The Mercury 9/18/17

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September 18, 2017

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5 ALUMNI KILLED IN MASS SHOOTING JAMES DUNLOP

OLIVIA DEFFNER

MEREDITH HIGHT

RION MORGAN

ANTHONY CROSS

How could something like that happen to someone who was that good of a person? It doesn’t make sense. It still doesn’t feel real.

— Nick Disiere Rion Morgan’s coworker

Former UTD student kills estranged wife, seven other people

Relatives, friends remember victims of Plano shooting

RUTH VARGHESE

ARIANA HADDEN

UTD alumni were killed in a home shooting last week, leaving nine dead and one injured.

On Sept. 10, former student Spencer Hight killed Rion Morgan, an alumnus and employee at the Office of Information and Technology, and alumni Meredith Hight, Olivia Deffner, Anthony Cross and James Dunlop, along with four others at a house in the 1700 block of West Spring Creek Parkway in Plano.

SPENCER HIGHT “Without a doubt, this is the worst mass-casualty incident that we’ve had in the history of Plano,” said David Tilley, Plano Police Department’s public in-

After receiving the news that their loved ones were victims of a mass shooting, friends and family members are trying to cope with their deaths by remembering their lives.

Of the nine killed on Sept. 10, Olivia Deffner, Anthony Cross, James Dunlop, Rion Morgan and Meredith Hight were UTD alumni.

The shooter, Spencer Hight, is a former UTD student and estranged husband of Meredith.

Jonathan Harvey, a close friend of the victims, met Spencer and Meredith at their engagement party in 2011.

“Those are the memories I choose to stick with rather than getting a call from James’ dad wondering if I’m still alive,” he said.

On the night of the incident, Harvey was supposed to attend the watch party at Meredith’s. After deciding not to go because he was

News Editor

Managing Editor

→ SEE SHOOTING, PAGE 12

SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR

Family and friends created a makeshift memorial in front of the Plano home where former student Spencer Hight killed his estranged wife, Meredith Hight and seven other people on Sept. 10. This shooting had the largest casuality in the city’s history.

→ SEE PLANO, PAGE 12

Editorial Board

As a community, we should address domestic violence The deadliest mass shooting in Plano’s history, claiming the lives of five alumni, was a direct result of domestic violence. The Mercury stands against domestic violence and calls upon Comets to do more to recognize and prevent abuse.

Ultimately, one man’s violent actions took nine people’s lives and 10 families are forever affected.

While alumna Meredith Hight hosted a football watch party at her Plano home last Sunday, her estranged husband, Spencer Hight, arrived at the party, killing her and seven other people. She recently filed

for divorce from Spencer after six years of marriage.

Darryl Hawkins, Myah Bass, Caleb Edwards, and alumni Anthony Cross, Olivia Deffner, James Dunlop and staff member Rion Morgan were also killed in the shooting. One victim, Carly Shockey, is currently in the hospital and in critical condition.

Unfortunately, incidents such as this happen all too often. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that 55 percent of female homicides in the United States were due to domestic violence and out of those, four out of five women

were killed by their romantic partner.

As Comets, we need to come together and speak out against domestic violence, help those in abusive relationships and spread awareness of the issue.

It shouldn’t take the shocking murder of alumni to spur change.

Our community needs to address the problem of domestic violence to make sure no one else loses their child, their friend or their life.

A local organization you can donate to is Hope’s Door New Beginning, a Plano-based nonprofit organization providing services to

those affected by family violence.

Another important step we can take to combat domestic violence is offering resources and support to those who need it. It’s also critical to know that domestic abuse is not always physical. It can also manifest as emotional or psychological mistreatment, which is not always as evident.

As a community, we need to listen, provide a welcoming space and support to those who are affected by domestic abuse. Even if the victim does not decide or is unable to leave their abuser, we need to make sure

not to judge them for the situation they’re facing, as leaving a violent relationship is difficult and sometimes deadly.

If you know anyone who needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 or access campus resources including the Galerstein Gender Center, Student Counseling Center and UTD Police.

— Miriam Percival, Ariana Hadden, Bhargav Arimilli, Summer LeBel, Ruth Varghese, Chad Austin, Saher Aqeel, Bharat Arimilli, Carolina Alvarez

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Editor-in-Chief Miriam Percival

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Managing Editor Ariana Hadden managingeditor @utdmercury.com (972) 883-2287

Ad Sales Representatives Eeshan Pandey ads@utdmercury.com (972) 883-2210

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Sports Editor Summer LeBel

sports@utdmercury.com

Life & Arts Editor Bhargav Arimilli

Sept. 6 • An unknown person stole a student’s parking pass in Lot M at 10:33 a.m.

A

D B

Sept. 9 • At 12:22 a.m., six students recieved citatons for Minor in Consumption of Alcohol in RHSW. Three people went to the hospital for treatment.

B

Sept. 11 • An unknown person stole a student’s bike and lock from Phase 1 at 3:28 p.m.

C

Sept. 12 • At 12:33 p.m. in Lot A, an unknown person stole a student’s property from her vehicle.

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Sept. 14 • In Phase 2, an unknown person stole a parking boot at 8:49 a.m.

E

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C

Web Editor Bharat Arimilli

A

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Contributors Carolina Alvarez Madeleine Ambrose Srikar Sudarsan Baskara Ian Bird Emilio Chavez EJ Chong Kolton Coats Ethan Christopher Anupam Gupta Christina Jia Mithra Kaushik William Legrone Anthony McNair Chiamaka Mgboji Keaton Nations Valerie Perez Shannon Ramirez Yannis Shafi Roman Soriano Meha Srivastav Michael Stout Matt Strack Anjali Sundaram Dev Thimmisetty Mady Tran Vyasraj Vajramani Marisa Willaims David Worman Media Adviser Chad Thomas

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Mailing Address 800 West Campbell Road, SU 24 Richardson, TX 75080-0688 Newsroom Student Union, Student Media Suite SU 1.601

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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.

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Freshman project encourages collaboration Comets to the Core engages students to solve global issues such as water crisis through diversity of ideas, utilization of resources

MADY TRAN | MERCURY STAFF

Students collaborate on the Comets to the Core project, in which they work toward a solution to the global water crisis. Groups of eight people from different majors to combine their different perspectives.

MEHA SRIVASTAV Mercury Staff

This fall semester, UTD’s core curriculum committee launched Comets to the Core, a new project that will engage freshman to solve global issues during their college career.

In its first year, with logistics yet to be fully developed, the project has received mixed reactions from students.

Required for students to graduate, Comets to the Core places incoming freshmen into groups of eight students with different majors. The students work together during their fall semester to formulate a solution for a particular issue of the core committee’s choice, with each student providing unique insight related to their major.

This year’s assigned global problem is the water crisis, compelling students to focus on a

related problem of their choice, such as water contamination or drought.

On Aug. 2, the university sent out an email to all freshmen regarding the project instructions, which elicited various reactions from different students. Upon reading the assignment, finance freshman Eva Weimer said she had a positive outlook on the project.

“When I first saw it, I thought it would be a pretty easy task to do and that it would definitely provide insight for everyone in our freshman class,” Weimer said. “I’m a Girl Scout, so I’ve done work related to water contamination, but this adds another side to it, since I’m a finance major and I get to look on the budgeting side of things.”

However, a concern among freshmen, such as Weimer, is that the deadlines arrive too soon during the semester, giving them

little time to complete the project.

“It’s the first semester of college — you’re wanting to go to all these club meetings, trying to create your study habits,” Weimer said.

“I can definitely see where UTD is trying to go with this project. But it seems like something that should have a longer deadline to complete. I personally don’t like that I have to do this as I’m trying to get situated in college.”

Marilyn Kaplan, chair of the core curriculum committee and associate dean for undergraduate programs at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, chose the topic for this year’s project. She was interested in how students would use their creativity to tackle a significant issues.

“It’s a problem everywhere and it’s something our students will have to deal with,”

Kaplan said. “Look what’s been happening recently with the hurricanes — you’ve got people in the state of Texas that don’t have clean water because of problems with water contaminants and equipment.”

Kaplan acknowledges issues students may encounter through the project, but has high expectations of what they can accomplish.

“I think that students need to understand that when they’re coming in as freshmen, our expectations are high, considering the quality of freshmen recruited to UTD,” Kaplan said.

“As far as getting the project done, it is a way for them to make friends before classes even start, a way for them to work with people from other majors, which should open up positive avenues for them.”

Over the last few years, she led the development of the project as the vision of the core

committee evolved.

“When we changed the core curriculum in 2014, we realized that what we’d been doing in the past was just measuring (the skills of) each class — and that didn’t give us a comparison basis,” Kaplan said. “We had fabulous freshmen coming into UTD, who have a lot of skills, and it was hard to measure that qualitatively and get a bigger picture out of it.”

In 2014, the committee established the CLA assessment, designed to measure students’ critical thinking skills. Freshmen also engaged in an end-of-semester freshman seminar class project, similar to the Comets to the Core project, but involving localized, university-based issues and occurring on a

→ SEE CORE, PAGE 4

New alumni center opens Davidson-Gundy building now available for social events, networking UTD App After multiple years of development, the university’s in-house app developer created the UTD app that entered the beta-testing phase toward the beginning of the summer. Student Government President JW Van Der Schans, as well as the bulk of SG members, are part of the beta testing. The majority of the apps features are operational. These include the realtime tracking of Comet Cabs, parking information and links to commonly used websites, such as the library’s site. Testers are giving more feedback to the app developer before the full release of the app.

SG expects to release the app by the end of the semester.

SU Scroller Communications Committee Chair Eric Chen is working on a new student utility called the SU Scroller. The Scroller is a graphic providing information about SG meetings, upcoming events and ways to contact SG. It will be displayed on the TVs located on the second floor of the Student Union, near the Subway and Ben & Jerry’s. The information displayed on the Scroller will update every week.

Campus Safety and Police Call Boxes Sammy Lutes, chair of the Student Affairs Committee, is inquiring about police call boxes and how they are currently impacting student safety. Addison Larson, a SG senator leading the project, conducted a detailed report investigating the call boxes. She found that UTD has a relatively low number of call boxes when compared to other Texas universities. Lutes proposes that

possible solutions may be increasing accessibility of UTD PD by cell phone or installing more call boxes across the university. Lutes is also looking into reports of poor call box functionality.

Amazon Lockers Dhiren Kisani, head of the Technology Committee, is investigating the viability of putting Amazon Locker on campus.

Amazon Locker is a service where Amazon customers can send eligible items to self-service kiosks for pickup or return.

The idea behind the project is to provide commuters a convenient way of receiving their packages. The project is in the early stages of planning. The committee expects to release a survey about the lockers within a week’s time.

Housing for International Students In light of concerns about availability and student safety, head of the Graduate and International Affairs Committee Jason Waye opened a dialogue with UTD administration about providing international students with on-campus housing. Choices for offcampus housing remains limited for international students, due to restrictions associated with their F1 visas and obtaining a Social Security card.

UTD’s International Center gave reports to Waye that raise concerns of student safety in off-campus housing.

These reports include incidents of international graduate students being the victims of vandalism, breaking and entering and burglary. Waye’s intention is to make the process of finding housing for international students an easy and comfortable experience.

ANJALI SUNDARAM Mercury Staff

Designed for UTD alumni and students to connect better, the Davidson-Gundy Alumni center is open to current students and alumni, offering networking opportunities to both.

Situated behind the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building and adjacent to the Naveen Jindal School of Management, the center expands over 30,000 square feet of indoor space and another 33,000 square feet of exterior space.

Complete with a ballroom, a second-floor executive meeting space and three conference rooms, the building is a place where alumni can return to UTD and connect with current students.

Charles Davidson was among the seven speakers at the opening of the Alumni Center on Sept. 7. The namesakes of the building, Davidson and his wife, Nancy Gundy Davidson, donated $15 million toward the center’s creation. During the ceremony, Davidson spoke about the reasons for his donation and his hope that it will increase alumni outreach.

“The idea of bringing an alumni center to Dallas was something that really resonated with Nancy and I,” Davidson said. “Since our first major gift, which was to the school of management 17 years ago, we have been real strong advocates of getting more alumni engagement in the university.

We need their support, and we need the support of future alumni, who are

DAVID WORMAN | MERCURY STAFF

Charles Davidson and Nancy Gundy Davidson cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Gundy-Davidson Alumni Center.

students here today.”

Davidson said his goal is for UTD’s 100,000 alumni to join with current students in order to envision a better future for the university.

“This is not just about a beautiful building,” Davidson said. “Yes, it’s a beautiful building, and buildings are important, but I think if we stop there we would have really missed the goal. The prize is, as we look forward, that we have a great university that is supported by motivated and engaged alumni who know that they’re critically important to the success of this institution.”

Student Government President JW Van Der Schans spoke on behalf of the student body at the ceremony. He

acknowledged the accomplishments of UTD alumni and the prospects the building has for the student body, such as graduates offering advice and job opportunities to current students.

“The opportunity for, not only alumni, but existing students to expand our parameters of success is incredible and, unlike other institutions that have these aged bridges between alumni and existing students, this one is fresh and new for many people to cross,” Van Der Schans said.

Closing out the ceremony, Van Der Schans said the expansion and development of UTD is a monumental change

→ SEE ALUMNI, PAGE 4

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App connects students, alumni Jindal school releases new app to assist in guidance, work experience MARISA WILLIAMS Mercury Staff

A new app for the Jindal School of Management makes it simple to network, gain work experience and receive guidance from alumni in the business world.

In February 2017, the Jindal School’s Development and Alumni Relations organization collaborated with their service provider to build a school-wide engagement platform. With the tag line “Wisdom. Offer guidance. Build a career,” JindalConnect utilizes Facebook and LinkedIn to facilitate the interaction and connection of students with Jindal alumni.

Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations Erica Yaeger said the site allows students to find a group of alumni by industry, to find a mentor or job leads and to take advantage of the JSOM network.

“It also is a safe environment where they can ask job-related questions with guidance from those that have graduated from the Jindal School, but have had some experience under their belt in the real world,” she said.

Yaeger said students have connected with mentors via the platform, and alumni have used JindalConnect to post job opportunities. JSOM administration have also used it to promote their quarterly alumni networking events. As a result, attendance has increased and they’ve renamed these events “JindalConnect Live” to further build the platform.

Accounting junior Frances Beaflor created a JindalConnect account but has not yet connected with anyone on it. She said she prefers to use LinkedIn at this point because JindalConnect is intimidating for her.

“I’m curious to see how this website will grow in the future, but they need to advertise it and make it more navigable to garner (more) use and attention,” Beaflor said.

Jasmine Carter, director of alumni relations and the developer of JindalConnect, was part of the team that evolved

CHAD AUSTIN | GRAPHICS EDITOR

JindalConnect from an idea into the diversified resource it is now.

“I did a lot of research … Since that point, I’ve been put on all of the marketing, pretty much spreading the word, getting alumni to sign up, getting students to sign up on the platform, getting faculty and staff to join the platform, a part of working with Graduway is the app itself is included in our package,” Carter said.

Out of 500 colleges and universities with platforms created by the software provider Graduway, Jindal was presented with “Best Marketing Campaign,” as well as a platinum certification, indicative of a highly engaging, highly active and functioning alumni platform.

“We are considered subject matter experts now with respect to this platform, how to engage alumni. We’ve basically achieved exactly what the product is supposed to do,” Carter said.

Since its launch on Feb. 14, Carter said JindalConnect has close to 5,000 alumni, students, staff, faculty and other resources that are considered friends of UTD. Graduway said the exponential growth that JindalConnect has seen in such a short amount of time since its launch is unprecedented.

There is a directory of all alumni profiles on the system, allowing students to contact the alumni they’d be interested in having as a mentor. There are also options for student-to-student mentoring or mentoring between alumni.

Additionally, JindalConnect has an events calendar, photo albums of events, class groups, a Facebook-style update feed and a function called “groups” where users can be matched based on commonality.

“Going forward, Graduway is working to continuously improve the site,” Carter said. “I do know the platform will have a revamping in the next few months and it will change a little bit of the layout.

They want to bring forward more of the engagement side while ensuring that the social aspect is still there, but kind of creating it in a way that we make sure mentoring is more prominent in the platform as well.”

Carter said she really wants to get the word out to JSOM students about the resources JindalConnect can provide them and, most importantly, she said she wishes that students would remember that the administration is here for them and wants to be a place where involvement opportunities are endless.

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smaller scale.

“While the CLA assessment is great, we still had this inconsistent measure from the freshman seminar class,” Kaplan said. “We wanted to accomplish a couple of different things — for one, we wanted to get more consistency. And at the same time, we realized that what we lacked was that feeling of ‘You’re something bigger than you.’”

Dohyeong Kim, director of the Center for Geospatial Research in Global Health Policy, said he supports the idea of having various students tackle global issues together through the project.

“Something I always emphasize in my class on environmental health is that issues like the water crisis or global diseases are always multidisciplinary,” Kim said. “Any single discipline cannot handle it appropriately, which indicates how complex the problem is. Students will learn to come up with tangible plans and develop skills, although it may take time to reap actual benefits from it.”

At the end of the fall semester, students in the freshman seminar classes will vote on the top five group solutions. The chosen groups will present their solutions during Research Week in the spring.

During their junior year, all students will participate in the project again with the guidance of a mentor, and will compete for scholarship or funding to implement their solutions. The core committee has not yet determined the logistics of this part of the project.

As an upperclassman who was not required to complete the project, biology junior Zehra Rizvi said she appreciates the benefits that the project can potentially provide to UTD students.

“It sounds like a really great opportunity,” Rizvi said. “As a freshman, I didn’t know how to get into research, so having

→ ALUMNI

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that can be embodied by the building.

“We have learned at UT Dallas how to succeed professionally and personally in our lives, and now fellow UTD graduates, individuals that want to

something like this where you’re involved in the process, that’s a really cool opportunity. You get to know what it feels like to present research to actually implement a solution.”

However, she points to the negative effects the project may have for students later in their college career.

“Personally, I wouldn’t be a fan of doing (the project) during junior year,” Rizvi said. “I’m pre-med, and junior year is very stressful in terms of that. People are finishing up MCAT or studying for it, preparing for applications and interviews, getting in research or doing internships. Junior year is already very important and hectic, and unless they make the project a little more manageable, it may be a little implausible.”

Kaplan acknowledges issues students may encounter through the project, but has high expectations of what they can accomplish.

I think that students need to understand that when they’re coming in as freshmen, our expectations are high, considering the quality of freshmen recruited to UTD,” Kaplan said. “As far as getting the project done, it is a way for them to make friends before classes even start, a way for them to work with people from other majors, which should open up positive avenues for them.”

With the addition of the project to the curriculum, Kaplan said she believes it will make UTD stand out in the University of Texas System.

“We’re definitely the rebel, no question,” Kaplan said. “We want to test a hypothesis — to use the scientific method to see if any changes were made in the students.

Usually, you don’t look at your journey from semester to semester, so I think this is going to put the core curriculum in a new perspective for students so that they can see how valuable it is. At the end of it, these are all skills that will prepare them for the real world.”

help us succeed, can help us do just that by expanding our opportunities and by giving us chances to work with them, alongside them, learn from them, so that UTD isn’t the only experience that we have when improving our education,” Van Der Schans said.

“It’s simply the first step.”

LIFE&ARTS What Happens Next?

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DACA recipients at UTD find themselves in limbo as Trump administration announces decision to terminate program

VALERIE PEREZ | MERCURY STAFF

Historical studies sophomore Ociel Galindo (left) and international political economy junior Mercedes Molina wear the Mexican and American flags at a rally on Sept. 13 to show solidarity with undocumented students.

BHARGAV ARIMILLI Life & Arts Editor

Editor’s Note: The name of Jose was changed to protect his identity.

Jose was two years old when he boarded a bus bound for the U.S.Mexico border. His grandfather fed him grapes in the dark to stave off hunger during the 12-hour journey.

“That’s the oldest memory I have,” he said. “That’s the only memory of Mexico I have.”

He fell asleep and woke up on the other side of the border in a car driven by coyotes — smugglers who facilitate migration across the border — travelling toward Dallas, where Jose’s father, who had migrated earlier, was waiting. Since then, Jose grew up in the Metroplex under the looming threat of deportation.

Now a UTD junior studying computer science, Jose received work authorization and completed an internship as a recipient of the Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals program, an nounced its intent to terminate the Obama-era policy implemented in 2012 DACA program on Sept. 5, claimthat allows certain individuals who en- ing that undocumented migrants tered the country illegally as minors to were usurping jobs from native-born citizens and driving obtain renewable twodown wages. year work permits and They can kill our “We knew it was grants exemption from coming,” said Merdeportation. work permits and cedes Molina, an in“I remember feelthey can kill everyternational political ing relieved because I could actually use thing we’ve worked economy junior and president of UTD’s my education for for, but they can’t chapter of the League something. My initial kill our love for this of United Latin thought was I would American Citizens. have to graduate here country.

“Our largest frustraand then move to — Jose, tion at the moment is Mexico,” Jose said.

“I had a vision of my computer science junior that we feel like we’re being used as politifuture. It wasn’t just a cal pawns.” big blur.”

With the rescission of DACA, student But now his future, like those of nearly 800,000 other DACA recipi- groups on campus are calling on their local representatives to pass the DREAM ents, lies in limbo.

Act — a bipartisan proposal intended to *** The Trump administration an- provide undocumented immigrants with

a path to permanent residency — by organizing letter-writing campaigns.

“That would be the best-case scenario to come out of this,” said Ociel Galindo, a historical studies sophomore and interim president of the Mexican American Student Association. “The fact that it’s a bipartisan piece of legislation is even better.” *** Growing up, Jose made efforts to conceal the marks of his Mexican heritage — specifically, the mark on his upper right arm. In Mexico, the government requires newborns to be vaccinated against tuberculosis, which leaves a visible scar. In Jose’s predominantly Hispanic middle school, the scar became a source of contention.

“The funny thing was the U.S.-born Mexicans would be racist towards the Mexican-born Mexicans,” he said. “(The scar) was the first sign. That’s how you identify others who were born in Mexico. I remember kids in middle

school hiding it during gym, especially the girls because they had to wear shorter-sleeve shirts.”

Though Jose’s parents told him in the fourth grade that he was born in Mexico, it wasn’t until high school that he began to make sense of his immigration status.

“To me, it didn’t mean anything,” he said. “It didn’t matter to me until I was old enough to do the research myself and I realized I was in a different situation.”

After enrolling in the DACA program, Jose received a social security number and was able to intern at a local software development firm the summer after his sophomore year of high school.

When it came to the college application process, however, his options were limited. Several scholarships required citizenship or permanent residency for consideration. UTD’s Academic Excellence Scholarship was among those that

→ SEE DACA, PAGE 9

Alumnus develops new game Circuit Dude pays homage to classics such as Adventures of Lolo, Sokoban KOLTON COATS Mercury Staff

WILLIAM LEGRONE | MERCURY STAFF

Jonathan Holmes, a 2015 software engineering graduate, released ‘Circuit Dude’ on the gaming platform Steam in August.

Disappointed that none of his games made the “Top 10 Arduboy Games” YouTube video he was watching, alumnus Jonathan Holmes set out to make a polished game worthy of the list. The result was a game called Circuit Dude.

At a young age, Holmes enjoyed playing games on many different consoles. After learning how to develop basic games, he decided to pursue game development

and coding at UTD as a software engineer, learning problem solving and researching new ways to program.

“I remember at one point I didn’t like video games, “ Holmes said. “And (then) I was exposed to all these … video games and I was like, ‘Woah, I’ve been missing this my entire life.’”

After graduating, Holmes began developing his own games for the Arduboy — a simplified Nintendo Gameboy — eventually publishing two free games.

After watching “Top 10 Arduboy Games,” Holmes began working on the original version of Circuit Dude. He said he drew inspiration from older puzzle games he played as a child. He talked about wanting to create the same frustration-to-reward ratio using mechanics from games like Sokoban, Adventures of Lolo and Fire n’ Ice. After approximately a month and a half

→ SEE CIRCUIT, PAGE 9

Student releases debut album Past relationships, themes of loss inspire alternative rock record ‘Girlfriends’ ROMAN SORIANO Mercury Staff

A UTD student recently released his own album, “Girlfriends,” online after a year and a half of development.

Before putting this record together, the last time computer science junior Drew Cannedy played music was freshman year of high school. What brought him back was attending a Mac DeMarco performance.

“I saw him in concert because my friend invited me to go see him, when I didn’t really know him,” Cannedy said.

“I just really liked his stage presence, and how cool he was as a dude.”

Afterwards, he felt motivated to record a cover of one of Mac DeMarco’s songs, “Without Me.” Cannedy received positive reception from his friends and family, and decided to start recording his own original songs.

After covering DeMarco’s song, Cannedy wanted to continue recording music. He said he initially did not set out to make an album, but after recording a couple songs, released as a compilation.

“By the end of (the process), I had like 10 songs,” he said. “I was like ‘That sounds like a good amount to just have a collection of songs.’”

Given the title of the album, Cannedy’s past relationships inspired all of the songs, and these experiences often help him write songs.

He said the most personal song on his album is “Broken Windows” because of the emotional events leading to its creation.

“I just fought with my girlfriend. I was outside already playing guitar and she called me, when I hung up, right then I had written the lyrics,” he said. “It was right after a tough moment.”

Cannedy’s conversations also inspire the lyrics in his songs.

“The first line of ‘Gone Away’ is, ‘You’re like a movie, I could watch you for hours.’ I actually said that one day and I was like, ‘Oh, that could be a whole song,’” he said.

Cannedy said if he was feeling motivated and could focus entirely on the song, he could finish one in less than a week. However, he also had schoolwork to focus on, which is why it took him longer.

His songmaking process starts with a chord progression he plays on his acoustic guitar, and then thinking of lyrics to supplement it.

“I would record the guitar and think about what other instruments would go along with it,” Cannedy said. “Then at the end, I would do drums, and when everything is done, I’ll go back and do the vocals.”

The main motivation behind releasing the album and making it public was to share it

MADELINE AMBROSE | MERCURY STAFF

Computer science junior Drew Cannedy released his 10-track album on Aug. 23 on the online music platforms SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

with the people close to him.

“All my friends like seeing what I’m doing, and my family likes seeing what I’m doing, so I thought I would share it for them mostly.

Not really for anyone else,” he said.

Cannedy said music is just a hobby at the moment, but if he could garner

enough attention, it could turn into something more.

“It would be nice to have people that I don’t know already, find it and be into it,” he said. “If enough people were interested, I would definitely try to make it a career, but for now it’s just something fun.”

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THE MERCURY | SEPT. 18, 2017

Q&A

LIFE&ARTS

UTDMERCURY.COM

Student Government Leadership

New president, vice president discuss laying out groundwork, plans for upcoming school year

Representing the student body for the 2017-2018 school year, President JW Van Der Schans and Vice President Alex Holcomb sat down to talk with The Mercury about balancing personal life with SG, the challenges they face this year and their goals going forward.

Q: How do you balance personal life and hobbies while working on SG? Alex: For me at least, I always try to put in more work than what I have listed in my office hours if I need to. It can be pretty difficult because WILLIAM LEGRONE | MERCURY STAFF this job can be pretty stressful.

Whenever you leave, you need Student Government President JW Van Der Schans (left) and Vice President Alex Holcomb served on SG committees in past years and talk about future plans. to make sure to leave it all here Q: Barring any limitations, ing it and getting something else Alex: Unless it was something ness. They are definitely thinking text or emails, we can’t smoke and just have fun.

JW: I mean, I balance it. I signal them and expect them to that just wouldn’t work with the higher, they’re thinking more what is an issue that you out of it. think that between school and reply. I think people have done system that UTD has, I’ve never strategically. It’s just definitely would most like to address?

Q: Do you have any closing been told, “No.” They’re so will- something special when you this, those are mostly the two a really good job so far.

Alex: I would say student remarks for the student body? ing to help us on pretty much walk in and it’s louder because things I end up doing. I think Q: What are the biggest anything students want, because everybody is talking about dif- art, for me. There’s just a lot my other involvement, extracurJW: Like I said, I don’t think ricular in fraternity, I do as much challenges you face going for- if you can show a student demand ferent projects, as opposed to of monetary limitations with for a certain thing, there’s no rea- last year where the conversation that. We’re going to be trying I can overplay how important of as I can there. In terms of balanc- ward? son why they would say, “No.” So was sparse. I think we have a lot to do a lot with visible, physi- a role SG is. I mean, we get coning family and balancing this, I JW: I think that one of the when we’re reaching out and try- to look forward to. JW and I cal art that we’re putting around tacted about so many different definitely haven’t done the best job. My parents have kind of biggest issues isn’t within SG, ing to get opinions on a certain are trying to take on a more ad- buildings this year. And that’s things to provide student opinion. wondered when I’ll come home it’s external. It’s having people thing, we’re trying to show that ministrative role this year. We’re one of the things I really want University-wide committees have understand the role that we’re demand. It would go to further trying to help people succeed to work heavily on, but I just charges specifically for SG senafor a few weeks now. playing and the significance of our reach if we were able to con- with their own projects, not just wish we were able to make room tors. Wellness committees, parking Q: What is the greatest the position. The bigger thing sistently show that students are shoving our own projects down for people to perform. It’s re- and transportation committees, their throats. If they’re invested ally hard to do that with the re- security safety committees, houschallenge you’ve faced during is that students seriously under- behind certain things. in what they’re working on, and strictions that we have, as far as ing committees. All this, SG is inplay how much student opinyour time on SG? Q: What about long-term they’ve chosen the committees money goes. The art program at volved in and if we never get the ion has on things changing, they want to be in, it just makes UTD, admittedly it’s one of the input of people, it doesn’t work out JW: Probably the human fac- and they very much underplay goals? sense that if they’re motivated smaller programs here just by as well as it could. Get a thousand tor, right? We could set up so the role that SG plays in that.

Alex: I’d say culture. I mean, people, they are going to succeed enrollment. But I think that the people behind us on something, many things and have the best If I had a dollar for every meetsystem, and then people just still ing I was the sole representative it’s pretty intangible, but I can and keep doing stuff. I think beauty of an arts program is that and that’s very difficult for them won’t come through on certain of students and they asked me, see it just from last year to this that’s something that every single it isn’t just for the students that to say no. I’d rather be stressed bethings. There’s only so many “What do student think about year. Whenever you go into the SG needs to have. Hopefully we come here for art, but for the cause too many people are reachways you can communicate with this?” I would start paying ev- meetings, like committee meet- can start a trend going forward mechanical engineer that takes ing out to me than stressed that the art class, that ends up enjoy- nobody is reaching out to me. ings, people are more on busi- for everybody else. people. If they aren’t replying to eryone’s parking passes.

Lab develops exoskeleton tech Robotic attachment designed to improve mobility of stroke victims, eldery patients MITHRA KAUSHIK Mercury Staff

A lab on campus is developing exoskeleton technology intended to help rehabilitate individuals who have experienced a stroke.

The Locomotor Control Systems lab is developing an exoskeleton called ComEx (Comet Exoskeleton), a new piece of robotic technology created to help assist and ease motor functions such as walking, running or going up a set of stairs for those having difficulties in such movements.

Robert Gregg, an assistant professor in biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, leads the lab which designs and engineers the robotic exoskeleton.

“We have researched in exoskeletons in relation to design. How do

we design them to have powerful motors that weigh less? We have to wear them eventually, right?” Gregg said.

The exoskeleton technology works using a version of artificial intelligence known as control theory.

The user can secure the exoskeleton around their leg by using the Velcro straps attached to it. Different mechanical sensors on this external limb are used to track various movements and forces to follow and synchronize with the patient’s movements and then enhance those movements with its own motors. This method does not require any chip implantation.

Instead of being solely controlled by a computer or by preprogrammed codes such as traditional AI, the exoskeleton relies mainly on human interaction.

This allows for the motions to feel

natural to the human user, despite wearing a robotic leg attachment.

“It’s artificial, because it is programmed and it does respond intelligently, it reacts to the environment, it responds to any kind of disturbance and it follows the motion of the intended user,” Gregg said.

While it does act like AI, it also incorporates the desires of the human user by allowing the user to guide the limb using the exoskeleton.

“Truly, there is a human in the loop who is controlling the process, whereas with a driverless car which is kind of what we think about most times with (artificial intelligence), there is a human loosely involved,” Gregg said.

The LCS lab tests the different versions of the robotic attachment in order to understand how it can be

improved, leading to different generations of the exoskeleton.

In addition, the exoskeleton is composed of parts created at UTD such as the motors, used to control locomotive actions, an essential component in this piece of technology. It is currently in its testing stages on subjects and is in its third generation from the original model.

“I am going to be wearing the ComEx tomorrow,” said Emma Reznick, a research assistant at the LCS lab. “I am very excited about it. It’s my first time actually getting to wear it. ” The National Science Foundation funds the project and gave $4 million in grants.

The technology has the potential to make motor functions for stroke victims and elderly

ANUPAM GUPTA | MERCURY STAFF

Emma Reznick, a research assistant in UTD’s Locomotor Control Systems lab, experiments with an exoskeleton prototype.

patients active again.

While the technology has yet to be commercialized, the LCS lab is working towards that as well.

“We are in the process of working on our licensing agreement with a publicly traded

company for some of our technology,” Gregg said. “We are also in the process of spinning a startup company for some other technology. So we are doing our best to push forward the commercialization.”

Group revs up for new year UTD Riders aims to promote safety, provide unity for bikers DEV THIMMISETTY Mercury Staff

MICHAEL STOUT | MERCURY STAFF

Members of UTD Riders stand behind their bikes atop Parking Structure 3 during a club meeting on Sept. 9, 2017. The group was founded at the beginning of the semester.

On the way to downtown Dallas on a regular night, a student might see a large group of young motorcycle riders. These motorcyclists ride together for several miles before grabbing dinner, heading back to their homes and attending class at UTD the next day.

The new student organization for these motorcyclists is the UTD Riders. Danny Maas, an information technology and systems sophomore and co-founder of the club, submitted all the paperwork on Sept. 13, and the 40-member group is now waiting

on official recognition.

Simon Jones, a computer engineering senior and co-founder of UTD Riders, said the club arose out of a necessity for organization. The riders originally connected through a GroupMe chat started by motorcyclist alumni.

Anyone who wanted to ride with the group would just be added to the chat. However, a recent surge in participation made going out on riding trips hard to do, he said.

“We would just ask on the group chat, ‘Hey do you want to ride Tuesday? Do you want to ride Sunday?’” Jones said. “That’s all fine and all until you have 30 to 40 people showing up. Then you

need to get things organized, and so that’s why we thought it would be a good idea to just make it an official student organization.”

Jones said the organization will focus on showing the community that UTD motorcyclists are responsible young students who want to positively impact their surroundings.

“There’s always a lot of stigma attached with gangs and groups of motorcycle riders, and we want to dispel that. We want to ride as a group safely and properly, and even help out the community,” he said.

→ SEE BIKES, PAGE 9

SPORTS

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SEPT. 18, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Freshman cricketer gains int’l experience

fresh faces Underclassmen pave the way for long-term success

New athlete spent summer playing on US World Cup team ROMAN SORIANO Mercury Staff

IAN BIRD | MERCURY STAFF

Freshman forward Maya Fuller moves the ball down the field during a home game against Willamette on Sept. 10. The Comets lost 2-1 in overtime. Fuller is one of 17 freshmen on the roster. She scored the only goal for the Comets with assists from junior forwards Jacquie Kaufman and Melissa Fulfer.

YANNIS SHAFI Mercury Staff

The UTD women’s soccer team is focusing on the significance of player development this season with a squad that includes 17 freshmen.

With 36 members on the team, 24 of whom are underclassmen, head coach Kanute Drugan has strongly emphasized the importance of getting freshmen and sophomores involved immediately in their college careers.

By developing these players from the beginning, Drugan said he believes that they will be able to leverage the

experiences learned early on in order to adapt efficiently to the system when they reach their junior and senior years.

This way, they will have had three to four years of soccer experience by the time they become an upperclassman.

“It takes four to five seasons to get where you want to be,” Drugan said.

“We’ve had to grow and mature and if we can get (to the ASC tournament) this year with juniors leading us, we’ll be playing teams where a lot of those seniors, it’ll be their third time. Our juniors will have had the game experience that a lot of seniors will have had, and I think that evens the playing field.”

New head athletic trainer takes over

Junior forward Melissa Fulfer’s exposure to Drugan’s system helped her become comfortable with the formations and tactics used throughout the season. In addition to this, Fulfer is able to mentor the younger players and ensure that they are successful both on and off the field.

“It was a lot of fun and I actually enjoyed being able to play a lot my freshman year,” Fulfer said. “I’m really thankful for it now because we have the experience of seniors just because (Drugan) let us play so much.”

When Drugan first came to UTD in 2014, he was able to work with the

freshmen and make sure they understood the game plans and formations.

Those freshmen are now seniors this year, and he said he believes they can serve as valuable role models who strive to aid freshmen and sophomores adjust to the demands of college soccer.

Forward Nique Enloe, one of the 17 freshmen, scored her first collegiate goal against Grove City College within the first 30 seconds of kickoff. As a member of the new wave of underclassmen joining the Comets, Enloe hopes to play a key role by not only helping

→ SEE SOCCER, PAGE 8

Game of the Week UT Dallas Invite — Sept. 15-17, 2017

Award-winning department gets a summer shake up

When he was only 17 years old, one of the UTD cricket team’s newest members received an invitation to try out for the International Cricket Council’s under-19 USA team.

Born in Australia, finance freshman Karthik Gattepalli moved to the U.S. six years ago due to his father’s work.

“In Australia, it’s something that’s just part of the culture, it’s just something you play every summer,” he said.

He started to get serious when he was around 10 or 11, when he played at state trials with his team in Australia and realized how big the sport was.

During practice, he said he focuses on a specific skill he wants to improve and chooses quality in his training rather than quantity.

“For me, I feel like practicing every day puts too much mental strain on me,” Gattepalli said. “Whatever I want to improve on that day, on that practice day I do it, I try to focus on it as much as possible.”

To receive this opportunity, players participate in up to six tryouts over a period of one and a half years. Gattepalli had to participate in three of these trials before he was guaranteed a spot on the team. The earlier tryouts have more people participating, and as the rounds go on, the group is narrowed down.

“It’s been harder as the years progressed because more people are interested in the game and people are getting better,” Gattepalli said. “So, it’s getting harder and harder, but at the same time, the level of cricket is also improving because people are getting more competitive.”

The final team has 14 players, with four reserve players. Gattepalli was on the main team, and participated in the World Cup qualifiers this summer.

Gattepalli’s team lost against the Canadian team in the final match by fractions of a point, 1.162 versus 1.305.

Despite this, Gattepalli said the USA team performed well, even though there is a big gap in experience between the two teams.

“Teams like Canada have already gone to the World Cup several times, they’re a lot more experienced. We haven’t gone to a World Cup in almost six years, so the experience we have compared to them is really low,” Gattepalli said.

They had previously won out against the Canadian squad earlier in the

→ SEE CRICKET, PAGE 8

VYASRAJ VAJRAMANI | MERCURY STAFF

The UTD tennis teams competed in one of four fall tournaments during the weekend of Sept. 15-17. Both the men’s and women’s teams played in a Saturday morning match against University of the Southwest.

Head athletic trainer Josh Dreher helps wrap junior midfielder Hunter Williams’ foot on the morning of Sept. 13. Dreher works primarily with men’s soccer.

SUMMER LEBEL Sports Editor

The UTD athletic training department has a new head of staff.

Head athletic trainer Josh Dreher joined the team in August following a hiring search over the summer. The position comes with another title — associate athletic director for student wellness. He had similar responsibilities at his most recent job at Adams State where he was also the head athletic trainer.

After practices started for the year, Dreher said he immediately felt comfortable, from settling in to working with the athletes, although the administrative side took longer.

“The health and wellness of our stu-

dent athletes is the number one priority, so I’m focused on that,” he said.

Assistant Athletic Trainer Kerri Kalina helped in the search for the new head of the department. Dreher has worked with nutrition and mental health in previous jobs. When combined with his good ideas to move the team forward, his experience helped him to stand out, she said.

She asked athletes to see how they’re handling the change and received positive and receptive feedback.

“He’s done a good job and they’ve been responsive to that,” she said.

Dreher’s current responsibility is men’s soccer. Senior defender Marco

→ SEE TRAINER, PAGE 8

ROMAN SORIANO | MERCURY STAFF SRIKAR SUDARSAN BASKARA | MERCURY STAFF

Freshman Karthik Gattepalli practices on his pitch. He was invited to compete with the U.S. Under-19 team.

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THE MERCURY | SEPT. 18, 2017

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

tournament, proving that they could triumph over them, but Gattepalli said the team also needed more self-confidence.

“We lacked self-belief I guess, but some of the senior guys stepped up in the tournament, and we tried our best to make it to the World Cup,” Gattepalli said. “If we just pushed ourselves like another half a percent more, that could have maybe put us through the world cup.”

Despite their loss, Gattepalli learned a lot and wants to keep improving as a player. He said he

→ SOCCER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

only helping the Comets win the ASC Championship this season, but also building for long-term success through in-game experience, learning from the juniors and seniors on the team.

“I really like how (the juniors and seniors) welcomed

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

Barbosa said the team didn’t know what to expect at first.

After he sustained an injury in a recent game against Trinity, he started working with Dreher, alleviating his concerns about the change.

“He’s great and he makes sure we try to get to 100 percent as soon as possible.” he said.

Dreher has worked in all three athletic divisions, including Boise State and Northwestern. One of the biggest differences Dreher has seen between Division I schools and Division III schools is that Division I schools have team physicians and outside medical professionals available. This year, the staff at UTD is working to provide the same benefits, including bringing in a team chiropractor

SPORTS

will use this knowledge to help the UTD cricket team excel.

The most valuable lesson he learned was the importance of team chemistry and spirit.

“We got to make sure we all support each other and not play for themselves, but more for the team,” Gattepalli said. “In the NFL, you play to get the touchdown or get the throw, no one plays for their own yards or their own catches, it’s a team sport in the end.”

In previous years, the team had almost entirely graduate students. However, this year is different and they have a lot of new undergraduates participating.

To play well, Gattepalli said having a good mentality is important.

“The best thing you can do, stay humble. Staying humble is probably the best way to better your game and better your team’s game,” he said.

Gattepalli said he does not think he will have any difficulties gaining the respect of the older team members.

“I do think they have the respect for me as much as I have for them,” he said. “Even though I played for USA, I think I’ve got to learn as much of cricket from them as much as they can learn from me.”

us onto the team,” Enloe said.

“We can ask them questions and they help coach us and bring us along as well.”

Last season, the women’s team finished with 12 wins and seven losses. Their campaign came up short after a second-round elimination in the ASC tournament, which came down to the wire against Hardin-Simmons

University. Despite the disappointing exit, the Comets have high standards to make it back to tournament and prepare for a deep run.

“My expectations for the season are to focus on the details and playing the formation the way we should,” Melissa Fulfer said. “We also want a ring and that’s our end goal.”

and dentist.

Division I programs typically have a higher number of staff and sports, but there isn’t a major difference in how the work is divided up, Dreher said. Each trainer has the sports that they are assigned to cover.

“That’s really what athletic training and sports medicine should be about — working together with a team and putting a good staff together so we all work in harmony and help each other out,” he said.

The athletic training staff at UTD won multiple awards in recent years, including a share of the ASC Athletic Training Staff of the Year this past spring.

Dreher is still acclimating to the program before he makes any big decisions, he said.

One change Dreher is already planning to implement is the training staff giving equal sup-

port on game days to both the Comets and their opponents.

While they are employed by the school, athletic trainers are supposed to be unbiased in the game. Moving forward, anything that is available for UTD athletes will be available for the opposing team as well.

“If at a soccer game, we have Gatorade on our bench, I want Gatorade on the opponent’s bench too,” Dreher said. “Keeping a fair playing field for all is what makes sports great.”

Dreher said he hopes to reassure and teach the athletes that the trainers are not there just to take them out of the game, but aim to do what’s best for them, both in the short term and the long term.

“We’re here to help them succeed,” he said. “We’re not here to hold them back.”

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UTDMERCURY.COM → DACA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

did not take immigration status into account. Jose said one of the deciding factors in choosing UTD was its inclusive environment.

“I do feel welcome on this campus simply due to the diversity. There’s great people all around,” he said. “They all come together to form this really welcoming community for minority groups.”

There aren’t clear numbers on how many UTD students receive DACA protections. A 2016 report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services revealed around 200,000 individuals in Texas were approved for participation in the DACA program by the third quarter of 2016.

Although several of his friends at UTD have benefitted from DACA protections, Jose said it was important to make the distinction between the work of the individual and the provisions of the program.

“It was their hard work and their grades and their efforts, not

→ CIRCUIT DUDE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

of work, Holmes released Circuit Dude on Nov. 17, 2016. It recieved positive user reviews, and the online Arduboy community voted it their number one game. With this positive reception, Holmes presented his game at a meeting of the Dallas Society of Play, a group of game designers and developers from the Metroplex.

“People fell in love with it,” he said. “They were like ‘This is hilarious,’ or ‘This is awesome’ or ‘I want to buy an Arduboy just for this game.’ And a person said, ‘You should put this on a console so more people can play.’”

Holmes continued receiving favorable reviews and attempted

LIFE&ARTS

the effort of DACA,” he said.

“DACA was simply a key into a whole world of possibilities, but they’re the ones who brought themselves to the door.” *** UTD President Richard Benson released a statement on the day of Trump’s announcement reiterating the university’s commitment to protecting DACA students while noting its obligations to follow the law.

“I supported DACA because the United States needs bright, talented individuals,” Benson wrote. “Students who have been raised and educated here represent America at its finest.”

Molina and members of LULAC met with Benson at the start of the school year to discuss issues such as DACA and Senate Bill 4, a law requiring local police to enforce federal immigration law. Molina said the administration was receptive to their concerns, agreeing to include a list of immigration resources in safe zones across campus.

In response to the Trump administration’s decision, LULAC and MASA members

handed out flyers on the plinth with instructions on how to get in touch with local representatives. They also organized a rally on Sept. 13 near the Spirit Rocks to stand in solidarity with undocumented students.

Attendees painted the rocks with Spanish slogans and created signs to protest the decision.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more supportive community at the time,” Molina said. *** Jose planned to pursue a career in software development after graduation. Now, with his future uncertain, Jose might be forced to move back to Mexico once his work permit expires.

From there, he said he hopes to save money to buy his family a home and eventually move to Canada or Europe.

For now, Jose said he’s focused on the matter at hand.

“We’re going to keep fighting for it. We belong here,” he said.

“They can kill our work permits and they can kill everything we’ve worked for, but they can’t kill our love for this country.”

to convert his game for PC use, based on user suggestions. He soon encountered the financial and motivational burdens of independent game development.

One of the biggest issues for Holmes was the decision to monetize the game. He previously released all his games for free, but pursued monetization to cover the estimated $2,000 in contractor fees, marketing and Steam (a gaming marketplace) application costs. After submitting all the required information, Holmes was quickly approved to publish his game on Steam.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually gonna do it. I’m actually gonna do something and not fail,’” he said. “I’d sunk so much money into this project that if I didn’t finish it, I would not be able to eat.”

Approximately 100 days after he began converting Circuit Dude to PC, Holmes released it for sale on Aug. 3, 2017.

“If you ever play Circuit Dude, you can realize that mechanics taken from other games can be used together in such a unique fashion that you can create a new scenario that you would have never seen,” he said.

Circuit Dude is currently available on Steam for $5.99 with 100 levels, an original soundtrack and over 12 hours of gameplay. Holmes is currently working on improving Circuit Dude, as well as converting it for use on iOS and Android.

Holmes said he’s also laying the groundwork for other games he hopes to release in the next few years, specifically an online trading card game.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle traffic crashes caused the death of almost 5,000 motorcyclists in 2015.

To avoid accidents such as these, UTD Riders places a strong emphasis on preventative measures.

“The main thing here is safety. You got to wear a helmet,” he said. “You see a lot of people on sports bikes not wearing helmets and doing stupid things, and that’s just a really bad idea.

One wrong move, and your head is just going splat.”

The rising interest in motorcycling also highlighted a few issues, including the inexperience of new riders.

“One of the things we want to focus on is teaching beginner riders the right way to do things,” he said. “For example, when we go out in a group, you have to do things completely differently. You have to double up on lanes, use hand signals and just a lot of stuff that people wouldn’t know about unless we teach them.”

Obtaining a Class M endorsement to legally operate a motorcycle is not very difficult or time-consuming, Jones said, but the club can help riders in other ways.

THE MERCURY | SEPT. 18, 2017 “Almost every rider I know, they’ve gone down in their first year,” he said.

“You’re going to fall, it will happen.”

The more experienced members of the community are a valuable help in these instances, Jones said.

These veteran riders help other members avoid excessive costs in repairing bikes, maintaining bikes and buying new helmets.

“One thing a lot of people don’t realize about helmets is that they can run expensive,” he said. “You got to make sure the helmets weren’t involved in a crash, but I always recommend that people check Craigslist.”

Michael Murphy, a computer science sophomore and the club’s main recruiter, said he had a simple, tried and true method for getting new members to join.

“Whenever I go over to a motorcycle parking and see someone I don’t know, I just go up to them, introduce myself to them, and add them to the GroupMe chat,” he said. “It’s interesting because motorcyclists — I think the vast majority of them — love community.

They love talking to other people and other riders.”

The organization’s appeal is learning about the riders and their various experiences, Murphy said.

For example, Maas, Jones and Murphy all came from varying

9

backgrounds. Maas said his main exposure to motorcycles came from family.

“I come from Indonesia, and over there (riding motorcycles is) just really common,” he said. Everyone in my family rides, and when I was 13 they just stuck me on a motorcycle and taught me how. Since I visit often, like every two years or so, it just sticks with me, especially through high school.”

Jones, on the other hand, started off in a different automotive sector.

“I actually started off on dirt bikes,” Jones said. “Then I got into street bikes, and I started tuning up some vintage, pre-1980’s bikes, and the mechanical part of that really interested me. I’ve been riding for four years now, and I’m actually on my sixth bike.”

Maas said he just wants to bring people together.

“Everyone who rides a motorcycle has a different story and a different purpose,” he said.

“They come from different backgrounds, and they can enjoy and benefit from being part of this community. Sometimes people will want to show off their bikes or just make friends or whatever the case may be, we want to represent them on campus as an official organization.”

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SEPT. 18, 2017 | THE MERCURY

TEMOC FOREVER

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NEW CAMPUS BAKERY!

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NO FOOD OR DRINK

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COME HERE OFTEN?

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OPINION

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SEPT. 18, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

We need to end climate change to mitigate future disasters UTD chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby brings political parties together, teaches students how to advocate for change in govt policy

LUCAS EDDY OP-ED

As the waters recede from Houston, we have some time to step back and take a look at the damage done.

The BBC reports that over 40 people have died in the worst Texas hurricane in recent memory. Furthermore, the state estimates that well over $100 billion will be needed for full reparations. Nearly 100,000 homes will have to be repaired or rebuilt, and tens of thousands of evacuees are migrating back, hoping, but not expecting, to find anything left.

Even to those fortunate enough to have been hundreds of miles inland during the disaster, repercussions had been felt in the form of a sudden shortage of gasoline. Suffice it to say that this natural disaster had exceptionally far-reaching consequences, yet the intensity of Hurricane Harvey may become the new norm as ocean temperatures increase.

Global warming, climate change, sealevel rise — many names have been used to describe the phenomenon of rising temperatures caused by man-made carbon emissions.

Yet, most notably among the consequences of the heat-trapping effects of carbon-based gases is the increase in ocean temperatures, which can have dramatic effects on the intensity of ocean-borne storms. The sealevel rise due to the melting of polar ice caps is increasing the overall ocean level, putting strain on seaside ocean centers even in normal conditions. When sea-level rise is combined with a massive downpour of rain as well as a storm surge, the resulting flood can be disastrous. Furthermore, as NASA Space Place explains, elevated temperatures increase the rate of oceanwide evaporation, intensifying the following torrential downpour as well as wind strength during say, a hurricane. It is a simple fact that as ocean temperatures continue to increase, hurricanes will become more devastating.

While it’s wonderful that the government, both federal and local, are working together on relief efforts, little is being done in preparation for future disasters. We need a policy that will both mitigate the impacts of climate change while at the same be politically viable by simultaneously growing the economy.

Luckily for us, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan grassroots organization, is advancing such a policy already through the political arena. CCL is working to influence our government to pass a Carbon Fee and Dividend (CFnD), which places a steadily

EJ CHONG | MERCURY STAFF

rising fee on fossil fuels at the source and then returns that money back to American households on an equal basis. CCL now has a chapter on the UTD campus and is training students on how to effectively lobby their legislators and advocate for climate change legislation. Rooted in civil discourse and respect, CCL focuses on bringing conserva-

tives and liberals together as Americans and inhabitants of the same world.

National change necessitates a political impetus. The problem is, much of Congress opposes implementing any significant solution to climate change, and many politicians do not believe that climate change is real.

Having said that, 26 Republicans and 26

Democrats have come together in the House Climate Solutions Caucus to seek viable policy options to address climate change. It is essential that we demonstrate how profound climate change is by becoming informed voters, active citizens and ruthless yet respectful advocates of climate change solutions.

Lack of faith in govt is millennial students’ biggest weakness Not knowing whether their voice is heard, fake news leads to indifference among college students’ current views of government ANJALI SUNDARAM COMMENTARY

ETHAN CHRISTOPHER | MERCURY STAFF

COMET COMMENTS

Political participation is a complex notion millennials, especially college students, struggle to grasp. It’s hard for millennials to clutch the concept because they are constantly bombarded by opinions from the media, peers, parents and advisors, making it hard to hear one’s own views.

The distrust comes with the emerging conversation of “fake news” which stems from officials lying, such as Trump’s tweets stating untrue facts in regard to unemployment rate, and social media and fake sites providing false information widely shared on social media.

One user posted a picture of the Cajun Army coming to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

While the Cajun Army did in fact help with Hurricane Harvey, the picture that was circulating was from 2016. Other times, voters will reference fake news sites as facts. Coupled with time constraints, such as balancing a course load and extracurricular activities, it’s hard for millennials to know who and what to trust and find the time to research.

According to Pew Research Center, only 50 percent of millennials voted in the 2016 election, similar to the turnout rates in past presidential elections. In an election that was so crucial to our nation’s future, young people did not contribute to the history-changing event because they didn’t think their voice mattered, according to statistics from the

Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

Whether millennials feel their voice will not be heard, or the issues facing others don’t impact them, they struggle to grasp the importance of our leadership.

Yet lack of faith in the government is critical to why it’s important to participate in the government, according to a survey from the Harvard IOP. Though there are many times the government does warrant our distrust, if we lose complete faith in a system we are fighting for, then what is the point? How can we continue to build a society around a corrupt system? One cannot claim the system is unjust if they do not work toward making it honorable.

Sadly, another concept that rings true, not just in younger generations, is people’s apathy towards issues. Not because they do not care, but because issues that are important to them seem to be lost in the political process. A Harvard IOP survey asked how much faith young people had in the government, such as the judicial branch. Forty-nine percent of people said “no” or “not much.” Additionally, only 36 percent of people had faith that the president would do the right thing.

But these are the most important reasons for us to vote, for us to pay attention to politics. Especially in our time right now, when there are major reform changes up in the air, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals being cut, millennials and young college students need to raise their voices.

Restructures happening in governmental policies are not so obscure that they do not affect students. For example, Trump’s stance on the international platform has caused

cities such as Toronto to ban school trips to the United States, as Toronto District School board’s director of education, John Malloy, said in reaction to Trump’s travel ban. In addition, debate to cut DACA has caused outrage on campuses everywhere, even leading to the arrest of 31 Harvard and Boston-area university professors as they protested the cut of DACA, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Even UTD President Richard Benson issued a statement commenting on the cut of DACA. He said he wants UTD to be a safe environment for all students, and “the university follows all applicable federal laws.”

“I supported DACA because the United States needs bright, talented individuals,” Benson said. “Students who have been raised and educated here represent America at its finest. I strongly encourage our nation’s leaders to find a solution that will continue to make that possible.”

Issues that impact young people should prompt students to take initiative and learn about policies and how they impact them and people all around the country.

If we as the younger generation work together to hold our officials accountable, we can work toward creating a sustainable government that fights for the people. If we work together as students, we can cultivate a society that is more focused on giving rather than taking. Start by reading up on reputable sources.

If you do believe the media is lying, then find third party sources that conduct surveys and polls and look at their statistics. Then, employ your knowledge by making an active change by participating in marches, cultivating discussion and most importantly, voting.

How do you feel about the new Comets to the Core requirement initiative?

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“I think it was a smart project so it could open our minds to how critical the water crisis is ... because people need to realize that we need to start conserving water and saving our planet.”

“It is a good way of teaching new students to be able to work with people who they aren’t familiar with, and I guess the work load for it doesn’t really seem to be too high.”

“Apparently we are the guinea pigs for it, the first year to do it. I don’t really feel enthusiastic about it ... I really didn’t understand the project, there wasn’t a good script on it, and there wasn’t a good way to meet our group members.”

Keyona Thomas Biology Freshman

Ben Kocsis Biomedical Engineering Freshman

Lawson Lawson Computer Science Freshman

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SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR

Plano police secure Meredith Hight’s home for investigation after responding to reports of gunshots fired around 8 p.m. on Sept. 10.

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ill, Harvey said he planned to attend the next party, unaware this would be the last. When he found out what happened, he said he couldn’t believe it.

Harvey met Dunlop 15 years ago during his freshman year at Allen High School. They were both in marching band and played the trumpet together. Despite attending separate colleges, Harvey said he always kept in touch and visited Dunlop.

“James was kind of like the glue that holds all the friends together,” Harvey said. “He didn’t say a whole lot, but typically speaking, he was the one that always had his act together, he was always the successful one you wanted to be like. He was always planning some new project or trip or engineering some new thing for his house.”

Harvey said he travelled with Dunlop and shared an array of experiences. Throughout their undergraduate careers, they kept in touch through video games and weekend trips back and forth between UTD and OU where Harvey attended college. Dunlop would even travel to Oklahoma to attend band performances and show his support for Harvey.

“The most recent trip we took, we hadn’t had a vacation-type trip together in quite a while so we went on the spur of the moment (trip),” he said.

The duo decided to take four days off work and head up to Kansas City to see the solar eclipse.

“We roadtripped up there, it was like a nine-hour drive, and stopped at a whole bunch of little out of the way, hole-in-the-wall kind of diners, got up there to go see it, and of course it was pouring down rain,” he said. “We wound up in some

random place in Missouri, some little backwater town in a Wendy’s parking lot just to see it.”

Harvey said Dunlop was a huge inspiration and that he would not have been able to receive a scholarship to OU without Dunlop’s dedication to helping him with his studies.

“He always impressed me. Out of all my friends he would never, ever judge you for anything, but he always somehow managed to make you feel like you need to work harder because he would go out and buy a house and all the rest of us would be like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re supposed to do that as adults now,’” Harvey said.

Over the years, Dunlop maintained a close friendship with Harvey and introduced him to his friends, such as former Office of Information Technology employee Rion Morgan.

“Rion was usually kind of like the goofy sidekick. We went down to that huge Halloween party at the block that they do down in Oak Lawn every year,” he said. “We were down there and Rion was geeking out about every costume he saw, he was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Darryl Dixon from the Walking Dead, someone quickly take a photo.’”

Chemistry senior Nick Disiere worked shifts at the UTD Call Center with Morgan frequently.

“He was the kind of guy who kept action figures in his cube,” he said. “He liked Marvel movies and he was just really happy.”

Even though the job could be stressful at times, Disiere said Morgan managed to keep a positive outlook about it and always made the shift enjoyable.

“Dungeons and dragons, we play games on the computer when there weren’t calls,” Disiere said. “It was fun, you know? He made a potentially stressful environment very fun. And he was also the kind of guy

who would come in at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 8:00 p.m. even though he was a salary employee and he wasn’t getting overtime, because the job had to be done.”

After college, Harvey and Dunlop became roommates. They would throw football and Game of Thrones watch parties where they would play games and drink with their friends.

Harvey also said no matter what the activity, the group had a blast as long as they were together.

“It was a really weird mix,” Harvey said. “We’d either be super nerdy and watching Star Trek and geeking out about the design of star ships, or we’d be drinking a whole bunch, or going on a road trip to go outdoors somewhere.”

Harvey said his experiences with the group were enjoyable. He recalled every time they had a get-together, Meredith would always cook something, and that her bringing home extra chicken from Raising Cane’s after work was an added plus.

The relationship Harvey had with Dunlop, Morgan, Meredith and Spencer was unique, he said, and when he heard the news of the shooting, he had a hard time processing it.

“I know it’s really easy to paint Spencer as an evil villain … but he wasn’t always that way,” Harvey said.

“Don’t get me wrong, Spencer was a very angry drunk, he always was, he’s the kind of guy that, he might do something when he’s drunk but when he sobered up he would immediately regret and be like, ‘Yeah, that was really stupid.’”

Sept. 11, the day after the shooting, would have been the Hights’ sixth wedding anniversary.

“This is the first group party that you weren’t allowed to go to because most of your friends chose your wife over you … You know, you put those things together and you get

information officer.

Nick Disiere, an OIT student worker, recalled the words OIT managers used when they delivered the news about Rion Morgan the day after the shooting — “he’s not coming back.”

“You almost didn’t believe it because, how could something like that happen to someone who was that good of a person? It doesn’t make sense. It still doesn’t feel real,” Disiere said.

Morgan, a 2008 business administration alumnus, was a manager at OIT. The university released a statement about his death on Tuesday.

“Rion Morgan’s passing is a tremendous loss to the university community. Rion has been a member of the UTD family since 2006; first as a student and then after he graduated, as a full-time employee in the Office of Information Technology. He was an exceptional employee and a warm, kind, generous colleague and friend. He will be dearly missed,” said John Walls, interim vice president for communications in a press release.

Plano police say the suspect in the shooting is Spencer, estranged

husband of alumna Meredith Hight.

Meredith was hosting a football watch party at her house, and at approximately 8:00 p.m. on Sept. 10 shots were reported.

An officer arrived at the scene, killing Spencer. Spencer murdered seven people, including his estranged wife, and injured two others, one of whom later died in the hospital. Carly Shockey, the sole survivor, is still being treated at the hospital.

Backup officers, Texas Rangers and Plano Fire Rescue arrived at the scene shortly after the officer killed the suspect.

Collin County court records show that Spencer and Meredith were issued their marriage license on Sept.

9, 2011 and that Meredith filed for divorce in July 2017.

Texas Rangers are investigating the officer-involved shooting and Plano PD is investigating the homicides.

President Richard Benson sent a statement about the incident in an email to faculty, staff and students the f ollowingThursday.

“This has been a painful and difficult week for the community. Many lives are touched by this news,” he said. “As Comets, we unite in extending our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.”

JONATHAN HARVEY | COURTESY

James Dunlop (left), Rion Morgan and Jonathan Harvey attended an annual Halloween Party at Oak Lawn together.

enough alcohol … wars have been started for less,” he said.

Among the victims of the shooting was alumna Olivia Deffner, who enjoyed travelling and visited a variety of countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and even lived in Japan for three years as a child.

While she was originally set to attend Texas A&M, she chose UTD because she wanted to experience the culture and opportunities Dallas had to offer, her father, Hans Deffner said.

“There is a quote from Mark

Twain. I don’t have it committed to memory, but he talks about how traveling eliminates all bigotry and narrow-mindedness because it exposes you … to a broader spectrum of people, and I think Olivia embodied that,” he said. “I mean, if there is one quote I’d link her to it’s that one, I mean, she loved everyone.”

Regarding the incident, Hans said an important takeaway is to reach out to friends and family and care for them as much as possible. While his family kept in touch often, he said others often

cannot say the same.

“I think we all lead real busy lives and we’re all busy doing 10 million things a day and we just sometimes forget about those who are important to us,” Hans said.

Among Olivia’s favorite things to do was meeting new people, and she would walk up to random people and introduce herself, he said.

“She was a good, loving person, love is the word she embodied and exemplified,” he said. “On her travel blog, her slogan was, ‘Wherever you go, go with all your heart,’ and that’s how we like to remember her as.”