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June 5, 2017
Perceptions about
Muslim-Americans THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
Study finds students hold positive attitudes toward Muslims STORY BY : ARIANA HADDEN | MANAGING EDITOR PHOTO BY : SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR
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fter conducting a study on attitudes towards Muslim students on campus, an alumna found evidence that the majority of UTD students view Muslims in a positive light.
The study, conducted by alumna Faraha Hasan, explored the explicit and implicit attitudes toward Muslims from other Muslim and non-Muslim students through several questionnaires for her senior thesis project. After predicting that the results would render positive explicit attitudes and negative implicit
→ SEE BIAS, PAGE 8
Muslim students balance Ramadan, school Religious holiday, reduced energy from fasting occurs during critical time in summer semester DONIA BOSAK-BARANI Mercury Staff
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan occurs during a critical time for students taking summer courses. Muslim students experience reduced energy from fasting, in addition to conflicting time commitments between school, work and religion. Rimsha Khan, a speech pathology graduate student, fasted since she was old enough to handle the responsibilities of Ramadan in sixth grade but has done half-day fasts since childhood. The intensity of summer classes combined with the many responsibilities Khan has as a Muslim during Ramadan drains her energy levels, but she said she learned how to distract herself and approach the situation competently. “I definitely have less energy during Ramadan (than the fall and spring semesters),” Khan said. “Whenever it is suhoor, when you eat breakfast right before sunrise, I feel like I try to eat foods that sustain my energy … that tends to help. You do get really lethargic, and it kind of gets hard to get through the day when it’s past noon.” Ramadan is a month during which those who practice the Islamic faith pray, fast and strengthen their faith. Able Muslims around the world fast from sunrise until sunset, consuming absolutely nothing in between. Fasting is one of the five pillars of the faith, resulting in a stronger connection with God. Ramadan serves as a religious and spiritual experience for every Muslim who is able to fully participate. Summer classes at UTD began May 30, a few days after Ramadan began. Although it may be hard to expend energy at school, work or elsewhere on an empty stomach, Muslim students at UTD are focused on the positives. Just as Khan did the previous summer, she is currently taking classes at the Callier Center in Dallas during Ramadan. With all of the commitments, it is hard to plan everything perfectly so exhaustion can be avoided, Khan said. In the past, she had trouble balancing all of her obligations.
UTD enacts campus-wide tobacco-free policy Classes, support groups part of implementation
SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR
Calvin Jamison, vice president for administration, speaks at the Breathe Easy event to kick off the tobacco-free policy. CHAD AUSTIN | GRAPHICS EDITOR
“Last Ramadan, there was about two or three times when it came to the point where I had to take a nap instead of attend class because I felt too tired to drive two hours to and from class,” Khan said. Despite her busy schedule, she said there are many benefits to the month, including developing patience, feeding her spiritual soul and finding a balance in her life. “I get more organized just because my schedule is very crazy during Ramadan, so I’m forced to become more organized in a way,” Khan said. “I have to plan out the times where I do have enough energy to study, and then other times I have to plan when I can take a nap or things like that. It helps me as a student.” Aaisha Dossal, a biology and healthcare management junior, is taking classes this summer and has been fasting since she was 5 years old. Dossal also had a full schedule for the duration of Ramadan in previous summers. She said although it can be overwhelming, it’s a positive experience for her as a student. “I feel like God gives us the strength to do everything,” Dossal said. “I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do this at a normal time, but somehow I’m able
to get through it during this month. It doesn’t affect (school performance) that much. I think the days I have exams will probably be a little more stressful, other than that I’d have to leave prayers early or miss prayers because of the stress school has.” Muslims go to the mosque to pray multiple times a day. During Ramadan, they go more often and embrace their faith with family and friends. It’s important and helpful to keep busy during the month in order to distract from the hunger that comes with fasting, Khan said. She uses this as an opportunity to strengthen her understanding of her faith. “Each year, I try to set a goal for myself and I try to reach it,” Khan said. “For example, last year I had the goal of trying to read through the Quran with its meanings, you get a lot from really understanding what the Quran says. Since it’s in Arabic, it’s harder to me to understand because it’s not my mother tongue. It’s nice to go back and read from the Quran and be reminded of things that I forget sometimes.” Dossal keeps herself occupied with schoolwork, which she said makes the summer semester easier because the schedule of Ramadan allows her to spend more time studying.
“I know a lot of students are taking their MCATs during the summer, so when I ask them how that would go, they say it’s going to be a little easier because you’re going to be up, you’re going to be studying, there’s not much else going on during summer, and it keeps your mind occupied during fasting,” Dossal said. For Khan, Ramadan serves as more than just a reconnection with one’s faith. It’s also a reminder of the problems others face in the world and a chance for Muslims to experience it firsthand and emphasize the importance of good deeds. “Someone who is fasting is constantly being reminded what someone else’s daily norm might be like. There are people in this world, and even in our communities, that struggle to put food on the table and might be living with that constant pang of hunger,” Khan said. “Knowing this, naturally you realize you don't have it as bad and develop a higher level of empathy for those who do struggle daily and have no choice. So even though you do start to feel weaker closer to the end of the day, through the grace of God, you are able to find the energy to power through.”
MIRIAM PERCIVAL Editor-in-Chief
After the initial announcement in January, UTD is now officially a tobaccofree campus. Calvin Jamison, vice president of administration, said before the policy’s implementation, the university worked with a committee to determine the best plan to move forward and educate the campus about the policy. “Our overall vision is to make sure we have a very healthy campus for our faculty, for our staff, for students and any visitors who are a part of our growing campus environment,” Jamison said. As part of this policy change, UTD is also offering cessation classes to help students, faculty or staff who want to quit smoking. Angela Dees, an emergency management specialist, recently stopped smoking after attending an eight-week cessation program provided by the university. So far, she has not smoked a cigarette in 15 days and says the tobacco-free policy of the university helped encourage this change. “I never really thought I was going to quit and I never really wanted to, just because I like to do it socially with my
→ SEE TOBACCO, PAGE
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THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXVII No. 38
NEWS
THE MERCURY | JUNE 5, 2017
UTDMERCURY.COM
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Editor-in-Chief Miriam Percival
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May 2 • A parking boot was stolen from the Parking and Transportation Office between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at PS3.
A
May 8 • At 12:51 p.m. An unknown person was intentionally damaging an employee’s car door in Lot M.
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• A student knowingly overflowed his dorm room bathroom sink at 7:35 p.m. in Res Hall Northwest.
C
May 9 • At at 6 p.m. a student from Phase 7 recieved a scam call from someone claiming to be the FBI.
D
May 28 • An unaffiliated person hit a traffic sign and light pole at 11a.m. on University Parkway.
E
May 31 • At 8:17 p.m. a student was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana in Phase 8.
DC AA F
D
F
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Web Editor Bharat Arimilli
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Contributors Carolina Alvarez Donia Bosak-Barani Shelbye Karr Sam Lopez Chiamaka Mgboji Biana Del Rio Ian Seamans Dev Thimmisetty Marisa Williams
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The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the summer term. Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimination by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. The publication of advertising in The Mercury does not constitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or the UTD administration. Opinions expressed in The Mercury are those of the editor, the editorial board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily the view of the UTD administration, the Board of Regents or the Student Media Operating Board. The Mercury’s editors retain the right to refuse or edit any submission based on libel, malice, spelling, grammar and style, and violations of Section 54.23 (f ) (1-6) of UTD policy. Copyright © 2014, The University of Texas at Dallas. All articles, photographs and graphic assets, whether in print or online, may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without express written permission.
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LIFE&ARTS
JUNE 5, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
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drawn to art Well-known artist pursues passion despite ‘limb difference’
SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR
Concentrating on the canvas, alumnus Desmond Blair pursues his passion for art. Even though Blair was born without hands, he challenged himself and was later accepted to the ATEC program at UTD. MARISA WILLIAMS Mercury Staff
A little boy stares into the face of his grandma. She smiles wide, the wrinkles outlining her mouth bowing in further. In the little boy’s hands, a beautifully drawn picture of a dog, the same one he loved to look at in his coloring book. Although writing was still difficult for her grandson, his ability to draw gave her hope that they could find a way. Alumnus Desmond Blair, a wellknown artist, was born without hands on both of his arms and once struggled to learn how to write. However, when art became an active part of Blair’s life at a young age, he proceeded to defy the odds with his problem-solving skills and passion. Although accomplished artists are an
inspiration, Blair attributes his drive to his mom and grandma, who both raised him. For them, his limb difference did not limit him, but gave him a reason to stand out for more than just his differing functionality. “My mom, she knew I was going to school, there was no option,” Blair said. “Since I was a little kid, she was like, ‘You’ve got to get your education, especially having a limb difference.’ It’s going to be more important that I should get education just so I have an opportunity to level the playing field.” Blair was given a challenge and, with the help of his mom’s support, he was accepted in to UTD’s Arts and Technology program and found himself moving away from home to pursue his dreams. “Moving on campus at UTD was
Team creates medical app
Coalition creates application using augmented reality
RUTH VARGHESE | NEWS EDITOR
Computer programmer Leonard Evans uses the HoloLens to demonstrate the Emotive Virtual Reality Patient System. RUTH VARGHESE News Editor
A team at UTD will develop an application allowing students to practice interviewing medical patients through augmented reality. The concept won the U.S. Ignite challenge, a competition “to develop the next generation internet applications that will power smart cities of the future.” With a $200,000 grant and a collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center, a UTD team will create an Emotive Virtual Patient (EVP) as part of the Emotive Virtual Reality Patient System. The team creating the EVP is researching the concept of using augmented reality to facilitate medical interviewing practice. They narrowed down the options to Microsoft’s HoloLens. With the HoloLens, students will be able to see a patient and fine-tune their medical interviewing skills. “(HoloLens) … is a totally inclusive device. So in other words, there’s no computer or anything necessary for this,” said Marjorie Zielke, ATEC professor and director of the center for
modeling and simulation at UTD. One of the reasons the application will be used as opposed to people is because students do not always have actors available to them, for instance, when they are at home. Winning the U.S. Ignite challenge provided another $5,000, which the team will use to create a “spectator view,” where a third party can observe both the student and what the student sees through the HoloLens. Another $5,000 will be awarded once the application is complete. “That’s what really distinguishes this from what other people are doing, is using the spectator view so that a remote expert can provide real-time feedback rather than just watching something, but can actually have an interchange, and that’s what makes this app unique,” said Gary Hardee, associate director for the center for modeling and simulation. The patient is viewed by the student through augmented reality. Augmented reality allows an image to be projected into a room, while virtual reality takes a person into a projected room.
→ SEE APP, PAGE 4
the first time I had ever really been on my own, so the academic piece was a challenge to me, getting used to college classes, making sure you learn the nuances of each professor and what their expectations were,” Blair said. Blair also found daily chores such as cooking and washing clothes difficult while living on his own. “I’m pretty sure most people deal with those things, but it is a little daunting because I always had my mom to ask for help. When you have to do all this stuff on your own, it is another huge piece of the challenge during my time at UTD,” he said. Blair returned to UTD in the fall of 2007 to pursue his master’s. Higher education came with its own challenges, as he was exposed to the working world and those who inhabited it.
“The greatest challenge was after I got my master’s degree, like navigating the job market,” Blair said. “When you’re 23 years old and you have an advanced degree, people kind of scratch their head and then they scratch their head more when you don’t have hands and they’re trying to figure out how that whole situation is going to work.” Blair’s limb difference brought about an attitude he did not expect from business professionals. “I would go into these interviews and answer all the questions fine,” he said. “I have all the technical mobility, know-how, knowledge, but then they turn around and ask you, ‘Well, how do you use a keyboard?’ I don’t need any modifications, but most people don’t understand.” Though discouraging to hear, Blair
did not stop pursuing potential careers with maximum effort. “It is just something I had to learn to be aware of, that you have to show people … I was just doing 3D graphics and stuff, but I started back painting because going on these job interviews and into those awkward situations and I wanted to be able to show them that if I could paint, then I can write, I can type 70 words a minute,” Blair said. “I just have my own way of doing it.” Blair’s methods of functioning from day-to-day may be different, but his draw to the world of painting and art can only be explained by the same lure experienced by other artists. “For me, it is almost instinctual … A lot of this stuff I learned through
→ SEE BLAIR, PAGE 4
Professors run nonprofit program Engineering professors give underpriviledged children chance through tutoring DEV THIMMISETTY Mercury Staff
Electrical engineering professors at UTD run a nonprofit tutoring program called IntelliChoice seeking to help underprivileged kids get ahead in school. Gil Sik Lee’s respect for the power of education came from his background in Korea after witnessing the poverty his family faced. “My parents have zero public education,” Lee said. “They never went to school. My father was laboring in coal mines during World War II in Japan, and his life was terrible.” Growing up, Lee was one of seven children, just as his father was one of seven. Out of all his siblings and cousins, Lee is the only college graduate. Now, Lee and his wife, Jung Soon, teach at UTD. “Fortunately, I had a good education and I came to America,” he said. “What really affected me was when I was at Louisiana State University. I saw a lot of kids playing on the street on my way to work. This is what I used to do as a kid instead of going to school. I thought I can do something for these kids’ futures and maybe help them go to college.” In 1993, the Lees started tutoring underprivileged kids. Every afternoon, they would teach classes of about 15 students. Because they weren’t native English speakers, they focused on mathematics. “English was too hard, with the pronunciation and accent and all that, but I thought ‘Oh math, we can teach that,’” Lee said. “It was almost like day care for these kids, but my wife and I tutored them in math.” After 24 years, IntelliChoice now has 13 official branches, with numerous student organizations at high schools and colleges. Volunteer tutors help kids from financially insufficient backgrounds with mostly math, although Lee said assisting the students with completing homework was the first priority. “When you have a poor kid in school,
CAROLINA ALVAREZ | MERCURY STAFF
maybe he doesn’t get something as fast as the other kids,” Lee said. “We want to show them there’s a good future for them at a college like UTD or that they can do better in school.” Biomedical engineering sophomore Reynaldo Ortiz used to be one of the almost 650 registered students at IntelliChoice. Ortiz met Lee he visited the Skyline Branch Library to see how the organization was doing. After growing up and attending UTD, Ortiz decided to go back to Skyline and be one of the 230 volunteer tutors at IntelliChoice. “I remember hearing about it in high school, so I checked it out,” Ortiz said. “I got help there in calculus and it helped a lot, so when I came to UTD, I thought I would give back.” Ortiz uses his Saturdays to tutor students from elementary to high school in math, and he finds that spending his time teaching has benefits for himself as well. “Sometimes I enjoy teaching, and it makes me wonder if I want to be a teacher in the end,” he said. “It helps me see what grade level I’d like to teach.”
When IntelliChoice was just starting to grow, Lee said he needed more tutors for the rising number of students. To combat this shortage, Lee reached out to the Korean Student Association. From there, the news spread and more UTD students became volunteers at IntelliChoice. “Many of these tutors are premed or are going on to get jobs or are applying to more schools,” Lee said. “(Volunteering at Intellichoice) can really help them a lot to get where they want to go. We have students who went on to go to schools like Yale.” Every year, the organization has a state dinner with the parents of the kids IntelliChoice helps. Selected students, like Ortiz, receive scholarships for their improved performance in school as well as their need levels. This year, President Benson is the guest speaker for the event at the upcoming Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center. No matter how large his accomplishments, Lee said he always wants to help. “It always feels good to be helping more kids change their lives for the better,” he said.
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THE MERCURY | JUNE 5, 2017
LIFE&ARTS
‘Dead Men’ tie up loose ends Fifth installation of pirates movie entertains despite unnecessary subplots RUTH VARGHESE COMMENTARY
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” is the fifth movie in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Most of the characters from the previous movies return, with the addition of a few new characters, Henry Turner, the “spawn” of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, Carina Smyth and a new villain — Captain Salazar. In essence, the movie tied up any loose ends moviegoers didn’t even know existed. While the movie had references to previous movies, along with returning characters, “Dead Men Tell No Tales” can still be watched as a standalone movie. Questions viewers would have never thought to ask arose, such as how Jack Sparrow became a captain or the family life of Hector Barbossa. The ending also revealed a plot twist that was probably meant to be surprising but turned out to be cliche. In keeping with the aesthetic of all the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, this movie also managed to mix both drama and comedy, with a plot full of perfect timing. The movie also reiterated that the common thread with all pirates is that everyone knows and hates Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp’s performances as the obnoxious, drunk but still fully-functioning captain continued to entertain. It was nice to see Will Turner and Swann again, although their appearances were brief. The new hero and heroine characters, Henry Turner and Smyth, didn’t surpass the bar Will Turner and Swann set as part of the title characters in the previous movies, although the actors played their roles well. Henry Turner and Smyth also did not play as much of a significant role in this installation as Will Turner and
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school, but you just do it so much, I think that it comes natural … I guess you just work with your tools so much that you know which brush to grab,” he said. Blair said blending is his favorite part of the painting process. It allows him to completely focus on his work. It brings every stroke together into a whole work of art to be shared as a testament to what everyone is capable of with the right amount of endurance despite the challenges. For Blair, having a limb difference was one of these challenges, but his ability to overcome it has motivated him to use his art to teach his audiences about limb differences. “I would ultimately like my artwork to spread … awareness and education about people with limb differences, how to not be taken aback,” he said. “My artwork has given me that opportunity to expose people to that and to be able to answer some of those questions and hopefully the next time they do come across someone with a limb difference, they don’t see them as disabled. They see them as just
→ APP
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DISNEY | COURTESY
Swann did in the previous ones. The characters were sidekicks for the most part, in contributing to the demise of Captain Salazar. The movie also tried to thrust a romance into the plot, even though it didn’t need one. While the movie wasn’t the greatest in the series, it wasn’t the worst in terms of storyline. It didn’t leave any
major plot holes, but it also didn’t really add anything to the series except backstory. The intense visual effects of ghost ships and dead creatures were mesmerizing and terrifying to watch, and the cast played the roles given to them well. Overall, it was entertaining to watch, despite the thin connection to storylines from earlier movies.
“What we’re trying to do is to create virtual patients that can do things that real standardized patients can’t do, represent conditions that are unique and rare. And all of our virtual characters are designed to solve issues that are challenging to do in the real world and education,” Hardee said. Zielke and her team proposed the EVP to U.S. Ignite because it would also allow the team a “slice” of their high-speed network. The third party would watch the student and “patient” through video, using the network. Zielke said in the medical world, students needed to learn of mistakes immediately from the third party, so the EVP would benefit from the high-speed network. The application only had to meet one of the three criteria U.S. Ignite requested – Software Design Networking, low latency or high bandwidth – and the EVP satisfied them all. “It’s kind of something that would be a(n) evolutionary — revolutionary, if you want to call it — type of application,” said
different. They see the person first.” Blair’s acceptance into college meant everything to him, but money was a burden on him and his family until he was given the ability to attend UTD with the help of a scholarship from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, as well as the Bryce Jordan scholarship. He wishes to use his talent to award other exceptional children with limb differences the same opportunities he had, despite their financial situations, by using his art to fund scholarships. Blair believes he is at a point in his career where it is time for him to plan his own solo exhibition over the next year and create the pieces he wishes to present, such as portraits of individuals with limb differences, from varying ages and backgrounds, to tell the story of what those with this same “disability” can accomplish despite their circumstances. “I’d like to … ultimately sell my artwork and get to the point where I can create a foundation around it and give kids with limb differences educational opportunities and scholarships, and mentoring programs and things like that,” Blair said.
Mike Skelton, director of the mayor’s office of international business for the Richardson economic development partnership and judge for the U.S. Ignite Challenge. “Augmented reality is state of the art and we need applications like (the team’s) to stimulate the infrastructure.” Learning to use the HoloLens in one of the challenges Zielke expects to face, as it is a modern technology. Another is being able to use natural language, or the way humans talk to each other. Zielke said because the language of the EVP is constrained to medical language, the natural language will not be as extensive. “You’re literally trying to recreate humanity and we don’t pretend like that’s not challenging,” she said. The goal is to become a world-renowned center for virtual human research and to one day possibly create an actual hologram. “Because we’re a research lab, we deliberately look for things that nobody else has done … we’re not just any development shop that just does projects,” Zielke said. “We’re literally looking for things that are new and nobody knows how to do.”
LIFE&ARTS
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THE MERCURY | JUNE 5, 2017
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Caught in
dreamSpace ATEC professor blurs line between dreams, reality with performance art
STORY BY : BHARGAV ARIMILLI | LIFE & ARTS EDITOR PHOTOS BY : SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR
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n audiovisual exhibition, very closely interact with a large out“dreamSpace,” was per- door audience, there’s a certain unformed as part of Dallas’ known factor of how people will behave annual Soluna Festival outside the — will they be willing to interact, will Meyerson Symphony Center. It was they be surprised (or) how will it go?” the brainchild of Agence Lee Dufour 5970, a Dallas-based art said. laboratory operated by The installaThat idea of beATEC professor Frank tion included Dufour and his wife and a projector and ing between two partner, Lee Dufour. speakers to creThe performance, which ate an immerspaces – the space took place on May 24, censive experience. of the pedestrian, tered around dancers who However, the wore costumes imprinted urban environment performance’s with poetry. Audience outdoor setting members were invited to posed a chaland the space of participate in the perforlenge during poetry and dream mance by reading aloud the installation the poetry written on the because – juxtaposed in one process clothing. The pitch and of extended intonation of the audience daylight during single experience. members’ voices were anathe summer. lyzed by computer software “That was — Frank Dufour, the impossibiland then mapped to moods such as “peaceful” or “withATEC Professor ity of testing out emotion.” Based on location beforethese measurements, the hand,” Frank software produced images and drove Dufour said. “So to be able to actually the music mix — all in real time — to see the image projected on the wall, we create a dynamic performance. had to wait until 8:30 p.m.” “When you’re having performers The piece was also unique in its incor-
poration of square video footage. Typically, video is shot in rectangular dimensions. “Even at 8:30 p.m. — the piece started at 9 p.m. — you could … faintly start to see the limits of the picture to calibrate the size,” Lee Dufour said. “We were nervous to see it projected at 18 feet square, and then magically the image appeared at 9 p.m. That was very nerve-wracking, but we were up against the ultimate projector, which is the sun.” The urban setting was deliberately chosen to reflect the subject matter of “dreamSpace.” In addition, because other performances at the festival were held indoors, Lee Dufour said the organizers were eager to have a largescale, outdoor exhibition. “It was also interesting to have the mix of world around and realities going on, and the dream is happening anyways,” Frank Dufour said. “That idea of being between two spaces — the space of the pedestrian, urban environment and the space of poetry and dream — juxtaposed in one single experience.” For Frank Dufour, Agence 5970 will release an eBook rendition of “dreamSpace” that will include footage and music from the live performance.
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JUNE 5, 2017 | THE MERCURY
COMICS & GAMES THE HEAT
SUMMER BREAK
RESULTS MAY VARY
BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF
CHIAMAKA MGBOJI | MERCURY STAFF
SHELBYE KARR | MERCURY STAFF
WRONG TURN
BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF
OPINION
JUNE 5, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
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SB4 attempts to fix nonexistent problem Local police departments ordered to aid immigration enforcement following passage of divisive bill which eliminates sanctuary cities in Texas IAN SEAMANS COMMENTARY
The Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 4 after a prolonged debate. Gov. Greg Abbott has finally accomplished his goal of ridding Texas of "sanctuary cities.” To illustrate the divide in opinions on the bill, you need look no further than the shoving match that took place on the Texas House floor on the final day of this year’s legislative session. Democrat Rep. Philip Cortez said that Republican Rep. Matt Rinaldi called Immigration and Customs Enforcement on SB4 protesters in the Capitol. As a result, an altercation broke out between multiple Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the House floor. Aside from the fact that our elected representatives can’t seem to act like adults, we can see that the issue may be one of the most divisive in recent Texas history. SB4 bans “sanctuary cities,” orders police departments to comply with ICE detainer requests and permits officers to ask any detained person for their immigration or citizenship papers. The bill puts police in the position of enforcing immigration laws, which are civil, not criminal. The police explicitly only have the ability to enforce criminal law, and putting immigration in their purview is an overreach. The law also allows any individual to report police departments that fail to fully comply with federal immigration officials. A department that is noncompliant will be fined and individuals responsible may be removed from duty or jailed. All of this to supposedly fix the problem of immigrants being let out of jail just because they’re undocumented.
CAROLINA ALVAREZ | MERCURY STAFF
Fortunately for Abbott, that problem doesn’t exist. Prior to the law, individuals were not released from jail or prison, nor given a lighter sentence because they were considered an undocumented immigrant. When it comes to the application of justice, there is no differentiation based off of immigration status. In a May 19 opinion article printed in the San Antonio Express News, Abbott and his two co-authors misrepresented, if not lied about the contents of the bill to Texans. “Here is the truth: Regardless of your immigration status, if you have not committed a crime and you are not subject to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, you have nothing to fear about the change in Texas law. Senate Bill 4 does not change how most law enforcement agencies in Texas already work.” That is untrue. According to Article
1, Section 1 and Article 6, Section 1 of the bill he signed, any detained person may be asked for their papers. This means that the police could ask anyone who is detained at a routine traffic stop for their papers. This is not how the process worked previously. Before SB4, an individual would be jailed, their information taken, then a review of their information by ICE, who would request a detainer if they believed that person to be in the U.S. without documentation. Police were able to decline ICE detainers, and under the new law they are not. This is troubling, given that citizens and documented immigrants have been subject to ICE detainers before. Edwin Romero, a UTD student, was arrested this past February and later released after paying bail. While Romero was in the Richardson jail, ICE issued a detainer request for him. Romero is
a legal U.S. resident, and yet under the new law, this nonviolent student who was pulled over for traffic tickets would have been held in jail after paying bail and taken into ICE custody. It’s unacceptable for a law to mandate the detention of residents, even if the police who are involved in the matter disagree. Abbott and co-authors also wrote, “SB4 provides new protections to crime victims and witnesses. For the first time ever, SB4 gives crime victims and witnesses greater assurance of safety when they report a crime — not less.” Although the law does specifically have protections for victims of crimes, there is a major loophole in those protections. According to Article 6, Subsection E of SB4, police may inquire immigration status if they have probable cause to believe that the victim or witness perpetrated a criminal offense.
As it so happens, the act of entering the U.S. without inspection is a criminal misdemeanor, even if staying in the U.S. is a civil violation. The consequence of this is that the previous protections included in the bill are null and void if the officer suspects that the victim or witness crossed the border without inspection. If you would like to read the bill yourself, you can on LegiScan.com, or by Googling “SB4 text.” If you come to the conclusion that this bill is not in the best interest of our community, call your representative or Abbott’s office and tell them what you think. Above all, make sure to vote in your Texas elections. Often, the laws that matter most to us are not from Washington, but Austin. The Office of the Governor’s main switchboard number is 512-463-2000.
Comets and Craters Softball team wins first ASC title
Parking lot maintenance
The softball team added one more win to the school’s collection with the 2016-17 ASC championships. They also qualified for the NCAA tournament this year, another first for the program.
Lots around campus will undergo asphalt repair and repainting starting in June and will continue through August. Students who will be on campus during the summer semester may have to change their routines during this time.
Galerstein center name change
Phase 8 internet outages
The Galerstein Women’s Center will now be known as the Galerstein Gender Center. The new name was chosen to better reflect the inclusion of the LGBT+ community on campus.
Students living on campus in the Phase 8 apartments have complained about the internet either not working or available intermittently. University Village is in the process of upgrading the internet services.
COMET COMMENTS
How does the new tobacco ban affect you? HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? Students interested in writing opinions can email editor@utdmercury.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
“It’s pretty good because I've seen people smoking out while they’re walking and stuff and I really don’t find the smoke coming out pretty cool.”
“I think it would be beneficial to me because I’m allergic to smoke, so I think it would be good for everyone.”
Ria Ghosh Computer Engineering Graduate
Thach Ngo Computer Science Senior
“I’m fine with that. I don't like having smelling tobacco when I’m walking across campus ... It’s a positive thing for our campus.”
Leah Tavakoli Microbiology Sophomore
Letters must be 250 words or less. Students should include their full name, major and year. Faculty, staff and administrators should include their full name and title. Email letters to editor@utdmercury. com. Although electronic copies are preferred, a hard copy can be dropped off at the reception desk of the Student Media suite (SU 1.601). Please include a headshot. Authors may only have one letter printed per edition of The Mercury.
OP-EDS
Apart from your name and photo, personal info will not be published. We reserve the right to reject submissions, and we cannot be responsible for their return. We reserve the right to edit for clarity, brevity, good taste, accuracy and to prevent libel.
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NEWS
THE MERCURY | JUNE 5, 2017
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friends. A lot of my friends are smokers. I just thought it was going to be too hard,” she said. Dees also received tobaccofree facilitator training through UTD and plans to teach a cessation program provided by the university next semester. “I want to … teach (the class) and show the success of it and hopefully I will not fall back into (smoking), but if I do … like they said it takes seven to nine times to quit smoking and if that’s the case then I can go through it again,” Dees said. In addition to cessation programs, the university is working on developing support groups for current and former smokers. SG President JW Van Der Schans said he supports the policy change and hasn’t heard any negative feedback from students. “I think it’s a necessary change, I think it’s an awesome change. Just seeing a lot of feedback that students give — a lot of people are praising it, a lot of people are saying ‘finally this is happening,’” he said. “Of course there are some people that disagree, as there always will be with policies like this, but I think moving forward
as a campus it is a good, healthy initiative that we are taking that’s successfully being implemented.” To kick off the policy change, UTD held a Breathe Easy event on June 1 with guest speakers Jennifer Cofer, director of the MD Anderson Cancer Center End Tobacco Program, who helped develop the tobacco-free policy, and David Lakey, chief medical officer and associate vice chancellor for the UT System Office of Health Affairs. Now that the policy is in effect, Calvin Jamison said the university is in the process of determining placement of permanent signs indicating the tobacco-free campus. “We are the last school in the UT System (to go tobacco free) and we wanted to make sure that we did a really good job of educating the entire campus first,” Jamison said. “Now we want to talk about how we make sure we ensure there is a positive policy that has been implemented and that the entire campus not only is educated, but persons are compliant with the policy and most importantly that we continue to be a truly outstanding university … To me, that’s the most important thing about this next step in the tobacco free environment.”
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attitudes, Hasan said she was surprised to find that the implicit attitudes measured tended to be more neutral and positive. While it contradicted her hypothesis, Hasan said her experience on campus agrees with the findings of her study. “I don’t really know what it’s like to be truly discriminated against. That hasn’t been my experience here as it has been to other people I know on other campuses,” she said. The sample consisted of 380 participants and ranged from associating positive and negative words with Muslims and non-Muslim names to filling in sentences such as “Muslims are ___ and Islam is ___.” “It was emotional to see other people’s support,” Hasan said. “Most people (in the study) said ‘they are just human beings’ or they would mention they are stigmatized and discriminated against. That was one thing I noticed that there was recognition and not seeing people as Muslim, but as other people.” According to a Pew study, even though the majority of the country
holds negative implicit biases toward Muslims, 57 percent of Americans believe there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. today. The significance of the findings reveal that while bias still exists at UTD, it is to a lesser degree because of the diversity and intergroup contact, Hasan said. While results are overwhelmingly positive for UTD, the same cannot be said for the nation as a whole. In a study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2015, about one-half of Americans thought at least some U.S. Muslims were anti-American. Senior biology major Sarah Shaikh, the vice president of the Muslim Student Association, said she attributes the disconnect to the fact that the campus is diverse and provides an opportunity for its students to appreciate different cultures; an opportunity other universities do not have. “We’ve seen that the general perception is not very good,” Shaikh said. “The perception is that Muslim-Americans are not necessarily as American as everyone else or that our faith doesn’t align with American values, and a lot of that comes from not understanding what Muslim faith
UTDMERCURY.COM and values are.” Shaikh also said disfavor and bias continue to exist not only in America but at UTD as well, rendering the dilemma far from over. “Growing up in Texas, I know people personally who have been affected by discrimination,” Shaikh said. “As a group on campus, even small things happen like where people wrote ‘terrorist’ on our board, or how someone tried to flush two Qurans in the Student Union, but it comes with being a minority in a state where … the general political opinion is not so positive.” As a Muslim student, junior healthcare studies major Ifra Ali said a possible explanation for the constructive attitudes toward Muslim students at UTD could be the high level of interaction with these students. In a 2015 study conducted by Pew Research Center, only 48 percent of U.S. Muslims say all or most of their close friends are also Muslims. “Most of the time when you have negative attitudes it’s because you don’t know anyone of that religion,” Ali said. “If you know someone who’s Muslim, it is much harder to have a negative feeling towards them. They
aren’t terrorists, just normal college students.” As the results were from a sample of participants mainly from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Hasan said the results would vary if conducted at another school or with a bigger sample size, but that there are benefits of the UTD findings, such as acceptance from peers. “If non-Muslims are neutral implicitly and positive explicitly, then Muslims on campus probably don’t feel stigmatized here —which I usually don’t– or they aren’t developing the negative stereotype and taking it in from the media,” Hasan said. Rather than assign blame for the negative attitude towards MuslimAmericans adopted by the public as a whole, Sarah Shaikh said the solution to the problem is simple and only takes patience and understanding. “I think we hold part of the burden, as well as the public, which is to form an opinion based off of being educated as well as do our part on educating,” she said. “We have the ability to have those things accessible to us, and that makes people inherently become more open to different thoughts and opinions.” SAM LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF