The Mercury 10 18 21

SG recommends re-de-densifying

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

Student Government passed a resolution calling upon the University to extend dedensification protocols to the end of the fall semester on Oct. 5, five days after UTD returned to full-density instruction.

Dorm windows cannot weather October storm

Several Comets reported property damage from leaky windows last week

During the past week’s influx of thunderstorms and rainy weather, several Comets faced issues with water leaks in their residences – and with little help from the housing offices, some have resorted to fixing the problems themselves.

From Oct. 10-14, severe thunderstorms made their way across Richardson, leading to minor flooding in many apartments and dorms. Students have reported these incidents along with other issues but have had slow responses from the housing offices and maintenance.

Some cases of the leaks have been more severe than others. Psychology sophomore Maddie Jennings said their laptop was soaked after their apartment window seal collapsed from the storms. Despite being classified as an “emergency visit,” maintenance failed to resolve the issue.

“There was water literally pouring onto the mainframe of my computer, dripping through it,” Jennings said. “I had just fixed it myself because the wifi hadn’t been working for almost two months. Originally, they said they’d come sometime in the next week and my RA had to call [housing services] several times to convince them to come sooner. A guy ended up coming out the next day and telling me there wasn’t anything they could do because it was ‘part of roofing.’”

Leaks have been an ongoing issue, only exacerbated by the recent rains. Chemistry senior Jason Davidson, who has faced previous issues with leaks as well as other problems in his housing, said, “[Maintenance] was fairly quick. They came to fix it the next day, but the staff said that the windows were not installed well, and they were sealed poorly and that's why they were leaking. But instead of fixing it, they just put more caulk over it. Which did seal it up, but I feel like it will start leaking again.”

Director of Housing Operations Hayley Minton said she was not aware of the influx of leaks and claimed that leaks are inevitable with harsh weather.

“Anytime there is severe weather, it doesn’t matter where you live, there is a possibility of leaks,” Minton said. “And I do not know if there is a history of leaks prior to [this week], but when there are high winds and rain, there will always be a possibility of leaks somewhere.”

Students can report any housing issues such as leaks and rainy weather incidents as an emergency or a work order. Emergency orders will be prioritized, but students have claimed that their emergency orders are being addressed quickly but not getting solved completely.

“We have a dedicated maintenance staff, and they try to turn around work orders as quickly as they can. They will always prioritize water, plumbing, electrical, air conditioning and heat first because those are safety and security things for students,” Minton said. “Then we will go into other work orders. We will not always get to those as soon as students would like us to be able to do it. We are short-staffed in maintenance, but we still are addressing work orders as soon as we can.”

SG also passed resolutions recommending faculty keep seating charts for their classrooms, give students continued access to recorded lectures and eliminate assignments requiring in-person attendance. SG will meet with the Academic Senate on Oct. 20, who will then decide whether to pass the resolutions – or altered versions of them – onto the University.

Cognitive science sophomore and Academic Affairs Chair Kruthi Kanduri, who

helped write and voted in favor of all four resolutions, said her committee pursued the proposals in alignment with student interest – and to help with contact tracing efforts for the seating chart proposal. The committee gauged student opinion through a classroom policy and de-densification survey in late September, where 2,505 students (over 80% of survey respondents) voted in support of extending de-densification for the rest of the fall semester.

“All of the resolutions are limited to the fall 2021 semester,” Kanduri said. “This is mainly because the COVID-19 pandemic is so variable – it keeps changing. As far as this semester goes, we’re halfway through it at this point, and it’s a difficult transition for stu-

More waits than weights

Overcrowded spaces, long wait periods and a lack of quantity and quality of equipment are only a few of the complaints expressed by students this semester about University Recreation facilities on campus. These issues are not uncommon, especially as UTD’s rapidly growing campus nears 30,000 students. However, gymgoers’ frustration due to surging volume seems to have reached a climax, with the subreddit r/utdallas garnering several posts by students regarding their experiences in the Activity Center.

In a post labeled “Rant,” Redditor unhappycamper6969 said, “Every time I go to the gym on campus it’s always busy as hell and all the machines are falling apart. Like they can’t expand it or upgrade the machines? I just want to be able to get a good workout in.”

Similarly, user theproz99 said in a different post, “I desire more benches. There aren't enough. I show up early and they’re full. Don't even get me started on the squat racks.”

Students on campus, like biomedical engineering junior Leighton Anderson, were generally satisfied with the quality of UREC services but frequently cited crowding as a limiting factor in their usage of the Activity Center.

“I never use the Activity Center,” Anderson said. “I’ve got my own gym in my apartment complex. It’s not nicer, but there’s less people and it’s not as crowded. When I went [to the Activity Center] the first time, it was super packed.”

UREC Director Tricia Losavio said that while she did see a noticeable increase in equipment usage this semester, even during off-hours in the early mornings, this was partly due to the aftereffects of and adjustment to the pandemic.

“The fitness area is always crowded at the start of the semester; it's new to everybody,” Losavio said. “And then on top of that, you have two groups of students who have never stepped foot on campus wanting to work out and get out since they've been cooped up for 18 months. With Rec Center West being taken offline as a COVID testing site, that just added to the volume. Was it an initial shock to see almost 80 people working out at 8 a.m. the first day of classes? Yes, I'm not going to lie, that's never happened in the 17 years that I've been here.”

As for equipment, new cardio machines are cycled out on a three-year

rotation, with stationary bikes replaced one year, treadmills the next, ellipticals after and so forth. The selectorized equipment has a much longer shelf life, so the maintenance usually only goes as far as cleanliness in appearance and upkeep, such as making sure seats aren’t ripped.

“We're 18 months behind,” Losavio said. “I haven't been able to do much maintenance or operating, and we are just trying to catch up. Some of the equipment takes longer to get fixed. We have a maintenance company that services the equipment every three months, and if we have something that's down, we schedule an appointment for them to come out and look at the equipment, diagnose it, order parts, install them. There's not a fitness hardware store that I can just walk into and order a new weight stack. That is specialized equipment you have to be certified to work on.”

Outside of the main gym, club sports practicing in the auxiliary gymnasiums and multipurpose rooms also face problems with space. Computer science senior and fencing club president Kurt Eggers said his team is the second largest club sport at UTD, but they only have access to one basketball court space and a small closet space that’s shared with another club, making it difficult to fit fifty members in a sport that takes up so much area.

“It can get really cramped,” Eggers said. “Space is kind of the limiting factor for the fencing club. We could be so much more efficient with our practices; more people could fence at one time, so less people are just waiting around, sitting down, talking and people get to fence right at the same time. And on top of that, it [would be] way safer. I've recognized [UREC staff] are doing as best they can with the space that they've got, but I think the spaces

are just too small for how big club sports have become.”

Biology senior and men’s volleyball secretary Shivatej Dubbaka also raised concerns over safety and diminishing membership for his organization.

“It’s too compact. With the amount of people that we have, people are tripping over each other and that kind of stuff. That's something we had to deal with early on. Now as the semester’s kind of trickled in, members got to realize there's so many people, so they stopped showing up as well. And so, I think that kind of hindered our club growth,” Dubbaka said.

The Activity Center opened in 1998, and in the spring of 2005, an expansion project was completed to double the area from 4,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet. That remains the size of the fitness center, although several multipurpose rooms have also been added to the building to incorporate more club sports and group exercise classes. Meanwhile, UTD’s peers have recreational facilities that are substantially larger and more accessible to their student bodies. For instance, UT Austin has over 500,000 square feet of indoor recreational space and over 40 acres of outdoor space. Texas A&M currently has about 400,000 square feet of recreational space, including a new rec center which opened this past spring, and recently broke ground on yet another facility.

Losavio – attributing them to UTD’s fast growth over a short period of time – acknowledged the spacing concerns, noting that the recommendation for a university recreational center is at least 10 square feet per student.

So, for a campus with 30,000 students, there should be 300,000 square feet of recreational space; yet UREC facilities – totaling just under 150,000 square feet – are approximately half of that. However, for an expansion to occur again, students would have to agree to a doubling or tripling of their $65 recreation fee.

“To build a 300,000 square foot facility, you have to think about the design process at the time of inception, and it’s probably years out before you even break ground,” Losavio said.

“Building a facility is like a two-year process, but students have to vote on it, they have to pass the referendum, it goes down to the UT System for approval, the Board of Regents has to approve it. Students will start seeing an increase in their fee to start generating revenue needed to build it [before that happens]. … I would love to see a new facility before I retire, so hopefully maybe we can work on that.”

ADAMARIS DOMINGUEZ | MERCURY STAFF

Gymgoers are generally satisfied with the quality of UREC services but are unhappy about their busyness.

Editor-in-Chief Tyler Burkhardt editor@utdmercury.com (972) 883-2294

Managing Editor Ben Nguyen managingeditor @utdmercury.com (972) 883-2287

Graphics Editor Alesandra Bell graphics@utdmercury.com

Photo Editor Anna Phengsakmueang photo@utdmercury.com

Richardson, TX 75080-0688

From The Mercury Archives: Oct. 23, 1995 Ghosts, Ghoulies, and Things that go bump in the night

No one doubts college can be a scary place. Just ask freshmen before their first final exam.

But few college students would say their fears have anything to do with monsters under the bed or goblins in the closet.

Maybe they should. Nationwide, ghostly legends thrive on campuses.

“There’s just so much going on in college buildings when you think about their history, not to mention some of the high emotions that people have when they’re in school,” says Richard Crowe, a supernatural phenomena expert who’s based in Chicago. “Ghosts can thrive on those emotions. They can tap into the anxieties that people have.”

Still, Crowe says most ghosts just want to be noticed. “If people pay attention to them and let them co-exist, they’re usually fine,” he says. “The problems sometimes start when people try to deny that they exist.”

For many students across the nation, the question about whether ghosts exist has been answered by their campus experiences. For example:

For years, students at Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pa., have maintained that North Hall is haunted by Sarah. Sarah, according to campus legend, is the ghost of a student who committed suicide by leaping over a railing through an open atrium in the building. She allegedly killed herself because of love gone wrong.

The building, which was built in 1874, has been vacant for many years, giving Sarah plenty of room to roam. Mansfield students say they sometimes see Sarah in the windows of the building’s top floor, supposedly looking for her former lover.

• Several students living in North Spencer residence hall at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro say they’ve had the opportunity to meet

Annabelle—whether they wanted to or not.

Legend has it that Annabelle is the ghost of a student who committed suicide in one of the building’s bell towers. And while they don’t know what she’s looking for, students say they sometimes hear her walking the halls of the dorm.

Dorm residents have reported spotting a blue haze passing through the hall at times and have witnessed objects flung across different rooms. The ghost apparently gets antsy when the students are gone for the summer, since most occurrences have taken place when the dorm is occupied by summer school students and residence hall advisors.

Fisher Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, has a long history of hauntings. Throughout stints as a women’s college and a sanitarium, residents of Fisher Hall have reported seeing moving objects and hearing mysterious noises.

When the building became a freshman dormitory in the 1950s, Fisher resident Ronald Tammen disappeared from campus. His belongings were placed in their normal fashion in his room; his car was found locked and parked in the student lot; and his life was seemingly in perfect order, according to authorities. A massive nationwide search turned up nothing, and Tammen was never found.

A few months later, students in the dorm often heard a voice singing in the woods directly behind the

building. A few days later, students saw a long-haired, tall figure walking toward the building while singing. Ever since, similar sightings have taken place in and around the building.

• Members of the Delta Sigma Phi house on the Kansas State University campus often get a sample of ‘the final frontier’ from their Star Trek-loving ghost.

The building, which was a hospital before the fraternity took over, is home to George, the ghost of an elderly patient who died after falling off his bed. He suffocated while wedged between the bed and the wall. George was a big “Star Trek” fan, a fondness that obviously continues even after his death, say fraternity members. In 1973, an ice storm knocked out power on the entire KSU campus for several days. But at the Delta Sigma Phi house, electricity was mysteriously restored every day from 4-5 p.m., just long enough for George and the men of Delta Sigma Phi to catch the “Star Trek” rerun on the local station.

• University of California-Berkeley professor Henry Stephens lived in Room 219 at the Faculty Club for more than 20 years. And after his death in 1919, students walking under the window of the building said they often heard Stephens reciting his poetry. The circumstances were forgotten until the 1970s, when a visiting Japanese scholar stayed in the same room. Without any knowledge of its previous resident, Noriyuki Tokuda told others that he was visited by a ghost one night and said that an older man was sitting on a chair quietly watching him. The next night, Tokuda said he saw two heads floating across the room near the ceiling.

Marco Buscaglia College Press Service

MERCURY ARCHIVES

PC bang provides a dedicated space for aspiring esports players to say 'GG EZ'

GG EZ Gaming Café hosts esports tournaments with UTD clubs and more

Coach check-in: Terry Butterfield

Men's basketball head coach says young team is expected to play 'exciting' brand of basketball this winter

TYLER BURKHARDT Editor-in-Chief

In this week’s Coach Check-in, I sat down with Terry Butterfield, men’s basketball head coach, to discuss the makeup of the team’s roster and what preparation for the season is going to look like.

So, first off, with the season starting in a couple weeks, what does preseason preparation for the team look like?

per se is affected by what happened last year. It'll be interesting to see how many of the guys in this current group, once they get to the end of their eligibility, elect to stay on and play an extra year. That's sort of a face card in the hip pocket, so to speak.

Talk to me about the pros and cons of having this younger group.

After reopening, GG EZ have slowly started to attract more regular

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

With a return to in-person operations, many student organizations, gaming or otherwise, have flocked to a rarer sight in America but a staple of Korean gaming culture: the local PC bang.

UTD’s local PC bang is the GG EZ Gaming Café, home to PCs loaded with a variety of games available for play on an hourly basis. Joseph Cho, UTD alum and one of the shop’s owners, runs the café with his two older brothers. Inspired by visiting PC bangs in Korea, the brothers opened up GG EZ concurrent with esports’ rise to cultural relevancy.

“Back then, people would be like, ‘Esports is not a sport.’ But it takes a lot of skill, like how people are skilled in basketball and football and stuff like that. Time and practice,” Cho said. “I feel like, in the esports field, it’s just going to continue to grow. We wanted to do something that would bring people together to play games and also enjoy tournaments. … We wanted to do something that would bring everyone together and enjoy their hobbies.”

The café is the standard PC bang affair: a $5 hourly rate to play on a PC loaded with competitive esports including League of Legends, Overwatch, PUBG, COD Warzone, Fortnite and more. The concept is not entirely foreign to the U.S., with a few other gaming cafes in the DFW area, but GG EZ is the closest one to campus. It acts as a dedicated play space for the most popular competitive video games, especially for students who may not be able to afford an expensive PC to run

the games optimally. Cho said that the café serves as a hangout spot for a few UTD organizations as well.

“I went to UTD, so I tried to talk to a lot of people, clubs like UTD LoL. And we got the UTD VALORANT team to come out and play in the tournament,” Cho said. “Talking about JSA [Japanese Student Association], they’re actually here every other week on Thursdays.

After the meeting they want to do something, so they asked if they could come here and just chill out and play games, and we told them it was fine. And I believe we’re talking to someone else that goes to UTD; he actually hosts Guilty Gear and stuff like that every other Saturday.”

The café also hosts LAN tournaments for a variety of games, including Call of Duty, VALORANT, Super Smash Brothers, Teamfight Tactics and League of Legends. While they usually have about two to three events every week, Cho says that they’re starting to plan more regular events for people to attend.

“We’re trying to do this thing called Fight Club, which is all fighting games, and we’re just trying to get people out on Fridays. And we’re trying to do a Smash tournament and other games you can play like Tekken, Street Fighter, Dragon Ball Z, so we’re trying to get more people out here.”

In combination with clubs at UTD and the UTD Esports team, GG EZ is starting to provide more opportunities for competitive esports play locally in a LAN setting. The café offers both the main PC area and a set of private rooms that UTD clubs and the Esports team have used. While there haven’t

The best and worst of esports today

been a large amount of 5v5 events for games like Rainbow Six Siege and VALORANT, games like Teamfight Tactics where each contestant plays for themselves have attracted players. ITS senior and LOLUTD president Jennifer Nguyen recently set up a Teamfight Tactics tournament at the location with a cash prize, deciding on GG EZ over the cafes in Carrollton due to location and ease of setup.

“We didn’t need to use any of the private rooms; we could just use the [PCs] in the middle. We basically let them know two weeks ahead of time we were going to have some people and expecting two lobbys, three lobbys maximum,” Nguyen said. “It went pretty easily actually. Their methods of contact are email and Instagram, and using Instagram makes it a lot easier because it’s faster for us to communicate than just waiting for emails to go back and forth. They were really nice throughout the entire process and gave us a discount for having a lot of people. … Overall, it was very easy to work with them.”

In order to better design a competitive play space, Cho says that they’ll be holding more events in the future and expanding the kinds of games they run tournaments for so that they can attract a wider variety of players.

“On our Instagram, we try to post and ask the community what they want,” Cho said. We usually try to do it because we just want people to come out for the game they like to do – not just keep it kind of like a small pool [of games] but actually have a big pool. We’re trying to do Apex, PUBG and Dota 2.”

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

“Well, actually, today is our first official practice. October 15 sort of begins, begins it all for all of the U.S. Division Three basketball folks. The kids have been doing things on their own up to this point; they've been lifting and conditioning and getting in the gym on their own, but now I finally get my hands on them. It's always an exciting day to go into that first practice and have a chance to interact with them on a regular basis. Now, my upperclassmen tell me that the group we have this year is intense, enthusiastic. They really like the chemistry so far. Again, everything that they've done has been of an unofficial nature, but I have heard nothing but good things from my upperclassmen when I've asked them how everything was going. So, I think that's a real positive.”

That's great to hear. What is your preseason practice regimen for them going to look like for the next couple of weeks?

“Well, that's a great question. I'm always anxious about this period of time because we start practice today, October 15. Our first game is on November 9, so as we figure, we've got about 17 practice dates to get the team ready to play. And for me personally, it creates some anxiety for me because there's so much to cover in such a short period of time … and on top of that, we're trying to do a couple of new things this year. Which means, you know, that's going to be new for the upperclassmen as well as the new kids, so that necessitates going in there and teaching with precision teaching, with logic, you know, making sure they understand what new things we want to do. That's a, that's a big challenge for a coach, no matter how long he's been in the game.”

How has COVID and some of the affiliated changes – the extended eligibility, potentially disruption of recruitment activities the past year, etc. – how has that impacted the makeup of this year's roster?

“None of the guys that graduated last year elected to come back to the University. So, there are a number of guys obviously on our roster now that will have that extra year if they so desire. But probably the most unique thing about our team this year is that it’s a very young group: we have maybe one senior. But even Colton [Pruitt] didn't play last year because he tore his Achilles early on in practice. So, in a sense, he's a new guy too, but because we have such a young group, I don't know that our roster

“The only con that I can think of is that we'll take the floor for our first practice with some experience, but not total experience. We have a lot of new inexperienced players, and transitioning from the high school game to the college game is always a huge challenge because you're leaving one coach in his system and you now are with another coach who may see the game completely different. So, getting the new kids up to speed with our culture and in the way that we do things both offensively and defensively is a big deal, and we know that. Usually you're not going to see the best in a new kid until a little later in the year when he's really sort of adapted and feels comfortable.

Now on the other side of that, the pros are that it infuses a whole new energy, passion and excitement into our team. And our upperclassmen that I have talked to randomly have said that the new kids are really exciting to be around. They're not only talented but they just have great energy and great enthusiasm. They're all great kids, they have fit in with the upperclassmen very well. We believe in sort of a mantra of all for one and one for all. So, all conversation that's been directed to me has been very positive about this infusion of energy that the new kids are bringing around. …I feel very excited and optimistic about the kinds of people we have in the program; their character, their work ethic and all the intangibles lead me to a fairly strong level of excitement [this year].”

So, what's, what's the outlook for the year – what are you hoping to achieve?

“Well, our goal every year is to find a way to win our league and win our conference tournament, which then springboards into the national tournament. So that's always our goal. You know, we sort of view ourselves as a national program. I think our track record speaks to that, and I would want nothing less from our guys. I don't care if we're young; they don't care if we're inexperienced. When you play hard and you play with intelligence, you have a chance to win every game. So, hopefully, when we get to February, we're in there battling for a top spot in the ASC tournament and, and consequently, an opportunity, you know, to be one of the top dogs.

One thing I would want to do is to ask the campus community to get behind our basketball team. I think that our guys are going to play an exciting brand of basketball. I think [Comets] will have a lot to cheer about and get excited about if they like basketball. We're the only sport going during the winter, so I think it's a great opportunity to have an afternoon or night out, to come and see a ball game and to get excited and let some energy go in the stands. We need that. We welcome that. And we’re just as excited to see how this team evolves.”

Cloud 9 make it to knockouts

For the first time in 3 years, an NA team has made it past the group stage at the League of Legends World Championship. After starting 0-3 in the group stage, they were able to bring it back and deliver a hype tiebreaker performance to deliver NA to the quarterfinals. NAmen!

LoL team is still scaling

The UTD LoL team still seems to be finding itself, with a 2-4 record in the UAL and a 3-3 record in the CLoL Warmup tournament. They still have time leading up to the main CLoL tournament to work on their fundamentals, including executing on plays with their jungler and getting consistent teamfight setups.

Sora is finally here

Sora, one of the most requested Smash characters in history, has overcome the legal and logistical hurdles to be added to the game! With a simple moveset with great combo potential, the last of the Smash DLC characters could "unlock" a place at the top of locals with his release.

Overwatch finishes top 4

If this is a loss, then we're not doing that bad. Ending a mostly undefeated streak, the Comets take their first few losses at the Will English Invitational IV, making a loser's bracket run to a top four finish. As the team improves and continues gelling together, the faithful can expect tournament wins to come.

Comets come racing into CRL

The CRL fall season has begun, and with that the Rocket League team made it through the qualifiers to get into CRL league play. Only dropping a series to CU Boulder Black, they made it through with a 7-1 record and are expected to keep on blasting through the season of league play.

This last weekend was a wild time for North American League of Legends, with a team making it to the knockout stage of Worlds for the first time in three years. Besides this hype moment, Sora was finally unlocked, and the regular season marches on.

They haven't had a chance to get a lot of good, productive practice in ... we'll get better, we'll improve, and we'll make sure to take them down next time.

— Noureen Hoq, OW Team Manager

ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR

players to play video games such as League of Legends.

No time to watch

As Daniel Craig’s time as James Bond draws to an end, “No Time to Die” shines a light on the new era of Bond girls and their impact on femme fatales in film but brings a dull and unsatisfying conclusion to one of film’s most iconic characters.

As Craig’s last film, I expected to have a stronger emotional connection to his character, especially since I grew up with his rendition of James Bond. Fond memories begin with my father excitedly dragging me to see the movies filled with exaggerated bravado and amazing action sequences. Since many audience members and I have nostalgic ties to the franchise, I wanted an ending that provided closure as well as something that left the franchise open for the next 007, but I didn’t get that.

While we do get the classic scenes filled with luxury cars, expensive clothing and comically giant explosions that will make action fans nostalgic, that is where the excitement ends. To close Craig’s time as an iconic character, I wanted something unique that would leave me upset about his exit, but at the end of the film, I was pondering if it had the same plot as the other movies in the franchise. I was bored of the villains with the same lackadaisical purpose and of Bond’s reluctant heroism. This film just did not signal the end of an era – it felt like the same old content that Hollywood has been pumping out for half a century.

I am not the biggest fan of action movies, as they often consist of a misogynist lead with girls used more for aesthetic

Ask Sophie: Study tips

purposes than actual plot development. But this film was more fulfilling than usual action movies because of the badass women that stole the spotlight from Bond himself.

“Knives Out” actress Ana de Armas brought the iconic sultry look that Bond girls are known for but kept up with Craig’s witty quips and entertaining fight scenes, all while donning a ballgown. Lashana Lynch is introduced as a new 00 agent, and she brings a level of vulnerability and quiet strength that complements Craig’s bold mannerisms.

In the long history of James Bond, previous films do a terrible job of including people of color despite their room for a large ensemble. Lynch thankfully expands this franchise as the first Black woman to play a 00 agent, and she has hopefully opened the door for more POC actors. As the current position of 007 is now open, I’d love to see Lynch as the lead in the next Bond films. While previous Bond girls are mainly reliant on our heroes, this film shows that femininity isn’t something that needs to be expunged in order to have well-written female leads.

Of course, since this is a Bond film, the leading ladies didn’t get as much screen time as they deserved. However, their extreme action scenes and purpose of saving the world were not overshadowed by twodimensional romantic tropes, making every minute of their screen time count. I suspect that De Armas’ and Lynch’s presences were so strong because the screenwriting team benefited from “Fleabag”

→ SEE BOND, PAGE 8

Now that midterms have mostly come to an end, you may be feeling confident, ambivalent or even dreadful about your grades. Regardless of how you think you did, it can’t hurt to reflect upon your current study habits and refine them or adopt new ones altogether to improve your performance for your next exam.

Every student is different, but no matter how you go about it, studying always begins in the classroom. If you go to class like you probably should, you might as well spend your time wisely by paying attention and taking concise notes. That way, when you study later, you’ll be reviewing information rather than just learning it for the first time.

Though it may sound obvious, it helps to actually study the information you don’t know rather than review what you already understand. People like to practice the skills they’re good at, and while it’s nice to reassure yourself of your abilities, neglecting or ignoring the material you’re having trouble with is not going to help you during test time. An effective way to determine what you do and don’t know, said Student Counseling Center psychologist Beverly Williams, is to assess how well you can explain the course content to a friend.

“If you have a study buddy, and that person may be in a totally different class, and you say to them, ‘You know what? Let's take turns. I want you to teach me what you're learning or studying for this class.’ And their only job is to teach you. You

don't have to learn; they just have to teach you. It's not your class, but it helps them learn. And then you flip the script. Because being the teacher makes you notice what you don't know. You're actually trying to explain [the material] because what the other person will have is questions, right?”

Since studying with friends does not always work well for everyone, you may want to consult some other resources –such as individualized Peer Tutoring from the Student Success Center or your professor’s or TA’s exam reviews – to gain insight into what you may still need to study.

“If you can beforehand, you can always ask your professor or TA if they do test or exam previews. Definitely go to those. Because even if a professor doesn't say it in class, a lot of times they'll say, or a TA or teaching assistant will say, ‘Yeah, you want to know that really well,’ or ‘Yeah, I don't know that that's where you want to spend your time,’” Williams said. “They won’t say, ‘That's not on the test,’ but they can give you some direction. And usually they're very humane people.”

Perhaps the most useful study tip of all, however, is to avoid cramming. Despite hearing it a million times and having the message beat into their brains, many students still cram, meaning that clearly not everyone heeds this advice. While yes, the idea of learning an entire semester’s worth of material in one night may sound alluring, cramming is just not an effective study technique.

“Clearly, in a perfect world, we'd be

What's what: Local art highlights

It’s midterm season, and let’s be honest: you’re looking for anything to distract yourself from school right now. There’s nothing like local art to help you reset and get back into your academic groove. Clear your mind with this month’s DFW art highlights:

“Every Empire Breaks Like a Vase”

With almost a decade of exhibition experience, Paulo Nimer Pjota’s reputation precedes him. The Brazilian native collages historical references with DIY sensibilities. His bric-a-brac tableaus reference street art and culture to unsettle the Western art canon. Cast-gourds and bloodied tapestries bring Plato to the present as Pjota weaves personal narrative and antiquity into his unique work.

“Server: Love Ta, Love Ta Love Ya”

Pulling from social media, Black culture and popular music, there’s really nothing Ciara Elle Bryant has not referenced in her work. The fourth installment in her “Server” series, “Love Ta, Love Ta Love Ya” presents a love letter to Bryant’s upbringing and Black culture in America. As the gallery writes in a social media post,

“Bryant manifests her encyclopedic collection of digital ephemera from Black popular culture into large-scale installations. Social media posts, news stories, memes, viral videos, and the like are presented en masse, offering a physical space for Black identity and self-actualization to take center stage.”

Bryant’s newest exhibition embodies her nostalgia of her childhood and teenage years. Employing affective memorabilia, she taps into the inexhaustible source of appreciation for contributors to Black popular culture that continue to shape her and the rest of America.

“Soldier of Fortune”

With a painting of the lesser-known fifth ninja turtle, Giotto, Cody Berry kicks off this month’s list in an irreverent tone. Berry’s Warhol-esque paintings bring contemporary Pop art to Dallas. In his Browder Street exhibition, Berry uses real and imaginary characters as parodic critiques of harmful masculinities. From Papa Smurf to The Simpsons, no popular culture reference is safe from Berry’s sardonic vision.

“‘Soldiers of Fortune,’ finds the artist riffing on Hollywood’s idea of America, seeking moments of wisdom and/or comic relief by lampooning the idea of the Soldier,” reads the show’s artistic statement.

Underneath the layers of neon paint and comedy, Berry’s work presents an interesting critique at the intersection of Hollywood and masculinity. Ultimately, he ensures you’ll never see your favorite childhood cartoon the same.

“Tree With Half a Root”

Curated by local art veterans Kim Phan Nguyen and Narong Tintamusik, “Tree with Half a Root” brings together a powerhouse collective of artists. Highlighting creators of Asian or Asian-American descent, MVC Cliff Gallery’s newest exhibition reaches out and holds the viewer tight in an artistic serenity. According to the Gallery’s Instagram page, “…[T]he gallery becomes a site of contemplation, meditation, and rejuvenation. Participating artists show places that protect us from harsh surroundings and open our imaginations.”

Works by Bumin Kim and Sangmi Yoo impart a technicolor calm upon the viewer. Kim’s colored fibers blend into a seamless gradient, stimulating the audience’s eye with its optical illusions. Using colorful paper, Yoo weaves tapestries that reveal monochromatic scenes on their rainbow background.

The rest of the artists engage with their work in similar ways, generating an exhibition dedicated to everything bright and jovial. In their latest exhibition, Nguyen and Tintamusik curate a show doused in peace and all the tranquility we could use about now.

keeping up and looking at our stuff, notes, after we've taken them … but cramming is kind of like you set yourself up to be hazed at midterms and finals, like it's going to be hell,” Williams said. “And so the cramming, it's just a poor approach, you know, sometimes you'll have to do it. But what I recommend is that students figure out the most important pieces of material that they need to master or know very well and just start working on those first.”

Set aside at least 15 or 20 minutes every day to study just a little bit of new information, and you’ll likely remember more and feel calmer and more prepared by exam time. Less than half an hour of studying per day is not a lot to ask of yourself, as you probably spend much more time mindlessly scrolling on social media. Moreover, Williams said it’s better to engage in short periods of productivity than to study for several hours in a row when your brain is already fried.

“Have a moderate study pace. You don't have to dive in – it doesn't really help and makes you more anxious. It fries you. Your brain is going to get wiped. It's just going to be like, ‘Yeah, nah, I'm not doing it.’ And so that gets scary if you have three hours of not being productive. Whereas if you break it up into manageable pieces, trust yourself with [your studies] and stay as chill, reasonable and functional as possible, that's the goal.”

As for practical things, eliminate distrac-

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1. Paulo Nimer Pjota

2. Ciara Elle Bryant

3. Cody Berry

4. Mountain View Campus Cliff Gallery

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CIARA ELLE BRYANT | COURTESY

‘No Time to Die’ marks progress for female Bond characters, but is otherwise an uncompelling film

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Why you should be a weeb or: How I learned to stop worrying and love anime

With a large variety of anime ranging from epic action thrillers to slice-of-life romantic comedies, now is the perfect time to start watching anime with friends

If you’ve never been interested in anime before, now’s the perfect time to dive into anime and embrace being a weeb.

Weeb.

A word that started as a punchline for the web comic “The Perry Bible Fellowship” but later evolved to describe someone obsessed with Japanese pop culture to an unhealthy extent. Today, the term has been watered down and used to simply describe anyone who likes anime, manga or video games – a far cry from the insult it started as, and now a term you might hear jokingly thrown around in friend circles. While weebs are still sometimes associated with being cult-like enthusiasts of Japanese entertainment, this outdated bias shouldn’t stop you from giving anime a shot, especially with the wide variety to choose from. So, let me be the whispering Satan that entices you to take a bite of this proverbial apple.

Like many others, I started watching anime in my childhood and teen years – the times when most other passions emerge. Back then, I couldn’t tell you the difference between cartoons and anime. All I knew was that I was always looking for good stories to experience. With all these different mediums to dip my toes in, why would I limit myself to traditional books, movies or TV shows just because anime was seen as strange and unconventional?

Granted, I could do without the excessive flashbacks and extra padding between episodes in some anime, but every show has its pros and cons, its own mark to imprint on your per -

son. You don’t have to stick to just one series if it doesn’t appeal to you. New popular shows like "My Hero Academia" and "Demon Slayer" offer robust animations and dynamic characters and are fairly accessible; they can entice newcomers without making them feel overwhelmed. Then there’s the more obscure series, like my all-time favorite, "Gintama."

It doesn’t sit in just one genre and the plot occasionally seems nonsensical as it sporadically hops from situation to situation. One moment it’s a comedic slice of life, the next a traumatic tale of a war veteran struggling to hold on to whatever happiness they have. It’s an amazing story but can leave a new anime viewer perplexed on how to process all the show’s story arcs and characters. Many anime series do this since the concept of maintaining a genre doesn’t necessarily limit anime themes like it does in conventional media. An anime that starts with ninjas stealthily fighting can end up with a world war consisting of aliens, zombies and ninjas throwing nukes at one another. There are no boundaries, and the plot can sometimes go where fans least expect to keep things exciting. Often, it’s best to watch a particular anime with an experienced friend to sort of guide you through the nuances and help process the information until you feel confident in watching by yourself.

Avid anime watchers often expand their viewing palettes when starting new shows. Going from a fast-paced, serious show about humans fighting giant behemoths called “Titans” to a comedy show about aliens threatening to destroy Earth if some high school students don’t learn to kill them in time could lead to some serious viewing whiplash. The same was the case for me, as I only watched

action and comedy anime with the occasional romance series here and there. I never felt comfortable venturing into the unknown – that is, until a close friend recommended that I watch “Ancient Magus Bride.” This show tells the stories of magic, faeries and the supernatural through the lens of a young girl who is trying to understand her quirky mage caretaker. It was completely not my style, and my friend was afraid I might find it boring since it was more of an emotional anime. Yet, I found myself intrigued with the world-building, the beautiful narrative of characters dealing with personal (as well as literal) demons. The colors, music and words can’t do justice to the ethereal experience I bore witness to. I thank my friend to this day for introducing me to an anime that broadened my viewing horizons to shows I only spared a passing glance. It still holds a special place in my heart, and if I never took that chance to watch it, I would never be relaying this story here to you.

The impact anime has had on our culture is vast. From the art and design that helps new artists craft their own styles to the unique aesthetics, whimsical colors and even mesmerizing music that touches people, the influence of anime is pervasive. You’ve probably even heard someone playing anime music on the Student Union piano as you passed it on your way to class. It’s a rite of passage for every UTD student to stop and ponder where they heard the player’s tune before and end up thinking about that mystery the whole day. Anime is a part of our lives like many other forms of entertainment, so instead of looking at it as a disjointed limb on a body, see it as another piece of culture humanity has to offer.

It's a me ... Chris pratt

Illumination Entertainment will find unexpected success with Nintendo’s most famous video game property and its all-star cast

Current pre-med expectations create toxic environment

The road to med school is driven by toxic competition, putting additional unnecessary stress on students

Following the reveal of an animated Mario movie at the latest Nintendo Direct, widespread controversy over the cast and studio spread among fans – controversy which might have intentionally been stoked for this movie’s success. There’s a lot of concern for the new film coming to theaters next Christmas and what direction it will take. Many fans want a traditional narrative that follows the formula of the games and are worried that the stylistic choices of Illumination will poorly portray the franchise as too child-like. Concerns were only reinforced with the cast reveal; there’s worry “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt won’t live up to the original voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, or that he’ll talk too much compared to the minimalist dialogue icon he’s to portray. There’s also skepticism about how family comedian Jack Black will match the big bad Bowser, how the wild Charlie Day from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” will portray the awkward Luigi or how adult comedian Seth Rogen will replicate the stoic Donkey Kong. Outside a questionable casting stunt that has certainly drawn attention by using big names, fans are perturbed that Illumination, famous for “Despicable Me” and “The Secret Life of Pets,” is spearheading the project with “Teen Titans Go!” developers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jele -

nic directing the film under “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” screenwriter Matthew Fogel. However, this is exactly what Nintendo wants.

This isn’t Nintendo’s first attempt to bring the famous mustached icon Mario and his 36-year-old franchise to the big world of cinema. In fact, it’s actually their third attempt to bring the plumber-turned-hero into film, a history which is already influencing this upcoming film. After the phenomenal success of 1985 “Super Mario Bros.” for the NES and arcades, Mario debuted in the anime film “Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!” in 1986, which was labeled as the first video game film in history.

It was met with resounding success that exploded with merchandise ranging from rice containers and watches to even a manga. This became Nintendo’s first major push for merchandising that defined gross revenue, a successful tactic that would however not transfer in American markets.

In contrast, the 1993 live action “Super Mario Bros.” – the first live-action adaptation of a video game – had a terrible showing that created a stillpresent negative stereotype for video games in film. Losing between $3.1$9.1 million, Nintendo pulled out of theatrical film all together for 26 years following this release. Part of this problem was giving a creative license with -

out supervision to the underdog Hollywood Pictures Company, which at the time was unable to produce anything above questionable live-action content. Equally contributing to its failure was that the film effectively held next to no resemblance to the beloved franchise, pushing on-set conflicts, inconsistent tones and hardly any merchandise. This failure is what brings distress for the upcoming film, which is the current centerpiece of online discussion.

So, after the critical failure of its live-action movie – and the incredibly high grossing “Detective Pikachu” –Nintendo should play it safe. With Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto directly staffed on development, Nintendo doesn’t want to leave room for error, an approach furthered by partnering with one of the most successful animation studios in recent times. Illumination grosses approximately $672.9 million per feature film when the average budget is only $72.9 million per film, and even their least successful film, “Hop,” made up for its budget nearly threefold. By all measurements, Nintendo is taking the best route for success with their ambitious film. However, they’re guaranteed to make a profit if they follow what brought them financial success with the original anime film and push merchandise.

If you ask around, you’ll find that UTD is brimming with students looking to pursue a career in medicine. However, it seems for a lot of these students, the concepts of “finding yourself” and “making mistakes” in college are not possible due to outrageous graduate school admissions standards.

Over the past year, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine received a 26% increase in applicants, while the Howard University College of Medicine saw an increase greater than 30%. During the pandemic, there has been an overall application surge, with the number of medical school applicants rising by more than 15%. Unfortunately, even with this drastic increase in applicants, many schools still cap their class sizes at a mere 100-200 students. With the growing competitiveness of applying to medical, dental and other healthcare-related graduate schools, admissions committees essentially expect perfection. A standard student matriculating from undergrad tends to have a near-perfect GPA and entrance exam score, hundreds of hours of volunteering and professional experience,

lab research, glowing letters of recommendation and to top it all off, stellar essays.

The inordinate amount of pressure that is placed on pre-health students to be perfect can be detrimental to their mental and physical health. In fact, in a 2020 survey of 400 pre-med students conducted by Kaplan Test Prep, almost four in 10 aspiring doctors said they “seriously considered” dropping their plans to pursue a medical career because of the high stress levels they experienced during their pre-health journey. This fact alone defeats the entire purpose of applying to medical school: students become so burnt out that they risk not wanting to apply anymore. The same survey found that 57% of these students reported that self-medicating with alcohol and drugs is a prominent issue among their peers who are dealing with stress. This is understandable considering that pre-health students are expected to juggle working 12 or more hours a week in a lab, studying for intense “weed-out” courses like organic chemistry and crafting the ideal resume to stand out in an ever-growing sea of applicants. Pre-health culture at UTD centers around competition. Everyone is trying to

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dents to be making back in person, especially during midterms. We understand and see the importance of the University eventually getting back to person, but we also understand the safety concerns students are feeling and that transitions are not easy in the middle of the semester.”

Computer science junior and SG secretary Willie Chalmers

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actress and creator Phoebe WallerBridge’s female perspective, which is sometimes lacking in action films.

Unfortunately, not all the lead-

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tions by putting your phone or smartwatch in a separate

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There is a clear drive to appeal

get the highest score on that biology test or snag a coveted spot to work in a hospital for hours on end. But this competition isn’t friendly or healthy – it’s toxic.

Sophomore neuroscience major and pre-med student Samhita Bandaru elaborates on this environment at UTD, explaining her experiences thus far:

“I am surrounded by toxicity amongst other pre-med peers. Everyone is trying to do what-

also helped write the de-densification resolution and voted in favor of it. However, though Chalmers supports the proposal, he said he understands extending de-densification might work against classroom attendance rates and could present dilemmas for faculty who have to modify their class format. To help with altered virtual instruction, Chalmers added an amendment to the resolution that OIT work with staff to

ing ladies received this treatment. Bond’s longtime love interest, played by Léa Seydoux, was once again overlooked and written without much thought. I have never really cared about her relationship with Bond because their

room. Find a space where you feel comfortable and can allow yourself some focused, uninterrupted study time, and don’t

to children, and Nintendo’s choice to release the film around Christmas when toy sales are

ever they can to win the GPA game and get the best possible resume-building opportunities, and it’s really hard to not compare yourself to others. People hesitate to share studying strategies and materials, making the 'every man for himself' mentality more prevalent than ever. It gets very mentally taxing because we work for hours and hours every day without having any idea as to whether our best will ever be good enough.”

A common justification for

provide additional training on utilizing virtual modalities.

“I can see how if the only reason for students attending class in person is to obtain information they could get from a lecture video or some other source, what exactly is the purpose of going to class?” Chalmers said. “So, I’m in favor of the [de-densification] resolution if for no other reason, a pragmatic reason. Students have become well-adjusted to the HyFlex mo-

chemistry is unrealistic and superficial. She is clearly only used as a scapegoat for Bond’s reasons to fight, which is annoying because Seydoux could be so much more than a damsel in distress.

Yet, the movie’s biggest crime

be afraid to relocate if your environment isn’t working for you. Packing up and moving all your belongings may be

at their highest will ultimately propel Nintendo and Illumination’s financial success. The

the rigor of pre-health programs is that the students will eventually work in fields that deal with human lives, so the programs have to be intense to ensure that patients will be in good hands. This mindset is valid but only to a certain extent. Students wanting to work in healthcare should be academically competent (meeting the average GPA requirements of grad schools) and familiar with working under pressure, but when it gets to the point that perfectly capable students are spiraling into

dality, and whatever the Senate decides to do should be because of COVID-19 and not because of some greater desire to make instruction more convenient. I think there’s a time and a space for that conversation, but I think just considering this in the scope of COVID-19 is best.”

If the majority of the Academic Senate agrees to SG’s resolutions or some iteration of them, recommendations should go into effect through -

was its horrid misuse of Oscar award-winning actor Rami Malek as the integral villain. There was little explanation of his evil intentions, and the script was bleak and cliche. Malek is known for playing zany, charismatic characters, so I

frustrating, but the hassle will be well worth it once you can actually be productive.

Studying for exams does not

casting reveal was a brilliant strategy to create free advertising, increase marketability and

harmful periods of self-doubt and seeking professional help due to stress, there’s a problem. There are a lot of improvements to be made to the path to applying for healthcare-related graduate schools. First and foremost is the concept of exploring more collaboration as part of the prehealth culture, as a huge part of medical training involves working with others to navigate challenging conflicts. Faculty can support this effort by assigning group projects that allow students to work

out the University immediately; however, immediacy is subjective to the instructor.

Political science senior and SG

President Ryan Short said SG cannot enforce resolutions, but University administration can help with the effort.

“We would be relying on key campus administrators such as Vice President [and] Chief of Staff Dr. Martín and the Provost’s Office for enforcing certain aspects of the resolu -

was highly disappointed that the filmmakers gave him a scarred face and an accent in an attempt to hide bleak characterization.

All in all, this film was a win in terms of creating female characters that audiences will adore

have to feel like a massive ordeal, Williams said. “Organize your study, focus on the big pieces and worry less about the

get adult collectors and children alike to swarm to buy merchandise during the holiday season.

together to create and present a product that teaches the rest of the class about a course concept. Pre-health students should welcome such group tasks and try to reorient their emphasis towards collaboration, not ruthless competition. Another measure that professors should consider is, in addition to rewarding points on exams, weighting part of their course grades towards how effectively students can accomplish team projects.

Clearly, there is much more to

tion,” Short said. “It depends on them, but we hope bringing this towards the Academic Senate emphasizes importance to professors who didn’t quite realize the importance of doing actions like recording lectures and de-densifying classrooms, especially since resources are already available. SG is coming to them and saying, ‘Hey, if you aren’t already doing this in your classroom, your students would appreciate it if you did.’”

while sticking to the feminist agenda but a loss for OG Bond fans hoping that Craig’s charisma would once again overpower the big screen. This isn’t the worst action film out there, but it is certainly nothing special.

smaller pieces. Attitude is everything. Understand that you have more control than you think you do."

be done for the pre-health community on campus. Committing to at least five to six more years of schooling after undergrad for a noble career of service is not something that students should sacrifice their happiness or mental health to do. It’s high time that academic communities evaluate the values by which they are built and reduce the immense stress placed upon pre-health students so early in their careers. After all, the future of healthcare lies in their hands.