the Mercury
www.utdmercury.com
The Student Newspaper of UTD
Vol. XXXI, No. 2
Comets fighting for first place in ASC Page 7
January 24, 2011
Hobnob with The House of Mob Page 5
A student’s take on academic dishonesty Page 3
Checkmate: UTD topples top foes UTD chess crowned best in the West Bobby Karalla
Sports Editor rjk090020@utdallas.edu
The UTD Chess team won the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Championship in Milwaukee outright for the first time in the university’s history. Teams from across the Western Hemisphere competed in the tournament. The top four American teams at the Pan-American Championship automatically qualify for the Final Four, which takes place April 1-3 in Washington D.C., Director of Chess James Stallings said.
“This is truly the crown jewel of college chess,” Stallings said. “The Final Four doesn’t mean anything if you don’t play in this. To win it like we did is not easy.” The other three schools to qualify were UT Brownsville, Texas Tech and University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Three UTD teams competed at the tournament. The “A” Team, the school’s most competitive, finished the tournament with a 6-0 record. Stallings said the best previous finish a UTD team had was 5-1. The final few rounds were
the toughest for the team, Stallings said. Each opponent they faced had national and international stars. “In the last three rounds, we had to go up against three teams, each of which had three grand masters and one international master,” Stallings said. “In that run of 12 games, we only lost one game out of 12. Not only did we face the stiffest competition, but we also had our best record. We’ve never had a 6-0 score.” Three UTD teams competed at the Pan-American
photo by Ben Hawkins
After winning the Pan-American Championship, the board is set for the UTD Chess Team to compete in the Final Four in April in Washington D.C.
see CHESS page 4
Nanotech’s new threads
Courses a go despite cutbacks
Biscrolling harnesses hardto-handle nanomaterials Jessica Melton
Editor-in-Chief jjm082000@utdallas.edu
Threads have been used to sew buttons back on clothes or mend shirts for thousands of years, but a recent development in nanotube technology will take the ability of thread to an entirely new level. Earlier this month, UTD’s NanoTech Institute published part of its yearlong research
UTD faring well amid statewide budget reductions
project aimed at harnessing the properties of nanomaterials, or infinitesimally small chemical elements, that can be used in a wide variety of everyday products. As it is, the NanoTech Institute is one of the few places in the world with the ability to spin multi-walled carbon nanotube sheets into threads. These threads — also known as biscrolled
Shane Damico
Managing Editor spd064000@utdallas.edu
While most other Texas public universities are buckling under the pressure of continued statewide budget cuts, UTD officials say the university has yet to make any significant sacrifice that would affect students and faculty. Last fall UTD administrators cautioned that this semester might see course cuts in response to lower state funding. This semester, all schools at UTD reduced their budgets by 2.5 percent in preparation for an estimated 10-25 percent budget cut over the next two years. Meanwhile, UTD officials say course offerings have not been affected by the recent and expected budget cutbacks on the state level. Hasan Pirkul, dean of the School of Management, said 26 of the School’s classes have been cancelled this semester,
see NANO page 10
photos by Albert Ramirez
Marcio Lima, NanoTech research assistant and lead author of the biscrolling project, twists sheets of nanotubes to create a yarn. When these threads are biscrolled they retain the function of whatever was added as well as the properties of the thread.
see BUDGET page 4
Mysterious millions Arts & Humanities gets anonymous donation Danelle Adeniji
Staff Writer dxa102120@utdallas.edu
A multimillion-dollar donation will add six new faculty members to the school of Arts & Humanities and help pay for the construction of a new building on campus. This past fall a $5 million donation was received from an anonymous donor to recruit more staff in the Arts & Technology program. University officials said the UT system added $2.5 million to the donation.
The combined $7.5 million will be used in two parts: $5 million will be used in the Arts & Technology program for the placement of four new professors and two endowed chairs, or research based professors. The remaining $2.5 million will go toward the construction of the new Visual Arts Building and an Arts & Technology scholarship. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts & Humanities, said UTD embraces new ideas, optimism and enthusiasm. He said the donor was
pleased with the money added to their donation, because it could help the department grow. “A gift of any level is welcomed but a gift of this magnitude is transformational,” Kratz said. “The gift is recognition of the program.” The donor specified the money should go toward procurement of Arts & Technology professors. A university official said a committee has been formed to indentify the areas that professors and endowed chairs are needed, and they
illustration by Laura-Jane Cunningham
will be searching for top researchers in the Arts & Technology field. “(The) School of Arts and
Humanities seeks to build one of the finest schools in the nation,” Kratz said. “To do that we need funding
from other sources.”
see DONATION page 4