The Mercury 04 11 22

Eugene McDermott library looks to take disruptive student behavior off the books

After returning to fully in person operations, the library is being overwhelmed with rowdy patrons in designated quiet areas

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Mercury Staff

As foot traffic increases in the McDermott Library, so does the amount of students misbehaving, leading the Library to consider updating its Code of Conduct and purchase new furniture.

The goal of the McDermott Library is to provide a quiet environment in which to study and do work, but some students are increasingly compromising that quiet. Study rooms are provided for those who wish to work in groups or talk, but not all students seem to be aware of this fact. These behavioral issues have accelerated since the return to campus.

Cognitive science sophomore

Kruthi Kanduri—who was a Student Government representative on the University-Wide Library Committee last year—discussed some of the incidents that were shared at the committee’s annual meeting.

“Some of the crazier stories that were told were that, basically, students used the tube lights as light sabers to fight each other, [they were] standing on the tables…along with other crazier stories,” Kanduri said. “Most significantly and the least crazy is just that quiet floors were no longer quiet. There was a lot of confusion about where and when students should be quiet, and the library

was supposed to be, you know, a quieter place for people to study and a more central location on campus. It ended up being not so quiet just because there were a lot of patrons who had no idea how to use it and be quiet.” Library staff patrol the floors by the hour, but, as Ellen Safley—the Library’s dean—said, there is fundamentally an issue of capacity. The Library’s size has not changed since the 1980s, when only 5,000 students attended UTD. In 2022, there are roughly 600 seats for nearly 30,000 students. The rapid return to campus has not helped the issue. In March 2021, the Library’s cumulative gate count—which tracks the number of students entering the building— for the entire month was only 2,976. In March 2022, that gate count hit 84,729, averaging out to almost 3,000 students a day.

As it stands, many of these behavioral issues are addressed by the general Student Code of Conduct. Under Section C, Subsection 9, the Student Code of Conduct prohibits “disorderly behavior,” which it defines as engaging in “disorderly, lewd, indecent, inappropriate, loud, or obscene conduct or behavior that interferes with the orderly functioning of the University or interferes with an individual's pursuit of an edu-

cation.” Potential consequences could follow referral to the Dean of Students.

However, the McDermott Library is also actively pursuing several solutions to the problem of noise. There is a new Code of Conduct in the works for the Library specifically outlining what is expected of patrons and consequences for not behaving appropriately. TheLibrary is also looking into obtaining furniture specially designed to be less conducive to conversation, including more individual seating and “eggshaped” chairs meant to reduce crosstalk. The Assistant Director of Public Services at the McDermott Library, Travis Goode, emphasized that the Library is actively working on resolving the noise problem. Safley added that the Library is for the students of UTD, and that students need to take ownership and create the environment that they want for themselves.

“Honestly,” Kanduri said, “I think the most important thing is to just be mindful of quiet floors, and if you go to a library: don’t yell, don’t scream, don’t talk too loud. That’s what we learn as kids, growing up and going to the library. So it’s the same—be respectful of the Library’s environments, be respectful of the people around you. And also, of course, be respectful of the furniture.”

If you go to a library, don’t yell, don’t scream, don’t talk too loud. That’s what we learn as kids, growing up and going to the library. So it’s the same.

— Kruthi Kanduri

SG election winners' agendas

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

Student government elections have concluded, and next term’s executive officers have been decided. The Mercury sat down with cognitive science sophomore Kruthi Kanduri and public policy sophomore Margaret Moore to discuss SG’s future. (Interviews edited for concision)

President-elect Kruthi Kanduri:

What are your plans for the next academic year?

Kruthi Kanduri, President Elect

“I think one thing that Margaret and I are totally excited to focus on- or know that we should be focusing on going forward- number one is the response to full capacity that I mentioned when I was running, but also just care about in general. We talked about the library a lot. We talked about different resources on campus that just aren't getting the attention that they need. Usually, it's due to budget cuts, funding and just being understaffed, but a lot of the times, the resources that are understaffed are, for example, the ISSO, or the Counseling Center or the Office of Student Accessibility.

Comets Giving Days contest opens doors to donations

Contest opened a creative outlet for Comet fundraising

Margaret Moore, Vice President Elect

Commencement to bring all Comets together

The new ceremony will come before separate graduations for UTD's different schools

FATIMAH

Opinion Editor

After hearing out student concerns about school-based graduations, the University is holding a new inaugural graduation celebration called the “All-University Commencement” to honor graduates across all schools.

The “All-University Commencement” will be a grand processional open for all

students graduating this spring and those that graduated last fall and summer. The celebration is set to happen at the circle drive in front of the mall at an unspecified time the evening of Sunday, May 18. Director of University Events and Development Initiatives Judy Barnes said the event will not affect individual schoolbased graduations, which will take place as usual in either the ATEC Auditorium

or Activity Center, with the only change being that the deans of each school will lead them instead of President Richard Benson.

“The students have told us, ‘we all want to be together,’ but you know, you can’t have a ceremony that lasts five hours to get everyone across the stage,” Barnes said.

Motivated to raise funds for their favorite campus programs, several student groups have spent the past week preparing doors for the annual Comets Giving Days door decorating contest.

In keeping with a six-year tradition, the Comets Giving Days took place from 10 a.m. on April 6 to 6:49 p.m. on April 7 for a total of 1969 minutes in recognition of UTD’s founding year. Students, staff, alumni and community members are encouraged to donate to their favorite UTD schools or programs during these days. A series of leaderboards, gift matching programs, and challenges track and incentivize donations. One of these challenges invites groups to decorate a door with their artwork and the hashtag #COMETogetherUTD. The best door decoration is chosen by the number of likes the design receives on Facebook; winners receive extra funds for their area of choice. The theme

of this year’s contest is “tie-dye.”

Lane Hughes, a junior biology major

I really want to focus in on student government’s relationship with clubs on campus and student life.

The power of advocacy is the most important power we have.

UTDPD Blotter

Editor-in-Chief Tyler Burkhardt editor@utdmercury.com (972) 883-2294

Managing Editor Ben Nguyen managingeditor @utdmercury.com (972) 883-2287

Graphics Editor Alesandra Bell graphics@utdmercury.com

Photo Editor Anna Phengsakmueang photo@utdmercury.com

Opinion Editor Fatimah Azeem opinioneditor@ utdmercury.com

Contributors

Andre Averion

Charlie Chang

Zaid

March 26 •A female student reported sexual assault by an unknown male in Green Hall at 1:07 p.m. March 30

•A UTD student reported damage of their vehicle by their roommate during a verbal altercation in Phase 8 at 5 p.m.

March 31

•At 2:47 p.m. in the Student Union, a student reported his wallet stolen and the offender admitted to using his card at a gas station.

March 31

•A student reported their passenger window destroyed and the interior rummaged through at 10:30 p.m. in Lot U.

From The Mercury Archives: April 10, 1995

Management professor conducts first video conference at UTD

Richardson, TX 75080-0688

Dr. Stephen Guisinger, Professor of International Management Studies, conducted the first video conference at UTD on April 4. The conference was between UTD and UT Pan-American (UTPA) in Edinburgh, Texas. Dr. Guisinger utilized the teleconferencing system in the Engineering and Computer Science Building.

Guisinger said, “I learned that we had the facility, and there were no courses planned. I wanted to learn the technology, and we have free time on the UT fiber optics network.”

This is the first year for UTPA’s doctoral program, but unfortunately UTPA does not have a large faculty. UTD and UTPA both have the facility to conduct the video conference. Guisinger said, “We have a really first-rate conference center. Totally interactive voice and video.”

This is different from the Tager system. In the Tager system, students cannot actively interact with the professor. In the video conference, the television set becomes the ninth person on the table.

Guisinger states, “My students are more attentive and enthusiastic about their assignments. They come well prepared with overheads.”

Guisinger can communicate in three ways: a regular television camera, an overhead document reader, and a laptop. With the touch screen device, Guisinger can scan the room or zoom in on a specific student. The overhead document reader displays overheads to the students at UTPA. With the laptop, the output from the computer is seen directly on the television screen and students at UTPA can see presentation software, spread sheets and regular text.

The video conference

system has been used for administrative purposes, but it has never been accessed for courses. In the School of Management, there are numerous professors who are interested in the video conference system.

Guisinger is presently working on a flexing learning system for the Masters of Arts in International Management Studies (MIMS).

Guisinger said, “This is a proposal on how to deliver an existing Masters through distance learning technology. MIMS will utilize non-traditional meeting times and a variety of educational media, such as taped lectures and Internet communications software. Video conference technology would be applicable if UTD decides to allow completing degrees in that manner.” This program will be taught in an unconventional manner; one-half of MIMS will be taught through classroom and the other half

will incorporate technology.

The MIMS program would be ideal for students who cannot attend classes regularly because of business travel or reside far enough from UTD that attending weekly meetings appears unattractive.

The MIMS will be a complement to the traditional process of achieving a master’s degree in International Management at UTD, and it will provide access for a greater number of students. Guisinger said, “The companies and students we serve have indicated their preference for greater flexibility in the timing and delivery methods for our degree programs without loss in quality.”

MIMS is designed for recent MBA graduates and honors undergraduate business majors. The School of Management is planning to offer MIMS courses starting in the Spring of 1996.

RUBY L. PRASAD Mercury Staff

Powerful offense, consistent arms help Comets snap late March skid

UTD Baseball team regains momentum in its quest to defend ASC Title

'Overwatch' team finishes top eight in dying esport

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

The “Overwatch” team finished the top eight in the last Overwatch Collegiate Championship of “Overwatch 1,” with the team facing the unique situation of trying to stay competitive in a game that is soon to die.

nor is it likely to receive some sequel version that supersedes it. “Overwatch,” however, is receiving a sequel later this year, and hasn’t received a major content update for years, leading to a dwindling player base and lower quality of competitive play. For Salinas and the rest of the team, this hurts the motivation to continue playing.

Fresh off a series sweep against Sul Ross State, the Comet baseball squad continues to build momentum in their march towards the ASC Championship Tournament and their ultimate title defense.

The Comets are ranked no. 13 nationally with a 20-6 record, remaining just a few games behind the first-place East Texas Baptist University in the ASC. After winning their first 10 games, the Comets faced a rough stretch of conference play, hitting a four game losing streak with a loss versus Mary Hardin-Baylor and a three game loss to McMurray. Despite this, Shewmake maintains full faith in the quality in his dugout and understands the various nuisances that come with the game of baseball.

“McMurray got the breaks we didn’t, and that’s what happens in baseball at times. And then we go to Alpine (Sul Ross State) and those balls we hit start falling and some of the breaks went our way. Sometimes baseball is funny that way, you hit it hard and it goes at somebody, and somedays it doesn’t, but we were fortunate

to have a effective weekend with our bats in our last series,” Shewmake said.

The previous series against Sul Ross State saw the bats flying for the Comets, scoring a combined 49 runs and 55 hits across the three-game series. It remained an important comeback series win, and one that Shewmake hopes the team will continue to build off of in the last stretch of the regular season.

“It was big, you know, when you come off after losing four in a row. We needed to right the ship and we were able to do that. We were able to pitch well enough and obviously hit well enough when we score that many runs,” Shewmake said.

The stats also speak to how well-balanced this ball club is. Collectively, the Comets lead the ASC conference in batting average (.356), lowest pitching team ERA (4.74), and are tied for second in fielding percentage. In short, these numbers showcase how the Comets are not overreliant on either their hitting or pitching staffs, making them a hard to beat team moving forward.

Despite this success and the positive clubhouse environment, it can also remain challenging for the Comets to manage the overall

Clubs try to revitalize inperson engagement after total return to campus

fatigue that comes with both the final stretch of the regular season and with final exams looming. Both the coaching staff and players recognize the challenges they face, but remain confident that the team can rally behind one

Readjusting to the resumption of in-person operations has created unique recruitment and leadership challenges for UTD student organizations and their leaders.

The number of registered student organizations at UTD has grown from 389 in 2019 to 428 in 2022. This semester, 39 new student organizations are having to figure out how to operate in-person, a daunting task for clubs that were created in and tailored to the virtual environment. Even older organizations are now led by a new generation of officers who have never experienced the in-person events they are now responsible for organizing.

The Student Organization Center recognizes that a lack of effective communication between old and current officers due to the pandemic and the demands of involving a new generation of students in club activities provide daunting tasks for student leaders.

Assistant Director of Student Organizations, Tineil Lewis-Moore, said that SOC organized many programs to help keep student organizations afloat through the pandemic. These included student organization member spotlights on social media,

president’s roundtable discussions- on topics ranging from how to engage organization members virtually to hosting events in a virtual world- and virtual involvement fairs. In the same vein, they are now helping organizations and their new leaders effectively transition back to in-person activities.

“Some of the challenges that have been shared with us regarding the student organizations have been internal organization conflict and new organization officers navigating their roles as officer while transitioning from virtual back to in-person events and activities,” Lewis-Moore said.

Conflict can occur when officers accustomed to different modalities have different visions of what an organization should look like. Officers who were on-boarded virtually at the beginning of this year may not have a full grasp of how their clubs are meant to function in-person, for example. To address these issues, the SOC office is hosting Organization Transition Month throughout April. There will be a series of weekly workshops for student leaders led by SOC staff on conflict resolution, managing an officer transition and revising an organization’s

After matching up against University of California-Irvine in the first round, the team had to start in the loser’s bracket from the get-go. After running through the loser’s bracket to get to the top eight, main tank and CS junior Luey “Lueyyy” Salinas said that the matchup against Savannah College of Art and Design was an even matchup that led to an unfortunate loss.

“It’s hard to feel motivated and want to grind when ranked is not as good as it used to be. The competition’s not as good as it used to be. There’s not as many players playing, not as much competition, it’s hard just in general to be as motivated and to have that grind mentality,” Salinas said.

SALINAS

“I really think any other day we could’ve beaten them too, just we didn’t play our best and we didn’t play the [team] comps that we probably could have beaten them on,” Salinas said. “I was hoping that maybe we can at least secure top six or top four. I think we could have easily done it. Another day I think we could have done it.”

Some issues leading up to the play in the Overwatch Collegiate Championship include the LAN experience played just the previous weekend, with a combination of poor connection and long play hours creating a draining experience for players on their last regular season matches before the playoffs.

“Our first match in the LAN, we literally could not even tell what was happening … We would just go into them and then nobody would know where we were at; we couldn’t tell,” Salinas said. “We were just playing back to back to back to back for five or six hours. And we didn’t have food, either.”

On top of that, “Overwatch” is dying. A unique concept to esports is that the potential for a game to die out competitively is relatively high in comparison to physical sports. Soccer is not likely to receive a massive game rule change that kills interest in the game,

And alongside “Overwatch,” Salinas is considering quitting competitive play as well. After being a mainstay on the team for three years, classes and life outside of the game has cut into his time to play more “Overwatch.”

“My freshman year I came in swinging and motivated and I was grinding a lot because I didn't really have a lot of other obligations and then, you know, COVID hit. Everything went online. So, I was just grinding Overwatch all the time,” Salinas said. “I really grew more a as a team player and I’ve learned so much, but I feel that because I have so much more on my plate … I’m a lot more busy, so I don’t have that time and opportunity to grind as I used to, so I feel like I’m not as good as I used to be.”

In the last few months of the semester, there are two more playoffs brackets that the team will be playing in, the NACE Starleague and the NECC playoffs. With the impending arrival of “Overwatch 2,” the team is still looking to top the last few events that they can. For Salinas, though he may retire as “Overwatch 1” does, he’ll take the experience of playing with him long afterwards.

“This year I really felt like I was playing with a family more than anything. And we really grew close, not only as a team, but as friends. And I think that’s something I will cherish if I decide to retire after all. And I will remember all the memories we’ve made even within the game and outside the game… it’s been a hell of a ride for sure,” Salinas said.

International Week showcases diverse student talent at UTD

Global Talent show and new "Passport to the World" drivers of high participation

International Week at UTD returned to campus from March 28 to April 1, with cultures debuting award-winning foods and talents from across the world and making waves across campus.

International Week (iWeek) has been an annual celebration hosted by International Programs every spring semester dating as far back as 2008, highlighting the many unique cultures shared by fellow Comets. Bringing together students from all backgrounds and beliefs under the direction of the UTD Intercultural Programs, iWeek hosts a variety of events and showcases to expose the student population to the culinary arts, music, dances and traditions of the world. This year introduced newcomers representing Kenya and Chile while welcoming back familiar faces from India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Mexico and the U.S. in a series of events spanning five days that were best highlighted in Passport To The World and the Global Talent Show.

For the first time, Passport To The World was held outside in the Plinth; vendors presented free food of their culture to passersby while presenting their stories, cultural fashions, trifolds about their history and traditions or small activities popular in their culture.

Ranging from Bangladesh’s first-place gulabjamun, India’s henna and pickled mangos, to Sri Lankan displays of cultural masks, the Director of International Programs, Leticia Zamarripa expressed her gratitude for the participation.

“So many people were happy. People were at peace, people were interacting with each other, cheering with each other,” Zamarripa said. “And on a personal note, what else could I ask for?”

Zamarripa further described the integration of lessons they learned from the pandemic, choosing to maintain a hybrid stance on events by providing

online and in-person activities for students. However, after seeing how large the turnout was, any hesitation to restrain on future events was revoked.

“The numbers tell us. For example, for ‘Passport To The World’, we have over 1000 participants. That is something very exciting. People were smiling, people were ready for something like this. So, as a department, it is a learning experience as well, because now we know that the community will be ready for other events,” Zamarripa said.

With a plan to better prepare organizations and push the numbers for next year by inviting new participating cultures, International Programs plans for the next Passport To The World to be even bigger and better.

Students were also invited to witness competing arts in the annual Global Talent Show, where students representing their culture could compete to win the “best performance” title. A representative of the Indian Student Association (ISA), graduate biotechnology major Lakshmi Sri Haritha Jammalamadaka won first place performing classical Bharatanatyam. Having developed her career as a dance instructor in Bengaluru, India, she started fresh in

the U.S. and was thrilled to be perform again after being at UTD for only one full semester.

“I think it was really wonderful, different dance styles, different people dancing. They gave their best and showed something different which I’ve never seen in India,” Jammalamadaka said. “The composition and all that is wonderful. I was grateful to participate along with them.”

The Global Talent Show provided several emerging talents their first outlet, and Jammalamadaka is just one example of iWeek being an important celebration of campus being in-person once again. She encourages students to seek their talent and show it off to the world in the same way that the ISA and iWeek allowed her to.

“UTD is giving lots of opportunities for students to show that talents of their own,” Jammalamadaka said. “So, try to utilize that and show your talent and give your best. You can create your own identity. That’s all I could do, because I wasted six months, and after six months I saw what I missed. This is the only time we have to show our talents and all; this is the time to enjoy while performing.”

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG PHOTO EDITOR

Zaid Haq Mercury Staff

SMRITI UPADHYAYULA Mercury Staff

LAKSMHI SRI HARITHA JAMMALAMADAKA COURTESY

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR

Almost all clubs, formed during the pandemic or otherwise, are having issues driving in-person engagement at events. The SOC is providing resources to help clubs find new members and attendees for activities on campus and in-person.

The second-place Comets bounced back against Sull Ross State and University of the Ozarks after losing three games to McMurray.

Performing for the first time in the U.S., Laksmhi Sri Haritha Jammalamadka performed the ancient Indian dance form Bharatanatyam to the song Pehla Nasha.

LUEY

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG PHOTO EDITOR

Retrograde Reads: ‘Timemaster’ by Robert L. Forward

Forward's hard science fiction taken off the main timeline with unlikeable characters and an overbearing power fantasy

Some books have fascinating premises that grab you right off the bat. Some books have well-written, clever dialogue and snappy explanations of scientific ideas backed by real experience. Some books have all of the above, and go on to be a thoroughly enjoyable story. Robert L. Forward’s “Timemaster” is not one of those books.

While Forward’s premise in “Timemaster” is brilliant, its off-putting blend of unlikeable characters and skeevy content makes this male power fantasy a little too much to handle even for the most patient of reviewers.

If you’re looking for an innovative approach to time travel—firmly grounded in real scientific concepts via Forward’s career as a physicist and aerospace engineer—this novel beats out media like “Avengers: Endgame” by a mile. The intelligence of that science, however, is utterly derailed when Forward begins to think with his hormones rather than his head.“Timemaster” tells the story of Randy Hunter, a billionaire industrialist who becomes the greatest man in the universe through his advances in technology, particularly his invention of time travel. After inheriting his wealthy father’s aerospace engineering empire, Randy expands it into providing round trips through the galaxy using the Moon’s gravitational pull as a slingshot, raking in millions from interstellar transportation and shipping as well as through a galactic asteroidmining operation. Some of his company’s workers on a mining rig in the asteroid belt encounter a semi-intelligent alien lifeform that emits an energy

source. (Imagine a Golden Retriever that farts enriched uranium. Now add tentacles.) This energy source unleashes a whole new world for Randy, who soon realizes its potential to grow his business empire and even unlock the mystery of time travel.

It's your standard science-fiction fare of exciting discoveries at the limits of scientific possibility, pushing into new worlds of invention to create a better future for all of humanity. It’s a prem

ise that can lead to the main character’s destruction, as he discovers the cost of pushing too far into new frontiers and choosing capital gain over relationships and time with his family; it could also lead to wider philosophical questions of who we are as a species in this universe, what life means when it becomes unlimited by time, what right we have to interfere with other life forms’ development and so on. Forward, however, answers none of these.

Instead, Randy spends the novel gaining more and more material wealth, learning next to nothing about himself or the world along the way. He becomes the richest man to ever exist. He marries his girlfriend, has several children, and spends absolutely no time raising them. The only challenge he faces is a high school rival, a football player that always bullied him for his nerdiness, going after him—a challenge that’s swiftly and decisively resolved by the literal intervention of two of his future selves.

Frankly, the method by which Randy…the Randies…utilize the timespace continuum to warn themselves of future events and prepare in advance is the highlight of the novel. Forward’s use of hard science is absolutely fas -

-

cinating, and worth a read for that alone. The way all three of them come together in the story’s climax is downright exciting, with every piece slotting into place like a well-built Rube Goldberg machine. Narration is also a strongpoint, with Forward finding a way to tell the same scene three times over from each Randy’s perspective in chronological order yet keeping it interesting and fresh in every instance. After that, however, the story takes a plummet straight to the depths of Hell in terms of enjoyment and readability, as the previously somewhat-ignorable lineup of Randy’s bad character traits come to the forefront of the narrative. Now that we’re not concerned about any kind of broader peril, we’re left alone with a main character that, at his core, is utterly awful. At least Forward gives us a gigantic red flag for how the rest of the story’s going to go by having the three Randies post-conflict have a space orgy. Oh, and that interesting method of retelling the scene so it fits into a chronological progression of Randy as he goes through his life, time travelling back to the same moment we saw

Girl in Red, Holly Humberstone at the House of Blues in Dallas

earlier? Yes. You guessed it. We get the space orgy three times. There is no escape. You all are very lucky my editor won’t allow me to keep telling you about the space orgy, because I’m of the mind that if I had to suffer through that for this review, so do you. Did I mention one of the Randies is an incredibly crusty old man? No? Well, now I have.

“Timemaster” is a brilliant example of both excellent and awful science fiction writing—a duality which is impressive by itself. Forward, while a master of describing theoretical astrophysics in a fairly approachable way, gets a little too comfortable in the novel’s latter half, and lets it turn into an extended selfinsertion fantasy. If you enjoy a deeply flawed man becoming the savior of the universe through gaining money, go listen to Bo Burnham’s “Bezos” songs on loop; if you are looking for wellwritten hard sci-fi, check out Greg Bear. If you’re really here for the time traveling, self-incest space orgies… well, I suppose it is Forward’s time to shine.

Tech thriller breaks ground in some areas, but ultimately aims too wide in topic scope

JACK SIERPUTWOSKI Mercury Staff

If you have an Alexa, unless you opt out of contributing user data, there could at any point be Amazon employees listening through your audio to improve voice recognition. So what would happen if one of these employees came across evidence of a violent crime? Would they try to report it? Or would Amazon avoid claiming responsibility? This is not a hypothetical—it has already happened and serves as the premise of the 2022 tech thriller “Kimi.” Set during the COVID-19 pandemic and released in February, “Kimi” follows the story of Angela, an agoraphobic tech worker who discovers evidence of a violent crime. Angela meets mortal danger time and again in her quest to help a mystery woman she hears in a voice recording at her desk job, and in the process, confronts a variety of social issues relevant to today’s America. While the film breaks ground on some cinematography techniques and social commentary, its overly broad scope proves to be a cheap parody of more meaningful stories.

One of the core issues of the plot of “Kimi” is that it attempts to do too much. Among the modern issues criticized in this film are the effects of technology on society, the intrusion of corporations into the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, sexual assault, inequality and police brutality. These are all problems that have found a prominent place in the public eye in the past few years, and clearly deserve addressing. However, the fact that they are all loosely related to one another does not allow an adequate examination of these issues in just 90 minutes. By bringing up all these issues and then failing to deliver on them, “Kimi” comes across as a cheap attempt at saying something “deep.”

The overly broad thematic scope of “Kimi” is glaringly obvious in its inability to satisfactorily resolve several plot lines. Much of the story seems to be there simply as filler or for shock value. Angela develops a toothache for seemingly no real reason, her voyeur neighbor is teased throughout the movie and yet given barely any screen time and Angela is provided with a flat, two-dimensional love interest. Most grievously, the movie brings up an assault in Angela’s past for which she was ignored and shamed—and then suddenly drops this idea. While this knowledge informs our understanding of Angela’s character and why her quest is so important, the film never provides a satisfactory resolution to this trauma beyond Angela

Most indie fans are well aware of the holy trinity of bedroom pop: girl in red, Clairo and Beadoobee. They are known for their dreamy tunes that could very well be in a coming-of-age film soundtrack, but now many of these “bedroom pop” musicians are branching out into a variety of sounds. Marie Ulven Ringheim, also known as girl in red, embarked on her “make it go quiet” tour along with headliner Holly Humberstone and proved that indie music is not just “bedroom pop”. The two came to the House of Blues in Dallas on April 2.

Unlike many musicians, the 22-yearold Humberstone opened without a band or any background vocalists, arriving on stage with just her guitar, keyboard and soft British accent. Her performances allowed the crowd to bask in soothing music before girl in red’s highenergy set.

My personal favorite song of hers, “Falling Asleep at the Wheel,” was a somber tune explaining her sister’s difficult mental health journey and how hopeless Humberstone felt as an older sister. Humberstone’s soft keyboard playing and gentle tone contrasted greatly with the flashing overhead stage lights

and thumping beats to create a unique stage presence. Another popular song, “London is Lonely,” expresses Humberstone’s anxiety and isolation during her initial move to London. She explained that being away from her friends and family made her feel alone in one of the most populated cities in the world. The artists’ anecdotes made each song more meaningful and grasped the crowd’s wavering attention. Her storytelling was truly enchanting with lyrics like: “London is lonely without you/So will you stay/‘Cause I’m oh, so sick of this place/ Feeling way too big and nothing can hold me/Can hold me like you do.”

Upon girl in red’s arrival, the crowd- brandishing a variety of pride flags- went wild, greeting the queen of LGBTQ+ indie pop with open arms.

Donning a plain, oversized t-shirt and jeans, I would've never suspected that she would have such a dominating stage presence, but her energy instantly got the crowd riled up. Her songs’ fast beats and catchy lyrics mixed well with her physicality on stage, including hair flips and active crowd interaction. Her setlist began with the newer “You Stupid Bitch,” though she later performed her older, more popular songs such as “Girls” and “we fell in love in october.”

JAMIE LIN | MERCURY

While it is rare to see sapphic themes in popular media, girl in red doesn’t shy away from them. The pride flags scattered across the packed audience were proof that her audiences are more than just fans, but make up a community who are overjoyed to hear non-heteronormative romance songs. Her catchy chorus from “Girls” had the crowd chanting along: “They’re so pretty, it hurts/I’m not talking ‘bout boys/I’m talking about girls/They’re so pretty with their button up shirts.”

When she finally spoke to the crowd, everyone was shocked to hear the musician’s raspy voice. Although girl in red said she had a throat infection, she rarely showed signs of discomfort, performing each song with vigor and interacting with fans in cute ways, like signing a humongous bra and accepting a bundle of roses. She closed the concert with “bad idea!” and a huge mosh pit, spraying the crowd with water. This was the perfect way to close her high-energy concert, with the audience jumping along to the chorus: “It was a bad idea/Calling you up/Was such a bad idea/I’m totally fucked.” The artist claims to be working on a new, unnamed album consisting of a completely different sound than her debut album “if i could make it go quiet.”

holly humberstone x girl in red

STAFF

'Kimi' tries to do far too much in too little time

MIA NGUYEN Life & Arts Editor

TOR BOOKS | COURTESY

Timemaster provides a disturbing look at a man who gains power through time travel.

MARGARET MOORE

Copy Editor

Not many restaurants, let alone coffee chains, claim to have a highly sociable drive through experience, but Dutch Bros Coffee provides a quick fix of energy – in more ways than one.

Located about five minutes out from campus on Arapaho and West Shore is the closest chain location of Dutch Bros Coffee. It is primarily a drive-through, but there is a second window for walk-up orders and two tables outside underneath the shade of the building. However, it’s clear that this is not the place to spend time studying at. Rather, it’s a stop on your commute to the university, perhaps a wakeup before your first class of the day. Not only are there a variety of caf-

Dutch Bros Coffee

Drive-through coffee chain provides countless syrup options for a large variety of drinks at cheap prices

feinated options, but Dutch Bros’ unique customer service seems tailor-made to wake people up.

This is because their “bro-istas”(as they call them) are extremely peppy. Both times I’ve gone, they have had someone with an iPad walking ahead of the drive-through window taking orders, and their menu is so large that the most efficient way to get recommendations is to just ask. They are happy to tell you anything and everything about their menu, with a near excessive amount of small talk along the way. I enjoyed the conversation well enough, but if you hate social interaction with all your heart, perhaps Dutch Bros is to

be avoided.

This is not to say that the drive-through experience is bad. On the contrary, even though there’s a lot of small talk at order time, the time to make drinks feels nearinstant. I don’t think I had to wait more than two or three minutes once I actually ordered. The drinks themselves are also high quality, easily better than Starbucks but perhaps worse than a dedicated local shop. I tried two drinks: a caramel vanilla coffee slush with the Golden Eagle blend and an iced Rebel, the Dutch Bros in-house energy drink with numerous customizable flavor options. All drinks have the option to come in

a slush form, called “blended,” which seems to enhance the sweetness of the drink more than anything else. For normal coffee options, though, a medium coffee drink (iced or hot) is between four and five dollars and is larger than a Starbucks’ grande.

There’s almost too much variety. Between the blended option and energy drink customizations (mine was blackberry, blue raspberry and pomegranate), any potential caffeine intake from Dutch Bros can be tailored to a tee. Cold brew? They have it. Want a sweeter milk cap? You got it. Lactose intolerant? They’ve got coconut, almond and oat milk. They

COMET COMMENTS

What is your favorite show at the moment?

“My favorite show at the moment is '30 Rock.' I first got introduced to the show because Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino is a writer on the show, so I was like ‘alright let’s see if this is funny,’ and it is actually very funny.”

-Daniel Zargron, junior, global business

have a secret menu (which is a bit pointless since it’s hard to see the full menu in the first place) with countless flavors. If you want to customize a drink perfectly and quickly, there are more than enough choices available.

If you’re looking for a quick drivethrough fix, I can’t think of a better option than the Dutch Bros near UTD. The Starbucks drive-through is a nightmare, and everywhere else that’s nearby requires a walk-in. Competitive prices, near limitless drink options and a bubbly, surfer bro, happy-go-lucky customer service attitude make Dutch Bros Coffee a fast and energizing spot to get your fix.

“One of my favorites is a Korean drama called 'Crash Landing on You'. I started watching [Korean Dramas] and I just got addicted because of the romance and everything, they take it slow.”

-Prisha Gupta, freshman, computer science

“‘New Girl,’ because it's really funny and very laid back and with all the stress I have I don’t have to be super committed to the show.”

-Anika Reddy, junior, ITS

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

Lights, Camera, Play!

Will the real 'Halo' Master Chief please stand up?

Mercury Staff

Controversy and division among both critics and fans alike have turned Paramount Picture’s “Halo” series into a battlefield not even Master Chief might be able to win. But as much as I might be disappointed with it, there’s still potential to turn it around. With “Halo” greenlit for a second season, Paramount needs to take a step back and rework the series. Right now, it’s not where it should be; they will need to work overtime to turn this into the series it deserves to be and utilize its bright potential. It might have Master Chief, Cortana, and the title itself, but this isn’t yet “Halo.”

The first season of “Halo” is filled with stiff acting, shallow characters, contrived plotlines and laughably-bad CGI aliens. It just feels like a bloodier repeat of “The Mandalorian,” except the characters are bland and the archetypes are overdone. Had it come out at its initial date in 2015, this would have been a game-changer, but in the golden age of sci-fi and streaming, “Halo” only stands out because of its name. The show’s saving grace is that its costumes are unrivaled, the settings are masterfully convincing and the action puts a lot of Hollywood films to shame.

Still, the greatest sin of this adaptation is failing to capture the very essence of “Halo.” Divided fans are arguing how this modern take has changed the original game’s formula.

Master Chief removes his helmet in the first episode and rarely dons it again, many lore contradictions and inaccuracies are present, and the focus is on Master Chief becoming a political traitor and on his role as a Spartan instead of the faceless hero exploring mystery and developing who he is. There are six “Halo” games and 30 novels all about who Master Chief is; attempting to retell it for a new audience is great on paper, but the show’s lacking execution feels like a betrayal to that source material.

It can be argued that, perhaps, this series isn’t trying to impede on the memory of Master Chief and is making something new, as the story isn’t canon to the source material. Even then, though, the spirit that defines the world falls short in the current medium. The humor, patriotism and corniness the game partly became famous for are all gone in favor of a cynical realism that attempts to give commentary on the military industrial complex, which might be more appealing to the general audience, but is still missing what made “Halo” itself.

With the confirmation of a second season

SEE HALO, PAGE 8

'Witchy' comic explores societal dysfunction with a witch society

SIHANYA ROCHA

Mercury Staff

We all get to an age where we face the struggle of realizing our community is dysfunctional, despite it seeming normal on the surface. Ariel Slamet Ries’s webcomic “Witchy” is an exemplary story that explores just that.

“Witchy” centers around the witch kingdom Hyalin, where the strength of your magic is measured by the length of your hair. Longer hair indicates stronger magic, and

those of a sufficient power join the Witch Guard, who protect and police Hyalin. This physical show of strength is a double-edged sword, however, since those whose hair is “too long” are seen as enemies of the kingdom and often burned alive by the very same Witch Guard.

In this world of magic, we follow Nyneve, a witch who, unlike many who think being enlisted to the Witch Guard and serving the kingdom is a great honor, is actively trying to avoid joining them. Her hesitancy comes from witnessing the death of her father at the hands of the Witch Guard and recognizing the threat they pose to her own life. When the enlisting ceremony rolls around, Nyneve

has a choice to make: join the institution complicit in her father's death, or stand up for her ideals. This choice is put to the test in a climactic moment where Nyneve cuts off her hair and changes her fate forever.

Now, while this webcomic combines two very popular and cliche genres of witches and defying an oppressive government, its key elements bring a uniqueness that stands out from other stories within its genre. Starting off, it was created by an Australian-Indonesian comics artist and stars Asian witches, bringing a new perspective to the way Western readers think of witches and magical kingdoms aesthetically. The story also includes characters of many colors, genders

and body types, creating tons of gorgeously effortless diversity. Additionally, the plot itself is nuanced and heavy. Through the backdrop of an oppressive militia, government and patriotism, Ries explores themes of how institutions and the portrayal of history can directly impact the lives of individuals and families.

Visually, “Witchy” starts out having a

sketchy look to its line art. Also, its color palette can be described as cold despite it mostly using pastel colors, because of the low saturation levels the artist chooses to go with at the start.As the pages progress, the line art and color palette become bolder as our main

SEE WITCHY, PAGE 8

CHARLIE CHANG | MERCURY STAFF

CASEY RUBIO| MERCURY STAFF

These are resources that students use on a regular basis. We want to make sure that we are fully advocating with the student voice, like: ‘Hey, we need to do something about this.’ If there are budget cuts, if they are understaffed, how can we as student government help advocate for that and make sure that administration knows that the student body is requesting these places be priorities when it comes to restoring budgets.”

Why do you think there is a large disillusionment with student government?

“I think a big part of it is entrenched in the culture here, which is a lot harder to change. But, also, I think it is because

and member of the Honor’s College’s Collegium V Council, spearheaded a group of honors students’ door decoration efforts. Their design idea used wordplay to emphasize the theme as much as possible.

“The title of our door is ‘Tie-Dye

Die with Tie Dye Ties,’” Hughes said. “We’re still workshopping the name, but you can see the tie-dyed die shape, plus the five Temocs with

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“So, we’re implementing this grand ceremony to give them that time. It's not really about the student’s family and hearing a bunch of speeches from all your administration – that’s regular graduation. It's about really celebrating that student and that graduate and all their friends they’re graduating with.”

University Events initially considered hosting the ceremony at an outside venue like the American Airline Center, the Cotton

student government, we do have our limitations. There's certain things we can't necessarily do, because we're not the end. We're the beginning of the process. I feel like a lot of the student body don't realize that we're not the final decisionmakers. We are the people who have to write up that decision, write up that opinion and send it up to the final decisionmakers. So, a lot of times, the more ambitious projects- the things that we want to see done for the student body- aren't necessarily feasible.

That's something we're able to present to the Academic Senate, present into Staff Council. And administration may not necessarily agree, but a lot of the time it's powerful enough for them to know that the stu -

their tie-dye ties forming the face of the die. Try saying that sentence three times fast!”

Instead of just decorating the door alongside other Council members, Hughes used this as an opportunity for a group event. Last Saturday afternoon, he and senior biochemistry major Merry Wang gathered along with several other honors students to tie-dye a white sheet for the base of their design and make Temoc heads out of construc-

Bowl or Global Life Park, but ultimately felt it was most symbolic to hold on the graduates’ own campus. Barnes said this is typically the case for other institutions that hold all-university ceremonies, such as UT Austin, who UTD modeled its celebration after.

“Once we decided it’d be here, we were thinking of spots on campus like by the Sciences Building, the Rutford Avenue promenade and even the Soccer Fields- but that’s a soccer field, you know? It’s not with your university as your background, and you want that

dent body cares about these things and wants these things done. … The main disillusionment comes from the fact that people don't necessarily understand the restrictions. And so, when they do realize our limits, they think that that eliminates all sorts of power we have- but that's not the case. The power of advocacy is the most important power we have.”

Vice president-elect Margaret Moore:

What are your plans for the next academic year?

“I really want to focus in on student government’s relationship with clubs on campus and student life, and promoting that connection between admin and

tion paper. Securing their design to the door was a challenge, since they opted to use a sheet for the base instead of butcher paper, but duct tape and Command strips eventually did the job.

Hughes speaks to the creativity required to successfully manage the door decoration endeavor.

“Overall, it felt like a summer camp arts and crafts project. Except, we had to plan and implement the entire thing rather than just having

for an iconic look,” Barnes said. “So, that’s why that circle drive is perfect. I can already envision it: fireworks going off into the sunset, with the reflection pools and university buildings as a backdrop to the built-in stage. How scenic is that?”

And though the circle drive is a high-traffic area, Barnes said University Events has planned ahead to close down the streets leading to the drive the day of the processional and has checked in with neighboring facilities to make sure their events don’t impede on

students to make sure people are more involved on campuspush for school spirit, stuff like that.”

What does that idea of trying to build that relationship look like?

“Something I campaigned on was bringing club leaders in on focus groups, arranging meetings with their relevant department heads- and I stand by that.

I think that is something we should take forward into the fall and work on. I had this event last fall, where we brought in the representative from the Student Counseling Center and a bunch of clubs on campus that were focused on mental healththat was in my time as Student Affairs chair- and I was really surprised, in a fairly unpleasant

it handed to us,” Hughes said. The Terry Scholars, led by ATEC senior Daemion McKellar, also participated. McKellar said that if he were to win the prize money, he would donate it to the Terry Scholars, as their history of community service means it would likely to go to a good cause.

“They do a lot of service events to help communities nearby, such as food pantries, park cleanups and can drives,” McKellar said. “Addi-

the celebration and vice versa. In future years, there might be adjustments made to the ceremony location and budget—which is currently fluid and does not draw from the schools’ graduation budgets—because of construction on the upcoming Athenaeum Project, which The Mercury covered in another article.

“I see us moving west towards the basketball courts in the future, but for now, the Athenaeum is only breaking ground in a ceremonial sense, so we’re more than fine.” Barnes said.

way, to find that they weren't working together already, that they didn't have much contact beforehand, when they were really trying to address very similar issues in the student body. And I think that's a missed opportunity for co-marketing events, for collaborating on things. I want to make those connections early on in the fall with relevant club leaders and their administrative counterpart so that they can work together towards boosting that mission.

I think we need student government representatives to have more of a presence on campus and connection to student life in general. Whether that's something institutional that we can push forward is to be seen, but I want to go ahead and start now.”

tionally, they do community service for the UTD community, such as donating to the Comet Cupboard and doing a book drive for Autism Awareness Month.”

McKellar credits the design idea to his partner, Roxanne Sanchez, who combined UTD’s galaxy theme with tie-dye through a vision of Saturn cracking and tie-dye oozing out of it. They drew the outline of their design directly on the door with chalk marker, did the biggest

The All-University Commencement itself will be about an hour long and consist of live entertainment and music from a student brass ensemble, fireworks, a keynote speaker, a speech from Benson and an after-party. The ceremony will conclude with a new school tradition, like cap-tossing, which graduates can help choose through an RSVP survey they were emailed recently. While the ceremony isn’t ticketed, Barnes said the RSVP form will help event organizers plan for seating and accessibility accommodations

Do you have any final thoughts moving forward?

“You don't just create a student government. You put in the work to get there. And I think, as a young university, we look at that sometimes and we're like, ‘oh, we're never going to get there,’ but I think we can. We just need to work to implement improvements, to listen to the student body and figure out what they need, and most of all, to be willing to put in the long-term effort to work with admin, to work with the student body, to get those changes through. And then we can build something that is the next shining example from UTD. I think that's attainable. I think it's hard, but we can get there.”

parts of the background and Saturn in black and white, and finished by filling in the colorful ooze in a tiedye pattern. As an extra touch, they added in splattered white patterns to represent stars.

Hughes hopes that the funds from the door decorating contest go to the Honors College.

“They’ve given us so much, and it would be wonderful to help fund other programs for future students,” Hughes said.

in addition to gauging student desire for activities. About 3,000 graduates have registered for the event so far.

“We’ve been a little lowkey on sharing every detail. We want there to be that element of surprise and that aha moment, and we hope that we implement a strong foundation that’ll give us an opportunity to make this an [annual] tradition. You know, we don’t want to pull out all the bells and whistles the first year until we know students are receptive and excited for this.” Barnes said.

another and take care of business on both ends.

“Ultimately, we are just trying to maintain what we got, so we don’t have to practice as long, so they can take care of schoolwork, so we can eliminate some

CLUBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

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stress as we get closer towards the conference tournament,” Shewmake said.

Outfielder A.J. Liu exemplifies this concept of balancing school without sacrificing the quality of play on the field;

Shewmake described him as “steady.” Liu hit well over .350 in the series sweep at Sul Ross,

“During this return to traditional functionality, there are some [organizations] that have

including eight hits, seven runs batted in, and drawing four walks. This recent form has allowed him to win last week’s ASC Hitter of the Week title.

“As a player, I set high expectations for myself. It is something I aim for every week, especially with as good as a team we have I just try to do the best

hit the ground running and there are some of them that are still working to figure out

I can,” Liu said. He attributes part of his success to the momentum of his teammates and pitching combined. Liu said that the current environment and team dynamic has been instrumental.

“Baseball is a game of momentum,” Liu said. “Once your teammates are playing well, it’s conta-

a solid plan of what it means to function outside of a virtual world,” Lewis-Moore said. She

gious, especially with all the great hitters we have on our team.”

With the first round of the ASC Championship Tournament scheduled for the first week of May, the Comets have some time to continue to develop and maintain their level of play. In the end, however, Shewmake believes the biggest chal-

hopes that Student Organization Month will allow clubs that are struggling during this time to

lenge the team faces now could be complacency.

“You want them to keep working, which they have been,” Shewmake said. “Ultimately, I am not concerned with any real issues, but you just hope they don’t get complacent and do the things they need to be doing so we can get another championship.”

become more internally organized, bolstering their capacity to attract and retain members.

beating the bad guys and magically healing. To be completely honest, it feels as though there is a solid thirty minutes missing from this film despite the quantity of information the director attempts to throw at the viewer.

In spite of some of its writing failures, “Kimi” makes some strides in its depiction of mental illness. Angela is succinctly characterized by her neurotic quirks.

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KIMI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 and new direction, we can only

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character becomes more comfortable with herself, starts making friends and engages further with the supporting cast. Even when the color pal -

She demonstrates several obsessive rituals—scrubbing herself raw in the shower, compulsively cleaning the sheets, using hand sanitizer more times than I can count and constantly checking the locks on her door. Only later do we see how this may be a response to her trauma—daily routine is something that Angela can control, while her world and mind become increasingly chaotic. Similarly, when Angela discovers a mysterious voice recording of a woman’s

hope we see improvements in the next act of this adaptation. I see a diamond in the rough, but it needs a

ette goes back to using more blues and bringing back that cold feeling, it is more confidently shaded in with other colors, showing that Nyneve has more conviction than she did at the start of the story.

brutal murder, she discovers the mystery woman was also deemed crazy shortly before disappearing. If Angela doesn’t play her cards right, she might disappear just like her. Even before the plot escalates, however, Angela anxiously hyperfixates on the plight of this woman as if it can make up for her own pain—as she asserts, “I always clear my list!”

As previously mentioned, Angela is also agoraphobic. Often, in media, agoraphobia is dis-

stronger, character-driven plot, CGI and VFX that actually blend with reality and a return to dialogue with

Not only does seeing the progression of the comic’s line art and colors show us how its protagonist and the world it takes place in are becoming more complete, it also show us how the author has a better un -

played as some nebulous fear of “the outdoors”, with a character having a panic attack because someone tracked dirt into their house. “Kimi” accurately shows how agoraphobia is specifically a fear of being in a public place from which escape is difficult in case of a panic attack—there is a strong social element to this fear, as we see Angela somewhat uncomfortable around people even in one-on-one settings. My only criticism is that this fear seems to

personality instead of stiff deliveries.

“Halo” deserves to match the legendary video game series it’s be-

derstanding of the world they created and steadily became more confident in the tale they wanted to tell.

At the end of the day, “Witchy” is about an underdog who has to face the real -

conveniently disappear in the heat of the action—she may have her medication, but benzos can only do so much.

When Angela braves the outside world with the help of copious amounts of Xanax, the film makes some strides in depicting how it feels to reside in an anxious mind.

Walking to the train station, the camera suddenly flips upward and out, showing Angela huddled in the corner of the screen. She looks and feels small, and the emptiness

ing adapted from—and with Paramount Pictures backing them, it’s bewildering they haven’t met that

ity of the society they live in. Through the process of choosing whether to stand up to authority or perpetuate injustice, they accept that their feelings of rebellion are legitimate, even if the society they lived in made it

Sudoku Answers

of the surrounding space becomes almost suffocating. As Angela walks toward an office building, the camera completely leaves her side to explore the environment, conveying her escalating dissociation and separation from the world. While this film’s take on mental illness is refreshing, it cannot make up for its more pressing plot issues. Even from the start, I had a sense that “Kimi” was taking on too much for one film. The movie shot for the stars and regrettably fell short.

mark yet. Hopefully, season two— or even the later episodes of this season—prove to be more fruitful.

seem like they weren’t. Through “Witchy,” we see that the connections we make during our times of struggle are invaluable, and we can choose our own destiny, even if the path to figuring that out is difficult.