UTDPD Blotter

March 21

• At 7:13 p.m., an unaffiliated vendor had wallet and cash taken from purse.

March 22

• At 2:46 p.m., an unknown person called the UTD help desk and made a threat.

March 24 • At 2:24 a.m., a student was extorted out of money.

11 a.m on Sunday to 8 p.m on Friday as well as Saturday from 11 a.m to 8 p.m. Comets need an active Comet Card to enter after 10:30 p.m., and the library's assistant dean of public services is named Travis Goode.

Media Adviser Jonathan Stewart jonathan.stewart@utdallas.edu

March 30 • At 5:08 p.m., UTD library staff reported a damaged book on the fourth floor of the library.

VEHICULAR INCIDENT

DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD | COURTESY

EDUPUGANTI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ensure students’ well-being.

“I have a clear understanding of what it means to be president, the limitations of the role, and how to best leverage that position to make Student Government in this campus as a whole stronger,” Edupuganti said. “I think I have realistic expectations, but I also have big goals.”

As an international student, Edupuganti also aims to target barriers to student opportunities. She would like to give interna-

JUNEJA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 pull that together to make the changes we need to make,” Juneja said.

Juneja's priorities as vice president include providing menstrual leave to empower women, a program to establish study sessions for neurodivergent students and a forum to allow students to converse with each other about concerns they tional students with F1 visas the chance to access resources such as summer internship courses for free.

“You will notice problems, and you’ll sort of take them for granted,” Edupuganti said. “When I first learned about the fact that UTD charges international students to take the summer internship course, I was like, that’s a really awful policy … Thinking about what I would do as the president made me look at these assumptions and realize that I don’t know whether or not we can change that policy, but that’s might have at UTD. She hopes to handle these issues with as much transparency as possible to increase student trust.

“I’m always going to be honest with everybody and communicate every single thing I’m able to get information on … even if it feels like it’s being withheld from them,” Juneja said. “I’m going to do my best to make sure every time they feel like they can at least trust somebody.” something we can at least try and do.”

Edupuganti stresses the importance of listening to students’ issues on campus and providing them with a system that allows goals to be achieved and requests to be heard.

“I think that it is really important that what the people want should be what the people get,” Edupuganti said. “And I think that recognizing change as a longterm goal is important. We are not going to be able to get instant gratification if we want meaningful long-lasting changes.”

Juneja wants to strive for change and find alternate approaches to ensure students can access critical resources.

“Anish and I both have that goal to make people feel like no matter what kind of people you are, we are taking what you’re saying to administration, and we’ll tell you exactly what everyone has to say about what you’re hoping will happen,” Juneja said.

SULLIVAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 sentative? What are you doing to make their experience the best it can be?”

As the SG website liaison, a member of SG’s Communications Committee and the academic development director for the Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity, Sullivan has a passion for improving student life and campus involvement.

“There’s a reason I’m so involved in the government,” Sullivan said. “It’s because I’m good at what I do, and I really love it, and I think I will be

PADALA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Padala said.

Padala said his experience with SG gives him the means to establish a better standard of student life by bridging the gap.

“As the chair of Residential Affairs and the Campus Housing Advisory Committee, I realized the depth of the lack of communication,” Padala said. “This is just one area of campus life, but I am sure there are other areas

HOUSING D

“It’s typically the case on most college campuses when you’re here in your first year, you’re connected [with] the residence hall space, you’re around other individuals who [are] maybe in your major,” Grief said. “[They’re] gonna get more involved and become connected to the campus more if they’re on campus that first year.”

Iowa State University, for example, found that first-year students who lived on campus had a 34% higher retention rate, a 38% four-year graduation rate and a 5% higher GPA. However, UTD’s prioritization of freshmen has created competition for upperclassmen.

Current University Housing residents have to go through two processes to get a spot. First, if they live in University Village or Canyon Creek Heights, they can renew to stay in the same room for the summer and the following academic year, according to UTD. Comets who did not fill out a renewal application in time can go through sign-up, which consists of a sign-up stage, roommate group registration and roommate self-selection.

Grief said that students who go through the sign-up process are automatically put on the housing waitlist. If spaces become available, housing offers will go out to students based on their priority number, Grief said.

The highest level goes to National Merit and McDermott scholarship recipients, who are assigned numbers 1499, respectively. Below that are current

University Commons residents, between 500 and 3,500. The next four descending levels are sophomores through graduate students.

“People want to live on campus, [and] we’re really happy about that,” Grief said. “But it’s also challenging too because we don’t really have the space available to meet everybody’s needs.”

Davis, who is also a member of the advocacy group Comets For Better Transit, said the university had a role in the increased demand for housing.

“This didn’t just happen,” Davis said. “[UTD] is advertising and marketing and trying to expand enrollment.”

The administration needs to be able to support that hike in numbers with the proper infrastructure, he said. This was a concern for Davis, who noted a “Campus able to carry that into the role of vice president if I get elected.”

Sullivan said she ventures into candidacy with an immense dedication to representing marginalized groups and hearing students’ voices. She wants to show Comets that SG is truly there to help and should be used as a resource for all.

“We all want to hear student voices,” Sullivan said. “Everyone wants to know what students are thinking. We can do things for students. And we want them to come to talk to us about their thoughts.” where the disconnect is prominent. These issues won’t be solved in one year, but they need a constant and collective effort.”

Padala states that he intends to work tirelessly with the rest of SG to create a better experience for current and future Comets.

“I hope that with my priorities, I can allow [students] to see what Student Government is really doing and that we truly, genuinely care about the students and that we are working for them,” Padala said.

Master Plan” which projected UTD to be at a 35,000 enrollment by 2030. Davis pointed out that UTD had built new residential housing consistently every two to four years but stopped in 2017 with the unveiling of Canyon Creek Heights and its 800 new beds.

“Of course, enrollment has continued to grow throughout all that time,” Davis said.

The school’s housing plan did recommend redeveloping Phases 4-9 of student housing, but Davis fears some of that might be going toward academic buildings. He advises the school to replace Phases 1-3 with higher-density housing.