Dec. 2, 2019
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UTD lab unveils saliva-based THC test
Title IX law undergoes state, federal changes University officials don't anticipate major changes in UTD policy
ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR
PAVAN TAUH | MERCURY STAFF
Researchers in professor Shalini Prasad's (pictured) lab developed the sensor. RUHMA KHAN Mercury Staff
A team of UTD researchers has developed a sensor to test tetrahydrocannabinol levels in saliva. THC is the main psychoactive compound in marijuana that induces a “high” in users. Researchers in bioengineering professor Shalini Prasad’s lab developed the biosensor as an accurate measuring tool to measure cannabis consumption. “(It) can be used for primarily the ability to accurately quantify the amount of THC that's present, which then correlates the amount of cannabis that was consumed by an individual, so that is the entire idea of building an objective measurement method,” Prasad said. In addition to its measuring capabilities, Prasad said the device will have a wide range of uses. “From our perspective, we want to use it in the context of clinical studies where (marijuana) is prescribed for a number of conditions, whether it's in cancer research or other forms of managing conditions. That would be the way we see this, as a tool to understand how much is getting consumed by the patient and whether it is within a therapeutic index or not,” Prasad said. “It can also then be leveraged and used in places such as in law enforcement, but we cannot set the standard on that. That has to be done by governments and by organizations outside. We're just building a measurement test.” Prasad said the sensor detects the THC molecule in a person’s saliva to measure the concentration consumed. “You have a little swab and you swab your saliva, get the saliva on to the sensor, and you stick that sensor into a reader, which is kind of like a USB port. Then that reader then looks for the molecule,” Prasad said. “Because the surface of the sensor is engineered with receptors for the metabolite THC,
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ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR
ANNA PHENGSAKMUEANG | PHOTO EDITOR
All in the family Inside one professor's life as a musician alongside his wife, son CALIS LIM
Mercury Staff
One look at Michael Farmer’s office door is all you need to discern that he is a professor in Chinese studies. With a Mao Ze Dong meme displayed prominently at eye-level, it’s clear to see that he is a man with a sense of fun too. Scanning among the other amusing signs, however, one might miss the small picture of a graphic panda skeleton with the words “The Prof.Fuzz 63.” The Prof.Fuzz 63 is his lo-fi rock band composed of his wife on the organ and vocals, his son on drums, and Farmer himself on guitar and vocals. With album names such as “Bang Me Hard! (To Get Inside)” and songs such as “S***water TX Blues,” which is self-described as a song “about the sad feeling one gets when plumbing goes bad,” this might not be the type of music one would expect from the professor. Farmer said the band formed and came up with their unique name in fall 2014. “Professor Fuzz is a nickname that was given to me about 20 years ago because I was already a professor at that point, and I like fuzz pedals for the guitar— things that make distortion noises — so
they started calling me Professor Fuzz,” Farmer said. As for the “63” part of the name, it’s ambiguous on purpose. “When we put this band together, we wanted to have that as part of the name and I like the Miles Davis quintet, so we wanted to be the Professor Fuzz Sextet, but that needed 6 people,” Farmer said. “We only had three people, so we put them together and it became 6 and 3. It means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some people think it’s my birth year, but it’s not. Other people don’t have any idea. So, we just tell them it gives us room to expand. We can add 60 more people without having to change the name.” To date, they have played 187 shows while Farmer has simultaneously pieced together soundbites to form songs and created characters and stories based off of experiences to give the lyrics a life of their own. Although he has been active musically, Farmer has progressed academically as well. He has been editing a journal for 10 years and has been working on a translation project for the better part of a decade. He has published articles and book chapters. He has won awards and fellowships, and all the while man-
aged to keep up an active role in the band. As Farmer said, his academic career allows for flexibility of time, allowing him to pursue other passions as well. “Everything on my professional resume seems to be going in the right direction and the band is my mental health hobby,” Farmer said. “It gives me something to do that’s not exactly related to my job but helps keep me happy. It gives me some kind of release, a time to be concentrating on something else, be doing other things.” Although his music is a source of joy for himself, writing songs reveals the potentially unusual thoughts that are in his head, which Farmer said is the scariest part about making music with The Prof.Fuzz 63. “As a professor, I’m supposed to be logical and rational and all these kinds of things, but inside my head I’ve got this voice that’s yelling ‘Panda attack, panda attack, panda attack’ or something else,” he said. “It’s a different side of me.” Although it may seem that sitting in his office to engage in academia and going on stage to slam some chords have no overlap, Farmer said the opposite.
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MERCURY ARCHIVES
New federal guidelines for Title IX will be released in January. BEN NGUYEN Mercury Staff
Potential changes are coming to Title IX enforcement, from both the federal and state levels, including new federal guidelines from the Department of Education and state-mandated public reports on cases undertaken by a university’s Title IX office. Title IX guidelines are traditionally set by the Department of Education in “Dear Colleague” letters, which are letters laying out new or modified guidelines. Previous guidelines in the 2011 and 2014 “Dear Colleague” letters were rescinded in the 2017 “Dear Colleague” letter, with differences including a choice between the “preponderance of evidence” standard and the “clear and convincing evidence” standard, as well as providing an informal voluntary mediation process. The preponderance of evidence standard means that whoever is judging must be reasonably sure there is a 50% likelihood in either side’s favor, while the clear and convincing standard is stricter, requiring that evidence be “highly more probable” and that the judge must have a firm conviction in it. There isn’t an exact definition for “highly more probable,” because it varies on a case-by-case basis. At UTD, these changes were of little impact to the general running of the Title IX office, Title IX Coordinator Marco Mendoza said. “We use the preponderance of evidence,” Mendoza said. “We do have the
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Freshman, sophomore gather students to communicate with spirits MRUNMAYI SATHAYE Mercury Staff
Curiosity and boredom propelled them to open a box that had not been opened in years. The box — a game of summoning spirits — was something that intrigued them, and in a dorm room, two students called spirits using their Ouija board. Computer science freshman Jarod Shelton and sophomore Rishi Chandna began using the Ouija board in October and later began taking willing people into the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in the middle of the night to summon spirits. The group sit around the board with their hands on a planchette — a pointer — that a “spirit” can move after a person asks that spirit questions. Chandna bought the board in Austin in 2014 at Barnes and Noble and brought it to campus. He said he took
it out of the plastic wrap as soon as he got home, but he hadn’t removed the lid until last month. “I didn’t really have plans for it, and I was just trying to (figure) out who might be interested, and I felt like Jarod was, so I talked to him about it, and he was open and willing,” Chandna said. “Then, we started doing a lot of research on how to use it safely, take the proper precautions. They can be pretty dangerous. After that, we were in so deep already, we tried it and got hooked.” Until Chandna brought the board to UTD, both Shelton and Chandna had not worked with the board, and neither person had any family history in dealing with the board. “I’ve always been interested in doing such things, but actually having the Ouija board made it possible,” Shelton said. “I didn’t know we had it until we did.” Shelton said they researched how to
use the board with random Blogger and forum posts. They learned what attracts spirits and how to know if something is wrong. For example, Shelton said it is a bad sign if it starts to draw symbols on the board, makes random movements, goes to the four corners or it is counting down with the planchette because that indicates the spirit testing its limits in the board. “(Through the research), we learned the steps,” Shelton said. “We learned that we should probably get candles. The candles are for the warmth to attract them. You just want to be hospitable and warmth attracts them. For a bit, we used coat hangers to make a circle. We’ve since got string for that. The circle in general confines whatever is in the board to the circle, so it is interacting with us and nothing from the outside. The rituals are a mix of actually working and a mix of convincing
BHAVAN MEHTA | MERCURY STAFF
Computer science freshman Jarod Shelton (left) and sophomore Rishi Chandna (right) began using the Ouija board out of curiosity before getting other students involved.
everybody that this thing is a real thing that is about to happen.” Typically, one person is picked to lead
the questioning, because that person is
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