. “Once upon a time, East Austin, for lack of a better way of explaining it, was the bomb.  That sort of has gone with time, those entrepreneurs that had those businesses have sort of died on the vine so to speak. The facility is going to house all the information…on African-American historical pieces, [as well as a] walking tour of the area that will talk about the history of African Americans in that part of time.”

The portraits are one of the final steps in finalizing the design of a mosaic that will stretch across one wall of the facility. The art is being conceptualized by Reginald Adams, the founder of Museum of Cultural Arts, Houston, an organization dedicated to involving the residents of largely minority populated areas in the creation of art. MOCAH was commissioned by the African American Resource Advisory Committee and Austin’s Art in Public Places program, and Adams said he plans to invite the children of nearby Kealing Middle School to help with the physical creation of the mosaic in hopes of strengthening the community.

“When we go back home, wherever our home may be, the people who live in it and have to spend time around that piece can take ownership in it,” Adams said. “We talk about art as a tool for community development, and the aspect we’re looking at is people taking pride in their neighborhood or in their civic space because of their ability to contribute towards the enhancement of it.”

Robert Organ is the chair of deacons at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, located directly across the street from what will soon be the facility. As a lifelong member of the church and of the East Austin community, Organ believes that the creation of the African-American Cultural Heritage Center will instill in the local community a renewed sense of pride in their past.

“The African-American community is most proud of the preservation and restoration and what that represents,” Organ said. “I think the community as a whole is honored and proud that some value is placed on not only what happened back then, but on maintaining the history.”

For Hungry Central Texans, Food Supplies are Becoming Scarce

As families across Austin hang decorations and light holiday candles, local food employees and volunteers are spreading the spirit in a more fundamental way: by ensuring that those in need do not go hungry this holiday season.

According to the Hunger in America Central Texas Report, more residents than ever are relying on governmental services such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally the Food Stamp program. However, with a disproportionate increase in demand for food compared to donations, many food pantries and charitable organizations are struggling to provide for Austin’s needy community.

Hank Perret, president and CEO of Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, said that even though the fall and winter months typically bring in higher donations, the 2 million pounds of food they distribute to over 150,000 people a month is not meeting the increasing need.

“The need is at least 40 percent greater, and has grown,” Perret said. “Last year we distributed 50 percent more food than in 2008, and we’re seeing more people in our food lines than we’ve ever seen.”

This increase in need is largely due to worsening unemployment across the area. Additionally, this year’s severe drought has raised food prices as well as energy and gas prices across central Texas. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texans will pay up to 4.5 percent more for food this year compared to last, and there is little reprieve in sight.  However, Perret says that October, November and December usually bring an increase in donations, a hopeful sign for Central Texans.

“Our donations tend to be cyclical … and this tends to be our best time because charitable giving is at the top of people’s mind,” Perret said. “The summer is when our shelves are the most empty, so now we’re getting to see those fill back up.”

Alternatively, Alan Graham, founder and CEO of the Austin-based charity Mobile Loaves & Fishes, said that while the demand for their services has increased rapidly, the number of volunteers and donations has also grown at a comparable pace. Unlike the typical food bank, Mobile Loaves & Fishes delivers food, water, and toiletries to the needy using catering trucks and has grown to serve seven cities across six states since it was founded in 1998.

Graham said that he believes the reason the company has grown despite the struggling economy is because the desire to make a difference in a community transcends monetary strain.

“People want to serve and to give, and we find that if you have a powerful mission that’s doing good work, people are going to be there when you need them,” Graham said. “The numbers we serve are going up, no doubt about it, but we think it’s due to a loss of family, not necessarily the economy.”

Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Graham said, works to create a greater feeling of community and family for the needy and the homeless. He hopes to accomplish this goal through the creation of the Community First! program, which provides chronically homeless families with refurbished recreational vehicles in communities specially designed to provide support and friendship through prayer and encouragement.

“What we really do is empower people to serve the population that we serve, and food just happens to be a conduit that connects human hearts,” Graham said. “The main means that we use to help is family. It’s our goal to connect people back to who they are. We believe that within the next few years, there will be a paradigm-shifting way of looking at how communities can begin to address and maybe even mitigate homelessness and hunger.”

Beyond the city of Austin, the state of Texas’ household food insecurity rates have risen significantly this year. According to Feed America’s 2011 study called ‘Map the Meal Gap,’ the state’s 18.8 percent rate of household food insecurity is more than 4 percent higher than the national average, ranking Texas second behind Mississippi in the number of food-insecure homes.

Conversely, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Texas was 8.4 percent last month, compared to the national average of 9.1 percent. Many Texans blame these disproportionate statistics on the fact that 37 percent of the new jobs created in the state pay minimum wage.

“Minimum wage is not a working wage in the state of Texas,” Perret said. “People earning minimum wage are earning $14,000 a year. I don’t see how anyone can survive on that. We have a lot of really good people working really hard, but they need help. That’s why we’re here.”

According a 2011 study published by the United States Department of Agriculture, 48.8 million Americans, 16.8 million of them children, live in food-insecure households. However, the Giving USA Foundation reports that charitable giving across the U.S. increased 3.8 percent following two years of downward trends in donations.

Perret said he believes this is because Americans are beginning to recognize the changing face of hunger across the nation, and he hopes they will continue to mobilize to eradicate hunger.

“The face of hunger is not the person standing at the corner with a can asking for money,” Perret said. “People can donate their time, their treasures, and their voice advocating on behalf of the hungry.”

At the University of Texas at Austin, student organizations are calling on classmates to take action against hunger and poverty.

“Our mission is to eradicate poverty and empower communities,” said Natasha Sharma, external communications director for UT’s chapter of Nourish International. “Sustainability is an effective way for us to help others empower themselves, because such projects and efforts will have longer lasting effects. We contribute to this cause by advertising for awareness events informing students about opportunities to eradicate poverty.”

Katy Aus, co-president of Oxfam International at UT, said that she believes the most effective way to combat rising hunger rates is by changing the way people view the less fortunate members of their community.

“We believe that changing the world starts with changing attitudes about hunger and poverty, so outreach is one of our key goals,” Aus said. “As students, our voices matter. We have access to brilliant professors and lecture events, and we are part of a larger community that cares about the rest of the world. The best way to make a difference is by having conversations about hunger and poverty, and educating yourself and others.”

Perret said that before hunger can truly become a nonissue, people must continue to act on behalf of the less fortunate within their communities and make an effort to help.

“People have to believe that hunger is unacceptable,” Perret said. “It’s not acceptable in Texas, it’s not acceptable in the United States, and it doesn’t make any sense. We have to find a way to make it so people stop suffering from food insecurity.”

Members of UT's Nourish International organization spreading awareness at the annual campus Hex Rally on Nov, 21, 2011.