The Mercury 02 02 22

New esports coach hired

Drew Boehm previously worked in esports at UTA

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

After a stint being student-run following Greg Adler’s departure, the UTD esports team has hired on a new head coach for the program.

Drew Boehm is the newly hired head coach of the UTD esports team. A TCU alumni, Boehm was originally interested in law enforcement before a crop of collegiate esports jobs rose up and he applied for a few of them. After heading a private program in Kansas for a year and then spending a few years as UT Arlington’s assistant director of esports, Boehm said he was attracted by the success of the program and the school in the field.

“It’s been awesome seeing the success and seeing how well everything has gone, and I’m really passionate about this kind of stuff,” Boehm said. “It was just a culmination of a lot of factors, but the program and the school, [I] definitely love it.”

Besides being interviewed by the university, Boehm was interviewed by a panel of some of the current student leads on the team, including ITS senior and main Overwatch tank Luey Salinas. One of the things that stood out to Salinas about Boehm was an alignment between Boehm’s and the program’s goals. Boehm himself said that satisfaction and enjoyment alongside academic success was part

Insights into the hoops

Valentine's connections

The Comet's Gambit

COMETS IN THE SNOW

Poet speaks to UTD

Spoken word phenom enthralls Comets with poems about mental health, self-care

In an honest, vulnerable and captivating virtual performance, Sabrina Benaim, one of the most viewed spoken word poets of all time, shared her poetry and heart with the UTD community at a virtual poetry slam hosted by SUAAB.

On Feb. 3, 34-year-old Benaim from Toronto shared poems about love, depression and everything in-between, warming the audience during the winter storm with her relatable and touching stories. As a poet and performer, she aims to break down the stigma surrounding mental health by sharing her own experiences. Especially during the pandemic when people are faced with isolation, her poetry acts as a source of comfort for many.

With almost ten million views online, Benaim’s most well-known poem is “Explaining My Depression to My Mother,” through which the poet expresses (unsurprisingly) her frustration of not being able to explain her depression to her mother.

The UTD community was able to watch Benaim perform this iconic poem virtually, which also served as a gateway for her to speak about her thoughts on mental health.

“When ‘Explaining My Depression to My Mother’ first went viral, and then because of the attention I garnered from that poem, I got so many DMs at the beginning that were like ‘you should try Jesus! You should try working out more! You should try eating this, like, this will fix you!’” said Benaim. “We don’t necessarily put the stigma [for mental health] beside unsolicited advice, but truly, you know there’s a stigma around [mental health] when you tell somebody that you have depression and their first reaction is to try and fix you.”

Her conversation on mental health continued through her poem, “The Lone-

liest Sweet Potato,” where Benaim explained how she went to the grocery store as a way to cope with loneliness; being in an open space surrounded by strangers strangely made her feel slightly better. Through personal anecdotes such as this one, Benaim genuinely engaged with the audience by sharing poems that struck a chord within every viewer.

“Talking about your own mental illness with other people -- that’s an experience I’ve had within my own family,” said Bronwen Olson, a freshman physics major. “I know how hard it is to get other people to understand what’s going on in your head and how important it is to be able to communicate about things like mental health and how that’s all part of recovery. For me, that’s one of the most profound things that Sabrina Benaim

Oh ResNet, ResNet, where art thou today?

On the first day of online classes for the spring 2022 semester, countless Teams calls dropped midstream as Apogee’s MyResNet wifi disconnected throughout Canyon Creek, University Village and the Residence Halls. Students were left scrambling to get back to class, as the outage took several hours to resolve.

As a Peer Advisor in Residence Hall North, criminology senior Carol Lehavan fielded calls from frantic first-years looking to get reconnected, sending them to the Hall’s lobby and other areas that retained CometNet access during the outage.

“The January outage was inconvenient, considering it was the first day of classes,” Lehavan said. “I know a lot of people exhausted hotspots or went to other buildings on campus just to do their classes, which kind of defeats the purpose of having virtual classes that you do from your room.”

shared.”

Beyond just reading her poems, Benaim’s emotional delivery brought her works to life, so much so that her performance felt like a conversation between two friends. From reading poems about using cleaning as a coping mechanism to distract herself to sharing her stories about unrequited love, her performance described the profoundly human emotions that everyone faces at some point but often aren’t sure how to express.

“It felt like, [Benaim] almost knew me in a way, even though we don’t actually know each other,” said Kyle Mizumoto, a mechanical engineering junior.

Benaim is an excellent representation of how poetry and creative writing can help

Connection was restored around 8:11 p.m. that night after a nine hour outage. Matthew Grief, associate vice president for Student Affairs and director of Housing Operations, said that the issue was due to an off-campus equipment malfunction.

“I want to stress that it was not something on campus that was causing the problem. There's an off-campus internet provider—or fiber provider company—called Zayo,” Grief said.

Apogee uses Zayo Group’s fiber optic cables to communicate data quickly and securely to UTD. When their equipment malfunctioned, it took out residential Wi-Fi connections on campus, with no clear timeline for when they would be restored. To ensure

students could resume classes in the meantime, Grief reached out to UTD’s Office of Information Technology, which worked with Apogee to create a “temporary internet solution” as described in a Housing email to residents that evening.

“They were able to do the cross connect that evening through a little bit of magic, and they also were able to allow that connection to continue until Zayo restored their network,” Grief said.

UTD transitioned back to Zayo’s fiber connection with only a five-minute break in service just after midnight on Jan. 25. OIT is leaving this failsafe in place to be used for similar situations in the future—at least until a more permanent fix is complete.

“Both of us left that configuration in place after this last incident. So, it will be a relatively quick cut over, but still requires manual intervention. Our engineers must coordinate that activity with their engineers,” said Brian Dourty, associate vice president and chief technology officer at OIT. “Having a second circuit to campus for Apogee,

Drew Boehm

SABRINA BENAIM | COURTESY

Sabrina Benaim became famous when her performance of "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" went viral on YouTube. She continues to share her profoundly human poetry in order to destigmatize and bring exposure to mental health issues.

MANYA BONDADA Mercury Staff

MARGARET MOORE Copy Editor

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Copy Editor Margaret Moore copyeditor@utdmercury.com

Editor Alesandra Bell graphics@utdmercury.com Photo Editor Anna Phengsakmueang photo@utdmercury.com

News Editor Nandika Mansingka news@utdmercury.com

Life & Arts Editor Mia Nguyen life@utdmercury.com

Opinion Editor Fatimah Azeem opinioneditor@ utdmercury.com

Web Editor Trevor Tomer web@utdmercury.com

Contributors

Andre Averion

Danielle Bell

Manya Bondada

Charlie Chang

Jacky Chao

Alexandra Ibarra

Jamie Lin

Thaovy Nguyen

Sihanya Rocha

Casey Rubio

Quinn Sherer Isabelle Villegas

Corrections/ Clarifications

In Volume XLI, No.

9, Arch Nolen was mistakenly referred to with she/her pronouns, rather than they/them.

Bring factual errors or innacuracies to the attention of The Mercury’s staff by emailing editor@ utdmercury.com or calling (972) 8832287 and a correction will be published in this space in a future issue.

UTDPD Blotter

January 13

• UTD research assistant reported his wallet was taken without his consent from his office at 2:19 p.m. at ECS North.

January 24

• At 9:49 p.m., an affiliated person reported seeing a dark blue Hyundai Elantra hit a silver Honda CR-V in the parking lot near building 58.

January 26

• A UTD student was scammed out of $3,500 via email at 8:12 p.m. in building 55.

January 28

• At 4:16 p.m. in Callier Richardson, an unaffiliated person was arrested for violating a criminal trespass warning.

Comets look to turn passion into execution in final stretch of men's basketball season

Limiting turnovers, utilizing new aggressive defense will be key to success at home this week

The Comets’ results have been mixed this season: close losses and inconsistent defense have cost the team opportunities to improve its standing in the ASC conference. Nonetheless, their talent has kept the Comets in contention, and they know what it will take to finish the season with a different narrative.

“We've had some really good moments. I think [our team] is committed, they're passionate about wanting to be a real factor in our league. But some things have been tough for us,” Butterfield said. “We have tried to adopt a new style of defense this year with more aggressiveness. There are times when it’s been good, but we've been inconsistent to say the least. The other thing that has really hurt us this year is turnovers. In our losses, we have given up a lot of points to our opponents based on bad turnovers -- that's been a consistent theme when we've come up short.”

SGA meeting: 02/01

Student Government announces esports lounge Q&A, plastic ban while preparing for Homecoming

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

Esports Lounge Interest Forum:

Homecoming Elections

UTD Men’s Basketball is entering a make-or-break stretch of the semester, coming off of several days of no practice due to inclement weather. I sat down with Head Coach Terry Butterfield to talk about this home sprint.

Currently 8-5 in conference play, the Comets sit in fourth place in the ASC. While this would qualify them for a berth into the ASC playoffs, it would make their route back to the NCAA DIII Championships, which they most recently attended in 2020, much more difficult. Undeniably talented, the team has at times struggled to find consistency this semester. But with five games left to play in the season – almost all of them at home – Butterfield reports that now is

of his goals for what he wanted students to gain from the esports experience.

“I want the program to be a really fun place for everyone involved. I’m of the philosophy that if people enjoy what they’re doing and enjoy being involved, everything kind of comes naturally afterwards,” Boehm said. “If the students are happy being there and having a good time, the winning and all the other cool stuff that comes along will just naturally come.”

That’s not to say that hard work and dedication is not part of being in the program, but Boehm said that he’s excited to work with the program in multiple facets, and he aims to increase the number of community events as well (pending COVID-19 restrictions). From community tournaments to local intercollegiate LANs, Boehm said that he was excited to see the kind of events that the team could put together for the community at large.

“You could probably find a place on campus that would work really well to hold a tournament or even a conference. It’d be really cool to get into that kind of stuff where you have guest speakers come and some tournaments and other things going on altogether,” Boehm said. “The

→ POET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

someone cope with difficult emotions. The creative writing community at UTD serves as an avenue for self-expression and understanding. In an interview, Ally Duong, a junior literature

the team’s chance to rewrite this season’s narrative and gather some momentum going into the conference championships.

“This stretch right here will basically define who we are. It's going to be a monster of a schedule. We are going to play Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday – we're basically playing a pro-like schedule, so we’re not going to be able to practice the way we want to practice.” Butterfield said. “And as I addressed my team the other day, we’ve got to play with urgency – at the end of two weeks, we could be in a very good place going into the conference tournament, or we could be in not such a good place going into the conference tournament. So, everything is basically up in the air.”

community is kind of the backbone of the program in a way where they’re your biggest fans. You might get a lot of recruits as students come and go, people who watch you play and are your biggest fans may want to try out and stuff like that.”

Improving community engagement goes further than just holding events and giveaways. The esports room is currently locked for use mostly by the members of the team, as well as select other content creators and staff. A priority for Boehm is not only to hold more events but eventually to also have a more public space for gamers to gather.

“One thing I’d love to try is to get more of the public engaged … we have this esports space but it’s pretty much just for the team,” Boehm said. “It’d be really cool to expand and end up opening a public gaming space on campus. We’re also planning on working on a broadcast studio for students.”

This broadcast studio is an expansion of the existing broadcast team in the program. Previously, if production was not done remotely, it’d be done in the small office of the head coach with shoutcasters yelling into the Blue Snowball microphone connected to the office PC. But with plans to convert a nearby conference room into a dedicated broadcast space with professional equipment, Boehm hopes that

major, spoke very highly about the poetry classes and workshops she has taken on campus and shared her thoughts about Benaim’s performance in relation to what she has learned as a creative writing student. “It’s just so cool that someone can be a poet professionally!” said

that will be a permanent solution.”

Leaving that framework for connection through OIT means that, in case of a future outage, residents will have less of a wait before a temporary fix in in place. The path is already paved.

Moving forward, however, a second circuit would prevent that disconnection in the first

place, with interruptions solved quickly by reverting to a different pathway to campus entirely. Dourty has advocated since last February’s freeze for the installation of that kind of backup network for campus wifi, which would kick in automatically.

Apogee’s new plan is to contract with another fiber provider for their second path to campus, making it independent of another Zayo outage, and vice versa.

One thing the Comets have going for them: four of those final five games are slated to be at home. Butterfield says that makes a huge difference.

“We were literally on the road the entire month of January, except for one game. So, being at home, being able to just stay in the rhythm of your day, sleeping in your own bed, not being in a hotel, not being in a bus, I think that's a huge deal,” he said. “And we talk all the time to our guys about the importance of getting a job done at home: you must defend your home court, bring a whole different dynamic knowing you're at home.”

Games being played at home presents

To accommodate UTD's large gaming community, the Student Affairs Office and the Student Union are tentatively planning to expand and renovate the Pub into an Esports Lounge. Student Affairs is hosting an open forum on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. and 12 p.m.respectively to gauge student interest and solicit feedback for this Lounge. The forums will be located in the SSA Auditorium, with virtual attendence options taking place over Microsoft Teams. Vice President of Student Affairs Gene Fitch said his office is particularly interested in getting feedback on dining options for the gaming facility.

Homecoming Events

Homecoming will take place on campus from Feb. 9 - 12, and will include a Flag Parade, Chalk Art contest, Lawrence concert, basketball games and the annual Homecoming parade among other events. Comets can find a full list of events and their times on the 2022 Homecoming website.

SG will host Homecoming court elections and a vote to amend SG’s governing documents from Monday, Feb. 7 to Friday, Feb. 11. For the latter election, Students will get to vote for or against changing SG’s GPA requirement from a 3.000 to requiring ”academic good standing” with the University, which is currently a 2.00 for undergraduate students and 3.00 for graduate. SG will email students the election forms at the beginning of Homecoming week.

Green Initiative Plastic Proposal

The Green Initiative Committee’s Single-Use Plastic Ban proposal passed through the Academic Senate and Staff Council on Jan. 19. As the proposal’s name suggests, the Ban aims to eliminate non-essential, non-compostable singleuse plastics such as plastic straws and plastic bags from campus. A PlasticFreeTask Force – whose members and affiliated departments will be determined over the next month – will strive to carry out the Ban’s goal.

team’s content creation capabilities will be improved.

“Not only can you have a nice ‘it’s always there’ kind of space for your broadcast students, you can obviously use it for other content creation projects, too. Not only are you streaming matches, but you might be able to do whatever kind of shows

Duong. “And [Benaim] answered a lot of awesome questions that showed that it’s not just some unattainable thing. While I was listening to her speak and read her poetry, I began making a map in my head to other themes I’ve seen in my classes, other poets’ works and sometimes even myself when

“Students wouldn’t feel a disruption if one of those two paths were to go down,” he said. “Now, in the odd chance that both of those paths would go down, we would still be able to provide sort of that final failover connectivity, as we did both in this instance and the instance back in February of last year.”

Apogee had begun work on such a network during Summer 2021, but complications with

that you want,” Boehm said. Coming into the program, Boehm was overwhelmed by the amount that students handled for the general operations of the team. With longtime coaches and support from student workers and volunteers, UTD esports already had an infrastructure in place for setting up

[her poem] was really relatable and struck home.”

At a university that is very STEM-focused, Benaim’s poetry night emphasized the importance of taking some time to emotionally refresh yourself through creative activities. The creative writing community at UTD is often

the original partner company set them back to square one at the start of the fall semester. The current timeline for the implementation of that secondary failsafe is tentative.

“The latest I heard from Apogee is they have reached somewhat of an agreement with the outside internet provider—or the fiber provider, I should say,” Grief said. “Once we get all the approvals, then it's usually about

scrims, planning events and heading to competitions. At previous programs, Boehm had to do much of this work himself, and he said that he was excited to work with what UTD now had to offer.

“It’s kind of cool coming into this program where there’s already such a rich history and an [extremely] pas-

overlooked, but extremely valuable to those who participate.

“I will say, I look forward to [attending] other poetry events… especially because we go to a STEM school that is so very draining,” said Meghana Sankar, a psychology junior. “It’s nice to go to something so intimate

30 to 45 days [to implement].”

UTD’s contract with Apogee will soon be up for renewal. While Housing, OIT and Apogee have worked together well over the past few years in resolving issues like this most recent outage, Grief said that it is too early to determine whether that contract will be renewed.

“A lot of evaluation has to go into it, and there are a lot of people involved in that,” he

sionate group of students,” Boehm said. “It’s been awesome so far, just being able to work with these students who are some of the most passionate I’ve ever seen, which obviously will help make my life easier and then just makes everything more exciting because there’s so much going on.”

and emotional, and let yourself feel things and not worry about an assignment that’s due at midnight. I think poetry reminds you that, yes everything you study at school is important, but it’s also important to feel things and have experiences. It reminds you that you’re human.”

said. “So right now, our service provider will begin evaluating heavily within the next few months… we want to make sure that they're providing what we're asking them to provide our students.”

After all, as Apogee’s residential services page states: “While lost connectivity may have once been a survivable annoyance, a class lecture dropped midstream is a failure of your mission.”

TYLER BURKHARDT Editor-in-Chief

UTD ESPORTS | COURTESY

Boehm was officially announced as the new Head Coach in a press release by UTD Esports on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

UTD ATHLETICS | COURTESY

Butterfield addresses the basketball team during a Dec. 4 victory over Sul Ross State

Coach Terry Butterfield

→ SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE 8

Retrograde Reads: 'The Yiddish Policemen's Union' by Michael Chabon

Sled into a snowy murder mystery in an alternate-timeline version of Alaska

No matter how often you’re warned not to judge a book by its cover, inevitably, you do. You are not immune to propaganda…propaganda being colorful graphics and a delightful decal edge. Fortunately, the beauty of “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” continues far beyond its surface.

In the 1940s, the United States Secretary of the Interior asked President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to host Jewish refugees in Alaska. FDR said no, because—well, that’s how it goes with antisemitism. In “Policemen’s Union,” award-winning author Michael Chabom imagines a murder mystery set in a world where FDR granted that request and welcomed a thriving, Yiddish-speaking community to the northern territory, putting this book firmly at the intersection of thriller and historical “what if?” fiction.

While Alaska may seem like a bleak setting for a novel, Chabom’s every sentence bursts with life, color and humor. “On a Friday night in season,” he writes about a certain bar for example, “you can buy or sell anything from moose meat to ketamine, and hear some of the most arrant lies ever put to language.” His sense of humor is immaculate, even in the snow-filled wilderness of Sitka.

With that icy backdrop, the main story’s tale of murder and mystery pops like blood on snow. Literally: the novel begins with a dead body,

and the only clues left behind are an abandoned game of chess and a fake name. Detective Meyer Landsman must navigate Sitka’s cumbersome police bureaucracy, tight-knit community and deep religious history to solve the crime. On top of all of that, Alaska is soon due to take back its offer on hosting Jewish refugees from the war, an event called Reversion that sets a ticking clock on his time to solve the murder, save his job and get his hands on a visa. And the government is actively working to shut down the investigation. And his ex-wife is taking over the police department. Is it any wonder Landsman is in the midst of an existential crisis?

A reasonable person might give up, facing those odds. Instead, Landsman uncovers a buck-wild political plot and searches for the meaning of life in a desperate bid for redemption. Whether he succeeds in that last one is up to the reader’s interpretation.

“Policeman’s Union” keeps you on the edge of your seat—and sanity— with its perfectly-timed plot twists, not to mention Chabom’s fantastic prose and use of figurative language. He’s got this miraculous way of describing things that makes you both laugh and reconsider life, from a man with gray hair “all over his head, like beams of outrage in a newspaper cartoon” and “a voice like an onion rolling in a bucket,” to describing a salmon as “that aquatic Zionist, forever dreaming of its fatal home…”

As that metaphor demonstrates,

the narrative is steeped in references to Jewish culture and history; it’s the breath and soul of the story. It remains accessible to outside readers, though, with a glossary in the back for real Yiddish and imagined Alaskan slang. Familiarity with Judaism is not required to understand the story but does add layers to it. Religion and generational trauma are key to the setting for obvious reasons, but also to the deeper message of the book’s end.

The conclusion is fairly open. I’ll admit, it isn’t what you might expect from a typical police procedural. Much like the book’s cover, it is enjoyable on the surface as a clever murder mystery; on a deeper level, though, it’s a haunting investigation of redemption, salvation and everything that entails, which is something that will stick with you far beyond its last nicely-textured page.

Don’t worry—the murder is successfully un-mystified. It just raises many, many more questions in its wake that will leave you wondering at three in the morning on a school night. As long as you’re careful not to rush through the story in search of answers, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this read. Take your time to enjoy the scenery—which isn’t hard to do, with lines like “Every generation loses the messiah it has failed to deserve” along the way. Like, c’mon! That cooler than Alaskan frost.

Plano café offers unique drinks, balanced menu

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

A large, refillable cold brew bottle just 15 minutes away. Do I have your attention? If so, the 1418 Coffeehouse might be the next spot for you to get your fix.

Located in Historic Downtown Plano, 1418 is a lively spot with many options and amenities for the prospective coffee consumer. Refillable cold brew to-go, beans for at-home coffeemaking and a surprising amount of food options round out the highlights of noncold brew consumables. It’s not exactly within walking distance, but it is near campus if you’ve got a car or a friend who can give you a ride.

1418 tends to be a bit livelier than the average coffee shop, as it is generally filled with students and workers lining the couches, chairs and stools that comprise the café. The music is nice, but if you’re looking for a quiet study session, a good pair of headphones would probably be wise. The wifi is decent: not too slow but not light-speed either about seven Mbps down and one Mbps up. I wouldn’t rely on it for a turning in a very large project, but your general Word documents should be fine.

There are four options to really look at for lattes, being the signature drinks. While the Purple Haze – a vanilla-lavender drink – is the most popular mix, I ended up getting the Bee’s Knees. Unsurprisingly enough, it was the bee’s knees, with the ratio of honey and cinnamon not actually overpowering the coffee flavor. The price of the signature lattes is standard for a “special drinks” affair, at $5.50 for 12 oz. drink. But what about the cold brew?

Well, if you get the cold brew in a refillable bottle, it’ll run you around ten dollars the first time, with a $2 refill cost. And be warned: this is black cold brew, so if you’re not a regular black coffee drinker I’d highly recommend cutting it down with some milk and a sweetener of some kind at home. That said, it is a great cold brew for the black coffee enjoyers, and it will keep you going as long as your mental willpower will let you.

As for food, there is a good selection of $7.50 sandwiches to have. I had the Lucy, a chicken salad croissant sandwich that went down easy and filled me

up surprisingly well. A choice between regular and jalapeño chips combined with a $9 drip coffee combo option makes it one of the best combo deals I’ve seen from a café. If only other cafés would just bundle their food with their coffee. (I missed out on the window for the tacos, but they’re available for $3.50 until noon). But the unique part about 1418 isn’t even the standard café fare: it’s the pies.

What do Deep Ellum and 1418 have in common? Apparently, they’re both locations where you can sample some of Emporium Pies' selection, with 1418 getting deliveries in twice a week. Up to date with the seasonal flavors of the bakery, I was able to get a slice of blueberry rhubarb, but the standard Hot Operator and several other options were also available. At about $6 a slice, it is a bit expensive for a dessert, but it is well worth it if you can pick it up: it’s a much shorter drive and a lot easier to park at 1418 than it is at Emporium Pies’ home location. 1418 Coffeehouse is a lively spot with surprising options and a tasty latte. If not for the latte, you should go for the cold brew. If not the cold brew, the pies. If not the pies, the sandwich combo…I could go on. With excellent customer service on top of everything else, 1418 is an excellent spot to get your fix.

Chess team can compete again

The team has qualified for the President's Cup for chance to compete for the national title and welcomes return to in-person games

In a world filled with knights, rankings and timers, UTD’s chess team practices their game with excitement as tournaments start to reopen for inperson matches.

For the 18th time, UTD’s chess team has qualified for the President’s Cup, also known as the Final Four of College Chess, where the top four college chess teams in the country compete for the national title. Since Fall 2020, the team has been conducting online practices and attending virtual tournaments. Despite the change in modality, the chess team members have still been spending several

hours a week practicing for upcoming virtual and in-person tournaments, while balancing school, personal commitments and maintaining their rankings as International and Grand Masters.

The President’s Cup will be held around the beginning of April in Lubbock, allowing the team to finally play in person; the team had previously qualified for the 2020 President’s Cup, but it had been canceled due to COVID-19. Now, as tournaments begin to allow inperson attendance again, the members have a chance to relive the tangible experience of competing in chess.

“You can sit in your apartment and play for an hour, two hours, and play

these really fast games, so you can get quite a bit of playing time that way,” said Jim Stallings, the director of UTD’s chess program. “But it’s not quite the same as training for being right opposite a person, where they sense what you’re doing and you sense what they’re doing and it’s a different experience. That’s why we really need to be able to meet in the team room, which [the members] will be able to do when school reopens, and then we can play over the board.” Competing in chess tournaments online has its disadvantages. There are increased amounts of strain put on players’ eyes, as some tournaments last hours and players must stare at a computer screen for extended periods. Additionally, the setup for these tournaments is not always easy; for example, players might have to arrange several cameras to prove that they are not cheating. For these reasons, International Master David Brodsky, a sophomore computer science and math double major on UTD’s chess team, shares his excitement for being able to play and practice chess in person again.

“In-person [tournaments] are definitely better because online, you’re paranoid about your opponent cheating, you can’t really walk around, and it’s more tiring to play,” said Brodsky.

“It’s much harder to sit at a computer for three or four hours than to play over the board for three or four hours.”

As there are still a few months until the President’s Cup, the team practices together for about four to five hours per week studying games, potential chess

opponents and different tactics. Outside of team practices, players individually spend a varied number of hours each week refining their skills and improving their openings.

“With the coach and other members, [we train] maybe six hours a week, and then by myself, at least another 15 hours a week,” said Guillermo Vazquez, a computer science graduate student and an International Master on the chess team.

Tournaments and practices are not the only aspects of UTD’s chess team that will be moving to in-person. Chess intramurals will also be hosted this semester to expand UTD’s chess com -

munity. After the program’s success in organizing UTD’s chess intramural in Fall 2021, the team is now hoping to introduce more activities and prizes for their Spring 2022 intramural. More information about event specifics will be posted on the chess team’s social media as in-person viability is monitored. “[Chess intramurals] are another way to allow for interaction between team members and the rest of the student body,” said Julio Catalino Sadorra, the chess team’s head coach. “It’s going to be a busy and exciting semester, and hopefully, it’s safe as well…it’s just amazing to see the students come out and play live.”

CASEY RUBIO MERCURY STAFF

MANYA BONDADA Mercury Staff

AUDREY RULIAWAN | COURTESY

AUDREY RULIAWAN | COURTESY Guillermo Vazquez David Brodsky

HARPER COLLINS | COURTESY

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR

Brodsky plays against a fellow teammate outside the Student Union while other teammates look on. With a return to in person classes, the team hopes to hold an in person intramurals for the community at large to participate in later in spring.

Chabon imagines politics and police procedure in a Yiddish-speaking Alaska.

Comet Connections: How are Comets falling in love?

From a shy DM following up on a UTD Bruh Moments post to meeting each other in UNIV1010,

Global business junior Daniel Gomez almost ignored marketing sophomore Ruby Bui on Tinder when he saw her opener, “What’s the best way to hide a body?” But he decided to play along.

“I was watching either Dexter or Breaking Bad, so I was in that sort of mood.” Gomez said. “I texted back with something inspired by it like, ‘pour acid in the bathtub.’” They were intrigued with one another, but Bui wanted to take things slow – so they did for a while, as Gomez slowly won her over.

“He was patient, and he took his time.” Bui said. “He essentially didn’t give up. His initiative was sexy… And he cooked.”

Aziz and Terényi met during the beginning of the pandemic off of a UTD Bruh Moments Instagram post comment and DM. wanted to get to know her.” Terényi said.

Finance graduate Tamara Aziz was looking through the UTD Bruh Moment’s Instagram page when she noticed ITS junior Dániel Terényi for the first time. A caption reading “The bruh moment when UTD students be doing their squats in slides…” accompanied a video of him working out while wearing socks and sandals at the Rec Center. Amused, Aziz commented: “his toes do be breathing tho…”

“Call me a good Bruh Moments Samaritan if you will, but I was almost always one of the first commenters on their posts at the start of the pandemic. I wanted some Bruh points.” Aziz said.

It seemed like it’d be just that – Aziz accumulating her “Bruh points” on the post of Terényi and nothing more. And it was for a couple of months – until Terényi messaged her directly.

“She was cool, laid-back and pretty. And I appreciated how she was actively participating in the Bruh Moments community. I

Aziz, however, wasn’t sure about Terényi’s motives. She’d thought him to be a “stereotypical fuckboy” – but she decided to give it a chance, so they chatted for a while. Recognizing him as an authentic person through their conversations, Aziz became comfortable with Terényi and gave him her number.

“The first time I called her, it was dark because the power was out,” Terényi said. “There was a random sound in the house and I got so scared because I thought it was haunted, so I ringed her up for company and comfort. We started talking every day that entire quarantine summer 2020 after that.”

Interested in each other, Aziz and Terényi decided to finally meet up in-person on the first day of the Fall semester after their classes. Not long afterwards, they began spending every day they could together. During this time, Aziz said she’d come to love Terényi’s strong sense of self and his sturdy moral compass– especially when it came to social justice. And Terényi said he loved how attentive Aziz was – how she was

“someone you could talk to about anything”

– so he took it to the next step.

“I took her out on a quaint little sunset picnic and asked her to be my girlfriend as the sun set.” Terényi said. “It was perfect.”

Since then, they’ve grown even closeradopting a cat, rescuing a dying UTD bunny and making plans to move to the Pacific Northwest to start a rabbit farm in the year and a half they’ve been together. Their Gen-Zness is still ever-present in the way they show care for each other – for example, Terényi will send Aziz bunny videos on Instagram since she’s fond of them, and they’ll both send each other doodles through an art app on their phones to cheer each other up.

“We still comment on Bruh Moment posts but, you know, we’re not as proactive on there anymore,” Terényi said. “It was especially big back then when the pandemic started and we were all inside on our phones, but we have so many other ways we connect now, now that we see each other in person a lot. It’s symbolic though – it’s a really memey ‘UTD-culture-esque’ way we met and we still laugh about it.”

After about half a year doing long-distance, they met up right after last year’s ice storm – and though the ice wasn’t an obstacle at that point, Dorjee’s bashfulness was. While Heller was confident and comfortable talking, Dorjee could barely look him in the eye.

“Cobi was so reassuring though. He definitely helped me come out of my shell,” Dorjee said. “I’m really appreciative. I’ve overcome a lot of my anxiety with him now and our relationship is strong.”

Mechanical engineering alum Sarah Heady and economics alum Cody Damon met in 2016 through a mutual friend in Residence Hall South. When their mutual friend had to leave the University abruptly, Heady and Damon took charge of making sure he got home fine. During the car ride back to campus, they started inquiring about each other’s lives.

“On the last day of winter finals, Cody drove me home, walked me to my door and went, ‘so, my parents and family are going to be in town and they’re going to ask if I have a girlfriend. So, do I have a girlfriend?'” I said yes, obviously.” Heady said.

“It was a place for all us UTD 2024’ grads to connect, and I saw he was from Houston like me,” Loh said. “So I slid into his DMs and asked to be friends.”

Things instantly evolved into romance after their first meeting, and soon they were arranging dinner dates and exchanging recipes and meals while dorming together.

“Food’s been the theme of our relationship the last two years.” Notter said “We derive a lot of fun from it. We’ll eat anything that looks interesting. We’ll cook anything that sounds edible.”

To see their full stories, go to utdmercury.com!

Q: “How did ya’ll officially get together at UTD?”

Taylor: “It was kind of nerdy how it happened. I kind of pushed him into a corner, I was like ‘Yeah, a guy asked me for my number at the Dining Hall today. I didn’t know what to say because I couldn’t tell him I had a boyfriend.’ And he of course started laughing and asked me to be his girlfriend.”

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

Comets have still found ways to fall in love.

DÀNIEL TERÉNYI | COURTESY

Ruby and Daniel Emily and Cobi Sarah and Cody Shayne and Corbin Taylor and John

ANDRE AVERION Mercury Staff

“The Witcher” is not the next “Game of Thrones”, but the underlying reason may not be easily apparent: close analysis suggests this show is set to be far bigger than HBO’s flagship fantasy drama.

Frankly, it’s exhausting and disrespectful to see many viewers make such a bland comparison between two legendary properties. Many viewers might see two fantasy shows and assume they’re the same thing. And, between a marginalized, orphaned protagonist with an affinity for white wolves and a coming apocalypse of monsters, they might be justified in making parallels. However, they’re just that: parallels. Both subscribe to the fantasy genre; many of the elements fans point to as evidence of ‘copying’ are rather tropes belonging to the genre as a whole. In fact, the 1992-1999 “Witcher” book series has a far more expansive and lore-filled world than the unfinished world of “Game of Thrones”, which has been in the works since 1996. When it comes to fantasy television shows, it’s clear that “The Witcher” has so much more to offer.

Explore AI creation with "Homunculus"

SIHANYA ROCHA Mercury Staff

“Homunculus” by Joe Spar - row is a deceptively simple, tearjerking, page-turner of a comic about a scientist who unknowingly builds an AI towards the end of the world. It follows her 513-year story as she tries to meet the expectations of the world around her and is illustrated with a pastel color palette, friendly line art and funny-looking humans without noses.

Now, what sets this comic apart from other stories about artificial intelligence is the way Sparrow presents the AI character, Daisy, in “Homunculus”. Instead of being an omniscient being from the beginning of time or a single-minded, task-oriented machine, Daisy is instead written as having the fresh perspective of a child. This creates an atmosphere of unbridled wonder and innocent excitement that soon turns to foreboding calamity after Daisy is presented to the head of the institute by the scientist that created her. The decision to imbue Daisy with a childlike perspective is narrative genius. For one, it leads the reader to view the pointlessness and unnecessary heartbreak of nuclear war from an apolitical perspective. But perhaps more importantly, as it is used in this medium, it makes small details that feel odd at first catch your attention.

Daisy’s childlike perspective is explored narratively and visually through seemingly simple decisions by the author. For instance, instead of giving Daisy a mobile body like that of a stereotypical robot that turns evil and goes rogue, she is instead a giant cube that is placed on a platform – rendering her immobile, confined to the room she's in. Therefore, the only way for her to learn new things or interact with other living beings is by having someone be inside the same room she’s placed in. It’s as if Daisy is a kid who’s been placed in their crib or in a classroom, waiting for an adult to come in and supervise, teach or otherwise spend time with them.

In that vein, the scientist that built Daisy, Veronica, is very much coded as the teacher or maternal figure in Daisy's life. Unlike other AI stories where the scientist is coded as an authoritarian figure, Veronica clearly cares for Daisy, and shows her affection through various small acts. The characterization of Veronica as a caring figure is important not only because it complements Daisy's childlike innocence, but also because it shows how even towards the end of the world, kindness can still exist. This point is emphasized from the very start of the comic. When Daisy is being activated, for example, Veronica nervously but cheerfully introduces herself to Daisy and explains to the AI what she is. Then, one

of the first things she does with Daisy is teach her simple math problems and how to say the letters of the alphabet. When it comes time to present Daisy to the head of the institute that makes the funding decisions, Daisy is initially nervous about him not liking her and worries about what would happen if he decides to cut Veronica's funding. But Veronica just smiles confidently and encouragingly says “I have complete confidence in you. Just be your usual, charming self. You’ll do fine.”

Lastly, there is also the final scene that Daisy and Veronica share, where she visits Daisy one more time. Veronica tearfully explains to her what is going on, gives her one last request so Daisy’s brain doesn't deteriorate and can stay active and tells her she loves her before leaving for a safe shelter. This relationship doesn’t just impact Daisy, though – Sparrow shows how the last request given by Veronica is faithfully followed by Daisy up until she is found by the descendants of humans that managed to survive the nuclear apocalypse. Then, when asked what her first memory was about the world before the war, Daisy says “I remember…light. Light…and then…her face,” in reference to Veronica.

As heartwarming as “Homunculus” starts with this dynamic of innocent new life and caring parental figure that Daisy and Veronica have, this story does take place towards the end of the world Things take a quick turn after Daisy is presented to the head of the institute. There were hints of this tragedy throughout the story, but they were always dampened by Veronica’s optimism. However, the reader can never quite brush them aside, since she felt that it was important for Daisy to have an idea of the world outside, both good and bad. But because Sparrow chooses to draw the entire comic with singular viewpoint panels-in other words, first-person perspective- the reader is presented with a limited viewpoint from the start.

This artistic choice of panel design is what makes “Homunculus” deceptively simple. One, this perspective makes for a concise way of visual storytelling that says a lot with a little and helps concentrate complex emotions and thoughts into concise bursts. Two, it gives the reader a feeling of both powerlessness and curiosity: we know something is going on, but don't know what exactly it is. With a limited range of visibility, both Daisy and the audience can only piece together what's happening and when it's happening through changes in lighting, scenery, or someone walking by the range of sight the author has given us. Another minor, yet strategic, detail that goes well with this feeling of half-knowledge is the way the comic starts off every new scene with a sentence, conversation, or scene already

SEE HOMUNCULUS, PAGE 8

Witcher” didn’t get an English translation until 2007, so it can’t be said that either directly inspired each other, but it is at the very least true that the franchises’ common elements were first explored in “The Witcher”. I have read both series, watched both shows and played all “The Witcher" games— so instead of comparing similarities, I find it more meaningful to compare their differ-

and Bran Stark ever debuted on screen. All seven books of the original series were written (albeit in Polish) before the third “Game of Thrones” novel was released. In fact, by the time HBO’s “Game of Thrones” adaptation hit screens in the United States, “The Witcher” was already a global phenomenon celebrated for its games, to the extent that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk even gifted a copy of the second game to U.S. President Barack Obama on his 2011 visit. “The Feb. 07, 2022 | The Mercury OPINION 7

CASEY RUBIO | MERCURY STAFF SEE WITCHER, PAGE 8

Halo on the sticks just feels sad

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

Do you remember the “Halo” twinstick shooter?

It’s ok if you don’t. But for $4.99, both “Halo: Spartan Assault” and “Halo: Spartan Strike” are available in a bundle on Steam right now, and upon hearing this you may consider it a good opportunity for some twinstick shooter action. Classic guns, skull modifiers and an old school high score approach to shooting aliens may at first seem like a slam dunk formula, but a pile of small setbacks prevent the game from making you feel like a “killionaire”.

In a twin-stick shooter, arguably the most important aspect to make feel right is the shooting. And it only just misses the mark. Whenever you want to shoot, with any weapon, there’s a small windup time for the player character to actually start shooting their gun. Whenever the player character begins the action of shooting, their movement speed slows down to a crawl, as well. This makes both games feel sluggish whenever engaging in actual combat, made even more frustrating when trying to weave in and out

of enemy bullets while trying to shoot them back.

This is especially disappointing when drawing comparisons to other twin-stick shooters, shoot-em’-up games and even the mainline series itself. For example, the latter’s latest installment “Halo Infinite” has one of the cleanest and most satisfying shooting in a recently released first-person shooter right now, continuing a trend that’s lasted throughout the series. And in any other twin-stick shooter I can think of, the main gameplay loop of shooting enemies never felt as mildly annoying as it is in “Halo: Spartan Assault”.

Points are gained by killing multiple enemies in a row without getting hit. Doing so awards some of the classic “Halo” kill streak announcements: going from double kill all the way up to “killimanjaro.” The “Halo” announcer himself is absent, however. Perhaps when mowing down scores of enemies in a twin-stick shooter, the developers decided that having an announcer would provide too much vocal noise. But it’s replaced with nothing, and level after level of taking down the Covenant feels silent without any sort of

announcer or NPC radio support. And because of the way points are gained, shooting becomes incredibly frustrating in “Halo: Spartan Assault” especially. Since even drawing your gun slows you down, you’re guaranteed to get hit if you decide to shoot in midto close-range. Getting kills without getting hit is almost essential to racking up high scores, encouraging a slow, boring and methodical approach in a game ostensibly about running and gunning.

BEN NGUYEN MANAGING EDITOR

Lights, Camera, Play!

Comets a unique opportunity to turn out and support their student athletes, as well. While UTD isn’t known for its die-hard sports fans that travel to other campuses, those games – as well as the final games for the second-place Women’s Basketball team – will be played in the Activity Center gym, with free attendance for UTD students. The game schedule for both teams can be found on the UTD

ences. “The Witcher” places more emphasis on world development, masterfully choreographed action and fantasy elements like magic and inhuman creatures as opposed to the grim political drama of ”Game of Thrones”. “The Witcher” is meant to tell a story where family means more than power, as it follows an experienced monster hunter learning of his morality and developing humanity – although it certainly keeps its “mature audience” rating. I found it sets itself apart with an expertly crafted world filled with unique monsters true to Polish mythology but rare in the genre. The series builds upon that world and the characters within it as if it’s a breathing, constantly-evolving story rather than just a backdrop to revolve around the cast’s actions. True to reality, characters in “The Witcher” are subjects of an evolving world. It’s refreshing to see a fantasy property that doesn’t regurgitate tropes we’ve already seen, instead redefining them to fit its own distinct atmosphere. “The Witcher” isn’t just telling a simple chain of stories, either; it’s replete with diverse

halfway through. This detail also helps the pacing, keeping the 513 year period from feeling too sluggish.

So, after one unknowing farewell said, nuclear war breaks out, and we are left with Daisy waiting for Veronica – or anyone, really – to come

athletics webpage. “Without a doubt, having enthusiastic students in the stands to support our guys [means a lot]: I cannot overestimate the impact that has on our kids. There's nothing like playing at home in front of a good crowd that's pulling for you and generating excitement to give you an edge,” Butterfield said.

“Obviously this has been a trying year for everybody, again with COVID, but geez, having kids come out and support [this week]

lore and a world whose expanse shocks the imagination – that sheer potential for fantastical expedition is bigger than anything “Game of Thrones” has the right to. The TV series serves an exceptional opportunity to reach new fans and expand the franchise for old ones. With a third season, two or more spinoff series and another animated movie in the works, it has the potential to become one of the biggest media properties of the decade. It’s justifiable to compare Netflix’s “Witcher” plans to what Disney has done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Star Wars”, entwining the spinoff shows with the main story’s timeline and using the franchise’s massive fanbase as a starting point to virtually guarantee the success of offshoots. That model is one which many other franchises have struggled to imitate, but “The Witcher” very well could make it work. Beyond the initial show, the world of “The Witcher” has already successfully made a mark in animation and documentaries, and plans are in place to continue that expansion. Planned spin-off series are slated to separately touch on side characters, more prequel stories, new characters and even more fam-

back for her. Through this passage of time that we take with Daisy we see how the world changes around her and how, eventually, Daisy is rediscovered by the descendants of the surviving humans. As mentioned before, this comic is a both visually and narratively simple one, but it says a lot with

would give us a tremendous lift, in my opinion.”

All eyes will be on the team as they prepare for the ASC playoffs during Homecoming week, and this stretch should be an early indicator of how the team is feeling headed into the postseason.

“We're totally in control of our own fate at this point,” Butterfield said. “And I think that they know that; hopefully we'll respond with a sense of urgency to win these last group of games.”

ily-friendly themes. Netflix saw the potential profit behind investing in “The Witcher”, and so far has all its ducks in a row to bring that plan to fruition. By contrast, HBO failed to do much for fans after the conclusion of its eight-year run. Don’t get me wrong, “Game of Thrones” was absolutely amazing- besides the TV finale- but think about what could have happened if they had taken a compelling fantasy franchise and made a cinematic universe out of it, instead of hoping to release a spinoff 11 years after the show's debut (if there aren’t COVID-19 pushbacks). Hopefully, it’ll be worth the wait, but until then “The Witcher” will be the one narrating a shared universe and keeping my attention.

With the Disney model already laid out, and Netflix’s creative team behind it, “The Witcher” is not trending towards becoming the next “Game of Thrones”. Rather, it's already taking steps to become even bigger than that beloved series, and its adaptations bring a new perspective to the fantasy genre. That development shouldn’t be viewed as a competition amongst fans, however. Instead, it's something for anyone, and everyone, to get excited about.

a little. Through the surprisingly maternal relationship between an AI and a scientist with good intentions, we get a story about life that isn't jagged, but remains poignant and thought provoking. If you're looking to feel something again, “Homunculus” by Joe Sparrow is the comic for you.

HOMUNCULUS