LIFE & ARTS

BRITTANY THU-ANH HUYNH | COURTESY Students should be cauttious if they have small pets, but the bocats’ presence is a net-good in terms of keeping the populations of other species under control.

The bobcat’s out of the bag

Sustainability projects, low student traffic brings wildlife to campus

LAUREN DOUGHERTY

Mercury Staff

Two bobcats were spotted on campus in January, thought to be due in part to decreased traffic on campus and the biodiversity efforts of the Office of Sustainability.

According to a photo posted on the Facilities & Economic Development website on Jan. 14, an adult bobcat and its kitten were seen in the middle of the day near a storm drainpipe. Gary Cocke, director of energy conservation and sustainability, said that the photo was taken along the creek near the UV housing north of Franklyn Jenifer Drive.

“What I think (the photo) is indicative of is just simply with lower traffic from people on campus, we’re seeing some wildlife poking up in locations that we haven’t normally seen,” Cocke said.

While the presence of bobcats is likely caused by a quieter campus, Cocke said, it’s also the result of an environment that can support the native species. Sustainability efforts such as the monarch butterfly waystations on campus help create a healthy base for the ecosystem, which ultimately allows the presence of predators at the top of the food chain, like bobcats.

“Ecosystems really do require apex predators like bobcats that can help to keep everything in balance; they control the animals that are lower than them on the trophic ladder,” Cocke said. “I thought it was a testament to the good work that our university does.”

In recent years, Cocke said, the Office of Sustainability has launched a number of initiatives designed to increase biodiversity on campus. Many of the campus’ 7,000 trees have been planted in the last decade, and they’ve planted wildflower seeds on five acres of campus in the last few months.

“When you have the right native plants in the ground, that means that we’re going to have the right native pollinators, and then that ripples up through the ecosystem,” Cocke said.

A multi-year Texas Parks and Wildlife study published in 2019 found that despite rapid urbanization and loss of habitat, a larger-than-expected bobcat population in North Texas persisted. The research focused on a 78 km2 central section of the DFW area, which was selected due to a relatively high volume of bobcat sightings in the area. At the time of the study, an estimated 43 bobcats lived in the section.

“A robust population of bobcats in the heart of a dense metropolitan area like DFW provides optimistic possibilities for the potential of bobcats and other carnivores to thrive in urban landscapes with minimal conflict,” the study said.

There have been other bobcat sightings on campus in recent months: according to a post on the UTD subreddit by user u/Deanuna on Nov. 27, a single bobcat was spotted between the Johnson and Green buildings.

Mar. 1, 2021 | The Mercury Stick(er)ing up for cancer research

UTD student raises awareness for breast cancer with animal art

SMRITHI UPADHYAYULA

Mercury Staff

Photo caption online: Raicu said her lifelong passion for art helped fuel the process of starting her business, in addition to her past experience in breast cancer research.

Photo caption in print: Raicu chinchillin’ with her artwork (and pet, Willow)

Combining the classic pink ribbon with her whimsical drawing style, a neuroscience and healthcare studies freshman is now selling her art to raise money for breast cancer research.

Izzy Raicu’s interest in breast cancer began with a high school research internship.

“In 10th grade, I got paired with a research lab at UT Southwestern, and I did breast cancer research there for the next couple of years,” Raicu said. “I also got to shadow and actually interact with patients, so it wasn’t only bench research. That really got me into understanding the breast cancer community and the challenges that everyone faces when they go through having breast cancer.”

Unable to spend last summer in her lab due to the pandemic, Raicu found another way to pursue her goal of aiding breast cancer research.

“I couldn’t work in my lab because it was shut down to anyone who wasn’t faculty or a postdoc employee, so I was just sitting at home,” Raicu said. “I kind of had this idea to keep contributing to the breast cancer community through fundraising.”

Raicu opened an Etsy shop selling a variety of stationery and gift items from vinyl stickers and sticker sheets to greeting cards for birthdays and holidays. All of her products feature original drawings that incorporate the pink ribbon, a well-known symbol of breast cancer awareness. Hence the name of her company: Pink Ribbon Parcels. She said her lifelong passion for art helped fuel the process of starting her business.

“My grandma was an art teacher; she taught high school art back in the day,” Raicu said. “She taught me to paint, honestly, before I could even write, so I’ve always had art as a hobby, as something that helped me express things in a different way.”

Many of Raicu’s products star cartoon bunnies inspired by her pet rabbits, Scotch and Marbles. Her sister’s chinchilla, Willow, has also made a guest appearance. She said she hopes her cheerful designs deliver a message of positivity to those who really need it.

“I wanted something that would be aesthetically pleasing and something that people would enjoy,” Raicu said. “I think animals bring a lot of joy to people and are just universally liked. The traditional, normal ribbon – we’ve seen that a hundred times, you know? An animal holding the ribbon still carries that message of pink and support but with a different twist so that people can get something that not only supports breast cancer but is also cute in general.”

In the future, she hopes to launch care packages directly aimed toward breast cancer patients.

“(The packages) are going to have a support pillow, a mask, some adult coloring pages, stickers of course – things like that,” Raicu said. “Just some cute knick-knacks so they can take their mind off of what they’re going through and feel a little bit more happy and supported.”

Raicu uses her website and Facebook page to raise awareness about breast cancer as well as the necessity of properly caring for animals like her rabbits. She said she hopes her shop helps foster a community that is educated about breast cancer and supportive of those fighting the disease.

“It’s been a challenge, launching a business during a pandemic with no business background,” Raicu said. “There’s so much I have to learn, but it’s been a great journey so far.”

ISABELLA RAICU | COURTESY. Raicu chinchillin’ with Scotch and Marbles.

JUHI KARNALKAR | MERCURY STAFF

Ask Sophie: overcoming imposter syndrome

What it is, how to deal with it

SOPHIE BOUTOUIS

Copy Editor

The college experience is filled with ups and downs, successes and failures. While the joys of student success can be easily overshadowed by imposter syndrome, it is possible to counter such doubt in oneself by separating fact from feelings.

Almost communally hated by college students, imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that causes people to doubt their skills, feel unworthy of their accomplishments and believe that they are not as capable as others perceive them. Though commonly associated with low self-esteem or feelings of inadequacy, the syndrome specifically involves a persistent fear of exposure and rejection. For students, it often takes the form of intellectual self-doubt and sometimes even anxiety or depression. During periods of especially intense insecurity, it can be easy to feel like you’re the only one who’s ever felt like an impostor. However, this is simply not true. Even the most accomplished of people – such as Tina Fey, Maya Angelou and Michelle Obama – have struggled with impostor feelings at some point in their lives.

The first step in conquering imposter syndrome is recognizing what you’re feeling and why. In his book “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down,” South Korean author and Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim said one should think about their emotions like fleeting clouds in the sky. Rather than attempting to actively suppress or eliminate them, we must calmly observe and respect their existence. All feelings – even the most uncomfortable or embarrassing ones – are impermanent, so permit yourself to experience them in their entirety. People deny or try to hide feelings like anger or guilt too often, so being honest and simply acknowledging that such feelings exist will go a long way.

“(Feelings) are just passing through, like clouds in the sky. They, too, dissipate on their own,” Sunim said in the book. “Remember that you are neither your feelings nor the story your mind tells about you to make sense of them. You are the vast silence that knows of their emergence and their disappearance.”

So, the next time you feel woefully inadequate or incapable, remember that these are just feelings. In no way do they indicate that you are actually inadequate or incapable. In fact, it is perfectly normal –

SEE IMPOSTOR, PAGE 15

Coping with Solitude

Quarantine leads individuals to return to comforting pastimes

CALIS LIM

Mercury Staff

Over the course of the past year, the majority of the population has dramatically increased leisure activities to cope with the pandemic. These trends relate to wider social issues amongst the populous and mental health problems in individuals.

Google searches reveal what leisure activities have been on many people’s minds during the past year. Words related to domesticity such as “recipe,” “bread” and “sewing” have shown a huge surge in searches since the beginning of the pandemic.

Why is it that domestic leisurely activities, amongst many others, are trending? Trillion Small – a UTD professor of the psychology of adjustment – said this could be a psychological response to the distress that many are facing due to the pandemic.

“Coping, essentially, is finding that balance between the things that are being presented to me externally. If they seem like they’re a little bit more than I could handle, that’s when our coping mechanisms kick in,” Small said. “The ultimate goal is really to find an ease and create a way in which you can decrease that level of distress.”

Given that many people did not foresee a pandemic, Small said, they were left blindsided.

“When there is a great deal of ambiguity, uncertainty, it can induce intense fears of the unknown,” Small said. “When we are left kind of in this space of ambiguity, our anxiety levels can increase, right? So, whenever we are anxious, it’s pretty common for us to reach for comfort.”

ROSHAN KHICHI | MERCURY STAFF Words such as “recipe” and “bread” have surged in the number of Google searches during the pandemic.