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October 3, 2016
STRIKE UP THE THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
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BAND
Student’s background influences ’sunshine soul‘ music on band’s first record CARA SANTUCCI
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Managing Editor
Editor’s note: This is the first part of a three-part series on full-time students who are working to enter the music industry.
Students and alumni join leftwing campaign for state elections PAGE
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t was late one night in a hotel. Eight musicians from New Zealand sat around in a cramped living room. A guitar lay across someone’s lap. After a little tuning and a few strums, a swell of music filled the room. The chorus of voices flipped a switch in 11-year-old Maya Hook’s mind, starting her on her own musical journey. “I was supposed to be asleep,” she said. “But hearing all their voices … it awoke something in me. If you have a guitar, and you have people who want to sing, you create a moment. And it was transcendent.” Nine years later, Hook, an interdisciplinary studies senior, is creating her own moment as she prepares with her band to release their first record in October.
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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY : HAMID SHAH | GRAPHICS EDITOR SID PATEL | MERCURY STAFF Interdisciplinary studies senior Maya Hook and her band, Maya Piata, performed tracks from their upcoming record “Sunny Days” on Sept. 24 in UTD TV’s studio. Hook said the record is set to release in October.
Hook said her music is heavily influenced by her background. She is half Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. “If you look at New Zealand and the Maori culture, it’s all about singing and big chorus groups (and) tribes raising their voices,” she said. Music has always been interwoven into her family’s culture. Her mother was a part of the Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre of New Zealand and went on tours to North America performing with the group. “I didn’t have a choice but to love music,” she said. “I’ve been saturated with it my entire life.”
→ SEE MAYA PIATA, PAGE 7
Students’ health among priorities for new dean
AROCHI TRIAL
Former interim dean of students to focus on student advocacy, engagement to shape initiatives Amanda Smith, who served as UTD’s interim dean of students for a year, recently assumed the role of dean of students permanently. The Mercury sat down with Smith to discuss her plans and what inspired them. How are you adjusting to your role and has anything changed since your term as interim dean of students?
ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS | MERCURY STAFF
Jonni McElroy (far right) spoke at the press conference on Sept. 30 at the Collin Country courthouse after the trial of Enrique Arochi ended. Arochi has been sentenced to life in prison for the aggravated kidnapping of Christina Morris, a UTD alumna. McElroy, who is Morris’ mother, said the search for Morris will continue until she is found.
Arochi sentenced to life in prison Family, friends say search for UTD alum Christina Morris will continue ments to investigators, Morris’ DNA found in the trunk of Arochi’s Camaro and phone records placing Morris and Arochi in the Before leaving the witness stand of the same locations at the same time the night 401st District Court in the Collin Coun- of the disappearance proved the defendant took Morris against her ty courthouse for the final will. After Arochi waived time, Mark Morris had his right for a jury to detersomething to say to Enmine his sentence on Sept. rique Arochi, the man sen27, Judge Mark Rusch sentenced to life in prison for tenced him to life in prison the aggravated kidnapping on Friday. of his daughter and UTD The sentencing hearing alumna Christina Morris. came at the end of a trial “I hope you rot in hell,” that stretched for nearly he said. four weeks. After Arochi anFor the last two years, the story has been told over and ENRIQUE AROCHI nounced he would have the judge decide his fate, the trial over again: On Aug. 30, 2014, stalled for another two days. security footage captured AroOn Sept. 30, a crowd of around 50 chi and Morris walking together to a parking garage at the Shops at Legacy in Plano people anxiously waited outside the after a night out with friends. Morris has courtroom for the hearing to commence. not been seen since and is presumed dead. Around 8:45 a.m., they began to stream A Collin County jury unanimously in, starting with Morris’ family. As the hearing began, prosecutors anfound Arochi guilty on Sept. 21 after 17 hours of deliberation, agreeing with the nounced they would request a life senprosecution that Arochi’s misleading state- tence and would additionally bring up ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Mercury Staff
evidence from a separate case Arochi is involved in where he allegedly sexually assaulted a minor, along with evidence of deviant sexual images found on Arochi’s phone. Despite the defense’s objections, Assistant District Attorney Zeke Fortenberry presented evidence from both the sexual assault case and the information found on Arochi’s phone. Detectives from the Plano police department testified Arochi had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old when he was 22 where Arochi choked the victim, who went by the pseudonym of Jennifer Smith, on more than one occasion during sex. Detective Aaron Benzick also testified he found at least 20 pornographic images of women tied up, raped and mutilated on Arochi’s phone, as well as links to two movies involving rape, torture and murder. Fortenberry then brought Morris’ family to the stand to testify, starting
→ SEE AROCHI TRIAL, PAGE 14
Well, the fortunate part about being an interim for a year is there is not a lot of adjusting that has to be done. It was really just like I came in the next day and the job has continued. I poured my heart and soul into being the interim dean of students. I just continued on with what I was doing before. Smith received her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at the University of North Texas and pursued a career as a personal trainer. Later, she applied for the job of Health Education Coordinator at UTD where she remained at the Health Education and Wellness Center for eight years. How does your background in health and wellness influence your job as dean of students? Health is the one common thread we all have. Really wanting students to be the very best person they can be, I think, is a really important mentality to have in this job. Wanting to see you succeed and go out and be good, producing citizens in society, I think, if you have a good base, then you’re a lot better able to function at whatever it is you’re doing. So I think it served me well in that capacity. The care about students’ well-being is number one and that goes hand-in-hand with what the dean of students is responsible for doing. Do you have any initiatives you’d like to pursue that were inspired by your background? There is a lot. For starters, sexual assault prevention is something we did a lot of before the Title IX office was created. Pursuing bystander intervention
and student advocacy for initiatives like this that are important, I’d like to see those propelled. For example, the “It’s On Us” program. It’s the national sexual assault prevention program that was started by the White House. That’s something that continues to grow and get bigger every year, but it’s completely student driven. The peer health educators and Student AMANDA SMITH Government work closely together to produce a really robust program for students to attend, get on board with the cause and go out and make change with their peers. I would say that’s a big one. Just promoting student health in general, to me, is very important. Do you have any specific visions for UTD that you’d like to see pan out and are any of those visions on their way to being realized? I want to see all of our students engaged on campus. We have so many opportunities for students to be engaged outside of academics on campus. We have over 300 student organizations. Our fraternity and sorority life programs are huge. Our Office of Student Volunteerism has so many opportunities for students to get into volunteering. Diversity and inclusion is also something that is very important to me. One of the reasons I will never leave UT Dallas is because we are so diverse. I really enjoy that part of my job. To be around such unique and different individuals that embrace that and are continuing to embrace that. I’m also about innovation and change, as well as keeping up with what’s happening globally and changes that are happening in my field. I like to help others create change and develop programs that are new, different, innovative, and meet your needs.
→ SEE DEAN, PAGE 14