The Mercury 02 13 23

See PaGe 6 ice, snoW and treacHerous roads cancelled classes from jan. 30 to feb. 3

ANDRÉ AVERION Mercury Staff

The push to lower upper-division credit requirements started two years ago. The academic senate gathered on Jan. 26 and approved administrative legislation that allows for the required credit hours for graduation to be lowered. It is expected that this policy will start before fall 2023, resulting in an updated undergraduate catalog.

RAVI PRAKASH

In a competitive analysis shared by SG, UTD, among other Texas universities, held some of the highest credit requirements in the state. Ravi Prakash, computer science and honors college professor, said that this updated policy could provide students with more academic opportunities.

“[This recommendation] seems to line up with some of the other peer institutions,” Prahash said. ”[While] some other places have slightly lower than that, our peers felt that 45 was just the right sweet spot for us.”

The policy was initially tabled in 2020 due to COVID-19 emergency responses and other imperative work. Primarily, the discus-

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Comets help fellow students plan their degrees with Nebula Labs

VAISHNAVI JOSYULA Mercury Staff

Following its beta release in fall 2022, Nebula Planner, an interactive degree planner that supports any combination of degree plans, hopes to launch its full release later this semester.

The Nebula Planner is an initiative by Nebula Labs, a former project from the Association for Computing Machinery’s engineering division (ACM). Nebula Labs currently has six open-source projects: Nebula Planner, UTD Trends, UTD Survival Guide, Nebula API, sk.edge and Project Jupiter. According to computer science senior Willie Chalmers III, the executive director of Nebula Labs, the OLUWASEUN ADEYEMI | MERCURY STAFF

SEE NEBULA, PAGE 10

AI shakes up academics

Programs like ChatGPT may change education forever

SEE 8

ANDRÉ AVERION Mercury Staff

The rise of artificial intelligence is sparking discussion between educators about how to proceed in the classroom — work with AI or against it?

ChatGPT, the newest trending AI chatbot, restarted the controversy over AI in education. Reaching 1 million users in its first five days ChatGPT is a language model designed by OpenAI and pretrained on text which students have been using to generate essays, annotations and answers for take home exams. Students have been utilizing ChatGPT for literature, history and authoring code, which produces results with shocking accuracy. Educators like Barbara Ashmore, director and professor of instruction at the Teacher Development Center, believes artificial intelligence can have dangerous repercussions if used purely to meet a decent letter grade.

“If they’re worried about a grade, that’s not gonna help them get it,” Ashmore said. “It’ll help them meet the deadline, but the quality of the paper isn’t gonna be there. Yes, the grade can be important, especially if you want to go to graduate school, or get into medical school or law school or whatever your career goals are. They usually require a [high] GPA, but that GPA is empty if you haven’t done the work to learn. You haven’t done the work to learn how to think.”

Ashmore has been talking with other educators, recognizing that advancing technology will require instructors to enrich assignments to distinguish genuine responses from ChatGPT’s algorithms. Ashmore suggested that creating more specified grading parameters

The Jim Crow exhibit in Old City Park is open until Feb. 23, revealing the history behind the pre-gentrified Black community of Dallas.

CAMPUS NEWS FEATURE THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM February 13, 2023 Winter wonderland

Old City Park houses a collection of historic houses, including the Shotgun House, where the exhibit is located. The exhibit was developed under Assistant Professor of History Whitney Stewart, as well as graduate students taking her public history course in AHT. This semester, Stewart and graduate students strive to present Dallas’ forgotten Black communities that came before the explosion of businesses and a highly gentrified community.

The exhibit focuses on centralizing the impact of the history of Jim Crow laws in Dallas and how they promoted a racial hierarchy that favored white people over Black people. These laws were rooted in continuing segregation during and after Reconstruction, which followed the Civil War. This led Black communities to be segregated into specific neighborhoods in Dallas since they were not allowed to acquire housing anywhere else. Since Black people were denied equal aid from city and

KATHERYN HO MERCURY STAFF

state governments, they were forced to be selfsustaining, resulting in a thriving community

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UTD student, cofounder and CEO of tech startup helping drivers save gas

Since its inception, the route optimization system has saved users from driving approximately 600,000 miles

HARIKA PATCHIPALA Mercury Staff

Junior computer science major Tom Vazhekatt balances a full college workload along with being the cofounder and CEO of his startup route optimization company, Routora, ambitiously taking on a route that propels his career and education.

Vazhekatt launched Routora on March 30, 2022. The business’s primary goal is decreasing the amount of time spent on the

their fleet of drivers, because they were doing a lot of deliveries in a given day. So that’s what I did,” Vazhekatt said. “I built out the system for them and then at the end of that project, I realized that there was a personal need for this kind of product. Like when it came to me running errands. But there was also a very big business need. So that’s when I decided that this would probably be a cool thing to just SPORTS

road, helping users save gas. It operates on a multi-stop basis, mapping out the shortest and most efficient routes between multiple destinations. Today, it has amassed over 6,000 users on its website and has saved users from driving approximately 600,000 miles during their trips, translating into approximately $100,000 worth of gas.

Vazhekatt’s idea traces back to when he was running errands for his family, leading to his gas expenses to rise. A couple years later, his

idea took root after being introduced to a service learning designed course, UTDesign EPICS. After being assigned to build a new routing system for the nonprofit Trusted World, Vazhekatt saw the need for the program in people’s personal lives and used the learning experience to turn his routing concept into a startup with friends from both UTD and Notre Dame University.

RAINER PEDERSON| MERCURY STAFF

The minimum upper-division credit required for graduation will be lowered from 51 credit hours to 45 starting in fall 2023.

The change will take effect after two years on the docket

The Jim Crow exhibit shows through Feb. 23 in Old City Park.

FATIMAH AZEEM| MERCURY STAFF

Language models can be used for either cheating or genuine self-improvement.

SEE AI PAGE 9

Museum shows legacy of Jim Crow

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January 25 • An employee reported the theft of his catalytic converter at 6:27 p.m. at BPI Dallas.

January 27

• A student reported being struck in the back of her neck by a water balloon at 9:37 p.m near CCHS.

January 28

• A student reported being struck by a water balloon by someone driving past her at 5:26 p.m near Lot J.

February 4 • A student left their watch in a JSOM bathroom and reported it missing when they returned at 3:10

LAST

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If you are a longtime fan of the game, you might worry that watching this saga will feel too repetitive of the game’s plot points. But this could not be further from the truth. The show uses the original plot as a backbone but fills in the details behind many of those events to a degree that the game could not, partially thanks to its longer run time. Each hint falls into place masterfully, particularly in the depiction of outbreak day. That extra backstory is enough to keep both old fans enriched and new fans engaged. More importantly, it turns the show’s runtime into an ongoing mystery that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. Blink once, and you will miss something critical.

Another concern fans of the video game have is that it might deviate too much from the original. And, it is true, there is an amount of reinvention that is necessary to modernize the story. But any

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then I feel good about it, and I think I can do everything pretty decently,” Stevens said. “For defense, it's really a confidence thing. You have to believe that you can stop the guy [in order] to have any hope in that challenge. And it's an honor to have that challenge, so I accept it gladly.”

Butterfield said he often matches Stevens up on defense with the competing team’s prime scorers. For Monday’s game, that included a leading conference

SOCCER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

the program. After a somewhat disappointing 2022 season, an offseason of change could be exactly what the Comets need to reestablish themselves in the American Southwestern Conference.

“Statistically, we just need to score more goals,”

Shirley said. “I’d like to be a little more offensively minded, get players higher up the field, try and generate more … opportunities, use the width differently, be a little more aggressive. I just want to have

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were only there for a day and they were kind of in the same position.”

Unlike the previous seasons, all Division III games this season adopted “no-ad”— short for noadvantage — scoring where the player who wins the next point during a tie wins the game, rather than having to win by two points. According to graduate student Jeremiah “Jed” De Luna, no-ad scoring had

deviations from the original plot are done for a very good purpose, since they make the themes of the original sing even truer. The core of the story is the same: the devotion of a found family and the many struggles they encounter on the way.and the many pits and struggles they encounter on the way.

The game instilled feelings of horror in players by putting them in the driver seat of a fight for survival. This doesn’t quite translate to a film format, but the series makes up for it by bringing innovative body horror to the max. In nature, what the Cordyceps fungus does to its hosts is grotesque, and any film adaptation must keep true to that fact. Makeup artists fashion photorealistic clickers with split head prosthetics. Accurate effects make mycelium threads writhe from host mouths and fruiting fungi grow through flesh and bone. If you can make it through this grotesquely real series without a hint of nausea, you truly have a steel

scorer, McMurry’s CJ LeBlanc.

“He’s a senior,” Butterfield said. “He’s an experienced guy, and you count on those guys to step up during the big moments, and he got off to a pretty good start. He understands our defense and our offense as well, if not better than anybody else. So, his intelligence on the floor is of real value to us every time we play … we count on those seniors. We count on James, Curtis, Will, Isaac, Hunter and Kyle to really lead the young guys. And I think the young guys are more than willing to follow the older guys along because they are experienced, and

a fun game to watch … I’d rather win 4-2 than 1-0 … and I think players buy into that, playing a fun style … that’s what I envision because that’s something that I can make sure happens.”

Focus on scoring and playing an up-tempo game should help the Comets, who were far more defensive last season, only scoring a total of 16 goals.

Shirley said an offensive approach would help the team capitalize on the talents of stars such as freshman midfielder Janae Shaklee and junior forward Bella Granada, a duo that scored over half of

no impact on the outcome of the competition.

“I think it benefits me more than my opponents because I strive under pressure-filled situations,” De Luna said. “With no-advantage, margins for errors are smaller and nervousness can start to settle in on big points, but I don’t feel like that’s a problem for me.” De Luna said the camaraderie between new and returning players has been synergistic, even with five players from last season graduating and ultimately

resolve.

Unfortunately, there are a few too many times where the immersive factor of the game falls flat.

American viewers may struggle with the voices of Australian Anna Torv (Tess) or British Bella Ramsey (Ellie), who create mostly convincing American accents, except for the times the filter slips. More importantly, Hollywood once more makes the mistake of casting the privileged to play the underprivileged. Post-apocalyptic smugglers who grew up impoverished under a military regime should not talk like they’ve had years of elocution training. They should talk like they’re from the streets. At times, it is difficult to swallow the way some of these characters communicate, but that is a constant problem in entertainment. While the show has been rightfully praised for its diverse casting, there may be a lack of representation of different classes.

they’ve been down this road before.”

With two games left in the season, Butterfield said he’d like for the team to focus on getting as few fouls as possible. For example, Monday’s game started fast paced with quick baskets from Stevens and Poerschke but lost momentum in the second half from fouls committed by both the Comets and the War Hawks.

“It’s an issue. We’re not where we need to be at that right now,” Butterfield said. “No team is going to play foul free, but I think we foul excessively at times. But I think that a lot of the stuff that [McMurry] was doing

UTD’s goals last season. If the team can successfully develop a stronger offensive game plan while staying as grounded on defense as they were last year, Shirley thinks the team’s 2023 performance could be among the best in recent memory, raising hope for a strong playoff push.

“You never want to put titles on anything, but obviously you want to make the playoffs,” Shirley said.

“Every time you go into a season, if you’re not going in with a mindset of trying to win the whole thing, then what’s the point? Of course, that’s your goal, you

leaving the team.

“In past years, we’ve sometimes had a lack of unity amongst the entire team,” De Luna said. “However, since I’ve returned to the team this past fall, I’ve really worked on breaking down any walls between our teammates and getting everyone comfortable with each other. I’ve stressed the importance of having a team that is all on the same page and all on the same agenda, and I think my teammates have really bought into that.”

Despite brief lapses in immersion, the world building of the series is overall fantastic. The QZ (quarantine zone) is maintained by harsh military rule, and it is almost as savage as the wastes that lie outside its walls. In the QZ, there are summary executions, bombings, shooting and horrendous violence from both the military and the rebel militia. Outside the QZ, there are mindless, violent infected and ruthless raiders, slavers and worse. All of this chaos and suffering gives deep context to the way the characters act, knowing that their peaceful world went up in flames without warning. In “The Last of Us,” civilization as we know it is destroyed by a humble fungus that finds its way into the food supply. A silent killer.

All this horror allows the crystallization of the strongest themes from the original. Save who you can and cherish what you have because it can all be taken away at the drop of a hat.

[that night] forced us into those situations.”

The Comets are set to play their last two matches on campus for homecoming this Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. before the ASC championship quarter finals.

“We’re in a pretty good position right now, so our guys know what’s at stake,” Butterfield said. “We've, been together a long time now, so it's just a matter of them having good preparation every time that they play and coming ready to play, but physically and mentally preparing for each game.”

go in and you want to try and win a championship.”

With the 2023 season not starting until August, Shirley has time to get to know his team better and see exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie. In the meantime, Shirley said he is excited to advance his career at UTD and use this opportunity to combine his love for soccer with his love for the university.

“I just enjoy being at UTD. I really enjoy the school and I think I’ve really felt at home here,” Shirley said.

Despite the changes in this tournament, the team hopes to win more games and ultimately the championship. The next men’s tennis game will be on Feb. 18 at UTD against Hardin-Simmons University.

“Both the men’s and women’s teams have been putting in a lot of work, so we’d love to have any extra supporters who’d be interested in watching some tennis,” De Luna said.

Accessibility promises, mandated senator meetings and advisory council report

Accessibility Resolution

In their most recent senate meeting, Student Government (SG) passed a resolution emphasizing the shortcomings of accessible infrastructure on campus. Examples discussed included lack of sufficient accessible parking, braille signage and poorly maintained infrastructure.

The resolution aims to allocate SG efforts to advocate for the betterment of accessi-

Semiconductor institute projects

5,000 new jobs

UTD engineering students will benefit from partnership

UTD has opened the North Texas Semiconductor Institute (NTxSI), which will provide job support for students in preparation for the fastest growing industry in DFW. Semiconductors are one of the most valuable commodities in the modern world. These materials are fabricated into transistors and integrated circuits, producing technology required for smartphones, laptops and automobiles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a global shortage of semiconductors produced problems for the technology supply chain.

ble facilities on campus, such as repairing broken door buttons and adding signs to accessible entrances. The resolution will now be shared with the Academic Senate for approval.

School Senator Meeting Mandate

To encourage collaboration and open conversation between the separate schools and SG, the senate passed a resolution that mandates school senators to meet with their respective liaisons. The liaison is a senator that is selected through

an application process specifically to act as a point of contact for administration and activities regarding their school. The new resolution aims to increase communication throughout the senate, specifically regarding school senators that had become disconnected. Although the idea initially came from a need for open communication regarding ECS, it will be required for all schools.

UT System Advisory Council Report

SG President Kruthi Kanduri attended

the University of Texas System Advisory Council. At the meeting, issues such as the use of ChatGPT, student wages and professor tenure were discussed. The undergraduate committee is recommending higher, more standardized student wages along with a biannual review process to keep track of working conditions. Additionally, Texas may be adopting policies similar to Florida Governor DeSantis’ bill that attacks professor tenure.

UTD chess team takes home plaque from KCF cup

JOSEPH PANCRAZIO

Congress provided $3 million for NTxSI from the Consolidated Appropriations Act to help provide infrastructure in both the semiconductor industry and academia. Congress representative Collin Allred, who supported and presented the project with legislation, put forth in his 2023 funding requests that the NTxSI will implement the North Texas Semiconductor Workforce Development Consortium to prepare qualified workers siphoned from NTxSI to address the semiconductor shortage. Joseph Pancrazio, vice president for research and innovation at UTD, believes that the NTxSI, while developed by UTD, will be an active consortium partnering with community colleges to help students succeed.

“We’re looking at a variety of different opportunities,” Pancrazio said. “It could be certificate program offerings that will better prepare our bachelor’s level students in particular for positions within the semiconductor industry, which are typically high paying and come with significant benefits. It could be for minors that would be part of a degree program.”

According to NTxSI, 5,000 new jobs in the semiconductor manufacturing industry are expected to be created in North Texas in the next few years, and from each job made, approximately 5.67 more jobs will be made in response. These positions will include equipment technicians, process engineers, designers and plant operators. UTD wants to prepare students for these new positions by training them in with both research and workforce experience through internships and personalized training.

This mission will start with the Center for Harsh Environment Semiconductors and Systems (CHESS), directed by Manuel Quevedo-Lopez, which will produce devices that can withstand extreme temperatures, radiation and extreme mechanical conditions. Applications for these semiconductors include national defense systems, quantum computing, networks and communication systems, better electrical grids, autonomous vehicles, space exploration and hypersonic weapons. Quevedo-Lopez believes that students wanting to make a change will be attracted to CHESS.

“It will provide specific and unique facilities infrastructure for the students to learn, not just the regular semiconductor manufacturing or regular semiconductor processing characterization, but unique skills,” Quevedo-Lopez said. “We obviously want to have students engaged, right? So the student [will] run research. So the graduate student will be engaged here and obviously we are relying a lot on the graduate students to also help us with some aspects of the research.”

CHESS is currently evaluating gallium nitride in radioactive environments, which

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The UTD chess team held its ground and secured a win at the third Annual Kasparov Chess Federation University Cup.

UTD competed at the online international tournament from Feb. 4 to Feb. 5 with four teams — UTD A, B, C and D. Each team was categorized based on its average rating: U2400, U2200, U2000 and U1800. Team A placed 11th, team B placed second and team D placed 16th in their respective categories, while team C won the U2000 category, ultimately bringing home a plaque.

Because of the rating cap in each category, coach Julio Sadorra said he balanced each team out by maximizing each player’s rating and giving an opportunity to members of the chess club. While all four members of teams A and B are team players, team C had one club player and team D had three club players.

“I didn't want to just put strong players in [the] top two boards and then low rated on the three and four because it'll be risky,” Sadorra said. “And [for] the other teams, we had to pair up with the club members, which were [a] really important part of our team. They allowed us to have three international masters and then a club member which is really low rated. It allowed us to meet that average required credit rating.”

Sadorra said the Texas Rapid Championships that were held on Jan. 29 helped the

team members prepare for the KCF Cup as both tournaments had the same time format of 10 minutes with five second increments per move. The championship, which ended in a three-way tie between the Comets, helped decide the KCF Cup’s team composition as well. “We used [the rapid finals] as a warmup and I think it boosted their confidence,” Sadorra said. “So those [with] really good performance at the Texas Rapids… those who tied for first basically became leaders of the teams. It’s nice to see them leading and being Board 1 of the teams. Andrei Macovei, I have to mention him, tied for first. He had kind of a slow start in Texas Rapids but then he finished strong. And he did really well playing for the U2000 that won the division.”

The two-day tournament consisted of five rounds on Day 1 and four rounds on Day 2. Junior David Brodsky of Team A said Day 2 was more challenging.

“On day one, the first three matches were pretty easy, [but] day two would decide the tournament because most of the good teams were near the top and they choose when the top teams battle it out and see who wins,” Brodsky said. “Overall, the quality of chess is higher over the board than online, even if you have the same type of control. It's strange, but you can make a lot more mistakes online [that] you'd never make over the board.”

Business analytics graduate Andrei Macovei from the UTD C team said that his team ac-

cidentally played against the UTD B team on day two because of miscommunication between organizers. The mistake affected each team’s standing, including team C’s first place standing.

“In the eighth round, we were leading under our category and maybe we were leading under the next category, so our C team was doing really well and then we unfortunately had to play UTD B,” Macovei said. “I made a draw [on the first board] and our second board made a draw but the last two boards lost. The difference was more significant and it was a bit unfortunate but at the same time, both teams were doing really well.”

Since the current chess team has newer players, sophomore Rahul Peddi from team A said that the team’s synergy and performance will improve with time.

“I feel that there are people who just came [here] three, four months ago, [and they’re] trying to figure out how things work,” Peddi said. “Now we've got a lot of new recruits and they don't really have the experience of playing here. But I think let's say by the end of this semester or Fall, I think we should be in good shape.”

Moving on from the KCF Cup, the UTD Chess Club will be hosting a “Women in Chess” themed Chess Fest from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22, including a simul event, blindfold chess games and the Chess Educator of the Year award ceremony.

SG promises increased student advocacy, resource promotion and internal reform

UNAIZA KHAKOO Mercury Staff

Kruthi and Belford, who ran on separate

tickets, expressed a uniform interest to put student needs at the front of their goals last year. Their agenda included bringing more awareness to student resources, encouraging collaboration between student organizations and initiating student-centric reoccurring events. Additionally, Kanduri said she wanted internal reform to help senators navigate their term for a successful semester. From sponsoring different legal services to starting and maintaining student-focused traditions such as the Blank Space Project and the annual campus “Scream” night, SG’s campaign promises are beginning to come to fruition. However, there is still work to be done this semester.

As the liaison between students and administration, SG has multiple outlets to help students better connect with resources around campus. For example, SG funds a general attorney and immigration lawyer to help students through issues such as traffic accidents, minor criminal matters and disputes with landlords. Previously, students were not aware that such resources existed.. However, since SG began spreading awareness, there has been in increase in students reaching out. Furthermore, SG offers the Comet Discount Program for students to get discounted prices for services across Dallas such as dining, housing and health and beauty if they show their Comet Card. Belford encourages students to reach out to her if outlets no longer offers discounts to UTD students so that SG

can update their discount catalog.

“Something that student government has taught me more than anything this semester … number one is navigating bureaucracy, but number two is just how critical demonstrating the student need for something and the student desire is to actually getting it done,” Belford said. “There’s an information gap between the highest levels of admin and people who make the decision and on the ground what’ s happening … you need to bridge that information gap. People need to, you know, speak up.”

In order to keep addressing student concerns, SG plans to continue with internal reformation. This includes passing out brochures to new senators to help them throughout their term as well as updating document organization to help SG flow better. There is also a focus on reforming the senatorial election after frustration with the process arose last year. The overall goal of all these strategies is to get SG running efficiently to better advocate for student needs.

“The elections last year were quite frustrating for a lot of people because it seems student government was slow on the uptake, and that involved a lot of other organizations and candidates being kind of rushed in the election process,” Kanduri said. “So, a big goal that we have this time around is to really ensure that these student government elections are not only successful and smooth in the way they run, in the way they’re communicated.”

Another goal of Kanduri and Belford was to advocate for the restoration of departments like the McDermott Library. Through the collaboration of SG, the library committee and the Dean of Libraries, Ellen Safley, adjustments to the library schedule were made. The library is now open for 24 hours continuously from Sunday at 11 a.m. to Friday at 8 p.m., in addition to expanded Saturday hours.

“Primarily our advocacy lies in meeting with the right people,” Kanduri said. “So, with the library, we spoke to Dean Safley … I was on the library committee last year and, you know, we spoke to her … before the new fiscal year kicked in. And we did talk about how there’s outspoken student support about reopening library hours.”

The promises made by both the current president and vice president of SG during their campaigns align with the current actions they are taking to improve upon the organization. With a focus on student engagement, increased organization and accessible resources, the SG officers have made tangible progress towards their goals.

“It’s a privilege that student government has to be able to be that bridge between students and admin,” Belford said. “So, anything we can do to connect clubs that are passionate about something to admin who want to hear student voices on it and get something done about it is awesome. It’s an honor.”

The Mercury sat down with Student Government (SG) President Kruthi Kanduri and Vice President Margaret Belford to discuss progress on their campaign promises made in April 2022.

FATIMAH AZEEM Mercury Staff

Gergana Peycheva from UTD C (Black) secures a checkmate, with commentary from events coordinator Nikhilesh Prabhakar (top right) and Coach Julio Sadorra (bottom right).

VAISHNAVI JOSYULA Mercury Staff

Gazik vs Macovei, Kasparov Chess Foundation Cup (2023) Round 5, Day

UNAIZA KHAKOO Mercury Staff

ANDRÉ AVERION Mercury Staff

1.30 X-WORD KEY 1.30 SUDOKU KEY

AKHIL SHASHI | MERCURY STAFF

RACHEL WOON | MERCURY STAFF

JUHI KARNALKAR | MERCURY STAFF

ANDREW PETERS | MERCURY STAFF

THAOVY NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

THE SLOW BURN story

Freshman literature major Megan Tran was participating in her high school JROTC program when she first met freshman computer science major Anthony Abubakar. However, the couple didn’t have a love at first sight moment, as Abubakar was breaking up with one of Tran’s friends.

“I actually got the two of them together,” Tran said, “and she would always tell me he’s so toxic.”

Since the couple was in the same organization, the dislike that started their relationship blossomed into a friendship. Eventually, Tran agreed to go on a first date with Abubakar, which consisted of dinner at a Vietnamese fusion restaurant after JROTC. Tran is Vietnamese, and looking back, Abubakar finds the food choice funny.

“I don’t like that place now because [Tran’s] mom makes me food. Now I know what good Vietnamese food tastes like,” Abubakar said.

Sitting together, the couple is clearly very close. They said that on their first date, Tran paid for their meal, a fact that Abubakar shook his head at. Their one year anniversary was in October, and the couple expressed happiness with their relationship transitioning out of high school and into college and the support it provided.

“We share a lot of the same interests and hold a lot of the same views. We’re really like best friends now,” Tran said.

Tran had a few words of advice for those approaching dating.

“Be positive about it, because even if it doesn't work out, you at least had an experience with somebody and got to know them better. That alone is worth it,” Tran said.

UNCONVENTIONAL LOVE A statistical anomaly

RYLEE RUSSEL Mercury Staff

Junior biology major Alina Ahmed and junior global business major Ethan Cabrera met through mutual friends and made their relationship official after being friends with benefits for two months.

The couple started out as friends who would hang out and quickly grew into what Ahmed describes as “a couple without the label.”

After being introduced to each other and then not talking during the pandemic, the couple hit it off. Eventually, the two realized that they grew up in the same hometown and had a huge web of connections.

“We were honestly meant to be,” Ahmed said.

The strange coincidence of their childhoods aligning and their natural chemistry set the tone for their relationship.

One of the things Ahmed admires most about Cabrera is his curious mind.

“He is a big inquirer,” Ahmed said.

The couple found love unconventionally, but the two have grown together.

“There's work to be put into rela tionship if you want to be together … it's not just frolicking through grass, like you also have to have hard conver sations,” Ahmed said. “But that doesn't mean that you guys aren't meant to be.”

Junior speech pathology major Mya McIntosh is confused as to how people are finding love at UTD.

“I see all of these dating events on campus, but never seem to find the one,” McIntosh said.

This Valentine’s Day, McIntosh is looking forward to hanging out with her girlfriends and watching a romantic comedy. McIntosh represents a growing number of people making Valentine’s more inclusive. In recent years, the term “Galentine’s” has been used, where people get together to celebrate meaningful friendships in place of romantic relationships. Galentine’s represents the idea that there are different types of love, and that every kind deserves to be celebrated.

“I know the ratio of men to women is pretty skewed at UTD, but I honestly think it’s made our options even smaller,” McIntosh said. McIntosh said that the school’s Reddit presence and the popularity of the Instagram meme account “UTD Bruh Moments” are further evidence that the dating options for women are limited on campus.

How to identify the American Robin

All images of the American Robin here were taken at UTD.. As winter retreats, bird activity rises in the area and will peak in spring.

American Robins are among the most common garden birds in North America and have a popular presence in parks and lawns Most know these birds from their rich caroling that can be heard from the rise of dawn. A robin’s chest and belly are a warm orange, while its back and wings are a dull gray with a black head. Robins also have white spots around their eyes with a bright yellow bill and typically display upright posture and a titled head. Their song is a rhythmic series of 10 or so notes, which is often cheerful.

American Robins are quite vocal songbirds. Birds vocalize through songs and calls, which are used for a variety of pur-

Fleeing fish makes a splash at Minna art market

Reeling in customers by the dozen right as they walked through the doors, Fleeing Fish’s Yeon Poche and Yvonne Yu made their off-campus debut at Minna Art Market.

Showing off their brand-new table bought just for the event, the artist duo displayed their brightly colored prints, stickers and keychains at their booth at the front of the market. A variety of franchises were represented, with selections from the MMORPG “Final Fantasy XVI” and anime “Hunter x Hunter” to the iconic Garfield attracting attendees.

ATEC senior Poche and ATEC sophomore Yu have been friends since high school and started making merch last year. Known on all social media as @eoryuu and @yifxxn respectively, the two joined to create their shop Fleeing Fish after tabling at campus artist alleys together. Currently, their online shop can be found at https://eoryuu. bigcartel.com/.

“We're on the same brainwave, so we have simi -

poses, including attracting mates, establishing territory and expressing emotions. Songs are most commonly used by the males of the species, and for certain species, the same series of notes is preserved for several generations. Young or subadult birds have a genetic inclination toward their own songs but learn the details from adults as they grow. The experienced can identify birds by song alone. One might consider familiarizing themselves with the song of the American Robin, as they are often heard singing in the mornings. As seen in these photos, the robins appear to be rounder than they usually are. Most birds are seen this way, especially on cold mornings. Fluffing up helps them trap air between their many layers of feathers, creating insulation in the same

way a puffer jacket does.

Robins have a generalized diet, meaning they are not restricted by preferences like many birds. Thriving on variety, robins can commonly be seen foraging on the ground looking for seeds, insects, worms, or berries — in the right season. Robins’ widespread presence across North America is in part thanks to their adaptability to different terrains, as they can survive environments both wild and manmade.

When seen out of context, it is hard to believe these feet belong to a small songbird and not a velociraptor. This is fitting, as modern day birds are actually directly descended from theropod dinosaurs. Their ancestors gradually evolved specialized features that we now associate with birds, like talons.

Rocketbelly delights with self-serve boba options

Calling all boba lovers: Rocketbelly, the first self-serve boba shop in Texas, is open to the public!

lar tastes,” Yu said. “It makes it easier, because we have similar ideas and we're able to come up with ideas together.”

While on a bus, the two brainstormed the shop title “Fleeing Fish” by mixing their artist names.

“Fish” is the English translation of Poche’s “eoryuu” from Korean, and a Chinese character from Yu’s name means “fleeing.” Their logo, showcasing two fish in little hats, was inspired by Cartoon Network’s “The Amazing World of Gumball.”

“We just thought it would be like funny and silly,” Yu said.

Not only are the two able to share the workload and financial burden of running a business, but Poche and Yu found that two minds are better than one to run all aspects of their shop.

If you’re seeking self-serve boba, baked items or fried “rocket” chicken, head over to family owned Rocketbelly and prepare for an experience similar to space travel. The shop is practically light-years away from campus in Arlington. But with something as beloved as bubble tea paired with the option of individual customization, this shop is worth a trip.

When you enter, chances are you’ll be enthusiastically greeted by a 10-year-old girl. Her name is Olivia, and her parents own the shop. Around her, the ambience echoes the shop name, as LED lights line the counters and luminescent lamps hang above a set of gray and white couches next to a “Dance Dance Revolution” machine. The menu is projected on television screens that look as if they’re displaying space missions, not a selection of drinks and dishes. With retro, metallic chairs and plain tables, every detail in Rocketbelly is a nod to the space aesthetic. The shop is kid friendly and usually has families at peak times, so it’s not a perfect space for studying or quiet meet ups, but rather a pickup and go.

The main attraction: self-serve boba priced at $5.75 to $6.50. You grab a cup or bottle depending on your size selection and fill it with whatever toppings you like. Boba and jelly options are available in every shade and flavor, including mango, strawberry and lychee. The best part: you get to pour your own ice. There are countless options for tea, such as winter melon, black sesame and taro coconut milk tea, and every drink base is made with organic and non-dairy creamer. Don’t know

ALLY DUONG Mercury Staff

ANUSHKA CHAKRAVARTI | MERCURY STAFF

ALINA AHMED | COURTESY

ICED OUT

The winter storm from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3 may have frozen the streets, but it couldn’t freeze campus beauty. Sun glittered through the snow sprinkled trees, thin layers of icy glass coated the reflection pools and puffs of wind gently tickled the Magnolia leaves. The school might have been iced out, but the winter spirit prevailed.

AKHIL SHASHI | MERCURY STAFF

‘Dead Space’ could fill the cinema void of cosmic horror

The recent Dead Space remake has brought waves of nostalgia for many and asks the question: why isn’t there a “Dead Space” movie in the works?

Fans welcomed the video game remake that’s helping revamp the genre of deep space horror. The claustrophobic and inescapable nightmare of being trapped on a ship with an alien on board has been thrilling since its conception — it is the peak of horror. Trapped on a shuttle in the nothingness of space, nowhere is safe, and “Dead Space” (2008) masters that feeling of hopelessness and claustrophobia. Since then, many games have attempted to replicate the series; however, it has been five years since a major “Deep Space” horror film hit theaters. A live action rendition of “Dead Space” would make for the perfect deep horror content by immersing fans in the series’ classic adrenaline rush nightmare. To this day, “Deep Space” is one of the

highest rated games in the survival horror genre and still considered by many as one of the best video games ever. After critical acclaim, “Deep Space” received comic book adaptations and a successful animated movie to expand the universe on a multimedia platform. This means there is a perfect place for a live action adaptation and more than enough interest from gamers and horror fans alike. Right now, on Twitch alone, 6 million hours of “Deep Space” content has been watched since launch on Jan. 27, peaking with 262 thousand views at one. In the remake’s first three days, it has surpassed juggernauts like Fortnite, Overwatch 2 and DOTA 2 in views alone.

The antagonists of “Dead Space” are enough to instill fear, borrowing from what made the Xenomorph of “Aliens” popular and providing an undead aspect that “Resident Evil” wishes it could reproduce. Seeing your first Necromorph

SEE SPACE, PAGE 10

GRAPHICS BY: RAINIER PEDERSON | MERCURY STAFF

HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ enchants fans new and old alike

The long-awaited TV adaptation of popular video game franchise “The Last of Us” establishes a retelling as beautiful and meaningful as the original

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Mercury Staff

Gamers tend to have negative opinions when it comes to TV adaptations of their favorite video games, believing that their beloved characters cannot be recreated faithfully. But these fears are entirely squashed by the masterpiece that HBO has put together for “The Last of Us.” With five episodes out so far, “The Last of Us” strikes a perfect balance between replicating and reinventing the original material. It also recreates the incredible graphics of the game — breathtaking visuals of nature reclaiming cities joust with grotesque, infected humans. Most importantly, this adaptation delivers on the human element that made the game so powerful.

Like the video game, HBO’s “The Last of Us” can create realistic and dimensional characters with little screen time to work with. We see that Joel, Tess and Ellie have

all suffered tremendously in this apocalyptic world, and the emotional effects are clear. Ellie is vulgar and aggressively pragmatic, Tess is jaded and remorseless and Joel is cold and stuck in his years of grief.

Despite their tough exteriors, there is a beautiful layer of vulnerability in each of the actors’ portrayals of these survivors. Hints of caring natures and dreams of a

brighter future come through for each of the three, especially when it comes to the surrogate parent-child dynamic that forms between Joel and Ellie. They bring the humanity out in each other, and their reluctant journey to find a sense of kinship is as awkward and painful as it is beautiful.

While characters like Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Tess (Anna Torv) seem hardened and cold, their humanity comes through in the vulnerability they attempt to hide. SEE

Classical band Duo Mantar brings history to life

Jacob Reuven — mandolin professor at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance — performed traditional music and retold the story of a Holocaust survivor. “Be curious about traditions, cultures and musical styles that you’re perhaps unfamiliar with, and through that openness, you’ll discover worlds near and far you’re unfamiliar with,” Levin said.

MERCURY STAFF

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ANDRÉ AVERION Mercury Staff

‘MILF Manor’ — dystopia or reality?

Reality TV and consumer culture encourage unethical projects, exacerbate underlying mental health issues of participants

Disturbing as it is, TLC’s “MILF Manor” should surprise no one, as it follows logically from the problematic themes that viewers have long supported by watching reality shows.

“MILF Manor” is as bizarre as it sounds: it is a reality series where older women visit a resort in Mexico under the premise of dating younger men, only to discover that each of the men are one of the participants’ sons. Critics have compared the absurdity of “MILF Manor” to satirical media like The Onion and have brought up its shocking plot similarity to a disgust-centered joke played on the sitcom “30 Rock”. But it is easy to forget that absurd humor like satire works precisely amplify a hidden truth at the center of a story. This series is not an outlier to the genre it builds from, it logically follows from it. “MILF Manor” distills the problematic patterns that have long existed in reality television, including participants’ deep emotional baggage, a comical lack of self-awareness due either to stupidity or pure greed, clear scriptedness designed to get more views and the shallow appropriation of social justice messages.

Fans of reality shows often joke that the people who take part have serious mental issues or personality dysfunction. Media psychologists like Pamela Rutledge have pointed out that the personality profiles of reality show stars have a large overlap with the behaviors of con artists, as they often have a narcissistic need for admiration or employ deceit or manipulation to get the audience on their side. Psychologist Jamie Huysman, who directly works with people in reality TV, said that the attention addiction that participants experience is often a “symptom of a much deeper emotional problem.” Deep-seated issues are no clearer than in “MILF Manor,”

where the otherwise goofy tone of the first episode is set off by a disturbing exploration of several participants’ emotional baggage.

April spent her youth raising her children and declares herself finally “ready to have fun” at 43. She doesn’t question why this romantic fun must be found with men the same age as her sons. Charlene lost her 27-year-old daughter less than a year prior to filming and is already eager to get on air. Kelle has six children from different fathers and so far, avoids talking about her past. She refers to her outgoing side as “Disco Mommy” and speaks about it as if she has some bizarre alter ego.

Then, after setting up all these women’s backstories, we get the plot twist that has disgusted viewers worldwide. These women are here to find younger men. But the men attending are each of their sons, and each mother-son pair will be sharing a room at the resort. While participants like Gabriel briefly mention feelings of discomfort, they all decide to stay.

This twist brings us to our next axiom of reality television; the “MILF Manor” participants crave attention so much that they will endure or perpetuate unethical situations just for publicity or money. Many of these women are business owners, and it seems clear that participants like Kelle are using the show for exposure. Opportunistic behavior is not new for reality TV, as the genre has a disturbing number of stars turned con artists who have faced legal trouble for exploitation or theft.

This pattern includes Jen Shah from “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” who victimized thousands through a telemarketing scheme, as well as Teresa and Giuseppe Giudice from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” who together served more than four years in prison for tax fraud. Like Rutledge said, this industry attracts a certain personality profile, and it is the kind of person who is okay with creating strong incestuous un-

dertones so long as there is financial gain or attention on the line.

Participants have an incredible lack of self-awareness that can only be attributed to either stupidity or the desire to be famous, no matter the cost. Reality shows like “The Real Housewives” often show their actors as oblivious or inept because viewers eat it up, and “MILF Manor” makes this play too. Gabriel feels strange about dating the women there because they “all have sons,” particularly adult sons -- meaning, he has a brief moment of perspective where he realizes that from the outside, the dynamic seems unethical and strange. This realization forces him to stop objectifying the women, forgo his lust and think critically about himself. Unfortunately, this uncomfortable thought is quickly cast aside. None of the participants ever connect the dots on the fact that this exactly why you should not date someone 40 years older or younger than you. You are in fundamentally different stages of life and that dynamic allows people to get taken advantage of.

But in an entertainment genre that is well known for being scripted, the contestants’ lack of self-awareness cannot be attributed solely to stupidity. “MILF Manor” is full of transparently scripted encounters and comments that keep the audience just on the edge of discomfort by maintaining the image of pseudo-incest. This ranges from a minigame where the women must feel a lineup of shirtless men to guess which one is their son to off-handed comments like Kelle shouting “who wants to sleep with their moms?” Again, despite their display of discomfort, every one of the participants chooses to stay. The feeling of scriptedness also plays into the personae of the “MILF Manor” participants. These women are clearly intelligent, driven and professionally successful, shown by how they all achieved different careers while raising children. Despite this, when the

Microaesthetics dangerous for young adults, not liberating

The trendy micro aesthetic lifestyles cluttering the internet might seem appealing and harmless, but they are actually obstacles to true individualism.

We live in a society where it seems like a necessity to identify with a categorical lifestyle – an aesthetic. Most aesthetics took root in social media during the early 2010’s and began with basic ones you may already recognize: “2014 Tumblr,” “E-boy” or “E-girl” or just about anything you can put the word “core” after. Fast forward to 2023, and the primary aesthetics have evolved into an entire universe of micro aesthetics. Especially popular among young adults and teens searching for their own sense of style, micro aesthetics have flooded the internet at an overwhelming rate. With the growth of these micro aesthetics, endless young people are finding pieces of identities online to claim, slowly piecing them together until they can maybe, just maybe, find an identity of their own. Perhaps you’re studious – great! Are you a dark or light academia kind of person? Chaotic academia, perhaps? Or maybe you’re more of an athlete – if you’re big on going to the gym, you better decide if you’re considered a “gym bro” or a “pink pilates princess”. There are endless choices, and because micro aesthetics are made of unrealistic, constantly rising standards, the practice of taking one on has become dangerously unsustainable. In fact, the countless details of micro aesthetics encourage consumerism and aren’t realistic enough to become lifestyles. Nobody can expect to find success – or an identity – by applying curated aesthetics to the real world. Personally, you may not be actively pursuing an aesthetic – maybe you’ve only tried a couple green juice cleanses in the past, or perhaps you bleached two front locks of your hair in 2020. Surely that doesn’t put you at the mercy of micro aesthetics, does it? In a way, it does.

Of course, trying new things is an experimental part of growing up. You haven’t lost your entire identity by entertaining a new favorite color or outfit style, but there is harm in trying to take on an entirely new lifestyle solely for the sake of an aesthetic. Micro aesthetics may seem fun or even enlightening at first, but that’s only at the beginning. The moment you attempt to pursue a trending, curated lifestyle – an unrealistic lifestyle – is the moment you begin to bargain a little bit of your individuality as payment.

In reality, the true harm of micro aesthetics lays in the power of boxing yourself into one. The idea of having your own aesthetic is often associated with taking on an already existing one, but in truth, your personal style doesn’t need to align with popular or niche aesthetics online. Aesthetics are nothing more than ever-changing social constructs – so don’t get caught up trying to identify with them. Trying to label your lifestyle as “rainy-day-yogagirl-classic-grunge-core” is reductive to your individualism and can’t possibly encompass the nuance of who you are. Free yourself from the constricts of aesthetic labels.

Because of the endless number of pre-existing aesthetics online, it may seem complicated to develop your own sense of style, but it is possible. When it comes to fashion, don’t only go searching for pieces that recreate an outfit you saw in a TikTok video. Look for individual items that suit you and flatter you visually, even if they aren’t popular or considered “trendy” online. And if a clothing item or accessory is trending, don’t buy it immediately, – you’ll be surprised at how quickly it falls out of fashion.

When it comes to the style of your environment, instead of seeking a cohesive set of matching items to form a perfectly curated Pinterest room, fill your walls with memories and photos unique to your life. Music posters that make you smile and decorations you appreciate because of your own taste, not because you saw them in a YouTube room tour. Most importantly, when it comes to develop-

ing your own style, refrain from connecting the lifestyles of popular influencers to the items and clothing they own – as much as people like to think otherwise, tangible items are never a straight shot to suddenly living a dream “aesthetic” life. Fragments of micro aesthetics may serve as inspiration, but pursuing one to wholeheartedly embody your way of life will only take away from the traits that make you unique.

In theory, individualism should thrive because of the infinite library of characteristics that social media micro aesthetics have brought to light. In reality, individualism suffers because micro aesthetics restrain these characteristics and idealize them with unrealistic standards. Life isn’t something we can control, and it won’t follow the guidelines of something like dark or light academia. Take pieces of what you see as inspiration and nothing more. Embrace anything and everything that makes you content as an individual, and don’t be surprised when that brings you far more happiness than anything curated for your phone screen.

camera is rolling, they come across as vapid and verbally inept like most reality show stars. You can blame the tequila, but it’s difficult to believe that these women would struggle to communicate basic ideas or use malapropisms left and right. Then there are participants like April, whose laughing is so forced that she seems to be in pain. Could this be a touch of discomfort slipping through the cracks?

Most entertaining is how the show shallowly brings up social justice issues in an attempt to excuse how bizarre its premise is. But just like shows like CBS’s proposed reality series “The Activist,” “MILF Manor” does not truly care about empowering women. Its sole goal is to get as many views as possible by whatever means necessary. In the first episode, an announcement cites the double standard where “an older man with a younger woman is accepted,” but the contrary is taboo. This theme attempts to portray the environment of “MILF Manor” as some sort of safe space to explore socially controversial ideas. However, it entirely misses the point that significant age gaps are suspect across the board. People taking advantage of youths is not worth defending, and glorifying these types of dynamics is not an attempt to “tip the scales.” It is greed.

Reality shows are all about appearances, and “MILF Manor” is no exception. But despite its clever use of aesthetics, it is hard to escape the truth behind this series. If we as viewers do not gain more dignity and force the reality TV industry to change, it will only continue to churn out disgusting examples of life imitating art. So please, don’t buy up their lies. Don’t take “MILF Manor” as some silly little joke. Pay attention to how disgusting it really is. Reflect on what it says about us as a consumer culture, since a studio correctly predicted that this series would get views.

Posting a picture of your partner’s side profile on your Instagram isn’t a “soft launch,” you’re just media obsessed.

Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day and its capitalistic hold on the American public has once again invaded aisles in the form of chocolate boxes and teddy bears at our local grocery stores. It has also revived the divisive social media discourse on one trend: the soft launch.

For those unaware, a “soft launch” consists of posting cryptic, unidentifiable pictures of your romantic partner on social media. A soft launch is more casual, whereas a “hard launch” means posting a fully identifiable picture of your partner, somehow more committal. The purpose of a soft release is to share your relationship without explicitly identifying who you’re dating.

A soft launch isn’t the end of the world, but the trend is a larger reflection of the

impact of consumerism on dating. Debates on the effectiveness of dating apps and the changes in dating culture are both impacted by the reality that so much of the way we view ourselves is through the lens of our social media. Further, the way we view other people is intrinsically connected to their social media presence. Trends like the soft launch demand that we examine why we value relational ambiguity. If the aesthetic you’ve created for yourself online is impacting your relationships, that is a problem.

When it comes to social media during Valentine’s Day, I think we need to examine the trends we’ve allowed ourselves to get swept up in. If a soft launch is what you’re concerned about during this time of the year, you need to reconsider your definition of dating.

If you find yourself having to choose between a soft or hard launch of your romantic partner this season, consider putting down the phone and telling them you love them instead. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Conforming to an aesthetic can take away from one's individuality

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RYLEE DAWN Mercury Staff

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COMETS ROCKET THROUGH MCMURRY TO MAKE ASC PLAYOFFS

Men's basketball defeated McMurry, 103-79 on Feb. 6 before dropping a game to The Cru, 77-83 on Feb. 9. The Comets are set to be in the top three seeds, no matter how the next two games go

Racing toward the American Southwestern Championship, the Comets dominated McMurry’s War Hawks on Feb. 6 at one of the final home games of the season before dropping their seven-game win streak to top-seeded Mary Hardin Baylor at an away game last Thursday.

Before their loss to long-standing foe, Mary Hardin Baylor, the Comets stood at 18-3 in the season and 13-1 in the ASC; the Comets now stand at 19-4 at 14-2 in the ASC. Through their loss, the Comets maintain the top seed in the ASC with the Cru. Both teams are tied across all conference categories. UTD is also now among seven teams in the first NCAA Division III regional rankings, which include two other schools in the ASC – Mary Hardin-Baylor and East Texas Baptist.

Graduate guard Kyle Poerschke led both the Feb. 6 and Feb. 9 matches with top scores of 25 points and 19 points, earning him his third seasonal ASC Player of the Week award. In addition to his ASC accolades, Poerschke was named U.S. Basketball Writers Association

Third head coach in history of women's soccer

Stephen Shirley replaced Kanute Drugan as head coach of the UTD women’s soccer team, becoming the team’s third ever head coach. After a 7-7-2 record in 2022, the program hopes this change will boost them to their first championship since 2002.

Division III National Player of the Week earlier in the season for setting a school record of 43 points made in a single game. Poerschke set the new standard at the Comets’ Jan. 14 win against the Polytechnic Insti tute, where he shined in shooting efficiency, scor ing 71.4% of field goals and 70% of 3-pointers. Men’s basketball coach Terry Butterfield de scribes Poerschke as one of the top players in the ASC league at this moment.

“Kyle is one of the most impor tant parts of our team,” Butterfield said. “Obviously, he can score the ball, but he can do other things as well. He also brings some maturity and some leadership to the team … I don't think that we'd be having the same level of success this year without him.”

Poerschke also posted his first career double-double at last Monday’s match, following 11 rebounds and six assists, contributing to the Comet’s powerful victory of 103-79.

“We knew that [McMurry] would play

really fast,” Poerschke said. “We knew that they were going to be running and taking as many shots as they could, and we just knew that we had to get back. We knew we had to take good shots on the offensive side and then get back whenever it was time to get back for defense. And so we really had to focus on defense. They averaged 90 points a game. We held them under that tonight, which is a good job for us.”

Senior guard Hunter Stevens was responsible for the team’s early lead in each match, both defending the court and working offense. Stevens said his forte is making solid passes and setting up his teammates, which is evident by his leading seven assists in the Feb. 6 match and four assists in the Feb. 9 match.

“That’s what I enjoy most, but when I start getting shots up and hitting them,

SEE MCMURRY, PAGE 2

Women's basketball drops neck-to-neck game

Comets return to the courts with losses against #23 Hardin-Simmons and McMurry War Hawks

ANDRÉ AVERION Mercury Staff

February 4th: Loss against #23 Hardin-Simmons 48-67.

The Comets’ five-game win streak came to a halt on Feb 4 with a defeat against Hardin-Simmons University. This is the second time the Comets have lost to the Cowgirls, who are currently undefeated in this season of the American Southwest Conference (ASC).

In a rematch against McMurry, the Comets barely dropped a close game. This is the first time the Comets have lost against the War Hawks this season, which dropped the Comets from fourth place standing in the ASC to fifth place.

The Comets and War Hawks went back and forth, tying seven times throughout the game and exchanging leading scores 13 times. The Comets scored a season best of 46.4% attempted field goals and tied for the season low of 50% for free throws.

Shirley spent most of his life playing and coaching soccer in the United States and in his home country of Scotland. With years of experience under his belt, including time spent playing major league soccer with Sporting Kansas City, Shirley hopes his advanced knowledge of the game will help him lead the young, promising women’s team. However, with almost every player from the 2022 season returning for fall 2023, Shirley said they might struggle to balance the strengths of returning players with the new players of next year’s freshman class.

Head Coach Joe Shotland said he saw this as a learning experience for the team to improve.

“It’s always tough, you know,” Shotland said. “Obviously you want to win in home court, but I thought we learned today, I thought we got some good action.”

The women's team was holding on to the second place in ASC standing, but this recent game dropped them to fourth, as they scored only 27.8% of attempted field goals and a season low of 0% for 3-pointers. The Comets’ offensive maintained a lead in both halves, with a peak lead numbering at 22 points.

STEPHEN SHIRLEY

Freshman center Kyra Samuels — typi-

cally a defensive player — was the top scorer of the game, with 11 points consisting of four field goals and five free throws, complemented by two blocks and a career best of seven rebounds. Her offensive play led her to break seven personal records. Junior guard Kaylee Boykin, who scored 10 points,

made a personal best with eight rebounds.

Sophomore Trystan Clark, who scored eight points and made four rebounds, made a seasonal best in attempted field goals amounting to 10.

February 7th: Loss against McMurry 65-68.

“With Kansas, I didn’t get to play much,” Shirley said. “So, as a coach, that gives me the perspective that I’ve been the best player on my team and also probably surplus to the requirements. I think it helps me deal with players because … I’ve been in every situation they’ve been in, so when you’re dealing with them, you kind of have that empathy no matter what position they’re in.”

Shirley said the transition to head coach felt natural since he spent the last two years as an assistant for the men’s team under coach Jason Hirsch. Going into the 2023 season, Shirley said he intends to bring changes to

Senior guard Lauren Fulenwider broke two personal records with 31 minutes played and five assists, while also providing for her team with 12 points consisting of four field goals and four three pointers. Fulenwider was the top scorer of the game. Senior guard Jordan Maxwell broke a personal record for 3-pointers and achieved her first double-double, scoring 10 points and 10 assists. Junior Blythe William and senior Diane Hurst both contributed 11 points with Williams providing another five rebounds.

“We’re going to learn from it,” Shotland said. “Nobody likes losing, but it’s always about how you respond, right?”

Men's tennis team recovers from snowstorm with crushing win

The UTD men’s tennis team started the 2023 ASC season strong with a win against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Feb. 4 at an away game. The Comets led the doubles 2-1 and ended the singles 5-1, totaling to a 7-2 victory against the Crusaders at the Yvonne Li Tennis Center. Tennis Coach Bryan Whitt said he chose the lineup for the current team in the fall semester when the players had challenge matches against each other.

“The rule is [that] the lineup has to be determined by order of ability,” Whitt said. “So you have to have your best player at one, your second best player at two, and so on down to six. Doubles is the same thing, although it's a

little trickier. It's tennis, still, but it's a different skill set. So you have to do that with doubles as well and just kind of pairing up which two players fit together.”

The early February snowstorm halted the men’s tennis team from practicing in the weeks leading up to the game. However, players were able to work out at home from Monday to Thursday and played on the campus courts on Friday.

“The courts had a little bit of moisture on them and ice around still that kind of hadn’t melted yet, but we were able to practice a little bit on Friday,” Whitt said. “The good news is the opposing team didn't have many practice days either. So we didn't kind of go in cold. We

FATIMAH AZEEM Mercury Staff

ZACHARY ROSE Mercury Staff

VEDANT SAPRA | MERCURY STAFF

Sophomore Trystan Clark reached a season best in attempted field goals, making 10.

-sion focused on whether UTD would lose money from students paying lower overall tuition fees. After review from the Office of Finances and Budgets and the undergraduate committee, it was brought back for review in the November 2022 faculty meeting with approval from the Office of the Provost. Jessica Murphy, dean of undergraduate education and associate professor of literature, has already begun working to ensure this policy benefits the students currently enrolled.

“It will have a positive effect on students,” Murphy said. “I think that it can help them, especially in majors that do not already require 51 upper division hours as part of the major requirements. I think it can help them graduate faster. It can help them get additional potentially 2000 level work that helps them succeed in their major as their free elective. So they just have a little bit more freedom in the curriculum for those majors.”

This policy update will be a revision in the first 40 pages of the UTD catalog, which list the academic policies that apply to all seven schools. This will automatically apply to all current and future students. Mur-

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and providing more one on one interactions will diminish students’ ability to generate automated answers while also expanding curriculum.

“It’ll make assignments a little richer, maybe a little deeper [and] require more thought and critical thinking,” Ashmore said.

UTD has said that the use of ChatGPT or any similar AI programs in lieu of genuine student work will be considered plagiarism and a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

Specifically labeled under academic dishonesty, the disciplinary committee plans to treat first time offenders with a warning and a zero on the assignment, with further punishments to be assessed when they occur. Shaquelle Massey, director of the office of community standards and

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that has since been developed over.

“The history of race relations and the history of Dallas has been built over, has been paved over, and when we get to actually know this real history, we can begin to see the layers of our city’s history and better understand why we are where we are today,” Stewart said. “Because we don't live in a racial utopia in the city of Dallas, and you know there is a reason behind that. If we try to hide that history, if we try to pave it over, then we’re doing ourselves a disservice to try to understand where we are today.”

The graduate students and Stewart spent the second half of their course creating and installing the exhibit with the help of AHT’s financial resources and counseling Old City Park for information on the Shotgun House. They spent a vast amount of time choosing which artifacts and panels to include in this exhibit and how to cater to the public sphere. The decision-making process was implemented in a collaborative manner, giving students a role in opening an original history exhibit.

“We all ended up with a much better knowledge of what it means to be a practicing public historian, which means being able to do handson history with the public that I, and now my students, are very passionate

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build out and make available for everyone.”

Vazhekatt said being both a CEO and student results in lot of overtime work. Combined with being on the soccer team, his professional and education commitments usually mean Vazhekatt’s work-life balance is put in a compromising situation. He manages all this by making sure to schedule his classes and work obligations on designated days of the week.

“It’s been consistency, right from the beginning, if I kind of lacked a little consistency at any point then then that’s when the motivation and sort of the trajectory starts to slow down,” Vazhekatt said. “But because I’m consistent, and the people that I

phy has already written a memo to include students graduating in the spring and summer of 2023. While all UTD schools are impacted by this change, NSM and ECS are particularly impacted by this change, as they contain the most majors that had a minimum graduation requirement of 51 upper-division credit hours. In particular, according to the academic senate, students were having trouble fulfilling all of their class requirements with little room to experience other electives or graduate within four years. Amy Walker, associate dean of ECS, believes this will help reverse that issue and welcome new students.

“Now I think we have an opportunity,” Amy Walker said, “I think it opens up possibilities for some students who want to double major, [and] I think there are some possibilities … to make it easier for our transfer students.”

The policy was changed for three reasons tat affect student graduation and academic success. One complaint that the academic senate received is that students could not graduate in the four year requirement, especially if they had failed or withdrawn from certain classes.

Secondly, the Academic Senate

conduct, wants to take an educational approach to the discussion of AI technology and student misuse.

“The way that I relate to students cheating is essentially [an] umbrella,” Massey said. “There are different forms of cheating or different stems as I will put it. And so the stems could be plagiarism, fabrication, collaboration, collusion — but cheating is essentially that catch-all. So, using Al would be subject to our academic integrity policy, and it would be in the form of cheating.”

OpenAI presented the latest classifier on Jan. 31 to help educators distinguish between human and machine-generated essays. However, this classifier is only accurate 26% of the time.

While educators and disciplinary committees precariously prepare for the wave of students who will be us-

about,” said Stewart The exhibit caters to the Shotgun House’s floorplan, telling the story of the house’s role in the former working-class neighborhood and more broadly explaining Black Dallas residents’ history. The exhibit starts with an introduction summarizing three rooms that present history chronologically. The first room focuses on the 1870s to the 1910s, the second room details the 1920s to the 1930s and the last room shows the 1940s to the present. Beyond this, there is a breakdown of history beginning with explaining the house, the neighborhood and Dallas as a whole. The exhibit also discusses the future of this threatened architecture style.

“It has been a target of developers and gentrification that has really wiped it away from much of the cities landscape,” Stewart said. “But there are people who are really making sure that we preserve and record the history of these houses…”

The exhibit pays homage to these forgotten communities and strives to deliver the historical significance of Dallas’ background as it relates to the Black community.

“I'll tell you one thing my students told me that they learned and that they walked away from doing this exhibit,” Stewart said. “So many of us walk through Dallas and we don’t know the history around us, and

work with are also consistent, and we all motivate each other, that’s been the number one trait that's like pretty much bolstered us to continue to build out this product and help our users.”

UTD has supplemented Vazhekatt’s design ideas, offering him a new perspective on entrepreneurship as a student and providing insight on technical aspects of his business.

Vazhekatt correlates learning experiences on the soccer field and in his courses to his role in the start-up.

“I stopped to be a leader on the field and doing that has also enabled me to be a leader of this company,” Vazhekatt said. “I’m a computer science student, and I’m building this product. I’m actually programming the product, right. So, a lot of the stuff that I learned

identified that students were unable to minor or double major effectively. The average number of credit hours for undergraduate students requires 120 hours to graduate, translating to roughly 15 credit hours a semester. For students in NSM or ECS, for example, a single major could require up to 128 hours. Double majors would have to balance a minimum of 157 hours. As a result, double major students would have to take 19 to 20 credit hours a semester while managing professional, extracurricular and personal responsibilities.

Finally, transfer students were deterred from joining UTD since other similar ranked schools to UTD had a 45 credit hour requirement. The academic senate recognized that UTD was losing potential community college students or international students because of the high demand credits.

“I think this [lowered requirement] definitely provides added flexibility to students,” Prakash said. “It opens up about six to eight hours to do other electives or minors or things of that sort, so that definitely does increase flexibility and helps every student tailor their learning to their interests.”

ing resources like ChatGPT for their essays and reports, AI’s use is not completely in opposition to education. It may open a transitional period for new methods of education in the future.

“We don’t know how artificial intelligence is going to develop and mature,” Ashmore said. “I suspect it’s going to become very sophisticated, and it will become a learning tool. That's what a calculator is: it’s a learning tool. You want to get to the concepts and the theories in math to be able to apply them and use them in new and unique ways. You don't want to be held up by the arithmetic of mathematics. Let's use that information. Let's apply it. Let's synthesize it. Let's evaluate it and maybe create something new with it. And that's what we do at university.”

more than that, there’s a history that we can't see. You don't look around you and realize that for nearly a century, this was part of Black Dallas, that this was a thriving black community that was then decimated by what the local government and what developers wanted, mostly for white Dallas sites.”

“It has been a target of developers and gentrification that has really wiped it away from much of the cities landscape,” Stewart said. “But there are people who are really making sure that we preserve and record the history of these houses...”

The exhibit pays homage to these forgotten communities and strives to deliver the historicalsignificance of Dallas’ background as it relates to the Black community.

“I'll tell you one thing my students told me that they learned and that they walked away fromdoing this exhibit,” Stewart said. “So many of us walk through Dallas and we don’t know the history around us, and more than that, there’s a history that we can't see. You don't look around you and realize that for nearly a century, this was part of Black Dallas, that this was a thriving black community that was then decimated by what the local government and what developers wanted, mostly for white Dallas sites.”

in class and different classes that I'm taking are supplementing the work that I’m doing with Routora …”

Vazhekatt is taking his company further by announcing plans to design a mobile app with his associates. He wants to push boundaries to make driving trips more efficient for people, while also utilizing and engaging in college life. Vazhekatt aims to maximize the potential of Routora’s purpose and mission.

“In the end, if we can save our users time spent on the road and money spent on gas as well as reduce our carbon footprint, that is what accomplishes our mission. And if we can continue to do that, then I see a bright future ahead of us,” Vazhekatt said.

organization has gone through various reworks since its founding in the summer of 2020.

“In the beginning, there was one project called ‘Comet Planning’ and that was a degree planning tool,” Chalmers said. “So that tool was a part of ACM and it was part of a newly forming software development team within ACM. So it was still Comet Planning, and it needed a name change.”

Chalmers said he decided on rebranding Comet Planner to Project Nebula both to match UTD’s space themed mascot and to represent the similarities between nebulas coalescing to form stars and the project’s mission to help UTD students. After its split from its parent organization ACM in 2022, Chalmers renamed Project Nebula to what is now known as Nebula Labs to reflect the collaborative nature of the new organization.

“The collective leadership of ACM and Project Nebula mutually agreed that we should separate because the missions of ACM’s engineering department and Project Nebula as a whole are much different. One is focused more so on ACM and one is focused on building tools for the student body more generally,” Chalmers said. “When it comes to doing stuff like partnerships with other organizations and the university, it is easier to work with other groups as a separate organization, just establishing relationships.”

While ACM currently maintains UTD Grades, a website where students can view grade distributions each se-

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is key for developing aerospace applications. They are also developing more efficient pogo pins, which are frail instruments necessary for creating semiconductors, as well as working with the Department of Homeland Security to develop sensors for radiation detectors.

Another project currently in development with Texas Instruments and Cerfe Labs is creating memory more resistant to harsh temperatures, up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The NTxSI is expected to develop quickly as a leader in providing talented

mester, Nebula Labs is working on an addendum to UTD Grades. According to President Eric Boysen, Nebula Labs currently has four main product lines — Nebula Planner, UTD Trends, Nebula API and the UTD Survival Guide.

“We’ve got Nebula Planner, which is our four year undergraduate degree planning software that we just launched into Beta last semester,” Boysen said.

“We’ve got [UTD] Trends, which is the project that I previously led, which is our data analytics platform that provides grade distribution data. We’re also looking to add professor evaluations, rate my professor data, so you kind of have a one-stop shop for everything you want to know about your classes.”

The Nebula API team works on Nebula Lab’s infrastructure where the members collect data for all their projects. The UTD Survival Guide, a personalized handbook for UTD students led by Chalmers, is a curated CMS content site where students can write articles to guide other students.

“I moderate the UT Dallas subreddit, and I saw that students were going to the subreddit to ask questions that sometimes were answerable with a Google search which is part of the issue because students have oftentimes conflicting accounts of what an advisor says or what the actual policy and a situation is,” Chalmers said. “There's the Code of Conduct, but there is no ‘Here's your one stop shop for everything you need.’ It was really like leveling the playing field.”

The other two projects— sk.edge and Project Jupiter help support the

workers during the ongoing global semiconductor shortage that started because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 169 industries, including automobiles, computers and medical equipment are being negatively affected in what’s considered a global crisis, as the demand for semiconductors severely overshadows their supply and quality.

Richardson is already home to Texas Instruments, but more companies are interested in coming to the area to meet the growing demand for semiconductor production. Allegro MicroSystems, a global semiconductor leader in power and sensing solutions, will be moving to Richardson IQ to capitalize on the na-

main product lines, Boysen said. Project Jupiter is a student organization portal that aims to improve UTD’s student organizations’ outreach platform while sk.edge, the HackUTD winner of 2022, is an in-browser Chrome extension to UTD Trends. To continue funding projects and pay for server fees, Nebula Labs is working on becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

“That’ll help us secure sponsorships in the future but right now, the officers are paying out of pocket,” Chalmers said. “We want to build stuff that's maintainable and stuff that is what industry calls production ready … and there's a certain degree of reliability. And that means you have to pay more to ensure you have that reliability. The ECS Student Council has helped fund some of what Nebula Labs is doing, but largely, it is dedicated officers paying out of pocket for socials.”

Interested students can join Nebula Labs’ Discord server, talk to project leads and join the mentorship program at their kick off on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in SCI 1.210. Boysen said that Nebula Labs hopes to launch several products this semester and announce more news at their kickoff next week.

“Right now, we’re aiming for a release cycle to line up for when each semester’s registration appointments get assigned,” Boysen said. “We work on an agile workflow … [but] we’re going to be doing an actual launch event over in the SU Green on March 24 to have students come try out our products as they’re launching and preparing for registration.”

tional talent that UTD sponsors.

Quevedo-Lopez hopes that continued support of CHESS will help support pioneering students by leveraging support and opportunities from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America (CHIPS) act.

“This just shows the commitment that Dallas has to prepare our students in the areas that are very important and that will result in high paying jobs … So, it's not just a strategic investment in research, but also it's a way for Dallas to provide additional skills, additional training for our students as well,” Quevedo-Lopez said.

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“I think the biggest thing [about our partnership] is that we motivate each other,” Poche said. “Because I feel bad that I don't have something done, I’ll hurry and finish it, because she's already finished her half. We have these little gacha stickers for Minna. They're little Sanrio Valentine's things and she finished hers super early.”

It is early on in Fleeing Fish’s partnership, so the pair are still working to develop the shop, but beyond all else they are focused on creating for a community.

“We made some little loyalty cards because we have a lot of repeat customers,” Poche said. “So like our friends especially but like John Mai [an art club officer]. He buys a lot of our stuff.... so we just wanted to have like a little reward kind of thing.”

Minna Art Market is Fleeing Fish’s first off-campus event. Though they wanted to table at Minna Art Market’s Halloween event, the boothing applications filled up before they were able to fill it out. This time around, they were able to send in an application with the help of a burgeoning

BOBA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 what to choose? You have the option to grab a sample cup in order to try your teas and toppings beforehand. My recommendation is the taro coconut milk tea with brown sugar tapioca boba. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and the tea is quite flavorful without the starchy aftertaste of some franchises’ taro milk teas. The tapioca boba is made with a wonderful wildflower honey blend unique to the store. With the power of controlling your topping to tea ratio, you can ensure your drink’s sweetness is to your liking. As for the food, prices

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on screen is a haunting experience as you watch it slaughter a room of armed people, and it is actual nightmare fuel when you are forced to fight one in a locked room. In fact, after reliving the atmosphere of the remake, I’m more terrified of Necromorphs than the clickers in “The Last of Us,” and I’d rather take on the apocalypse of “World War Z” than spend a minute in a room with a Necromorph. If done right, “Dead Space” could easily be

Discord server, UTD Arters and Crafters, where resources are provided to support campus artists. The local art community is a large source of inspiration for Poche and Yu.

“I find that very motivating because it's pretty common for artists at artist alleys to trade art with each other. So it's just like really fun to see where everyone else is at,” Poche said. “Since a lot of us on campus table at the same campus events, we have a lot of each other's art already. It’s just like ‘so, what do you have new?’”

Before Minna Art Market, the two tabled at campus events such as the Women in Animation (WIA) Art Connect in spring 2022, Comet Con and the Asian Artists Association’s first artist alley for a Lunar New Year festival. Yu’s tiger stickers decorate laptops and water bottles of students across campus, and Poche’s holographic shard “Trans Pride” print, which he made for a WIA zine, is one of his best-sellers.

“And I think one that might sell more is the trans rights Reigan [from anime “Mob Psycho 100”]. One that says ‘trans

range from $4 to $8 for small bites and about $10 to $16 for larger plates. The honey butter fries are one of their most popular items — uniquely sweet and well made — but can be heavy when paired with a sweet drink.

Besides their boba, Rocketbelly’s most famous menu item is the “rocket” chicken, which includes nuggets and tenders that embody classic American flavors through Japanese culinary technique. The batter is airy and light in comparison to most fried chicken, perfectly paired with their tangy Rocket Sauce, a secret recipe. With self-serve comes the common

a blockbuster show or movie in live action.

Fear of space was popularized in the late 1960s during the peak of the Space Race. Unfortunately, most horror films underutilize the horror of space and portray aliens coming to Earth like in “Nope” and “Prey” instead of bringing viewers into uncharted territory. Sure, there have been movies with intergalacting settings like “Interstellar” and the snooze fest “Ad Astra,” but that was not horror. It was existential drama that, while scary in its own right, does not produce blood-curdling

rights’ and ‘bottom text,’” Poche said. “I think it's very telling of the UTD student body.”

It’s a battle for time for Fleeing Fish to balance schoolwork with running their shop. However, with their passion and teamwork, they make it work by communicating constantly and meeting four to five times a month.

“With school, I have to plan things ahead and figure out because a lot of times I end up having to sacrifice certain things,” Yu said. “So I come up with a bunch of ideas for art that I want to make.

Poche created a resource document for artists who are wanting to start a shop and is excited to share his knowledge from running Fleeing Fish with Yu. The pair even dropped useful tips in conversation, like handing out free card readers, which helps artists expand their payment types and keep track of purchases during the chaos of boothing at different events.

“If you're thinking about selling art, you should do it,” Poche said. “It's a lot of work but I think it's very rewarding.”

issue of cleanliness. The self-serve stations were relatively clean, but tables were an issue. They weren’t terribly dirty, but they weren’t wiped down, either. On the bright side, the family running the shop offers incredibly friendly service. Despite the daunting distance – about an hour away from campus – Rocketbelly is worth a visit for both the service and experience. All in all, Rocketbelly is a boba shop like no other. Its fun concept and high quality tea make it a solid choice. Frequent visits may not be possible, but if anything is worth an hour drive, it is selfserve boba.

terror. We are now in an era where video game movies are the next big hit, whether that be in theaters or streaming services.

Other games from the era of “Dead Space” are already getting live action adaptations, like HBO’s “The Last of Us” and projects like “Bioshock,” “Borderlands” and “Metal Gear Solid.” “Dead Space” is the perfect choice to revitalize the deep space horror genre while maintaining the zombie trend in a time where video game films are on the top of viewers’ watchlists.