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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