the Mercury
www.utdmercury.com
The Student Newspaper at UT Dallas
Vol. XXX, No. 10
Volunteers gather for one day event Page 7
Men and women’s soccer preview Page 13
September 7, 2010
New series explores sustainability Page 5
An American tragedy, nine years later Aviators and air traffic controllers will gather to share new perspectives on 9/11 Mari Vila
Staff Writer mxv093120@utdallas.edu
The Mercury file photo
Photo from the 9/11 2009 memorial event. This year’s speakers will include Ben Sliney, the controller who made the order to shut down U.S. air space.
Navigating Chaos: Aviation’s Response on 9/11 will take place at 1 p.m. Sept. 11 in the Conference Center Auditorium. This is a free symposium for students which will include panelists who experienced the attacks on 9/11 first-hand. Lynn Spencer, author of “Touching History: The Un-
told Story of the Drama that Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11” will moderate the symposium. Two panelists include Ben Sliney, a veteran air traffic controller who made the order to shut down U.S. airspace following the strike and Gerald Earwood, whose plane nearly collided with the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. The panel will be split up into two portions, “View
Math exam mix-up Alternative testing methods proposed Jessica Melton & Elizabeth Anderson Mercury staff report news@utdmercury.com
Undergraduate math exams are no longer scheduled for Saturday. As the semester began, all Natural Science & Mathematics undergraduate math exams were scheduled for Saturdays, regardless of when class met during the week. Vice President for Communications Susan Rogers said this was a scheduling mistake, which likely arose because university policy was misread. She said the registrar sets class schedules. “Exams have to be scheduled during class,” Rogers said. “I think there’s a deep misunderstanding here.” In an e-mail to The Mercury Sept. 2 Natural Sciences & Mathematics Dean Myron Salamon said exams were moved back to regular class periods in response to student complaints. Mathematical Sciences Department Head Wieslaw
from the Ground” and “View from the Cockpit.” Paul Oelkrug, Coordinator for Special Collections at the McDermott Library, said this organization will give students a unique perspective on what happened that day. “The air traffic controllers were responding to (the strike) from a control perspective and the pilots saw it from a different point of
see SYMPOSIUM page 4
Courses may be cut Rebecca Gomez
Krawcewicz said exams were scheduled for Saturday as part of the department’s goal to coordinate each course section to help students have a uniform experience. Krawcewicz said the reason behind initially moving the exams to Saturday was because in previous semesters grading had been inconsistent, with some classes making mostly A’s while others had the majority of students failing. “The question became, ‘who is the loser?’ — the answer was the students,” Krawcewicz said. All math courses with multiple sections were slated to have course coordinators who instructed the course. The coordinator was to ensure instructors had identical homework assignments, grading standards and exams. The system was designed to make the test-taking environment more competitive and show students they
Staff Writer becks@student.utdallas.edu
Low-enrollment elective courses may be cut due to a sate-wide budget shortfall. A 5 percent reduction in state funding occurred in the last academic year. UTD President David Daniel said he doesn’t think students should currently notice. “An even greater concern is the biennium (two year period) that starts a year from this September,” Daniel said. “There are requests that we look at a 10 percent cut for next year.” Vice President of Communications Susan Rogers said the state’s funding last year was only a quarter of UTD’s budget, and 5 percent of that number was $7 million out of hundreds of millions of dollars. “We are making sure that we are making smart choices now so that we are prepared in case the next biennium is as dire as some of the forecasters in the state have preillustration by Laura-Jane Cunningham
see EXAMS page 4
Student killed in hit-and-run
see BUDGET page 4
Fast for a day for Fastathon
Police continue search for driver who fled fatal accident Shane Damico
Managing Editor spd064000@utdallas.edu
A UTD student was declared dead after an unknown driver struck the student and failed to stop his vehicle, Dallas police are continuing to search for the suspect. A Dallas Police Department representative said at approximately 4 a.m. Aug. 28 a witness observed 20-year-old UTD
student Wen Dan Qu standing outside his vehicle after he scraped a barricade near the Hillcrest Road exit on LBJ Freeway. As the witness began to pull over to help, a silver 2004 Volkswagen Jetta passed the witness on the right and hit Qu. According to the police report, the suspect continued to drive, failing to offer any type of assistance. Qu was rushed to the hospital where he died of
his injuries less than an hour later. The force of the impact tore the license plate from the suspect’s vehicle, which police detectives reportedly used to locate the car at an apartment complex. Police said they know the identity of the vehicle’s registered owner, but are still trying to determine who was behind the wheel at the time of the incident.
photo by Brandon Higgins
Molecular biology sophomore Kamilah Hyder (left) and biology sophomore Yasamin Khanian attending Fastathon Sept. 1 in the Galaxy Rooms.