facebook.com/theutdmercury | @utdmercury
September 4, 2018
ENSEMBLES GRAPPLE WITH SPACE SHORTAGE Director ‘concerned’ about safety of students, faculty in university-sponsored music groups ANNA SCHAEFFER Mercury Staff
THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
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everal music ensembles continue to outgrow their already-constrained practice space located in classroom building AH1. The room now has to accommodate more than 60 students, plus instruments, into a room built for 42. Brass Ensemble Director Linda Salisbury said she worries about the health of her students far more than music quality or comfort. “My greatest concern now is hearing loss,” Salisbury said. “The quality of music they’re producing is continually improving but we’re reaching the point where I’m concerned about their health and safety.” During practice, students hold large instruments such as cellos and basses. Salisbury said the sound level in the room alone is overwhelming, in addition to the lack of space. “We need square footage, but we also need higher seating and non-parallel walls and appropriate soundproofing to protect the hearing of the faculty and students,” she said.
→ SEE SHORTAGE, PAGE 10
MICHAEL STOUT | MERCURY STAFF
The string orchestra ensemble, led by UTD professor Adron Ming, rehearses in a classroom in the AH1 building.
ACHINT KHANIJO | MERCURY STAFF
Software to assist with navigating UTD buildings
The women's volleyball team won 3-0 against Heidelberg on Aug. 31.
ASC poll predicts team success
Algorithm developed in part by freshmen researchers nixes GPS, utilizes Wi-Fi hotspots for guided wayfinding MADISON YORK Mercury Staff
Teams prepare for coming season with positive outlook TRAVIS DICKERSON Mercury Staff
NOAH WHITEHEAD | PHOTO EDITOR
Brent Dell, a Ph.D. student, developed a 3D network of Green Hall, which was later incorporated into the software for an app that will help users navigate UTD buildings.
A research team of 12 freshmen, headed by computer science professor Ravi Prakash and assisted by the Office of Information Technology, has developed new software for an app, called Constellation, that will allow users to navigate UTD buildings. For the uninitiated eye — and sometimes even for the well-acquainted eye — journeying through UTD’s hallways can be a challenge. Prakash
said he is committed to helping people solve the maze. “Using Google Maps, for example, you can do outdoor navigation — drive from point A to point B,” Prakash said. “They all rely on GPS. The problem is, the satellite signal does not penetrate inside a building. We cannot rely on GPS to navigate inside. I’ve been here for more than 20 years, I still get lost inside UTD buildings because we have a very interesting
→ SEE NAVIGATION, PAGE 10
Early preseason polls released by the American Southwest Conference put three Comet teams in high ranks as the teams prepare for the start of the season. The ASC released the preseason polls for the volleyball and the two soccer teams on Aug. 13 and 16 respectively, two weeks before the season begins for all three teams. Before the announcement, the three teams were preparing for the start of the season, which began with a series of games on the weekend of Aug. 31. Placed third in its preseason poll, women’s soccer finished third in the ASC championship last year after pulling off a 16-4 record overall. Head coach Kanute Drugan will lead the team again, marking his fifth season with the team, along with newly-hired assistant coach Shasta Fisher, who joined with the team on July 2. The team this year is composed of more seniors than in the past, which
→ SEE POLL, PAGE 10
PLTL adopts lottery-based early registration system New sign-up procedure designed to reduce frequency of technical failures CINDY FOLEFACK Managing Editor
RYAN MAGEE | MERCURY STAFF
The Student Success Center recently introduced a new registration system for a popular academic enrichment program after experiencing technical difficulties in prior years. The change has since received mixed results. In late April, an email was sent out to students detailing a new pre-registration lottery for the Peer Led Team Learning Program at the Student Success Center. PLTL sessions allow students to regularly meet with a leader in groups of eight to review course material and complete practice problems for more challenging classes. The lottery, which was open from April 30 to Aug. 20, allowed students to enter by putting in their UTD emails and selecting their desired subjects. Winners were then able to sign up for PLTL sessions two days prior to general registration. Peer Education Director Ne’Shaun Jones said the change was meant to curb
technical difficulties involved with the registration process. “For years, (registration) was a mess, specifically in the fall,” Jones said. “Coursebook would crash, and that upset a lot of faculty, staff and students. We would have students that would get on four different computers to try and register for sessions...so we thought that this would be the best approach so things would run more efficiently and give everybody a fair chance to be considered for registration.” The lottery, developed by the Provost’s Office, used a double-blind method, so staff had no control over who was selected, and the process remained completely random. PLTL manager Marie Schier said over 3,000 students signed up for the pre-registration lottery and nearly all went on to be selected for early registration. Those who weren’t selected and didn’t get their preferred sessions during general registration on Aug. 24 were
given the option of going on a waitlist, which currently has 200 students in line for sessions across 13 subjects. “I try to keep a list of those people who contact me to make sure that we have a list of people who are interested and then finding a place for them,” Schier said. Schier said she responded to 500 emails during general registration from students who were interested in the waitlist, experiencing technical difficulties or had questions about the registration process. Biology freshman Dylan Lu, who was selected for early registration, said he had difficulty registering due to a lack of instructions in the email he received from the SSC. “The email, truthfully, didn’t have any information on registration,” Lu said. “It just said ‘Congratulations, you’re selected,’ so I had some trouble signing up and called the (SSC). They gave me the option of signing up manually by sending them an email, but I looked up some
→ SEE PLTL, PAGE 10
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXVIV No. 29
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Editor-in-Chief Bhargav Arimilli
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Media Adviser Chad Thomas
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The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the summer term. Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimination by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. The publication of advertising in The Mercury does not constitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or the UTD administration. Opinions expressed in The Mercury are those of the editor, the editorial board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily the view of the UTD administration, the Board of Regents or the Student Media Operating Board. The Mercury’s editors retain the right to refuse or edit any submission based on libel, malice, spelling, grammar and style, and violations of Section 54.23 (f ) (1-6) of UTD policy. Copyright © 2017, The University of Texas at Dallas. All articles, photographs and graphic assets, whether in print or online, may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without express written permission.
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August 19 • Unknown person(s) stole 10 pounds of ground chuck from the food freezer at Dining Hall West between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. August 22 • A UTD student reported their bicycle stolen from the bike rack on the east side of Founders between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. August 23 • A UTD student reported their wallet being stolen from their backpack in the McDermott Library between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
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August 27 • An unknown suspect attempted to use a UTD credit card to purchase a tree stand between 12:32 p.m. and 1 p.m.
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August 27 • A UTD student reported their apartment was burglarized in Phase 7 at 8:05 p.m.
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DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD | COURTESY
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Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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NEWS
ARIANA HADDEN | MERCURY STAFF
Democratic candidate Colin Allred, who is running to represent Texas’s 32nd congressional district, spoke to a crowd of constituents about his political initiatives at a rally in Dallas on Sept. 1.
Students participate in campaign efforts
UTD students engage in grassroot tactics to help improve voter turnout throughout DFW metroplex in upcoming elections MADELEINE KEITH Opinion Editor
As the midterm elections approach, an increasing number of UTD students have become involved in campaigns across the state. Student Government Vice President Carla Ramazan serves as a UTD fellow for Collin Allred, an ex-NFL player who served in the Obama administration and is now running against incumbent Pete Sessions in Texas’s 32nd congressional district, an area which includes UTD. Ramazan, a political science sophomore, said she started working for Allred’s campaign in January, when she was inspired to follow some of her personal role models into the race. “It seemed like everybody at UTD was
somehow involved in the (Allred) campaign, and these were a lot of people that I looked up to and that I thought I had a lot in common with,” Ramazan said. “I applied, I went in for the interviews, I went to meet Collin and it really stood out how he remembered everyone’s names, just people he had met once… it felt like a very comfortable and secure environment and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it.” Ramazan and her fellow volunteers have primarily committed to canvassing for Allred, working at the grassroots level to knock on doors, make phone calls and discuss Allred’s platform with constituents. Ramazan said she was impressed to learn they had knocked on over 15,000 doors in the past year. Fel-
low Allred volunteer and psychology sophomore Ruqiya Barreh said she felt it was these grassroots efforts that contributed heavily to Allred winning the run-off primary election against Lillian Salerno. “I know that we block-walked in a lot of areas that aren’t generally hit in elections because people think they have low voter turnout so it’s not worth the effort, but it was because we went to those areas that more people came out, and it helped considerably,” Barreh said. “I like the philosophy that every vote matters, so going out to areas that don’t usually get a lot of interaction from political candidates was super important to me and super important to Allred.” Allred is not the only candidate with
UTD students contributing to their midterm campaign. Political science senior Ben Schlebach volunteered over the summer for Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, the Democratic El Paso congressman who, according to polling aggregation service FiveThirtyEight, is now statistically tied with Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the race for the Senate. Schlebach said his motivation to join the campaign stemmed from his frustration with Cruz and a desire to see more accountability within the current administration. “We need someone to hold Trump accountable, first and foremost,” Schlebach said. “I remember when Trump said that he could pardon himself, and then when Ted Cruz was asked about this, he said, ‘I
don’t know enough about the pardon power to give an answer,’ even though he wrote a 50-page essay or so about the pardon power when Obama was president.” Though both Schlebach and Ramazan are campaigning by raising awareness about their respective candidates, Ramazan said that discussions have become increasingly contentious as the midterm elections draws near. “Now that we’re getting close to the general election, there are some interesting interactions, to say the least, and people don’t really want to engage with us,” she said. “They’ll hang up or shut the door in our faces or mention that they’re supporting Pete Sessions and
→ SEE VOTING, PAGE 6
New wind tunnel one of handful worldwide Facility to help researchers simulate wind movements, speeds across globe
MICHAEL STOUT | MERCURY STAFF
Neuroscience senior Alex Collins and psychology freshman Jack Cheng check the contents of a supply bag at the beginning of their shift.
EMT program moves to 24-hour operation Emergency response team expands weekday hours, now offers life-saving drug services VANESSA IDIGBE Mercury Staff
Starting this semester, the University Emergency Medical Response team will operate on a 24-hour basis on weekdays and will be authorized to carry and administer the drugs Narcan and epinephrine. UEMR, which provides basic medical support to UTD students through a network of certified volunteers, previously operated between 2:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Yushra Rashid, a neuroscience sophomore and UEMR volunteer, said the change in the hours of operations stemmed from an increase in emergency calls — many of which went unanswered due to the previously lim-
ited hours of operations. Since the change in hours of operations this semester, emergency callouts within the program have increased by 133%. “I think the change was definitely the right move to make, and we get to see that every day that we are in service,” Rashid said. “We have already responded to over 20 calls in two weeks of being in service with this new change, and our providers have responded to all different types of calls ranging from trauma to respiratory to a whole lot more.” An additional response vehicle, more advanced medical equipment and sleeping quarters were added to the team’s
→ SEE UEMR, PAGE 6
UTD NEWS CENTER | COURTESY
The wind tunnel in the Waterview Science and Technology Center will be integrated into the engineering curriculum for research purposes.
DEV THIMMISETTY Mercury Staff
Before Giacomo Iungo interviewed for a faculty position at UTD, he was a scientist at a Swiss university, working with one of the few wind tunnels in the world. He said his decision to join the UTD faculty in 2014 depended upon the proposal of a new research lab that would focus on atmospheric wind flows utilizing a new wind tunnel that would be housed on campus. UTD recently hosted an inauguration ceremony for the completion of the cus-
tom-built wind tunnel in the Waterview Science and Technology Center that started construction back in 2016. The tunnel’s size and glass-based design make the roughly $5 million project a resource for projects related to atmospheric circulation and wind engineering. The tunnel itself is composed of a 30-meter long test section through which controlled wind passes. Wind speed, wind direction and turbulence are the three factors that can be manipulated by users of the wind tunnel. Iungo, now an assistant professor of mechanical engineering who serves as the chief faculty
member in charge of the wind tunnel, said the tunnel is ideal for simulations of real-life conditions. “The test section is going to reproduce flows very similar to those we get in the atmosphere, and everything is surrounded by optical glass, so we can do full visualization and laser measurements,” he said. For now, the tunnel is primarily used to research wind energy optimization. “We can put a model of a wind turbine in the tunnel and study the flows caused by the wind,” Iungo said. “We can put a large model
→ SEE TUNNEL, PAGE 6
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LIFE&ARTS
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
Club helps young patients Students raise money for terminally ill children through Make-A-Wish
AMBARINA HASTA | MERCURY STAFF
Neuroscience junior Arthi Prabhakar turned her former pastime of photography into a new business venture, with clients including UTD clubs and Bollywood stars.
Student sees hobby in new lens
UTD junior transforms passion for photography into business opportunity through Facebook page MANSI CHAUHAN Mercury Staff
After years of taking photos as a pastime, one UTD student turned her hobby into a business that serves campus organizations. Neuroscience junior Arthi Prabhakar established her professional profile on Facebook in early 2017 after directing the fall photoshoot for her dance team, UTD Sharara. “Before that, I only took photos on vacation and of my family and friends, especially my sister,” Prabhakar said. “I realized that college was an active environment for these kinds of services, and portrait photography was also something new for me at the time.” With encouragement from her fellow team members, she launched her page. Prabhakar said her interest in photography initially stemmed from her father, who is also a photographer for weddings and other
events in the Dallas area. “Although he didn’t directly teach me, I saw him working all the time and thought it was something I wanted to do,” she said. “I started learning by just watching his process and that of other photographers online.” One of her earliest projects was with a UTD alum, Sasha Singh, who now works in the Indian film industry. “I wanted to expand my portfolio with more pictures in ethnic wear, and I had seen some of Arthi’s early work and decided to approach her,” Singh said. Sasha included several of the pictures from this shoot in her professional resume, which she sent to casting directors and managers who were interested in her for various acting roles and modeling assignments. “She was a very good sport despite the cold weather, and she had a lot of input on styling and location,” Singh said.
“There were many aesthetic details that I didn’t see or pay attention to but she did. All I saw was barren land, but she was able to turn it into something beautiful.” In addition to personal photoshoots, Prabhakar has also worked with Greek life on campus. In the fall of 2017, Sigma Sigma Rho hired her for pictures for its members. “Our original photographer bailed last minute, and several of my friends recommended her to me. I had seen the Sharara pictures, which were great, so I decided to hire her,” said Serena Hingoranee, an ITS junior and president of Sigma Sigma Rho. Typically, Greek life and many of the other organizations hold seasonal photoshoots in order to recruit new members and promote their causes. “Although her asking price was $300, she was very fair and understanding with us and negotiated down to $150,” Hin-
WISHMAKERS | COURTESY
goranee said. “Even then, she edited all the pictures and had them back to us in a week, along with the raw versions so we could edit them ourselves as well.” After completing several projects for fraternities and sororities at UTD, Prabhakar ventured into other areas, such as stage photography. She said photographing people that are constantly moving on stage requires a different lens and a different editing process. “I like stage photography because it taps into more of a creative side. I have to capture the movement and emotion of a dancer, constant formation changes or a stunt that may be happening that I had no prior knowledge of,” Prabhakar said. “I can play around more with the lighting and overall editing process.”
Wishmakers, established in 2016, raised over $5,000 last year.
→ SEE PHOTOGRAPHY, PAGE 6
→ SEE WISHMAKERS, PAGE 6
BROGAN LEAHEY Mercury Staff
Whether they once were terminally ill children or knew those that were, a group of UTD students is working to fund the wishes of children like them. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nonprofit organization where donors and volunteers work to make the dreams of terminally ill children happen, such as going to see Justin Bieber live or becoming Batman for a day. Wishmakers at UTD is among the foundation’s donors. As the Wishmakers founders have graduated from UTD, a new set of officers, including
Full-time coach joins cross country teams Former volunteer to start training men’s, women’s groups for fall season TRAVIS DICKERSON Mercury Staff
durian:
ThE WoRlD’s
smelliest fruit EMAAN BANGASH NEWS EDITOR The durian has been on my bucket list to try for years. Call me overdramatic for putting a fruit on my bucket list, but this extremely intimidating spiky fruit with a legendary ghastly smell sounded worth trying from the start. Often referred to as the “King of Fruits” throughout Southeast Asia, the durian is a large football-shaped fruit covered with thick one-inch spikes and is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Inside is a creamy, custard-like fruit separated into five compartments, each surrounding a seed. When ripe, the durian’s smell is often compared to turpentine, onions, old socks and corpses. My Chew Crew and I headed to the Super Fresh Mart, an Asian supermarket about 10 minutes from campus. We returned with a box of frozen durians, eager to cut them open. Imagine trying to cut open a watermelon with a butter knife. Trying to pry open this durian was near impossible. We had one of our strongest crew members hack at the durian with a large knife, but the frozen solid durian combined with the inches thickspikes made for a pretty inconvenient time opening this fruit. After cutting it open with an electric saw, I saw the inside of the durian and it looked like the inside of a tub of vanilla
AMBARINA HASTA | MERCURY STAFF
ice cream. After leaving it out on the table for a while, the room started to smell musty and slightly putrid. I’d been waiting for this moment all day, and yet the smell still wasn’t as overpowering as I’d read about. While I’d heard and read copious amounts of media about the durian and its horrific smell, nothing prepared me for what lay ahead as I tried it myself. As we thawed the durian bits, they looked like a cross between mangoes and bananas. The smell was surprisingly fruity and sweet, with a hint of pineapple and mango. I thought after thawing it I’d have the pleasure to smell a little bit of the vomit-inducing scent I heard so much about. It was a pretty underwhelming experience. Now, this could be because the durian was frozen solid, but it was like eating a very creamy ice cream that was somehow
→ SEE DURIAN, PAGE 6
The men and women’s cross-country teams entered the fall 2018 season with their first full-time coach, who will oversee both teams this semester. Though the announcement of Danielle Kcholi’s full-time status was made on July 5, she has worked with both teams since last year. Senior runner and political science major Alireza Nourani, who competes on the men’s team, said the coach’s focus on the mental health of the runner makes them better prepared for the run. “The past coaches have had more of an in-your-face style of coaching. Maybe that’s a good style for other sports,” Nourani said. “You have to understand where the athletes are coming from mentally, and she fits more into that category.” Kcholi, who is from New Mexico, earned her master’s degree in physical education in 2013. Her career as a coach started before then, as she instructed both the men and women’s teams at Eastern New Mexico University — an NCAA Division II institution — in 2012. She led both teams to runnerup finishes at the Lone Star Conference while working there. In 2017, she moved down to Dallas as a volunteer coach for the teams, where she helped the women’s team win the conference championship last year and helped the men’s team secure its second-place finish.
UPCOMING GAMES
NOAH WHITEHEAD | PHOTO EDITOR
Danielle Kcholi said she plans to focus on mental health for improved performance throughout the season.
One of Kcholi’s highlights during the 2017 season was assisting then-senior runner Lindsey Rayborn in becoming the first ever Comet to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships. “I was ready for a change, so I approached the athletics director about what his vision was for the future of the program. Everything kind of aligned from there,” Kcholi said. “I walked into a great group of kids and we got to know each other throughout the year.” In past seasons, coaches of the cross-country teams were made up of volunteers from the
athletics department or coaches from the baseball and softball teams who put in extra time to keep the cross-country teams in shape. Kcholi said at most NCAA Division III universities, cross-country teams tend to lack full-time coaches, primarily due to budget limitations. “We’re lucky here that we’ve had great coaches and volunteers to help the teams rise up to the challenge in the past,” Kcholi said. “I’m ready to pick up where we left off last season and see what the new term brings.” The two teams opened the season on Sept. 1 in Mansfield, Texas against Dallas Baptist University at the Patriot Invitational.
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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LIFE&ARTS
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Students beat the heat with activities such as rock climbing and inflatable slides at an activity called “Rec and Wild.”
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The School of Interdisciplinary Studies hosted an event in Hoblitzelle Hall where students were free to grab a sweet treat. ANDREW GALLEGOS | MERCURY STAFF
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Students played multiple games of bingo in the Galaxy Rooms to win bags full of groceries.
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“Choose your COMETventure” offered information about student transition programs through interactive games and puzzles.
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Crowds of students gathered at the Residence Hall West courtyard for a screening of the movie “Pitch Perfect.”
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Representatives from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences handed out ice cream to cool students down in the August heat.
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The Cardio Dance Party in the Activity Center got students getting healthy to a beat.
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MCKAYLA FERGUSON | MERCURY STAFF
F NIKITA BANTEY | MERCURY STAFF
NIKITA BANTEY | MERCURY STAFF
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SOUJANYA BHAT | MERCURY STAFF
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NIKITA BANTEY | MERCURY STAFF
DONATELLA VOSS | MERCURY STAFF
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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LIFE&ARTS
→ VOTING
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have no interest in Collin. But all you can do is be diplomatic (and) smile. You’re representing Collin when you’re there, so you can’t really get in an argument with them.” Shlebach said he is less devoted to changing individual minds and more dedicated to convincing his fellow voters, especially college students, to
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equipment to accommodate the increase in calls. UEMR has slightly under 30 providers, all of whom are required to complete at least one three-hour shift per week and one overnight shift per month. “We actually developed sleeping quarters for our providers over the summer to ensure that they would have a place to stay for the overnight shifts,” Rashid said. In addition to the change in hours of operation beginning Sept. 1, the EMTs within UEMR will be authorized to carry epinephrine and naloxone, more commonly known by the brand name Narcan. Narcan reverses the effects of opioid overdose and ensures victims’ airways remain open to allow for sufficient oxygen intake. Neuroscience junior Scott Bell, who serves as UEMR’s chief, will be
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made to taste like onions and bananas. Half of my Chew Crew was pretty pleased with the taste, while the other half couldn’t bear more
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Prabhakar is currently working on projects of multiple genres. She is photographing a high school
get out to the polls. “(Texas is ranked) 49 out of 50 in voter turnout. If people actually show up and vote in the mid-terms, we can make a difference,” Schlebach said. “We have the numbers to win, we just need people to actually show up.” According to Politico, in the 2016 presidential election, nearly 9 million Texas voters went to the polls, comprising approximately a quarter of Texas’s population. Bar-
reh said she encourages everyone to view voting as a civic duty with important implications. “Voter apathy is a really big thing, but I think it’s because everyone thinks their vote doesn’t matter and that someone else is going to do it, and then everyone thinks like that and then nothing is going to change,” she said. “You can’t complain if you don’t take some agency and change the situation.”
overseeing epinephrine and naloxone training for the EMTs. “Although the opioid crisis isn’t as severe in Texas as in other states, we still think that a college campus probably needs the ability to administer Narcan,” Bell said. Epinephrine, commonly administered through an EpiPen, is used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions caused by insect bites or foods. “The epinephrine training is also really important because anyone can have an anaphylactic shock, so our team is better equipped to handle them by carrying EpiPens with us,” Rashid said. Not all EMTs in the UEMR program will be allowed to administer the medications. Within the team, individual rankings based on experience determine whether an EMT can provide the drug. In charges, which are EMTs with more experience, are the only ones allowed to
administer Narcan and epinephrine. Those new to the team, called attendants, will not be allowed to administer either medication. After a suspected overdose, UEMR can offer other services to the patient to ensure their safety. In a scenario where Narcan is administered, UEMR initiates a fire department response so the ambulance can transport the overdosed patient to the hospital. Because UEMR has direct contact with the fire department near campus, response times are much quicker than a general 911 call. Although the response team can offer services to stabilize overdosed patients, it cannot contact the Center for Student Recovery about a patient that has overdosed. “We cannot give any information to the Student Recovery Center because of patient confidentiality,” Bell said. “But we’d definitely give the patient the information to go and get help and treatment for recovery.”
than a few small bites. While the durian wasn’t as smelly as I’d hoped, the experience was still something special. I can see why it’s such a prized fruit in Southeast Asia. I can only hope I somehow get to trav-
el to Malaysia or Singapore and be able to try a fresh one and be able to experience six different terrible smells all at once. For now, I’ve still got 5 pounds of durian sitting in my freezer, with which I’m not sure what to do.
student for her senior pictures as well as covering the upcoming concert of an Indian musician. “I hope to continue working with student organizations while
still expanding my clientele,” Prabhakar said. “I want to learn new ways and techniques to take and edit photos and just expand my knowledge as much as I can.”
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President Karthika Venugopalan, a biology and health care management senior, now plan and carry out fundraising efforts. “I had known about the MakeA-Wish foundation for a long time, since one of my friends was diagnosed with cancer in elementary school,” Venugopalan said. “(Wishmakers) allowed me to contribute on campus as well as to the community.” Venugopalan said she met the founders at an Alpha Epsilon Delta fundraising event and signed up for the newly-created organization immediately. Both Venugopalan and biology sophomore Hannah Qureshi, the group’s fundraising chair, said meeting those personally affected by Make-A-Wish has been one of their most rewarding experiences with Wishmakers. “At the freshman orientation booths, you’re surprised to actually see how many people are personally dedicated to the Make-A-Wish foundation and have experienced some of those complications on their own,” Qureshi said. “To see that come forth
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in the test section, but we can also go very small and reproduce very real wind farms with an array of turbines including the hills, the topography and the terrain.” Iungo said the tunnel’s applications are endless because so many real-life projects are heavily impacted by the wind flows in the atmosphere. “All the time that the loads and dynamics produced by the wind are important to a structure, this facility is actually the best facility to do these experiments,” he said. “We can extend this application to anything that is affected by wind speed and intensity — bikes, cars, antennas, solar panels.” One application is to simulate
at a direct level was very cool.” In the previous school year, Wishmakers raised over $5,000 for MakeA-Wish. Venugopalan said the organization has set its sights on raising $7,500 this year. “The average wish for a child costs around $7,500,” Venugopalan said. “That’s just the average. If a child wants to go to Florida, of course it’s going to cost more. We want to make every dream possible for these children.” Wishmakers hosts a weekly booth at the SU, where it typically sells items such as samosas, boba tea and bundt cakes. Electrical engineering sophomore Elisa Thomas, a member of Wishmakers, said she valued being able to directly spread awareness of their mission while helping run the organization’s booths. “When I would talk to (people stopping by) about the Wishmakers and the Make-A-Wish foundation, it was surprising that a lot of people didn’t really know what it was,” Thomas said. “For me, it was really nice to help them get to know what the Make-A-Wish foundation does, and what we do to help them. Spreading that
awareness was really cool.” Fundraising events include selling chocolate and roses on Valentine’s Day and participating in Macy’s National Believe Day on Dec. 8, where every letter sent to the corporation raises $2 for Make-AWish. Electrical engineering sophomore Chandler Linseisen, another member of Wishmakers, said the times spent helping with fundraising events have become some of her favorite experiences. “One thing we’ve done is we’ve gone Christmas caroling,” Linseisen said. “In rehearsal before caroling, we tried to form a choir. It didn’t really work out as well as we had intended, but it was definitely a lot of fun trying to do different parts and things like that. We raised a fair amount of money from that.” Biology sophomore Sarah Zaidi, Wishmakers’ service chair, said the organization members hope to host a booth outside and sell colder items such as snow cones to attract more attention to the organization and its cause. They are also in the process of coordinating a dogpetting event and a Make-A-Wish color run later in the year.
aircraft movements in regions of the world such as the Middle East, where sand and debris often cloud pilots’ visual fields. “After running experiments in a wind tunnel, (researchers) were able to figure out a different way to pilot the helicopter and land it so the sand doesn’t cause visual impairment,” he said. Wind tunnel engineer Kyle Jones said while the wind tunnel will also be used for industrial collaborative projects with companies in the area, students who would like to research or test an idea related to wind engineering are free to utilize the tunnel. “There are really only a handful of these kind of tunnels in the entire world…we already have some students involved in making
models, running the wind tunnel and instrumentation and things like that,” Jones said. “This is reallife experience that you can’t get anywhere else.” Iungo brings his fluid mechanics class to the tunnel to see how the material learned in the classroom is applied. Iungo said his work helps society push the limits on what can be accomplished with wind engineering. “The foundation is atmospheric turbulence, what the wind and the air in the atmosphere do and how a better understanding of this can capture more energy, cool down cities or produce more resilient and durable infrastructure,” Iungo said. “That’s the cool thing about research. You don’t know where your brain will tell you to go.”
Presented by the UT Dallas Career Center
CAREER
E PO
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SEPT. 13
SEPT. 14
Careers in non-STEM industries.
Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math.
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
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All Majors Day (Non-STEM) Non-STEM undergraduates.
1:30 - 4 p.m.
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utdallas.edu/career T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S AT D A L L A S
National Disability Employment Awareness Summit America’s Workforce: Empowering All Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018 2 - 6:30 p.m. Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center To register visit: disability-employment.eventbrite.com The event is hosted by the Office of Student AccessAbility, the Career Center and the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement.
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OPINION
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
The dream team Adding football to UTD will bring long-term benefits
CAROLINA ALVAREZ | OUTREACH EDITOR
VANESSA IDIGBE Mercury Staff
I
mplementing a football program at UTD will improve the social scene on campus. With the college football season fast approaching, it’s more glaring than ever that UTD doesn’t have a football team. While the school’s brand-new tier one status is evidence that we are heading in the right direction academically, in aspects such as traditional sports, our progress could be better. It would be more understandable if the school was smaller, but for a campus with over 30,000 students, I believe it's time that we invested into our sports programs, and in particular, the implementation of a football program.
At least once a month there’s a post on the UTD subreddit about social life on campus, either complaining about how we don't have much of one at all or suggestions on what can be done to improve school spirit. In a 2017 list by The Princeton Review, UTD ranked fourth in universities with the unhappiest students. While a football team certainly wouldn’t reverse the issue immediately, it would be a big step in a long process of revitalizing the social scene on campus. Football unites a school in a way few sports are able to and creates an atmosphere buzzing with anticipation and excitement. The addition of a football program would grant students tremendous opportunities to get creative, but — like everything on campus — it’s up to the students to make use of it.
During football season last year, I would often see pictures and videos of my friends at their college football games, and although I’d deny it if they asked, I sometimes felt jealous that they had such events to look forward to. Universities near UTD such as the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University have active football teams, so it’s very easy for UTD students to feel left out. The heightened school pride and activities during homecoming, accompanied with a possible football rivalry, is the kind of fun that will not only raise school spirit and unite the student body but also attract alumni to visit and join in the campus festivities as well. Whether we like it or not, college football has become a major part of the college experience. Most students don’t
spend all of their time attending classes and studying. It’s not unreasonable for students to want to attend a school that can offer them both. According to a study by Harvard Business School assistant professor Doug Chung, schools typically experience a 17.7 percent jump in applications after a successful football season. Another study by Devin and Jaren Pope found that after a school achieves certain sport successes, the quantity of applications increases from 2 percent to 8 percent. A football program would help the university gain a better reputation and give prospective students the opportunity to participate in the typical college experience. A common argument is that a football program at a nerdy school like UTD wouldn’t fit the
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Unmaking a murderer Americans must overcome past prejudices to prevent police brutality
SOURCE | MAPPING POLICE VIOLENCE
CINDY FOLEFACK Managing Editor
D
allas County just became one of few in the nation to convict and sentence a police officer for murder after an on-duty shooting. This execution of justice should become the rule rather than the exception. On April 29, 2017, former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver shot into a car full of unarmed teens driving away from a private party, fatally injuring 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. In the aftermath of the shooting, Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said the car Edwards was in was driving toward Oliver, who shot in self-defense. Oliver was fired after body cam footage proved that the car was driving away from him and his partner. That’s where the problem lies.
SAM LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF
All too often, law enforcement controls the narrative after the shooting of an unarmed civilian, especially when that civilian happens to be a black male. Take the case of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man shot by North Charleston police officer Michael Slager. Or even the case of Freddie Gray, who suffered a neck injury while in police custody. In each case, the families of the victims spoke out, but ultimately police held control of the narrative until proven wrong by civilian video footage. So why are officers so quick to grab ahold of the narrative, and why are we so quick to believe it? According to Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, police officers enjoy the benefit of the doubt. In fact, according to a Bowling Green State University study, only 80 officers were arrested on murder or manslaughter charges for on-duty shootings between 2005 and
2017. Of those arrested, 28 were convicted. Our willingness to believe officers over their victims has tangible effects. Rather than setting an example, we’re showing officers that reckless use of force will most likely result in inaction on our part. Until we as civilians realize that we play an active role in these repeated miscarriages of justice, instances such as these will continue to occur. According to a 2009 study in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, television portrayals of blacks cause white Americans to see the race, especially black males, as violent and aggressive. With these implicit biases, it’s not hard to see why police narratives are so easily believed. While police officers shouldn’t be afraid to defend themselves, black citizens shouldn’t have to live in constant fear of law enforcement. It shouldn’t be on them to ensure that every police encounter is recorded just in case they don’t survive it. The only way to change this is by shifting
the burden of proof to the officers. With increased surveillance methods such as body and dashboard cameras, there shouldn’t be any confusion as to what happens during a police stop. Additionally, it’s on us to hold officers accountable, which means we can’t forget about a shooting a week after it became national news. The court of public opinion does hold power, and by staying focused on officer-involved shootings, we can make sure that justice is served and cases aren’t dismissed or end in mistrials. We have to become active citizens. If there’s a protest nearby, go. Read up on your city council members before elections, and most importantly, humanize victims of police violence. They’re more than a mugshot, headline or statistic. They’re a grieving family, a reeling community and a silently terrified minority population. By staying active and speaking out, we can make sure that Jordan Edwards’ death wasn’t in vain.
Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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OPINION
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general campus vibe. But who says nerds can’t enjoy football? MIT, Stanford, Yale and even Rice are wellknown “nerd” schools with football programs, some of which have been wildly successful. Another debate is that because UTD has a large commuter population, the school would be wasting its time implementing a football program. However, if anything, a football program would create
more of an incentive for commuters to stay longer on campus to partake in the pregame activities and watch the game with their friends or family. The football team may not experience a large or immediate success, but it certainly has the potential to improve the campus atmosphere. One of the biggest concerns with having a football team is its associated cost, which is valid, as implementing a football program is not cheap. Starting a college
football team can run anywhere from $1.5 million for a small, Division III program to over $80 million for a Division I program, according to USA Today. However, such a cost is offset by the potential to improve campus identity, generate income and increase the local and national exposure of the university. UT San Antonio, a university with a similar enrollment as UTD that is also located in a major city, administered a vote in 2007 in which a majority
of students approved to increase the student athletic fee from $120 per semester to a maximum of $240 a semester to fund an initiative to establish a football program, including the construction of an $84 million stadium. In comparison, UTD’s current student athletics fee is $45. Additionally, UT San Antonio also launched a $15 million fundraiser to support salaries, construction and scholarships associated with the establishment of
the football program. The school is now reaping the benefits of its investment as the eight-year-old football program has been awarded the title of college football’s best startup by USA Today, with an average home attendance of 17,348. The university also reported increased national exposure from televised games as well as increased alumni donations following the creation of the program. UTD has always been a school that places more emphasis on academics
than sports, and the implementation of a Division II or III football team won’t suddenly change that. While we may not be able to uphold our “undefeated football team” status much longer, we would gain more opportunities to make our school a more fun and active campus and allow students the chance to enjoy all that makes up the traditional college experience.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
CHIAMAKA MGBOJI | MERCURY STAFF
COMET COMMENTS
What other Weeks of Welcome events would you have liked to see?
Comets and Craters New UT System chancellor The Board of Regents named James Milliken the new chancellor on Aug. 27, succeeding William McRaven, who stepped down in May.
"Board game night and frisbee would be really fun."
"I would probably want silent disco twice."
"A fun social event with food. Something to get new people talking to each other."
Comet Cab capacity reduced The last rows of seats on the university's fleet of Comet Cabs have been removed due to safety concerns.
Brian Doupnik Computer Science Freshman
Irebati Ambike Biomedical Engineering Graduate
Denver Siu ATEC Junior
Professor receives high rank JSOM professor Mike Peng was recognized as the second-most influential business and economics researcher in the world.
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Sept. 4, 2018 | The Mercury
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The practice room utilized by the music groups can accommodate 35 musicians at maximum. “Last spring, our string orchestra alone was 41 members — just the string orchestra, not including the winds, brass and percussion when we expand to full orchestra rehearsal,” Salisbury said. “The wind ensemble last fall by itself had 65 members, so it’s been very challenging to rehearse in these circumstances.” Biology senior Monica Lou joined UTD’s music program the fall of her freshman year and has played the flute in multiple ensembles since, now serving as the president of the university musical leadership organization Comet Symfonique. She said although senior involvement in music is small, half the musicians are freshman, and the group continues to grow rapidly. “I think several times a year we all pose for a photo where we’re nice and crammed in together,” Lou said. “I do believe that every time we rehearse we technically break the fire code, which is maybe why we have the doors open when we rehearse.” The combined string orchestra and wind ensemble comprised nearly 40 members before Salisbury arrived at UTD in 2014. Since then, the program has grown in numbers steadily year by year. In the fall of 2017, the combined string orchestra and wind ensemble had approximately 70 members, but the current membership reached 85 at a meeting
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Drugan said she thinks will be the deciding factor in the games to come. “We had a really good focus, there’s a lot of enthusiasm and energy. I think they’re excited about where we left off last year, which gives us momentum,” Drugan said. “For the first time in my five years we have seniors. We usually have one or two every year, but this year we have seven, so it’s refreshing to have people with experience and leadership capability that they’ve earned and built over their years here.” Starting at second place on the ASC poll, the men’s soccer team
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better instructions online and I signed up.” Lu ended up using Google to find registration instructions and said while the process delayed his registration by 20 minutes, he was still able to get his preferred sessions. Lu said his classmates who used general registration complained that Coursebook was slow or freezing up when they were trying to enroll in sessions. “A lot of students were annoyed that they didn’t get PLTL, so they took the initiative and formed their own study groups,” Lu said. “I actually joined a study group as well, so I’m glad they took the initiative because it shows that they really want to learn.” Schier said a technical glitch
NEWS
this August. “We have a sizeable increase in size every year, as does the university,” Salisbury said. “And you can tell across campus how difficult it is to keep the infrastructure at pace with the incoming students as we’ve grown so rapidly. This is one of the obvious places where we’ve grown out of our facilities in a very short period of time.” There are four spaces on campus dedicated to storage for musical instruments, two of which are small closets. In the spaces for student instrument storage, anyone who has Comet Card access to the room has access to everything inside of it—including everyone else’s instruments. Due to the lack of individual lockers, instruments stacked together pose a security risk. “The fact is that we have thousands of dollars of instruments belonging to several different people in the same room at the same time,” Lou said. “It’s an under (allocation) of resources. We don’t have the facilities to practice, the facilities to rehearse, the instruments or places to store them either.” Lou said although the university’s primary STEAM focus and 10-year strategic plan may not necessarily prioritize the arts, music is an invaluable part of the lives of students in musical ensembles. “Somehow, every person who comes to our rehearsals every week and dedicates three hours every Tuesday evening until almost 10 o’clock is filled with that same love for music, and the understanding that the collaboration we have every week is to make something better than
ourselves,” Lou said. “When we go to rehearsals, there’s an energy in the air, partially because the room is small, but also because the passion is really big.” Computer science sophomore Puya Gharahi serves as the communications director for Comet Symfonique. Gharahi said he shows up early to Tuesday evening rehearsals to help set up. “It’s really claustrophobic,” Gharahi said. “It’s like, ‘Where can we put this chair so they can sort of be in the right spot?’ Usually we have to take excess stuff out of the room like the stand racks just so we can have room for chairs. Once the rehearsal starts it gets really hot because there’s so many people in such a small space. We have our violin section practically out the door.” Gharahi has played the violin for the last eight years. He said although his high school director encouraged him to go into music, he chose computer science at a school where he could continue pursuing his passion for music. “No one here is a music major so we get together Tuesday nights — not because we have to or to do it for a degree plan, but because we all like music,” Gharahi said. “We all love music and that’s what I really like at UTD. That doesn’t happen (at) many other places.” Salisbury said the best option for improvement would be a space created for a larger group, with two separate halls for a 100-piece orchestra and 100-piece band. “I love that the students, despite our challenges, continue to have positive experiences,” she said. “We just need room to grow.”
ended the last season finishing third in the ASC Tournament. Head coach Jason Hirsch will continue to lead the team for his sixth season, boasting a 65-2116 career record and two backto-back ASC titles in 2015 and 2016. The team is composed of seniors, sophomores and juniors. Hirsch said the mixed nature of the group will create a stronger team dynamic overall. “It’s all about competition — the best players play, so it’s about earning your time,” Hirsch said. “We’re trying to find the best players and the best fit for our team.” Placed at the top of its poll, the women’s volleyball team has been the ASC Tournament
champion for the past 3 years. Predictions from the ASC see the team continuing that trend with players such as junior middle blocker Lauren Schilling, who was included on the ASC’s “East Players to Watch” list for the 2018 season. “The team is going to be on another level to watch this season,” Schilling said. “Any time I leave practice or team bonding, I leave with a feeling that something big and amazing is coming to UTD volleyball this year.” Women’s volleyball won both of its Labor Day games with a 3-0 shutout, while men’s soccer secured a 3-2 victory against Colorado College. Women’s soccer won 2-0 against Hiram College.
caused the emails to go out an hour after pre-registration was set to start. She added that a survey will be going out to students soon to gain feedback on areas of improvement in the registration process. Next semester, registration instructions will be included with PLTL emails. In a survey conducted by The Mercury, half of the 16 respondents reported experiencing technical difficulties during the registration process. Those who won the lottery took 10 to 15 minutes to register while those in general registration took twice as long, with one respondent reporting that it took over an hour to complete the process. “Obviously, there are growing pains with anything when you change things, so we know it was not perfect by any stretch,” Schi-
er said. “But hopefully within the next two to three years, it’ll become a foundational part of the culture at UTD.” Despite the technical difficulties, both Jones and Schier said the addition of the email lottery was a major improvement to the PLTL enrollment process, especially because Coursebook did not crash during this semester’s registration. Jones said that compared to prior years, the registration process was much smoother, and the email registration lottery would continue in the future. “Overall, I think we want it to be equitable to students, but fair to everyone,” Schier said. “I’m very pleased with the system and moving forward, I’d like to see this grow and become more stable and become part of the culture of PLTL registration.”
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numbering system. How we (can) help people to get from point A to point B — that was the goal.” Using Green Hall as a test case, Prakash and his programming team of freshmen, in addition to researchers from the Geospatial Information Sciences department and OIT, set to work by utilizing the software ArcGIS. By uploading the blueprint of Green Hall’s floors to a server, the software allowed programmers to run algorithms that plotted paths through the halls. Ph.D. student Brent Dell built the original 3D network of Green Hall. “I’ve been working with ArcGIS for about 8 years,” Dell said. “ArcGIS itself is a software platform the allows us to implement all of our spatial analysis, so it’s really kind of a tool. The questions that Dr. Prakash has been asking has been some of the questions we’ve been asking for a long time. Is there a way to navigate students in buildings on campus? Is there a way to get them from — you know, not just indoors, but between indoors and outdoors, from one building to another building?” Dell said that being unable to use GPS to navigate indoors meant having to use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to locate users. Will Ingarfield, one of the freshmen programmers, worked to utilize Wi-Fi access points throughout Green Hall to locate users as they navigated the building. Ingarfield said since the framework for Wi-Fi local-
ACHINT KHANIJO | MERCURY STAFF
Computer science professor Ravi Prakash oversaw the development of Constellation, an indoor navigation app.
ization already existed, the research team worked to improve the accuracy of the software. The only problem, Prakash said, came when the team tried to make the program update in real-time if the user strayed from the suggested path. Pinpointing the user’s exact location continuously — and accurately — proved to be difficult. “What was a part of this summer, that was a prototype of what we can accomplish as far as applications go,” Dell said. Dell said he acknowledged that some users might have concerns about geospatial privacy. He said just like Google Maps, users can opt in and out of location-based services and that the data will be stored on a secured server, access to which will be monitored by OIT. He added that one of main challenges for the project was teaching the freshmen the ins and outs of the ArcGIS system.
Computer science freshman William Bumpass was one of the freshmen researchers assigned to the project. He was responsible for converting the data languages used by the system into the user-facing application interface. “I guess the most difficult part about the translation was reformatting the large spaghetti pile of data that I got from ArcGIS,” he said. Prakash said that the developed code has been put in a GitHub repository and that most of the software already exists, though a precise launch date for the app is not available. Eventually, the software will be expanded to include other UTD buildings beyond Green Hall. “We hope to get Constellation up and running for everyone to use as they please, to get all those newbies up and running,” Bumpass said.
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