Easing into intramurals

Recreational sporting experiences return with certain modifications

TYLER BURKHARDT Editor-in-Chief

As Comets return to the reality of in-person schooling, a plethora of other opportunities present themselves – including the potential for in-person sports. In the words of Assistant Director of Competitive Sports Chris Gormley, “We’re back!”

As with just about any post-COVID program, the intramurals will not look identical to their pre-pandemic counterparts. However, Gormley said that his team is making every effort possible to bring the fullest intramural experience to the entire student body; certain adjustments are just necessary to accomplish that goal.

“We’re excited to have people back to playing intramurals, but it’s all going to be a bit modified because this is going to be so many people’s first experience with it,” Gormley said. “We’re trying to do our best to adjust to a lack of experience on the part of our student body.”

While those adjustments may mean that the intramural experience isn’t exactly what upperclassmen had in the past, Gormley said that the intent is to replicate the spirit of past intramural seasons while lowering the barrier to entry for first-time participants.

“Usually upperclassmen kind of bring freshmen along and introduce them to the nuances of how the intramurals work – the modified rules, expectations, and just show them the ropes,” Gormley said. “That’s the culture that we’ve tried to build, but we don’t have that. We have two years of inexperienced classes, and when you look at participation statistics, freshmen and sophomores are our main participants. So, we’re trying to modify events in a way that can bring everybody along and help us build the program back up rather than snapping our fingers and saying, ‘everything is just like it was!’”

Moreover, inexperienced participants aren’t the only challenge that a lost year due to COVID present. Gormley explained that not having sustained interactions with the students last year also blunted their staff recruitment efforts.

“Realistically,” Gormley said, “we don’t have a lot of staff that have really gone through the rigors of running the intramural program…usually, we pull our staff from participants, and there just wasn’t an opportunity to do that last year.”

However, the modifications under consideration won’t change the slated schedule of sports so much as allow the entire program to gradually ramp up to “normal” operations. For example, instead of immediately kicking the year off with a 7v7 flag football season, UREC is looking at beginning with mini-tournaments with smaller, 4-on-4 teams to help students ease into the format. That way, new Comets can familiarize themselves with the rules and their peers before expanding the sport out to the full-blown schedule by mid-semester. The schedule for fall intramurals will release on the UREC website after the conclusion of the summer session. But, Gormley said that students can anticipate a diverse array of upcoming sports, including flag football, inner tube water polo, doubles tennis, cardboard boat regatta, some selection of esports and cricket. Registration will open shortly before fall classes begin.

“Ultimately,” Gormley said, “we’re just excited to have the energy of students back in the building and on the field. We want everybody to come in and see what we’re offering this fall, and our message remains that no matter who you are, we have something for you. Going to UTD is hard – we want to help balance school with something that can keep you happy, healthy and having fun.” person Overwatch

The Overwatch League (OWL) will be having playoffs in the Esports Stadium in Arlington, just like the Battle for Texas showdown between the Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws on July 9th. These LANs can feel like miniature conventions, with a variety of activities, cosplayers, and of course, the live gameplay to follow. The Battle for Texas brought Dallas Fuel fans from all over to the stadium to buy merch, make signs and cheer on the team, but when the OWL playoffs start in September, fans of all sorts of teams will show up to Arlingotn to shout their own team chants and really drive the audience tension.

Two players play some warmup matches in Founder's before the tournament starts.

The Fighting Game Community (FGC) at UTD is also thriving, with in person meetups happening on occasion in spots like the Student Union and in Founder's. Recently, they hosted a Guilty Gear Strive tournament in the lobby of Founder's and generally have drinks to

Study participants undergo SMART training to assess overall brain health

UTD’s Center for BrainHealth (CBH) is conducting a study to help individuals optimize their overall brain performance.

BBS professor and Chief Director of CBH Sandra Chapman has been studying the brain for more than 20 years. During her time in research, she and her team developed a way for people to train their brains using a variety of approaches and strategies. The result is the Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART), which is exemplified through The BrainHealth Project created in March of 2020.

SMART – which is currently being done virtually – requires research participants to take a medical screening questionnaire and if they qualify, a series of assessments to determine their BrainHealth Index every six months. The BrainHealth Index measures and tracks a participant’s overall brain function in terms of social behavior, comprehension and health.

Margaret Athene Chaplin, administrative assistant of CBH, said the BrainHealth Index measures an individual’s brain performance based on their daily life, well-being and sociality. After getting their BrainHealth Index, participants meet virtually with a BrainHealth coach who explains what their BrainHealth Index means in detail.

“The coaching sessions help participants implement strategies in their daily life to optimize their brain’s performance,” Chaplin said. “If you have any particular hurdle, you can use your coaching session to get guidance on how to deal with that.”

Chaplin said that a participant with long-term brain fog from COVID-19 gained brain clarity by participating in SMART. Also, a participant with an autoimmune disorder said they felt less fatigued and more focused after going through the training.

SMART consists of brief courses, videos, short answers, quizzes and readings. The courses include sections on strategic attention, integrated reasoning, innovation and creative thinking. The training also suggests ways to help your brain form healthy habits when dealing with stress and getting sleep.

“It’s been scientifically proven that if a participant does the work and uses the strategies they develop during their SMART training, it’s proactive in forming healthy behaviors when overcoming challenges and dealing with stress,” Chaplin said.

Matthew Goodykoontz White, a student and previous intern at CBH, said the BrainHealth Index has been beneficial for participants with mental health issues.

“One of the proudest benefits the Center for BrainHealth

Oozeball postponed to spring semester

Students allowed to take one additional credit hour without school authorization

Starting this fall, UTD undergraduates will be allowed to take a maximum of 19 credit hours in a long semester without special permission.

In previous semesters, students who wished to take more than 18 hours had to obtain permission from the Associate Dean of their school. After reviewing the student’s academic record and intended course selections, the school’s administration would determine whether a course load greater than 18 credits was appropriate. The decision to change the maximum to 19 was based on findings of no statistically significant difference between the GPAs of students who took 18 and 19 credit hours in a semester.

Dean of Undergraduate Education

Jessica Murphy said that the University periodically reviews policies in the course catalog to ensure that they are best meeting students’ needs.

“Such review includes research of historical institutional data and research of peer and aspirant peer institutions,” Murphy said. “Reviewing the course load policy revealed that 19 SCH would be the most beneficial change for students.”

The change first proceeded through the Council of Undergraduate Education, followed by the Committee on Educational Policy and then finally the Academic Senate, where it was approved at a January 2021 meeting.

A related modification to course policy is the addition of an absolute cap on enrollment at 21 hours. Murphy said that this is already in line with general practice, but the new policy puts it in writing.

“The policy review revealed that students would benefit from clearer language about course load,” Murphy said. “Including the 21 SCH in the language helped to clarify this section.” Students wishing to take 20 or 21 credit hours are now required to discuss their plans with their academic adviser and complete a unit maximum waiver form.

The new enrollment caps as well as other course load-related policies can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog.