UT to close Cactus Cafe, end informal classes - Tony Plohetski and Michael Corcoran, AMERICAN-STATESMAN

In a move that has stunned Austin's music scene, University of Texas officials announced plans to shutter the popular Cactus Cafe, the landmark campus venue where Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith and others spawned their careers. UT officials also have decided to nix their decades-long program of informal classes, in which, for a nominal fee, thousands of area residents have learned a variety of skills and subjects, from golf to sewing to languages.