The Mercury 10/30/17

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October 30, 2017

Biting the Dust Construction reroutes Comet Cabs, students until Nov. 30

KOLTON COATS Mercury Staff

Recent construction near the center of campus has closed walkways and moved the Comet Cab pickup location.

Renovation for Drive C began on Oct. 13 and led to closure of public walkways between the Student Services Building Addition, South Engineering and Computer Science building and the Activity Center. These blocked-off areas force students to rethink their paths to activities and their reliance on the Comet Cab system.

With the new Comet Cab route, students such as neuroscience sophomore Nicki Neely said she had concerns over

→ SEE CONSTRUCTION, PAGE 10

WILLIAM LEGRONE | MERCURY STAFF

Construction workers prepare the road between the Activity Center, South Engineering and Computer Science building and Student Services Building Addition for an updated road surface. The project should be complete by Nov. 30.

Diving into the depths for global warming Professor visits bottom of ocean as part of expedition

IGNACIO PUJANA | COURTESY

Associate Professor of geology Ignacio Pujana prepares to board a submarine for a month-long expedition to study the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

DEV THIMMISETTY Mercury Staff

The Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the ocean. At 6,500 meters below sea level, the pressure, darkness and cold are immense, especially when traveling in a small,

Japanese submarine.

Ignacio Pujana, an associate professor of geology, said none of those details bothered him once he saw the jellyfish.

The bioluminescent creatures are some

→ SEE MARIANA, PAGE 8

Training the brain Institute’s sessions promote critical thinking, reasoning for community members CINDY FOLEFACK Mercury Staff

A new building at UTD uses cognition to offer brain improvement programs for college students, business professionals and former service members, among others.

According to a 2013 article in the peerreviewed journal Health Affairs, mental disorders cost the United States an estimated $201 billion, making it the costliest health condition in the country. The Brain Performance Institute, located in Dallas, uses a preemptive approach that allows clients to take care of their brains before a problem arises and a diagnosis is made. As director of clinical research at the Center for BrainHealth, Lori Cook oversees the student BrainHealth physical, which examines how well students can block out unnecessary information and understand the material they’re given as well as their innovation and mental flexibility.

“We’re interested in work that translates to learning, social engagement and work productivity,” Cook said. “We’re looking at the bigger picture in terms of how you use your brain in everyday life.”

The Institute is part of the Center for BrainHealth, belonging to the school of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Executive Director Leanne Young said their relationship allows the Center to test potential programs

CINDY FOLEFACK | MERCURY STAFF

A Brain Performance Institute clinician (right) is showing a member of the public how the Institute uses virtual reality technology to teach their clients social cognitive skills at the grand opening on Oct. 19.

before being introduced in the Institute.

“It takes one to four decades for most research to get from the laboratory into somebody’s life, and that’s a long time to wait if you’re dealing with a traumatic brain injury, have autism or if you’re just worried you may not be able to maintain your cognitive edge,” Young said. “So we’re really about making our research available to the public.”

One service the Institute offers is the War-

rior program, providing cognitive training for former law enforcement officers, first responders and service members who are transitioning back to civilian or college life.

Young said an unexpected consequence of this training was a reduction in stress, anxiety and depression.

“I feel like our warriors come home some-

→ SEE INSTITUTE, PAGE 10

Former VP of Costa Rica ‘didn’t think twice’ when considering teaching at UTD Special-topics class focuses on crime rates in Latin America, corruption in police force EMAAN BANGASH Mercury Staff

SRIKAR SUDARSAN BASKARA | MERCURY STAFF

The former second vice president of Costa Rica, Kevin Casas-Zamora teaches an eight-week class at UTD about crime in Latin America.

This fall semester, the former second vice president of Costa Rica is teaching a graduate-level course at UTD that focuses on maintaining citizen security and tackling crime in Latin America.

In addition to serving as second vice president, Kevin Casas-Zamora also served as minister of national planning and economic policy in Costa Rica and continued to be involved in politics and public policy after his tenure. Casas-Zamora said working in the Costa Rican government sector gave him satisfaction in serving his country.

“It’s a wonderful experience in the sense of being able to give back to your country,” he said.

Jennifer Holmes is a public policy, political science and political economy professor and a faculty advisor at the Center for U.S. Latin American Initiatives, an organization that promotes research and understanding about issues in Latin America to UTD students. In the past, she connected with

Casas-Zamora, a distinguished scholar-in-residence through CUSLAI, and kept in touch.

Holmes and Casas-Zamora met in 2004 at the European Consortium for Political Research conference during a reception. After talking with him during the conference, Holmes continued to correspond with him. She then recommended CasasZamora to CUSLAI director Monica Rankin to speak about Latin American issues.

“It’s unusual to find somebody who’s at that level but still accessible, so he was the perfect guy to bring out,” Holmes said.

In 2015, the CUSLAI invited Casas-Zamora to lecture on Prospects for Democracy in Latin America, and he had a meet and greet with students afterwards. After experiencing student interest and enthusiasm about the topic, he said he wanted to come back and teach as a visiting scholar.

“I was very impressed by the quality of the students,” Casas-Zamora said. “So when this opportunity arose of spending here a part of a semester,

I didn’t think twice.”

The faculty of CUSLAI worked with CasasZamora to accommodate his schedule so he could teach students in the fall and hold events and lectures later at UTD during his visit.

Rankin and Holmes worked towards this initiative for over a year.

“Sometimes you get the opportunity to dig deep in a topic like this with an expert in a small group,” Holmes said. “Having the opportunity to really spend time with somebody who’s had experience in those areas is invaluable for people who want to make career decisions.”

Casas-Zamora was later invited to lecture as the first CUSLAI distinguished scholar-in-residence for the current fall semester for a graduate-level class on Citizen Security in Americas. He wanted to visit for two months, so Rankin and Holmes felt an eight-week seminar focusing on special topics would be appropriate for him to teach. The

→ SEE COSTA RICA, PAGE 10

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THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXVIII No. 17

THE MERCURY | OCT. 30, 2017

NEWS

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Editor-in-Chief Miriam Percival

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Oct. 17 • A vehicle hit a student walking on the crosswalk on Loop Road at 8:24 a.m.

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Oct. 19 • Police arrested a UTD student for marijuana and substance possession at 11:11 p.m. at RHNW.

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Contributors Carolina Alvarez Gaurang Agarwal Sachin Arya Neil Bhamoo Noumika Balaji Emaan Bangash Srikar Sadarasan Baskara Jenna Cherrey EJ Chong Kolton Coats Cindy Folefack Anupam Gupta Madeleine Keith William Legrone Xiang Li Sam Lopez Anthony McNair Keaton Nations Bianca Del Rio Yannis Shafi Roman Soriano Meha Srivastav Matt Strack Anjali Sundaram Dev Thimmisetty

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A B B E

Oct. 22 • A student reported at 5:23 p.m., an unknown person stole her bike from a bike rack outside of JSOM between Oct. 5 and Oct. 19.

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• At 10:49 p.m., an unknown person stole a student’s wallet from the SU.

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Oct. 23 • At 8:25 a.m., a student reported that an unknown person stole his bike between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23 from a bike rack outside of Building 57.

• At 10:12 a.m., a student reported that an unknown person stole his bike between Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 from a bike rack near Building 58.

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D A LEGEND VEHICULAR INCIDENT

THEFT

DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD | COURTESY

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NEWS

THE MERCURY | OCT. 30, 2017

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Bringing art to the people Cheating on the rise — Alumni art exhibition encourages creativity in working environments

is technology to blame?

Students, faculty discuss how shifting technologies has shaped their views on academic dishonesty

CAROLINA ALVAREZ | MERCURY STAFF

MADELEINE KEITH Mercury Staff

ANUPAM GUPTA | MERCURY STAFF

Representing art from nine UTD alumni, the Derive Art exhibition, located on the third level of the Administration Building, went on public display on Sept. 26. Art pieces will rotate in and out of the gallery in late November.

NOUMIKA BALAJI Mercury Staff

Walking down the corridors, one can notice that this is not a regular hallway in the Administrative Building. Adorning the walls are art works by nine highprofile UTD Master of Fine Arts program alumni.

The level-three corridor of the Administrative Building is home to the Derive Art exhibition, with digital, canvas, wood and fabric art coupled with colorful “Cause Flowers” on one side and a zigzag pattern of homeless signs on the other side. Curated by Greg Metz, an Arts and Humanities senior lecturer, this exhibit is titled, “Like a Tornado Touching Down, The Dream is Connected to the Dreamer,” and went on public display on Sept. 26.

The connotation of a tornado in the exhibit’s title is symbolic of the kind of impact he was hoping to create with the specific art works that are part of the installation, Metz said.

“If you’ve ever been in the aftermath

of a tornado, you will see how it hits certain places and destroys that and right next to it, there will be something perfectly untouched,” he said. “As you walk down the hall, maybe there’s something that hits you, that turns something up in your mind that you would have never thought of before. And with Derive Art, that’s what we’re doing.”

Metz said because the exhibit work was in collaboration with the university, they decided to feature the work of the MFA program alumni. This art exhibit includes two installations — the homeless signs by alumnus Willie Baronet and the “Cause Flowers” installation by Stephanie Hargrove.

“We wanted it to be a contiguous thing down the hallway. We didn’t want it to be a hotchpotch of art work,” he said. “So the homeless signs and the ‘Cause Flowers’ are two unifying pieces and they face off against each other in a way.”

Stretching from end to end on one side of the corridor is the homeless signs installation by Baronet. He has collected

ANUPAM GUPTA | MERCURY STAFF

Arts and Humanities senior lecturer Greg Metz curates the Derive Art exhibition.

Metz hopes to spread his idea for the gallery to other parts of campus in the future.

homeless signs since 1993 to deal with his discomfort and fear of connecting with them and seeing them.

“It really began because I didn’t like the way I felt when I saw people on the street,” Baronet said. “I would ignore them or avert my eyes. The idea to buy the signs was a way to change that dynamic. I began buying signs long before UTD in 1993. The project, I believe, became more focused at grad school at UTD in 2008 when I began to become more serious about this as an art project.”

In one of his graduate classes under Metz, Baronet’s “We Are All Homeless” project came into existence and has grown over the years.

Since then, Baronet has given TED talks and created a feature film to try to introduce and de-mystify homeless people. Along with putting up the signs he has collected, Baronet also puts up a board to collect answers from people for the question “What is home to you?”

As part of their research, Metz and his team intend to stimulate creativity among the workers by putting artwork in working environments. This exhibit is their attempt to introduce art to places where people typically don’t go to galleries. Converting a regular institutional hallway into a contemporary gallery venue is part of their research to “take the art to the people.”

The art exhibit is scheduled to be on display until late November and will then be replaced by another one. Metz said the idea is to rotate art works because he believes that art work habituates and after a few months, people just walk by it and the art is not engaging anymore.

Metz said he wanted to feature socially-active pieces in the hallway of the Office of Research and the Office of Development. He felt it fitting to have it in that specific environment to show how artists are trying to make a difference in the world through their art.

This kind of art exhibition was first put up in the Venture Development Center at UTD as a sample of Metz’s prototype idea. Metz said with the first installation in the Administrative Building, he and his team have plans of expanding this idea to other parts of the campus in the future.

“We’re talking to the Alumni Center about some large pieces for that and we’ve talked with the JSOM too. Now everybody is like ‘How do we do that?’” he said. “So this will stay up for a certain period, like four to six months, and then we take them down.”

The exhibit makes people think and he is hopeful that every time people walk down the hallway, they would perceive an art work in a different way, Metz said.

“Every time you go down the hallway, you encounter this work and get into a relationship with it and it can turn up something that might stimulate, or something can hit you suddenly and it can make a difference,” he said.

In an era of technology that puts the world at one’s fingertips, cheating has not remained within the realm of simply looking at a friend’s paper.

A report from last year revealed a higher number of UTD students referred for Academic Dishonesty than before. The last four years averaged between 300 and 400 referrals, but the 2016-2017 academic year saw a total of 603.

UTD defines academic dishonesty as being the use of unauthorized materials, information or study aides in any academic exercise, as well as the use of sources unauthorized by the instructor.

Megan Schaedel, the director of the Community Standards and Conduct Office, said the majority of academic dishonesty policies are primarily based around the different inclinations of each professor and what they will or will not allow within their syllabus.

What technology has affected is not necessarily the definition of academic dishonesty, but the steps that the university must take in order to minimize occurrences.

“I think what has changed is the outreach and advice we give to faculty members in how to structure their courses as well as language for their syllabus,” Schaedel said. “So we’ll say, ‘Hey, this is something that a lot of student have access to (your) exam on Chegg, you might want to consider changing your exam or staggering your questions.’”

Mechanical engineering junior Bryson Rector said because most of his classes are math-based, using tools such as Chegg or GroupMe might not be a problem as long as the concepts and underlying principals are under-

Comet Clash Debate On Nov. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Pub, the Legislative Affairs Committee is hosting a debate over health care. The debate will be held Oxford-Style, a debate format characteristically defined by a round of questions taken from the audience. UTD students Christian Briggs and God’swill Osa are moderators for the debate. Net neutrality was originally pitched as the topic for the debate, but health care was finally chosen after a month of planning. The debate is a part of an annual series hosted by the Legislative Affairs Committee.

Know Your Rights Cards The Know Your Rights cards are undergoing finalizations after being updated at the beginning of the month, and will allow students to reference their legal rights. While the

stood in the process.

“I think it’s a grey area in my head of what’s cheating and what’s not,” Rector said. “If homework is due in 20 minutes and you don’t understand the concept so you log onto Chegg and you copy down the answers, that’s cheating because you didn’t make any effort to actually understand what you’re doing.

I think if … you log onto Chegg and go through the answers and understand what they’re doing and then you repeat that — not necessarily copying letter for letter — but repeating the process that they used, I don’t think that’s cheating.”

Schaedel said it is not necessarily the technology itself that she finds problematic. Rather, the issue lies in an academic culture encouraging students to take whatever steps necessary to ensure academic success.

“Obviously, technology can be our best friend and our biggest enemy,” Schaedel said. “What I worry is that a lot of students are so academicallydriven that they just want to get that ‘A.’ And so what they end up doing is trying anything for that ‘A’ instead of doing anything to learn the material.”

Schaedel said in regards to what steps can be taken to ensure that technology remains a mechanism for faster learning and not one that perpetuates dishonesty, the answer lies not with the university, but with the students.

“I think the best thing to curb some of these instances of academic dishonesty is to encourage student to focus on their values and what’s important to them,” Schaedel said. “Looking at the Comet Creed, it says, ‘As a Comet I pledge honesty, integrity and service in all that I do,’ and I hope that students remember that and come back to that if not for themselves then for their community.”

specific rights have not been decided yet, the ones included will address important rights dealing with law enforcement and immigration. The cards will be printed in Mandarin, Spanish and Farsi in addition to English. SG plans to print 1,000 of these cards, and the estimated cost of the cards is $120.

Bus Route Changes Graduate and International Affairs Committee chair Jason Waye is discussing the improvement of bus routes with the Parking and Transportation Office. Because of student complaints about having to walk far distances for bus stops, Waye wants to ensure there are enough stops on each route to improve the situation. He also wants to talk about making a pilot route to Patel Brothers, a grocery chain that primarily sells Indian food. If the pilot route is created, it would bring students to the store once a week.

Meet Your Senator Name: Jason Waye Major: Computer Engineering Grade/Classification: Junior

Graduating Class: 2019 Position on SG: Chair of Graduate and International Affairs Committee

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OCT. 30, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

LIFE&ARTS

Startup helps retirees find joy

Group involving UTD professor harnesses power of virtual reality to improve senior citizens’ lives

Musical wows with topical narrative Fall production weaves comedy, commentary together seamlessly

MYNDVR | COURTESY

A senior citizen tests a virtual reality application developed by MyndVR, a Dallas-based technology startup, at the Legacy Willow Bend nursing home in Plano, TX. CINDY FOLEFACK Mercury Staff

Older generations can benefit from virtual reality technology — a fact that Dallas-based startup MyndVR is using to its advantage.

CEO Chris Brickler and co-founder Shawn Wiora teamed up with assistant professor of computer science Ryan McMahan and his students to adapt VR to the elderly. Brickler said this population is sometimes ignored with modern technological ventures.

Earlier this year, the company conducted trials with over 300 seniors aged 60 to 100 years old in Florida, Kansas, California and Texas. Brickler said these trials have shown promising results in terms of overall patient happiness when using the technology, but the company is still in the early stages, at less than a year old.

“Virtual reality isn’t just for gamers anymore,” Brickler said. “We can actually make this technology for people that have the time and need for it. Not just to play a game, but to feel better, to visit with nature and

to be immersed in environments they haven’t been part of for years.”

Roger Rian participated in a MyndVR trial where he, along with other seniors, was able to put on VR glasses and get a preview of the content.

“Everyone liked it, thought it was useful and worth pursuing, but probably wasn’t ready at the moment,” Rian said.

UTD students in McMahan’s graduate VR course got to work with MyndVR in 2016 as part of their group projects. Samsung donated GearVR headsets that the students used to create software prototypes with virtual models of the scenarios available to seniors, including a 1950s jazz club, an African safari and games such as Sudoku. MyndVR provided a 360 degree camera which students used to create 360 degree video content.

“One of the VR prototypes that was developed last fall had some very ludic experiences, like flying jellyfish,” McMahan said.

Ariel Comstock, an ATEC graduate student, said McMahan’s introductory virtual reality course helped her learn

about not only the hardware and software, but also the user experience and the importance of paying attention to the viewer’s actions and feelings.

Comstock applied these skills when developing prototypes for MyndVR and now works as an employee for the company.

“We earned practical experience, from ideation, to filming, to the final product that could be viewed in a VR headset — the full pipeline for creating a 360 film,” Comstock said. “It was exciting, rewarding and valuable.”

MyndVR, in collaboration with ATEC and the School of Engineering, has included VR technology that provides ease of access for the elderly.

Brickler said the task was challenging, but provided growth for employees and developers. This gaze-based navigation allows users to direct their vision to a focal point for 1.5 seconds in order to select a scenario. McMahan initially proposed visual navigation to MyndVR, and his graduate students applied the technique in their prototypes.

“A lot of VR applications that use this

technology have a button, or something you have to click to indicate your selection,” McMahan said. “For the elderly, it’s difficult to lift their hands up to touch it, so that’s where we’ve used time-based selection.”

The company is also working with UTD’s Center for Brain Health to conduct outcome-based clinical studies for new VR applications that may help with memory.

“The fabric of our core is creating content that works for seniors with different conditions,” Brickler said.

“We’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t, so we use that research to curate the content.”

MyndVR will provide technology that is accessible to elderly people with varying mental and physical abilities.

“The elderly population still have minds that function and still have curiosity,” Brickler said. “They may not be as sharp as younger people, but at the end of the day, there’s a thirst for knowledge, recreation and therapy, and we think virtual reality might be part of the solution.”

New club aims to rekindle school spirit Innovative Students Organization launches performance series to showcase student talent, foster community ANJALI SUNDARAM Mercury Staff

Music vibrated through the night as a crowd gathered on the wooden steps of the Plinth. Speakers cornered either side of the stage while performers weaved in and out of the platform.

Belly dancers, poets, singers and others performed throughout the night to a huge crowd of students, all because of a new student group.

On Oct. 16, Innovative Students Organization hosted their latest round of Lit at the Plinth, an event for students to come to the Plinth and listen to music while watching performances.

Founders Blessedness Onaiwu, a psychology junior, and Jason Hutchinson, a computer engineering junior, said this event is one of many they hope to execute through ISO, with the goal of nurturing school spirit on campus.

The stigma that UTD students “only study” enforces a lack of school spirit, which was a key reason for the creation of ISO, Hutchinson said.

“It’s a culture that we are trying to create that people can get behind and really buy into and have fun,” he said.

“Once you buy into the culture, it is not only going to enhance your experience on campus, but the experience of everyone else because they have bought into this family culture.”

The members of ISO said they plan to flaunt UTD talent through series of events and social media campaigns.

“One thing we want to focus on is the talent at UTD, because I feel like people really sleep on what we have here,” Onaiwu said. “I definitely want to make a platform where people can speak their

INNOVATIVE STUDENTS ORGANIZATION | COURTESY

Students dance at the second iteration of Lit at the Plinth, a series of events featuring performances from students.

mind about what is going on now in the real world. That is what college is about.”

The idea of ISO came to Onaiwu because of his initial dislike for UTD. Onaiwu said he only came to the university because his mother felt he had a purpose here. After she passed away from health complications, Onaiwu grappled with the question of staying at or leaving UTD. “My mom would tell me, ‘Blessedness, I keep having these dreams that you are going to start something at UTD that is go-

ing to be bigger than you,’” Onaiwu said.

“When she died, I was lost. I actually had no reason to be at UTD because it was just for my mom. I actually did want to leave but I stuck through. (Then) one day, I don’t know, I just had this idea.”

Onaiwu and Hutchinson teamed up to create the campaign #NewUTD, where the two would share snapshots of day-to-day campus life on Twitter.

ISO hosted a series of events called Lit at the Plinth featuring performances from musicians, dancers and slam

poets.

The first Lit at the Plinth occurred earlier in the semester, drawing a small crowd, but catching the eye of a Pi Kappa Phi member who offered to partner with ISO students for the second iteration, which took place on Oct. 16.

“I invited everybody and their mothers,” Onaiwu said. “I have been talking about this forever and

→ SEE ISO, PAGE 8

UTD THEATRE DEPARTMENT | COURTESY

‘Urinetown’ ran from Oct. 26 through Nov. 4., and was directed by Shelby Hibbs.

NEIL BHAMOO COMMENTARY

Urinetown was a well-produced, topical musical with serious commentary on the current state of the political world that remained lighthearted with well-placed comedic relief.

The musical is about a post-apocalyptic world suffering from a massive drought that causes worldwide water shortages. As a result, a corrupt company forces people to pay to urinate. This, of course, results in problems for poor people who do not have enough money to use the toilet, and are forbidden by law to relieve themselves outside of any bathrooms.

While the premise of the musical seems comedic and silly, this show is anything but that at the core.

Instead, it is a serious story about an attempted revolution of the socioeconomic lower class against the oppression of the upper class, with humorous elements strewn in throughout the performance.

The musical was a comedic success, as it had the audience roaring with laughter at many of its jokes, and there were a lot of small touches included that added some light comedy throughout even some of the tenser scenes. Despite the silliness of some of the jokes, all the performers remained calm and never broke character.

The play wouldn’t have been enjoyable without a good cast of performers, and this team was successful. The singing and dancing were phenomenal throughout the play, depicting that everything was clearly well-rehearsed. Even the performers who didn’t have a lot of lines put incredible effort into their acting and never broke character, making the musical much more immersive.

Act 1 of the play was exemplary, and the singing in the finale was phenomenal. While I admittedly didn’t understand what the performers were saying, their voices blended together well and the background actors helped me understand what was happening. The main love interests were singing together, and the conflict between the village people and the company officials was unfolding in the background. Just like in the rest of the play, the funny conflict between the two groups gave some levity to the serious conflict between the love interests.

Unfortunately, while the second act of the play was good, it wasn’t as good as the first, and I found myself checking my watch to see how much longer it was going to last. The personalities of the poor people seemed to have

→ SEE MUSICAL, PAGE 8

SPORTS

OCT. 30, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

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Competing for a cause Comet sports teams host themed games to raise awareness for breast cancer research during October

McMurry vs UTD Oct. 14, 2017 5-0 UTD (Women’s) 2-0 UTD (Men’s)

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SACHIN ARYA | MERCURY STAFF

The women’s team swept LeTourneau on Oct. 24 (25-11, 25-11, 25-23). Sophomore setter Caroline Shecterle had 25 assists and sophomore libero Briana Tully had 15 digs, each leading the team. With their victory, the women clinched the ASC East title and the right to host the ASC championship tournament from Nov. 2 - 4.

During the game, the Comets wore pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The soccer teams also held a pair of awareness games on Oct. 14.

YANNIS SHAFI Mercury Staff

UTD sports teams have come together to show their support for taking a stand against cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The soccer and volleyball teams hosted games dedicated to patients of breast cancer and their fight against the disease. By incorporating this, their goal was to educate fans about the risks of breast cancer, as well as what can be done to contribute to finding the cure. 585 fans attended the volleyball games and the men’s and women’s soccer games dedicated towards raising awareness for cancer.

Amanda Dettmer, an accounting junior and a supporter of the soccer teams, is a student who has a fam-

ily member affected by breast cancer.

Her mother is battling stage IV metastatic breast cancer, meaning that the cancer has spread to other parts of her body. Dettmer said she has learned the importance of being there for her family and persevering when times are tough because of her mother’s battle with cancer.

“It affects a lot of people, not just the patients, but the families as well,” Dettmer said. “It’s something that I think about every single day.”

The American Cancer Society established October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1985 to promote the fight against breast cancer. Professional sports teams show their support by wearing pink-colored gear during awareness games. College teams have followed the lead of the NFL and NBA

and wear pink-colored gear to spread awareness at the university-level.

Sophomore basketball forward Lauren Wall said her father’s fight with pancreatic cancer motivates her to grow as a student athlete, both on and off the court.

“As a basketball player, you make the most out of what you’re doing that day,” Wall said. “My coaches are supportive of the situation and they are all there if I need them.”

For the past two years, the volleyball team sponsored a 7-year-old girl named Kaitlyn, who has been in remission with leukemia twice. Kaitlyn adopted the Comets as her team, and in return, she has received her own locker in the locker room as well as her own jersey.

Kristyn Schott, a sophomore outside hitter for the volleyball team, said that

even on the team’s worst games, they still keep in mind that they are playing for something bigger than themselves.

“To see someone that young and full of life is an awesome experience and really humbling,” Schott said. “It does give you an extra little boost or reminder about who to play for besides yourself.”

Dettmer, Schott and Wall said they appreciated the support from sports teams and student organizations that raised money for finding cures for cancer. While fundraising for cancer research primarily takes place in October, nonprofits across the DFW area continue to volunteer their efforts year-round.

“It makes you realize that other people care, even if they are not affected by it,” Wall said. “It’s a really good feeling knowing that people are out there trying to make changes.”

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‘Running the extra mile’ Senior runner repeatedly breaks her own records ROMAN SORIANO Mercury Staff

For student athletes, senior year includes trying to break personal records and making a mark on the school.

Lindsey Rayborn, a geosciences senior, is one of these students. Rayborn is a member of the UTD Cross Country team and has broken several personal records this season, in both her 5K and 6K races.

She said her motivation is that this is her last season on the team.

“That’s in the back of my head,” she said. “This is the last time I’m going to run so I need to push harder and see how good I can get.”

Another big factor in Rayborn’s improvement this season is the team’s training. Rayborn said it has become more rigorous, and it’s thanks to their previous coach and their new one.

“We’ve had a lot (of ) harder workouts this year and over the summer,” Rayborn said. “Our last coach that we had, he kind of built the base that we all had coming in to this season, and then the new coach just built upon that.”

These newer, more intense workouts have paid off for Rayborn. She set a personal record at the first race of the year with a 5K time of 19:03. The following week, she eclipsed that record again, running it in 18:52. She also broke her personal 6K record with a 22:47 race on Oct. 7, then broke it again at the ASC Championship where she took first place at 22:37.

Senior Samantha Tschirhart, one of Rayborn’s teammate, said she noticed Rayborn training harder than usual.

“When we have the option of run-

ning more mileage, she always runs the extra mileage,” Tschirhart said.

“Where some people take the time to cut back and attend other things, she’s always out there literally running the extra mile.”

Tschirhart said watching Rayborn put in so much effort has influenced and motivated her.

“Since she is pushing so hard, that definitely made me personally want to push harder as well and try to see how far I could get,” Tschirhart said. “It’s definitely contagious.”

This year marks Rayborn’s 10th year being a runner. She started when she and a friend joined track and cross country in middle school.

“I always watched the Olympics and I’d see the sprinters and they looked so cool to me, and I wanted to do that,” Rayborn said. “I wanted to be fast, like a sprinter, but then I realized I’m very bad at sprinting, so I had to move to the longer distances. The shorter the distance, the worse I get.”

Rayborn said initially, she did not enjoy cross country at all, partially because she misunderstood exactly what it was.

“I wanted to quit every single day,” she said. “I didn’t even know that cross country was distance running, and then it ended up being distance running and I was like, ‘What have I signed up for?’”

Despite this, she stuck with it and eventually grew to love running. Rayborn said she enjoyed being able to meet people at meets and being able to travel for them as well.

She said a big part of why she enjoys running is because it helps her stay healthy and allows her to be lenient with her diet.

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XIANG LI | MERCURY STAFF

Lindsey Rayborn gets ready for the ASC Championships. The women’s cross country team won first place in the Oct. 28 tournament, and Rayborn won a second consecutive individual title with a 6K time of 22:37, another personal best record.

Rayborn said besides that, she enjoys having the mental determination to keep running even after being fatigued.

“It’s really fun to push yourself to the point where you don’t think that you can run another step, but you have a mile left of your race,” Rayborn said.

“You’re pushing yourself to the point where you feel like you can’t continue, and then you keep going.”

Throughout her college career, Rayborn said the team has steadily improved each year. She said she hopes that after she graduates, the team will continue to get better.

“I want them to have a streak like UT Tyler had where they’re going to win conference year after year after year, and I want that for both the men’s team and the women’s team,” Rayborn said.

Tschirhart said she is not concerned about how the team will continue to progress after she and Rayborn graduate, partially because of Rayborn’s commitment to cross country.

“I think it’s really good for them because they see that level of devotion, especially with Lindsey, (and it) makes them want to run better too,” she said.

Rayborn said some of the younger members of the team are incredibly self-motivated, and they push her during their training.

“When we’re done with the workout, I’m like ‘I’m done,’ but then the other girls on the team, they’ll always be like ‘Let’s do more. Let’s do more abs, let’s do more pushups,’” Rayborn said. “They have all the motivation they need. They are so inspiring to me.”

D A Junior midfielder Mandy Avalos had one shot in the game. Avalos missed 10 games last season after breaking her nose.

B Junior forward Melissa Fulfer recorded a goal and two assists during the match. She had 11 assists during the 2017 regular season, which ties her for first place on the UTD career-assists leaderboard.

C Freshman goalkeeper John Nicknish recorded a shutout during the men’s game. He faced only one shot on goal in the game.

D Both teams used the game as a Breast Cancer Awareness game.

As part of this, they wore Tshirts during the pregame.

PHOTOS BY: GAURANG AGARWAL | MERCURY STAFF

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OCT. 30, 2017 | THE MERCURY

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of the only organisms to survive in these conditions, and for him, they were almost like a beacon of hope in the all-encompassing darkness.

Pujana said this type of research may be fascinating, but it is not easy to descend so deep into the ocean.

“You start thinking, ‘This is a trap, I can’t get out.’ You get this claustrophobic kind of feeling,” he said. “When you go down there, it’s seriously tough. The other thing is, you have to restrain yourself for eight hours and not go to the restroom. And it gets cold too, 2 degrees Celsius.”

Pujana teaches and researches on behalf of UTD, and this has led him to travel across the world to gather knowledge about geology that he can then teach in his classes.

“Geology is a really big field. It really covers everything about how our planet functions and the physi-

cal processes of the earth,” he said.

“I’m interested in many different things, like microfossils, oceanography and paleontology.”

One of his more recent expeditions was a month-long joint research project between the United States and Japan. The American and Japanese research team descended in a submarine off of the coast of Guam in July 2014 to study the mineral structures and wildlife at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Pujana said researching how life functions in these extreme conditions provides data and information that can be used to combat current global issues.

“All this diving with submarines in a trench may seem to be a bit frivolous because it is expensive and the money can be used for other things,” he said. “What we get from it is samples and observations that help us in the long term.”

Pujana’s research focused on

LIFE&ARTS clams that coexist with methanefueled bacteria in order to survive in the trench. Other researchers also gathered data on the mineral structures in the deep-sea ecosystem.

“These are some of the oldest ecosystems on earth,” he said.

“Looking back into time, you get an idea of how things may be in the future. All these concerns we are having now with global warming and sea level changes — we can look at the past and say maybe things will happen this way or this way.”

Educating students in geology is crucial because of how important an understanding of the earth is in our current era, Pujana said.

“You need to know today more than any other time how the planet works. We are straining our resources to a point where we have never been before,” he said.

“We are mining the planet, so we need to understand how natural processes work.”

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changed drastically compared to the first act, and there wasn’t really a clear reason for this change. However, that is just a gripe with the plot of the musi-

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I knew a lot of people would come, but there is no way you can think that big. You think that you are going to do something good, but I wasn’t expecting something great.”

Onaiwu said that while the number of people who attended the event was surprising, it was the diversity of the group that astounded him.

“We pulled (diverse) people … and they were all there having fun together,” Onaiwu said. “And that was something I never thought I

UTDMERCURY.COM cal —the performers did a great job of portraying their characters throughout.

Overall, the play was very enjoyable and provided a unique lens that tried to show a world in which the rich leech off the poor to remain rich, resulting

in a lot of strong social commentary. The singing, dancing and acting were fantastic throughout the musical, and the performers remained focused and in-character, creating a captivating story that I could enjoy thoroughly.

would see at UTD, ever. It’s actually crazy that not even the school did that, but students did that.”

Onaiwu said another aspect of the group’s success was seeing the people who had once told him that ISO was not worth doing at the event.

“When I was actually looking at people to work with, one guy actually told me that this will never work and you guys are going to fail,” Onaiwu said. “The same people that said all that were there on Monday witnessing history.”

Onaiwu said ISO is working on other ways for students to create something that others can see.

“It gives an avenue for these kids to be great,” Onaiwu said. “A lot of people come (to UTD) and they don’t know what they want to do.

I personally don’t even know what I want to do.”

Onaiwu said that by focusing on the mantra, “for the students, by the students,” he hopes to ultimately change the perception of UTD as a “nerdy” school.

“We want to be all-inclusive,” Hutchinson said. “Our goal is to create something fun. This is kind of the way we can come together, have fun together and just really enhance (the college) experience.”

OPINION

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OCT. 30, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Birth control movement needs to expedite progress Battle for women’s reproductive needs must veer away from reaffirming personal beliefs in lieu of religious norms MEHA SRIVASTAV COMMENTARY

In the 20th century, women waged a battle to take control of a body organ that too many others, from corporations and religious groups to the government, had claimed authority on: their uterus. Much like other social movements of the time, it was a battle that should have attained victory long before the 21st century.

Decades later, however, after the Trump administration rolled back the birth control mandate of the Affordable Care Act in October, the battle for reproductive justice appears far from over — and perhaps not much farther ideologically from where we began.

The topic of birth control has always been emblematic of the blurry line between church and state in America, causing a political divide between groups with differing moral or religious ideals. Under the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, most health insurance plans were required to provide FDA-approved birth control methods to women without any out-of-pocket payment.

However, some religious groups and companies, such as Hobby Lobby, were able to evade the reproductive health care reform through appeal, with the government granting them exemption based on religious objections.

Now, the Trump administration has enabled objections to not just be “religious,” but “moral” as well — and essentially, although it is arbitrary, giving power to any employer to revoke a female employee’s access to birth control as their personal convictions see fit.

A press release by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said the administration expects only 200 companies

will utilize the exemption, projecting to affect only 0.1 percent of the female population — but these are only the entities which filed lawsuits under the Affordable Care Act. Some companies may have not have sued because of cost or time, and others may still choose to deny contraceptive services at their employer’s will.

Even if the majority of employers continue to provide contraceptive services under their insurance plan, the implications of this potential denial of health care to women are palpable.

For one, members of the administration imply that the decision is not purely motivated by an interest in accommodating Christian faith. Without mandating a specific provision for employers to appeal for exemption, the administration has overridden any legitimate interests of select religious groups such as the Little Sisters of the Poor or Priests for Life, instead granting free reign as a move reeking of policy agenda.

During the Obama administration, abortion rates fell to an all-time low of 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15-44), according to a 2014 report from the Guttmacher Institute. As lead Guttmacher researcher Rachel Jones said in an interview with NBC News, this is both a positive and negative indicator for progress in women’s reproductive health: it shows that the availability of contraceptives are increasing, but more restrictions are being placed on abortion clinics.

According to the report, 75 percent of abortion patients are from low-income populations, with 49 percent of them falling under the federal poverty line. Without being provided contraceptive care under a health insurance plan, women from these populations resort to abortion — but with restricted access to abortion clinics, these women are forced to give birth under destitute circumstances.

According to Guttmacher, teenagers of Hispanic or black ethnicity are three times more likely to give birth than white teenag-

SAM LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF

ers, and have a median household income 18 to 20 times lower than white families. Women of this socioeconomic demographic often cannot afford to have a baby. Living in high poverty, they may not have the privilege to see abortion as just a moral or religious matter — but one that can decide their socio-economic survival, making contraceptives necessary in order to avoid abortion.

Women working in companies or nonprofits are not the only ones who will be affected by the rollback — those attending higher institutions may also face difficulty in obtaining contraceptive care. Although many universities in the United States, (such as UTD with the Student Wellness Center), offer birth control options such as condoms and guidance on contraceptives to students, religious institutions will no longer have to provide contraceptive care, either directly or through third-party insurance companies.

At religious institutions such as Loyola University, where pro-choice student groups already struggle to organize or be officially recognized by their school, access to birth control may become even more difficult, aggravating many students’ financial situations.

As these effects may soon become tangible for women across the United States, perhaps the most salient implication the rollback evokes is one of the biggest problems in the context of women’s reproductive health — its normalization.

This is indicative of a struggle that exists in our society when sexually-active males are praised as “players” and many of their female counterparts are called “sluts,” and when we still don’t feel entirely comfortable seeing women visibly pull a tampon or sanitary napkin from their bags.

The struggle is one that is caused by the hesitation of mainstream culture to embrace realities of women’s sexual and reproductive health, normalizing Viagra but not

female birth control. A recent viral video from media company ATTN brought attention to the notion that few people are aware of all the provisions under female birth control, including treating chronic acne, medication for menstrual pain and regulating periods.

Although the topic of female birth control is deeply rooted in religious dispute, the factors of socio-cultural stigma, lack of awareness and the administration’s policy agenda are also at play in Trump’s new rollback. Exemption should be granted to select religious groups, but considering the basic health concerns of all women and the stakes at risk for those from more vulnerable communities, we cannot afford to focus on reaffirming personal beliefs of those with power rather than those who need our attention.

Until this is realized, the battle for the validation and fulfillment of women’s reproductive needs is far from over.

Comets and Craters Chess Team The UTD Chess team won against UT Rio Grande Valley and Texas Tech University in the Texas Collegiate Super Finals.

Fire Alarms ANTHONY MCNAIR | MERCURY STAFF

COMET COMMENTS

In an effort to test fire detectors in the res halls, a series of alarms went off simultaneously, causing distress and annoyance among residents.

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course addresses challenges regarding crime, the underlying factors that explain high crime rates in Latin America and problems that inhibit the criminal system from functioning at its best.

“Perhaps more importantly, I’ll discuss with the students on what is to be done,” Casas-Zamora said. “There are no easy answers.

There’s no silver bullet to counter as deteriorated a crime situation as we find in Latin America.”

Casas-Zamora said crime in Latin America was a difficult problem because of the lack of credibility of the law enforcement, making crime more common in these regions. He said

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times and feel like they’re victims of their own brain,” Young said, “We’re here to empower them and teach them how to take charge of their brains by reasoning and processing information.”

Keeshaun Coffey, a Business Process Analyst graduate student, received help from the Center for BrainHealth after serving in the Navy, where he witnessed the death of a close friend. Coffey was dealing with PTSD while enrolled at UTD before a fellow Marine told him about the Center. After getting help through cognitive training, Coffey, along with other veterans, aided in designing the Brain Performance Institute and the Warrior program.

“Utilizing what I went through, my darkest moments to my brightest as a catalyst for communication is really what’s going to empower veterans to see that if I can do it, they can,

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Nicki Neely said she had concerns over the current construction.

“I have interviews or things I need to go to and the Comet Cab now has to go around the AC to drop people

NEWS

that at a local level, policies are often maintained more efficiently, demonstrating that crime is possible to control.

“Crime is an encroachment on basic citizen rights ... so it’s all about the ability of the state to secure those rights,” he said.

CUSLAI research assistant Pedro Gonzales said that he believes that Casas-Zamora will provide knowledge on the practical aspects of Latin-American initiatives and working in the government sector.

“There’s another part, which is the practical approach where you work in the government, represent a state, make public policy,” Gonzales said. “And I think he’s got that experience and he can provide that contribution to the

construction of knowledge from a different angle.”

While the course is only available to current UTD graduate students, Casas-Zamora said he plans to promote more awareness for Latin-American issues and initiatives through other lectures and events open to all UTD students as part of the CUSLAI. He said he hopes that students have a change in perspective and understanding regarding issues with crime and citizen security in Latin America by the end of the course.

“I’m hoping that the students will come out with a sense of the enormity of the challenge of crime in Latin America, but also that they will walk out with the notion that something can be done,” Casas-Zamora said.

too,” Coffey said. “Using my story as a beacon of hope is what I want to aspire to do.”

The Institute offers the College Training Service, teaching students critical thinking and reasoning skills, which Young said can help students learn efficiently by grasping and retaining more material for a longer period of time. These cognitive skills can be paired with social skills in an individualized virtual reality setting, teaching students to understand the emotions and intentions of others in group interactions.

“We can teach people social cognitive skills, and in doing so, we empower them to form more successful careers so they can have the independence and financial stability that comes with the transition to college life,” Young said.

The most common method the Institute uses is Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training, a high performance cognitive train-

ing. The sessions teach clients how to use their brains and how to think so they can handle tasks strategically and become better at reasoning. This method is meant for everyday life, so clients can continue to use it even after their sessions end.

“If you apply these strategies, we can increase the cerebral blood flow in the frontal lobe,” Young said.

“This can improve the connections between neural networks in the temporal lobe, which is where your memory centers are.”

Young said the preemptive approach, along with the smaller gap between research and application, places the Brain Performance Institute at the forefront of its industry.

“The big goal isn’t to study just Alzheimer’s or Asperger’s,” Cook said. “We want to bring about a multidisciplinary collaboration to talk about and investigate the brain across the lifespan, in health, injury and disease.”

off and it takes longer,” Neely said.

“It’s made me later for classes because of where I do live and its distance.”

ATEC Senior Addison Dobias said he was confused about the construction.

“I think if things were more explained as to why things were

blocked off or why the construction was happening, students could feel more at home or happy with the construction,” Dobias said.

According to the “Pardon our Progress” page on UTD’s website, the construction should finish around Nov. 30.

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