The Mercury 09 23 13

PAGE 6 PAGE 10

VOLUME XXXIII NO. 14

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF UTD — WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Over 1,400 likes on facebook.com/theutdmercury | Hundreds follow @utdmercury on Twitter | Independent and student-run for more than 30 years

Operating expenses rise, faculty cut of funds shrinks

OBAMACARE:

ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE Web Editor

Tuition increases are being used at UTD and other public universities to compensate for declines in state funding as operating costs for universities continue to rise steadily.

Only 16 percent of UTD’s total budget goes toward faculty salaries and another 5 percent toward salaries of teaching assistants and other academic staff compared to the 31 percent of the university’s total budget that is spent on maintenance and operation.

Of the total budget for fiscal year 2014, or FY14, that amounts to more than $600 million, 38 percent or more than $236 million comes from tuition and fees, according to data from the Office of Budget and Resource Planning. This means only 8 percent of what students pay goes toward salaries of faculty, deans and others involved in teaching activities.

In his 2011 State of the University address, UTD President David Daniel stated that operating costs for the university have gone up an average of 3.1 percent a year.

Student enrollment has also increased 36 percent during FY07 to FY11 from a little more than 14,000 to almost 19,000 or more than an average rate of 7 percent a year, according to data from the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis.

In the same time, UTD’s tuition has increased by more than 34 percent while state funding per student has declined by 1.04 percent, according to figures that have been extrapolated from data released by Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

This means that as total revenues from tuition have increased by 14.5 percent each year, student money being spent on operation and maintenance has also been going up each year.

On the other hand, the number of faculty at the university has gone up from 858 to 1,071, at an average rate of about 5 percent a year since 2007, according to data from the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis.

The percentage of revenue spent on faculty

WHO BEARS THE COST? With the upcoming requirement for health insurance, students must weigh their options Story by Miguel Perez / Mercury Staff Design by Cathryn Ploehn / Graphics Editor and Christopher Wang / Photo Editor Students choosing to participate in the federal insurance market opening Oct. 1 will play a large role in the future of healthcare, UTD officials said.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, includes an individual mandate requiring everyone who isn’t already covered to purchase a health insurance policy by Jan. 1, 2014.

The public marketplace is an online, government-run exchange where people can shop for different coverage options.

Luba Ketsler, senior lecturer of economics, said the system will rely on young adults buying into the exchange to help dilute the risk insurance companies absorb when covering older people.

Insurance companies work by helping clients manage the risk of losing health. The premiums collected by a company are added to a pool and money is collected out of the pool for the few who get sick.

If only the sick and elderly elect to participate in the health insurance market, premiums will rise in the long run for everybody including young adults, said Forney Fleming, clinical professor of healthcare management.

Political science junior Alen Samuel said finding an insurance plan that has adequate coverage and decent premiums can be incredibly difficult.

“When I came to college, I was uninsured

Male Muslim organization attracts nat’l attention

ALIF LAAM MEEM/COURTESY

Alif Laam Meem members attend the Rally Against Domestic Violence on March 24 in downtown Dallas.

UTD’s Alif Laam Meem seeks to become first Muslim social fraternity

and I started having really bad allergic reactions and asthma,” Samuel said. “I started researching my options in buying insurance starting with what the university offered because that was, presumably, the cheapest. I found it really hard to find information.”

College students don’t have $300 or $500 of disposable income to spend on a bare bones policy, Samuel said.

“For most students, I think it’s because they don’t have enough money. When you’re in college, you’re on your own and you have to fend for yourself,” Samuel said. “Your first priorities are rent and food. Things like insurance don’t seem like an immediate need.”

Fleming said young people have several options for obtaining health coverage.

“Option number one and clearly the most desirable for most students would be the fact that now, under the ACA, the regulation in effect is that you can be covered by your parent’s insurance until age 26,” said Forney Fleming. “For most students, it is by far the most economical thing to do.”

Since 2010, people aged 26 and younger have been able to stay under their parent’s insurance policy regardless of marital status, school enrollment, financial dependence or whether or not they live with their parents.

ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE Web Editor

A car conversation between two students in fall 2012 led to the creation of a Muslim organization for men at UTD that has drawn national and international attention in the last few months.

Alif Laam Meem, which translates to Alpha Lambda Mu in Greek, was founded in February 2013 by a group of 17 Muslim students with the purpose of creating leaders through social means, bonding and brotherhood while serving the Dallas community, said biology junior Ali Mahmoud, president and founding member of Alif Laam Meem, or ALM. The name stands for an iconic collective of Arabic numerals in the Holy Quran, Mahmoud said.

“The primary purpose of the fraternity is not to dispel misconceptions about Islam, but what I find is that will happen as we build these men,” he said. “For a lot of us, we’ve spent most of our lives in post 9/11 America and Muslims have had to spend a lot of their time telling people what Islam isn’t — we’re not terrorists, we’re not misogynistic, we’re not oppressive. With Alif Laam Meem, with building these brothers as men, as leaders that serve their communities, we’re not only telling CATHRYN PLOEHN/GRAPHICS EDITOR AND YUE TANG/STAFF

Budgeting a healthy diet for a college lifestyle Nutritionist recommends eating habits for reducing stress Story by MIGUEL PEREZ/STAFF Illustration by JUSTIN THOMPSON/STAFF

College stress can take a heavy toll on a person’s waistline, but students can tackle stress and weight management with affordable food options.

“For most traditional students, this is the first time that they’ve lived away from their parents, who have probably prepared their meals for them,” said Wellness Coordinator for the Student Wellness Center Kacey Sebeniecher. “This is the first time you’re choosing breakfast, lunch, dinner, what to eat and when to eat it on your own.”

Sebeniecher said that although the famed Freshman 15 might be somewhat farreaching, students usually gain 4 to 5 pounds their freshman year.

Brad Rogers, a Recreational Sports trainer and nutritionist, said hormone response plays an important role in maintaining weight and controlling college stress.

“Cortisol is a bad hormone for

trying to lose fat and generally when you start something new like college, stress levels go up and cortisol levels go up too,” Rogers said. “That’s what we need to try and work on; controlling insulin sensitivity and getting hormones doing what we want to at the right time.”

Rogers said a good morning drink to help reduce stress is warm lemon water. A big shaker bottle of lukewarm water with one or two whole lemons squeezed in is a natural detox that’ll turn the body’s pH alkaline, which helps maintains muscle and bone mass.

Other cortisol decreasing foods include white fish like tilapia and flounder, cinnamon and green vegetables.

Greens powder, a dehydrated concentrate of vegetable juice, is an easy method of including vegetables in a healthy diet. Powder supplements can be found at fitness shops like GNC and Nutrishop.

Carbohydrates like chips and most snack foods stunt cortisol, Rogers said. They release serotonin and make the eater feel good but cause grogginess later in the day.

Biology junior Jennifer Nguyen said she would often have to resort to quick-filling snacks her freshman year because of time constraints and a tight CATHRYN PLOEHN/GRAPHICS EDITOR

2

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

News

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

Renovation to soon begin on northern end of campus ARAVIND SIVASAILAM Mercury Staff

A recent survey conducted by Student Government shows 52 percent of students would like to see The Pub transition into a full-fledged restaurant with servers.

Communication Affairs chair Ali Tejani said the most frequently cited problem in the survey was slow and inefficient service.

SG Vice President Charlie Hannigan said it was important to let students know that changing The Pub into a full-time restaurant would not

guarantee that the quality of food and service would change. Meanwhile, the 48 percent that didn’t want The Pub to change felt the ambience would be different and it would no longer be a good spot for students to hang out.

Student Affairs Committee said more effort will be put into mapping smoking and non-smoking areas and introducing more complaint outlets. “I see people having e-cigarettes or filters in their hand and smoking in non-smoking areas,� Residential Student Affairs chair Katie Truesdale said. “They are no exception to this rule.�

t %BWJE 4QJHFMNZFS TFOJPS QVCMJD safety officer at UTDPD, invited all students to the National Night Out Against Crime Block Party from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Oct.1 at the Residence Hall North courtyard. t 5SVFTEBMF BTLFE TUVEFOUT OPU to throw away any bags or items in Phases I-IV containing non-recyclables that could contaminate other items close to it. t ɨF TFOBUF TQFOU PO UIF Welcome Week After Party. t ɨF OFYU 4( NFFUJOH XJMM CF held at 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 1 in one of the Galaxy Rooms.

PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

Architect Peter Walker presents a plan that includes renovating “big, barren areas� by fixing Founder’s fountain, redesigning walkways and the entrance to the Administration building.

Caught Reading

The Mercury

Yi Zhang, biology alumna, was caught reading The Mercury.

She will win a $20 gift card to Palio’s Pizza, a local pizza, pasta and salad restaurant.

You can contact Palio’s at 972-234-4002.

Thank you Palio’s Pizza!

Sept. 3 t 5XP TUVEFOUT XFSF DBQUVSFE PO video committing property theft in the hallway outside the SUAAB office. They were identified, interviewed and confessed to the theft.

Sept. 4 t " TUVEFOU T QSPQFSUZ XBT UBLFO

without consent.

Sept. 5 t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE SFDFJWJOH harassing text and email messages.

Sept. 6 t " OPO BĂŻMJBUFE QFSTPO XBT BSrested for DWI. Sept. 7

Next wave of remodeling to add green space, trees to north mall JOSEPH MANCUSO Mercury Staff

Preliminary work to remodel the northern campus mall may begin as early as the coming winter break, said Calvin Jamison, vice president for Administration.

The news came during a presentation about future renovations delivered by landscape architect Peter Walker on Sept. 17 in the McDermott auditorium.

Some of the proposed renovations included redesigning the walkways between buildings, the entrance to the Administration building and other key aspects of the northern part of campus. “There are these big, barren areas. There aren’t enough trees,�

Walker said. “You look at the quality in the (Student Union) mall, and then you see what the northern mall looks like. Let’s get rid of paving and let’s increase planting.�

Walker and his firm, Peter Walker and Partners landscape architecture, or PWP, were chosen as the architects for UTD’s Campus Enhancement project. Part of

UTD Police blotter

t " GPSNFS TUVEFOU XBT BSSFTUFE for DWI. t " OPO BĂŻMJBUFE NBMF XBT BSrested for other agency traffic arrest warrant.

Sept. 9 t A non-affiliated male was arrested for evading arrest and

DWI. t " TUVEFOU XBT BSSFTUFE GPS JOvolvement in a minor accident causing damage to a vehicle after failing to leave required identifying information. t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE IJT QBSLing permit was taken without his

the plans that the firm has drawn up involve shifting the focus to the northern part of the campus in anticipation for coming projects such as the proposed UTD DART station and Comet Town.

PWP was also responsible for the design of the current southern campus mall, including the trellis outside the SU. Jamison called the next wave of construction “Pardon Our Progress: The Sequel.â€? The most prominently featured change at the presentation was the future of Founder’s fountain, which has been closed for years following mechanical failures. The proposed changes include lowering the fountain to the same level as the campus mall and surrounding it with large grassy steps, similar in shape and size to those outside the SU. “All sorts of things can happen there. It’s a place for performances ‌ for all sorts of things,â€? Walker said. “The upper mall will be much less formal than the lower mall. The idea is that it will be more casual, more attractive to people being in little places.â€?

Concept art displayed at the presentation showed the new Founder’s fountain with low-lying water spouts, a splash zone of sorts where students could cool down after a hot summer day.

Currently, students tend to view the northern campus mall as something to be traversed instead of a place to study or relax. “The mall area needs more green space or a quad-like area where people can congregate rather than just quickly walk by as they transition to classes,� said physics junior Max Grunewald. “Getting the Founder’s fountain up and running again will be a nice addition to the campus as it will allow an alternative area for people to eat and study rather than having crowded plinth steps.�

PWP is most famous for their work in designing the September 11 Memorial in New York City.

Before he began work at UTD, Walker said much of the campus was designed around necessary infrastructure and utilities and was not intended to accommodate the growth the campus would face.

consent. t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE UIF UIFGU PG money from his wallet.

Sept. 10 t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE B GSBVE Sept. 11 t "O BĂŻMJBUFE QFSTPO SFQPSUFE the theft of headphones from a pri-

vate office.

Sept. 12 t " OPO BĂŻMJBUFE QFSTPO XBT BSrested for a traffic warrant. t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE TPNFPOF took $12, a notebook and her student ID from the top of her vehicle without her consent.

Opinion

SEPT. 23, 2013

THE MERCURY

3

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Editorial Board

Students must accept Obamacare, buy health coverage for law to be successful Editorial Board Lauren Featherstone, Editor-in-Chief Sheila Dang, Managing Editor Anwesha Bhattacharjee, Web Editor Cathryn Ploehn, Graphics Editor Christopher Wang, Photo Editor Sarah Larson, Life and Arts Editor

Obamacare is the law of the land and it is here to stay. The Affordable Care Act, or ACA, was passed into law in 2010, survived a Supreme Court challenge in 2012, and its architect, Pres.

Obama, was re-elected. Three times in the past three years, the ACA’s opponents have had major opportunities to defeat the law and have failed every time. The ACA endures, and its full implementation is forthcoming.

The health insurance exchanges created by the law will open to the public on Oct. 1. Coincidentally, Oct. 1 is also the day that the federal government will effectively run out of money for day-to-day operations. The House passed a resolution on Sept. 20 that would continue funding the government through Dec. 15, while stripping all funding for the ACA. This action will prove futile, however, since the bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate, and if it does, Obama will surely veto it.

A government shutdown seems likely at this point. However, according to a Congressional Research Service report released July

29, even in that drastic scenario the ACA would survive, albeit at reduced effectiveness.

“It appears that substantial ACA implementation might continue during a lapse in annual appropriations,” CRS reported.

According to the Washington Post, this is because most of the funding for the essential parts of the ACA such as the tax credits for premiums, state Medicaid expansion, federal and state insurance exchanges and enforcement of the individual mandate, would all be unaffected as they are part of the mandatory part of the budget.

In fact, the only funding that would be affected is the discretionary spending used to promote and assist in the rollout of the law.

Even then, the Obama administration could still move money on hand around to cover these marginal costs in case of a government shutdown, the Washington Post concludes.

So, no matter what happens with the budget or the debt ceiling or whatever new federal fiscal crisis comes over the horizon, the ACA will not be going anywhere, anytime soon. The debate over the law has led to plenty of misinformation and confusion. It is our responsibility at The Mercury to provide the campus community with the best, most vetted information possible, and to serve as a guide to the laws and issues that

affect our readership.

Repealing the ACA is no longer a political question, as the political avenues for its repeal have been exhausted. The issue now is how the law will affect Americans. We publish this front-page story about the ACA as a service to students who are unsure of how the law will affect them. We seek to inform our readership of the options available to them under the ACA. This decision is important because health insurance is different from other types of insurance. A homeowner may take out a flood insurance policy and never endure a flood. When one signs a health insurance policy, that individual will inevitably get sick or injured at some point. No person is invincible.

The driving purpose of the ACA is to finally bring potentially life-saving coverage to all Americans, regardless of age, income or medical history.

It is no secret that the success of the ACA is dependent on young Americans, who are generally healthier and more productive, to purchase insurance or gain coverage in order to lower premiums for all, across the board. We encourage our readers to find the coverage that is right for them and make the best decision they are able for themselves.

CATHRYN PLOEHN/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Question related to “Budgeting a healthy diet” on page 1

“Primarily cost because I’m only 20. I’m going to take complete advantage of my fast metabolism for as long as I can.”

Brian Cash

“Health in mind, because eating healthy makes me feel good. I’m happier when I feel good.”

“Cost, because I am a commuter student, and I do most of the shopping for the family.”

Austin Schmidt Biology junior

Mar Bethel Psychology sophomore

“Health. I’m a big advocate of organic and natural foods, and I strongly detest genetically modified anything. ”

“Both. I want to make sure I’m not spending a lot on groceries, and apart from that I want to make sure I’m taking care of my health and staying fit.”

Rithika Varati Software engineering grad student

“Mainly cost because I usually pay everything on my own. I have to maintain my finances or I’ll get screwed.”

Mechanical engineering junior

Brandon Ruffin Biology junior

Editor-in-Chief Lauren Featherstone Managing Editor Sheila Dang Director of Sales and Promotions Nada Alasmi

Web Editor Anwesha Bhattacharjee Graphics Editor Cathryn Ploehn Asst. Graphics Editor Lina Moon

Photo Editor Christopher Wang

Ad Sales Representative Juveria Baig

Life and Arts Editor Sarah Larson

Contributors Arghya Chatterjee Eric Chen Connie Cheng Viviana Cruz Cedric Davis II Srayan Guhathakurta Meera Iyenger Abby Lam Madison McCall

Media Adviser Chad Thomas Staff Writers Joseph Mancuso Miguel Perez

Abinish Mishra Shaun Mohamed Parth Parikh Kayla Pele Parth Sampat Aravind Sivasailam Yue Tang Justin Thompson Shyam Vedantam Yubin Wang Yang Xi Misbah Zuberi

The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the summer term.

Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimination by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. Evidence of discrimination will be the basis of denial of advertising space. The publication of advertising in The Mercury does not constitute an

Reza Safari Computer science senior endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or The University of Texas at Dallas, or the governing board of the institution.

One copy per person of each edition of The Mercury is free. Each additional copy is 25 cents.

See electronic editions of the paper at no charge on www.utdmercury.com Copyright © 2013, UT Dallas.

All Rights Reserved.

Help UTD’s sustainablity efforts. Please recycle this newspaper.

news@utdmercury.com

800 W. Campbell Road, SU 24, Richardson, TX 75080-0688

4

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

News

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

Capstone program wins Tech Titan award UTDesign gives seniors chance to work on corporatesponsored projects in engineering, technology fields SHAUN MOHAMED Mercury Staff

The senior computer science and engineering capstone program, UTDesign received the Tech Titans of the Future Award at the Tech Titans Gala on Aug. 23.

“It’s a validation,” said Rod Wetterskog, the program coordinator for UTDesign. “(The award) brings accreditation to the students.”

The program won the Tech Titans of the Future Award from the Metroplex Technology Business Council, which is the largest technology trade association in Texas. The award is meant to recognize universities in the DFW metroplex that encourage students to pursue engineering and technology careers. Award winning institutions are also judged on their ability to connect students and professionals together, which is just what happened when UTDesign won the award; two new companies started to show interest in the program.

“That’s why we went through the application process,” said Wetterskog. The whole idea is to bring visibility to the school. We’ve got great students. They’re able to do great stuff. There are great companies that need people to help. We just don’t know who the companies are. They don’t know who we are. Winning the award has brought visibil-

ity to the program.”

UTDesign, which was founded in 2009

by Mark Spong, allows mechanical, electrical, telecom and software engineering and computer science seniors to do a corporate sponsored capstone project.

Students are invited to take a UTDesign project as part of their senior design capstone, otherwise known as Senior Design.

Senior Design is mandatory but UTDesign is not. Companies present their projects and students get to choose their top five projects. Then, students are matched to projects in teams of three to five students according to what the students chose and what the companies want.

Plans are also being made to expand the program to include Arts & Technology majors and Jindal School of Management students, Wetterskog said. For computer science students, projects last about a semester.

For engineering, the projects are over two semesters. In the first semester the students design the project, and in the second semester they develop and test the design.

All sorts of companies have sponsored projects from the usual computer and technology businesses to aviation and food companies. Projects have been sponsored by Texas Instruments, CISCO, the city of Allen, AT&T, PepsiCo and Hewlett Packard.

“With UTDesign, you are not working

MERCURY FILE PHOTO

The UTD chess robots demonstrate at the opening of Klyde Warren Park in October 2012. The robots were a project designed by UTDesign students in partnership with Rockwell Collins, a leading aerospace and defense contractor.

on some abstract program or difficulty,” said Lance Sweeney, a mechanical engineering graduate student who participated in UTDesign last year. “You’re going to see what it’s going to be like when you graduate.”

Sweeny worked on a project with a company that makes backup systems for telecommunications companies. Sweeny currently has an internship with that company,

which he attributes to his participation in UTDesign.

“Students get to see what it’s like to be an engineer,” Sweeney said. “The industry also gets to see the caliber of students that come out of UTD and see if that’s who they want to keep on their team.”

For his project Sweeney and his team worked to make an emergency methanol

reformer for cell phone towers. Instead of using hydrogen canisters that only last eight to ten hours, the methanol reformer would make hydrogen onsite for two to three days, which is good in natural disaster situations where there is no power to run the cell phone towers. Sweeney really feels that with

State of the University address Census data shows showcases campus achievements growth, top majors Total enrollment breaks record with more than 21,000 students; int’l student percentage rises ERIC CHEN

Mercury Staff

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

Among the statistics in UTD President David Daniel’s address included 68 percent of freshman entering in fall 2013 have majors in STEM fields. Preliminary reports show UTD’s enrollment number will reach almost 27,000 students by 2018.

Daniel said in order to compete with the best research universities, UTD must reach around 25,000 full-time students.

As Census day passed on Sept. 12, results show dynamic growth within the UTD student body, with a record breaking number of 21,145 students enrolled.

Looking at the top programs by enrollment, the preliminary results for majors for women at the undergraduate level show the most popular major was biology followed by accounting.

Among men at the undergraduate level, the top major was computer science followed by biology.

Lawrence Redlinger, director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis, said mechanical engineering, marketing and supply chain management are programs that have seen dramatic growth in the past year.

Currently, female students make up 44 percent of the student population, with more graduating in four years at 55 percent, compared to male students at 41 percent. There is more incentive for pre-med students, which is mostly com-

prised of female students, to finish up in four years, Redlinger said, than the males in engineering, who might stay an extra semester to finish up their credit hours.

The demographic of the student body is also changing. Over the past five years, while the overall student population has grown by 34 percent, the international student population has grown by 106 percent.

The largest concentration of international students are in the Jindal School of Management and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, which international students find the most lucrative, said International Student Services Director Christen Casey.

Student organizations have also felt this change. Yiang Chen, president of the Chinese Student Association, noticed the influx of members over the past three years.

“A lot more international students

President Daniel looks to significantly increase enrollment to compete with top universtities; merits continue with record-high freshmen retention rate JOSEPH MANCUSO Mercury Staff

UTD President David Daniel spoke of continued successes and goals for the future in the State of the University address on Sept. 18 in the Clark Center auditorium.

The address was preceded by remarks from Murray Leaf, speaker of the faculty, Staff Council President Rochelle Peña and Student Government President Liza Liberman.

“With enrollment up about 7 percent, our students’ passion for involvement and for our campus is rapidly growing each year,” Liberman said.

In fall 2012, there were nearly 20,000 students enrolled at the university. In his address, Daniel displayed preliminary reports that showed the enrollment number is expected to grow to almost 27,000 students by 2018.

“Our goal is to really scale up the university,” Daniel said. “If one looks at the very best public research universities in America, there is a group … with average student bodies of around 25,000 full time students. We need to be big

enough to compete with the very best.”

One of the accomplishments Daniel highlighted was the 2013 Tech Titans of the Future award, given to UTDesign, a capstone project within the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. The award comes from the Metroplex Technology Business Council, the largest technology trade association in Texas, and is given to those who encourage work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields.

Other statistics at the presentation showed 68 percent of the freshmen who entered the fall 2013 semester have majors in STEM fields. There was also a record 89 percent retention rate among freshman who entered the university in fall of 2012 and returned to the university the following year, up from 85 percent a year earlier. This year’s freshman class also includes 88 National Merit Scholars.

“When we get the official report from the College Board, which comes in the spring … I’m certain that what the data is going to show is that we are

among the top universities, public and private, across the whole nation, pound for pound, in the quality of our freshman,” Daniel said.

About halfway through the address, a group of ATEC students and faculty members showed their animated short film “Fright Lite,” which focused on a boy and his fear of monsters. The project was finished in August and made its biggest debut during the address.

“Some of these students come out of high school and say ‘Well I’m interested in computers, I’m going to do computer science or animation.’ What they fail to realize is how deeply technical and how much incredible knowledge and work goes into doing that,” Daniel said, referencing the work that had gone into “Fright Lite.”

The address ended with a short film and presentation thanking donors for the effort and dollars that have been placed into the university. Daniel said the university had a fundraising goal of $200 million by the end of 2014, and has already raised more than $183 million as of August.

ABINISH MISHRA/STAFF

The most popular major for men is computer science. The top major for undergraduate women is biology, while accounting is the most popular major for graduate women. Business administration was popular amongst both genders.

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

News

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

5

LINA MOON/ASST. GRAPHICS EDITOR

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

Republican State Representative Jeff Leach discusses public education legislation in the recently concluded 83rd Texas legislative session at Hot Seat, an event hosted by The Texas Tribune at UTD on Sept. 11. He expressed interest in reducing the emphasis on standardized testing and reallocating money that’s given to film and music back into education.

Prior to the ACA, private insurance companies set their own family plan coverage policies excluding older children aged 18 and up.

Ketsler said an individual’s best option is to obtain health benefits from an employer, but that’s less likely for college students considering what kind of jobs they usually have.

“If you’re leaving university to find

a job, it’s now more likely that you’ll find a part-time job rather than fulltime,” Ketsler said. “It’s now better for companies to take people out of full time positions and into part time ones so they don’t have to provide health care benefits.”

The ACA will require employers with at least 50 workers to offer health insurance to all full-time employees.

Fleming said young adults could consider the “catastrophic plan” which only covers serious trauma,

such as a car accident or blowing out your knee.

“It’ll be the cheapest of the plans, but the downside is it’ll have a very high deductible,” Fleming said. “If you go with that route, essentially what you’re doing is rolling the dice and taking the gamble that you won’t have to use the plan.”

There are penalties for individuals who do not buy health insurance come 2014, but several policies will be in place to help the uninsured, Flem-

have been coming by to check out our club,” he said. “We don’t focus a lot on culture though which dissuades some from coming.”

While UTD President David Daniel’s projection of reaching a cap of 30,000 students may not come until the end of the decade, steps are being taken to accommodate to predicted population growth. A new residential hall is under construction and there are

plans for an additional dining hall.

The smaller size of UTD when compared to UT Austin is an advantage, Redlinger said. There’s more mobility and it gives the students the opportunity to create change that larger schools don’t offer.

UTDesign you aren’t working on some kind of theoretical problem.

“You’re going to see those real problems, setbacks, deadlines, and personalities that you are working with,” said Sweeney.

“I don’t think you could get that any other way than being in the middle of real industry.

UTDesign brings students and industry together. There is a lot of potential to learn, grow and set yourself up for the future.”

Actually, according to the UTDesign project coordinator of Computer Science and Software Engineering Jey Veerasamy many students, like Sweeney, get hired by the companies they did their projects with.

“It’s much better than a onehour interview,” said Veerasamy. With a one-hour interview you have to convince employers that you can do the work (with what you say). With UTDesign, your work convinces them.

They really get to see all aspects of the students. Every semester Tyler Tech usually gives two to three offers.”

With this new award the UTDesign program would like to better equip students to be successful. The program will be moving into a new 30,000 square ft. space so that students would be able to have testing equipment, materials, and parts to win national awards, said Wetterskog.

“My dream three to four years from now the tech titans award will be dwarfed by all of the other awards that the students have earned as a result of this opportunity that they have with this program, said Wetterskog.

Fleming said the three most important components working in a student’s favor if he or she decides against insurance are the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, the guaranteed issuance policy and the community rating.

EMTALA ensures that in the case of a serious health issue, a hospital emergency cannot turn someone down regardless of legal status, insurance status or ability to pay.

The guaranteed issuance policy

will not allow insurance companies to turn down people with pre-existing conditions. People have the option of waiting until they are diagnosed with a health problem before applying for insurance.

Under community rating, insurance companies must charge the same amount within a specific group regardless of age or health.

Uninsured individuals can visit healthcare.gov to check their public healthcare options.

ing said.

An increasing annual penalty will be tacked onto income taxes for those that choose not to buy insurance. In 2014, the penalty will be $95 for an individual. In 2016, it’ll be $695.

“Before getting insurance, my mom and I were just going to pay the fine because we couldn’t afford monthly payments,” Samuel said. “In the beginning, it’s going to be a negligible fine, and I think students will choose to pay it.”

6

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

THE MERCURY

Life&Arts

SEPT. 23, 2013

Local art collectives join forces for UTD gallery ‘Collective Bargaining’ exhibit explores, celebrates expanding collaboration SARAH LARSON Life and Arts Editor

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

Sour Grapes, one of eight local art collectives featured in “Collective Bargaining,” show their traditional graffiti lettering alongside new characters. The gallery will remain open until Oct. 5 in the Visual Arts Building.

“Collective Bargaining,” an art gallery featuring the works of eight local art collectives, welcomed viewers to observe the phenomenon of collaboration and collective behavior at its opening reception on Sept.

13 in the Visual Arts Building.

The gallery, which runs through Oct. 5, is co-curated by art professors Diane Durant and Lorraine Tady.

The name “Collective Bargaining” comes from the idea that art collectives, which are groups of artists working together, function under a type of negotiation, as the final work is a product of all participants.

“We want to ask how art collectives function in the larger art community, and it’s a good question,” Durant said.

Popularity of collectives wax and wane throughout history, but there seems to be a burgeoning right now, Tady said.

The DFW-area collectives include IN COOPERATION WITH MUSCLE NATION, Ghost Town Arts Collective, Sour Grapes, Solvent, Art Beef, HOMECOMING! Committee, The Junior Ward and Socialized Contemporary Artist Bureau.

“What’s really interesting is how each collective is different in their statements, aesthetics and their government,” Tady said.

IN COOPERATION WITH MUSCLE NATION, or simply Muscle Nation, is a group of eight that met at UTD through art professor John Pomara’s graduate workshop class, said Danielle Georgiou, doctoral student in aesthetic studies and member of Muscle Nation.

Muscle Nation, a performance-based collective, was created in 2011 during a dry spell of collectives in the Dallas art scene.

The collective’s work in “Collective Bargaining” is called “Memento Mori,” inspired by a rumor the group had broken up in spring 2013, Georgiou said.

Each member is photographed in a Victorian-style death portrait, which are hung low and backlit, with an accompanying eerie recording surrounding the viewer.

Muscle Nation holds its yearly art gallery in the spring called FlexUs in Dallas’ Ro2 Gallery.

The Junior Ward, a relatively new collective on the scene, is composed of five members, including Durant.

Jill Foltz, doctoral student in aesthetic studies and member of Junior Ward, said the collective is still forming its brand but still has a concept of what it wants to explore.

“We have our mission set of working through our private neuroses publicly, because that’s something we’re all interested in, that line where we’ve inverted public and private,” Foltz said.

The Junior Ward piece is composed of a wall of 400 small alarm clocks, a bench and a door. It’s reminiscent of a doctor’s waiting office, exploring what patients do while they wait, Foltz said.

Ghost Town Arts Collective, which Durant is also a member, explored the idea of collective bargaining in a literal way.

Heidi Rushing, member of Ghost Town Arts Collective and participant in its piece for “Collective Bargaining,” said not all 20 members contributed to the work, but those who took on the challenge embarked on a month-long journey of trading a rock for something else.

“The point wasn’t to trade for something more valuable, but instead for something more beautiful or interesting,” Rushing said. “And then people had to record their trades in their own way.”

The piece works like a research graph, organizing the trading stories in a bar graph presentation.

Ghost Town Arts Collective hails from Austin College in Sherman, Texas and uses performance space in Denison, Texas, hence the term “ghost town” in the name.

Socialized Contemporary Artist Bureau, or SCAB, is an eight-member collective based in Dallas. Its wooden framed pirate ship holds a projection of the filming of the construction of the piece for “Collective Bargaining.”

The eight members of SCAB, several of them from outside Texas,

Fall play features Improv prof helps students unwind odd love story

YANG XI/STAFF

“The Shape of Things” is a play about an unusual love affair. It will present six days between Oct. 3 and 12 at the University Theatre.

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

Provocative piece studies change, self-identity and romantic opposites

Kathy Lingo, Arts and Humanities professor, teaches a popular improvisation class. Although students come in with little acting experience, Lingo provides a supportive learning environment. She will direct the play “Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star” for spring 2013 at the University Theatre.

MISBAH ZUBERI

KAYLA PELE

Mercury Staff

Professor teaches comedy, connects with class to ease pressure of competitive society Mercury Staff

‘‘The Shape of Things,’’ a play about the happenings of an unexpected love affair, will open Oct. 3 at the University Theatre.

Written by Neil Labute in 2001, the play centers on characters Adam Sorenzo, an English literature major, and Evelyn Ann Thompson, an art graduate student. Adam is innocent, incredulous, confused and obedient while Evelyn is confident and clever. After meeting at a museum where Adam works, the two run into a love affair that is surreal to the awkward young man and imposing on his character.

Adam who is strangely reserved, begins changing his appearance and personality on the whims of beautiful Evelyn, all with successful banter.

The mood of the play is humorous and the script is playful.

Kathy Lingo can be distinguished by her goofy personality and ability to simultaneously connect with her students and motivate them during her improvisation class.

Lingo, UTD alumna and assistant theatre director in the School of Arts and Humanities, began her interest in the arts her senior year of high school.

At the time, she was a shy girl who sat in the back of the class, always afraid of rejection.

One day her English teacher got her to stand up and recite something. He con-

tinued to engage with her in conversations and ultimately gave her the confidence and push she needed to begin acting.

Before she knew it Lingo was being cast in plays such as “Lady Macbeth” and “Skin of Our Teeth.”

However, when describing her successes, Lingo humbly forgoes the accomplishments she had herself as an actor and instead focuses on the inner satisfaction she obtains when watching her students grow.

“Watching people get their dreams are the happiest moments in my life. You change the world one person at a time, and you can change the world, “ Lingo said.

Chinweolu Greer, a former student of

Lingo’s and administrative assistant of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said it’s really easy to see the relationships Lingo has formed with her former and current students as well.

“It’s amazing when you meet someone for the first time in an improv class, having never taken a theatre class before. She really invested in me without knowing anything about me,“ Greer said.

Lingo is best known for her unique improv classes at UTD. Besides the fact that there is not a dull moment spent, each student is completely engaged and relaxed

‘Don Jon’ commentary on traditional rom-coms Director offers unique perspective on boy-meets-girl dilemma, false expectations SHYAM VEDANTAM COMMENTARY

“Don Jon” is a fresh and amusing look at the contemporary male psyche for first time director Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Written, directed and starring GordonLevitt (“Inception,” “The Dark Knight Rises,”) “Don Jon” is about Jon, and the movie is restricted to his point of view. Jon cares about normal guy stuff — his sex life, his body, his family— but nothing gives him as much plea-

sure as masturbating to porn.

He works as a bartender and frequently has one-night stands but is never satisfied after his sexual encounters. He always turns to porn each night. This is all put in jeopardy one night when he meets Barbara Sugarman, played by Scarlett Johansson (“Lost in Translation,” “The Avengers”).

She’s stunningly beautiful and doesn’t fall for Jon’s usual tricks, so she leads Jon on a chase. They start dating, but when she catches him watching porn, she gives him an ultimatum: It’s either her or the porn.

This movie isn’t Steve McQueen’s “Shame.”

While there are components of sex addiction

laid throughout the movie, “Don Jon” isn’t a hard and nuanced look at what sex addiction is. This movie is about how more men are watching porn and how it may be affecting their love lives.

This movie is extremely sharp and witty and not a scene passes by without some authentic joke in it whether it be a visual cue or humorous response by one of the actors. “Don Jon” has an amusing script and many of the lines are laugh-out-loud hilarious. It refreshingly subverts convention through the first two acts of the movie, though at the beginning of the

EW.COM/COURTESY

“Don Jon” features Jon, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Barbara, played

by Scarlett Johansson, in a fresh take on a romantic comedy aimed toward men.

THE MERCURY

Life&Arts

SEPT. 23, 2013

7 New ballroom org hosts classes for all

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Around the world in 100 days Student first from UTD to travel across oceans, countries in unique study-abroad program

SPYCD/COURTESY

Students pair up for a salsa lesson in a Stop Pretending You Can’t Dance class taught by professional instructor Areon Thomas.

Stop Pretending You Can’t Dance brings professional instructors to teach different styles, build confidence, passion for dance BRADEN HERNDON/COURTESY

Braden Herndon rests for a photograph on the Li River in Guangxi, China between the class activities he participated in on-board a passenger ship during Semester at Sea spring 2013. Herndon visited 11 different countries, each with coursework accredited by the University of Virginia.

VIVIANA CRUZ Mercury Staff

Spending a semester aboard a ship might be a pipe dream for many students, but for Braden Herndon, it was a reality, becoming the first Comet to participate in Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea, or SAS, is a study abroad program that takes students from eight up to 11 different countries throughout the globe over the course of about 100 days during a semester.

Students travel by ship; the MV Explorer has been used by SAS since the summer of 2004. Approximately 650 undergraduate students from universities across the United States participated in SAS this past spring semester. For Herndon, cognitive science senior, his SAS journey in spring 2013 impacted his undergraduate experience in a way he never imagined.

“It’s probably the greatest thing that’s happened in my life,” Herndon said.

Herndon ported in 11 different countries during

his trip with SAS. Beginning in Mexico, Herndon then spent time in Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco and Spain, finally flying home from Barcelona.

Herndon said visiting Burma was one of his most notable experiences.

“The last time SAS was allowed in Burma was six or so years ago. It’s a very isolated country, second to North Korea. On my passport I was number 836 into the country. I don’t know over what time range, but even if it was only this past year it’s still a small number,” he said.

Herndon stayed at a monastery in Burma, learned Buddhist teachings and meditated with monks. Initially Herndon and other students were apprehensive about porting in Burma due to the violence and ethnic conflicts they had heard about, but the friendliness of the locals won them over.

“People were so hospitable, they would just go up to you and shake your hand and ask you where you’re from and thank you for coming to the coun-

try,” Herndon said.

SAS requires a full load of courses combined with field labs at each country visited. Each has been accredited by the University of Virginia and offers several extracurricular activities. It’s a rigorous program that strives to make the most of a student’s time onboard the MV Explorer.

“People like to think ‘Oh Semester at Sea, school on a ship, that’s a joke.’” Herndon said. “It’s actually fairly rigorous because every week you’re interrupted by being in a new country but I still had papers to write, tests and quizzes to take and class presentations to give.”

Numerous programs take advantage of SAS resources and the students eager to learn onboard the Explorer. The Unreasonable Institute, a mentorship-driven acceleration program for entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental issues, partnered with SAS and was a constructive presence in the classroom, Herndon said. He worked on product

SRAYAN GUHATHAKURTA Mercury Staff

Stop Pretending You Can’t Dance is a new student organization, which aims to promote ballroom dancing.

The group started fall 2013 and aims to help students learn salsa, waltz, country and tango forms of ballroom dance.

“I meet a lot of people here who are very interested in learning about how to dance but they are very self conscious and shy away from dancing,” said Juan Moreno, vice president of SPYCD and mechanical engineering junior.

SPYCD president and neuroscience junior Daniel Machuca said his inspiration in founding the club came during a visit to UT Austin.

“I saw students performing various dance forms, which I found very interesting,” Machuca said. “Here at UTD, we only have the Swing Dancing Society but after conducting an online poll, I found out that students wanted to learn about different ballroom dance forms.”

More than 300 students expressed an interest in SPYCD at the freshman orientations throughout the summer, Machuca said. There are several graduate students who have also joined the organization.

“It is a great workout, and I feel dancing will help me improve my posture,” said computer science graduate student Nevil Ladani. “We are being taught from the basics, so it is not really a problem.”

Artists residency provides diverse, supportive community CentralTrak forms close-knit family of student, foreign artists who live, work together VIVIANA CRUZ Mercury Staff

CENTRALTRAK/COURTESY

Heyd Fontenot, director of CentralTrak, the artists residency of UTD, was once a resident living and working within the program.

A lone tree and a green expanse of bamboo creep up on a boxy two-story building at 800 Exposition Avenue in downtown Dallas, home to CentralTrak, UTD’s artist-in-residency program.

Four graduate students are selected to live and work at CentralTrak. Three international or national professional artists and one artist from Texas are selected as well. CentralTrak provides studio space, living space and a gallery to exhibit artwork.

Although artist-residency programs are quite new with only a few scattered around the country, CentralTrak is not UTD’s first foray into a program of its kind. UT Dallas-Southside Artist Residency housed 20 to 30 artists from

around the world as well as graduate students from DFW-area universities from 2002 until 2006.

In April 2008, CentralTrak opened its doors to the public and became UTD’s permanent artists residency in the inner city. Scaling back from the large number of artists to only eight has provided a positive, close-knit family dynamic for CentralTrak.

Laura Sewell, general manager of CentralTrak, explained the benefits.

“The positive aspect of CentralTrak’s size is a real integration of the professional artists and the students. We have dinner together, we go to shows across the North Texas region together, we work together,” Sewell said. “It’s manageable to get that feeling. With a larger group it’s hard to get everyone around the table.”

Yet within the small group there is great di-

versity. The ability to provide UTD students and the Dallas community with opportunities to interact with artists from around the world is a defining characteristic of CentralTrak.

“It impacts both Dallas and the artists in Dallas; we’re building relationships with artists that typically wouldn’t come to Dallas,” Sewell said. “There is no cohesion of aesthetic. The idea is very different for every single person whether they are from Richardson or Plano, but imagine that gap when you add Nigeria or the Ukraine.”

UTD MFA student and artist in residency Shawn Mayer appreciates the range of perspectives available to him through CentralTrak.

“I get to have a conversation with someone from Nigeria, and they explain the way their

The play is directed by arts and humanities professor Bradford Baker. Baker has been directing since the 1970s, having put up over 200 shows. This is the second play he has directed at UTD; his first was ‘‘A Clockwork Orange’’ in 2002.

Baker saw ‘‘The Shape of Things’’ offBroadway when it first premiered in 2001.

He said the play seemed to divide the group of

people he went to see it with along gender, age group and racial lines. Baker found the play to be extremely smart that way, which is why he chose to direct it.

He said that the piece is provocative, and like art, is a conversation starter.

“It is a conversation about the nature of selfidentity,’’ Baker said, ‘‘the nature of how we stay true to ourselves while serving someone else, where we stand in the midst of change, and ultimately it asks whether art is a way to inspire the community to change.’’

Art and performance junior Carine Rice plays the role of Evelyn. She has performed in several plays including ‘‘God’s Favorite’’ at Rockwall Community Playhouse and ‘‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’’ at Terrell Community Theater. Rice read “The Shape of Things” a year ago and thought Evelyn was a very complicated character, which is why she wanted the role.

Rice said that her favorite scene in the play is a telling bedroom interaction. “(The scene) shows all the aspects of being in

a relationship,’’ Rice said. ‘‘They have a fight, but it’s a playful fight. And they’re also very loving, and they challenge each other. It’s a two-minute interpretation of a five year relationship.’’

Rice’s co-star, art and performance junior Michael Bazar, portrays Adam.

Bazar said there were challenges in playing a reticent character.

“As an actor who is going to be performing in front of a crowd of people, it’s difficult to act as someone who would never be able to do that,’’ Bazar said.

‘‘The Shape of Things’’ is fast-paced and insightful to the paring of a shy man with an assertive woman. ‘‘The play is very exciting,’’ Baker said. ‘‘It’s a little racy, it’s a little sexy, it’s a lot smart, it’s edgy and it’s very contemporary. I think smart college students, thinking people of any age, would be attracted to the play. It’s also extraordinarily funny, and it’s shocking at the end.’’

Each showing begins at 8 p.m. and tickets for the play are free on Thursdays, Oct. 3 and 10, and will cost $15 for Oct. 4, 5, 11 and 12.

third act, it’s obvious where this movie is heading.

The movie compares porn to romantic comedies in that they both present an unrealistic representation of real life, make real relationships seem unsatisfactory and put strain on relationships. This original and bold concept will win over at least half the audience and might convince the other half on at least some of its merits.

The acting, while a little clichéd with its Jersey accents, is plenty fun to watch. GordonLevitt is charming and wickedly funny. The character isn’t extremely deep, but as he is more of a vessel for the audience, this works in the movie’s favor.

The other leads are also entertaining. Johansson lays on the thick Jersey accent, but she is absolutely stunning. Her character is interesting throughout the first two acts, but devolves into a bit of a caricature to serve the plot in the third act, which is a little disappointing.

However, it’s obvious she had a lot of fun play-

ing the role.

Julianne Moore (“Crazy, Stupid, Love”) plays a very sexual character that no one would have expected keeps the audience engaged.

She’s arguably the most seasoned actor in the cast, bringing a lot of depth and nuance despite her brief screen time.

Tony Danza (“Who’s the Boss?”) and Glenne Headly (“Mr. Holland’s Opus”) play Jon’s parents. Their back-and-forth banter is on the spot and Danza is hilarious as the father. They are stereotypical parents but fun on screen. Brie Larson (“21 Jump Street”) is a re-

curring visual joke in the movie, but her three lines are some of the most important.

For a first-time director, Gordon-Levitt has a sharp eye for framing, lighting and pacing. At a 90 minute run-time, the movie snaps through the first two acts. The third act doesn’t quite stick its landing but is more than satisfactory.

It has to be conceded that the target audience of 18 to 24-year-old males will love this movie more than the average movie-goer.

The themes and message of the movie will hit home for a male audience, while women might be less likely to empathize.

While there are some gratuitous pornographic scenes, the nudity is kept to the top half of the body. However, these scenes are used for the purpose of the movie and not in a disingenuous way.

“Don Jon” could be best described as a male rom-com: fantastically fun and well developed — even through the wandering third act. This is a strong directorial debut for Gordon-Levitt, and it will be interesting to see where his production company “hitRECord” will go from here.

8/10

8

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Life&Arts

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

are coupled up to run four different galleries in Dallas.

SCAB formed in the spring of 2012 in order to share the members’ different talents, network and use their gallery spaces, said member Eli Walker.

Art Beef, a collective of five, set up a working telephone for “Collective Bargaining.” The piece urges viewers to answer the phone if it rings and posted flyers with the question “Lonely?” on bulletin boards in the Visual Arts Building, urging onlookers to call.

Crisman Liverman, Art Beef member, said working in a collective is a balance between individuality and working in different mediums.

“We’re all really close and felt like working together,” Liverman said.

“That’s what a collective is about — a bond, a general feeling amongst the group to create the same work, even if we all work differently.”

Fellow member Luke Harnden

said although Art Beef is a collective of five white males, diversity is an important topic to them.

“So much of anything can only represent certain sides,” Harnden said. “It’s part of the reason we started Beef House, our project space.”

Liverman and Harnden mentioned their work in housing “Translations,” a show on the beauty and struggle of Vickery Meadows, a historic and culturally diverse neighborhood in North Dallas home to refugees that speak 30 different languages who have lived there since the 1980s.

Sour Grapes, a collective composed of 11 members, began as a graffiti crew in 2000, started by friends from Sunset High School in Dallas.

Carlos Donjuan said Sour Grapes never set out to be a collective, but the more the community started to notice the works of Sour Grapes, the more the art community began to pick up on their talent.

“We had no intentions or thought of joining the art world; the art world kind of came to us,” Donjuan said.

Not only did Sour Grapes graffiti a

wall in the Visual Arts Building, but they also created colorful animal and monster characters, a step taken far from what is usually thought of as graffiti.

“We’re trying to move beyond lettering because that’s the traditional way of working graffiti,” Donjuan said. “Working with characters is fun.

We’re trying to make something eyecatching and inviting.”

Donjuan said he wants the community to not be intimidated by their work. He said he wants viewers to want to interact with the work, take pictures with the art and touch it.

“I don’t want anyone to be afraid of the work,” he said. “If (art is) closedoff, it doesn’t grow from there. I want to embrace our community because they were there for us.”

SOLVENT, a collective started in 2010, presented a mural for “Collective Bargaining.”

Adnan Razvi, member of SOLVENT, said those in the collective were all students at UTD at one point and agreed that audience was important to their art.

“Most of what we do is about

community involvement,” he said.

“We try to get viewer participation for our work.”

Toward the end of the reception, SOLVENT invited guests to purchase the right to destroy their mural, one square at a time.

“Five dollars is what we ask, but we’re always open to bargaining,” Razvi said.

The eight members of SOLVENT show their work in multiple galleries in Dallas and said they enjoy presenting SOLVENT art in a variety of different neighborhoods.

HOMECOMING! Committee, an art collective based in Fort Worth, was unable to attend the opening reception.

While it was a feat to bring together eight different groups for “Collective Bargaining,” Durant and Tady said they knew from the start that it would be a gallery to remember. “(Art collectives) are community behavior that is familiar to us,” Durant said. “When you find someone who shares the same passion and abilities, it comes together and works.

It’s a mutual understanding.”

The Junior Ward, a local art collective, participates in the “Collective Bargaining” gallery with its ticking alarm clocks.

The exhibit opened Sept. 9 and will remain open until Oct. 5.

partnered with SAS and was a constructive presence in the classroom, Herndon said. He worked on product designs with mentors from Microsoft, Nike Foundation and SAG. “There was a day when I was so stressed I had to retreat to my room.

It was so much with classes, preparing for the next country, extracurriculars and all the Unreasonable Institute stuff,” Herndon said. “They had a two-hour seminar every night. It wasn’t required, but I went because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

My days were packed to the brim. I slept so well every night it’s like you get rocked to sleep.”

Desmond Tutu, former Arch-

bishop of Cape Town and an Unreasonable Institute mentor, frequently interacted with Herndon aboard the Explorer. From having breakfast together to performing a song about malaria together, Herndon said he fondly remembers his interactions with Tutu.

“Desmond Tutu not only made amazing contributions in his time as archbishop and beyond, but he’s also

a really cool guy. Imagine living in a residence hall with Desmond Tutu.

One morning he came up to me and rubbed my tummy and said, ‘Good morning!’ and went on his way; he’s just a kooky guy,” Herndon said.

Herndon said he now has a place to stay all over the United States through his friends from SAS. He said he is not too worried about keeping up with his SAS friends because

they shared an incredibly powerful experience of having lived and traveled and learned about the world together.

“In four months I have made closer friends than I’ve ever made in my life,” Herndon said.

SAS has made Herndon confident enough to apply for the position of Chief World Explorer at Jauntaroo, a vacation matchmaker company. The

position would entail traveling to different vacation sites, blogging about the location and keeping up Jauntaroo’s social media presence. Herndon currently has over 5,000 likes on the one-minute video application he submitted to Jauntaroo. He said he is hoping for the support of the UTD community if he makes it to the second round, which he will be notified of by October 1.

Holly Worrell, SPYCD advisor and coordinator of recreational sports in the Activity Center, said the club’s goal is to bring all cultures together through the passion for dance.

“It’s a good way to make friends, relieve stress and helps break up the everyday routine of studying and classes,” Worrell said. “It is basically aimed at helping students from different countries learn different dance styles.”

SPYCD held its first class on the Sept. 11, and almost 50 students attended. The participants were paired up and taught the basic dance steps in salsa.

The classes are structured into three parts: First they are taught the basic salsa dance steps, then they are taught how to ask someone for a dance and after that students practice dance steps with their partners in a music session.

SPYCD meets for classes every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. in the Galaxy Rooms. The fall 2013 semester focuses on salsa and waltz, while the spring semester will have dance classes on country and tango.

Salsa classes began on Sept. 11, and waltz classes start once the salsa sessions are completed on Oct. 9.

Registration will be primarily handled over the Facebook page, SPYCD – UTD Ballroom Dance Club, as well as through Orgsync. A SPYCD

membership fee for the year is $25.

Professional instructors will be brought to teach participants.

SPYCD has already recruited Areon Thomas as an instructor for salsa dancing, while Tracy Wang will be instructing participants on the waltz.

SPYCD will perform at Dancing for a Cause, an annual charity dance concert at University Theater on Nov. 1. The charity raises funds for the Richie Smith foundation, which was named after a UTD student with brain cancer. Tickets will be available for $6 for UTD students and $9 for regular admission.

“SPYCD is all about connecting as people. So stop pretending you can’t dance; you surely can,” Machuca said.

director since its inception. Fontenot has a discerning sense of what needs to be brought to UTD and to Dallas in terms of their respective art communities. His vision is to combine those needs and address them. He said he is committed to exhibiting shows that resonate with CentralTrak’s vision and to give curators who don’t have shows a voice.

CentralTrak itself has become an integral stop along the art circuit that surrounds Expedition Avenue and the Arts District.

Regular programming includes the Next Topic, a monthly lecture series aimed at engaging the community in critical examination of contemporary art in context of the DFW area, Children of Arte-

mis, a sketch club that takes place every other Wednesday night, and gallery viewings that take place every Saturday. The gallery is noncommercial and all events are free and open to the public.

One of its current partnerships is with the 2013 Texas Biennial, the fifth edition of a statewide independent survey of contemporary art. CentralTrak will be hosting the Biennial from Sept. 21 through Sept. 26. Opening night will be held from 6-10 p. m. on Sept. 21 at CentralTrak and will include panel discussions with Biennial curators, an exhibition by performance artist Julia Barbosa and The Dallas Collective’s “Open Studio: Every Person is a Special Kind of Artist, with Baggage,” the

first Texas Biennial commissioned project.

CentralTrak alumni Sally Glass, Danielle Georgiou and current residents art collective HOMECOMING! Committee will be participating in the Texas Biennial.

After HOMECOMING! Committee’s residency ends in October, Texas artist Jeff Gibbons will join CentralTrak. Plans are currently underway for two Mexican artists to visit CentralTrak in fall 2014, documenting their travels from Mexico City to Dallas.

“We’re constantly in motion about who’s coming out, who’s coming in and trying to touch different parts all over the world,” Sewell said.

when having to get up and perform for Lingo and fellow classmates.

“They feel comfortable with her. They work hard for her,” said Monica Saba, senior lecturer of Arts and Humanities and close friend of Lingo’s.

Lingo describes her improv class as a tool to get creative juices flowing but ultimately as a relief from the stress everyone experiences on a dayto-day basis.

She said that in such a competitive society, students

culture works and their approach to their art,” Mayer said. “And then I walk across the hall and have a conversation with someone else from a completely different part of the world with entirely different ways of approaching their work.”

Along with cultivating a cosmopolitan landscape within the Dallas art community, CentralTrak’s purpose is to aid the growth of the resident UTD students.

CentralTrak students are active members of the Deep Ellum and Arts District community.

In addition to their course-

feel pressured to cram their schedules with the maximum amount of credits, philanthropies and study hours.

Their minds continue to get piled up with seamless amounts of information and regurgitated facts, Lingo said.

With the improvisation, students are able to be in the moment to gain back some control.

“You just have to teach people how to play again, and then they’re creative,” Lingo said.

Along with the improv class, Lingo also works on one or two plays a year at UTD. For spring 2014 the audience

work, students lead workshops, attend community lectures and gallery openings and contribute to CentralTrak programming. Residents are required 15 to 20 hours of service to CentralTrak but students don’t just stop there. Former resident and current Director of CentralTrak Heyd Fontenot curated an exhibit called “The Knife and Gun Show,” which led to his current position, and Liz Trosper, a graduate MFA student at UTD and first-year artist in residency, helped organize TrakMeet, a meet-n-greet that took place Sept.

19.

“You are immersed with the movers and shakers who really show you how they think about and approach aesthetics, artwork,

can expect Lingo’s usual comedic style in her adaptation of “Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star” which will be held at the University Theatre. Lingo said all students, whether experienced in acting or not, are welcome to get involved in this production.

Lingo supports all students that walk through her doors wanting to strengthen their acting skills.

She makes it clear that even when the show ends, she is there for her actors, never letting them stand alone.

“I’m always working.

They’re always working. We’re growing together,” Lingo said.

the business that is tied with artwork in Dallas and beyond,” Trosper said.

An open and supportive environment tempers the challenge where “anything goes.” Weekly critiques take place to open a dialogue among the artists and keep their work progressing at a diligent pace even though CentralTrak does not grade its students, Sewell said.

“Our goal is to support the student, not necessarily create something at the end of their time with us,” Sewell said. “I have no notion of what you should be as an artist, I just want to support you and try to push you to become the best artist you can be.”

Fontenot is CentralTrak’s third

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

Advertisement

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

9

10

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

Sports

Volleyball coach marks 200th win with program After 10 years of coaching, developing and improving UTD’s volleyball team, Marci Sanders celebrates a milestone in her career MEERA IYENGER Mercury Staff

The volleyball team’s win against Huston-Tillotson University on Aug. 31 marked not only the team’s first victory of the season, but also the head coach’s 200th victory in her 10 years with the team.

Though this victory at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor tournament marked a huge milestone in her life, Marci Sanders was humble about it.

“I didn’t want to make it all about me.

All I did is after we won, I told the kids, ‘Congratulations, you have just won your 200th victory for the program.’”

Ironically, Sanders said she disliked volleyball as a child, preferring sports with more physical contact like soccer and basketball. While Sanders would watch her cousin play volleyball, she said it did not influence her very much.

In middle school, however, an interest in volleyball sparked.

“I just kind of found out I liked it because I was one of the better players,” Sanders said. “They made us play (volleyball) in middle school in order to play basketball.”

Sanders made the varsity team her freshman year of high school and said her love for the sport grew as she learned

more about the techniques and intricacies of the game.

“I think the first time I got hit in the face with a volleyball, I thought ‘Okay this can be a contact sport.’ You can’t really push anybody, but it’s definitely a physical sport.”

Growing up with a single mom, Sanders made it her goal to get an academic and athletic scholarship to pay for college. She chose volleyball because of her success with the sport.

Sanders played at Arizona State University, a Division II school, and it was there that her mentor Kathleen Brasfield asked if she would be interested in coaching. The assistant coach at the school left that year, and Sanders accepted the position, leaving her previous dreams of becoming a physical therapist behind.

After finishing graduate school with a degree in kinesiology, a coaching job opened up at UTD, and Sanders has been at the university ever since.

Sanders said the biggest obstacle at UTD has been recruiting. Without athletic scholarships, students must have enough love for the game to practice early in the morning, and this dedication demonstrates the character of students that participate.

“It has been amazing seeing the pro-

Men’s soccer on winning streak

gram change in 21 seasons,” she said.

Sanders said she felt like she and the assistant coach have done a good job of recruiting or allowing players to come in that have good character, so they have a lot more fun with them.

“You’re coaching people, not players.

And in coaching for 10 years, I’ve definitely changed a lot where you have to let student athletes have a voice. We let them evaluate myself, Zach (Villarreal, assistant coach), and the program just as much as we evaluate them so we feel like giving them a voice lets them respect you,” Sanders said.

Setter and biology sophomore Bethany Werner said Sanders is very supportive.

“She truly cares about us as people on and off the court,” Werner said.

Volleyball takes up most of Sanders time. But when she isn’t working, she likes jet skiing, going to the lake, climbing mountains, snowboarding, traveling and spending time with her 11-year-old chocolate lab Jade.

With her competitive attitude, Sanders said she still looks to improve after every game, victory or defeat.

“We are not win-driven, we are doingthe-right-thing driven, and we know the wins will come if we do the right thing,” Sanders said.

PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

Marci Sanders began her coaching career at UTD after playing volleyball at Arizona State and has been at UTD ever since. Aug. 31 marked her 200th victory as coach.

Volleyball wins first home game

PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

After a rough start to the season, the volleyball team bounced back to defeat Texas Lutheran and Schreiner on Sept.

14. Though facing tough competition and often playing neck-to-neck, the Comets managed to up their winning streak.

Comets battle ASC rivals, top Wiley in first on-campus match of the season PARTH SAMPAT ARGHYA CHATTERJEE/STAFF

After stellar performances, the men were ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Division III.

Comets continue to dominate with a 4-0-1 record PARTH SAMPAT Mercury Staff

The men’s soccer team extended its winning streak to five matches, defeating Northwood 5-1 on Sept. 11 and Austin College 3-0 on Sept 13.

The Comets boast a 4-0-1 record this season, have outscored their opponents 17-3 through their first five games of the season and

have been ranked No. 15 in NCAA Division III, according to the latest Top 25 released by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, after their performance this week.

The Comets put up stellar performances in both matches to grant first-year head coach Jason Hirsch his first career home wins.

Mercury Staff

The volleyball team won their first home game of the season against Wiley College in a hard-fought match on Sept. 12.

The team won the first two points of the first set and did not trail as they finished the first set 25-17. The second set started similarly with the Comets winning the first two points and continuing their lead until 9-4 when the Wildcats went on a fivepoint winning streak to tie the set at 9-9.

The Wildcats took the lead for the first time that afternoon at 12-11 and held on as they won the tightly-contested set 25-23. The

Wildcats took 4 set points to win the set as the Comets almost staged a comeback from trailing 20-24.

“We had a good test here on campus for our first home game,” head coach Marci Sanders said. “It’s a (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) school, so I am proud of the way the kids fought here at home and ended up pulling out the win.”

The two teams played neck-to-neck in the third set till 15-17, after which Wiley pulled away an unassailable lead to win the set 19-25. The Comets again faced staunch competition from their opponents in the fourth set as they exchanged leads multiple times before managing to break away and

win the set 25-21.

The fifth set was a different story as the Comets after taking the lead at 6-5, did not look back and won 15-8. The Comets finished the night with a .266 hitting percentage as a team and held their opponents to .249 percent and 0.080 percent in the final set.

“It depends on our matchup and execution and what rotation we end up in, but fortunately, we talk a lot of scoring consecutive points, so we have been able to control our errors in the fifth set and pull out the win,” Sanders said.

Tennis season begins with individual tourney Top seeds from men and women’s teams come out on top, others struggle in doubles during ASC tournament in Belton, Texas PARTH SAMPAT Mercury Staff

The men and women’s tennis teams kicked off their season at the ASC Individual Tournament in Belton, Texas from Sept. 12-14.

The tournament, which consisted of four flights, had individual players representing their universities. Senior Casey Clark of the men’s team represented the Comets in flight 1 and stormed through the rounds to win the flight with three wins. He recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over Le-

Tourneau’s Kendall Beggs, then narrowly edged out Hardin-Simmons’ Erick Bein, the bracket’s number two seed, 4-6, 6-1, 10-1.

In the title match, Clark beat UT Tyler’s Ramon Martinez, the top seed of the bracket, 6-2, 7-5.

In flight 2 singles, freshman Hruday Ravula was granted a bye in the first round but lost to Hardin-Simmons’ Michael McCullough 7-5, 6-0. Ravula then beat Howard Payne’s Eli Ramos 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the consolation final, before withdrawing from the draw.

Freshman Iwata Goh, faced a similar situation in flight 3, as he was awarded a bye in the first round, before he lost to LeTourneau’s Sindre Johnsgaard in three sets 3-6, 7-6, 10-6. Goh ousted Sul Ross State’s Daniel Fraire 6-1, 6-0 and East Texas Baptist’s Weston Godsey, 6-2, 6-1. Goh then withdrew from the consolation finals.

In flight 4, sophomore Sean Spiesman won his opener 6-0, 6-1 against ETBU’s Laramie Linn, before losing to Texas-Tyler’s Chris Wootton 0-6 3-6.

In doubles, the teams of Clark/ Ravula and Goh/Spiesman both reached the finals of flight 1 and 2, respectively, before losing in the title match.

The men’s team will now compete in the ITA Southwest Regional in San Antonio from Sept.

27-29.

The women’s team started the new season from right where they left off last season — winning tournaments.

Senior Casey Johnson, the No. 1 seed of flight 1, won her bracket with ease. She won her opening

match against Ozarks’ Whitney Lewis with a double bagel (6-0, 6-0), and continued her good form into the second and third match against Hardin Simmons’ Genene Harrad 6-2, 6-1 and UT Tyler’s Amy Friesenhahn 6-3, 6-3, respectively.

In flight 2, top seed sophomore Auvi Tran won her bracket in similar fashion with straight set wins in all three matches. Tran won her opening match 6-0, 6-1 against HSU’s Hannah Smith. She scored a double bagel win over East Texas Baptist’s Kali Kipp and a 6-3

6-1 win over UT Tyler’s Jessica Blundell to win the title.

Senior Mindy Tiu, who was the top seed in flight 3, could not follow her teammates victory run, falling to Texas-Tyler’s Jennifer Payne 6-1, 6-1 in the finals.

Senior Cindy Tiu, who was the top seed in flight 4, won her bracket with three wins. Tiu earned a first-round bye, going on to beat ETBU’s Caitlin Alverson 6-2, 6-0, then HSU’s Jasmine Briant 6-3, 6-1. She faced staunch

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

Sports

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

11

Women’s soccer sees mixed results in away games; home match rained out MADISON MCCALL

The women’s soccer team had to run for cover during their home game against UC Santa Cruz on Sept. 19 when the weather turned sour.

The non-conference game ended after just 20 minutes; the game was cancelled after an hour wait for the lightning to subside.

The women’s team won its first game of the season with a final score of 4-2 at Southwestern University on Sept. 13. Junior forward Sarah

Borg led the team with two goals in the first half. During the second half, sophomore midfielder Giselle Miller brought in her first goal of the season, and Borg finished off the game with her third goal of the night. Freshman forward Megan Mugavero assisted three goals throughout the game.

The winning high was cut short on Sept. 15 in San Antonio when the Comets lost to the Trinity University Tigers with a 4-0 score. Borg started off strong with four shots and junior forward Alissa Burch followed with two shots. Senior

goalkeeper Brittany Best started the match and saved a goal. Coming into the game after Best, sophomore keeper Macaire Ament made nine saves throughout the first and second half.

The Comets were in Memphis, Tenn. Sept. 21 and 22 to finish up the non-conference games of the season. Sept. 26 kicks off the first conference game of the season against Howard Payne University. Students can catch the game at 5 p.m. at the UTD Soccer Complex. The men’s game against Howard Payne University will follow at 7 p.m.

The team dominated Northwood in all areas as it maintained possession for the majority of the match.

The Comets got five shots on the board in the first half and scored two goals. The first goal came in the 34th minute when senior forward Michael Darrow took in a pass from outside the box from senior forward and midfielder Antonio Rodriguez and shot the ball over the Northwood goalkeeper. The second goal came shortly afterward when senior forward and midfielder Benjamin Tijerina received a deflected pass from sophomore forward Michael Matthews and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper into the net.

The Comets then increased the pressure on the Northwood defense, shooting 11 shots and scoring three goals. Two minutes into the second half, Darrow passed the ball from the middle into the path of junior forward and midfielder Omar Jaroun, who was streaking down the right. Jaroun skipped past a Northwood defender and powered a shot that went into the net off the goalkeeper’s hands. In the 52nd minute, Darrow initiated a one-two play with senior midfielder Julian Torres

in the box to score his second goal of the night and the Comets’ fourth.

The Knights pulled one back in the 55th minute when Northwood managed to get a low shot past senior goalkeeper Steven Nicknish.

The Knights’ hopes were completely diminished when senior defender Bryan Shiba found Darrow at the edge of the box, who coolly slotted the ball past the Knights’ goalkeeper.

“I played really well. But mainly, what’s important is that the team played well,” Darrow said. “As a team, we moved the ball around and we were able to generate a lot of scoring chances and when that happens, I have to follow up with my responsibility and put them in the back of the net.”

The Comets started their match against Austin College in usual fashion with eight shots, but failed to make a goal.

“I think we just started off pretty slow, and they were defending us pretty well,” Darrow said. “We had three or four chances, but we didn’t finish them right away.”

The Comets quickly rectified the situation during the second half when junior defender Myles Bowen sent a long pass into the box, which found Darrow in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, and Darrow made no mistake this time to

put the Comets in the lead.

Two minutes later, Darrow latched onto a throw-in from junior midfielder Travis White and scored, bringing the Comets’ tally to two.

Darrow, with eight goals this season, has moved to within one goal of tying former forward Ali Morshedi’s all-time scoring record of 41 career goals.

In the 76th minute, Tijerina found himself in an one-on-one with the ‘Roos substitute goalkeeper, after a threaded pass from Jaroun split up the defense.

Nicknish was hardly tested in the entire match as he had to make only one save.This was Nicknish’s second clean sheet of the season.

“I’m happy so far (about the team’s performance),” Hirsch said.

“We can always get better, but so far we are playing really well. These games are all about preparing for the conference season, and we had a good offer to go out to California and play, so we are going out there and hopefully we will do well.”

The Comets travel to California to play UC-Santa Cruz on Sept.

20 and Pomona-Pitzer on Sept. 22.

These are the last two pre-season matches for the Comets, as the conference begins on Sept. 26 when the Comets play against Howard Payne at home.

Mercury Staff

MERCURY FILE PHOTO

After kicking off the season at the ASC Individual Tournament on Sept. 12-14, the men’s tennis team will travel to San Antonio and prepare to compete in the ITA Southwest Regional from Sept. 27-29.

competition in the finals from UT Tyler’s Tori Musngi coming from a set down to win the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

In flight 5, freshman Kelly Reed received a bye in the first round but failed to make it count, falling to HSU’s Alynna Phouthakhio, 7-5, 6-3. Reed won against Howard-

Payne’s Tiffany Bullock, but withdrew from the consolation finals.

Senior Stephanie Lu was the No. 2 seed in flight 6 and started her bracket strong against Ozarks’ LeAnna White, winning the match 6-0, 6-1.

However, she retired from her second round match against UHMB’s Laura Garden.

In doubles, Johnson and Tran won the flight 1 bracket. They crushed LeTourneau 8-0 in the opening round, defeated Howard-Payne in the semis

and managed to overpower UT Tyler 8-3 in the finals.

The team of sisters Cindy and Mindy Tiu earned a first-round bye and trounced Howard-Payne 8-0 in the quarterfinals. They unfortunately lost to HSU in the semi-finals 5-8.

Lu and Reed were seeded 2 in flight 2 doubles but lost their opening match 4-8 to HSU. The Comets will compete at the ITA Southwest Regional in Tyler from Sept. 20-22.

Sophomore hitter Abbie Barth lead the Comets with 23 kills, 23 digs and three aces, junior blocker Taylour Toso continued her great start to the season with 15 kills, while sophomore hitter Meredith Crawford nailed 12 kills.

Sophomore setter Kayla Jordan led the team outright with 41 assists.

The Comets upped their winning streak to four matches as they beat ASC rivals Texas Lutheran University and Schreiner University on Sept. 14.

The team led the match 2-0 after winning the first two sets 25-17, 2516. The Lady Bulldogs fought back to win the third and fourth set 25-23, 25-22.

“I feel like we eased up a little bit in the third set,” Sanders said. “I would attribute that to all of us. I changed the line-up, tweaked it just a little bit after we had a lead. I also felt like we

made more unforced errors in the set and we let them back in it.”

After winning the first point in the deciding set, the Comets trailed the set 2-5, before a resurgent team won five straight points to lead 7-5. The Comets battled through the set giving away four points, and winning the set 15-9.

After a brief rest, the team returned onto the court to face Schreiner. The Comets, albeit winning the match in straight sets, were never in total control of the match.

The Comets started the match strong with a 10-4 lead, but the Mountaineers began chipping away at the lead, bridging the gap to two points. Some excellent plays by the Comets kept them in the lead and they managed to win the first set 2521.

The second set was a different affair as the teams were on each other’s heels through most of the set as they exchanged leads numerous times until

Schreiner led 20-19. A setup-kill combination by Jordan and Barth tied the set for the Comets, before freshman setter Bethany Werner gave them the lead and the Comets narrowly edged out the Mountaineers 25-23.

The third set was a similar affair as neither team managed to get a big lead on their opponents. The set was close right off the bat; the Comets exchanged leads a few times before taking the lead for the final time at 11-10.

They did not manage to stretch the lead to more than a couple of points until the end, winning the set 25-20.

Toso led the team with 14 kills, followed by Barth with nine kills and freshman blocker Michelle Toro with seven. The Comets finished the match with a hitting percentage of .285, while Schreiner finished .183.

The Comets will face Mississippi College and UT Tyler on Sept. 20, and LeTourneau and East Texas Baptist on Sept 21.

CLASSIFIEDS To place a classified advertisement for the next issue, ad copy accompanied by payment must be received the Wednesday before publication.

Classified rates are $10 for the first 30 words and $5 for each additional 10 words. ADVANCE PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT. Call, fax or come by SU 1.601 or mail ad and check to The Mercury, Attn: Nada Alasmi, 800 W. Campbell Rd., SU24, Richardson, Texas 75080.

Job Vacancy We’re looking for the best. People just like you!

McDonald’s – Preston at Alexis (just south of Belt Line) Apply at www.mctexas.com/14417

Make Money Make money by enrolling people to save money on their electricity bill! www.paidfortalking.com

Mobile-app Developer Wanted Are you an experience Mobile-app developer? We are looking or one. You can work part-time. Please call Sam at 214-235-5264.

Become an Egg Donor Healthy, caring women, 21-28 make a difference as an Egg Donor! Flexible schedule. 6-10 morning appointments over a 3 month period. Earn $5,500-$10,000 for your time. www.EggDonorSolutions.com or Donor@ EggDonorSolutions.com

Math Tutor MATH Tutor , College / H.S. (SAT, GRE, GMAT, THEA) $25 / hour. 10 years college teacher. Over 80% Satisfaction rate. Problem solving sessions. Overviews, the complex made simple.

FredHalp@Gmail.Com 214-636-9113

12

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Advertisement

THE MERCURY

SEPT. 23, 2013

The UT Dallas chapter wishes to recognize the following undergraduate students who are being invited into membership in the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi this semester.

Congratulations to these students on their outstanding academic achievements Abadie, Anthony J Abdallah, Ahmad Abdella, Ziad Abercrombie, Paula K Abraham, Phebe A Abuda, Jacqueline M Adhikari, Bijay Agrawal, Jay K Ahmadian, Ashkan A Ahmed, Arsalan Ahmed, Kanwal J Akhavan, Jamshid Akhawala, Mohammad S Akhawala, Taha A Akin, Anthony Alexander, Blair C Alexander, Chelsea A Alexander, Wesley K Ali, Mir T Allen, David P Amuneke-Nze, Chidimma F An, Jeong Min Anstead, Justin A Armstrong, Zachary M Arnold, Sabrina A Arsova, Elena Arteaga, Kelly L Asfoor, Zainah B Asmussen, Joel M Ata, Raheel S Ayachi, Wiam K Baalbaki, Nadin N Baek, Seung Heon Bakker, Jonathan P Bano, Adeela Barnett, Robert H Barton, Kyle W Bauman, Ryan M Bayacal, Anna Mikaela E Bayazitoglu, Esther E Beachy, Emily R Belez, Diego Berenbrock, Cari L Bergman, Genette M Bertrand Bolton, Karri Bin Hamza, Amir R Bindner, Corey T Blumenau, Danna L Boerner, Jeremy G Boland, Jessica J Bong, Chanwoo Bonnell, Michael V Bonnot, John W Bosovik, Olga Bowden, Kelly J Bowman, Annaelise S Briggs, Joseph C Briseno, Sally Brooks, Meagan N Brown, Daniel J Brown, Ethan K Brumsey, Dolvine R Buchanan, Molly R Buerkle, Ted W Bui, Vy T Bullock, Margaret E Burbano-Salazar, Maria A Burch, Allison V Burkhart, Michella D Bushnaq, Tamam W Buxkamper, Sarah F Caguioa, Joseph O Cai, Joshua Y Camacho, Chardine Cherade P Campos, William R Cannedy, Sloan K Cao, Tri M Carpenter, Stacey R Cashen, Benjamin A Cass, Allison C Cave, Michele L Chan, Taylor J Chandler, Cory R Chapman, Hannah E Chappidi, Sruthi Charls, Richy M Chatzinoff,Yonatan D Chen, Jennifer Chen,Yuying Cherri, Ali-John Y Chi, Chiehhsin Chiles, Jenna R Ching, Sarah Monique L Cho, Joong H Choi, Eunkyo Choi, Hee-Seon Choudhury, Mohammed R

Christie, Joshua H Chung, Alexander Y Chung, Seung-Ho Clare, Kaitlen M Cline, Kinsey E Cochran, Nicole R Coleman, Cloe R Coleman, Ryan V Combiths, Adam M Cook, Robin L Coomer, John D Cornwell, Camden T Corwin, Hillary G Courson, Alissa B Crain, Scott J Crane, Scott D Csabi, Rachel E Cuadros, Carlos D Culp, Brian S Cummings, Eli M Curtin, Derek J Dam, Duc S Dam, Thien-An T Dang, Karyna R Dang, Vi T Danko, Colin M Daouk, Omar I Davis, Graham T Davis, Justin J De Los Santos, Daniel Desmet, Faith A Deutsch, Dakota A Deysarkar, Rita Dharmarpandi, Jankikeerthika M Dillinger, Nathaniel R Dimarco, Caryn N Dirbashi, Mona S Dollin, Amy E Dorman, Devin M Douglas, Clayton F Douglas, Spencer F Du, Justin L Duong, Thao P Duvall, Emily Eaton, Peter A Eckert, Hazen Eid, Omar M El-Aya, Nicole K Engel, Stephen G English, Janie K Engo Mputu, Engo Esmail, Imran M Esmail, Mukhtar M Eule, Benjamin S Evans, Julia M Ezzi, Burhanuddin J Fa, Andrea Fallon, Andrew C Fan,Yiwen Fanders, Megan E Feigenbaum, Barry A Ferguson, Caroline F Fernandez Grados, Talia Filzen, McKenna A Fisher, Amanda M Flanagan, Kate E Flora, Suneet K Frankel, Harris M Franklin, Jacob D Franz, Jennifer L Galbreath, Candace E Gamal, Sara A Gan,Yifan Gandham, Goutham V Gaydish, Nicole D Ghebrekristos, Robel E Giang, Zuri Gibbs, Joanna L Gilley, Michael D Goderya, Mudrekh S Goel, Swati Goodwin, Justin T Green, Michael A Griffith, Rachel L Grimshaw, Preston Guajardo, Amanda C Gupta, Natasha B Guthrie, Kayla R Guzman, Antonio J Gwo, Jean-Jean Gyawali, Girish Ha, Marissa Q Hale, Chad D Hamid, Kanwal Hansen, Zachary M Hanson, Laura D

Haq, Ayman I Hardesty, Bonnie J Hardjo, Alexander G Hardjo, Gerardus Z Harper, Christopher N Harris, John P Harris, Trenton T Harvey, Taylor R Hasan, Omar A Haseeb, Ridwan B Hashim, Huda I Hawley, Mary T Henderson, Kelley A Hennessy, Rachel V Hermann, Douglas J Hickman, Adam C Higgins, Hayden M Hill, Austin M Hill, Matthew Q Hinson, Brooke L Ho, Quynh Hoang, Nhat M Hoff, Joshua C Hoh, Bailey R Hohman, Jenifer A Holmes, Nelson B Hood, James C Huang, Luequn Hughes, Cassandra Huston, Katherine A Hutterer, Frederick C Huxall, Jordan L Hwang, Kihyun Ignatiuc, Maxim Ihediwa, Chiamaka O Isa, Aarzu J Ismail, Nadia M Itani, Jalal Jaffal, Mahmoud W Jara, Mary C Jeong, Daun Jewell, Jerry L Jiang,Yang M Jo, Seungeun Johnson, Barry A Johnson, Zachary T Jones, Scott A Jones,Yukiko Y Jose, Deepu J Joseph, Rachel M Joseph, Robin M Joseph, Sajith Juarez, Alexandra L Julakanti, Jatin S Jumper, Kiera A Jung,Yunsik Jurcak, Sheryl M Jwarchan, Ananda Kabani, Asif A Kaenel, Rachel E Kaldawi, Grace A Kamal, Sara Kang, Chia Dan Kanski, Timothy R Karki, Pankaj Kassap, Christopher D Kayfus, Colton R Keller, Elise M Kersh, Danae E Khan, Samir A Khan, Tahuriah G Khosravi, Parisa Kika Bhagwagar, Atisha Kim, Donghyun Kim, Jin Gwang Kim, Jin S Kim, Joon K Kim, Kyung Ho Kim, Lisa K Kim, Sol Kim,Yoon Sun Klepikova, Svetlana Knight, Braden T Knott, Jeannie M Kotara, Tristan E Kramer, Curtlyn C Krause, Pierre N Kuni, Rajesh Kuzu, Aishah Lamb, Kristine M Lambert, Zack C Lancaster, William H Larsen, Garrett W Lau, Michael A Le, My T Le, Quynh N Le, Tram M

Leach, Marisol H Leach, Mason R Lear, Ryan A Ledford, Grant S Lee, Da Yeong Lee, Esther Lee, Haejin Lee, Jaeseong Lee, Juseob Lewin, Eric R Li, Xiaoxia Liang, Cynthia S Lim, Joseph S Lin, Andrew Lindell, Madeline M Litovsky, Dana Liu, An-Ting Lo, Vincent E Lopez, Antonio Lu, Junchao Lum-Hee, Georgia S Luong, Minh Phu N Lutchman, Kevan A Lutfy, Marwina M Lutterloh, Colton J Lutz, Rachel L Ma, Antuan B Ma, Christine M Mahmoud, Ali M Mai, Linh T Makanji, Miqual P Malone, Sean C Manns, Aaron A Marcotte, Ryan J Martin, Lindy B Martin, Suzanne P Martinez, Ariel M McClaran, Autumn A McClure, Madison B McClure, Taylor S McDill, Parker M McDonald, Travis M McMillin, Brooks A McMurtry, Mikaela A McWilliams, Katelyn D Mendez, Marcela D Mesecher, Verneil M Mhammedi, Rabia Mian, Rahan A Milam, Barbara J Miller, Kenneth A Minter, Emma C Mirasol, Megan K C Mohammad, Shariq Mok, Belinda T Moon, Bilal A Moore, Michelle D Morrison, Megan K Morrow, Kathleen M Mosmeyer, Davis G Mostrom,Yuen Tung Mott, Dalton R Mugisha, Nancy Murad, Muhammad U Myers, Stephanie A Naja, Suma S Naqvi, Fizza M Nardozzi, Kristen M Nasir, Samia Nava, Ernesto Neduvelil, Ebin E Neill, Edward J Nelson, Michelle A Nelson, Teresa C Newton, Lindsay N Ngo, Thao H Nguyen, Anh H Nguyen, Ca N Nguyen, Cindy N Nguyen, Dan H Nguyen, Diem T Nguyen, Huy M Nguyen, Patricia Q Nguyen, Scott H Nguyen, Stephanie T Nguyen, Taylor M Nguyen, Thong Q Nguyen, Trang V Nguyen-Lee, Paul J Ninan, Jibin Ning, Xuhui Niu, Lily Noor, Nasreen Noor,Yasmin Novak, Olivia J Nunez, Edgar Obannon, Walter P

Ogobuiro, Ifeanyichukw C Oh, Sangjin Oliveira Fry, Renata Olson, David A Oropeza, Ivan Packard, Christopher J Padalecki, Drew M Palankar, Reema M Palos, Katie J Pant, Biswas Parekh, Pratik Parish, Amanda L Park, Hee Myoung Park, Jonghan Park, Shinwoong Park, Sunwoo Patel, Badar Patel, Rahul R Patel, Samir S Paudel, Pratima Pendleton, Erin K Peoples, Jonathan D Perez, Daisy V Peshwani, Sanya Peterkort, Elizabeth G Pham, Nam Phuong N Pham, Trang V Pham, Trung T Phan, Christina B Pillai, Sheena S Pinto, Julia E Plumlee, Kelli N Polk, Christina M Porto Maia, Bruno P Pradhan, Grishma Promwanrat, Pearl Proshek, William C Quach, Lan T Quintana, Daniel R Race, Tara R Radja, Asja Rahman, Ridhwaan M Raj, Abhishek Rajendran, Sowmya J Ramos, Anthony Kirk M Raofpur, Monica R Rapier, Margaret M Ray, James D Ray, Jay M Raza, Afeefa Raza, Mohammad S Regmi, Sargam Reilly, Liam M Reynolds, Michael K Reynolds, Robert T Reza, Farin Richards, Cassie A Rivera, David A Rivera, Tanya N Rodriguez, Luis F Rohleder, Nicholas-And T Rosa, Guilherme C Rosales, Moses Rosales, Perla Rose, Zachary T Rowe, Faith C Rozsa, Todd E Rubert, Gary E Rubio, Rachel S Sagduyu, Cory K Sahin, Hacer S Sahoo, Aradhana Salamone, Marco A Saldana, Laura A Samuel, Shine Sand, Amy D Sanders, Krystal Sandoval, Nicole Saxena, Anuvrat Schaefer, Spencer M Schantzen, Crystal A Schieb, Brian A Scully, Amanda C Sego, Filip Seo, Min Jeong Shafer, Morgan L Shahabuddin, Amena B Shariff, Hina H Sharifi Noghabi, Ardalan Sharma, Gaurav Shasteen, Jonathon R Shrestha, Girish Sichmann, Natalie C Sidonie, Marie Simpson, Byron D Sin, So Min Sipe, Susan E

Slatkovsky, Emily G Slomowitz, Samuel A Song, Min-Chul Spann, Samantha S St Clair, Grace L Staggs, Paul C Statham, Jennifer E Stautner, Colin J Stefko, Caroline G Stephens, Sarah E Steward, Joshua R Straus, Daniel E Stuard, Whitney L Sturm, Lisa M Sumption, Claire E Sutiono, Hansel W Suttles, Sonya R Takeda, Mayu Tan, Megan M Tan, Shin Yi Tan, Xiao Tavares, Bruna D Tayab, Tina Teichelman, Samuel R Tejani, Ali S Teplansky, Kristin J Thames, Colin L Thurmond, Jeremy F Timciuc, Laura M Torres De Hoyos, Ashley M Tower, Brett S Tran, Binh M Tran, Charissa N Tran, Hoang R Tran, Phuong T Tran, Tien N Tran, Tra T Trinh, Anh Ngoc Viet Trompeter, Thomas J Trujillo, Elvira Tsai, Noreen C Tyndall, Richard G Umana, Erica M Underhill, Tamara D Valdez, Jennifer Valentin, Aryn R Valentine, Vaneda A Valenzuela, Bryan Vandiver, Beau T Varati, Verthika Varghese, Christine J Varughese, Natasha A Vazquez, Alma A Venegas, Katherine B Venincasa, David P Ventura, Margarita O Villeda-Principe, Edsa A Vu, Julie N Vu, Tri M Vuong, Jennifer T Wadsworth, Maxwell T Waheed, Jawairia Waldrop, Lacey N Ward, Lindsey K Warne, Lewis R Waymel, Daniel R Webster, Kyle E Weger, Zackary R Weidenbruch, Shelley N Weingarden, Gianna E Wells, Ryan A West, Hannah A West, Stephen B White, Christine A White, Kendrick C Whiteis, Alicia B Whitman, Alexandria N Williams, Christopher J Williams, Matthew A Williamson, Linda M Wisdom, Traci L Wolfe, Chelsea E Wood, Amber R Woodall, Eric D Xu, Junjie Yang, Namkyung Young, Clayton A Young, Russell A Yun, Stuart Zavala, Maria E Zhao,Yuchen Zhu,Yue

For more information on PKP, visit http://honors.utdallas.edu/phikappaphi/

Comics & Games

SEPT. 23, 2013

THE MERCURY

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

13

by Rahat Ahmed

by Emily Grams

by Cedric Davis II

SUDOKU

by Varun Kumar

Difficulty

3

Difficulty

9 4

8

4

8 3

5

6

1

5

2

8

2

1

5

9

4

8

3

9

7

3 7

1

7

1

8

4

8

4

2

7

6

7

2

6

9

4

7

8

2

9

2

6

5 3

5

7

3 7 1

2 1

5 5

1

9

6

14

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

LINA MOON/ASST. GRAPHICS EDITOR

people what Islam is, we’re showing them what Islam is.”

In fall 2012, Mahmoud, a sophomore then, was driving his childhood friend Omar around campus, when Omar, a freshman, expressed a desire to join Phi Gamma Delta to make friends and take advantage of the networking benefits. Although Mahmoud cautioned him that the drinking and partying in most fraternities might make a religious Muslim uncomfortable, there was no other social platform that Mahmoud could think of that would not have any drinking at social events.

“We joked about having an alternative — a Muslim fraternity — and it was from there that the idea was planted,” Mahmoud said.

Unlike the Muslim Students Association, or MSA, which is open to all students and provides for different Islamic activities such as Friday prayers, ALM has a specific rushing process and helps create a close-knit group exclusive to men, just like any other fraternity, Mahmoud said.

“I think they’re both useful (organizations), but they target different audiences in the sense that Alif Laam Meem has more structure and does more community work, not specific just to UTD,” said computer science junior Humza Shazad, founding member of ALM and member of MSA’s financial board.

Since their initiation, members of ALM have engaged in numerous community activities that include organizing a candlelight vigil at UTD’s Spirit Rock after the Boston Bombings and helping clean up after the tornado in Moore, Okla.

In March, ALM members attended a men’s rally against domestic violence organized by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, where they held up signs that said “Muslims say yes to women’s rights” wearing the brotherhood’s signature red kufis, or skull caps.

A picture of the group at the rally went viral on social media and The Huffington Post, ABC News and Dallas Observer, among other news outlets, wrote about them, placing the organization at the center of an unexpected media frenzy.

ALM is not an official fraternity or part of Fraternity and Sorority Life, or FSL. While it is now a registered national student organization, ALM is working closely with the Student Organization Forum, or SOF, through the process of creating a Greek fraternity at the national level for the first time, said McClain Watson, faculty advisor of ALM and director of Business Communication Programs in Jindal School of Management.

“It’s primarily a bureaucratic issue in the sense that every other group on campus is a chapter of an already existing fraternity or sorority,” he said. “Starting a chapter for something that already exists and has a long tradition is not easy, but it’s straightforward … Obviously, starting something totally new, we don’t have any of that.”

Every Greek organization has to start through the SOF and then obtain a charter to become an exclusive organization that is based on sect or sex, said Julie Murphy, assistant director for Greek Life Programs. As of now, if a woman were to approach ALM asking to become a member, ALM would have to consider her request, but once it becomes an official Greek fraternity, it will be allowed to accept only male members, she said.

News salaries has been relatively unchanged unlike operational costs, although the dollar amount for faculty salaries has grown to $93 million, said Lynne Culverhouse, director for Budget and Resource Planning.

The increase in the dollar amounts toward faculty salaries is due to special initiatives in the area, and increase in tuition is correlated to the hiring of more faculty, she said, and for FY14 alone, $12 million has been budgeted for new faculty recruitment and startup.

What is happening at UTD, is in fact, a

Meanwhile, students from four other universities — Cornell University, University of California San Diego, University of Central Florida and University of Pennsylvania — have requested to open chapters of ALM on their campuses, Mahmoud said. All four have completed the application process to become incubator chapters, and once they fulfill a set of requirements they will become full-fledged chapters next semester, he said.

“It’s been really exciting — it’s interesting to see how this small idea that started with students at UTD is now forming into this national phenomenon,” Mahmoud said.

“We’re the first national social Muslim fraternity.”

The response from students both at and outside campus has been positive for the most part, Mahmoud said. A chapter of the Jewish fraternity from another university, Alpha Epsilon Pi, reached out to support ALM, hoping that ALM would do for Muslims what their fraternity had done to unite Jews in the 20th century, Mahmoud said.

There have been criticisms from some people, however, in particular from a Muslim student at Cornell University, Adam Abboud, who alleged in his blog post, “Discriminatory Muslim Frat Threatens Progress: First Muslim Fraternity, Alif Laam Meem, Reveals Discrimination and Sexism,” that ALM is an exclusive fraternity not open to gay men that would ultimately lead to the institutionalizing of sexism and religious oppression.

However, every fraternity and sorority, historically, has restricted membership and a potential new member needs to possess certain characteristics before he or she can be offered a pledge, so most of these criti-

THE MERCURY nationwide trend at most public universities where the proportion spent on operations and maintenance have increased faster in the past decade than that being spent on instruction, said Donna Desrochers, principal researcher at American Institutes for Research, or AIR, a national non-partisan non-profit for research in health and education.

“Generally, on a national average, what we see is that states have really cut back on the funding — the state appropriations money that they’re providing on a per student basis; more students are coming, fewer dollars are going to the institution per student and (public universities) have been raising tuition to offset some of that,” she said.

cisms apply to all fraternities, sororities and groups, Watson said. ALM does not discriminate based on sexuality, and gay men are welcome to rush, Mahmoud said.

Abboud was unavailable for comment.

With 13 active members, ALM had 35 students rush for them in the first week of September including one non-Muslim student. Pledges were extended to 19 of them, including the non-Muslim student, depending on their inclination to improve as people and dedication to serve the community, Mahmoud said.

“I think it’s great, as long as they’re following the protocols we ask them to follow, there’s no reason why a non-Muslim cannot join Alif Laam Meem,” Shazad said.

While ALM will continue to participate in outreach programs in the upcoming year, creation of the national charter and its induction into Greek Life is a priority for the organization, Mahmoud said.

Though time-consuming, once done, it will lend credibility and an institutional foundation to chapters in other universities and will be a historic landmark for UTD in the future, Watson said.

For members however, ALM will continue to serve as a platform for young men to bond over feasts, social volunteerism and study groups, Shazad said.

“For me personally, when a few of us started (ALM), we did have a restricted view of what we wanted this organization to be,” Mahmoud said. “But as time unraveled and we spent time with each other, we realized that becoming more Muslim doesn’t just involved doing ritualistic acts but it also involves becoming more human and understanding others … we all are trying to get better and that goal unites us as people.”

SEPT. 23, 2013

budget.

“As a freshman, I only ate lunch on campus and that was running me $50 a week, for one meal a day, and it had to be a fast food option,” Nguyen said.

Sebeniecher suggests students take advantage of sales ads to find cheap, healthy food options at the grocery store.

Rogers said the most economical way to buy food is in bulk.

“I’ve found that’s best for your budget and not only do you have your food already made, but you won’t be tempted to go buy fast food,” Rogers said. “Spend a whole day cooking food for two weeks and freeze what you don’t use.”

Rogers said a reasonable budget for a week’s worth of food is anywhere from $50 to $100.

A grocery list containing items like skinless chicken breast, spinach, brown rice, beans and a bottle of multivitamins was used to determine which food store near UTD carries the cheapest healthy food options.

Food at Target was the least inexpensive with a subtotal of about $48. Sprouts’ expensive supplements and packaged goods brought their subtotal to about $80.

The Student Wellness Center offers free personalized nutrition plans to help people organize healthy meals. Students can schedule one-on-one consultations with Sebeniecher to create a specialized plan.

“Utilize these services now, while they’re free, so you can have the information and develop those skills so you don’t have to pay for them later on in life,” Sebeniecher said.

While students are encouraged to research information about their health, they should be cautious when it comes to online nutrition and fitness advice, Sebeniecher said.

She suggests checking reputable sites for nutrition and fitness information like choosemyplate.gov or livestrong.com. Health applications like LoseIt! and myfitnesspal can also help jumpstart healthy choices.

Rogers said a good place for free advice is Nutrishop on Park and Preston. The sports nutrition store offers advice on supplements, meal planning and general nutritional information.

“Fitness and nutrition consists of narrowing in on specific goals and keeping track of dietary habits,” Rogers said. “The whole philosophy is making a livable nutrition plan.

Try to create habits and learn how to combine meals and when to eat what.”