The University of Texas' ongoing battle against homogeny continues next semester with the decision of university president William Powers to create an advisory committee in order to tackle the controversy of the South Mall statues of Confederate icons, an issue that has plagued the college community for years. The Statesman reminded us yesterday that this is a debate that will surely hang around for sometime, until something is done. The South Mall is the......

Last year, in Gregory Gym on the UT campus, five miniature statues of former congresswoman Barbara Jordan were placed in the lobby for students and faculty to vote on. After a year-long process, Santa Fe artist Kim Crowley's representation of Jordan, thumbing around her briefcase while seated on a bronze bench, was chosen. Due to its rather lackluster presence, that statue has now been repealed by the UT Barbara Jordan Statue Committe. Today, they're......

Cine Las Americas is hosting a special screening of the critically acclaimed Letters from the Other Side. The documentary on Mexican immigration was directed by Austinite Heather Courtney. The free screening at the George Washington Carver Museum is open to the public and will feature a Q&A with women featured in the film, with a reception to follow. Beyond just a screening, the evening is a celebration of sorts, as the women from the......

Photograph of Rick Santorum conceding defeat with his family by Gene J. Puskar/AP The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold in most grocery stores.......

To imagine the love child of Maya Angelou and Kara Walker is to envision -- however hypothetically -- the potent soulfulness expressed by Gee's Bend Quilts, now on show at the Austin Museum of Art. The exhibit, Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee's Bend Quilts and Beyond, celebrates the women artists of Gee's Bend, a small African American community in rural Alabama where, even today, only a single road leads in and out. Accordingly, the region's quilts......

UT's South Mall -- you know, "the Six-Pack" -- is playing host to some filming action today. It's for The Hitcher (2007). You can check out what iMDB has to say about it here. Apparently it's about a hitch-hiker -- an evil hitch-hiker -- and some unassuming morons who pick him up. Filming has evidently taken place on 290 East and at UT. They've decked some presidential statues with shrubs, USA Prez George Washington......

The South by Southwest Film Festival recently released their complete lineup of this year's short films. All told, 130 - ranging from documentary and experimental to narrative shorts - are to be shown from March 10-18. We've gone through and selected a few that caught our attention (based solely on their descriptions): ANIMATED SHORTS A Painful Glimpse into my Writing Process (In Less than 60 Seconds) Dir: Chel White A darkly satirical tour de......

If you want a little French romance on film tonight, but you want it from a Frenchman and not an Austinite, go check out L'esquive tonight at at the Texas Union- for FREE. Winner of multiple Cesar awards at the the Francophone Film Fest, the movie tells the story of young romance in the projects of Paris' outlying areas. Think George Washington meets Death on the Installment Plan. Or something. L'esquive FREE Texas Union......