The Mercury 12 05 22

UTD laUnches firsT rockeT

SHRIYA VYASAM Mercury Staff

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at UTD made history for the university on Nov. 19 when they became the first organization on campus to launch a high-powered rocket.

AIAA launched the rocket in Gunter, Texas at the Dallas Area Rocket Society, an organization dedicated to giving students an opportunity to explore their aeronautical interests. Groups from different high schools and colleges came together to launch their rockets, which had been built from scratch. The organization also hosts monthly launches with three types of rockets: model rockets that are generally smaller in size, mid powered rockets that are more powerful and run on ammonium perchlorate, and highpowered rockets that UTD has been certified to launch.

AIAA is a nationally recognized organization with many branches, one of which being UTD AIAA. Students interested in aeronautics can explore their interests and be a part of a community that supports their passion. The club makes up for UTD having removed the aerospace program many years ago. Since this is the first rocket launch, the team had to research all the foundational information and

PEACE OUT, PLASTICS

Single-use plastics ban on its way to being implemented campus-wide

The Sustainability Committee’s Single-Use Plastic Ban Proposal has made it all the way to the office of the President. If President Richard Benson signs the proposal, the policy will become a university wide goal, making UTD the first university in Texas to commit to eliminating single use plastics.

The proposal already passed through all four universitywide governing bodies: the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Student Government, and the Graduate Student Assembly. It’s also garnered the support of over 1,300 students who have signed the plastic ban petition. Dorothee Honhon, Chair of the Sustainability Committee said the UTD holds a Gold ranking for sustainability by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability for initiatives such as its composting program and bike friendly certifications. But the University still has a level above to reach.

“We believe that this banning or phasing out single use plastic fits very well in this current set of initiatives led around sustainabil -

POTENTIAL

Spring 2023

ity,” Honhon said. “On campus, it would be sort of the natural next step.”

The Sustainability Committee’s plan for phasing out plastics follows a framework from the Post-Landfill Action Network, a

national organization leading plastic bans at universities across the nation. 18 universities and colleges have signed onto PLAN so far,

PLASTIC BAN TIMELINE

Fall 2023

Helping the homeless through altruism

UTD

student, Dylan Miles runs non profit campaign for second year in row to clothe homeless in Houston

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI

Mercury Staff

FATIMAH AZEEM Mercury Staff

A UTD student is running a charity event to help clothe the homeless population of Houston.

Spring 2024

Johnson have worn BetOnYourself. However, success was not always automatic for Miles, which is where the brand name takes its inspiration.

Gender Center opens closet for major life transitions

WHEN PAGE 9

Dylan Miles, a junior majoring in business marketing, is running a non-profit event called “Hoodies for the Homeless” through his clothing brand where sponsors can contribute $30 to fund the creation of a hoodie for a person struggling with homelessness.

The event will take place on Dec. 23 at 11 a.m. at 2020 Congress Street in Houston, Texas. Miles is also seeking donations of toiletries and food to distribute. Students can make contributions by contact-

ing Miles’ business Instagram, @BetOnYourself Clothing.

Miles started his brand BetOnYourself during his freshman year of college, dropping his first batch of clothing on June 11, 2021. He has received support from UTD students and the Houston basketball com-

munity, who he played with in high school, helping him get the brand off the ground. Miles describes BetOnYourself’s style as streetwear, with t-shirts, hoodies, beanies, joggers and sweatpants for sale. Celebrities, including artists J. Cole and Fat Joe, and athletes Shaquille O’Neal and Andre

“The name came from me always being one of the smallest guys on the basketball court,” Miles said. “So that was some of the adversity that I always dealt with, just being told, you know, you can't do this because you're too small or you won't be this, you won't be that. So, betting on myself was something that I had to do a lot … when I was thinking of a brand name, I wanted it to be meaningful and something that a lot of people can relate to. And I know there's been a lot of people who, especially after the pandemic, that, you know, have faced hardships.”

The first Hoodies for the Homeless event was held in 2021, where organizers distributed over 90 hoodies in less than 30 minutes and provided bags of toiletries and snacks. Houston news outlet ABC13 covered the event. As motivation, Miles cites

SEE HOODIES , PAGE 9

Richardson leaders delay off-campus housing

MARTIN FRIEDENTHAL Mercury Staff JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Mercury Staff

After debating a zoning ordinance that would allow a new off-campus housing development within walking distance of the UTD campus, Richardson city council deferred voting on the issue.

meeting on Nov. 14 centered around

rezoning 13 acres of land north of campus between Waterview Parkway and President George Bush Turnpike. The rezoning would make way for ATRE Waterview, a mixeduse development within walking distance of campus including 510 total apartment units, a shuttle to UTD, retail spaces, restaurants and a limited-service hotel. The council deferred making a decision to allow their staff to meet with the developer, put the finer de-

tails in writing and reconvene for a final vote on Dec. 12.

The Richardson city council previously denied several other requests for zoning accommodations from the same developer, George Bush Highway Investment and Affordable Space Rental 2018. In December

SEBYUL BAIK Mercury Staff

The Galerstein Gender Center is now providing free, gently-used clothes, shoes and accessories to Comets in need.

According to the Gender Center’s website, The Life Transitions Closet is available to students and employees undergoing a life transition, “including gender transitions, loss or gain of employment, pregnancy or birth, and more.” The Closet’s opening is part of a semester-long goal to transform the Gender Center.

The Life Transitions Closet is located on the fourth floor of SSB of the Galerstein Gender Center and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. There is no limit on the number of items a person can take or the number of times they can visit the Closet.

The Galerstein Gender Center stocks the Closet through community donations and previously accepted donations of gently-used items on Mondays and Thursdays. However, new donations are on indefinite hold because of the large volume of donations received since its opening in October. The Gender Center cannot accept monetary donations, but those looking to support the Life Transitions Closet through other means can purchase an “I <3 UTD” t-shirt. Students and employees looking to visit can find more information on the Gender Center’s website, gendercenter.utdallas.edu.

FATIMAH AZEEM Mercury Staff

Dorothy Honhon

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Contributors

Andre Averion

Sebyul Baik

Ally Duong

Martin Friedenthal

Katheryn Ho

Vaishnavi Josyula

Zain Khan

Andrew Peters

Zachary Rose

Casey Rubio

Rylee Russell

Tyler Viator

Shriya Vyasam

Corrections/

Clarifications

Bring factual errors or innacuracies to the attention of The Mercury’s staff by emailing editor@ utdmercury.com or calling (972) 8832287 and a correction will be published in this space in a future issue.

UTDPD Blotter

November 11

• UTD student was issued a citation for possessing a fake TXDL license.

November 12

• Unknown person activated the fire alarm at one of the emergency pull stations at 9:30 p.m. in the SLC.

November 14 • A UTD staff member reported computer equipment was missing from a classroom in ECSW at 10:29 a.m.

November 16

• Officer responded to a report of stolen property at the SU Food Court around 4:10 p.m.

ROCKET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

build from ground up.

The rocket was named T3R1 — or Terry — and was 3.125 inches in diameter and 57 inches in length. Manufacturing began during the spring 2022 semester, and because AIAA had never launched a rocket before, the team learned everything from resources at the makerspace in SPN. Junior computer science major Alejandro Garcia was the structural lead for this project and senior mechanical engineering major Muhammad Shoaib Moosa was the lead engineer, overseeing the development of the manufacturing and design plan.

“In fact, besides the motor, all

including entire University of California system and Emory university. PLAN guidance mainly addresses dining and auxiliary singleuse plastics and not medical or laboratory plastics.

“The main reason this has become a large part of this conversation is because plastics cause environmental degradation across the world,” Paulina Hruskoci, a Geospatial Sciences Senior and the student who spearheaded the plasticfree intiative said. “So as of right now, according to the OECD, less than 10% of plastics globally are actually recycled. So even though

of our components were built in-house,” Moosa said. “I determined the dimensions of the rocket by doing a preliminary design on open rocket and settled on what works best for us.”

Inside the rocket was an avionics system, which monitors the rocket’s altitude during the flight and compares the rocket’s real apogee — maximum altitude — with a simulated projection. The data is then used to improve future launches.

Sophomore computer engineering major Emmanuel Llanes, the electronics lead, explained how Arduino Nano drove the L1 rocket’s avionics system. Arduino Nano, a multicontroller, uses a

people might be recycling them, they don't actually get to go through the process in be repurposed when they're not recycled. These microplastics degrade into the environment and can be consumed by humans and impact natural environments, which can cause health concerns for both US wildlife and ecosystems across the world.”

There are four main phases to PLAN’s gradual plastic ban: assembling a Plastic Free Task Force to assemble and execute a plan, eliminating non-essential disposable plastics, creating a policy to maintain a standard for plastic elimination and introducing reusable substi -

program to interact with a pressure sensor and SD card module with data for analysis.

“During the rocket's flight, the pressure sensor continuously collects atmospheric pressure and uses this data to compute the rocket's altitude over time,” Llanes said. “The Arduino extracts this altitude data and saves it onto an SD card that is loaded on the SD card module.”

Only one concern caught the team's attention during the launch — the timing of the parachute deployment. The parachute was expected to deploy at apogee but instead deployed a few seconds later. They had previously performed simulations

tutes. Honhon said that if Benson signs onto PLAN, it will put the committee’s first step – assembling a Task Force – into action.

“[PLAN] provides accountability through these pledge items, while also providing flexibility and expert guidance to help us with this implementation….” Honhon said. “They've helped students and campuses do this before, and so they're a great way to kind of plug into those national examples and make execution as seamless as possible at UT Dallas.

UTD’s taskforce would be comprised of University stakeholders from different departments who under -

on the deployment, which was why this delay was a surprise.

“We realized the weight of the rocket was less than the rocket on the software that we did the simulations on, which may have caused the rocket to reach apogee faster than we anticipated,” Moosa said. “The ejection charge was set at the 10 second mark, the rocket was way into descent when the ejection charge occurred.”

The launch sets a trajectory for more launches in the upcoming months, with a high bar for UTD’s growing aerospace community. NASA holds a student launch initiative where college teams, which AIAA hopes to

stand how policy will impact their department and are dedicated to making PLAN strategies workable. The taskforce would also be responsible for creating a timeline to execute pledge items using information from the University budget, university contracts and facilities management. Ideally, this force would work with Dining Services to exceed their timeline goals.

“We want to convene the task force as soon as possible. Hopefully this fall, maybe early next spring,” Honhon said. “We want set timeline for the pledge items. So again, there will be certain plastics that will be targeted first and we may

participate in.

“Future plans include launching an l2 rocket as a team and then participating in some competitions such as NASA student launch and the Spaceport America Cup,” Kahler said. “We will have second and third l1 launches for the teams that haven't gotten certified on Dec. 17 and Jan. 23.”

UTD AIAA includes a group called TEKCOR that specifically focuses on rocketry, with several teams building their own rockets and obtaining rocket certifications. Each group has people working on coding payload and physically building the rocket.

Senior electrical engineering ma-

want to go faster, like the plastics that exists in dining services, which there is not so much of.”

The Sustainability’s proposed composition includes members from Facilities, Maintenance & Custodial, Dining services, the Office and Accessibility, Housing Services, the Sustainability Office, administration, the Health and Wellness department, Resident life, Event planning, the Office of Communications, the Office of Research and Innovation, the Office of Accessibility, and students, staff and faculty. Appointments for students, staff and faculty would come from the Academic Senate, Staff

jor Rachel Kahler, president of AIAA, talks about how the club provides a community for students interested in aerospace.

“It’s to have sort of an aerospace presence at UTD since we don’t really have a program for it … it’s funny because there are so many people that are interested in it,” Kahler said. “I wish that we had a program for it because a lot of people are mechanical engineers, but we don’t really have an aerospace avenue for them.”

With the lack of true aerospace studies at UTD, AIAA hopes to expand their community on campus and show their interest in having an official program at the school.

Council, Student Government, and Graduate Student Assembly.

“Plastic waste is also a large environmental justice issue. Many of the places where plastics are processed both in the US and globally are located near low income, predominantly minority communities, and it's these communities that face the main environmental degradation and health concerns as a result of these petrochemicals,” Hruskoci said. “So the goal is to find a more environmentally friendly way to go about our everyday processes and potentially find a way to phase out these non essential single use plastics.”

PLASTICS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Our next issue will come out next year, on January 17th! Happy holidays, good luck on finals and sign up for our newsletter at www.utdmercury.com for some updates between issues!

What's the mysterious car in ATEC?

Since September, a sports car has been parked on the first floor of ATEC — why is it there and where did it come from?

In partnership with UTD, the head curator of the Crow Museum of Asian Art, Amy Hofland, sat down to talk about the new art installation by Chinese artist Ma Jun. The piece is a true-to-size sculpture of a Porsche 911 titled ‘china.porsche.’ The sculpture is the first in a series of installations students can look forward to in the coming months on behalf of the Crow. The sculpture's delicate painting mimics the porcelain style of Chinese ceramicists during the Qing Dynasty, and its messaging serves to blend Chi -

nese commercialism of the past into contemporary status symbols.

“ATEC is such a wonderful canvas because of its industrial design, and it’s just a beautiful space for contemporary art,” Hofland said. “Another big reason why this piece currently resides in ATEC is its poignant blending of art and technology. This blending is a phenomenon that embodies a lot of the university’s goals as an institution predominantly focused on science and technology and determining how to approach the arts through that lens.”

The piece displays traditionalism and modernism side by side and expects its audience to consider both simultaneously. That sort of question, Hofland said, is well suited to a school

as dynamic as UTD.

"At its heart, ‘china.porsche’ asks its viewers to consider the following,” Hofland said. “What do we value? Why does it matter if we're driving a Porsche or driving a Buick?”

‘China.porsche’ is on display in ATEC for the duration of the 20222023 academic year. It will then move elsewhere on campus while the university continues construction on the Athenaeum. In addition to a new performance center, the Athenaeum will house an extension of the Crow Museum in Dallas. The new space is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024. In the meantime, students can look forward to more installations like Ma Jun’s Porsche around campus.

|

'china.porsche' aims to capture a blend of Chinese traditionalism and modernism.

Nontraditional Student Spotlight

College life doesn’t look the same for one student, and every individual adapts and navigates UTD with different backgrounds and learning styles.

Picture the typical college student. Perhaps you think of an 18 to 22-year-old living on campus and attending classes full time. But how about someone who’s over 25, a former homeschooler or a student enrolled full time in two universities?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 29% of college students nationwide are over 25 and 40% are considered nontraditional. As such, UTD is home to traditional and non-traditional students alike. students alike.

The National Science Foundation offers a new need-based scholarship for Comets, called Improving Transfer Academic, Career, and Community Engagement for Student Success

Mechanical engineering junior Adrian Lewis was homeschooled all his life. Before attending UTD, Lewis took the SAT and received a GED. Lewis chose UTD as it was the closest university to him. While Lewis started off college online — due to the pandemic — and had setbacks due to Crohn’s disease, he said he found it easier to transition from being homeschooled to experiencing college life through online classes.

“I don't think that transition could have gone better,” Lewis said. “Academically the transition was good. I had a solid math foundation and continued without much of a bump anywhere. The timing of the pandemic worked out to ensure that I slowly transitioned into real-life classwork at the same rate that the college was itself.”

While Lewis was homeschooled and started college during the pandemic, he said the online nature of classes eased the transition to his social life as well.

“There wasn’t really anything all that different from what I’d done before… [so] overall, the transition there was quite soft as a result,” Lewis said. “Upon coming out of online-only over the past year, it’s been pretty good. The college is, well, a bit asocial to put it bluntly, and I found myself either fitting in with that or even exceeding the average social-ness in some friend circles.”

Jason Ajwani is a 26-year-old senior majoring in neuroscience who transferred from UTSA to Austin Community College before joining UTD. Ajwani received an associate degree from Austin Community College after failing his first year at UTSA. However, he found it crucial to get a bachelor’s degree for his dream of going to medical school, leading him to attend UTD.

“All the perseverance and dedication I had been used to giving to studying in addition with my ADHD medication propelled me forward,” Ajwani said. “I registered for 12 hours during a summer semester which is essentially ‘academic suicide,’ in addition to working about 20 hours as a pharmacy technician. I had found peaceful places to study on campus and friends to do it with. I ended up making straight A’s and gave myself the confidence to move forward with my journey to finish my degree, take the MCAT and get admitted to med school.”

While he is an older student, Ajwani said he finds UTD students to be welcoming and accommodating despite the age difference.

“I think that students here are very scholastically driven, which may come off as anti-social,” Ajwani said, “but if you try to talk with anyone around here, you'll be met with a warm conversation. Generally, students have been receptive and kind when I tell them I’m 26, so anytime I want to make conversation, I know that I won’t be judged.”

Junior Jasmine Kaur is a full-time student at two universities: Arizona State University as an IT major and UTD as a political science major. Kaur started working at Starbucks her freshman year and made use of the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, a program that paid for most of her tuition if she got a degree from ASU online. While she took time off from UTD for a semester to catch up with courses at ASU, she would graduate from UTD in five and a half years. She said she is able to pursue her passion in the cybersecurity field by enrolling in both universities as she has a background in both IT and policy.

“Most of my classes from UTD transferred over… and because ASU is completely online, it’s convenient to juggle work, UTD and ASU,” Kaur said. “It was hard in the beginning but once you get into it, there’s a rhythm and you just get along with the rhythm. It’s hard [to manage time], I’m not going to lie, but I got super into bullet journaling and that’s how I keep track of all my assignments too.”

Since online classes at ASU inhibit Kaur from socializing at the university in person, Kaur said she focuses more on her social life at UTD as some of her friends are a part of the Starbucks program as well.

Volleyball Team Secures Championship

Zachary Rose Mercury Staff

UTD Volleyball swept competitors to win their eight ASC Championship.

The UTD Volleyball team defeated East Texas Baptist University to secure an American Southwest Conference championship on Nov. 5. This is the eighth time the Comets have brought home the trophy in their 19 years of existence. Comets also won the ASC Championship in 2021.

Because of their 2021 success, there were high expectations for the Comets going into this sea-

son. However, Villarreal and his team silenced doubters quickly, winning 10 of their first 11 conference games. This hot start allowed UTD to dominate the conference mid-season, and an end-of-season 5 game win streak carried the team into the postseason. When asked about thse pressure to perform in his first season as head coach, Villarreal emphasized the contributions of his players.

“Those kids did a great job competing all year, handling the change and doing what they need-

RYLEE RUSSELL

MERCURY STAFF

RYLEE RUSSELL Mercury Staff

Vaishnavi Josyula Mercury Staff

Jason Ajwani

Adrian Lewis

Jasmine Kaur

Student Art Showcase

"Daredevil Study"

HAUNTING CHRISTMAS FUTURE

CHARLIE CHANG MERCURY STAFF

CASEY RUBIO MERCURY STAFF RAINIER PEDERSON | GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

JUHI KARNALKAR | MERCURY STAFF

BAG GUY AND LI-YA

ANIME / FRONTIER

Alumni runs art booth at large artist's alley

Anime Frontier attendees stopped in their tracks as UTD alum Lacel Ria’s solid artistic merchandise at their towering booth of marvelous pastel stickers, prints and keychains.

Lacel, also known as Jelly is an artist and Twitch streamer who graduated from ATEC in 2022. Lacel illustrates original art and fanart for their merch shop and streams as a Vtuber model with 1,500 Twitch followers. One of their newest products is a polaroid print set they drew of Kyo and Tohru from “Fruits Basket.”

Active on social media as @lacelria on all major platforms, Lacel began doing commissions in 2016 and opened a store in 2020, which is currently run at lacelria.square.site. They began streaming in 2019 -- the same year they transferred to UTD -- at twitch.tv/

lacelria, where they draw commissions with the company of their live chat.

“It was a lot, of course, but streaming and art was and still is my only source of income, so I had to manage somehow,” Lacel said. “Most of my time was taken up by my classes and homework, and I’d give the rest of my time to working on commissions. I only gave myself one day to stream every week for three hours, because that was as much as I could at the time, and I would only ever stream the commission work process too. I never had any time to work on any art for myself or for fun for so long. But now that I’ve graduated, I’ve for sure been able to do that a lot more lately, which is very refreshing.”

Lacel’s art brings a smile to everyone’s face with their bubbly and cutesy aesthetic. Their shop includes sticker sets of original hamster

emotes from their stream, prints featuring fellow Vtuber Ironmouse, anime fanart and VALORANT agent keychains. Lacel expresses that their colleagues are a big influence on their art.

“My biggest art inspirations are Kaiami, Nihellie and Supernovaleslie,” Lacel said. “I also adore Milkiteastudios and Jyahm.”

Similarly, Lacel found a good support system at UTD as a student, by joining the esports content creator team.

“It was really nice to give and receive support in this community, and they definitely helped grow and improve my stream,” Lacel said.

But the esports content creator team wasn’t their only home on campus. Lacel made the most out of their major and found ways to incorporate their passion into their degree.

“The professors have also been incredibly supportive and insightful about everything, including the animation industry and encouraging my creativity,” said Lacel. “Another thing UTD helped me do was finally create my 2D Vtuber model/avatar for my streams, which I created for my Capstone project. UTD has just given me a lot of opportunities to move past my hesitations and doubts and just go for it, and all of it has played a huge role in getting me to where I am right now.”

When Lacel applied to table at Anime Fronter as an artist, they had only one event under their belt: Women in Animation’s ATEC Connect in Spring 2022. Appealing to UTD students, they created laminated Tobor stickers by hand to sell exclusively at ATEC Connect.

“UTD’s ATEC Connect event is actually

the whole entire reason I was able to get a taste of what an artist alley is like,” said Lacel. “That artist alley is what got me to overcome the hesitation and fear and to finally take the steps of having actual merchandise to sell! I genuinely think I would not be doing this today if it weren’t for that.”

Looking back on their time as a Comet and through COVID, Lacel wishes they could have been more involved.

“I seriously am so thankful for the school and for everyone that has supported me during my time here,” Lacel said. “Everyone I’ve met through my classes, including my professors, every friend I’ve made in the WIA artist alley, and the esports content creator team. I genuinely feel so lucky to be in my current position, and UTD is a big reason this was allowed to happen.”

Chainsaw Man brought to life

Computer science sophomore and comet, Thomas Cortez, struts the halls of Anime Frontier, wowing attendees with animated expressions and in-character movements through a mask obscuring his features. Known for his complex and bold builds, Cortez stands out amongst the crowd in his Chainsaw Man cosplay.

Chainsaw Man dub cast interview

Cortez, who goes by Biotom27, is known by his three thousand followers on Instagram and 152 thousand followers on Tiktok for his elaborate masked costumes. At spring 2022’s Comet Con, his Glamrock Freddy Fazbear cosplay turned heads with its glowing eyes, winning the fan favorite award from Weebcon 2021. His favorite cosplay, a crowd stunner, is an 11 foot tall Ruin Guard from popular RPG game, “Genshin Impact.” For

Anime Frontier, Cortez donned two Chainsaw Man cosplays: the titular character, Denji and Beam, a character with a shark devilhead. "Most my cosplays are masked characters and I don't often show my face on the internet," Cortez said. "So when I talk to someone at the con and they start realizing I'm responsible for all of these cosplays they're familiar

Jujutsu Kaisen dub cast interview

“Oh my god, yeah we are.”

Lindsay Seidel:

“Oh yeah, one hundred percent.”

Ryan Colt Levy:

“There's so much heart and nuance and it's not just ‘go for an easy laugh.’ It's about really getting the moments right and there'll be times it will take a few days on the tiniest of reactions because it's like, still gotta get that one layer to it ... and as someone who loves this so much, and he [Mike McFarland] knows that I feel so safe with him. And I feel so grateful that we have someone who cares as much as we do about making this special. So we're really lucky for this team.”

How did y'all get your career started in voiceover? Is there any advice you can give for for hiring or getting themselves into professional work auditions for voice actors who are attending college?

Mike McFarland

“The only thing I'll throw out as far as a really quick non esoteric answer is D Bradley Baker's website. It has tons of information, which is just https://iwanttobeavoiceactor. com/. Some people think it's like a cop-out answer, but it's like, it's something you could

take with you, you can look it up and he can research it and look through it. And he updates it all the time. And it's all correct. It's from multiple perspectives, plus ZONE as the spearhead guide on the whiteboard.”

Sarah Wiedenheft: It’s literally like the encyclopedia for us.”

Mike McFarlnd “Yeah it doesn’t matter if you're newer or if you're professional. There's so much, if I had discovered that when I was like 16 or 17 I would have been like ‘What is this? How does this exist? This is free?’”

Ryan Colt Levy:

“It’s funny because I will recommend it to a lot of people and I get a look because of just how it's phrased and, I'm just like, trust me, just look at it.”

Mike McFarland

“Yeah, I swear to you, it’s just the best tool.”

Lindsay Seidel

“We’ve put out the tools for y’all.”

Ryan Colt Levy:

“But Mike is right. It's very much like we all have a different story. I was a musician. I mean, where I came from, I was obsessed with film as a kid. I wanted to be a director and actor and on camera or theater, all this stuff. I never thought voiceover was even a

route for me. I was a musician in bands for almost 20 years, and I thought that was my life, and then I moved to LA and things shifted around. I was able to rekindle my love with acting and just took classes again and literally shot short films on camera. The director was a voice actor and just said ‘hey kid you're so good at this job.’ And I said I don't have a reel yet, you know, I know there are certain avenues to be a professional, so he was like, here’s a producer reel. So in that and, then like Mike said, I literally just started emailing different places knocking on doors. Being like ‘Hi, here's my stuff, I’m new, maybe like you put me on a roster or maybe an audition, y’know no biggie,’ like it was kind of expecting I've never hear from them or anything. And now I voice for them yeah. It’s also like you know, respecting also that it's not just you showing up it's all of these other people. With different jobs and things that need to be respected of their time and energy and all that and you know, just kind of going in and not expecting anything but wanting to give everything and just hoping for the best. But there's room for new people all the time. So something we think is part of the beau-

Earning its place among shōnen manga for some of the best fights in anime, Jujitsu Kaisen was written and illustrated by Gege Akutami in 2018. Pushing huge milestones in 2021 for its success as an anime, it follows the unnatural story of Yuji Itadori, played by Adam McArthur in the English dub, and classmate Nobara Kugisaki, played by Anne Yatco. The Mercury was privately invited along with “Manga Brownies” to co-interview both lead stars about their experience as voice actors and on the show.

What do you feel is the importance of having an internet or online presence in creative work?

Anne Yatco:

“I used to think it was unimportant. That was when I had no internet presence. As someone who, I suppose, gained internet presence more recently during the pandemic, I can see where in this world, where content comes out so fast and people are so fervent in their enjoyment of the material with each other in following forms, to see actors also be passionate about those projects with them. I think fans really appreciate that.”

Adam McArthur:

“I kind of feel like maybe it's just devil’s advocate, [but] some of my favorite voice actors, Fred Tavish or Scott Meadville, don't post on anything. And they work all the time. So it's like what is it about? Can it be advantageous for someone who's like streaming on Twitch

so that people know when you're streaming and know what you're up to? Totally. But like, I don't know. I don't think it's necessary. I mean, there's something really awesome about networking in person. Definitely, you know, face to face with people.”

Both of you have very prestigious resumes and experienced talent portfolios. Can either of you provide insight to what’s helped you develop such successful careers?

Anne Yatco:

“Aw, well thank you.”

Adam McArthur:

It is hard, you know. There's that voice of “you'll never work again” after every single job. You get impostor syndrome — it’s a real thing and it’s very loud. Even for people who have been working, I mean … I've been voice acting for about 24 years. My first job was 24 years ago, and I'm still like, “Who knows if I'll get any jobs next year”? But yeah, it's about just kind of stopping and stepping back and being grateful.

Anne Yatco:

The other thing is that, you know, we've been lucky to have things on our resume that people know, that people are like, “Oh, that's a cool role”. I like to tell people I won the lottery a couple of times. And that's not to say that there aren't countless other voice actors who are working like every day, you know, every week, doing all kinds of stuff, making a living full time as actors who maybe don't

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ALLY DUONG & TYLER VIATOR Mercury Staff

ANDRE AVERION Mercury Staff

ANDRE AVERION & TYLER VIATOR Mercury Staff

ALLY DUONG Mercury Staff

Rare Earth: a Crow Collection

The Fablemans keeps

audiences in the theater

Spielberg's newest semi-autobiographical film turns Spielbergs to Fablemans

In the golden age of streaming, releasing a movie solely in theaters is risky. But Steven Spielberg’s newest feature, “The Fabelmans,” is the flick to bring us back to the big screen and keep us at the behest of the projector.

TRADECRAFT COFFEE & TEA

BEN NGUYEN Mercury Staff

Hidden away from most of campus but convenient for JSOM majors is Tradecraft Coffee Co., a stand that sources its beans from Greater Goods Coffee Co. and provides a Starbucks alternative to students.

might as well make the trek to the SU for the food court or food trucks.

It's difficult to tell who Tradecraft is really for when Starbucks has equivalent caffeinated sugar water and arguably better food options. Tradecraft’s drinks are so sweet that unless ordered black, there’s no way to taste the ac

“The Fablemans” follows a semi-autobiographical version of Spielberg’s life as his father brings his family from the cookie-cutter New Jersey suburbs to the arid campgrounds of Arizona to the coming-of-age story’s conclusion in the hills of Hollywood. It’s the first project from Spielberg that dives deep into the critically acclaimed director’s childhood.

Spielberg — director and executive producer — is portrayed by Sam Fabelman (Gabriel Labelle), who, from a young age, points a camera at everything that moves. Michelle Williams gracefully plays his mother, Mitzi, who embodies the color schemes of Fitzgerald’s Daisy Buchanan. Her magnetic personality, virtuoso piano playing and dancing personify the creative arts, much — to the dislike of her husband, Burt Fabelman (Paul Dano). Like Steven’s real father, Burt is a pragmatic electrical engineer who sees each family uprooting as a strategic path to job security.

Sam functions as the Rosetta Stone between his parents — one a scientist and the other an artist. Like Spielberg’s aliens in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” who rely on musical tones and colorful lights to speak with government scientists, Sam’s early films attempt to bridge the gap between his parents’ opposing personalities. Though, to no avail, Sam’s movies become more attune and allow him to document the things unfolding before his eyes.

The first act acts as an exposé to cinematic wonderment, as an elementary school-aged Sam (Mateo Francis-DeFord) is terrified and captivated by a train crashing into a car in the first movie he ever sees, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Through trial and error, Sam recreates and enhances the sequence using his father’s camera and a Lionel train set. The experience resulting in his first motion picture is the MacGuffin that sends the boy on his

directorial journey. Any Spielberg fan will appreciate the prim itive techniques Sam uses to make his early films: scissors, tape and Boy Scout knowhow allow the young Fabelman to practice the craft that made his real-life counterpart a household name. Sprinkled throughout the film are instances of Spielberg maturing into his directing style. With limited extras, Sam convinces the audience of his first movie — “Escape to Nowhere” — that his small troop of friends is a field of slain WWII soldiers. By punching holes in celluloid, he makes plastic BB guns appear to be firing real bullets. Along the way, Spielberg’s traumatic child hood woes are brought into stark relief by the

summer blockbusters that bear his Amblin and DreamWorks trademarks. Sam must hide his knowledge of an affair between his mom and Burt’s best friend, Benny (Seth Rogen). Spending his teenage years in the early ‘60s at a Californian high school, Sam endures rampant antisemitism because of his eral minutes spent showing extras watching movies. In a scene where Burt tries to explain that a movie is only moving pictures, you can’t help but notice the light coming out of the machine behind you, in the theater, as it projects the next image onto the screen. And you begin to wonder if you’re falling for the

Pictured is Sam Fabelman (Gabriel Labelle) serves as Spielberg's self-insert in the film

MARTIN

Why Must Congress Railroad Unions?

Common sense should say that Democrats like Joe Biden would side with labor. But when the stakes get high, they side with elites.

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Mercury Staff

Now that the U.S. government has shut down the upcoming railway strike, it creates a dangerous precedent against workers’ rights everywhere, particularly endangering young people.

You may have heard about the upcoming railroad strike that could “cripple” the U.S. economy. The chief complaint: railway workers want paid sick leave, and railway companies refuse to meet their demands. But the media paints this issue as one of stubbornness and recklessness on the part of labor, when really, they should be affixing that blame on railway companies. Now that the government has crushed this strike, it creates a precedent harming workers’ rights everywhere and particularly endangering young people and college students.

Railroad workers are not currently guaranteed a single paid sick day, which has been the argument between railroad companies and workers for months. Biden’s brokered agreement in September included a pay increase but only one paid personal day, which unions rejected. Now, Congress has approved legislation to force unions to accept the bill, and with Biden’s signature, the threatened Dec. 9 strike is illegal.

We could talk about the fact that Congress made this happen using the Railway Labor Act, a nearly century old law that dates back to a time when the country’s transportation scape was entirely different. But this isn’t a legal article, and I don’t want to get into the weeds with the specific mechanism that our government has used to bludgeon the people.

I want to get into the motive.

So why don’t railroad companies want workers to have paid sick leave? The reasons are numerous and industry specific. Mainly, railroad companies keep profits high by maintaining an incredibly rigid schedule so that the total number of workers can be minimized. What they don’t seem to consider is that unlike trains, human beings don’t run on tracks. That stressful work environment has caused the railroad industry to hemorrhage

employees, which creates a vicious cycle as it makes the original staff shortage even worse. There is a clear way to end this cycle. If companies created a better work environment (for example, one with paid sick leave) more people would want to join staff and be more productive in general. But railroad companies won’t give in, because God forbid their profit margins suffer. This is a story that anyone who has ever worked a minimum wage job is already familiar with. And if the

government feels comfortable stepping in on the rail industry, who says they won’t back the CEO at the top of your food chain? Clearly, the government feels empowered to side with the person who already holds the threat of poverty over your head like a hammer. When mainstream sources like ABCNews and the New York Times cover the topic, they choose to emphasize how the strike could hurt the economy, rather than how an intense and exploitative work environment is

already hurting railroad workers everywhere. For one, the New York Times emphasized the fact that the strike “could cost the economy an estimated $2 billion a day and hurt consumers.”

According to CNN, a coalition of Democrats opposed to the shutdown emphasized the fact that guaranteeing railway workers seven days of paid leave would only cost $321 million a year in an industry that made $21.2 billion in just the first three quarters of 2022. That is less than 2% of their total profits. So what costs more money? Giving railroad workers the bare minimum of paid sick leave? Or allowing them to strike, which would upend the nation’s entire supply chain just before Christmas?

Certainly, it would be much easier and more cost effective for the railroad companies to just capitulate and give workers leave. Sure, they might take a small hit to their profit margins, but they are literally already millionaires, and having sick leave would create a more attractive work environment to fix the aggressive cycle of staff shortage. Most importantly, it would avoid doing massive widespread damage to virtually every part of the economy through supply chain disruption. Note that even though this damage would be entirely on the part of the railroad companies, essentially all reporting on the topic blames it on the unions. Instead, they dragged their feet until the man stepped in.

Democrats claim to stand with the people, but even centrist Biden blows them off when they really need him. Sure, if the railroad

Hate Speech is a Pretty Bad Way to Start the Conversation

Ye fans need to wake up and face the music. We all love his uniqueness, but Ye's anti-semitic conspiracy theories have gone too far.

The recent surge in antisemitic hate speech in the media from celebrities like Kanye West is an important reminder that when it comes to harmful ideology, it’s impossible to separate the artist from their art.

Antisemitic speech posed by rapper Kanye West simply cannot be glossed over or written off as ideology held purely by fringe ideology. With media outlets giving Ye a platform to spew hate, it is important to remember that when it comes to harmful ideology, it’s impossible to separate the artist from their art. Tolerating hate speech makes you complicit in an environment of hate which legitimizes and enables violence.

I had just turned 16 when Kanye West — or ‘Ye’ — dropped “The Life of Pablo,” his seventh studio album. My youthful interest in “Pablo” propelled me into interest in other artists like The Pharcyde and MF DOOM, who I still consider to be personal favorites. In fact, most of Ye’s early discography pushed me to confront the reality of racial inequality in America and the blatant sexism that black women uniquely face in this country. I say this not to excuse Ye’s recent antisemitic presence in the news media — where certain media outlets have

given him unfettered access to a platform from which he can spew hateful conspiracies — but to convey how uniquely dangerous his antisemitic speech really is.

In fact, the excuses that Ye fans give with each inflammatory, antisemitic statement are equally as concerning as the statements themselves. The chorus of “he made ‘Graduation’ though” after these headlines not only drowns out the real danger tied up in these fascist beliefs but renders those who defend him complacent, regardless of whether they agree with his views or not. I sat down with Professor David Patterson, one of the graduate professors in the Ackerman Center for Holocaust studies, to talk about the real-world impact of being silent on the issue.

“Words can give hope, or words and silence can destroy all hope,” Patterson said. “The higher our position in society, the more people turn to us, the greater our responsibility.”

This begs the question — what is the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes? This question is why I believe that responding to the Kanye discourse is so important, because genocide finds its root in inaction.

In short, there is no middle ground to stand on with this issue. Even listening to his music is choosing to tolerate an ideology that has literally had

Experts agree that hate speech is a gateway to real-world violence, especially coming from a role model like Ye.

genocidal consequences. This might seem like an overreaction, but at what point does arguing about the separation of the art from the artist become a cop out? Once we start drawing lines between what constitutes hate speech and hate crimes, when do we stop? Inaction is a statement itself.

The people who make excuses for a

version of Ye that no longer exists are just as guilty of allowing antisemitic thought to take root in our daily social lives. Obsessing over the art vs. the artist debate reduces the very real danger this kind of language has on Jewish communities every day.

The reality is that Kanye West won’t see you defending his antisemitism on

social media or thank you for continuing to listen to his music. But the people around you will. The people who look up to you will. And it is thanks to silent tolerance of antisemitism that violence arises.

So please, stop making excuses for Ye. Stop turning a blind eye to hate speech. And stop streaming his music.

In an already stressful industry, railway workers argued that sick leave is a basic human right. 250 congressmen begged to differ.

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RUBIO CASEY | MERCURY STAFF

RYLEE DAWN Mercury Staff

Iranian students organized a global demonstration against the revolution in their home country in solidarity with 200 other universities.

Following the demonstration at UTD in September, this event was coordinated between Iranian scholar groups based in North American, European and Oceanic universities. Electrical engineering doctoral student Hazhir Mahmoodi said that they wanted to put together a demonstration that was more than just noise.

“We wanted to come up with something which is more aligned with the background of the people who are attending,” Mahmoodi said. “Performance art and something which is pretty much not very loud, but very effective is what we were thinking about. That was our main goal because based on our feedback from other universities, we realized if we’re just being loud, probably people don’t really connect … we wanted to keep it lower but be more

effective. Performance art is one of the best ways to do that.”

In Iran, over 300 people have died in the ongoing protests, including at least 40 children. At UTD, protestors wore the faces of the deceased as a picture on their back or face and held up signs with their names, including Mehran Samak, who was shot for celebrating Iran’s loss to the U.S. in the World Cup. Mahmoodi said that he wants to ensure that these deaths matter to people in the world.

“We don’t want these numbers to just be numbers,” Mahmoodi said. “We want to make sure that the world is caring about what’s happening in Iran … we want to make it very important that if one person, just one person is being executed or being killed, we have to make sure that we are their voice.”

The event is an extension of the protests that Iranian students like visual and performing arts doctoral student Shahrzad Hamzeh have been leading their whole life. Strict Iranian laws control the amount that women

What Are Those Weird Jesus Notes in UV?

Students reported receiving mysterious religious notes on their doors.

The Mercury was in contact with nine students who received identical handwritten notes at both UV apartments and apartments off campus. The notes referred to Bible passages referencing hypocrisy and confession and urged the reader to confess before judgement day as “the end of the world is near.”

Students in UV reported receiving notes going back to 2020, although the postings have escalated in fall 2022 semester. Notes have been posted through phases of UV and other apartments in the Richardson area, like the Ashwood Park Apartments. However, identi -

cal handwritten notes have been appearing around DFW since 2015, when CBS News reported on sightings in East Dallas. Kara Curtis, a junior majoring in international political economy, received a note on her UV apartment on November 7, 2022.

“They definitely made me feel unsafe — the idea of someone going up to my door and leaving that feels really odd,” Curtis said. “The first thing that struck me was how obviously strange the note was. Like what religious organization would handwrite identical notes calling themselves Jesus, saying the end of the world was near and making up bible verses? It just didn’t make any sense and seemed like the actions of a seriously unstable person.”

Megan Gray Hering — the

assistant dean of AHT and an instructor of introduction to

can speak to men and forbid singing and dancing. As a result, Hamzeh said that for her, dance was a powerful tool for protest.

“I feel like I’m using my art,” Hamzeh said. “First of all, I had to learn most of the dances that I know underground in Iran. So, to bring that out of that scary place and use it somewhere to fight the regime that’s in Iran, it gives me this sense of power.”

Hamzeh and her fellow performers’ dance was one of multiple performances at the event. There were also two other dances, the singing of the protest song “Soroode Sogand” and speeches from former student prisoner Mitra Razavi and assistant AHT dean Pia Jakobsson. Hamzeh hoped to embody through her dance her experience in Iran.

“I’m trying to physically give form to the oppression I went through,” Hamzeh said.

“When we’re jumping up and down, it’s like I’m in a situation where I’m nervous, or I’m ashamed or that I don’t know if I’m doing it

right. Because as a woman, you’re constantly hearing that you’re doing it wrong because you shouldn’t be laughing too loud, you shouldn’t be talking to males. You shouldn’t dance, you shouldn’t sing, all these things. So you’re constantly questioning yourself.”

Mahmoodi said that the group — Iranian Scholars for Liberty — plans other events to bring awareness to the human rights violations in Iran. Their full statement can be found on their website, www.iranianscholarsforliberty.com. Mahmoodi said that he hopes the event inspires people to fight against human rights oppressors wherever they are.

“I think if we don’t defend these human rights in Iran,” Mahmoodi said, “who knows, tomorrow we have to fight for basic human rights all over the world … maybe tomorrow we have to fight for basic human rights even in other developed countries. So I wanna make sure that we’re cutting that lack of human rights right at the beginning.”

speak to the motivation of the author , but offered thoughts on their usage.

“These sorts of notes are typically a form of proselytization,” Hering said. “Those who proselytize may be prompted by feelings of fear for believed consequences of that outside of the religion, a sense of duty to the divine or religious institution, or a genuine desire for others to share the positive experience that they have with that religion.”

— Kara Curtis

Christian studies — said that there is a range of beliefs in all religions, and the notes aren’t necessarily reflective of what others believe. She could not

UTD PD Chief Larry Zacharias confirmed that both UTD PD and the dean of students are aware of the notes but have no information on the person posting them. Zacharias said that since no threats were made, posting the notes is not a criminal offense.

Emo Nite:

On a cold autumn night, Student musical organization Strings Attached performed their annual Emo Nite. From the angsty rock vibes of My Chemical Romance to the indie pop sounds of Boy Pablo, this year's Emo Nite hosted a blend of of musical genres to entice emo music veterans and newbies alike.

his parents, who both helped to organize Hoodies for the Homeless and taught him the importance of giving back to the community at a young age.

“I've always had a passion for service, just helping others,” Miles said. “I like to see others happy. I don't like really to see others down. That really bothers me. So when I drive through a city like Houston, where there's a very large homeless population and I see people sleeping on the ground, with no clothes on and stuff like that … that's a very hard thing for me to look at.” Miles’ favorite part of Hoodies for the Homeless is being able to sit

down to talk with the recipients.

“I had a group, it was, it was two guys, last year and it's actually a video of 'em on Instagram,” Miles said. “Once they got the hoodie, they were kind of just talking about how excited they were, how grateful they were. And I [liked] just seeing the excitement on their faces, seeing them grab that hoodie and put it on as soon as they got it and walk around the street. I drove around that area maybe a week later and saw a couple people still having a hoodie on. So that really just fueled my heart, knowing that I did something great for the community at such a young age.”

BetOnYourself accepts $30 donations through Zelle, CashApp,

PayPal and in-person donations, which covers the cost of producing a hoodie. Leftover money goes toward beanie production. Those interested should contact Miles’ business Instagram or business email, betonyourselfclothing@gmail.com.

Organizers are also seeking food and toiletry donations such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, fruit cups, crackers, protein bars, fruit snacks and face masks. Miles invites students to participate as volunteers to give back to their community and earn volunteer hours.

“I don't really do it for the exposure, but I know it is good for my brand,” Miles said. “Like that we are giving back … but the main focus and the main message behind this is, you know, to get those people who are struggling something to wear, something to eat and just [be] a positive spirit around Christmas time.”

In the future, Miles plans to expand Hoodies for the Homeless to Dallas. As president of the Tau Xi chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Miles organizes several other community service events, and after graduation, Miles hopes to continue his philanthropy by creating a college scholarship fund for his hometown of Humble, Texas.

“You just never know how you can impact somebody's day… so that would be my message, you know, just try to get out every once in a while. I know people are busy with school and work, but you know, you can block some time off for somebody else and just make a difference in the community … Just spread positivity, spread love.”

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2020, traffic and safety concerns were cited, including comments from UT Dallas Vice President for Facilities and Economic Development Calvin Jamison who voiced concerns that the project might “oversaturate the market” while students were attending school online.

In September 2021, the council denied another revised request to rezone because the plan wouldn’t align with the land use map which designated the region as property for “regional employment,” according to community impact.

City council members raised concerns at the November 2022 meeting over various elements of the development’s design, including parking minimums and phasing. Two plots would compose the development: subarea 1— student-focused housing—and subarea 2—the hotel and retail spaces. They sought a guarantee that if construction on subarea 1 was approved, then subarea 2 would be built.

“We would agree to subarea [1], a 0.8 parking ratio … [and] that subarea 2, that everything would be under construction, going vertical, with the exception of the hotel before the certificate of occupancy is issued for subarea 1,” council member Ken Hutchenrider said. Council members also raised concerns over affordability.

“To make sure I understand, y’all have talked about the market price and so forth,” council member Bob Dubey said. “I think it’s clear we

need to make sure we understand that this is not affordable housing. So how much it will cost to occupy or rent or lease these buildings, I think it’s gonna be expensive, or like you said, market value or market price. I do know that the college is planning on doing a bunch of new revitalization and a lot of housing on campus. So, it bothers me a little bit that this is promoted as student housing.”

In total, 21 UTD students attended the meeting to show their support for the zoning change. Five UTD students spoke at the meeting in favor of the development. Comets for Better Transit, a student organization devoted to transit and housing advocacy, organized student turnout for the event. Prior to the vote, the organization circulated a petition for students in support of the development, which by Nov. 14 had received 200 signatures.

Daniel Yahalom, computer science junior and president of Comets for Better Transit, spoke on both the lack of housing and high rents in the area surrounding campus. In the past year, the average UV floor plan saw an 3% increase in per-semester rent. The average monthly rent at Northside increased by 16%.

“The crisis our university is facing is not just a housing shortage, but a housing affordability crisis,” Yahalom said. “It is not something that is going to be caused by the construction of some luxury apartments, it is something that is happening because supply simply cannot meet demand. Right now,

neither the university nor Northside have any serious plans to address the shortage in the short term. Since 2018, attendance has increased by over 4,000 students, while housing capacity has increased by zero. This is the only serious solution attempting to address this right now.”

UTD Student Government passed a resolution on Oct. 25 in approval of the zoning file. According to Griffin Davis — who spoke on behalf of Student Government — last spring, 2,325 students signed up for university housing, while only 1,717 beds were available.

“In total, there are 6,094 beds on campus, with plans to only add 1,300,” Davis said. “And that’s plans —aspirational plans — to serve a campus population of around 30,000 people. That math doesn’t add up to me … any delay to the availability of student housing is an undue burden on the students of our university. Please allow this developer to provide us with what we so desperately need. Don’t stand in the way of them providing it to us. Please approve the zoning file.”

Despite not voting on or codifying any city ordinance for the site, the seven-member council agreed with the developer's ratio of beds to parking spaces and plans for phasing the building process. “We’re violently agreeing. I don’t think you understand that you’ve just won,” Richardson Mayor Paul Voelker said. “Just let us put it in writing and we’ll vote on it.”

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change and doing what they needed to do to play up to their potential.

I thought that they showed when they’re ready to compete, they can compete with [nationally ranked teams] ... Just getting that in that first year, you never know what you’re going to get with the change and how people will buy into the system with things being a little different, and I think they did a really good job of handling those things.”

Following their championship run,

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with, it just lights up my day."

With Anime Frontier occurring right before finals week, Cortez had to juggle school and the time consuming nature of cosplaying

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ty of “Chainsaw Man,” is how flawed characters are portrayed throughout the series. We want to ask, what's the difference between portraying these flawed characters compared to portray -

JUJUSTU CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

ever win the lottery of notable characters. It doesn't make them any less of an actor or any less talented … I got lucky.

As an Asian American what is it like to work in the voice acting industry?

Anne Yatco:

There's been so much talk lately about the importance of representa-

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same trick.

Though intense at times with family interventions and subtle racism, the film is a well-earned self-evaluation by Spielberg. As Spielberg’s films have defined the

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companies refuse to be reason able, the economy will suffer. But what about the workers, the people who run the economy with aching joints and bleeding

the Comets automatically qualified for the NCAA D-III tournament but lost in the second round to #1 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Despite the loss, Comets’ performance at the D-III tournament hit levels unseen since 2016, and next season, all eyes should be on UTD. When asked about those expectations for the next season, Villarreal spoke about the constantly changing dynamics of the team and the loss of a few key contributors. The team will lose three pin hitters – Abby Jones, Catherine Croft and Madison Ball – who won three

and convention preparation

"All the sleepless nights working on HW and projects get doubled adding cosplay into the mix. But I love it so I think it's worth it," Cortez said. Since starting his cosplay jour-

ing a character who's meant to be by design, maybe more instantly likable?

Ryan Colt Levy

“It’s so much more fun playing characters that are a mess because they can be like you in real life. You can ask [the cast],

tion in all forms of media. You know, it's not something I take lightly. It's weird to find myself as a person of prominence that people come and look at me and they say, “Oh, I'm just so glad that you're there. I love that I can hear myself and see myself in you” and that always touches me that, you know, I can somehow be something like that for other people. I hope that it just inspires them to, you know, reach for whatever it

lives of film enthusiasts everywhere, “The Fabelmans” offers something for everyone. While the dialogue and mannerisms of the young actors are far from accurate for the period, the cast stays true to the source material. The fiction disclaimer,

knuckles? They do so much work in the supply chain that the average person doesn’t even think to think of, because it happens so smoothly that the consumer doesn’t notice it. And Biden acted against them.

You may think this doesn’t af

previous championships, which could damage the team’s ability to pass. Next season, the team will also lose middle blocker Karle Lynd.

“All of those players that we’re losing were significant offensively for us,” Villareal said, “and so only time will tell on what we’re able to do to replicate that. Everything is gonna be dependent on how people step up into new roles and compete for new positions, and that’s always one of the things we’re shooting to do is be successful and maintain that standard of success we’ve set forward already.”

ney in 2019, Cortez has become experienced with a variety of different mediums including 3D modeling, EVA foam, PVC pipes, woodworking and LED circuitry.

“My go-to material is EVA foam,” Cortez said. “It's very

I’m a mess. Y'know, living life is messy. For all of us, it is a messy experience. We have every kind of emotion raging in us, we have relationships left and right in every direction. It is a constant flux and feelings and changing and becoming a new

is they're looking for, if it's to also be in the industry. Or if it's just to feel validated and seen. And I hope that we can keep being that for each other.

What was your journey into voice acting or how you broke into the industry?

Adam McArthur

Mine was pretty weird. Okay, not weird. I was just a kid and I had begged my parents for acting classes.

moreover, doesn’t take anything away from Spielberg’s eloquent reflection of inner ambitions.

The struggle to balance talent against familial obligation is a constant theme as each Fabelman must reckon with their passions. “We are junkies,” said

fect you. Maybe you work food service, or landscaping or some other job that seems worlds away from railways. You may not see why those seven paid sick days are so important. But the danger here lies in the precedent set by the government shutting down a

Of all the graduating players, the loss of outside hitter Catherine Croft may be the harshest, as Croft endeds her UTD career with back-to-back tournament MVP honors as well as 1st team All-Conference selections in both 2021 and 2022. The prolific hitter ended her season with 244 kills and 55 blocks, and when asked about the success of the season, Croft spoke about the excitement of winning her last championship.

“Winning the ASC conference championship this year was incredible,” Croft said. “Even though this

flexible in reality and in concept, so much can be done using just a roll of EVA foam – it's fascinating.”

Cortez identified the key steps to his build process. Brainstorming involves choosing an idea

version of yourself and growth and discovery and loss, anger and all the things. There’s no such thing as a clean existence, so getting to play and exist in a world of characters like this feels so much more genuine.”

Mike McFarland

They finally put me in an acting class, and the school was owned by a woman who was on Sesame Street as a voice in Northern California, and all the local talent agencies knew her and that she had a school for kids and teens. So they would often have auditions go through her to find youth. Something came across the table and I ended up getting my first — my first professional paying gig was a voiceover commercial for

Sam’s Ukrainian uncle Boris after a family death, “and art is our drug.” Like any young person striving to succeed in the arts, they face resistance from family and society. Spielberg’s theatrical avatar endures those same obstacles, as the road to becoming a

critical strike. It is only natural that this pave the way for a future pattern of neglecting workers’ rights and favoring elites. This precedent endangers college students in particular –the young and the broke – who often must work low-paying

was my third time winning it with my teammates, this year's championship felt extra special. After 6 a.m. practices four days a week, 3-hour study halls, team lifts twice a week and then traveling at least 3 hours for each conference game over the past 4 years, winning this championship was such a reward. It was such a special moment to see the sheer joy on everyone's faces after we won, too.

I am so happy to share this success with my teammates as well. They deserve the world.”

With the volleyball team enter-

based on audience excitability and working out gimmicks to include. Construction involves creating a paper template to transfer to foam and gluing and painting the cosplay together. Cortez encourages embodying ones favor-

“Yeah, I think it's a chance to be more honest and more open. It's the difference between hanging out with someone 24/7 and seeing what they're like, or I only know this person from their five seconds on Instagram. Only living the best life and

Macy's. And the first one turned into like 36. And then I just saved my money ... I just did kind of what I wanted and then got agents and never quit.

Anne Yatco

My road is much longer and weirder. So I have a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering. And then I went to Cal Arts to get my MFA in acting. And then when student loans were about to kick in,

director is narrow and thankless. But Burt’s initial reluctance to let Sam pursue his dreams in the entertainment industry subsides when he sees the dissatisfaction with his son’s hunger for selfexpression.

Ultimately, even if John Wil-

jobs to support themselves. If you’ve ever been trapped in a toxic work environment be cause you had no other options and no bargaining power, well, get used to that feeling. Because our government has made clear that it will side with the people

ing the off-season, excitement for the future is high. With potential future successes on the horizon, Villarreal reflected on the joy of this past season.

“Sometimes you take for granted the season that you had and you don’t actually sit there and enjoy and reflect back on it,” Villareal said. “Everybody’s seeing the bigger picture of the first year with the coaching change, that it was a success, [but winning the] conference championship again, back-to-back… I think those are things they should cherish going forward.”

ite characters had some advice for new cosplayers.

"Play around and have fun with it,” Cortez said. “And don't be afraid to learn new things. We're all here to have fun and dress out as our favorite characters.”

they're never had any problems and always the best. Yeah, like we're just shine, shine, shine constantly. That is not interesting to me. I would rather know everybody's everything and it makes them more worth knowing.”

I thought, hey, I should get like a full-time job. And, weirdly enough, a bachelor's in biomedical engineering and an MFA in acting isn't, I don't know attractive to Target or restaurants. I didn't get it. It's weird. But I found a job as a forensic scientist for like seven and a half years.

Adam McArthur

Can you imagine not finding a job at Target so then you go become a forensic scientist?

liams’ score is far from memorable, and the only indication of the film taking place in the ‘60s is the camera equipment and the distinctive car chassis, “The Fabelmans” is a once-in-a-generation film about a director with no parallel in modern Hollywood.

on top. This decision will tremendously affect the culture surrounding labor in an era that already sees weaker union activContact your congressman. Make your discontent heard. Do your part to help labor.