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September 3, 2019
THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
faculty tribunal finds no evidence of fraud in jal scandal Criminology professors move forward with lawsuit citing privacy law violations
ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR
Criminology professors John Worrall and Robert Taylor took part in a two-day faculty tribunal in June to determine their fates at UTD. The tribunal found no evidence of fraud and university president Richard Benson affirmed the decision by not firing the professors.
A post on the UTD subreddit prompted various student complaints about their living situations in UV apartments.
Students report lack of AC in UV apartments Housing officials point to maintenance efforts in light of complaints
CINDY FOLEFACK Editor-in-Chief
Following a two-day faculty tribunal hearing which found no evidence of fraud, university president Richard Benson decided not to terminate two professors accused of academic misconduct. The professors are now seeking legal action against the university citing a violation of state and federal privacy laws. Criminology professors John Worrall, Robert Taylor and Galia Cohen originally received termination letters from the university in 2018 after an unapproved credit substitution practice was uncovered and reported by a professor. Termination proceedings against Cohen were later dropped. As part of the proceedings, Worrall and Taylor
took part in a faculty tribunal on June 13 and 14, 2019 to determine their fate as professors at UTD. The Mercury later obtained transcripts of the hearings. Students in the Master of Science in Justice Administration and Leadership program were only permitted to use the substitution method after taking equivalent courses at the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration or the Caruth Police Institute. The faculty members would then give the students equivalent grades in UTD courses that the students were not required to attend. During the hearings, Frank Hill, a lawyer representing the three faculty members in their lawsuit, brought up a 2015 Memorandum of Understanding Worrall drafted between UTD and ILEA which was rejected in
2017 by then-dean of graduate studies Austin Cunningham. Associate provost for policy and program coordination Serenity King testified that the MOU was rejected because Cunningham believed that the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools not would approve it. Provost Inga Musselman stated at the tribunal that students lost promotions and job offers in the wake of the scandal. In a 2018 memo to various faculty members after news of the criminology scandal broke, Musselman proposed a credit transfer process allowing students to receive a credit, but no grade on their transcript which would correspond to approved classes taken at CPI and ILEA. King testified at the tribunal that
→ SEE JAL,
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AYESHA ASAD Mercury Staff
After numerous complaints on the UTD subreddit about bugs, mold, rust and AC malfunctions in University Village apartments, housing officials are raising awareness for resources available to campus residents, as well as ongoing maintenance efforts. One user mentioned that a raccoon had been in their apartment, and pest control had not taken the issue seriously. Dong Sung Jang, a biology sophomore, said he was disappointed with his UV experience after moving in on Aug. 18. “The first thing I saw was the rusty sink, the moldy restroom and the notfunctioning dishwasher,” he said. It was also dirty, with a lot of bugs like mosquitoes, cockroaches and spiders. The AC was dead, so we had to stay for two or three days with 95 degree (weather) out there, so it was a mess.” Jang mentioned that after maintenance fixed his AC, cooling water from the AC unit began to fall from the restroom’s ceiling on top of his bath. “Whenever we shower, we have to endure cold water falling down above us,” he said. Jang said he put in work orders for the bug and mold issues, and has been waiting more than two weeks for a response for the mold problem. Matthew Grief, Associate vice president for Student Affairs, said that prior to move-in, apartments will have maintenance personnel, contractors and cleaning companies prepare the units. After that process is complete, UV staff will conduct walk-throughs to ensure the apartments are ready. “We just want to make sure that the best environment is there for them,” Grief said. “Are there times when we might have missed something? Yes, there are opportunities where we might
→ SEE UV,
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‘Super Smash’ team members become first to win national championship Esports players win against UC Irvine in final round of inaugural 'Smash Ultimate' national competition PATRICIA MATHU Mercury Staff
UTD esports just secured their first national athletic title. The “Super Smash” team competed and won first place at the SHINE national tournament, where they took home first place and a $9,000 scholarship to split among themselves. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" was released in December 2018, making SHINE the first national competition and UTD’s players the first national champions. The team took home the title after playing a final game against the University of California at Irvine. Senior Reynaldo “Orex” Ortiz won the final round for UTD when he took advantage of his opponent’s high damage and dealt the final blow. To qualify for nationals as a collegiate team, UTD won at both the city and regional level. “City” is defined by other Texas universities, including University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. The “regional” level included universities across the southeast, where UTD beat teams like the University of Central Florida, which has a strong esports team. Senior Phuong “Point” Huynh said UTD was not on a lot of esports commentators’ radars going into nationals. “CSL league (the group that organized SHINE) did a run-down of all the teams that were going to nationals and ours was the dark horse of everyone,”
UTD ESPORTS | COURTESY
Head esports coach Greg Adler said "Smash" players prepared by playing against opponents who had similar gaming styles to the teams they would later face at the national championships.
Huynh said. UTD’s esports team launched in fall 2018. Because the team is still young, their win was a surprise in the esports community, head esports coach Greg Adler said. “But I think people that do know us know our potential,” he said.
Adler said that UTD’s preparation set them apart from their competition. The team spent their summer researching their opponents’ strategies, game play and characters. They then called on people outside their team, whose styles mimicked opponents they would face from the other teams, to train against them.
“We knew every other team and we knew what we wanted to do against every other team,” Adler said. “We were very, very prepared in that sense. We knew every situation. I don’t think any of the other teams were nearly as pre-
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WHAT’S INSIDE?
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How Dining Services and student organizations are expanding sustainability efforts on campus.
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REVIEW: "Midsommar" masters horror and engages the audience while avoiding cinematic tropes.
OPINION: How an op-ed in The Mercury's Aug. 19 issue misrepresented Comets for the Preborn.
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXIX No. 44
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Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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'Waste not want not' at UTD Dining Services University recognized by Association of Physical Plant Administrators with Sustainability Innovation Award for eco-friendly efforts
ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR
Compost bins have been installed in Dining Hall West to decrease food waste and reduce landfill contribution. ELLIS BLAKE HIDALGO Mercury Staff
UTD was recently honored for its efforts to increase sustainability on campus with an award from the Association of Physical Plant Administrators. The 2019 Sustainability Innovation Award was presented to the university for its work towards reducing food waste and plastic usage. Associate Director for Sustainability and Energy Conservation Gary Cocke said staff at Dining Hall West and Student Union eateries reused and composted organic waste to ensure the facilities created no food waste. “If you ever go into the back of the house and see their operation in Dining Hall West, they have ‘waste-not-wantnot’ buckets. Any food waste associated with food preparation goes into those buckets … then they use it before it becomes a waste,” Cocke said. “The only disposal container that you'll see in that home is a compost collection bin. We've gotten rid of straws. There's no ketchup packets, no mustard packets, and there's basically nothing that would be considered contamination into a compost stream.” Cocke said Organix Composting, a company located in Hutchins, TX, helped the university decrease food
waste on a larger scale. “They have a commercial composting facility in Hutchins. Because they have 50 acres and it's just windrow after windrow … of compost and they’re doing it at a scale that allows them to compost materials that you couldn’t do if your compost in a backyard,” Cocke said. “But because they are doing it at such a large scale in the compost pile, which can get to high temperatures, they’re able to handle that.” Student-led efforts such as the UTD chapter of the Food Recovery Network and the Student Government’s Green Initiative have helped to decrease food waste as well, Cocke said. UTD’s Food Recovery Network leader Sandra Mihail, a biology senior, explained the work done with DHW to utilize unneeded food and decrease waste. “We're kind of a new organization on campus. But what we do is we take extra food in the dining hall and the Einstein’s Bagels and we drive it to a shelter for battered women a little bit down the road,” Mihail said. Hope’s Door New Beginning Center, the shelter the Food Recovery Network donates to, provides aid and food to domestic abuse victims. Since its founding in 2017, FRN members
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ALESANDRA BELL | MERCURY STAFF
Graduate becomes first UTD Phi Kappa Phi fellow Bio-medical alumnus studies in MIT-Harvard Health Sciences Ph.D. program, plans to work with medical devices in future RUHMA KHAN Mercury Staff
UTD graduate Sydney Sherman is the first student to become a Phi Kappa Phi 1897 fellow. The fellowship grants her $35,000, which she plans on putting toward her Ph.D. The 1897 fellowship is named for the year Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest all-discipline honor society in the U.S., was established. Sherman is currently a Ph.D. student at the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. The biomedical engineering graduate and former McDermott scholar said she has always been passionate about science and learning. “I was lucky that I grew up on a small farm and my mom was always really encouraging in letting me explore my interests,” Sherman said. “When I was growing up I would collect different skeletons I would find in the woods on our property and learned how to preserve them and I used them to learn about anatomy. That got me interested in science and from there it kept going.” She began her undergraduate research career as a research assistant in Walter Voit’s advanced polymer research lab, working on spinal cord stimulators after hearing him speak at the Collegium V round table series.
“I started in Dr. Voit’s lab my freshman year and I didn’t have much of an idea of what I liked. I’m one of those people where everything sounds interesting so there wasn’t anything I didn’t want to do,” Sherman said. “I worked with a graduate student … we worked on developing a stimulator. That was a collabo-
SYDNEY SHERMAN ration project with Cornell which was great because my freshman year summer I went and worked on the same project but at Cornell. UTD fabricates the actual devices and then at Cornell we implanted them in rats and tested them so I got to see both ends of a larger project, which was pretty cool.” Sherman researched a wide variety of
topics and switched labs in her junior year, working as an undergraduate research assistant in associate provost and bioengineering professor Joseph Pancrazio’s neural networks and interfaces lab. “I was culturing neuron cells and using cultured cells as a model for looking at neurodegenerative diseases and how it affects the electrical activity of a cell culture,” she said. Sherman said she was encouraged by Douglas Dow, associate dean of Collegium V Honors and clinical professor of government and politics, to apply for the fellowship. “I wasn’t really sure I was going to apply. I didn’t think I’d be competitive enough to get some of these bigger awards and then Dr. Dow asked if I was going to apply,” she said. “I put in an application and I got selected for the school competition. Then (Dr. Dow) worked with my application and made sure it was presented in the best way.” Sherman said she looks forward to getting her degree and learning more about her field as she completes her program. “I’m just starting my Ph.D. so I’m not sure what lab I’ll be working in yet, but when I graduate I plan on going into industry and working for one of the medical device companies, although that’s five years away so maybe by then my plans might change,” Sherman said.
GRACE CHANG | MERCURY STAFF
Sherman joins other fellowship awardees such as Hillary Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
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LIFE&ARTS
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
Movie review:
‘Midsommar’
is horror done right
SARAH BESSERER | MERCURY STAFF
MADISON YORK Mercury Staff
“Midsommar” begins in the dead of winter. For those familiar with writer/director Ari Aster’s previous work on “Hereditary,” this irony shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. As with his other critically-acclaimed film, Aster continues to redefine the horror genre, crafting the story of “Midsommar” with a startling intricacy, weaving double-meanings and subtle messages into every scene and sentence of dialogue. The tone, characters and plot work together to provide a tense, dreadfully under-your-skin film that haunts you long after you leave the theatre. The majority of the movie takes place deep in the Swedish countryside. The main character, Dani, travels with her boyfriend, Christian, and his fellow an-
thropology students to study a commune of Swedish natives during their midsummer festival. It rapidly becomes apparent, however, that behind the whimsical exterior of flowers and cotton tunics is a dark and twisted society. The first element that “Midsommar” does correctly is tone. Absent are the jump scares of your average “Conjuring” movie or the gratuitous torture porn of “Saw.” Instead, the audience is witness to a steady deterioration of humanity, thinly veiled under the guise of a flowery paradise. The heavy subject matter — grief, violence and death — contrasts sharply with the bright, seemingly carefree setting. Almost immediately after the movie begins, the audience is given a heartwrenching introduction to the main character, Dani, along with her boyfriend, Christian, and Christian’s group
of college friends. Dani calls Christian about a disturbingly suicidal message she received from her sister. Christian reassures her that everything’s fine, and, after hanging up, is encouraged by his friends to break up with her because she’s becoming too clingy. When Christian answers the phone again in a few minutes, he’s greeted by Dani sobbing uncontrollably. The movie cuts to an agonizingly slow shot of Dani’s parents’ home, showing that Dani’s sister asphyxiated both herself and her parents by filling the entire house with car exhaust. The opening credits play over Dani’s screams of grief. Although this opening sequence barely lasts 15 minutes, it cuts deep into one of the worst fears a person can have: not ghosts or zombies, but the suicide of a loved one. Combined with the characteristic Ari Aster filming style — long shots of char-
acters’ faces and wide angled views of the scenes — the viewer feels vulnerable, up close and personal with the characters and anticipating horrors in the background or on the edge of the screen. The fear feels real. This leads to the second aspect of “Midsommar” that is done flawlessly: the characters. Everyone, Dani in particular, is relatable as people. Unlike many other horror films — in which audience members are often left urging characters not to make stupid decisions — the characters’ reactions to events in the movie are reasonable, and consistent with who they are. Take, for example, the Ättestupa scene: a ritualistic senicide that is actually believed to have taken place in ancient Nordic culture. In “Midsommar,” Dani, Christian, and Christian’s college friends
→ SEE MIDSOMMAR,
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SPORTS
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
Play hard, work harder
5
Survey reveals most student athletes prioritize academics above athletics
AASAV SUREJA | MERCURY STAFF
With the support of their coaches and team, student athletes learn to manage their athletic responsibilities with their academics. ELLIS BLAKE HIDALGO Mercury Staff
With the fall term having kicked off, student athletes around campus once again began the process of balancing their academic demands with the commitment they’ve made to their teams. Discussing how they deal with the pressures of both the university and its sports, UTD coaches and players shed some light on how athletics affects their lives, even after they’ve graduated. Head men’s basketball coach Terry Butterfield said he felt lucky to be working with athletes who put academics first, and stressed the benefits of the academic leanings of UTD. “You have to understand that UT Dallas is a school that's made up of very exceptional, bright kids,” Butterfield said. “So, my role is the basketball coach. Obviously, I have a vested interest in all the kids doing well, but in order for the guys to get into school here, they already have to come with outstanding credentials.” In a student athlete survey done by The Mercury, 71% of 35 respondents reported that being a student athlete put more pressure on their academics than their athletics. Basketball player and biomedical engineer-
ing junior Kelden Pruitt said there were times where he had to juggle conference tournaments and his exams shortly after. “I was able to make classes, but I had games three nights in a row … and I had two exams next Monday. First there’s pregame meals, shoot-arounds, practices and then the games at night,” Pruitt said. “That was a situation where I’m thinking in the moment that I'm probably not going to get to experience this a whole lot, and studying makes me think, ‘maybe I could do good enough on this test without studying a whole lot.’” Head softball coach James Kling said he and other coaches make sure the athletes are keeping up with their studies, often making sure they study during trips. With UTD student athletes needing a 2.5 GPA or above to play, Kling said the team will often host study halls before games to keep up with their academics. “If they're not passing their classes, they can't play sports,” Kling said. “So they kind of work hand-in-hand and if we find out from a professor or from the student themselves that they're having a hard time in multiple classes, we will say,
→ SEE ACADEMICS,
ELLIS BLAKE HIDALGO | MERCURY STAFF
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Volleyball team finishes first tournament with 2-2 split Comets working toward sixth ASC championship victory this season MARCO SALINAS News Editor
AMINA HUSSAIN | MERCURY STAFF
UTD's volleyball team has recruited five new freshman players at the start of the season and have four senior players returning to the team.
With five new freshmen, the volleyball team is preparing to compete for a possible sixth ASC championship. The Comets opened the season with the Gargoyle Classic at the University of Chicago, finishing 2-2 in the tournament. Senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Jillian Via led the team in kills for three of the four games with a total of 54 kills. UTD’s volleyball team has won three out of the past four ASC championships. This year, the team has four returning seniors. Head coach Marci Allison, who has been with the team
since its inception in 2004, said the seniors add a good amount of leadership to the team. “We have four seniors and all of them have started for us at some point in the program … We’ve got some freshmen that are gonna have some heavy time,” Allison said. “They’re super competitive, so it’s nice to have those guys added to the returners that are already in the successful situation they’ve been in previously.” There’s been an adjustment period for the new freshmen, Allison said. “It’s super different coming into our program,” she said. “I teach at a very mental level. Lots and lots to learn so it can be pretty overwhelming for them once they get here … but inevitably
when they just figure out you’re just playing volleyball you’re just adding some things to it. We have some that have some really good club experience, so they’re catching on really quickly.” Senior setter and defensive specialist Caroline Shecterle said the team’s biggest goal is to get closer and connect to one another. “We have four seniors, one junior and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. We also have a bit of a smaller team. But I think that’s good because it allows us to be super close together,” Schecterle said. “Having the younger (players) and bringing them onto our
→ SEE VOLLEYBALL,
SAMANTHA LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF
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Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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stand and watch as two elderly people in the rural Swedish community throw themselves off a cliff to their death. Dani, as well as a few other people in the group, react immediately to the vileness of the act, with Dani having flashbacks to her own sister’s suicide. Christian, though, only pretends to be outraged for Dani’s sake, while privately indicating his own indifference towards the ritual. This is
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‘Hey, let's not go to practice for the next couple of days.’” Despite the need to balance between athletics and academics throughout their school careers, student athletes don’t often pursue sports as a career. In the survey, 85% of UTD student athletes reported that they don’t aspire to play sports professionally after graduation. Softball player and healthcare management senior Jessica Vlasek was named Academic All-ASC in 2019, an award given to athletes who maintained a 3.0 GPA or above during the season. Despite her life-long softball career, Vlasek explained that she didn’t want to devote her life to the sport. “I've played since I was 6, so softball has never not been a part of my life,” Vlasek said. “Honestly for me, I think that I've always understood that it was going to stop eventually … and that I wanted to approach a different career and a different trajectory in life and that
NEWS
just a brief glimpse into Christian’s moral shallowness, which ultimately ends up being his demise later in the movie. In addition to the dark tone and complex characters, “Midsommar”’s plot is as engaging as it is frightening. By becoming so invested in the character of Dani — someone who has suffered loss, and struggles to find a meaningful relationship — the audience can’t help but hang on every scene, hoping that Dani will come to terms with her grief and
find a true relationship. In the ultimate twist — which you’ll have to watch the movie to find out — she accomplishes both of those things, but in a way the audience members never expect. Overall, “Midsommar” — like many of the best horror movies — is not only terrifying in its own right, but attempts to communicate a deeper message. As humans, we crave relationships: “Midsommar” is a movie about what happens when that craving sours and grows out of control.
softball wasn't the end-all be-all” Butterfield said his gratitude for his players’ commitment to the program was what pushed him to do more for them. He said student athletes often reference him to employers when pursuing job opportunities and careers after graduation. “I'm there for them and I tell the guys, ‘loyalty is a two-way street. If you're loyal to the program and you give us everything you got while you're going to school, then I certainly want to make myself available to you as time goes forward,’” Butterfield said. “Because obviously I spent a lot of time with the guys over the course of four years … I know these guys on a pretty high level. I know what they're capable of. I feel like that's something that an employer can't get from someone else. So when I'm called upon to help a guy, I'm all-in.” Butterfield said student athletes learn valuable teamwork skills, which he noted are especially useful to businesses nowa-
days. He said it was enjoyable watching his players grow and go on to gain life skills through their time on his team. “I feel like we've had a very strong team over the years here made up of guys that were very team-first in their approach to everything,” Butterfield said. “So, you know, I think that a lot of what we do gets them ready for the real world. They have to be able to deal with all kinds of people at all different kinds of levels if they're going to be successful and I think that their intercollegiate experience plays into that.” Pruitt said his coaches’ confidence in his success put them at ease about his grades, and that he was glad his teammates offer a similar assurance. “I do better when I don't feel pressure from coaches. Like, ‘Hey, how's the test going? You keeping the grades up?’ That's not to say they are,” Pruitt said. “They're just like, ‘Hey, however you're doing, I'm proud of what you do.’ It's like that. That's a good support system for me.”
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level has been really helpful.” Allison said she hopes to win the ASC championship and return to the regional championship. “It wasn’t that long ago that we were in a regional championship match and unfortunately lost that
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have donated approximately 2.5 tons of food to the shelter and Mihail said she hopes to see the organization grow in the coming years. “So, right now we’re talking about becoming a … driver’s network,” Mihail said. “We're trying to see if we can have an expansion point where if someone's running an event and they have too much food, if we could take that food as well.” Green Initiative chair Genna
match and so that’s — I hope — where our returners want to get back to,” Allison said. The team was eliminated in the regional finals of the 2016 NCAA Division III national tournament by a five-set loss. Criminology Senior Lauren Schilling said this season, her last, will be bittersweet. Schilling said the pro-
gram has changed in the past four years, but that she has always been proud of how well they’ve fought. “Freshman year, my biggest goal was winning ASC championship, which we did in my freshman and sophomore years, but we came up short last year,” Schilling said. “The one goal I really want to have is to win a regional championship.”
Campain said that through educational speakers and easily accessible programs, the Green Initiative is working to make sure all students play a part in UTD sustainability. “We have the composting program in the University Village so that (students) can come and get trained in composting and then they can get a compost bin which helps cut down on food waste because it allows them to compost all of the organic materials that would otherwise be thrown in the trash last year,” Campain said.
Student interest in sustainability plays a part in shifting the university’s priorities, Cocke said. He stressed the cumulative effect of small actions, encouraging all students to make an effort toward sustainability. “My biggest thing is I would like every person, student, faculty, staff and human to think about what they can do to be a better steward,” he said. “I think that most of us if we look at what we could do, and we try, will be surprised how easy most sustainable choices are, and once you get started, you'll get past those barriers more easily than you think.”
UTD LAW FAIR
COMICS MOVE-IN: THE SQUEAKQUEL
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION
BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF
PLEASE JOIN MY CLUB
ELIZABETH NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF
SARAH BESSERER | MERCURY STAFF
ATTENTION BORK
CATS (2019)
BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF
O&B: THESE PAWS WERE MADE FOR WALKING
SARAH STREETY | MERCURY STAFF
BACKPACK TETRIS
ELIZABETH NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF
SUGARY TEMPTATIONS
BRUH MOMENT
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JENNA CHERREY | MERCURY STAFF
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OPINION
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
When dreams shouldn't come true Live-action Disney remakes detract from originals ELLIS BLAKE HIDALGO Mercury Staff “The Lion King” (2019) marks the latest film in a recent trend towards remaking original animated films in a live-action format. By bringing its catalogue up to date through live-action remakes, Disney, and several other similarly oriented studios, are leading the pre-existing cultural shift against animation as a serious medium with which to tell stories. That’s a shame. Animation is responsible for the creation of some of modern culture’s most impactful stories, and it deserves the respect it has earned from those of us raised viewing it. There’s certainly a case to be made for live-action: some viewers, for example, may feel closer to the characters. But I would argue that concepts easily accepted in animation no longer work in liveaction. Storytelling is an escape. It brings us into a new world, devoid of the limitations of our own. When entering these new worlds, suspension of disbelief becomes much easier when we stop analyzing what we are watching with real-world standards. Live-action doesn’t have this advantage. The fantastical elements that are displayed with such ease in a film like “Dumbo” (1941) fall short in “Dumbo” (2019). No longer an unquestionable part of the world around him, CGI Dumbo appears adrift between the world of animation and live-action, complete with disorientingly large cartoon eyes. That, combined with the difficulty the actors had working around non-existent animals creates a visual mush that removes from the story. Even done well, CGI still serves films negatively. Talking lions are acceptable as cartoons, but become unsettling when made too life-like, something “Lion King” (1994) animator David Stephan expressed in an interview with Indiewire,
noting that “it reminded (him) of those old nature films where they would dub the voices over and the lips would move. (He) thought, ‘Oh, this is really cheap.’” For all the advancements in filmmaking in just the past few decades, studios like Disney have shown an inability to consistently do justice to the visuals of the originals. While certainly a much harder endeavor than 2D animation, accurate set design and costumes mixed with CGI rarely live up to the scope of each remake’s vision, indicating an incompatibility with live-action filmmaking. Such CGI isn’t subpar for lack of effort, either. Even accounting for inflation, every Disney remake within the past five years has received tens, if not hundreds of millions more in funding than the original animated films. Yet all of them, except for “The Jungle Book” (2016), have failed to match the ratings of the originals, with Rotten Tomatoes scoring most remakes less than halfway to those of their predecessors. This should come as no surprise, with most remakes’ budgets going directly to practical and visual effects. The millions spent towards visuals drift funds and attention away from developing the stories that made the originals worth recreating. “Sleeping Beauty”’s 2014 remake, “Maleficent,” had notably good visual effects — a product of its $180 million budget. Yet despite the stunning visual work put in, its plot was met with negative reviews, criticizing it for failing to effectively adapt the original characters. In recreating these films, studios are taking on the monumental legacy of their predecessors, yet fail to treat them with the respect they deserve. We’re not talking about a modern adaptation of these stories that have changed context, or even truly expanded on the story in a significant way. These are near carbon copies that serve no purpose except to make money, and in doing so are doing a disservice to the originals. One could argue such recreations as
SARAH BESSERER | MERCURY STAFF
a form of honoring the fantastic work the original creators did, but these remakes don’t do justice to their inspirations. The care shown by CGI artists and modern filmmakers is truly impressive and praiseworthy, but these remakes are being created by a studio that was, as Stephan expressed, “founded on originality and art.” These modern recreations aren’t worth watching. Forget merely disrespecting the originals; the studios are disrespecting viewers. The process of creating quality cinema is absent in the anticipation that they can create mediocre movies and rake in money hand over
fist. It’s a shame to see these adaptations break the box office records of the originals as they seem to make a cultural footprint larger than the trailblazing, original animators who came before. As 2D animation falls out of fashion, it’s important for us as consumers to do what we can to support it. Be a conscientious viewer. Don’t support remakes made for money, and do what you can to support honest, original animated work, like productions by ATEC students and UTD animators. Additionally, support strong CGI work. Support CGI in films that show an honest interest in artistry
and originality. Movies like “Interstellar,” “Avengers: Endgame,” and even remakes like “Cinderella” (2015) and “The Jungle Book (2016) display a sense of passion that should be apparent in all CGI work, as it was with so many Disney originals, movies that deserve to live on. If you think it’s important to pass down their lessons, watch them. Buy them. Show them to the next generation. These stories deserve to be passed down, and the lessons they teach are too important to be watered down. Ellis Blake Hidalgo is a psychology freshman from San Antonio, Texas.
Bringing color to film Hollywood lacks gender, racial diversity
SAMANTHA LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF
AYESHA ASAD Mercury Staff Last July, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson said in an interview, “You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.” Johansson was most likely referencing the criticism of her casting as a transgender man in the movie “Rub & Tug,” from which she withdrew in 2018. Although her recent statement generated backlash, perhaps Johansson did not intend for her statement to be so controversial. After all, an actor is someone who pretends to be someone else in a film, play, or television show, and if roles were strictly cast by whoever was most like a character in reality, the imaginative nature of film would be lost and restricted. Yet, it is not so simple. The backlash
against Johansson’s comments was not an unwarranted excuse for outrage. Rather, it highlighted a deeper flaw in the film industry: the lack of representation for minorities. Trans actors in particular find it hard to get acting jobs in Hollywood. Often, the only roles open to them are those of other trans characters, and even then, they are sometimes told that they aren’t an appropriate fit for the character physically. For example, in an article by The Guardian, Aneesh Sheth — an Indian-American actress and trans woman — stated that she was told she wasn’t “masculine” enough for the role of a trans woman. The director later cast a cisgender man in the role. In the same article, Isley Reust, another trans actress, revealed that she was told that she didn’t “look trans enough” for a part of a trans character. If trans actors are having trouble getting roles as trans characters, then what about cis characters? Cis actors are given ample opportunity to play trans characters, such as in “The Danish Girl,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “3 Genera-
tions,” and more. A proponent of casting actors regardless of gender identity may argue that actors should be allowed to take on roles that allow them to step into others’ shoes, as is the nature of film. But if that is the case, then why are trans actors rarely allowed to step into cis characters’ shoes, or even other trans characters’ shoes? Similarly, nonwhite actors are disadvantaged in the casting process. Although actors are generally cast in racially accurate roles, unlike genderbased roles, this can present another problem. A study at the University of Southern California showed that out of the top 100 films of 2014, 73.1% of all characters were white. Only 26.9% of top movies depicted nonwhite characters as leads or co-leads, and in 2016’s top 100 movies, 70.8% of speaking roles went to white actors. If you look at the statistics, there aren’t many opportunities for people of color to play characters of color. Out of 14 Disney princesses, one is East Asian, one is Middle Eastern, one is Polyne-
sian, one is African American, one is Native American and the other nine are white. If casting was racially accurate, a single person of color could only play one role that corresponded with their race, but a white actor would have the opportunity to play nine. Other major films are no exception. 69% of the Marvel Universe’s major characters are white (56 out of 81 major actors). Therefore, people of color then audition for “white” roles – for example, Halle Bailey in “The Little Mermaid” – because there simply aren’t enough nonwhite characters to audition for, especially for lead roles. In an ideal world, any actor would be able to be cast in any part regardless of orientation or gender identity, and nonwhite actors would be able to find just as many roles for their race or ethnicity (including lead) as their white counterparts to audition for. However, we are not there yet. Trans actors are not cast as trans or cis characters at the same rate that cis actors are, and actors of color are not provided with roles of
color at the same rate that their white counterparts are. The solution is not necessarily to restrict actors from playing certain roles, but to open up more diverse roles, particularly if casting is to be racially accurate. And if Hollywood wants to cast regardless of gender identity, race, or orientation, it must eliminate discrimination based on race, gender identity and orientation in the film and TV industry, so that any underrepresented actor can play any role without being discriminated against in favor of a more privileged actor. We can start small. We can stand up and voice support for diversity in the media. We can ensure that our campus plays, media and any student created films will not discriminate and will offer a wide variety of roles. Our generation will produce filmmakers, actors, managers, directors, journalists and leaders. Times are changing — and the next generation can change Hollywood, too. Ayesha Asad is a biology and visual arts freshman from Dallas, Texas.
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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OPINION
Burning the straw man Rebuttal of Aug. 19 op-ed "Born Equal" MADELEINE KEITH Contributor
LOUISE NILLAS | MERCURY STAFF
In their latest issue, The Mercury published an opinion piece attacking the student organization Comets for the Pre-born for not openly protesting the ICE detention centers on the border and, therefore, supposedly acting in violation of their platform defending the sanctity of all life — including the unborn. I would also like to note that — between The Mercury and AMP — this is the fourth article that has been published by UTD’s student media (and the second by managing editor of AMP, Ruqiya Barreh) attacking this organization. At some point, I hope that someone will explain to me what CftP has done to deserve such antagonism besides, you know, existing. But it is neither my pro-life stance nor the numerous attacks against a student organization that has provoked me to write this letter. What compelled me to formalize my protest was the simple fact that The Mercury allowed an opinion piece to be published containing not an ounce of actual evidence to support it. Barreh, the author of the piece, begins her commentary with the accusation that “instead of rising against the barbaric attacks on human rights at our borders … CftP have chosen to concentrate their ef-
forts on vilifying a medical procedure.” Let’s ignore for a moment the fact that, according to Pew Research and a 2019 Gallup Poll, 48% of Americans viewed the above mentioned ‘medical procedure’ as morally wrong, including 51% of women and 51% of Hispanic/non-white individuals. By using the word “instead” Barreh creates a false dichotomy: as if one cannot possibly fight for the rights of the unborn and the human rights of those at the border at the same time. As I personally am a strong advocate for both, I can tell you that it is most definitely possible. Furthermore, when Barreh delves into the logic that is supposed to support her argument, she cites a laundry list of physical and emotional harm inflicted on immigrants by ICE agents in the last few years. She details the abuse of pregnant women, detained migrants whose squalid living conditions and lack of medical attention caused them to miscarry and a statistic from The New York Times citing 859 reports of sexual abuse. Now let me start by stating that I agree wholeheartedly with Barreh in that these are atrocities and human rights violation which should most definitely be rectified, even railed against. However, what Barreh is doing here is constructing a “red herring”; a kind of logical fallacy called an “ignoratio elenchi” or “irrelevant conclusion”. The abuses made by ICE agents at the border, while deplorable, are completely unrelated to whether or not Comets for the Preborn
actually value the sanctity of life. It would likely serve as decent justification for the argument that ICE agents don’t value the sanctity of life. But I checked. None of the CftP members work for ICE. Let me also note here that Barreh also accuses CftP of essentially being xenophobic racists by citing “their apparent disdain for people of color” and supposed belief “that minorities’ lives are worth inherently less than unborn ones,” all the while failing to provide any data, testimony or witnesses to verify what I would consider a very serious accusation. In fact, Barreh gives no evidence that any pro-life group is in favor of the detention centers or actions taken at the border at all. So allow me to provide some facts for her. Over the course of the last 11 months, the National Association of Evangelicals, a group which has repeatedly submitted pro-life amicus briefs to Supreme Court, has led 24 separate relief trips to the border and facilitated over 250 one-on-one consultations between potential asylum seekers and U.S immigration law professionals. The World Relief organization, a group whose president published an op-ed in The New York Times titled “I am pro-life and pro-refugee,” works to provide presentations on immigration and asylum law in churches. Members of World Relief have opened both their homes and churches to asy-
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Previous op-ed uses defamation to belittle unborn victims of abortion MICHAEL LOCKWOOD Contributor Two weeks ago, my campus organization was publicly accused of hypocrisy, dishonesty, and borderline racism. In The Mercury’s Aug. 19 opinion piece, Ruqiya Barreh made the following argument: Although Comets for the Preborn (CftP) claims to value all human life, it has never made a public statement against the abuse of women and children in detention centers at the U.S./Mexico border. Somehow, from this premise emerged the puzzling
conclusion that CftP believes “minorities’ lives are worth inherently less than unborn ones.” Barreh must have been too eager to smear the pro-life group on campus to find out what our position is on the issue, because none of our members were contacted by The Mercury or anyone else to provide an opinion. I’ll make it clear where we stand. What happened to the victims at the border was horrible. No woman or child should be forced to suffer a miscarriage, sexual abuse, or maltreatment of any kind. We fully support the investigation into the cases cited and believe that those who perpetrated the
crimes should be punished severely. Although we at CftP are glad to see Barreh express some compassion for the lives of children at the border, it’s difficult for us to find substance in such sympathy, when it is employed not to advocate for those children, but to fight against the rights of equally valuable unborn children in our own city. The sort of argument Barreh used is a classic kind of hypocrisy: attacking those who seek to protect one vulnerable group, by falsely claiming they do not care for another. The clear purpose of Barreh’s argument was not to help or protect children, but to disingenuously attack CftP on account of the fact that we
seek to help and protect unborn children — of all races and ethnicities. We at CftP have worked and will continue to work with groups that aid pregnant moms and educate the public on the moral worth of babies in the womb. We chose to focus on unborn babies because they are the only human beings in this country who are by social convention, by courts, and by legislatures, explicitly denied the right to life. Each day in Texas, roughly 150 unborn children are carried by their mothers to the abortion facility to be killed. Well before they are 20 weeks old (the legal limit in Texas), these babies have arms and legs
and fingers and toes. They are little human beings who simply lack the strength to defend themselves. Despite their innocence, each child is condemned to death, never to be held, hugged, or kissed, never to give their first smile, say their first word, or take their first step. The only person who will ever touch them or see their face is the abortionist, after he tears them out of their mother’s womb piece by piece. I founded CftP to do what little I could to protect these little boys and girls from harm. But there are those like Barreh who are aggressively opposed to this effort.
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How NSM shaped UTD history ROBERT STERN Contributor I was pleased to read the story “50 years of UTD” in the Aug. 19 edition of The Mercury. I am proud to have been a faculty member for three-fourths of the time that UTD has existed and to have watched us grow in so many ways. Still, there are some important details that should be added. We know that the TI
COMET COMMENTS
founders — Green, Jonsson, and McDermott — founded a little research institution on the prairie of far north Richardson which became UTD in 1969. Left unsaid in the article was what research was carried on at the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest. Here are some details. The first facility of the GRCSW was called the Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Science (housed in what is now the Founders Building). It consisted of three research groups: Geosciences, Molecular Biology and Space Sciences. The
Founders wanted GRSCW to be a center for studying the Earth, life on it and space around us. UTD was founded the same year as we landed on the moon and UTD Geoscientists and Space Scientists were deeply involved in this research. For this reason, it makes sense that we took “Comet” as our mascot; the only sensible alternative would be “Lunatics.” The three original GRSCW research programs became the Geosciences, Biology and Physics departments that formed the nucleus of the School of Natural Sciences and
How do you deal with food waste, if at all?
Mathematics. NSM thus provided the sturdy rootstock on which UTD was successfully grafted. A few more historical details: UTD’s first degree? That was in 1972 (not 1973 as on the timeline), a PhD in Geosciences awarded to a Hispanic student, Jose Longoria, now a Professor at Florida International University. The first woman to get a doctorate at UTD, Maureen Steiner in 1974? She was a Geoscience student, now a retired University of Wyoming professor. The astronaut from UTD? That is
Dr. Jim Reilly, who got his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and doctorate in Geosciences at UTD and who is now Director of the United States Geologic Survey. The Nobel Laureate who got his doctorate at UTD? That is Dr. Aziz Sancar, a student of Molecular and Cell Biology. UTD launches to Mars? That was a mass spectrometer, designed by physics professor John Hoffman, who also built instruments that NASA used to explore
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Comets and Craters Internet down at UV
“I eat clementines, mandarins and oranges and I'll try to mulch it myself ... I don't really do much aside from the already posted areas for the school compost."
“I give it to people, whenever I saw my friends or something and they're not having food and I'm just going to waste it, I'll not do that and I'll give it to my friends."
“I just don't get as much food. I also try to, like if I have food, I'll try to take it home and keep it for later in the fridge."
Daniel Moya-Cardio Computer Science Freshman
Arun Prasath Ganesh Innovation and Entrepreneurship Graduate
Raghav Rajesh Biology Freshman
On August 29, university housing residents faced an internet service outage that lasted up to an hour as a result of malfunctioning equipment.
BBS, NSM professors recieve awards Associate professor of BBS Noah Sasson and senior lecturer of NSM Amandeep Sra were awarded the 2019 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award.
Sept. 3, 2019 | The Mercury
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Worrall’s previously rejected MOU was used as the basis for this proposal. However, in Musselman’s proposal, she states that the policy will need to be approved in order to rectify errors on student transcripts that resulted from the grade substitution practice while still keeping the university’s promise to previous and current JAL students. “The primary issue was that course credit was given for classes taken elsewhere without following appropriate protocol,” a university spokesperson said. “After this was discovered, immediate steps were taken to address the issue.” Hill insists, as the tribunal found, that his clients are innocent of any wrongdoing but are moving forward with a lawsuit because he alleges that the university released his clients’ termination letters to the press in violation of the Texas Education Code, which protects the identity of individuals participating in an investigation conducted by an institution of higher education. He added that the lawsuit is also due, in part, to the damage the scandal has caused to the professors’ careers. “The publication in the Dallas Morning News claiming that my people have committed academic fraud will be a virtual death knell for their educational future and their professional future,” Hill said. “No one, you know, no university is going to hire them if they're under the cloud of that.
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have missed something, might've missed a bathtub being clean enough, or a kitchen being clean enough, but if we find that during move-in, and the student's concern is brought to us, we would immediately address it.” Computer science junior Jamie Harris has been living in UV for two years and said that he has had immediate issues with every apartment he lived in. “This year, I’m the only person who can open our front door, because it is so badly fitted that it gets stuck,” Harris said. “Our mailbox key doesn’t work because the lock is broken, and both of these issues I can see from the work orders have been (persisting issues) since last year, and I know I’ve had similar issues in my last apartment.” Harris also mentioned that he had been seeing a couple of roaches per day in his apartment. Although Harris contacted UV maintenance and put in work orders for the door and the mailbox on August 20, he said
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pared as we were.” Though some were surprised by the win, Adler said he had confidence going in. “We knew that we had the potential to win,” he said. “It was just a matter of actually getting there and performing.” “Smash Ultimate” remains an accessible game many people, including UTD students, play. Their win has increased UTD’s campus interest in Smash, Hyun said.
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asylum seekers as living spaces while better accommodations can be made. But let’s take church groups out of it for a moment. In a campaign called “Bottles for the Border,” New Wave Feminists, a secular pro-life group, partnered with roughly 50 different pro-life organizations to raise $130,000 dollars in funds and supplies (including diapers, formula, water and more) to be delivered to the Humanitarian Respite Center in
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Capitalizing on the plight of migrant children, Barreh attempted to undermine the work CftP
NEWS
Now, we have vindicated them in this hearing process, but the law permits them to recover damages for whatever residual damage may be done to their careers, for mental anguish, for attorney's fees and any damages that they've suffered.” The professor who alerted university officials to the criminology scandal had originally accused the professors of financial misconduct. Chief inquiry officer for the UT System Trey Atchley was brought on by Musselman to investigate allegations of criminal misconduct. His investigation found no evidence of any financial or criminal misconduct among the professors. In fact, Worrall’s 2015 MOU proposed a tuition cut for students who were transferring credits from ILEA and CPI. Hill said that in addition to being innocent of financial fraud, his clients aren’t guilty of academic fraud either, as they were carrying out orders from their superiors. The tribunal reached similar conclusions for both Worrall and Taylor. “The tribunal found that the whole practice and principles and procedures had been approved in writing by the Dean and his supervisor,” Hill said. “They exonerated (Worrall and Taylor) of any academic fraud or any other wrongdoing and pointed out that there was not even a policy in place at the time. There was no written policy telling anybody how to handle executive programs and transfers in.” During the trial, Hill revealed that the accusing professor lied on
their resume about having experience as a police officer in Arizona prior to working at UTD. Hill said he sent a letter to the police department asking about the professor and the department replied saying they had never heard of them. The professor is now on leave, but a university spokesperson said it’s unrelated to the news that was revealed at the tribunal. “(The professor)’s leave is not related to the JAL program or the tribunal,” the spokesperson said. “Dr. Taylor is teaching one class that was originally assigned to (the professor).” In the wake of the JAL scandal, Cohen and Worrall lost employment offers from other universities. Hill said the stress of the termination process and tribunal caused the professors to lose sleep and worsened Cohen’s health problems, adding that she had to have a medical professional on standby during meetings with university officials as she was dangerously ill. The university maintains that all procedures set forth in the UT System Board of Regents Rules and Regulations were followed and at least 10 students were affected. In the tribunal transcript, King admits that because the substitution practice had been going on since 2012, there’s no way to know exactly how many students were affected. The future of the JAL program has not been determined and the program isn’t currently accepting applications. The webpage for the program has been taken down.
he hadn’t received any response from them. “In general, when you submit a work order, you don’t hear anything till somebody shows up at your doorstep and looks at the problem,” Harris said. “This presents a lot of problems and is incredibly inefficient.” Grief said that communication in the UV department is very efficient, with a goal of a 48-hour turnaround time on maintenance requests. “That doesn't always happen, like right now, we have probably around 800 maintenance requests out in the queue of different things that need to be fixed, touched up, repaired, whatever the case may be,” he said. “But we typically will operate off a 48hour turnaround once the movein work orders slow down. Air conditioner units — it's an emergency; we immediately address it — any kind of flood situation, water infiltration — we're going to address it pretty quickly.” Grief said that students can report work orders by either calling the office or entering it into their residential portal, and can keep up to date on any housing
communication through their UTD email. “We have the emails that go out to students when we're communicating about a major thing on campus, major project or major event that they need to be aware of,” Grief said. “As far as communication follow up with students — telephone calls — we ask our staff to follow up with certain students if there's going to be an issue or a delay with repair.” The apartment complexes are also aging, Grief said. University Housing spent $3 million dollars this last year on maintenance projects and equipment, he said, and 59 air conditioning units had been replaced this summer. This fall, 400 air conditioning units will be replaced. With 5,500 students living in UV apartments, Grief said it’s a big operation. “We want a place where students can feel like this is their temporary home,” he said. “They're here from nine months, to a year, to sometimes several years. We want them to feel comfortable — somewhere they can sleep, study, make new friends and be successful.”
Their local “Smash” tournament, Comet Clash, saw an increase in participation after their win. This weekly tournament hosted on Sundays in Blackstone Launchpad remains one of the main ways the team recruits new players. In addition to more people playing Smash on campus, when the esports team sent the nationals stream over Discord, Huynh said he saw an unimaginably positive response from the UTD community. “They told us they were rooting for us,” he said. “They took pictures of themselves, like at Whata-
burger with friends, just watching and cheering us on.” In addition to the historic nature of the first national “Smash win” and the first UTD national win, the competing players left the tournament with a new reputation and a sizable scholarship to split amongst themselves. Looking forward, Adler said he wants to see another championship. “I think the reality is people are going to see us coming, now, so we just have to stay on top of our game and really just prepare,” Adler said. “The reality is we need to keep working at it and prepare for the next split.”
McAllen, TX. The National Review quoted Herndon de-La Rosa, the founder of the group, as saying “As pro-lifers, we must stand with the vulnerable wherever and whenever we see them suffering.” And “We are pro-lifers because we care about the inherent human dignity of the living person, inside the womb and out.” I don’t know if members of Comets for the Pre-Born have any particular thoughts or feelings on the border crisis. As a student organization (and I will re-emphasize the word
“student”), I think they have about as much of an obligation to comment on the situation as any other group on campus does — which is to say, none. But I would hope that in the future, any accusations leveled against CftP would include, at the very least, the mere suggestion of relevant facts. Or perhaps, we could treat them like any other student organization, respect their right to an opinion and just leave them alone. Madeleine Keith is a political science senior from Garland, Texas.
does for other, equally valuable children, by making false claims about our motives, character and view of minorities. To Barreh, the aim of preserving legalized abortion must have been sufficient jus-
tification for slandering her fellow UTD students. But to everyone else, that should be wrong. Michael Lockwood is a mathematics sophomore from Chillicothe, Ohio.
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the atmospheres of the moon, Venus and Halley’s Comet. Like a tree, UTD has grown up
and away from its early roots in Geoscience, Molecular Biology and Physics. But the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is the rock that we were built on; it’s in our DNA and in our stars.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to contribute to celebrating UTD’s 50th anniversary. I wonder what the next 50 years will bring? Robert Stern is a professor of geosciences here at UTD.
Bedroom to rent in a home within short walking distance to the UTD campus. The right female candidate will have use of bedroom and the rest of the home, to be shared with owner, a caring young working grandmother. Call/email for interview. (214)632-5059 piedmontcrest@yahoo.com
LOUISE NILLAS | MERCURY STAFF
The agenda for an August UT System Board of Regents meeting contained a proposal for new UTD colors which have already been approved by several university officials. The new colors feature a brighter orange and a darker green.