The Mercury 3/28/16

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March 28, 2016

SG hosts student debate

Members of College Democrats, College Republicans square off on policies, issues of election year MIRIAM PERCIVAL Mercury Staff

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On March 24, the UTD College Democrats and College Republicans came together to discuss a variety of hot button topics in a debate hosted by the Legislative Affairs Committee of Student Government.

International political economy senior Tessa McGlynn, psychology and child learning and development senior Maham Tirmizi and computer science sophomore Christian Briggs represented the UTD Democrats at the debate.

On the other side, historical studies and political science senior Robby Dube, political science senior Erick Bruno and political science and economics junior Patrick Wilson represented the College Republicans.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs Matthew Polze, interdisciplinary junior Nyemike Okonkwo and business administration junior Christian Filsouf served as moderators.

The three most divisive topics at the debate were the fight against

SPRINGAPALOOZA 2016

→ SEE DEBATE, PAGE 4

YASH MUSALOGANKAR | MERCURY STAFF

Members of the College Democrats (left) listen as the College Republicans make a point during the debate on March 24. The event, which was hosted by Student Government, focused on issues brought up during the campaign season.

HEADS OF STATE

Students race for top Student Government spots in first contested race in two years BHARGAV ARIMILLI Mercury Staff

LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

Electrical engineering senior Adam Richards ran his campaign as the head of the “Progress UTD” ticket, which advocated for issues such as raising the minimum wage on campus to $15 an hour.

For the first time in two years, UTD’s Student Government chose its leadership through a contested election. Although two tickets entered, only one finished on top.

Adam Richards, an electrical engineering senior from McKinney, said he was inspired to join SG while serving as the president of Rainbow Guard, an organization that promotes LGBT rights and visibility on campus.

“That’s where my activism really kicked into high gear,” he said. “I saw that Student Government could really make a difference in the lives of LGBT students.”

During his time on Senate, he worked on a resolution to protest Texas’ string of anti-LGBT legislation, helped create the Preferred Name Policy for transgender students and is now promoting an LGBT Rights Ordinance for the City of Richardson.

After assembling a team of senators from various activist groups on campus, Richards secured endorsements from organizations such as College Democrats, Democratic Socialists, Rainbow Guard, Pride and the Forum for Autistic Empowerment. His campaign primarily revolved around issues such as diversity inclusion and accessibility.

Because of SG’s restrictions on candidate eligibility, Richards said he was unable to find a running mate for the election. Despite this setback, he still ran without a vice president.

On the other side was the “United as One” ticket, headed by finance and accounting junior Akshitha Padigela as the nominee for president and biochemistry freshman Joey Campain for vice president.

Padigela became the candidate for her ticket when the original nominee, Rebecca Tjaja, had to back out after another commitment came up for her over the summer. Still, Padigela expressed a

→ SEE SG, PAGE 16

ANDREW GALLEGOS | PHOTO EDITOR

Finance and accounting junior Akshitha Padigala (left) and biochemistry freshman Joey Campain ran as the president and vice president, respectively, of the “United as One” ticket, which focused on bringing in groups across campus together.

Researchers use science to study art Conservation expert looks into history of pieces, examines the surfaces of works over time CARA SANTUCCI News Editor

PAGES 8 AND 9

Despite the scientific jargon and complicated analytical machinery David McPhail works with, his research at UTD is all about the arts.

McPhail is a distinguished chair at the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, the 1 ½ year old program whose offices are nestled deep within the ATEC building. He began working in the Institute this past January as a conservation scientist, a position he applied for after hearing about the opening at a conference.

“My interest in art history comes about through an interest with working with conservators and conservation scientists to work out what is happening to the surfaces of works of art,” he said.

His history with conservation dates back to his experience working at the Imperial College in London, a position that required working frequently with the several museums surrounding the college. Similarly, his work as distinguished chair necessitates opening communication between UTD and the art community in the DFW area.

“Part of the thinking there was around how do we reach out to the local museums and make them part of this party, so to speak,” he said. “How do we build those bridges?”

The institute has begun to foster those relationships by

CHRIS LIN | MERCURY STAFF

→ SEE RESEARCH, PAGE 4

David McPhail, the distinguished chair at the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, uses methods typically associated with more traditional scientific applications to study art and look into what happens to the surfaces of pieces of work over time.

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THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXVI No. 17 Editor-in-Chief Esteban Bustillos

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THE MERCURY | MARCH 28, 2016

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UTDPD Blotter March 8 • At 4:16 p.m., a UTD officer was dispatched in reference to a criminal mischief call in Lot S. March 15 • An unaffiliated person was arrested at 7:34 p.m on N. Floyd Road for driving while intoxicated.

March 17 • An unaffiliated minor was cited on W. Campbell Road at 12:52 a.m. for possession of alcohol and was subsequently released.

March 21 • A student’s bicycle was stolen at 1:55 p.m. near building 54 in Phase 8.

March 22 • A student reported at 4:13 p.m. that her wallet was stolen in the McDermott Library and unauthorized charges were made on her debit and credit cards.

• A student was arrested at 10:21 p.m. in Residence Hall Southwest for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

March 23 • At 3:49 p.m., a previously affiliated individual was arrested in the UTD Police lobby for another agency’s arrest warrant.

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OPINION

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More party platforms needed to represent Americans Recent election has made it apparent current two-party system doesn’t serve needs of American populace sufficiently THOMAS GRICE COMMENTARY

The 2016 election season has revealed an identity crisis among the American political parties.

Fewer and fewer Americans identify with the mainstream political parties. Gallup polls show that around 43 percent of U.S. citizens associate with the Independent Party, and, given the rise of antiestablishment candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, is the time right for Americans to coalesce around a third party?

Sanders and Trump’s popularity and the growing number of Americans with an Independent affiliation are testaments to the disconnect between the goals of the American populace and the accomplishments of the political establishment. Take the left, for example. The leftist ambitions of many Americans culminated historically with the New Deal politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt and have been slowly compromised ever since, a descent that is now reaching a floor with the centrist politics of the Clinton and Obama administrations.

One of the exemplary models of this fact is the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

President Barack Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress compromised on implementing the hugely popular concept of a single-payer system of health care, an implementation which would most likely have shifted the cost of health care onto the upper tax brackets and corporations. Additionally, much of the bureaucratic pressure in the form of choosing the correct health care coverage would have been lifted.

Instead, they erected a monument to the incomprehensible cronyist nature of 21st century American

politics: an originally-Republican plan that forces diverse and viable political parties, for an example. individuals to purchase health insurance, or pay Other Western democracies are notable for their fines, through interfacing with a Kafkaesque system highly diverse party options. In Sweden, there are of immeasurable complexity. It cannot be denied eight political parties. In America, we currently that this system is very different from the single- have two Independents in the Senate and none in payer system established in the Nordic countries, the House of Representatives. If we add all of the Western Europe or Canada. Despite incremental seats in Congress up, we’ve got less than a percent improvement in the number of individuals insured, that aren’t officially representing the Democrat or Obamacare is emblematic of the fact that the Republican parties.

This means that a much more diverse array of Democratic establishment isn’t accomplishing ambigroups are represented tious leftist goals. in Sweden’s system. If Meanwhile, the Americans need to articulate their the United States was Republican estabpolitical ideologies among themsimilar, we may not lishment, as well as observe the dramatic and right-wing pundits selves and coagulate accordingly, exhausting in-fighting of of all strata, have which is no small feat. the political parties to been simultaneousthe same extent, as indily battling and providuals would not feel as moting their grassthough their only option roots movements in the form of the Tea Party and now, Trump sup- as a far-left individual is to “throw away” their vote porters. Using nativist enmity and obstructionism to on the Green Party. Instead, they could at least hope drum up excitement in their party has left them with to elect a few Green Party members to Congress, and a problem: the mainstream Republicans want to win expect them, as a more ideologically pure liberal party, a general election, but the party leadership-backed to filibuster health care legislation that lacks of a public candidates have largely been bullied out of the race option. As it is, very liberal and very conservative indiby Trump. His supporters constitute such a formida- viduals do not have a party they can count on to push ble fraction of the party that it is impossible for party agendas accordingly.

The United States could be a country where the leadership to ignore them. This party-within-a-party parties are the Republicans and the Democrats, plus dynamic is mirrored between Trump and Sanders.

With Sanders admirably competing with the the Socialists — lead by Sanders — and, let’s say, the largest political machine in existence in several American version of Greece’s Golden Dawn, lead by states and national polls, and with Trump nearing Trump. However, this is a catch 22. The only way that electoral invincibility in his party’s primary, it is such parties can exist, by definition, is if Americans increasingly clear that a large portion of Americans decide that it’s worth committing to those parties.

As such, examining other democracies like do not fit neatly in the red or blue boxes of the Sweden’s does not give us many easy answers. They major political parties.

The question is, where should this all lead? take some seemingly imitable steps, such as choosing Perhaps we can look to other nations, with more to hold general elections on weekends so that it is

easier for citizens to vote, which may result in their 85 percent voter turnout. More crucially, they have a politically engaged populace that hasn’t given up on the idea that a plurality of platforms can coexist and viably influence the activities of their government.

There are structural obstacles in the way of third party success. In particular, the winner-take-all rules governing most U.S. elections are an obstacle for the election of minor party candidates. This is true at most levels of government, but is most easily overcome in localized elections. These are perhaps the best areas of focus for third party hopefuls to begin making an impact.

An instructive tale is that of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements, aligned oppositely, yet both highly concerned with crony capitalism.

Although the Tea Party in particular has made some impact in pushing for more socially and fiscally conservative candidates on Republican tickets, both were largely co-opted or deflected by their respective establishment parties by the time the 2016 election season had begun. Although it may be easier to tweak party platforms by running satellite parties in this manner, the malleability of the mainstream political parties remains questionable. Third parties should aspire to elect their own candidates for the symbolic significance and to make the most direct, purest impact.

In order for third and fourth parties to thrive, Americans need to articulate their political ideologies among themselves and coagulate accordingly, which is no small feat. However, as we witness the unrest and splintering of the Democrat and Republican parties, it’s looking more and more likely every day. Maybe after this election, it will be time for Sanders and Trump supporters to consider coalescing into their own factions and demolishing the de-facto two-party system of the past century and a half.

Society taught to lessen value of minority lives Shooting of a young Hispanic male by police officer shines light on community’s race perceptions, their detrimental effects

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS COMMENTARY

The death of a Hispanic teenager over spring break in Addison at the hands of an off-duty Farmers Branch police officer exemplifies the problems young Latinos face in this country. It’s also a stark reminder of how hard it can be to be a young, minority male living in the United States.

On March 13, 16-year-old Jose Cruz and his friend, Edgar Rodriguez — who is also 16 — were doing something admittedly wrong: stealing the seats out of a car for a quick buck. When Ken Johnson, an officer with the Farmers Branch Police Department, saw the pair committing the crime in his apartment complex, he announced to the pair he was with the police before chasing them in his car.

Despite restrictions against such action from his own police department, Johnson eventually caught up to the pair and rammed them with his own vehicle. That’s when he got out and opened fire on the two, killing Cruz and sending Rodriguez to the hospital.

Johnson was later arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

COMET COMMENTS

When I heard about the incident, a lot went through my mind. What resonated with me the most, however, was just how easily Cruz could have been me.

Growing up as a Hispanic male, I truly became aware of my ethnicity when I was in high school.

That’s not to say I didn’t know where I came from or didn’t appreciate my heritage, but it had never made me feel different from anyone else.

That all changed when I started to get into honors courses and realized how rare it was to see someone who looked like me in those classes. It all changed when I had a teacher my freshman year who said she wouldn’t allow Spanish to be spoken in her class. It all changed when my best friend and I, who is also Hispanic, had a run-in with the police where we almost got arrested.

For better or for worse, I started to realize just how much weight people really place on race, which — for Hispanic people — is difficult to define in the first place. Regardless, I began to simply accept it when I would go to events like my white friend’s wedding where, being one of the only two brown people in the room, I caught a fair share of odd glances.

Simply put, it’s no longer a secret to me that people look at young, Hispanic males a little differently than others. Sometimes it’s something as simple as being asked if you’re “part of the help” at a fancy dinner you’re attending — which actually happened to my family and me once — and sometimes it’s as

serious as being chased down and shot in cold blood for a misdemeanor.

I’m not defending Cruz and Rodriguez for what they did. At the end of the day, they were committing a crime and should have been arrested.

But what’s upsetting is that they didn’t even get that chance.

It’s times like this that I’m incredibly grateful for my father and what he did, or rather didn’t do, for me. Born in Mexico and brought over to the United States as a child, my dad, along with the rest of his family, had to scrape and fight for everything he had. It would have been easy if he, like so many of his peers, dropped out of school, got into the streets and went down a road he couldn’t come back from.

He took another route. He did things the hard way and set up a life for my siblings and I where we didn’t have to feel like it was different for us to do well in school and be successful simply because of who we are.

Looking back on that now, those decisions my father made may have saved my life. The truth is, young men of color bring out the worst fears in people. We don’t get the benefit of the doubt. If we mess up, it’s too often that we don’t get the chance to walk away and learn from our mistakes. We either end up in handcuffs, in a plane back to our home countries for those without documents or in a coffin.

To stay on the straight and narrow isn’t a means to

success, it’s a survival tactic.

It is equally frustrating and terrifying to deal with the racial realities of modern America. You want to believe situations are changing and people are becoming better, but maybe that’s not true.

Maybe bigotry has taken on a more passive nature than before. Instead of calling us “spics” and “wetbacks,” people now use coded words like “illegals” to classify an entire group of people fleeing from some of the most deplorable conditions in the Americas as villainous. Even our leaders brag of building walls to ensure people who look like me stay out of this country.

That’s why I see myself when I see Jose Cruz. It’s not because of what he did that Cruz got killed; it’s because of what he looked like. It’s because people have made it normal to dehumanize young, Hispanic men from the get go. We’re not supposed to be successful. We’re not supposed to be forces for good.

In the dark depths of people’s hearts they don’t share, that only leaves one way for them to categorize us: as criminals who don’t deserve salvation.

When Jose Cruz was shot and killed, it wasn’t just a 16-year-old who was gunned down. It was another member of a community that has been told it is worth less than others. And when the world has been taught and trained to believe your life doesn’t matter, you cease to become a person.

You become a target.

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→ DEBATE

bidding because they contribute large amounts of money to help candidates get elected. McGlynn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said groups like these keep candidates from passing comprehensive gun reform legislation. terrorism, gun control and immigration reform.

Dube responded by saying all candidates answer to The College Republicans and UTD Democrats disagreed on whether or not the Muslim community some kind of interest group, and the National Rifle should be held responsible for the actions of their Association is no different.

“What the NRA believes is that Americans have a radical counterparts.

The Republicans argued that more local involve- right to own a gun, and when they see a politician ment is needed, as well as reform, in the Department that supports that, they’re going to support that poliof Homeland Security. They also advocated for tician,” he said. citizen vigilance against potential terror attacks and The UTD Democrats and College Republicans “ending the fear campaign on guns.” Representing found common ground when the discussion shiftthe Republicans, Wilson said Muslims need to do ed to the immigration crisis. They both agreed more to fight against terrorism. immigrants should be allowed into the country “We need to hold the Muslim community and and reforms are needed to allow an easier pathway Muslim countries accountable. I say that because to citizenship. whites have to address the problem of racism and The Republicans began by drawing a clear line Mexicans must address the problem of drug car- between their policies and Republican fronttels,” he said. runner Donald Trump’s ideas. They continThe Democrats ued by proposing disagreed that more border patrol Muslims should agents to create You say end the fear campaign on be responsible for “a human wall” guns, we say end the fear campaign radical groups. against undocuThey also critimented citizens on Muslims. cized Republican and a path to perfrontrunners Ted — Tessa McGlynn, manent status for Cruz and Donald those already in UTD College Democrats the country.

Trump for hatefilled speech Permanent status toward Muslims differs from citizenand refugees. ship by allowing immigrants to work in the country “You say end the fear campaign on guns, we say without receiving benefits, such as the right to vote end the fear campaign on Muslims,” McGlynn said. and social security.

The debate then shifted to discussing gun Although the College Republicans rejected Trump, regulation, particularly in response to the frequent the UTD Democrats said the entire Republican mass shootings in schools and theaters. Both clubs Party had hateful language toward the Latino comagreed that guns need to be given to responsible munities and that their rhetoric is dehumanizing. citizens, but differed on gun regulation.

“A lot of these immigrants come here illegally The Democrats stuck with their party’s stance on because they’re trying to leave horrors of their banning the sale of assault rifles. They also said that own country,” Tirmizi said. “I think punishing decreasing the number of guns available to citizens them is wrong because this is the United States of would lower the rates of homicide and suicide.

America and (few) of us can say that our parents The Republicans said strict regulations would hurt are Native Americans.” law-abiding citizens, not the law-breakers. They also Other issues brought to the table included strongly advocated for protecting the second amend- healthcare, affirmative action and student debt. ment in the Constitution.

A winner was not announced at the debate, but The Democrats criticized Republicans for being both parties concluded on a note of thanks for the “beholden” to the National Rifle Association’s audience’s interest.

tors in the art history world. → RESEARCH “There’s this massive tension between the scientific CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 community (and museum personnel) — it’s not an unfriendly tension its just an interesting debate about opening a satellite office in the Dallas Museum whether it’s ever okay to take some samples in order to acquire information and knowledge that then can of Art. “We’re really hoping to integrate students and be applied to extending the useful life of the object,” scholars in the DMA community,” said Sarah McPhail said.

It’s a debate in which he is involved in his capacity Kozlowski, the assistant director at the institute.

She said one of the goals of the institute is to as distinguished chair and as a chemist, as his work create intersections of art and science. One such often necessitates having, at minimum, a fiber of the work to analyze. intersection is McPhail’s conAlthough McPhail has only been servation program. Part of his at the institute for two months, he duties as a distinguished chair The work (at the has high expectations and aspirain the field of conservation is to Institute) has to tions. set up a lab.

“I’d like to have created a He explained conservation as have some real conservation science research a graph, with one axis showing impact in terms of group in the Institute which time and the other showing the has a good reputation (and) usefulness of a work of art that is extending the useful is publishing solid science in being displayed. life of objects. high quality journals,” he said.

“With science, we can help conservators change the slope of — David McPhail, “But almost more importantly, the work has to have some real that line,” he said.

Distinguished Chair at impact in terms of extending McPhail has been busy getEdith O’Donnell Institute the useful life of objects.” ting to know the conservation Kozlowski, on the more scientists in DFW and helping administrative side, similarly has them put together project proposals for potential O’Donnell Institute Ph.D. her own hopes for the Institute.

“One of my big goals for the Institute when I students. For example, one project is an exploracame on a year ago was to find ways to draw together tion into Andean textiles and how the color of the fabric remains so vibrant after so many years. this huge community of historians and curators and He said a difficulty of working in conservation sci- artists, too, in Dallas-Ft. Worth,” she said. “And to ence is trying to study the surfaces of the art without make the O’Donnell Institute an intellectual center causing damage or change. The possibility of curators (for) exchange and collaboration, and so I see us damaging a piece of art while studying it angers cura- continuing on that path.”

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TITLE IX UPDATES Since the publication of the article “Title IX Confusion” in the March 7 issue of The Mercury, several updates from faculty, Student Government and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance need to be addressed.

FACULTY SENATE The Faculty Senate has passed a Sense of the Senate resolution on how the Title IX policy has been implemented on campus. In the resolution, the Senate states they reject having to report all mentions of actual or possible sexual misconduct or assault. In the resolution, the Senate as a whole stated it withdraws its approval of Section 4 of the policy until it is made clear they only have to report incidents and not allusions, enquiries or other “reports.”

OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY AND COMPLIANCE Brandy Davis, UTD’s Title IX coordinator, has updated OIEC’s website to include a list of frequently asked questions about the Title IX policy. This includes what a responsible employee is defined as, how soon these employees must report incidents of sexual assault and harassment and other issues that were not quite clear before.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT At its meeting on March 22, SG passed a resolution stating the necessity of Responsible Employees to report incidents of sexual assault and harrasment under the current Title IX policy must be made more clear to both student and faculty and staff. SG also stated responsible employees should make every possible effort before students reveal an incident of sexual assault to tell students what information they are obligated to report and also advised that students should be informed immediately if they disclose information that must be reported.

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MARCH 28, 2016 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Amazon film thrills with detail, script “Embrace of the Serpent” leaves interpretation up to audience

LIFE&ARTS

Q&A: Demetri Martin

BUFFALO FILMS | COURTESY

Ciro Guerra’s new film stars Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar and Brionne Davis.

CHRIS LIN | STAFF

VIBU ANBARASAN COMMENTARY

While “Embrace of the Serpent,” directed by Ciro Guerro, is taut in form, the film leaves some room for interpretation. Is it about two Caucasian explorers and their persevering hunt for the rare Yakruna plant? Or do the explorers simply serve as a pivotal point in the protagonist’s spiritual journey as the last shaman of the Cohiuano tribe?

The two travelers Karamakate, the main character, guides in their journeys mirror the protagonist and the Yakruna plant, a sacred flower with psychedelic qualities. Young Karamakate is portrayed

by Nilbio Torres and old Karmakate is portrayed

by Antonio Bolívar. One crosses paths with Karmakate in his youth, while the other does so in his old age. Theo (Jan Bijvoet) wants to survive and publish his studies of Amazonian tribal cultures.

Theo’s life depends on the Yakruna plant as much as it does on young Karamakate himself. Evan (Brionne Davis) simply wants to experience the plant’s psychedelic effects.

The Yakruna plant serves as the symbol of the Cohiuano people and their purpose in this world.

Theo’s helping hand Manduca (Yauenkü Migue), a liberated ex-slave, serves as the mediator between tribal Amazon and the colonialist approach.

Old Karamakate is more welcoming of Evan’s companionship and asserts demands with reasoning, unlike in his youth, when he was driven by fiery passion of his Cohiuano origin. Torres and Bolívar’s stellar performances offer a revealing peek into the life of Karamakate. The stories of young and old Karamakate bridge the lasting effects of the new settlers and their implementations. Old Karamakate remembers how to survive the journey as he guides Evan through the familiar path. Upon his meeting Evan, he is reminded that he has forgotten Cohiuano practices and to remember them as well as the fact that he is the last identifying member of the community, he embarks on the journey.

“Serpent” is tightly paced. Each scene balances the main themes of the story, such as the

→ SEE SERPENT, PAGE 7

Demetri Martin (center) poses for a picture surrounded by members of the Student Union Activities & Advisory Board. Martin performed his standup comedy routine in the ATEC lecture hall on March 24 as a part of SUAAB’s Springapalooza.

On March 24, comedian Demetri Martin came to campus to perform his standup for SUAAB’S Big Bad Comedy Show. The Mercury had the chance to talk to Martin about his beginnings, his big break and his hopes for the future.

How did you get into doing standup?

I started in New York. I was in law school at the time and I was thinking I wanted to try it before I left New York, not knowing where I might settle after school. I decided during the course of my first two years of law school that I just wanted to really go for it. So I left school after my second year and my first time trying it was that summer.

It was in July.

Was that a difficult decision to make?

Yeah, I think it was. When I think back, it must have been harder than I remember it being. It was mostly that I was feeling kind of lost and having a little bit of a crisis trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, knowing at that point that I wasn’t really inspired by what law school had to offer. The prospect of that kind of a job just didn’t seem right to me. Luckily, I was in New York City, so there was a lot there to expose yourself to.

Were you interested in stand up when you were younger? Was it something that you followed?

Yeah. Not like crazy, but at that time there was a lot of stand up on TV. Mostly with people doing short sets, but there were also HBO specials.

When I flipped through the channels, I’d usually stop and watch. I didn’t have any comedy albums or anything like that. It was mostly just what I’d find on TV. What was that first summer like when you were trying out stand up comedy?

It was hard to even find places that would let you get onstage. It was pretty challenging. Then if I did get onstage, I’d only get six minutes or five. If I were

lucky, I’d get 10. I ended up going to a lot of open mics. Open mics are (where), at least at that time, you’re performing for comedians. The audience is just everyone waiting to get onstage. They’re pretty tough rooms. But even in those conditions, I enjoyed the challenge of it and I liked writing jokes, thinking about material and the opportunity to try it out — however difficult the room was.

Having so little support ... was a weird kind of backhanded gift because it quickly taught me not to rely too much on other people's opinions when it came to making big life decisions.

Was your family supportive?

No, I can say no one was supportive of it. They were not actively against me, but some of my relatives were pretty vocal that they thought I was making a huge mistake. Nobody stopped me, but I didn’t have any support. And of course not financially either. Luckily, I had a scholarship to law school, so I had no debt. I immediately had to find jobs. I got temp jobs and I had roommates. I was kind of lucky I started at zero, not negative. I could make money to pay my rent and food, and then do stand up at night. Looking back, I think having so little support and encouragement was a weird kind of backhanded gift because it quickly taught me to not rely too much on other people’s opinions when it came to making big life decisions for myself. It didn’t feel great at the time, but now I can say, “Hey, I was kind of liberated from having to please people.”

What was it like to be out there on your own?

It was hard. I got good grades and went to good schools. To the people who knew me, it was like I was making a huge mistake. So in a way, it was a good opportunity that I had, but I think I was lucky enough that I liked stand up comedy so much. This was pre-internet and pre-Youtube. There was something about it that felt a little more exclusive, whereas now — there still aren’t tons of people doing comedy — but it seems like a lot more. You were immediately part of a community. Without social media, it was kind of nice because a lot of your social fabric for the comedy world was in person. It was like a little world I was discovering and escaping into.

When would you consider your “big break” to be?

I got hired to be a staff writer at “Conan,” that was a big step for me because then I was able to get a regular salary just from writing comedy, which was great. And then I left that job so that I could go tour, as much as I loved that job. So after I left “Conan,” I was doing my on-camera pieces for “The Daily Show,” starting to get headlining work around the country. Not tons of gigs, but enough. My first hour-long special for Comedy Central was in 2006.

It’s hard to pinpoint (my big break) for me, but somewhere in there. I’d done Letterman, Conan and Kimmel. I had an hour-long special and was able to draw crowds. That made me feel like I was over some sort of a hump.

How has your comedic voice changed over the years?

I started with jokes. I think that’s a lot of what drew me to standup. I like jokes that are succinct and well structured and that surprise me, so I wanted to see if I could make some of those myself. My first set ever was 12 jokes. It hasn’t changed much, my style. But it’s grown and evolved a bit. I do a lot more improvising onstage. It’s a lot more spontaneous than when I first started. Along the way, I’ve told more

→ SEE DEMETRI, PAGE 7

Junior reflects on big screen acting credits Arts, performance major Sean Hennigan left Hollywood industry to get teaching credentials, give back to acting community SURAIYA RAHMETULLA Mercury Staff

When a simple Google search is done on Sean Hennigan, an arts and performance junior, the result page reveals acting credits in movies that have starred big names such as Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey, Tommy Lee Jones and more.

“My first paid acting job was (in) a sort of musical pageant that I think they still do in West Texas called “‘Texas!’” and I was hired to do that right out of high school,” Hennigan said. “But I had actually decided what I wanted to do long before I did that, long before I had graduated from high school.”

Hennigan’s parents had both been actors when they were in college. Listening to their stories inspired him to try it when he was in junior high school.

After graduating high school, Hennigan enrolled in the Bachelor of Science and Arts program at The University of Texas at Austin, but left after being hired at the Alley Theatre in Houston in their apprenticeship program.

“They called it the Young Company Apprentice-

ship program. I got hired there and then I came back here to Dallas and got a job fairly quickly at Theatre Three,” Hennigan said. “Apprenticeship programs have kind of died out. They don’t exist anymore for the most part, but I got lucky. When I was 20 years old, I was working with professional actors that had worked all around the country, if not the world, on a daily basis (and) doing shows with them. (I was) doing small parts, but (I was) getting to watch them and learn from them.”

Hennigan also went on to spend three years in Los Angeles until an urgent family circumstance brought him back to Texas.

“My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, so we moved back so that she could be around family,” Hennigan said. “Luckily, she is a survivor, so she got well, but we decided not to go back. Pretty much everything I did while I was in LA was television based.”

Hennigan is a part of the Dallas-operated Kim Dawson Agency, known for working with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato and previously representing stars like Chace Crawford and Angie Harmon. Most of the acting credits he gained for doing movies had

been cast while he lived in Texas.

His agent would send Hennigan to local auditions.

If the auditions were not local, he would do taped auditions. If the prospective movie crew were interested in his performance, they would fly him out to where they were shooting for another audition. Many of Hennigan’s audition voyages led him to work with big names in the Hollywood industry.

“The most recent really fun one was working with Russell Crowe in ‘3:10 to Yuma.’ I had a minor part in that, but I got to spend a couple of weeks on the set and he’s a great guy to work with. I also worked with Christian Bale in that movie,” Hennigan said.

“I (also) got to work with Kevin Spacey in ‘The Life of David Gale.’ Those are just some highlights. I’ve never really worked with anyone who was not fun to work with, so I have been lucky in that regard.”

Hennigan also worked with Tommy Lee Jones in “Lonesome Dove.” In 2005, Hennigan was cast in “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” a movie in which Jones was an actor and the director.

→ SEE HENNIGAN, PAGE 7

RACHEL GUILLORY | STAFF

Sean Hennigan, an arts and performance junior, has worked with actors like Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in his career in the film industry.

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relationship between the characters, the early effects of colonialism and the commitment to the journey.

Cinematographer David Gallego’s gorgeous grayscale of the Amazon pays historic ode to the times of the story. The screenplay is written in parts in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Latin, Amazonian dialects and German. The fluid transitions between different tongues by the actors are indicative of the efforts made by the casting director and serves as a

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“Whenever you’re around somebody who has the kind of experience like Tommy does, if you’re paying attention and listening, I’m not sure how you can walk away from the experience without gaining some sort of positive knowledge,” Hennigan said. “One of the things I remember about Tommy was how economical he was in giving the directions. He just had to say a few words here and there and you knew exactly what he wanted, which was really great. I think that stems from him doing it for as long and as well as he has for so many years.”

After being in the professional world of acting for most of his life, Hennigan said he has the desire to give back to the community of aspiring actors. He is now going to back to school to pursue a new passion — teaching.

“It’s interesting going back, seeing what has changed and what is being taught now,” Hennigan said. “Coming back to school was sort of out of necessity. The life experience that you have behind you doesn’t really give you the credentials to be a teacher.

I’m at that point in my career where I feel like I have a lot to give back to younger actors and other artists and I wanted to do that.”

Recently, Hennigan worked with his brother and arts and performance adjunct faculty member Brad Hennigan on putting together “SubUrbia,” a play by Eric Bogosian, at UTD. The brothers have worked together at various times and in various capacities

→ DEMETRI

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personal stories and incorporated drawings and music. I’ve tried all kinds of different bits over the years.

Some endure and others I abandon. But for me, the building block is still the short joke or simple idea that I can build off of.

What are your future career plans?

My future plans are to make films, continue do-

LIFE&ARTS

THE MERCURY | MARCH 28, 2016

token of authenticity.

Young Karamakate expresses his grief for not being able to experience the stories he heard about his ancestors to Theo. His isolation helped him retain his culture from the colonial oppression, hiding it away from the rest of the jungle and the world. Guerra strings the tales of Karamakate’s expeditions through the jungle and the commodification of it by the colonialists into an engrossing experience. Although “Embrace of the Serpent” concerns itself with Karamakate’s tribe, in large it portrays every tribe that once existed on the banks of the Amazon river.

over a span of 25 years.

“Sean and I have worked together as acting coach and director in the past and we find it to be a solid approach,” Brad Hennigan said. “Sean is one of the few people, frankly, that I know — and I know a lot of actors — that has made his living as an actor his entire adult life.”

Speech language pathology and audiology freshman Lauren Massey, who was one of the actresses in “SubUrbia,” benefited first-hand from the brothers’ artistic collaboration.

“Brad is a wonderful director and Sean (has) helped each of us actors in the play dig deeper into our characters,” Massey said. “Both of them have taught me the importance of doing rather than thinking and that there are no wrong choices. I've learned so much about portraying real life on the stage from having the privilege to work with both of them.”

Hennigan said he hopes to help transform the Dallas community into a place that embraces the art of acting and theater just as much as the big cities that are known to entice aspiring actors.

“It’s very difficult to make a living as an actor here. If you can’t make a living as an actor in a particular place, and if you’re studying to do that, then (it) probably comes to mind that you need to go to the places where you can make a living, in this case New York, LA and Chicago. And there is some truth to that,” he said. “But this is my home. I grew up here. The potential is already there for Dallas. It would be nice if I could be a part of creating that professional study landscape.”

ing standup, write books and maybe do a TV show.

I don’t know. Some mix of those things. I like to bounce between those things if I can. I directed my first film that I wrote and I starred in and that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in about a month, so I’m excited for that to be finished. And then hopefully I can start in on another one. And I’m working on a book of short stories that I got a couple of extensions for because the film took more time than I realized it would. Maybe someday I could write a novel. I like the challenge of telling stories in different forms and telling jokes in different forms.

PINPOSSIBLE

LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

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Upcycled Wine Bottle Vases

n preparation for graduation, I’ve been looking at motar board cap decoration ideas, and one of the ideas I’ve seen fairly often is a cap that has the quote, “I wine'd a lot, but I did it.” And it made me wonder how many wine bottles are currently sitting empty on people’s fridges, lining rooms or creating collections on furniture. I’ve always been a fan of trying to find something to do with the giant glass bottles that are leftover. In fact, I use an empty wine bottle to hold my bracelets, so I figured that it would be a good idea to do a Pin Possible that utilizes an empty wine bottle.

WHAT YOU NEED

- empty wine bottle - paint - twine - burlap - ribbon - embellishments, as needed - flowers, fake or real - hot glue gun

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel the label off the wine bottle.

2. Use three coats of paint to cover the bottle.

3. Take some of the burlap to wrap around the bottle, and use hot glue to secure it in place.

4. Use some of the ribbon to layer over the burlap.

5. Use some of the twine to wrap around the top of the bottle using a drop of hot glue where the twine begins and a drop where it ends.

6. Take some of the ribbon and make a bow and secure it to the bottle with a drop of hot glue.

This is a simple way to make use of a leftover wine bottle that you might have forgotten to throw out, and it’s a good way to use odd buttons that are lying around or bits and pieces of leftover embellishments from other crafts. It’s easy to personalize. I’ve seen people use multiple wine bottles to spell out words such as love or home, but I don’t ever have that many wine bottles. You could also use glitter or wrap the entire bottle in twine. There are also variations of the craft where you can turn the bottles into tiki torches or you could fill them with lights and use them as a decoration. I’ve seen people use wine bottles as soap dispensers as well. Or, like I said earlier, you could decorate one of these wine bottles and just use it to store bracelets or necklaces. Either way, I like the idea of not wasting a perfectly good bottle even after you’ve finished the wine. But maybe that’s the crafter in me.

Every issue, The Mercury’s craft connoisseur will scour Pinterest and craft blogs in search of the best and worst DIY projects. Show us your results on social media using #pinpossible and @utdmercury.

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Epic Cones came out to the Chess Plaza on Monday, March 21 to serve their famous pizza themed cones.

Splatter Dance - Students gathered at the Intramural Fields on Monday night for a dace party put together by SUAAB and Residential Life featuring music, confetti and four paint cannons.

Lunchapalooza - The Baptist Student Ministry put together a free lunch featuring nachos for students on Tuesday, March 22 in the Galaxy Rooms.

Totally Awesome Concert: Alex & Sierra - The American indie folk-pop duo from Orlando put on a concert at the North Mall Terrace on Tuesday night.

Comet-Con - As an annual tradition of Springapalooza, Comet-Con continues this year featuring voice actress Grey Delisle. Delisle has had roles in shows such as “The Fairly Odd Parents,” “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,“ and “ScoobyDoo.” This year’s Comet-Con also featured a Smash Bros. Tournament and Cosplay Contest.

Spring Fun Raiser - Student organizations set up booths in the Visitor Center Atrium on Thursday, March 24 to sell items to raise money for their groups.

Big Bad Comedy Show - For this year’s comedy show, SUAAB brought Matt Ingebretson and Demetri Martin to UTD. 29th Annual Casino Night - The Casino Night tradition continues this year with the theme “High Stakes“. Students played games for a chance to win prizes in the Galaxy Rooms on Friday, March 25.

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UPCOMING EVENTS TEA TUESDAYS Join the Women’s Center for a cup of tea.

March 29, 10 AM - 4 PM, Galerstein Women’s Center THE BATTLE OF RAISING CANS 2016 Win prizes for raising the highest number of cans for the Comet Cupboard.

March 30, 11 AM - 1 PM, Visitor Center Atrium iWEEK: PASSPORT TO THE WORLD Celebrate the rich culture and diversity of the UTD community.

April 4, 1- 3 PM, Visitor Center Atrium HEALTH PROFESSIONS EXPO Meet with deans, admissions officers and representatives from health professions schools from across the nation.

April 5, 3:30 - 6 PM, Visitor Center Atrium

HOMETOWN HEROES Area bands perform at first ever Local Music Show

CHRIS JOSEPH AND ANGELICQUE ROA | MERCURY STAFF

Radio UTD hosted its first ever Local Music show on March 23, which featured acts from the Dallas/Denton area. The bands included Blush (top), Field Guide (middle) and Lomelda (bottom).

SPORTS

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HOMEBODY Student from homeschool uses unique circumstance to succeed in academics, sports PABLO JUAREZ Sports Editor

Public K-12 schools typically have a fixed start and stop time.

There’s always lunch, classes and homework. For junior infielder Cody Duplechin, school days looked a little different.

Duplechin was homeschooled from kindergarten all the way to his senior year of high school.

“When we lived in Louisiana, my parents decided to try to homeschooling due to the rough (educational) system,” he said.

Duplechin’s sister, who is a year older, was also homeschooled.

They went through the process together. Many of their friends were also homeschooled.

Compared to other states, Texas’ homeschooling laws err on the side of leniency. To homeschool legally in Texas only three requirements must be met. The three state requirements, according to the Texas Homeschool Coalition, involve the legitimacy of the program, the methods used and the subjects that are covered.

One of the best things about homeschooling was that we could finish our work quickly, giving us the rest of the day to hang out with friends, play sports or do other things.

— Cody Duplechin, junior infielder “A home school may have whatever curricula the parents decide upon in whatever mode they chose, provided the curricula cover the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, math and a study in good citizenship, and that the curricula are followed in a bona fide way (not a sham),” according to the Texas Home School Coalition.

There are no reporting agencies and no testing requirements for homeschoolers. The state of Texas does not regulate homeschoolers once they have been removed from the public school system.

“Homeschoolers are pretty much are on their own for testing and grades,” Duplechin said.

Since parents have so much discretion in the homeschooling process, every household’s school day differs. For Cody and his sister, their family had a very organized school day.

“We routinely started school around 9 a.m. every morning,” Duplechin said. “When we were younger, my sister and I finished (our)

→ SEE HOMESCHOOL, PAGE 12

SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Star’s rise to prominence ushers in new era Steph Curry’s new fame is beneficial to development of basketball despite criticism, hate thrown upon his playing style

PABLO JUAREZ COMMENTARY

Big men dominated the game of basketball for a majority of its existence. A forceful, physical style of play was the norm during the mid to late 20th century. Now a new fad has taken the league by storm with one man leading the charge — Golden State point guard Stephen Curry.

With a combination of skill, finesse and efficiency, Curry is changing the way we watch and play basketball. This season alone he has broken his own record for three-point shots made in a season and tied the alltime record for three-point shots made in a game. He already has four of the 10 best three-point shooting seasons of all time. There has been a passing of the torch. People from around the globe are no longer yelling “Kobe” after making a difficult, clutch shot. Instead, local YMCA-ers are pulling up from 30 feet out yelling “Curry,” tapping their chests and pointing to the sky afterwards Still there are observers, such as former Golden State head coach Mark Jackson, who believe Curry is a detriment to basketball.

“Steph Curry’s great,” Jackson commented on a broadcast earlier this season. “Steph Curry is the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this: To a degree, he’s hurt the game. And what I mean by that is that I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids and the first thing they do is they run to the 3-point line. You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of your game. People think that he’s just a knockdown shooter. That’s not why he’s the MVP. He’s a complete basketball player.”

Putting Jackson’s alternative motives and conflicting interests aside, there is some truth behind his words.

Curry may not necessarily be hurting the game, but since we live in a fast-paced, highlight driven world, young athletes are mesmerized by what they see in the media.

However, they only see the end results and not the work that Curry has put in behind closed doors. Curry is the deadliest marksman in NBA history, but contrary to popular belief, it’s not because of how well he actually shoots from behind the arc — though his 44.3 career shooting percentage is up there with the best of them. Rather, it’s because of everything else he can do.

In every sense of the phrase, Curry is a complete basketball player.

His ball handling skills are second to none. He has progressively improved his ability to finish in the paint. He can create his own shot and can make difficult, off-the-dribble jump shots look relatively easy.

Unfortunately, some NBA legends are not fond of Curry’s rise to stardom. One in particular is Hall of Fame point guard Oscar Robertson. “(Curry) has shot well because of what’s going on in basketball today,” Robertson said. “In basketball today, it’s almost like if you can dunk or make a three-point shot, you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread ...

→ SEE CURRY, PAGE 12

CHAD AUSTIN | ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR

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school work within a couple of hours, but, as we got older, our school work took closer to four hours and onwards to finish.”

Duplechin said that homeschooling had its various perks and that making friends wasn’t necessarily more difficult.

“One of the best things about homeschooling was that we could finish our work quickly, giving us the rest of the day to hang out with friends, play sports or do other things,” he said. “Also, we never had homework because we completed all of our work during class time.”

Homeschooling aside, Duplechin had a passion for sports growing up. He began playing baseball through a city-sponsored team when he was 5 years old. When he was 8 years old, he started to play select baseball throughout the year.

“I began playing high school baseball on a team called THESA out of Fort Worth,” he said. “There are two large homeschool athletic associations and many other small organizations in the DFW area.”

These athletics associations gave Duplechin the opportunity to play baseball in a team setting, even though he couldn’t play organized sports due to his homeschooling.

“Every year a homeschool baseball World Series is offered for homeschool teams to compete against other homeschool teams from around the country,” he said.

Duplechin is in his first season with the Comets after joining the baseball program as a transfer student from Eastfield College. He is one of 11 transfer athletes on the active roster.

He has started 14 of the team’s 15 games this season. He’s currently boasting a .258 batting average and has 16 hits on the year, with seven RBI’s. Duplechin is poised to continue to play a pivotal role on this year’s team.

UPCOMING GAMES BASEBALL

SOFTBALL

03/29-@SOUTHWESTERN

04/01-HOWARD PAYNE (DH)

04/01-@CONCORDIA

04/02-HOWARD PAYNE

04/02-@CONCORDIA (DH)

04/08-@CONCORDIA (DH)

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04/16-OZARKS (DH)

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04/22-@LOUISIANA COLLEGE (DH)

YOU NEED A JOB?

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there have been some great shooters in the past ... but here again, when I played ... if you shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don’t do that.

These coaches do not understand the game of basketball, as far as I’m concerned.”

These comments, made earlier this year, stem from the very simple fact that Curry’s style of play is not a continuation of the highly touted ground and pound era of basketball that Robertson played in.

While modern basketball is not as physical as previous eras, there is no denying that skill and athleticism now is at an alltime high.

Curry doesn’t fit the old mold, so instead it’s easier to criticize modern basketball for his rise to stardom than face the reality that a 6 foot, 2 inch, 190 pound man is revolutionizing an entire sport.

The problem there is because we’re witnessing something unprecedented, it doesn’t mean previous eras will be ignored and fade into the shadows.

Rather, it speaks to the uniqueness of the sport and that, just as humans evolve, so does the game of basketball.We should sit back and enjoy what Curry is doing and what is to come because we may never see anything like it again during our lifetime.

UTDMERCURY.COM

WE NEED SPORTS WRITERS.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL email sports @utDmercury.com for more info

SPORTS

UTDMERCURY.COM

THE MERCURY | MARCH 28, 2016

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PURE MADNESS Breaking down facts, statistics of annual NCAA basketball tournaments

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NUMBER OF TEAMS IN FIRST TOURNEY When the first NCAA men’s basketball tournament was held in 1939, only eight teams were included in the bracket. The University of Oregon, whose mascot at the time was the Webfoots, ended up beating Ohio State 46-33 in the final to take home the first ever championship.

THE OREGONIAN | SOURCE

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MOST WINS BY A PROGRAM With 11 titles to their name, including seven straight wins between 1967 and 1973, the Bruins of UCLA have the most decorated history out of all the teams in the country. Despite their long tradition of winning, however, UCLA hasn’t won a championship since 1995.

WINS BY UCONN/TENNESSEE IN WOMEN’S TOURNEY

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In 1982, the NCAA hosted a women’s basketball national tournament for the first time. In the 30-plus years since the tournament has been held, the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee have accounted for over half of the championships. The two programs have met three times in the championship game, with UConn holding a perfect 3-0 record so far.

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LOWEST SEED TO WIN TOURNEY Although the ultimate upset of a 16-seed beating a 1-seed has never happened in tournament history, each year is filled with shocking wins by underdogs. Possibly the biggest of these upsets is when the Villanova Wildcats won the entire tournament as an 8-seed in 1985.

SOURCE: WalletHub

SOURCE: funny2

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COMICS&GAMES

CHAD AUSTIN | ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR JENNA BASTIAN | STAFF EMILIO CHAVEZ| STAFF YURI CHOI | STAFF EUNJEE CHONG | STAFF ANTHONY INGA | STAFF EMMA MATHES | STAFF TIM SHIRLEY | STAFF KEVIN VANHORN | STAFF

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Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.47)

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LIFE OF TEMOC

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Sun Mar 27 15:12:03 2016 GMT. Enjoy!

ALVIN NGUYENLY | MERCURY STAFF

Across 5. Obi Wan’s namesake 7. X-Man in the White House 8. caffeine 9. choreographed zombies 10. 5,4,3,2,1,bzzzzz 12. Southern institute of breakfast 13. always with you, but hard to find in a dark room 14. when the freaks come out

Down 1. tick 2. unfinished Kanye track 3. Return to Cookie Mountain, Track Five 4. 0000 6. where you'll find Fifty 7. owls and bats 11. Son of Martha and Thomas (R.I.P.)

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NEWS

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deep passion for SG. “It’s been something that I’ve been doing since freshman year. It’s the very first organization I joined,” she said.

For Campain, the current treasurer, his desire to run stemmed from his wish to carry out the ideas for progress he has for the university.

“I’ve just seen that there’s a lot of projects and ideas that I have that, as VP, I can implement all of these with better resources and give more of my time to make sure that all of these projects are accomplished and finished within my term,” he said.

The Platforms A major component of Richards’ platform was a commitment to overhaul maintenance on campus.

“When I do report something, sometimes it never gets fixed,” Richards said. “(Problems) sometimes are fixed — otherwise, they fall into the black hole of bureaucracy.”

He said the issue of campus maintenance affects handicapped students, in particular. Because of the heavy construction, Richards says, disabled students have an extremely difficult time navigating campus.

“One of my friends has cerebral palsy and he’s in a wheelchair,” he said. “Any time he’s gone to the Accessibility Office to complain, the Office has told him, ‘We’d like to do something for you, but we can’t because we have to give six months notice before a construction project starts.’”

For “United as One,” one of the big goals of the ticket was to bring the different groups on campus under one umbrella.

“The very first item on our platform is uniting leaders around campus and it’s what we based our ticket name as ‘United as One,” Campain said. “We want a united campus, we want communication to be upheld throughout the campus and — as president and vice president — we wanted to meet with all the student leaders throughout the campus to not only tell them what we’re working on, but also to get feedback on what they want to happen around campus.”

Problems Even with all of the idealism that comes with election season, however, the harsh reality of how college elections work struck home to Padigela.

SG elections have always struggled to get a high

ANDREW GALLEGOS | PHOTO EDITOR

Adam Richards (left), the presidential candidate for the “Progress UTD” ticket, speaks with Akshitha Padigela and Joey Campain, the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the “United as One” ticket, during a debate hosted by Student Government on March 22. Padigela beat out Richards for the presidential nomination, taking home 1,133 votes to Richards’ 521.

turnout and this year was no different, with only 7 percent of the student population actually participating in the election. Padigela said it was incredibly frustrating to go up to people and tell them to vote, only to see them toss the materials she would give them about voting just moments later.

“It’s the frustration when you can tell that students don’t really care enough,” she said. “And even if you tell them, ‘Hey, these are things that we’ve done in the past. These are things that directly affect you. These are things that we want to work on. These are things that the other ticket wants to work on.’”

She said there are several reasons why people may not vote. However, she noted people may not realize just how stressful all the work for the election is for those who are running.

“It’s not just, ‘Let’s hand out flyers,’” she said.

“It’s someone has to make the flyers, someone has to go print the flyers, someone has to go pay for the flyers, someone has to distribute the flyers to every single member. We have to go plan when people are going to go talk to people, all of that kind of stuff.”

Editor’s Desk

Student apathy for SG part of sad trend

For Richards, although he was tackling serious issues that affect a large number of students on campus, he said it was also important to run a light-hearted campaign and draws inspiration from the Rotnofsky/ Mandapalu campaign, a joke ticket that won student government elections at UT Austin last year.

“I don’t want to get lost in the drama that can surround politics. I want people to know that running for office can be fun and rewarding,” Richards said. “It’s an experience in and of itself.”

For Richards, the most rewarding part of his campaign is seeing how students can feel empowered, as members of underserved communities are seldom given access to positions of authority.

Richards said he finds comfort in knowing that his campaign will spark a change, regardless of the outcome of the election.

“Even if I don’t win the election, knowing that at least a few of my senators will make it onto Senate and knowing that they’ll be able to effect change is really meaningful. That’s what this is all about,” he said. “This is bigger than me. This is a sustained movement for change.”

After the Race On March 25, the results of the race came in with Padigela beating out Richards 1,133 votes to 521.

Since Campain was the only candidate for VP, he received 1,419 votes.

Despite his loss, Richards said he remains hopeful about his ideas and platform.

“I hope the winning party is willing to implement at least some of Progress UTD’s platform, especially as about half of my ticket did make it onto Senate,” he said. “Those proposals are…necessary things that SG needs to do to become relevant to the student body.”

As she prepares to take the helm for SG, Padigela said she will talk to her predecessors, current president Caitlynn Fortner and vice president Grant Branam.

(I’ll be) talking to Caitlynn and Grant … and figuring out how they want to transition into the next year, what they want to push forward for and make a general plan of things with Joey that I want to focus on,” she said.

Additional reporting by Esteban Bustillos

POLICE SEARCH

Lack of votes leaves new leaders, students in difficult position On March 22, Student Government hosted a debate between Adam Richards, the “Progress UTD” candidate for SG president and Akshitha Padigela, the “United as One” candidate, along with her VP candidate, Joey Campain. For a number of reasons, the debate was moved to the bottom floor of the Student Union during one of the busiest times of the day.

Everything quickly went downhill. Even though I was sitting just a few feet away from the stage the candidates were on, it was almost impossible to hear them over the roar of incessant chatter and games of pool. On top of that, a number of technical issues with the microphones and speaker for the event didn’t make matters any better.

The most frustrating aspect wasn’t any of these problems, however. The biggest problem was how clear it was that the people who were around couldn’t care less about what the candidates were talking about.

As a student, I felt embarrassed for everyone involved.

That’s not to say they did a bad job given the conditions they had to work with. I felt bad because I knew that the candidates on the stage were fighting tooth and nail to get a message across to people who couldn’t care less about what they were saying.

When the election results came out and it was revealed only 7 percent of the student body voted, I’m sad to say I wasn’t surprised. For years, SG elections have had low turnout, even though the job they have is incredibly important to student life.

This year alone, SG members have helped search for a new president, inform students about the complexities of UTD’s sexual assault policy and been a voice in the debate about campus carry. Even though other universities’ student government bodies may have more power comparatively, SG still does an enormous amount of work for students.

That’s why it’s always so frustrating to see how little people actually want to be informed. When The Mercury came out with its endorsement of Richards for president, we received a fair amount of flack for the article from those who disagreed with us — which is fine. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as EIC is

having open discussions with students about what they think can improve on campus, even if those thoughts don’t align with mine.

What did discourage me, though, was a letter from a student that, among a long list of criticisms about the article, had a line where the student said they didn’t care about SG as long as they’re doing a good job.

The problem with that is by the time students realize SG could be doing something better, it’s too late to take action. The whole point of having elections is to allow students a voice in the process on who will represent them to the university. If students choose to not care about participating in that process, then they’re forfeiting their say in that representation. If you only care about something when it’s not working, then it’s hard to say you care about it at all.

The reality is there will be problems SG will face that will have serious repercussions for the campus community. When only 7 percent of the student population has voted for them, however, it makes it difficult to say they actually represent the student body. So when problems actually come up, how difficult will it be for them to go to administrators with a sense of credibility?

While it’s true there can always more that SG can do to advertise themselves and make students aware of the issues facing them in the election, students themselves need to get more involved. If not, we risk SG’s legitimacy going down, which can only hurt students as a whole.

Even though The Mercury didn’t endorse them, as Editor-in-Chief I can say with confidence we will do everything we can to support Padigela and Campain in their new roles. That will sometimes mean praise, that will sometimes mean criticism. But more than anything, it means caring. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like we’re some of the only people who do.

If you only care about something when it’s not working, then it’s hard to say you care about it at all.

- Esteban Bustillos, Editor-in-Chief

MICHAEL STOUT | COURTESY

UTD POLICE | COURTESY

UTD Police are looking to identify the two individuals shown above in connection to a criminal mischief charge related to the vandalism of the Muslim Student Association bulletin board in the Student Union. Anyone with information on the identity of these individuals is encouraged to contact Lt. Ken MacKenzie at 972883-2572 or UTD Police at 972-883-2222.