October 15, 2018
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THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
WATER IN RICHARDSON:
WHAT'S BEHIND ITS TASTE? STORY BY: DEV THIMMISETTY | MERCURY STAFF ILLUSTRATION BY: MATT STRACK | GRAPHICS EDITOR
K
athryn Vos said she finds herself not drinking as much water as she should be. Instead of filling her water bottle in the morning as she would usually do, she waits to find a working water fountain throughout the day. “I just don’t (drink from the tap) because of the taste,” Vos, an undecided freshman, said. Undecided freshman Kevin Young, who lives in Residence Hall West, said the taste of the tap water was subpar. “It’s slightly metallic. It’s more like something I would go to as a last resort,” Young said. “I would rather spend $1.75 buying a water bottle instead of drinking from the tap. " Steven Silco, the supervisory control and data acquisition supervisor in the City of Richardson’s Utilities Department, said the source water that’s supplied to Richardson as well as UTD piping infrastructure might be possible causes of taste issues. The source water comes from the North Texas Municipal Water District, and the City of Richardson distributes it to its many
Richardson supply: 266 mg/L EPA standard:
clients, including residential 250 mg/L areas, industrial complexes and institutions such as UTD. Gary Cocke, the associate director for sustainability and energy conservation at UTD, said water is supplied to UTD via a larger water line that is then split up into the university-owned plumbing and pipes for the various buildings. Richardson “UTD is essentially just a supply: 108 mg/L large household,” Cocke said. EPA standard: “We’re the same as anyone 250 mg/L else in the city.” The NTMWD collects the water from a mix of reservoirs and lakes, of which the primary source is Lake Lavon. According to its website, the NTMWD owns and operates six water treatment Richardson plants and has water rights supply: 0.025 mg/L in four lakes. The purified water is passed on to the EPA standard: 0.05 mg/L
sulfate
Richardson supply: 123 mg/L
sodium
EPA standard: 30-60 mg/L
chloride Richardson supply: 0.38 mg/L
fluoride
EPA standard: 2.0 mg/L
Manganese
→ SEE WATER, PAGE 3
CHRISTINA JIA | MERCURY STAFF
Data gathered from Richardson's 2018 Water Quality Report and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
*DOES NOT INCLUDE ALL CONSTITUENTS OF RICHARDSON WATER
Counseling Center starts online therapy program Web modules to reduce waitlist for counseling services
NOAH WHITEHEAD | PHOTO EDITOR
Kennedy Patton, an American studies sophomore, began counseling in 2015 but stopped because of cutbacks in the number of free sessions available to students.
Survey shows dissatisfaction with mandatory freshman group project Challenge to solve global water crisis originally launched to promote collaboration ANNIKA RUSSELL Mercury Staff
A survey conducted by The Mercury revealed that Comets to the Core — a six-week group project required for all freshmen to complete their UNIV1010 graduation requirement — has sparked controversy in its second year of operation, with 100 of 109 respondents saying they would not want to see the program as it is now continued for future freshmen. For the last two years, all freshmen taking the course have been tasked with developing an innovative solution to the global water crisis. Every student is assigned a small group of peers of varying majors. Each student is then expected to submit a group evaluation, a brief written response and a three- to five-minute video pitch outlining the merits of their group’s proposed solution by Oct. 1. Neuroscience freshman Keltan Cripe said the project was difficult to complete.
“I wish I didn’t have to do it,” Cripe said. “I’m glad it’s off my plate — good luck to the next people who have to deal with it.” Michael Carriaga, the head of core curriculum assessment at UTD, had been working on revising the entire core curriculum five years before it was introduced to Comets. Carriaga said while she hopes students can benefit from the experience of working on the project, the main objective is for it to be used as a means to measure how much students have learned from their core curriculum while at the university. “We’re required to show the Higher Education Coordinating Board — our state agency — that our students can demonstrate proficiency, or at least that we’re measuring their level of proficiency, with respect to ... different skill sets,” Carriaga said. Before CTTC, UTD gathered re-
quired data from professors teaching core courses, all with different assessment approaches. Carriaga said that a major factor considered in the development of the new program was removing burdens from professors and creating a more streamlined system. Students were also present during each stage of CTTC’s development, including after its first year of operation. Carriaga said the feedback received from 2017 freshmen was a driving factor for making 2018 the first year the project was completely executed through eLearning. Finance freshman Emily Maclain said the project raises the issue of incentive and whether or not freshmen have any reason to put effort into their submissions. “I was talking to a kid, his video was the sink running for five minutes and at the very end, he said ‘Don’t do this!’” Maclain
→ SEE FRESHMEN,
PAGE 10
MADISON YORK Mercury Staff
In anticipation of the release of its fiscal year report, the Student Counseling Center is looking for solutions to challenges such as a shortage of personnel and a growing waitlist due to resource constraints. Since the state recently implemented a soft hiring freeze, discouraging the hiring of non-essential personnel, students seeking services at the center have experienced long waitlists and delayed care. American studies sophomore Kennedy Patton utilized individual counseling services intermittently as a freshman in 2015 and said they’ve noticed a drastic change since the hiring freeze. “The counselors are always great, and I think mainly it’s just availability,” Patton said. “It was really easy at first. I think I got in with a consistent counselor within a week. It wasn’t very long at all. And now — I’m not even going to try now, because you only get six appointments, and what’s the point?” Initially, the SCC offered 12 free counseling sessions per year to students, in addition to an initial evaluation session. However, due to the hiring freeze, limited space and lower salaries for UTD psychiatrists compared to what those in private practice receive, the amount of sessions per year was reduced to six, said Jim Cannici, director of the SCC. “So we knew — and this is something
colleges around the nation have been facing —how do you help a lot of students with limited resources, that nearly all college counseling centers have?” Cannici said. “We’re trying to be as mindful as we can to get students in as soon as we can and get them hooked up with some resources.” According to Statista, in a fall 2017 survey of 31,463 respondents over 52 different schools, 21.8 percent of college students have been diagnosed with anxiety and 17.8 percent with depression. Luba Ketsler, a healthcare economics lecturer, said these two major disorders are the easiest to get under control if treated properly and in a timely manner. “Every year there’s a report called Becker’s Hospital Review,” Ketsler said. “And they do this thing where every year they talk about what industries get headhunted the most. It’s always been, for the last 10 years, it’s been primary care physicians that are at the top of the list in terms of what they’re looking for. Guess what’s next? Psychiatry. First time in 23 years — because now you see the prevalence and the importance of it.” As enrollment numbers continue to grow, Cannici said the SCC is working to reduce the number of students on the waitlist. The center recently obtained approval for a new
→ SEE COUNSELING,
PAGE 10