Regional town hall for students, comet watch party

(VDRs) will be present to help students get registered for approaching elections.

Students can enjoy coffee and donuts while interacting with representatives and asking them questions The event will be held on March 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the Davidson Management Auditorium located in the Jindal School of Management.

Comet Watch Party SG, in collaboration with the Astronomy department, is hosting an event for stu- dents to gather and view Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in honor of UTD’s mascot. First discovered in March 2022, the comet stands out because of its vibrant green tail that can be seen as it makes its way across the sky. The viewing party will be held in the early morning of Feb. 2, the date of the comet’s closest passage to Earth. Students will be able to enjoy snacks, skywatch and learn about the rare occurrence in a picnic style gathering. by peers and by Hall, one-on-one recovery meetings, sober social activities, naloxone trainings and weekly specialized programming for disordered eating, substance use disorders and behavioral disorders. These free services are available to both students and the public, and the center also offers therapy with new director and licensed social worker Kay Solomon. In addition to coordinating and organizing programming and events, Hall works to provide psychoeducation to students, aided by his background in therapy and philosophy. Hall was recognized in December by Student Affairs for going above and beyond in his contributions to Comets’ wellbeing.

“If you have met Jeremy Hall, you absolutely remember Jeremy Hall,” a nomination said. “Jeremy is one of the friendliest and passionate people and this translates to all of his work and interactions here at UTD … [He’s] shown innovation in his way of marketing the CSR and trying to get students through the door. When students are there, they report feeling a

TIKTOK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and censoring their news,” Rubio said.

Professor of Instruction Janet Johnson — who teaches classes on social media and politics — has a different perspective on the app’s educational value.

“When we're talking [about] deep fakes and we're talking about misinformation, TikTok is sometimes a really great example to show students about what goes on and what to watch out for now,” Johnson said. She believes there is a lot of misinformation going around about the dangers of TikTok and social media platforms.

“There are really great TikTok ac- shoes to fill. He’s the epitome of a leader. I would hope and expect anyone would follow his example.”

At the ceremony, Dean of Students Amanada Smith talked about how inspiring Zacharias was for staff and incoming students at freshmen orientations, as he has made the campus safer and more united. Vice President and Chief of Staff Rafael Martín recounted how Zacharias embraced university spirit as a UTD sports superfan and integrated values such as development and education into the police department. UT System Director of Police Michael Heidingsfield, came from UT Austin to speak on behalf of American law enforcement, bestowing the UT Systems Police Shield and the UT Systems Distinguished Command Award as compensation for his years of excellent service. Benson, retold familiar stories of Zacharias and how he will be deeply missed. Zacharias spent many years trying to improve connections between UTD PD and the student body.

“I'm a strong believer in developing partnerships, and that was the problem with the police department and the police administration before me. It was an us versus them environment,” Zacharias said. “It was a matter of working with [students,] showing them that we're not their enemy or here to harm. We're here to help them and keep them safe — and it didn't happen overnight.”

Students attending UTD before the pandemic might remember the grill parties the police chief provided for athletes after winning games, the

RAD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 from women. With us, we do this outside of work. This is not our free time or our personal time, so that’s why whenever we do registration and send it out, we ask that if you’re going to cancel, please let us know.” sense of acceptance, ease and connection within the center – all things we know contribute to improving our mental health, and I can't help from believing this is in part because Jeremy's presence and his genuine care of students … He is one of a kind and truly valued.”

Each class is capped at 20 participants and has at least two instructors so students can demonstrate the moves with the instructors and fight three different scenarios with a UTD PD staff member in protective gear. In addition, the program requires at least six participants to show up in order to hold a session, which can often be a challenge according to Fernandez.

But CSR wasn’t always this welcoming. Before spring 2022, the center was practically empty. Few students stopped by every semester, and the fresh return from the pandemic wasn’t helping attendance. CSR had not established itself as a notable resource for students on campus. It was around this time that Hall came on the scene as the new project coordinator.

“All of this was really created by Jeremy,” neuroscience freshman Michelle Beakley said. “His approach comes from an empathetic lens. He makes sure this is a safe comforting environment and that students get what they need for any problems they have. Even outside the center, you’ll probably run into him somewhere on campus because he puts himself out there. He’s always interacting with students wherever he can – talking with them, but counts … and those will probably be missed,” Johnson said, “and it's hard to teach media without having the media to teach it with.” police escorts after championship games and how Zacharias often reversed or reevaluated policies to be more student friendly. He became well known for his iconic golf cart patrols across campus where he would greet passersby with a smile.

Aaberg insists the ban is hurting not only marketing and communications majors but also UTD’s admission rates.

“It is such a powerful tool that universities can truly leverage to connect with prospective students,” Aaberg said.

TikTok is not the first app to face this amount of backlash. The anonymous messaging platform Yik Yak had to shut down after multiple college campuses banned Wi-Fi access amid cyberbullying, sexual harassment and threats of gun violence. It was relaunched in August 2021 with “community guardrails” in place.

Zacharias has been serving the public since 1977. A graduate of Sam Houston State University and the FBI National Academy, Zacharias started his 45 years of service by enrolling in the Richardson Police Department as a patrol officer. He was appointed chief of Richardson police in 2002 and later retired from the position in January 2008. In previous years, Zacharias was legislative director for the Texas Police Chiefs Association and a board member for both the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration and the North Texas Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. After his retirement in 2008, Zacharias was working to become the police chief for DART, but after hearing about an opening at UTD, he was convinced by his wife to reconsider.

“I think there was something telling me this place needs me,” Zacharias said. “I was pretty naive when I started here. I knew how to run a police department and I knew how to manage people, but I didn't know anything about campus.”

Zacharias experienced a learning curve, trying to figure out how to transition from managing police departments and reporting to the city council to working with college students on a daily basis. However, he caught on quickly and began improving UTD PD policies.

Those attending UTD postpandemic may not be fully aware

“It is [a concern] because it takes a lot of time and … that’s a lot of work for me to do for no one to show up,” Fernandez said. “In order for us to keep our license to teach R.A.D., we have to teach so many classes a year. We get it, sometimes you forget or things come up with school, but that’s what we ask. If you’re going to cancel, just let us know, that way we can get someone else because we do have a waitlist.”

Paula Austell, director of endowment services, took the R.A.D. for women course last semester. According to Austell, the program challenged her physically and prepared her mentally to always be cautious of her surroundings.

“It was a physical challenge … also listening.”

Before coming to CSR, Hall worked as assistant vice president for Bank of America, making six figures annually. But he was dissatisfied –while financially secure, he knew there was something greater inside him. Hall had always had a passion for teaching young people, so he put in his two weeks and began looking for mentorship positions.

“The people at HR were impressed but didn’t believe that I’d want to work here because I was overqualified,” Hall said. “But I was adamant about my interest. I wanted to do what makes me happy – and that’s save lives and impact lives. It’s not about the money. And to be in a position where I can do that is beautiful. I went through terrible abuse as a child, which really shaped me and gave me the strength to do the job I do today and relate with students’ experiences. I had a teacher help me through that time – letting me know nothing’s wrong with me, healing me, building me up for success. Doesn’t matter who you are, I want students to know the same can be done for them.”

With community such a critical

“There’s legitimate reasons to ban it,” Johnson said.

But unlike Yik Yak, the fears over TikTok come from its parent company, ByteDance.

“Maybe we should ban it until [ByteDance] can ensure our privacy or bring a version of TikTok to America where it's under America's influence, not China's,” Johnson added.

Separately, Aaberg felt the state government was setting a dangerous precedent.

“What’s stopping them from [banning] other ones that have more strange issues,” Aaberg said. “I think at the end of the day you [can] create privacy laws, create [better educated users,] but it’s up to individual Americans to take on those security issues.” of Zacharias’ welcoming kindness and devotion to partnership with students.

Starting with a small department fresh from a scandal, Zacharias had to bring staff up to its current numbers all while reversing harsh anti-student policies and restoring a sense of community trust. Zacharias worked very closely with Student Affairs and the Dean of Students offices to improve this relationship and hopes that even in his absence, connections will continue to flourish between police and students.

“We want you to reach out to us,” Zacharias said. “That students, faculty and staff are part of the police department and we're part of the university community, so we have to work together to keep the campus safe. We have to trust each other. We have to rely on each other.”

Zacharias had intended to retire in 2020, but with the impact of COVID-19, he instead decided to revitalize the department once students began returning to campus. Two years later, Zacharias is already planning his trips and retirement plans after working nonstop for the last 45 years. Despite his vacation plans, Zacharias will not stop supporting students and the campus he changed forever. He plans to return either for spirit lunches or to patronize UTD athletics.

“I will miss this campus,” Zacharias said. “I will miss the people on this campus, I will miss the people that I work with on a regular basis and I will miss my employees. And because of that, I'm not gonna be gone forever.” considering I’m three times older than most people that were in the class,” Austell said. “I was proud of myself for being able to hold my own. [The program] gives you some awareness and gives you the tools to be able to protect yourself or to avoid those [unsafe] situations, so I think it's good for all ages.”

Despite the concerns, however, Fernandez said she enjoys teaching the course and plans to hold classes more often to accommodate more participants.

“Of course, it's for the students,” Fernandez said, “Everything … we do is for the students, just for them to feel comfortable or feel safe.” part of recovery, the center is especially important for students in need of a place where they feel like they belong.

“Honestly, CSR is pretty much the only place I’ve ever felt like I’ve belonged at the university,” Juarez said. “This community we’ve cultivated through Jeremy has been so helpful, so healing. To this day, that stands true.”

Juarez’s friend Beakley joined CSR in fall 2022 to complete Narcan Training, a program teaching Comets how to use Naloxone to save someone’s life during an opioid overdose. Beakley also participates in recovery groups, where she said Hall advocates for students to support other students. For example, “Nourish” is a weekly recovery group for eating disorders led by Darcy Wallace – one of the Center’s student workers – who has personally struggled with disordered eating in the past.

“It’s stressed in CSR that you need to feel represented by the people who are helping you,” Beakley said. “If Jeremy doesn’t know something, he tries his best to educate himself and I just really admire that about him. He’s the kind of person who loves to have philosophical conversations with

COURT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 demanding environment in the classroom with the assistance of other students and honorable guests.

“Coach Joyner and I prepared them by grilling them with questions during class,” said Barbara Kirby, a professor in the pre-law advising center and a Moot Court Coach. “Also, since Coach Joyner and I are both attorneys and read into the case ourselves, we ask the questions to make sure they stay on their toes. And of course, as we went along, we asked increasingly more difficult questions.”

Olivia and Paulina were both proficient with the assigned cases, making it easier to transition perspectives if they were assigned to the

NASA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 ionosphere and measures the motion of the ionosphere in three dimensions,” Anderson said. “As the ions move, they collide with the neutral atmosphere ... so if you want to understand how they interact, it’s critical to be measuring the thermal plasma properties. It also gives us the plasma density, the ion density and ion composition.”

One practical use for this research is preventing satellite drag, which happens when plasma overheats and throws satellites off their trajectory. The most notorious case of satellite drag occurred on Feb. 3, 2022, when 40 SpaceX satellites simultaneously went missing after launch.

“Just after the launch of Starlink, there was a G2 magnetic storm,” Anderson said. “There was a coronal mass ejection on the sun [which] produced a geomagnetic storm. A major goal of our research is to try to understand how this impacts the thermosphere.”

The TPS have flown on NASA and other missions be -

INVENTOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 array of subjects. Having retired in 2022, Sherry has contributed to over 473 published studies exploring chemistry, biochemistry and radiology. He first arrived to UTD as an assistant professor in 1972, became an associate professor in 1976 and assumed his role as head of the chemistry department in 1979. It wasn’t until 1982 that Sherry began teaching, with his research focusing heavily on the complex biochemistry of physiology and metabolism. This le d Sherry to teach radiology at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in 1991 while continuing his lectures at UTD.

Sherry served as the Cecil and Ida Green Honors Chair in 2003 before becoming Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology from 2005 until retirement. In this people. You can tell just by talking with him that he is a very smart person and I always take something valuable away from our talks. He has that effect.”

Hall thanks student workers at the center for helping him transform CSR into what it is today. Takeru KitagawaBarnes is one of two student workers at CSR that assist with programming and spend time in the center comforting students. Kitagawa-Barnes joined the center because he had a friend in high school who struggled with disordered eating. At the time, Kitagawa-Barnes didn’t know how to support his friend, so he wanted to become knowledgeable about eating disorders in college.

“I’ve heard a lot of different folks feel like, you know, the school’s indifferent to our needs and us as individuals outside of just being another student,” Kitagawa-Barnes said. “It’s hard to find genuine people. And with Jeremy, it’s just the complete opposite and it’s kind of the culture that he’s helping to foster within our pocket of CSR.”

Outside of his work at CSR, Hall is involved with the Comet Cupboard, Eco Hub, Office of Sustainability and Student Wellness Center, as well as opposing argument. Thanks to their practice, Olivia and Paulina excelled in the processing and delivery of their arguments. Hruskoci said that she enjoyed both the challenge and the learning experience involved in the argument process.

“Moot Court taught me how to think on my feet, but also prepare well enough that you’re not caught flat-footed when you’re answering a question,” Cooper said. “And this is for me. This is for when I’m in a class and the professor’s questioning me over readings, when I’m in an interview and one of the interviewers asks a question that maybe I hadn't thought of or hadn’t prepared for.”

Moot Court presents an opportunity for students to gain skills required for success in all careers, not just law. It’s a competition that fore, improv ing their ability to measure the ionosphere N ow the TPS will have a specialized purpose for the GDC mission — one that has never been taken on before.

The TPS will address n eutral atmosphere collisions, which occur when t hermospheric and ionospheric flows collide, creating radio disruptions and satellite drag. Think of it as sudden and powerful ocean waves crashing into each other, misdirecting and destroying ships.

The TPS will also measure large-scale ionospheric flows which radio waves and navigation networks bounce off of in order to reach their destination. Finally, it will calculate the environment of the ionosphere in the low-latitude and mid-latitude regions, where geomagnetic activity is most prominent.

“Launch is planned for 2029,” Anderson said. “It will probably go into 2030 and then it's a nominal three year mission that they have. They're planning on fuel for a five year mission, so I expect this to go through 2035 at least.”

Anderson’s leading knowledge of the TPS marks him as one of position he began the Green Fellows program offered jointly between UTD and UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which provided a fully paid undergraduate research fellowship to 297 students. Before his late retirement, Sherry served as the interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics starting in 2020.

In reference to his early career, Sherry said that once you publish a patent, companies suddenly start to pay attention to you, which is how he gained recognition in industrial circles —particularly with companies who were developing contrast agents.

“And so all of a sudden a company started, you know, contacting me and saying, you know, ‘would you work with us?’ And so they would give me money to do research,” Sherry said. “You know, I think for about 15 years, I ran my entire many student organizations. For example, Hall was involved with Radio UTD, a branch of Student Media, last semester, when he spoke live on-air with student hosts on topics including mindfulness, ADHD and suicide prevention. This semester, Hall plans to continue on-air chats through a new Radio UTD show, Music Therapy, which will air Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at utdradio.com/tuner. Going into spring 2023, Hall hopes to expand CSR to even more students and work on implementing new programs that students have suggested, like a support group for friends and family of addicts. Students who are seeking a particular service or just want to connect can message CSR on Instagram at the handle @utd_csr or join the Discord. A full list of programming can be found on CSR’s website. “You. You’re the reason I do this,” Hall said. “What inspires me is all of [y’all]. If you’re feeling shy, it’s okay. If you need help, CSR is going to be there for you.” allows networking and encourages students like Cooper and Hruskoci to evolve out of their comfort zones. Their performance was supported by quick thinking, strong public speaking skills and Comet pride.

“We have strengthened our national presence in moot court because getting to the final round in Moot Court is just a huge deal if you think about it,” Kirby said, “like being in the final four in any sport or event. And so in the fall, the way just about every team across the country starts off their class is by showing last year's final round. I mean, that’s how we started off this year. You know, when we start off showing the final round, it’ll be UTD.” the most valuable assets to the GDC mission. Having trained under William B. Hanson himself, Anderson graduated UTD to work at the Goddard Space Flight Center for two years and the Aerospace Corporation for another 12 years.

Subsequently, the Space Center at UTD is one of the world’s best centers for space plasma physics research and development. They have been creating instruments to understand solar interactions since 1960, with similar research investigations including missions by the US Air Force and Taiwan’s National Space Organization.

“We flew our first [thermal plasma sensor] in the late sixties,” Anderson said. We’ve been doing this for a long time and we are the best in the world at this. We currently have ten satellites in orbit around earth with these kinds of instruments on them … we have never in the history of the Center for Space Science had an instrument fail that we delivered. Every time we build an instrument, we build on time and on budget.” research group at UTD without ever writing a grant application. They just gave me money and said ‘do whatever you want,’ and the only thing I had to give them back in return was if we discovered something important.”

Sherry was succeeded as Dean for the School of Natural Science & Mathematics by David Hyndman and hopes the school’s love of learning continues even in his absence.

“So it's often inspired by students. I mean, students are so much fun to be around, you know, because they're inspiring,” Sherry said, “I think that's something that students don't realize that they are actually making an impact in, [that] they may say something that may not make entire sense to them, but it causes someone else in the lab to say ‘ohh, you know, that might be a good idea,’ so we go off and try something new, right?”