INSIDE
Summer fashion internships
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‘Why I became vegetarian’
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Women’s Golf places 2nd in AAC
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‘Ex Machina’ star discusses film
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wednesDAY
APRIL 22, 2015
Wednesday High 79, Low 64 Thursday High 81, Low 66
VOLUME 100 ISSUE 82 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS 1915 - 2015
NEWS Briefs World BAGHDAD— Iraqi security forces have regained control of some areas lost earlier to the Islamic State group in and around the western city of Ramadi in the volatile Anbar province, said security officials Tuesday. TALLINN, Estonia— About 400 computer experts will participate in the Locked Shields 2015 cybersecurity drill in Estonia this week as part of NATO’s efforts to upgrade its capability to counter potentially debilitating hacker attacks.
National LOS ANGELES— An appeals court decision striking down punitive water pricing that was intended to encourage conservation had water agencies reviewing rates Tuesday and some residents exploring whether to bring similar challenges.
‘Did you feel that?’ SMU seismology team reveals North Texas earthquake findings JAMIE BUCHSBAUM News Staff Writer jbuchsbaum@smu.edu If you’ve been around the Dallas area in the past few years, you may have felt a number of tremors that probably felt foreign to those of us not from California. A recent series of earthquakes rattling the North Texas area has had people asking, “Did you feel that?” Since 2008, more than 120 earthquakes have been reported in North Texas. Prior to 2008, an earthquake hadn’t been felt in the area since 1950, according to SMU seismologists. An SMU-led seismology team consisting of two associate professors of geophysics, Matthew Hornbach and Heather DeShon, revealed their findings from the Azle-Reno region of Texas in a brief press conferencestyle lecture Tuesday afternoon. The lecture was held in Heroy Hall for about 25 attendees. Hornbach began the lecture with a quick informative brief in which he explained the major potential causes of
the earthquakes occurring in North Texas. These causes include natural stress changes, the potential cause of the Texas drought, and the potential change in industry activity involving wastewater. “The most probable cause of seismicity in this region has to do with the oil and gas activities in the Azle-Reno area during the last few years,” said Hornbach. In simple terms: Hornbach believes the earthquakes that have struck in North Texas are due to the high volumes of brine (saltwater) being injected in the gas subsurface. The high volumes of fluids being removed is what is driving the significant pressure changes in the affected areas. Hornbach and DeShon spent the remaining time answering questions from the audience. The first question asked the scientists where this fluid comes from. Hornbach explained that when producing oil and gas, a large quantity of water is produced as a byproduct that needs to be safely removed, which is why it is injected into the ground. “The [oil and gas] industry went above and beyond on [the data] they have
provided,” said Hornbach. “Without that data we could not have done much of this analysis.” Hornbach iterated that the industry has been on board with the team since day one and that it is looking for possible causes as well. The seismology team also developed a 3-D model that helps illustrate the pressure changes occurring in the reservoirs, which DeShon took a few minutes to delve into the logistics of. DeShon explained that the water being injected into the ground goes down almost 8,000 or more feet below the surface and therefore does not have any effect on our drinking water. One audience member raised a question that referenced Dr. Pearson with the Railroad Commission, who casted doubt on the team’s study specifically in its methodology, the information used, and the conclusions they reached. However, Hornbach believed that what Pearson claimed was actually consistent with what the team believed. “There’s still a tremendous amount of uncertainty in these models,” said
Hornbach. “We’ve drawn these conclusions with very limited, but very valuable data, to make our best estimate on what causes the earthquakes.” This raised even more doubt among the audience. as people began questioning the team’s confidence and overall accuracy of the study. Hornbach couldn’t say with absolute certainty that the cause of the earthquakes is from oil and gas activity, but from a scientific perspective, he claimed that it is the most likely cause. Another concern raised was the potential occurrence of larger earthquakes that could have catastrophic and damaging effects. While the series of North Texas earthquakes have not reached a magnitude over three, it’s been proven that the occurrence of an earthquake temporarily increases the likelihood of even larger earthquakes following the initial one. Audience members agreed that this poses a real safety hazard to the public as well as Texas infrastructure that is not equipped to withstand earthquakes.
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fitness
TRENTON, N.J.— An Orthodox rabbi accused of using brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish men to divorce their wives was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. But the federal jury in Rabbi Mendel Epstein’s case rendered a mixed verdict, acquitting him of attempted kidnapping.
Texas CORPUS CHRISTI— The deaths of 389 fish at the Texas State Aquarium are being blamed on a mislabeled chemical container. A statement posted Tuesday on the aquarium’s Facebook page says what staff members thought was an anti-parasite drug was actually a poisonous chemical used in film processing, as a stabilizer in paint and motor fuels, and in cosmetics. That’s based on preliminary lab results.
Courtesy of Yasser Abdelhamid
2015 Mr. and Ms. SMU competition winners Ben Nabors and Nina Sosa.
Students strike a pose for annual Mr. and Ms. SMU bodybuilding competition olivia nguyen Managing Editor qonguyen@smu.edu The 19th annual Mr. and Ms. SMU competition took place in the lower level of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center April 17. Mr. and Ms. SMU is a natural body building competition that values dedication and the physical form. Both men and women competitors train their bodies to maximize muscle tone, definition and size while staying lean. The competition is part of SMU Mustang Fitness Club. There are four sections of the competition for both male and female competitors: the introduction, symmetry round, fitness routines, pose-off and awards ceremony. The symmetry round includes a series of posing; fitness routines allow competitors
to impress the judges and audience with 60 seconds of choreography; and the pose-off is a 30 second showdown as a final impression to show the judges their physique. The scoring for Mr. and Ms. SMU varies based on gender. Male competitors are required to do the following poses: front double biceps, front lat spread, side biceps, side triceps, rear lat spread, rear double biceps, abdominals and most muscular poses. Female competitors are required to only do front, best side and back. The judges are IFBB Pro and two-time “Mr. Israel” Sagi Kalev, fitness professional Regina Coreil, former NPC middleweight bodybuilder Keri C. Parker Berry, personal trainer Chad Wall and Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports personal trainer and 2014 and 2015 SMU Strongman winner Andrew Elrod.
Competitors for Mr. SMU are as follows: sophomore Ben Nabors, senior Statten Corwin, PhD student Patrick Lan and sophomore Alexandro Garcia. Competitors for Ms. SMU are as follows: masters student Nina Sosa, senior Courtney Thrower, first-year Sophia Ho and senior Rachel Nicol. Nabors won Mr. SMU and Sosa won Ms. SMU. Runner ups for Mr. and Ms. SMU were Lan and Nicol. First place winners received Sagi Kalev’s Body Beast workout DVD set as well as a box of Shakeology shakes as prizes. This is both Nabors’ and Rivera’s first time winning Mr. and Ms. SMU. The 2015 winners discussed their fitness and diet regimen in preparation for the competition that led to their victory. Nabors discusses his fitness routine
and changes he made to be in shape for the competition. “I’ve been training about five to six days a week for the past three years,” Nabors said. “I started a fairly aggressive cut about six weeks ago to prepare for the contest.” 2015 Ms. SMU winner Nina Sosa also trained hard in preparation for the event. “Two weeks prior to the competition I cut down on sodium, I cut carbs completely and I went from four meals to six meals a day,” Sosa said. “A week before the competition I started slowly decreasing my water intake then I started eating carbs again for a fuller figure.” The winners also reflect on winning the competition. “I felt honored to win the title of 2015
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