The Mercury 10 17 22

Student Union Fee Passes, Athletics Fee Fails

Over 6,000 Comets voted in both referendums, Athletics fee fails by 212 votes

FATIMAH AZEEM Managing Editor

Comets voted in favor of a new Student Union and narrowly voted down an increased athletics fee in the recent fee referendum polls. UTD's next steps for a new SU are to secure approval from the state legislature to

UTD Mental Health App aims to help

A mental health text line will be available through the UTD app for students to get emotional support from peers.

Kavya Kannan, neuroscience sophomore and creator of the help line, collaborated with several campus departments including OIT, the Wellness Center and UTDesign to increase the availability of mental health resources to students. In her first semester of freshman year, Kannan proposed an innovative solution to facilitate support systems on campus and alleviate stress. Her app acts as a text line where students who need mental health support can anonymously message a trained student volunteer for help. While the app is still being developed, it is expected to be ready for use by the end of the fall semester.

“The main idea behind this project was basically to create this first line of support,” Kannan said. “So before you escalate and reach out to a mental health professional, which may seem like a hard task and isn’t always realistic, you can tell someone who you feel like you can relate to but who is also trained to help you.”

After pitching her app, several department directors, professors and CS students helped Kannan implement her idea. Ravi Prakash — a computer science professor and Collegium V honors college faculty member — has been overlooking this project and advising on possible improvements. Similarly, Kacey Sebeniecher, the director of the Student Wellness Center, has been helping Kannan work out the legalities of the project. Finally, several senior CS students have been working on the app through the UTDesign program to include many of the features that Kannan believed would be beneficial to UTD students.

SEE APP, PAGE 2

legally raise the fee cap. If passed through the legislature, the new SU fee – $100 per semester – will go into effect in fall 2023.

Over 6,000 students –a bout 20% of UTD's population – voted in both polls. Vice President of Student Affairs Gene Fitch said this referendum vote was one the highest

turnouts in the history of the University.

“We never get that, not even in Student Government elections,” Fitch said. “This is beyond significant – it shows us that students care. Now what’s disappointing, obviously, is

Students filled the Davidson Gundy Alumni Center and flowed outside to hear the candidate make his case

FATIMAH AZEEM Managing Editor

MARTIN FRIEDENTHAL Mercury Staff

Democratic gubernatorial candidate

Beto O’Rourke detailed his plans for potential governorship at a packed rally of over a thousand students last Friday.

The League of United Latin American Citizens and Students for Beto hosted O’Rourke in the David Gundy Alumni Center, where he discussed hot button topics such as economics, health care and abortion rights. This was O’Rourke’s second visit to UTD, as he spoke to comets in the

SSA Auditorium during his run for senator against Ted Cruz in 2018. In November, UTD will be one of nearly 20 universities on O’Rourke’s Beto for Texas College Tour.

In painting his vision for Texas, O’Rourke highlighted his desire to legalize marijuana and end the STARR test as the crowd thrust their campaign signs into the air. Later in the speech, O’Rourke got into more polarizing subjects like condemning Abbott’s trigger laws that make abortion a felony, per the recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision.

“Don’t ever allow him to persuade you

Protester detained at post-sermon drag show

BEN NGUYEN Editor-in-Chief

A student was temporarily detained after interrupting a post-sermon drag show in the SU green on the night of Sept.12.

Economics freshman Kyle Randle was taken off-site by UTD PD after disrupting a sermon and drag show hosted by the Synergy Wesley Foundation. Halfway through the performance, Randle began shouting that the event was “not Christlike.” In response, the crowd booed Randle as “Move B*tch” played on the speakers, and organizers tried to prevent further conflict. Isaac Simmons–who performs as Ms. Penny

Cost and is a candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church–then performed “You Can’t Pray The Gay Away.”

After further discussion with Galerstein Gender Center Director Matthew Winser-Johns and a responding police officer, Randle was detained on-site away from the event. The show continued with-

out further incident. Simmons is the first drag queen and gay individual to be certified as a candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church and was invited to preach at UTD to celebrate National Coming Out Week. At Wesley’s event, Simmons delivered a sermon about the androgyny of the biblical figure Joseph and how people should not be afraid to speak up against injustice. Afterward, Simmons said that they hoped to show that anyone should be able to preach.

“I come and I preach to be like, the pulpit belongs to all people,” Simmons said. “And

SEE DRAG, PAGE

that this is about life or about heartbeats or about the life of the mother,” O’Rourke said. “This is about power and control, especially over women.”

Abbott, he said, “owns every piece” of Uvalde and other shootings in Texas, a state which — according to the Dallas Morning News — has the highest mortality rate from mass shootings in the country.

Those waiting to meet O’Rourke lined up all the way from Davidson to Chess Plaza. O’Rourke took pictures and greeted supporters from all grades and degrees for almost two hours.

Neuroscience sophomore Soumya Joshi said she wanted to get involved in politics because she has hope in O’Rourke’s promises for Texas.

“I think this new generation has a voice and has a community that should be heard,” Joshi said.

In an exclusive interview with The Mercury, O’Rourke touched on issues closer to the hearts of UTD students.

“I want to make sure that the use of state resources is a little bit more equitable across

IQ Headquarters opens

ANDRE AVERION Distribution Manager

UTD students are now welcome at the new IQ Headquarters, the next step in student entrepreneurship and city development which aims to turn 1,200 industrial acres into the future of the city.

,

MANYA BONDADA Mercury Staff

Kavya Kannan

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Opinion Editor

BEN NGUYEN| EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kyle Randle was detained on-site away from the main event until it ended.

Beto O'Rourke made the campus visit as a part of the Beto for Texas College tour, organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens and Students for Beto.

UTD PD Blotter

Copy Editor Fiyin Olajide copyeditor@utdmercury.com

Khue Vu photo@utdmercury.com

News Editor Nandika Mansingka news@utdmercury.com

Life & Arts Editor Mia Nguyen life@utdmercury.com

Opinion Editor Jack Sierputowski opinioneditor@ utdmercury.com

Web Editor Trevor Tomer web@utdmercury.com

Distribution Manager Andre Averion distro@utdmercury.com

Social Media Manager Ruby Bui media@utdmercury.com

Contributors

Danielle Bell

Charlie Chang

Jacky Chao

Ally Duong

Martin Friedenthal Katheryn Ho

Juhi Karnalkar

Zain Khan

Andrew Peters

Casey Rubio

Rylee Russell

Shriya Vyasam

September 24

• A student reported theft of a bicycle from RHW at 2:52 p.m.

September 27

• A student reported theft of a bicycle from CCHS at 4:57 p.m.

October 1

• A student reported theft of money from wallet at 12:02 p.m.

October 2

• An unattended vehicle was reported damaged by another vehicle at 11:01 p.m.

REFERENDUM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

is that the athletics fee specifically did not pass.”

With the athletics fee failing by a margin of 200 votes, the university does not currently have a set avenue for supporting the department. That being said, a prior student vote is not needed to raise fee caps — for example, UT Arlington raised their fee cap in the legislature first and afterward had students vote on whether to implement the increase.

"There was a post made on social media

APP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“When students have good ideas, you want to encourage them,” Prakash said. “[Kannan’s] genuine interest in developing this app is a good thing. Secondly, considering that everybody is under so much stress these days, if this can help even a few students, that is a significant step forward. So both these reasons are why I decided I should get involved.”

The app contains different interfaces. Some are visible to students, one is visible to volunteers and the last is for moderators to step in if the situation requires more support. No individual identifying information will be kept about any of the

BETO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“I want to make sure that the use of state resources is a little bit more equitable across public universities in Texas,” O’Rourke said. He prefaced “giving the same share of funding”

Corrections/Clarifications

that we took down by one of our team that contradicts what I just said,” Fitch said. “It said that we had already made the decision to go to the legislature about the athletics fee, which is not true…but I would expect in the next two to three weeks we’ll know what we’re going to try and do to help athletics.”

Fitch said he suspects the spread of misinformation about the athletics fee on social media contributed to the close failed vote.

One example Fitch pointed out is a Reddit post put out by Nikhil Jeeva — a computer engineering junior and the president of the men’s ultimate frisbee team — that said his

users, and all sides will remain anonymous. This promotes a safe space where students can share their issues with a peer and receive non-judgmental support. The app is not meant to replace formal means of therapy, but rather to help students better manage their emotions and connect them with individualized resources.

“The peer-service line is not meant to replace any service that currently exists, it is only meant to be an addition,” Sebeniecher said. “In a world of health promotion, which is the field that the Wellness Center is in, it’s all hands on deck. One resource or one department addressing mental health for college students is not enough. We need other ar-

that UT Austin and Texas A & M receive to schools like UTD, UT El Paso and Sam Houston State University.

“When we do that, it means that they can offer more students the ability to attend those universities,” O’Rourke said.

Bring factual errors or innacuracies to the attention of The Mercury’s staff by emailing editor@utdmercury.com or calling (972) 883-2287 and a correction will be published in this space in a future issue.

You can also DM Ben Nguyen (bln180001) on Microsoft Teams.

club wouldn’t be able to utilize the track and field complex.

"They outlined three or four points about why it was bad, but every point was inaccurate,” Fitch said. “Actually, we would've gained a net plus of one field. Yes, the track and field would be built on two fields, but there would’ve been an all-turf infield that soccer, lacrosse or ultimate frisbee could use. The other part of the plan was to go to the multipurpose field and turf that to create two more fields … what’s frustrating is that there was so much misinformation, and we were doing our best to scan those

eas to get involved and support anybody who is struggling with mental health. I want to see [the peer text line] come into fruition.”

Not many other universities have a peer-to-peer text line like the one that Kannan is developing. For schools that have a text line, it is mainly used for research purposes. Some of Kannan and other contributors’ goals for this project include extending its use to the entire UTD system and working with OIT to integrate it with the UTD app for easier access. Although all users will be kept anonymous, information such as when students are using the app and what concerns they mention will be used for fine-tuning. The goal of this informa-

He also wanted to revive programs that would pay tuition “for those willing to go into underserved or indemand professions in communities that don’t have enough … nurses, psychologists or doctors.”

Psychology junior and president of LULAC Nathalia Patricio said

SG did not appoint zero senators. Instead, there were five appointments to the senate.

Raul Hinojosa is not the Vice President for Equity Policy Education. He is actually the Assistant Vice President for Equity Policy, Education, and Administration.

sources and correct them, but by that time it was too late.”

When reached for comment, Jeeva said he was concerned about a potential power struggle between the athletics department and UREC over when club sports could use the fields.

“After processing it, I've realized that those examples I brought up before might not be 100% accurate, but what I feel is accurate is the fact that UTD club sports won't have the priority in the use of fields,” Jeeva said.

“I’m more than happy to take back those negative things I've said about athletics...I

tion collection is to give the developers a clearer idea of what times of the semester student need more mental health support and in what ways.

“One of the hard realities of a university like UTD, which is growing very rapidly, is that the resources we have are always trying to play catch up with the demands that we have,” Prakash said.

“We have good people who want to help, but they are working under constraints.”

Student volunteers are a necessary component in the project's success, and they will receive training on how to address different types of mental health concerns. Volunteers will also be able to refer users to campus, national and other resources that spread mental health aware-

that inviting O’Rourke onto campus aligned with LULAC’s goals for mobilizing the Latinx community.

LULAC hopes to get people more involved with politics and pursue educational and economic opportunities. “A lot of us are unfamiliar with

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is not abbreviated oDEI. It is instead abbreviated ODEI.

The AccessAbility Resource Center was not acquired by ODEI, nor the Student Equity Initiatives or Equity Policy Education departments merged into ODEI. The

mean, if we had [priority], I honestly would have 100% supported this.”

Fitch said that it is likely administrators will ask students to vote on an athletics referendum again in the future. Athletics Director Angela Marin was unavailable to comment.

“It’s no different than someone running for a political office,” Fitch said. “They get beat the first time, and unless they were just all in, they’re going to go back and try it again. And we’d be foolish not to. What message would that send to our studentathletes if we didn’t try again?”

ness. To qualify, volunteers must have a designation of sophomore or above and must have taken Intro to Psychology (PSY 2301). Applications for this position will be available at the beginning of each semester. Interested students should contact the Student Wellness Center for more information.

“If we can impact even one person in a positive way with this app, then the effort is worth it,” Sebeniecher said. “Making connections and supporting each other as peers is so important to the campus community. I hope we help at least one person, where they can text in and get the support they need from a peer and feel a part of the UTD community. That to me would be a success.”

the different processes because we come from a family of immigrants,” Patricio said. “We’re here to educate our community and show our people that it’s easy to have people register to vote. And we hope that this event made it easier for the UTD campus in general to register.”

former was moved into ODEI, and the latter two were created under ODEI.

We apologize for these errors.

VALORANT team shooting for the stars

to work with. That was how I basically got started, and then … when Marci got the job back in 2004, hired me as the assistant and just kinda stayed here ever since. … UTD itself presents so many good things that that’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed so long.”

However, even in spite of his long history with volleyball, the coaching shakeup has given rise to new responsibilities and problems, as Villarreal’s promotion represents the first ever coaching change in UTD volleyball history. Luckily, this changing dynamic hasn’t been too harsh on the newly appointed coach, as his longtime role as assistant has left him well prepared.

UTD’s new VALORANT team prepares to take the fight to LAN before the start of the official season.

VALORANT is a tactical team first person shooter released by Riot Games, who are mainly known for League of Legends. The game involves two teams of six fighting for control of territory with a combination of abilities and gunfights. Because of Riot’s previous support for collegiate leagues, UTD decided to support a full team for the game ahead of the start of the official collegiate VALORANT league, known as CVAL, in November. Before the start of CVAL, the team has participated in third party tournaments such as the weekly

lengthy, with over 100 potential students. Candidates were whittled down by their rank and role, and then the top 20 players were given full tryout sessions. The team ended up with players with a wide range of experience, including rookie computer engineering freshman Andrew “WinDoge” Hill, computer science junior Justin Jung and long-time player and psychology senior Brian “BrianH” Honea. Honea currently plays the duelist role on the team, which focuses on killing other players to gain advantages. Honea said that one of the team’s strengths was their varied experience with the nascent VALORANT pro scene.

“We have a lot of good experience with some of our core members,” Honea said. “So it helps with team learning and team growing.

“It’s very hard to grind out rounds in college versus really good teams,” Linden said. "They can do so much crazy stuff that you aren’t necessarily prepared for. You can only do so much with a default [strategy] and trying your best to just play safe and get kills if they’re trying to do something crazy.”

Jung and ITS sophomore Saurav “Saurav” Chaudhary serve as the team's IGL players, meaning they make snap decisions needed to coordinate the team.

the university as one of the major reasons he got into volleyball in the first place.

“I got started back at Angelo State, that’s where Coach Allison and I first met,” Villarreal said.“I got involved with volleyball … starting my freshman year in college. As a helper, I would just go in and toss balls and kinda just be around. That’s how I started to learn the game and see how practices ran and what drills to do and what position I wanted

“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of input and have a lot of responsibility as the assistant,” Villarreal said. “Being here as long as I was able to be here, I think the transition is more of the team getting used to the change in the role, getting used to me in that position, and figuring out things aren’t exactly the same. We had to change a few things and so I think that’s the difference of going from last year to this year … I think everybody’s still learning, we’re still in the learning phase, so that’s probably the biggest thing is getting used to each other in the new positions and still learning that things aren’t always gonna be the same.”

Alongside the role change, Villarreal said that it’d be important to establish a new

SEE VOLLEYBALL, PAGE 8

COURTESY | UTD ESPORTS

The VALORANT team was assembled this semester with six players, one sub, one student coach and a student team manager.

ZACH VILLAREAL

ZACHARY ROSE Mercury Staff

"Crunch Culture"

Down

"To Be Free"

CHARLIE CHANG MERCURY STAFF

CASEY RUBIO | MERCURY STAFF

BAG GUY AND LI-YA

ANDREW PETERS | MERCURY STAFF

LIFE&ARTS

Smile leaves a smile on jump-scare fans' faces

SHRIYA VYASAM Mercury Staff

Paramount’s new film, “Smile,” delivers an unpredictable plot and terrifying jump scares that will make viewers feel ready for spooky season.

The film's director, Parker Finn, has made other classics such as “the Hide Behind” and “Laura Hasn’t Slept.” “Smile,” however, is his first collaboration with Paramount and has been a fan favorite since its release on Sept. 30. What sets this horror movie apart from others is the vagueness of the evil entity that preys on its victims. It is left to the audience to decide what its true nature is. Despite its plot holes, the film proves to be a gripping and thought provoking experience.

Meteorite class crashes in at UTD

“Smile” opens with a middle-aged woman on her deathbed from an overdose. Just as the audience's curiosity peaks, the film pans over to the next scene, leaving questions unanswered. This pattern of jump cuts will be repeated, as the cinematography of this film plays a major role in scratching the viewers’ brains. The story begins when PhD candidate Laura (Caitlin Stasey) is admitted to the psychiatric ward for unusual behavior, where she meets Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), the film’s protagonist. Stasey's convincing performance of a struggling college student leaves an impression on the viewer, as her story ends in tragedy. After witnessing the suicide of her professor, Laura is followed by a supernatural

entity that precipitates a mental breakdown culminating in her own suicide. This death creates tension, as the story teases that Dr. Cotter may meet a similar fate.

At times, “Smile” is vague on plot points and prefers to focus on the atmospheric as pect of horror, leaving in its wake too many unanswered questions for comfort. Most egregious is the movie's reliance on predict able jump scares rather than gradual tension; the pattern of jump scares is formulaic to the point of boredom. This predictability was made up for by the film's brilliant cinematography, which is beyond words. Without its artful camera angles and design choices, “Smile” would have

ANDRE AVERION Distribution Manager

As one of the catalog's newest classes, Comets Love Meteorites allows students to study meteorites from around the world.

Otherwise known as GEOS 2340, this class is taught in ROC 2.203 under the tutelage of geoscience professor Bob Stern and associate professor of instruction Randy Griffin. Taught on a trial basis this semester, GEOS curriculum includes the history of our solar system, the asteroid belt and meteorites. Students can explore the unique structure and development of meteorites and the impact they have scientifically, geographically and historically.

“If you teach a course on meteorites and just make people read books about it and memorize stuff, it's terribly boring, but having samples changes everything. You can touch these [meteorites],” Stern said. “When we were telling students to go over them, find one thing to do a report on, and then they were like ‘we get to take these home? What if it's stolen, or what if we drop it?’ Like, I mean, they were really nervous because to them, it’s something that is very, very valuable. The reality is, the real value is the chance to connect students with the solar system so powerfully.”

Not only do students get to engage in lectures and presentations inside the classroom, they also get access to the Meteorite Research and Education Lab at ROC 1.213A. In this research lab, students get hands-on experience conducting specialized meteorite analytics. Using a powerful X-ray fluorescence gun (XRF), students test rock samples to see if they may be meteorites in disguise based on their mineral properties. Even students not enrolled in the class are welcome to help in the lab — with Stern's permission — or bring in their own rocks for testing.

“The students that work with this in the lab, they are doing 99% of the work,” Griffin said. “They’re helping us establish a protocol that when people bring in stuff asking, ‘is this a meteorite,’ and they go through and do all these things that you can write up a little report template. So we're very interested in what our student can do, really carrying the other leg.”

GEOS 2340 debuted this semester thanks to the collection Professor Stern received from series of donations around the world. UTD's collection hosts meteorite samples as old as the solar system that crash landed in locations as diverse as Russia, Australia, the Philippines and even our own city of Dallas.

“We have worked with the Perot Museum because they've had a really nice mineral display,” Stern said. “They got that whole fourth

SEE BAGEL, PAGE 8

BENNY's BAGELS

BEN NGUYEN Editor-in-Chief

Benny's Bagels is a convenient fix for food, though its options for drinks disappoint. Benny’s Bagels is a kosher bagel shop located five to eight minutes away from campus down Frankford Road. It sits in a strip mall just before the Hillcrest junction and is open 7 a.m. to 6

amsterdam COURTESYOFDISNEY

p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Sunday. Drinks can be obtained from the freezers or soda machine, and there is a comfortable amount of seating available. But if the only coffee options are hazelnut or regular, what is the real fix to be obtained? It is, of course, the bagels, with savory options that are straightforward

and tasty.The menu's most amusing option — my chosen dish — is the pizza bagel. Though I got it on a plain bagel, it can be ordered on any type of bagel, which makes room for some interesting combinations. It was straightforward, chewy and filling. As it turns out, pizza ingredients pair perfectly with Benny's Bagels, though this is no slight at the

cream cheese options available. Overall, Benny’s Bagels is a quintessential morning stop. The staff are friendly, and the bagels are good. And though there isn’t a great variety of drinks nor any truly bizarre bagel types, one can be assured that when they walk into Benny’s Bagels, they will get good food in whatever form they desire.

Amsterdam comes with a star-studded cast but fails to take advantage of it

Helmed by an Oscar-nominated director and performed by star-studded actors, David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” was built for success, but instead flopped as a shallow imitation of films it draws inspiration from.

Loosely based on a true story about three friends who uncover a conspiracy to overthrow the government, the film boasts brilliant performances from an A-list cast led by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington and tries to craft a funny murder-mystery around its talented performers a la Rian Johnson’s 2019 hit “Knives Out.” However, the uninspired dialogue and poor pacing take what could’ve been an energetic crowd-pleaser and turn it into a forgettable mess.

The major draw of “Amsterdam” is undoubtedly the strong cast, as the aforementioned Bale, Robbie and Washington are joined by celebrities like Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock and Taylor Swift in smaller roles. Bale commands the film as the offbeat Dr. Bert Berendsen, whose jokey attitude and wistful nature provide each of his scenes with enhanced life. But the standout performance of the film undoubtedly goes to Taylor-Joy as the snob -

bish socialite Libby Voze. Despite minimal screen time, Taylor-Joy steals every single scene she’s in, outperforming many of her more famous co-stars and proving her position as one of Hollywood’s fastest rising stars.

Unfortunately, a great cast can only take a film so far, and the bland dialogue results in a lifeless experience. The dialogue throughout “Amsterdam” attempts to replicate the screenplay writing conventions of the 1930s, the era in which the film is set, with heavy use of voiceover and dramatic character moments. However, modern film has largely moved past these conventions, making the majority of the writing feel outdated and cliché. On top of this, the film constantly breaks one of the most common rules of screenwriting: show, don’t tell. The most egregious example of this comes toward the end of the film. Instead of slowly revealing how the villain has been hiding under the heroes' noses the whole time, one character just points at another character and essentially says “he did it.” This lazy ending exemplifies the plot structure and writing of the entire film, draining whatever energy it had left and leaving a serious lack of urgency or suspense.

This lack of urgency also has roots in the pacing of “Amsterdam,” as it meanders around its interesting premise,

focusing most of the movie on unfunny, drawn-out conversations instead of plot. The film also refuses to stick to a linear narrative, jumping back and forth in time and even including imagined alternate timelines which exist entirely in some characters’ heads. While this structure works great for some films, it fails spectacularly here, confusing the audience beyond belief and preventing the film from building off its entertaining performances or premise. As soon as something interesting happens, the audience is whisked away to another time and place that they hardly care about. This lack of payoff permeates the entire film, all the way to its disappointing ending.

“Amsterdam” is not the worst movie of the year, as it does have a few redeeming qualities. Aside from the performances of the cast, the production is put together well technically, with vibrant colors and inspired costuming. But these positives are not nearly enough to overcome a weak screenplay, resulting in a movie that leaves the audience’s mind almost as soon as the credits roll. After a seven-year hiatus, David O. Russell has finally made his return to filmmaking with “Amsterdam,” but if this is the best he can do, a few more years off would have been better.

ANDRE AVERIION DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

A student examines a meteorite in class.

ZACHARY ROSE Mercury Staff

Sosie Bacon as Dr. Rose Cotter must escape the mysterious killer in "Smile".

Something's A-Foot

Students report a mysterious photographer soliciting feet pictures around Lot D

DRAG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

if a drag queen can be in it then anyone can be in it. So that’s why I’m here.”

Sebyul Baik, a literature senior and vice president of the Synergy Wesley Foundation, said that the group had concerns about the show because of recent protests at drag events. In addition, Simmons had received negative press online, as they were featured on conservative podcaster Matt Walsh’s show on Oct. 11. Walsh criticized the presence of drag queens in Christian services, shared one of Simmons’ performances of slam poetry and referred to their ideas as “cheap blasphemy” and “heretical nonsense.” Wesley had originally planned to hold the drag show at Northside but moved it last minute due to safety concerns.

“The Matt Walsh show, they have a lot of listeners, and that happening the day before our event,” Baik said. “We were really worried about the possible negative press of the name being more recognizable. And we already weren't really advertising the event online, but just to be extra safe, we decided to move it farther inwards toward campus to SU green. The last-second change was only made possible because of support from the Gender Center."

not right what’s going on here, especially combining it with perverted readings of the Bible.”

Winser-John said that he took Randle aside in order to prevent either crowd members or Randle from getting hurt and to stop any potential conflict. Once he realized what Randle’s opinions were of the event, Winser-John said he continued to try to defuse the situation so the event could continue without interruption.

“My efforts to defuse the situation were not being respected or honored,”

Winser-John said. “And campus police were called by somebody, not myself, but I did ask the student protester several times ‘I don’t want you to be detained, I don’t want that for you.’ He was asking me and everyone around him to be detained, which I told him I did not want to happen. I felt like this could be solved in a better manner than that.”

After campus police arrived, officers continued to talk with Randle alongside Winser-John, but ultimately detained him away from the main event area. After the event, ODEI Communications Manager Alexandra Pirkle said that while students are entitled to their opinions, there is a line between behavior that is acceptable and behavior that is not.

An unknown photographer harassed students on campus and solicited feet pictures.

The Mercury was in contact with three confirmed students and others who described “Nick”—a 5-foot-7 Caucasian man with a skateboard—who approached them around campus. In each encounter, students said that Nick claimed he was a photographer and asked if they wanted to take photos. The encounter eventually culminated in Nick asking them to take off their shoes, with which one student complied. Afterwards Nick obtained the victims’ phone numbers. UTD PD confirmed it is are looking for Nick.

Arianna Meisetschlaeger, a junior in ATEC, encountered Nick in August 2022. Meisetschlaeger said that Nick approached her in the afternoon near campus. Nick claimed that he was not a student at UTD, but was staying with a friend at Northside. He then asked if she would like to take photos, un-

der the guise of practicing photography as a hobby. Meisetschlaeger said that the encounter seemed like a normal photo shoot until he asked if he could take photos of her feet, at which point she said no.

“We took a bunch of photos,” Meisetschlaeger said. “I was very careful to make sure he didn't have me in any compromising positions or anything. But it was very casual, and he seemed to care that I was comfortable. But then he asked me if I could take my shoes off. And I was like, ‘why?’ And he said, ‘I just wanna get some photos of your bare feet’ or something. And he saw that I was clearly not gonna let him do that.”

A student who did not wish to be named for fear of retaliation described her encounter with Nick in late September. He approached her in a parking lot under the guise of asking for directions, told her he was a photographer and asked if she wanted to do a photoshoot. The two moved to a more secluded area of campus, where the photoshoot proceeded normally, until Nick asked her to take her shoes off.

“I had socks on so I was like, sure, why not,” she said. “I guess I'll trust his creative vision. So I took my shoes off and then he was taking more pictures and then he reached over and was like, ‘Oh, can we take your socks off?’ And he was reaching over to take them off and I was like, ‘Oh, I got it, it's fine.’ I took them off. And then he started touching my feet.”

The student described complying with Nick’s requests out of fear of retaliation.

“He was taller than me, and I didn't know him, so I wasn't gonna all of a sudden start being rude to him and just be like, ‘No, get away.’ I was like, 'Okay, whatever. Weird.' And he was taking a video, and so I was just trying to play it cool. And then after he was done touching my feet, he was like, ‘Oh, I have a YouTube channel where I get videos of people reacting to weird stuff.’ And I was like, ‘okay, yeah, just blur my face in the video.’ ”

Baik said that while organizers were nervous at the start of the event, they became more comfortable until the end of the show, when Randle’s interruption began. Baik said that they tried to guide the audience’s attention away from Randle and keep the event moving.

“From the leadership perspective of things, I think that we handled it really well, and I was really surprised at how well our whole team dealt with things,” Baik said. “We tried really hard to redirect the energy from being super angry or from engaging with him much. We tried not to let people yell back too much, we tried to keep the mood light, kept going on with the show. Chanted, did fun things, kept cheering.”

Randle and other students came to watch the event after hearing Christian music. After listening to the sermon and seeing the subsequent drag show, Randle walked to where the performers were preparing to dance and spoke to the crowd.

“I go in the middle of the event and I say, ‘This is not Christ-like,’” Randle said. “‘This is disordered, perverted, it’s

“When it crosses that line into causing harm, that’s when intervention is required,” Pirkle said. “When the opinions exist on their own, that’s a totally separate story. But it’s when that line is crossed into being, in a way, inflicted on another person, that’s when action needs to be taken, in our view.”

Simmons and the other XAI drag performers finished the show after the interruption, and Simmons said they danced to show that they were ultimately unaffected.

“There’s nothing people say that is new,” Simmons said. “Queer folks have heard it all. It’s the air we breathe, the society we live in. So, what better way to celebrate, then, by dancing? In the queer community, there’s such an emphasis on dancing, on enjoyment and on just pure joy. And so that’s the heart of drag for me, and that’s what I hope to do in churches. And that’s what we’re doing with the protesters here. No matter what anyone says, we’re gonna be ourselves and we’re gonna have fun while doing it too. I believe that the divine is a being that is joy-filled and loves to dance, so why not emulate that?”

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Opinion Editor

Speak up on Iran: Silence is Violence

The Iranian people have reached a turning point in fighting for their rights, and the international world either stands with them or against them

Stop Packing Up Early

Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, gave a speech in the United Nations on September 21, 2022. While he was giving his speech about human rights, people were being shot by the government of Iran for protesting the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in morality police custody.

government, the Iranian people had enough. Women came out of their houses to burn their hijab, while men supported them. Together, they are protesting the Islamic dictatorship which has held the Iranian people hostage for almost half a century.

As an Iranian woman in America, I choose to lend my voice to the Iranians inside of Iran. We already know that people’s communication is heavily filtered in Iran, since the government controls what they have access to. But then why is it that the U.S. is silent?

SHARHZED HAMZEH

The morality police patrol the streets of Iran and arrest anyone who is not wearing hijab “correctly.” It is for wearing hijab “incorrectly” that Mahsa Amini was arrested, beaten and tortured, leading to her death. Amini was not the first victim of the morality police, and she will not be the last if the world keeps ignoring what is happening in Iran. There has never been a clear statement on what is the “right” way to wear hijab from the government. All it says is it will arrest those who are not wearing it correctly. Iranian women leave the house in fear every morning wondering if they are going to be arrested for what they have on.

I should be clear — Iranian women used to leave the house in fear. Now, they are defiant. Right after Mahsa Amini’s murder at the hands of the

There is President Biden, who sat there as Raisi hypocritically talked about human rights on PBS News, but later said he stands with the Iranian people.

“Today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights,” Biden told the General Assembly of the United Nations on Sept. 21.

That is an outright lie. To stand with the Iranian people is to break the silence. To stay silent in front of the Iranian government is a crime. It is violence in itself.

As Ebrahim Raisi was giving his speech about freedom and human rights on PBS News, people in Iran were desperately trying different VPNs to get past the Islamic Republic’s internet lockdown. The Islamic government intentionally shut off the Iranian people from the internet so they could be killed without the world noticing. While Raisi was talking about justice, the Iranian people’s simple requests were answered with bullets. The Iranian people only want freedom. In response, the government shut off the internet, just like it did in November

2019 when people were peacefully protesting gas prices. After the internet shutdown in 2019, the government killed 1,500 people in a matter of days.

As Raisi was giving his own speech in the United Nations assembly, the United Nations was posting on Instagram that the violence against women must stop. As an Iranian woman, I prefer not to hear the United Nations or Biden tell me that they are standing with the Iranian people, because they are not. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Well, guess what? You need to pick a side. You either stand with the Iranian people or you stand with the Islamic government. Standing with the government of the Islamic Republic either means that all the slogans about human rights you share are lies or that they only apply to people in your own country. Unlike you, those in Iran are denied these rights. I have to wonder if the people who share these slogans but still support Raisi know what they are doing. Do they really care about us? Do I, as an Iranian woman, matter? Is my life worth fighting for? Or are the only women who deserve a voice the ones with blue eyes?

I do not want your prayers. I want you to speak up. I want you to break the silence. I want you to be the person you claim to be. Be our ally on the outside. Be our voice. Let everyone know what is happening inside of Iran. Share post from the inside. Spread the hashtags.

Remember, when a population is being persecuted, silence is violence. Don’t be silent. Help our sisters. Demand an end to the violence. Lend your voices with me to those who cannot speak. This must end!

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Opinion Editor

Students should show their professors more respect and stop packing up early.

We've all been in a class like this. Basic pre-requisite, so no one gives a crap. One hundred and twenty people in a lecture hall. And then in the last 10 minutes of class, when the professor begins a recap, it seems half the students think class is already over. The backpacks zip up, chairs scoot back … so many sounds stack on top of one another, it is impossible to hear anything. The professor is simply forced to acquiesce and end class early. People, why do you feel the need to pack up early?

Are you really in such a rush to get to your next class? Maybe you have to go from Jonsson to JSOM in five minutes, but I doubt this is true for the average person. And if it is, it still indicates poor foresight. You have agreed at enrollment to attend a class at this exact time, for this exact duration of time. You have literally signed your agreement to this contract by paying tuition, and you have once again signed on by sitting in your seat today. So why leave before you promised you would?

This brings me to my next point — every minute you spend in class is paid for by your tuition (one of the highest public tuitions in the state). So, why are you so willing to throw that time away? Is it perhaps that money isn’t a concern for you? My scholarship only covers eight semesters. I have one shot at this education, and I don’t want to miss a single minute of it. I am lucky enough to get significant financial aid from UTD, and I don’t even feel comfortable throwing those few minutes away. So why do you? Is

it Daddy’s money? Or, even more confusing, could you be just as broke as me? Because if you are responsible for your own finances, the only explanation I can think of is that you are disrespectful on a basic person-to-person level. Educators in America need all the support they can get, and you are not helping the way that professors are already treated.

I’m not some hardheaded traditionalist. I don’t believe that elders deserve respect just because they are elders — especially if they are nasty people. I believe those who earn our respect deserve our respect, and that those who treat us with dignity and care should be treated the same way. But then why is it that I find people disrespecting even the most devoted professors?

Do you think your professors came to UTD of all places because they thought they would get rich? The vast majority of professors I know are motivated by a passion for their subject, a love of teaching and a genuine care for their students. You think your one-hour lecture is tough to sit through? The average professor has put more hours of planning into that lecture than any student will ever see or likely even think of. By rebuking those precious minutes of instruction, you are disregarding that professor’s passion and hard work. You are labeling as worthless the ridiculous amount of extracurricular time they spend planning for your success — and all so you don’t have to think about it.

By disrespecting your professor’s time, you are both forfeiting your own education and failing to show your instructor basic human decency. So please, take a seat. You’ll survive 10 more minutes.

unlike those in Iran —have the ability to speak out and should use their freedom to do so.

“I did vote ‘Yes.’ I would like UTD to develop working in the Student Union and I know how old the campus is. The number of students here are growing so I would like the space to grow as well to accommodate that. Plus, I hate being hit by the ping pong balls.”

- Diandra Nelson, Senior, Neuroscience

JUHI KARNALKAR MERCURY STAFF

Packing up early is disruptive to fellow students and disrespectful to professors.

SHARHZED HAMZEH Courtesy

UTD students —

Richardson's current goal for the region is to restart partnerships between businesses and encourage a fresh start for local entrepreneurship. Located at 1302 E. Collins Blvd, the IQ Headquarters is a partnership between the city and UTD and the first building to be placed in the new Telecom Corridor. Sarah Crowe, marketing communications manager for UTD at the IQ, said that the project has tried to prioritize student engagement.

“We developed offerings, mentorship, programs, pitch, competition, accelerator, seed fund, all of these things,” said Sarah Crowe, marketing communications manager for UTD at the IQ. “We have workshops, all work with students who want to explore entrepreneurship, and then those who actually

coaching philosophy, as a philosophy can often represent a framework for everything a new coach hopes to accomplish. Drawing from what he learned under former head coach and UTD volleyball founder Marci Allison, Coach Villarreal hopes to carve out a renewed

want to launch a business. And then we also deal with those who are currently working on business ideas. So it's all the way from ideation to launch and then acquisition. We work campus wide.”

Eugene Garza, program coordinator for UTD at the IQ, said that the project hopes to put a spotlight on student talent.

"Starting with the best that we got to offer, which is you guys, the students,” Garza said, “and from there, moving on to the top level research that we have. At the same time, we want to imitate the place where a lot of the top tier universities are doing things like Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and we want to get up to that level, right? We want to do that by focusing on pushing forward this talent that's coming out of the university.”

In the month since its opening, both UTD leadership and Richardson officials have welcomed students and busi-

relationship to the players and to the team in order to propel them to success.

“(My philosophy) is probably … ‘life parallels sport.’" Villareal said.

"We have standards for success that Marci helped develop and we got to input on that and we’ve carried it forward, and it’s just a lot of common sense things. Be on time. Be

ness alike into the IQ Headquarters. City officials now reside inside the IQ after the City Hall fire on Aug. 22. This close-quarters partnership has opened up a series of opportunities that are expected to be in full bloom in the following months in preparation for December demonstrations and open houses.

“We're in this setup stage,” Garza said. “Like we're talking to certain professors about perhaps hosting their classes here, classes in politics and economics. That it'd be great for them to have those neighbors [the Richardson government] right there and get exposure to that. But right now, the student engagement is limited to the ones working with the senators, just because that's the reach we have right now. We are in the process of communicating with all the different student organizations to let them know that we are here. We're good to go now. And if they'd like to,

respectful of the clock. Be a good teammate. When you graduate from school, and you’re gonna go probably work somewhere where you’re gonna have to work with people, so I think the sport allows you to either enhance what you may be good at or teaches you how to be better at something that you may struggle with, and so having

you know, host events here used as space for maybe hosting a hackathon here. Things like that. So we I guess the first step is to activate the space. So right now it's a bit limited since we're in the initial stages of doing that.”

The front door of UTD entrepreneurship began with the Blackstone Launchpad — a program linked to universities across the country — which has become a funnel for students interested in the IQ. Two primary UTD entities that contributed to the development of the IQ Headquarters are the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Office of Research and Innovation, which received a grant in 2017 to build their own space. Garza said that the Blackstone Launchpad helps students pitch and prepare their business idea and the Venture Development Center helps students develop the idea further, connect with mentors and secure initial

to work with people in a group setting prepares you for life and being responsible. … And so that’s probably the biggest thing philosophywise, ‘the sport parallels life’.”

Considering UTD volleyball’s seven ASC Championships and 419 wins under Allison, Villarreal certainly has big shoes to fill, but with an early 8-1 record in confer-

funding. The final step in the process is through the IQ Headquarters, which will help students network with larger investors.

“Once you have actually some funding and you have some investors,” Garza said, “you have some strength behind you, then we can sort of push you to showcase you, and [the IQ] is the place where we would like to do that. We have speaker series, we have different networking events, and things like that where you can rub elbows with some of those bigger fish here in the area. And they can actually maybe take an interest in that company and push it forward further."

Five centers connected to UTD will find a home at the IQ Headquarters: the Center for Applied AI with UTD Expertise, the Center for Applied AI and Machine Learning, Multi-Scaled Integrated Interactive Intelligent Sensing

ence and an 11-4 record overall, the team seems to be moving in the right direction under new leadership and a new philosophy. However, Villarreal recognizes there’s still a lot of games left to play.

Center, the Center for Smart Mobility, and the Center for Imaging and Surgical Innovation. By coordinating with the IQ Headquarters, UTD hopes to attract regional startups, research ventures and entrepreneur communities for student exposure. “We asked the question,” Crowe said, “why are so many students coming to UTD but then taking their talents to the West Coast or the East Coast? Why are we losing them? We know that a source of economic development and growth long-term comes from entrepreneurs starting new businesses, but they also come from highly intelligent students that go and work in industry, the future of industry. So we're here to help explore entrepreneurship and help show them where they can access funding to help them scale and grow. But also just to be a guiding hand and support for all their endeavors.”

conference, a lot of the teams that are traveling have suffered some losses. … Our second half of conference objective is the same thing as the first, which is to finish first in conference again, and so our record as of last weekend, when we got back home, I said ‘as of Monday, our record in the ASC is 0-0’ and that’s how we’re refocusing.”

easily been overcome by blandness. From extremely creative transitions to confusing camera movements, viewers are left

METEORITE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

SMILE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 floor about the Solar System and the universe, and no space for meteorites. So I talked with the curator of the minerals and I said, you know, if you guys find the meteorites, let us know. Recently she said, you

FEET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

Meisetschlaeger said that she was surprised at seeing the Reddit post because of the similarity between students’ experiences. In all of the stories, Nick had a

with lingering fear and anticipation throughout the entirety of the twisted story. Even though the first scene has no words, the movement of the camera is strong enough in visual storytell -

know, we found a meteorite.

It fell and it was something they found in Duncanville in 1961, and now it’s here [in the laboratory].”

Currently, the class is mainly composed mostly of freshmen.

Enrolled students engage in discussion after learning about a particular meteorite sample.

skateboard and a professional camera, asked directions to a coffee shop and was persuasive enough to initiate a photoshoot.

“So he follows sort of a script whenever he's going after different girls,” Meisetschlaeger said. “But I do remember he

ing that the tale it tells leaves a mark, creating a strong tone that affects the rest of the plot.

The biggest takeaway from “Smile” is the importance of facing your fears. Unlike many hor -

However, any UTD students with an interest are welcome to stop by the laboratory adjacent to the geoscience club to ask questions or hang out.

“I came into this lab knowing next to nothing about meteorites,” lab technician Kaitlin Pickens said. “I mean, I thought they were cool. And I

did take me to a secluded part of campus. I was still within, I guess, earshot of other people. But there were so many similarities. And I didn't realize until afterwards that I was in a more dangerous situation than I realized.”

Assistant Chief of Police Brent

ror movies, this film has a strong and salient message — in order to move forward, Dr. Cotter is forced to confront the violent ghosts of her past. Although the point is exaggerated, the film

wanted lab work. So Dr. Stern was like, ‘Hey, you want to work in the meteorite laboratory?’, and I was like sure, why not? And I've learned so much about meteorites just by being around them. I have a much greater respect for them now than I ever did.”

This class is expected to return

Tourangeau confirmed that UTD PD is looking for Nick and encouraged students who have encountered him to report their experience.

Meisetschlaeger suggested that campus security should be increased around the areas Nick has visited, like the space

shows that clinging to the pain of the past will only make life more difficult.

If you prefer atmospheric approaches to horror and character-focused stories, then “Smile”

in fall of 2023 if the class is deemed a success by administration. Students who meet the honors requirement — or otherwise are given permission — can enroll in the class as an extracurricular, which is expected to grow as student interest increases. By getting access to these meteorites, Stern

near Callier Center and Northside. The anonymous student said that she still parks in the same place she did when she first encountered Nick, because she wants to confront him. She encouraged other students to remain vigilant.

“I'm more reporting it for other

is for you. However, if you are a stickler on a clear plot, you may find this film frustrating. Regardless, “Smile” is a must-watch horror movie this Halloween season.

said, UTD is giving students a unique opportunity. “These are the oldest things that anybody will ever touch,” Stern said. “There is nothing older in this solar system than a meteorite. So, when you put your hand on that meteorite, you will touch something that's 4.56 billion years old.”

people,” the student said. “Because personally, this is just a weird kind of funny experience, but for other people obviously, I want other people to be safe and aware in case this would affect them … I mean, don't make the same mistake I did.”