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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
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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
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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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