Jan. 13, 2020
facebook.com/theutdmercury | @utdmercury
TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY Former guard may never play again after collapsing on court during first game of senior year THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
ROSHAN KHICHI | MERCURY STAFF
Four computer science freshmen developed the app, which placed second in the T-Mobile Hacktober Hackathon.
Student app helps keep track of UTD events Application to scan posters, add items to calendar MADISON YORK Opinion Editor
Navigating the galaxies of campus activities, events and clubs can be dizzying. That’s why four computer science freshmen set out to make charting the course a little easier for Comets. Khalid Hossain, Cady Baltz, Christina Abraham and Supratik Pochampally recently placed second in the 2019 T-Mobile Hacktober Hackathon. Now, the team has claimed first place in the Student Government category for the 2019 UTD Hackathon by specifically designing an app that benefits the campus. Hossain said the all-night coding experience was intense — and well worth it. “The problem we saw — my team and I — is that we see all these flyers everywhere. We sometimes are very interested in them, but we’re running to class, we’re going places, we don’t really have the time to stop and really take in the information in the posters,” Hossain said. “And so, what we decided, was what if these posters were much more interactive in a much faster way?” To utilize the app, users simply point their phone’s camera at a poster or flyer, triggering a pop-up on their phone, containing all the information about the advertised event. From there, users can download all the information directly to their default calendar. Gone are the days of snapping photos of posters, then forgetting about them. The app, Hossain said, is appro-
→ SEE APP,
PAGE 10
UTD ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT | COURTESY
Doctors said senior guard Curtis Allen (#40, pictured above) had a 6% chance of survival after the former player's heart stopped during a Nov. 8 game. MRUNMAYI SATHAYE Mercury Staff
Seven minutes into the very first game of the men’s basketball season, a player began to approach the team bench to ask for a substitute. Though it was not unusual for a player to be winded around this time in a game, it was very unusual that this player collapsed before he could get a substitution. On Nov. 8, marketing senior Curtis Allen’s heart stopped during a game against Redlands Uni-
versity. Allen was hospitalized shortly after, and will no longer play for the team. Allen recounted his experience in a video for the Athletics Department. “As soon as I came down, my vision started going black and I walked towards the bench to ask for a sub,” Allen said in the video. “They said I asked for a sub, but I don’t remember asking for a sub. In five seconds I was blacked out.” Coach Terrence Butterfield said that he thought that the cause of Allen passing out was dehydration
or heat stroke because the gym was hot. It wasn’t until the trainers brought the AED when, Butterfield said, the situation took on a whole other dimension. “When something like that happens — which it has never happened to me — time stands still,” Butterfield said. “He was on his back and it looked like he was convulsing a little bit. We called to the other team’s trainer to come down because at that point we were travelling without a trainer. I looked
→ SEE ALLEN,
PAGE 10
CHIAMAKA MGBOJI | GRAPHICS EDITOR
Changes to AES awards met with unhappiness Previous merit scholarship tiers abolished due to university growth, increasing SAT/ACT scores CINDY FOLEFACK Editor-in-Chief
Despite confusion and unhappiness from prospective students following a change in Academic Excellence Scholarships, university officials maintain that UTD is committed to financial merit awards. Several prospective students posted on the UTD subreddit on mid-December as AES awards went out. Historically, the award had three tiers — Honors, Distinction and Achievement — with each tier providing full tuition coverage with a $3,000 semesterly stipend, full tuition coverage with a $1,000 semesterly stipend and $3,000 tuition coverage per semester with no stipend, respectively. After this year’s awards were released, several students voiced their confusion and frustration after receiving less scholarship money
than expected. A Mercury survey of 174 prospective students distributed through the subreddit found that 76% of respondents received an AES offer in December. Of those respondents, 39.5% received $16,000 yearly, 26% received $13,000 yearly, 15% received $10,000 yearly, 12% received $6,000 yearly and 7.5% received a different amount. Of that 7.5%, three respondents said they received $3,000 annually while the remainder chose not to specify. The Bursar’s Office placed tuition at $6,955 per semester for 12-15 credit hours under the guaranteed tuition plan, bringing the total tuition cost per year to $13,910. Nearly 70% of survey respondents said they did not know a change was being made to AES awards and 93% said they felt they weren’t
→ SEE AES,
PAGE 10
CHIAMAKA MGBOJI | GRAPHICS EDITOR
Professors voice concern over gender discrepancies in course evaluations Female faculty note differences in ratings, student behavior toward male colleagues ANJALI VENNA News Editor
Students are encouraged to complete course evaluations at the end of every semester, but factors such as race and gender may influence how students review their professors. Lauren Santoro, an assistant political science professor, received comments in her course evaluations and interactions with students that caused her to question if those remarks were related to her gender. “Research has shown that female faculty and minority faculty members are rated lower than white male faculty members. So the bias against, I feel like myself or other female faculty or minority faculty, is going to be implicit, which means that it's not really intentional,” Santoro said. “It's not like I can essentially point to specific instances where the discrepancies are widespread.
It’s just you wonder, and I know that I am penalized for certain things.” One such instance, she said, are complaints about her sticking to syllabus policy. “I'm a pretty big stickler on deadlines and policies. To ensure fairness for all my students, I don't make exceptions,” Santoro said. “I find in my teaching evals students talk about how that's unfair or that's not appreciated and they can't believe that I'm such a stickler about certain policies. I don't know, but do I get penalized more so for sticking to syllabus policy than my male colleagues?” She said there are more references to ‘teacher’ and ‘instructor’ instead of ‘professor’ in her evaluations, and she read comments that question her qualifications. “When you have students that come in and complain about a grade or they debate you about a grade you always wonder if they feel like they can debate their grade with me because I am a
young female professor,” Santoro said. “In my discussion with my male colleagues, the things that I’ve had to deal with, they don’t deal with.” One example, she said, is she has some male students that will debate and complain about a grade or late assignment with her. This occurs a majority of the time in her state and local government class, which is a mandatory course for all students. “There have been some instances I’ve dealt with that I’ve asked my male colleagues about and they’ve told me ‘we’ve never had to deal with that,’” Santoro said. Santoro said she has also received negative comments through informal methods such as Rate My Professor. One particular post commented on her pregnancy. “In these informal, anonymous
→ SEE GENDER,
PAGE 10
ANJALI VENNA | NEWS EDITOR
Professor of sociology Sheryl Skaggs said including more qualitative questions may improve the current method of course evaluations.