The Mercury 06/09

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LIFE&ARTS

LIFE&ARTS

Teen tearjerkers, street portraits and Neon Trees → PAGE 7

Six cultural finds to cure summer apathy → PAGE 8

June 9, 2014

facebook.com/theutdmercury | @utdmercury

Multimillion dollar gift jumpstarts new program Edith O'Donnell donates $17 million to support creation of art history institute MIGUEL PEREZ

THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

"I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR ART HISTORY, UTD-STYLE."

Fresh-faced trailblazers Students, staff from first freshman class reflect on summer before first year Editor's Note 2015 will mark the 25th anniversary of UTD's first freshman class, and the following is the first part of a multi-part series detailing the challenges and stories of the staff, faculty and students who paved the way for today's undergraduate student body.

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

William McDowell had everything planned out. The senior from Berkner High School in Richardson had his sights on College Station, and he was ready to start his life as an Aggie. “I was all lined up, ready to go down to Texas A&M,” McDowell said. “I had even gone down to their freshman orientation camp and kind of on a whim put in the application to UT Dallas.” Little did McDowell know that such a simple action would make him a part of UTD history.

LINA MOON | GRAPHICS EDITOR

Editor-in-Chief

On May 19, Edith O’Donnell donated $17 million to fund the creation of an art history institute on campus. According to Richard Brettell, distinguished chair of art and aesthetic studies, the endowment will support five new distinguished chairs in art history, 10 simultaneous research graduate fellowships, as well as a programming fund for visiting scholars, symposia and lecture series. The donation will double the course offerings in art history as all faculty members will teach both graduate and undergraduate courses, Brettell said. “A lot of people who I know in the art historical community, both in museums and universities, have said it really is a transformational gift,” Brettell said. “It’s a gift that will forever change the way that art history is experienced both in universities and the metropolitan area.” Brettell will head the institute as its founding director, and plans to hire new faculty and create a physical space for the institute in the Arts and Technology Building have already begun. He hopes the institute and its place within

The above quote was made in a statement by Edith O'Donnell for The Dallas Morning News. She also noted the connections between science and the arts as a main focus in her philanthropic efforts.

→ SEE ART HISTORY, PAGE 6

Biker embarks on nationwide trek

Changing times The year was 1990, and the world was being introduced to some radical changes. South African officials released Nelson Mandela from prison. East and West Germany reunited after years of being divided by the Cold War. The United States was introduced to a quaint little family known as the Simpsons. At the same time, UTD was going through some radical changes of its own. After spending 20 years as an exclusive graduate and upper level institution, the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board made the decision to allow freshmen and sophomores to enter UTD out of high school in January of 1990. Students coming straight out of high school like McDowell could enter UTD’s doors for the first time. That decision did not come lightly. A cadre of Dallas business and civic leaders first approached the Texas legislature with a bill to expand UTD to a full undergraduate program in the spring of 1989. Their goal was to create a university environment that would focus on students who had an interest in science, math, engineering and computers. That group was ultimately successful in its efforts and the legislature passed the bill, which was later signed by Governor William Clements. After that, the door was open for the coordination board to approve UTD’s request to allow for a freshman class. Obstacles and Challenges The decision to let freshmen was not without its challenges. The dean of undergraduate studies at the time, Chris Parr, had many of those problems to resolve, including a stubborn elderly regime. “There was an old guard that wanted to see (UTD) be a graduate student (facility) forever,” Parr said. “Economically, that couldn’t work.” Parr said that at the time UTD was only open to junior and senior underclassmen. He said that bringing in freshmen was a way for the school to recruit people who fly off and prefer to live somewhere else for a four-year college. To cater to all of those new prospective students, a curriculum had to be made and courses had to be prepared first. Parr said that a master’s council of undergraduate deans from each school came together as a committee to decide how the general education would work. Most importantly, students had to be brought in to take part in that new curriculum. That meant UTD would be fighting an uphill battle to recruit students against big-time schools like UT and Texas A&M. “First out of the box we offered scholarships,” Parr said. “We offered full-ride scholarships for the best qualified students on the assumption that if the best qualified students said they’re going to UTD, their colleagues would follow on and they would be the better students as well.” The admission standards that they placed on

→ SEE FRESHMEN, PAGE 6

YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF

Along with 29 tour mates, McDermott scholar Irene Morse will cycle her way through 11 states from Providence, R.I. to Seattle, Wash., to raise funds for affordable housing organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together. She began her 70-day tour on June 6.

Alumna Irene Morse cycles through northern U.S. to raise funds for affordable housing ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE Web Editor

Irene Morse, a recently graduated McDermott scholar, started her 70day bicycle tour across the northern United States from Providence, R.I., on June 6 to raise money for affordable housing. In that time, Morse and her 29 tour mates will bike through 11 different states across the Appalachian and Rocky mountain ranges, interacting with affordable housing organizations and building houses for them. The tour will end in Seattle, Wash. Twelve years ago, when she first learned to ride a bicycle at age 10, Morse could never have imagined that the sport would become an important part of her life. “I was really bad at it,” she said. “My dad used to run behind me and hold the seat and he would get so tired because we would do that forever. I was too scared to actually ride on my own.” Now, after having traveled to Washington D.C. as an Archer scholar and Morocco for her study abroad program in 2012-13, Morse is looking forward to this trip that

will combine her passion for public service with the adventure and adrenaline rush she craves from her life. In her sophomore year at UTD, Morse and a friend would cycle around campus for recreation, and it was her friend who informed Morse of Bike and Build, the nonprofit that organizes 30 different bike tours across the country each summer. Her friend graduated in 2012 and never made the trip, but seeing her opportunity this summer after graduation, Morse decided to take on the challenge. She will be the first person from UTD to ever have made this trip and will be the only person from Texas in the group of 30 she’ll be biking with. The only requirements for her to be part of the program were to have 500 miles on her bike before hitting the tour route and raise $4,500 for the charity and trip expenses. The money will go toward organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together, among others, and to competitive grants for local housing organizations across the country.

Morse has raised $4,680 for the cause so far, exceeding the required amount, and the whole process of fundraising large amounts does not daunt her as much as it did initially, she said. The whole project is a challenge and a little bit scary, Morse said, and despite having cycled long distances in the Dallas area, riding a bike on the mountains is difficult and new to her. “I think we are all going to die for the first two weeks or so,” she said. Those who know Morse are hardly surprised by her decision to make this trip with people she doesn’t know except through Facebook. She has been determined to do what she wants to do since childhood, said Morse’s mother, Melisa. Back in junior high, there was a time when Morse had to run on her school team. One day, Melisa walked into Morse’s room and found she had charted out a running schedule for herself to stay fit even though the team coach hadn’t asked her to maintain one. “Once she decides to do something, she’ll do it no matter how hard,” Melisa said. “… She does everything with excellence.”

Morse said her family and friends along with the faculty and staff at UTD supported her in the endeavor with their moral and financial support. However, her mother is, perhaps, the most relieved that the trip won’t take Morse to foreign lands. As part of her study abroad program, Morse has lived in Morocco where she learned Arabic, as well as other parts of Middle East and Argentina. Melisa said she is grateful her daughter chose to stay closer to home this time. For Morse, however, the travel to foreign countries hasn’t seemed to end. Morse received her Englishteaching certification last semester and would like to travel to the Middle East or Turkey to teach English for a while after she returns from the trip. Eventually, Morse would like to further her education and join a think tank or some other government organization in D.C. that will help her serve her country better, she said. Morse said she believes that while the Archer program taught her to make friends among strangers, this

→ SEE CYCLING, PAGE 8


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