UTD Mercury October 3rd Edition

Comet captures images at 90,000 feet PAGE 6

VOLUME XXXI, NO. 14

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF UTD — WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

OCTOBER 3, 2011

Check us out on Facebook >> Search “The UTD Mercury” and post your feedback on the latest news

Student charged in Phase III explosion SHANE DAMICO Editor-in-Chief

A UTD student was arrested in connection to an explosion in Phase III in the early morning hours of Sept. 11.

UTD PD charged Michael Stettler, speech-language, pathology and audiology senior, with a third-degree felony for allegedly setting off what police called a

chemical explosive. The university also evicted Stettler from his oncampus apartment and issued him 12 hours community service. He remains enrolled at UTD. Police responded that evening to a call from an unnamed student who reported a disturbance in the parking lot outside of his apartment, involving a bomb, said Lt. Ken MacKenzie.

Roughly 10 minutes later, of-

ficers arrived on scene and found three students standing near the reported location. As the officers approached them, the students ran into an apartment where a party was taking place and locked the door, MacKenzie said.

After multiple warnings to open the door were met with no response, police broke the door down. “(Officers) attempted to get

FILLING UTD WITH

ENERGY

HIMANI KHANDARE Mercury Staff

Every morning and afternoon, Sy Pham cracks open an energy drink and chugs it down. It’s a necessary routine for this Arts & Humanities student.

“I get only three hours of sleep daily; I need them to get through the day,” Pham said.

There are many other students resorting to energy drinks to make it through the day, sales figures from the Comet Café would indicate.

“I sell more than 300 cans of (energy drinks) in a span of less than three days,” said Sherry Shepherd, retail supervisor at the Comet Café.

These energy drinks — including Monster, Redbull, Rockstar and Fullthrottle — are increasing in popularity with all kinds of customers, especially students, Shepherd said.

For people like Pham, these drinks serve as an easy way to keep energy levels up throughout the day. But, as professionals in the health care field explain, there is more to

them to come out of the door, and when they were unresponsive, due to the circumstances that we believed that possible chemicals or whatever were being destroyed, or possibly another bomb, we forced our way in,” MacKenzie said.

Once inside the apartment, police quickly determined that none of the students there was involved with the reported disturbance.

The apartment’s residents de-

clined a request to speak with The Mercury, and it remains unclear why the three students fled the scene, or why they failed to allow the officers into the apartment.

Officers later arrived at the correct location of the reported explosion where they found what police called “an undetonated chemical explosive.” Officers then

see BOMB page 5

State slashes grant support to students NADA ALASMI

FINANICAL AID CHANGES

Three months after applying for financial aid, Safoora Rasheed opened the aid page on her Galaxy account, praying for the best. What she saw left her shocked and disappointed.

Rasheed, biology and business administration junior, hoped to receive as much financial aid this year as she did in 2010 – enough to cover her tuition, fees and housing. But this year, despite no changes in her GPA or financial need, she received about half what she did before.

“I (thought) ‘What? Is this for both semesters?’” Rasheed said. “I was . . . hopeful and waiting for more money to come in, but that is pretty much all I got.”

Rasheed is one of many UTD students this fall affected by recent

• Five financial aid programs cut by 15 percent

Mercury Staff

• Top 10 Percent scholarship cut by 23 percent • TEXAS Grant cut from $615 million to $560 million • TEXAS Grant will serve 20 to 37 percent fewer eligible students this year cuts in financial aid by both Texas and the federal government.

Five of Texas’ largest financial aid

see AID CUTS page 12

Out-of-state pop. stays same despite enrollment growth NADA ALASMI Mercury Staff

see ENERGY page 2 CATHRYN PLOEHN/STAFF

Despite UTD’s recent growth in enrollment and its efforts to attract non-Texan residents, the percent of out-of-state students at the university has remained unchanged.

Of nearly 12,000 undergraduates enrolled this fall, only 3 percent are out-of-state domestic students, according to preliminary information from UTD’s census and the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis, or OSPA.

This percentage has been the same, on average, for the past seven years, according to UTD’s Common Data Set. The stagnation contradicts UTD’s efforts to attract out of state students. The university conducts direct mail and phone campaigns, discussions with out of state school counselors and occasionally visits university seminars outside of Texas, said Matthew Sanchez, enrollment services counselor.

see OUT OF STATE page 12

Students join panel, hear dishonesty cases ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE Features Editor

This year the Office of Judicial Affairs received 288 allegations of scholastic dishonesty, which included cases of cheating, collusion and plagiarism.

For Brad Davis, a public affairs doctoral student, however, the figure wasn’t just a statistic — it was reminiscent of a personal nightmare.

In spring 2010, Davis was accused of collusion. That semester, he helped a struggling friend with a take-home exam for a class. All through the semester, the professor for that class

had encouraged working together in groups and didn’t specify students couldn’t work together on the exam.

Davis became aware of the charge on him when the other student turned in work identical to Davis and the professor turned them in to the Office of Judicial Affairs. Eventually, Davis was found guilty and expelled from the university.

Davis wrote an article detailing his experience with the university’s Judicial Affairs Office and decried UTD’s handling of scholastic dishonesty cases in the May 2010 issue of A Modest Proposal, or AMP, UTD’s student opinion publication. While

Davis might not have thought his article would change UTD policy, his opinion piece did in fact catalyze the university into taking a deeper look at its scholastic dishonesty policies.

“We were asked to look at the way the university addresses the subject of scholastic dishonesty last summer when I was hired,” said Gene Fitch, dean of students. “That was as a result of an article that went in AMP a few months before.”

The university looked into Davis’ complaints that his case was not handled well and initiated a process

see INTEGRITY page 5

KIM NGUYEN/STAFF

Out of the 288 academic dishonesty cases reported in 2010-2011, 49 percent were related to alleged incidents of cheating.

2

News

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

ENERGY

continued from page 1

LAUREN FEATHERSTONE Mercury Staff

The results of a student survey on bus usage revealed a large student support for a bus to Addison, officers announced at the Sept. 20 Student Government meeting.

To conduct the survey an SG team traveled on the UTD bus system and asked what students thought of the current routes.

Particularly busy stops were to the Renner Apartments, Tom Thumb, George Bush Turnpike Station, all of the McCallum stops, Target and WalMart. Surveys given by the team show that students are generally content with the current bus system.

Only 16 percent of polled students think that a third route along Preston and Frankford is necessary, and only 24 percent want buses to run longer than the current 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. time.

However, when asked if they would use a weekend bus to Addison, 54.5 percent of polled students said yes and 31 percent said maybe.

With this overwhelming student support, Student Government is looking into adding a weekend Addison route.

Alison Beatty, Economic Political & Policy Sciences senior, appealed to the senate for the reinstatement of the scantron policy. This year, SG decided to limit

free scantrons for students to only midterms and finals.

However, many students and faculty are unaware of the change and the senate website still states scantrons can be picked up in the SG suite, Beatty said. “It’s one of the most beloved programs,” Beatty said. “The scantrons deserve a second chance.”

In other news, Sharkey Andrews, SG president and Arts & Performance senior, said that the cheating policy has been changed.

Faculty members who find the student cheating will now have the ability to dismiss the charge after meeting with the student if he or she considers the student innocent.

Otherwise, the student will proceed to trial and receive the punishment listed in the professor’s syllabus.

Andrews also said Provost Hobson Wildenthal is looking for a diverse group of about 10 students to help him make general decisions to better accommodate UTD. Students interested in the Provost Advisory Group should come by the SG suite for more information.

Justin Hajek, Student Affairs Committee chair and Arts & Technology senior, reported that parking pay stations are located at Lot K, the Student Services Building lot and Lot I, the Clark Center lot.

Students and visitors may use these kiosks to pay for

parking by the hour.

Student Regent applications are now available online.

The Student Regent is a non-voting, state adviser appointed by the governor.

Student Regents are not required to be on senate; however, he or she must be enrolled at UTD for the 2012-2013 year.

Applications should be submitted by Nov. 1 to sg@ utdallas.edu.

The Wildfire Benefit Committee was created to aid people suffering from wildfire damage across Texas. The committee will collect item donations and raise funds for one month to send to Austin.

Senate appointed Jacky Lam, Engineering and Computer Science junior, Yaqing Li, accounting graduate student and Natasha Upadhyay, global business junior.

A Sound Off will occur the week of Oct. 3.

Students will be able to give their feedback on the school through brief surveys at a booth.

Transportation to the school from remote parking lots A and B will arrive in mid to late October.

The two shuttles will also be used for special guests.

SG allocated up to $400 for the purchase of 20 senator polos.

The next senate meeting will be at 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 4 in one of the Galaxy Rooms.

energy drinks than just energy, specifically caffeine.

Most energy drink cans’ nutrition labels state the beverage contains 80-120 milligrams of caffeine per serving; but what people tend to miss is that there is usually more than one serving in each can, making it easy to exceed recommended daily caffeine levels by a large amount, said Kacey Luker, wellness coordinator with the Student Wellness Center.

“The recommended amount of caffeine that should be consumed in one day by most adults is about 300 milligrams,” Luker said.

“If people are drinking more than one of these energy

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011 drinks, as well as other sources of caffeine, they are consuming well over the recommended daily value of caffeine.”

Other common ingredients of these energy drinks are Guarana seed, Yerba Mate’ and green tea, which also contain caffeine in considerable amounts, according to the drug informational website, www.drugs.com. As a result, total consumption of caffeine is more than what is printed on the cans.

Other ingredients in energy drinks — including taurine, ephedrine, citric acid and gensing — are stimulants that, when taken in extremely high doses, may lead to high blood pressure, strokes, seizures and heart disease, according to reports in The New York Times and information from the Mayo Clinic.

Manufacturers of energy drinks recommend that consumers avoid drinking more than two per day, which Luker said she felt was still in excess.

“I would recommend that students don’t drink them at all, but some students will still choose to drink them,” she said. “The best recommendation I have for students who choose to consume energy drinks is to only consume one per day.”

Energy drinks can easily become a habit, Luker said, and students should be careful to avoid excess consumption.

“These drinks cause you to have high sparks of energy for some time and crash all of a sudden,” she said. “This is where people fall into drinking more than they should.”

UTD Police scanner

Sept. 14 • A student was arrested at the bookstore for theft.

• UTD Police received a report of criminal mischief to a motorcycle in Lot G. Sept. 19 • An unidentified person reported the theft of their bicycle.

• A student reported the

theft of their bicycle.

Sept. 20 • The director of the Dining Hall reported a burglary in one of his offices.

Sept. 21 • A student reported the theft of his cell phone.

Sept. 23 • UTD Police investi-

gated a vehicle crash in Lot D. Sept. 26 • Two non-affiliated females were issued Criminal Trespass Warnings after soliciting on campus near the Student Union.

Sept. 28 • A student reported a burglary to his vehicle.

Student, profs works to go on display in Jonsson Building

serve to display student artwork such as paintings, photographs and sculptures, and also may be used to feature books published by faculty members, said Beth Young, executive assistant.

The displays, which are the result of a collective decision by the building’s administrators, are currently empty.

The artwork intended to fill them will be chosen this October, with the selections made primarily on the basis of which pieces fit best in the available space.

The works themselves will be rotated out on a regular basis, Young said.

New display cases recently have recently been added in the Jonsson Building, near the Arts & Humanities suite.

The cases will primarily

— Kyle Reynolds

Opinion

OCT. 3, 2011 n THE MERCURY n WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Mayweather vs. Ortiz: An analysis of perception PAUL DANG Staff Writer

Every so often the world of sports opens up a window that lets us peer into the depths of human nature.

Such was the case of Mayweather vs.

Ortiz, the recent boxing match that shocked the world and enraged millions of Pay-Per-Viewers who forked over almost $70 to see an overhyped fight that turned out to be a four-round letdown.

Thanks to the determined marketing of boxing promoters, fans forgot how much they wanted the real thing in an all too familiar case of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Pacquiao!” Nevertheless, millions of viewers tuned in on Sept. 17 only to witness a bounty of unsportsmanlike behavior, which ended with Ortiz being KO’d by a cheap, yet legal, shot by Mayweather. The resulting sentiments about the fight give us a good example of how perception dictates our daily lives.

From the day the fight was announced, it became obvious that lines had been demarcated on the moral grounds of boxing fans everywhere. The ubiquitous struggle between good and evil would be respectively embodied by Victor Ortiz and Floyd Mayweather Jr. HBO’s promotional “24/7” series, which documented the fighters’ lives and training camps leading up to the bout, made no efforts to camouflage their blatant molding of the characters involved in what has now become the most theatrical sport in all of sportsdom (which dictionary.com says is a real word).

The juxtaposition of the two fighters was every sleazy boxing promoter’s dream: hungry newcomer vs. complacent champ. Brown vs. Black. Young vs. old. Poor vs. rich. Good guy vs. bad guy.

These were the makings of yet another clichéd boxing movie. However, any spectator with half a pulse could relate to the fighters on some level, and that’s what keeps seats warm in the world of boxing.

In one corner, Victor “Vicious” Ortiz, the newly touted champion proudly showcased his green WBC welterweight belt — a belt color indicative of his boxing career thus far.

Ortiz will forever be known by the inspiring story of his childhood in which he and his brother were abandoned by both of their parents when Victor was only 10 years old. For the subsequent years, the brothers had to fend for themselves, and Ortiz would discover the art of boxing as his form of redemption. This heart wrenching, rags-to-riches tale was a fact never forgotten by the boxing promoters who framed Ortiz’s entire career around that depiction.

The good guy role fell into Ortiz’s lap, as sympathies are naturally given in the world of sports to any individual who endured hardships coming up.

Don’t believe me? Just watch any sports movie.

What was strange though was how Ortiz grew more and more laid back and lighthearted as the date of the fight got closer. It was as if he was well aware of the role that had been given to him and that he knew he could do no wrong — a notion which would be tested by the actual fight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., in the oppo- 10-count. site corner, would get none of the grace Mayweather garnered his 42nd win his young challenger received. by way of knockout.

Probably the most hated prizefighter The masses however, would crown in present day pugilism, Pretty Boy their own winner of the fight based Floyd or Floyd “Money” Mayweather solely on the fighters’ reputation and — or whatever moniker his ego deems perceived roles. Despite both fighters suitable for the moment having made cheap shots, it would be — represents what is Mayweather receiving most of the pubwrong with boxing today. lic scorn while sympathies went out to Making $60 million- Ortiz. plus for 36-minute fights, More entertaining than the entire Mayweather lives a flashy fight itself, was the verbal fight between lifestyle signified by mak- Mayweather and announcer Larry ing it rain in his own gym Merchant. and burning hundred Mayweather belligerently cursed at dollar bills at nightclubs Merchant for not giving him fair coverduring a recession. He age and demanding HBO to fire him, admittedly fights solely for the money, to which Merchant replied with one of which makes sense in his case because the most hilarious lines in announcer he works as his own promoter in both history: “I wish I was 50 years younger the professional and conversational so I could kick your ass!” sense.

While the audience roared with apHe is notorious for verbally assault- proval to Merchant’s rebuttal, I couldn’t ing his abundant critics and also for help but seeing Mayweather’s side — physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend. despite how much I hated his persona.

Outspoken, brash and egotistical, While I agree with most people that Mayweather didn’t need much drama- Mayweather’s knockout was extremely tization on HBO’s “24/7” when he got unsportsmanlike, it’s important to note into an altercation with his own father that Ortiz broke all rules of civility with that almost ended in punches. his initial headbutt (or headbutts, pluFloyd Mayweather’s role as the antag- ral, if you ask Mayweather). onist would be permanently established And while Ortiz might say that the during the weigh-ins the night before headbutt was unintentional, anyone the fight when a heated stare-down be- with half a brain will tell you otherwise. tween him and Ortiz ended with May- Anytime someone apologizes to you weather choking his challenger. more than three times, there’s somePerhaps Ortiz had gotten into his thing up. head.

As someone who’s been boxing for Or maybe Mayweather was just tired almost seven years, and having been in of all the positive publicity his oppo- multiple amateur fights, I can tell you nent was getting while never getting the that if any one of my opponents purcredit he felt he deserved. posely attempts an illegal blow on me, Whatever the reason, the unsports- he’s getting one right back. I understand manlike conduct he displayed during where Mayweather was coming from weigh-ins would follow on that level. him into the ring.

However, in OrAs the fourth round tiz’s defense, if I were The ubiquiof the fight neared its him, I would’ve still tous struggle final seconds, it beheadbutted Maycame apparent that weather — not during between good Ortiz was frustrated the fight though, but and evil would by Mayweather’s during the weigh-ins be respectively elusive shoulder-roll when he put his hands defense, coupled by on me. In that conembodied the taunting smirk text, I also understand

by Victor Oron Mayweather’s his frustration in dealface whenever Oring with Mayweather. tiz and Floyd tiz missed his power In any case, both Mayweather punches.

Backing men proved to be Jr. Mayweather into a equally dirty fighters corner with an exploin this spectacle, but sive combo, a furious the media and fans Ortiz then did the unthinkable. tend to let Ortiz’s misconduct slide He headbutted the undefeated into the background as they shine the champ. searchlight on Mayweather’s dirty tacVeteran referee Joe Cortez separated tics. the fighters and penalized a point from After the dust settles and the fight Ortiz, who began to hug and apologize becomes one for the books, history will profusely to Mayweather for the illegal most likely remember this fight as the blow, saying it was unintentional. one where Mayweather won by a cheap As Cortez brought the two fighters shot while forgetting what preempted back together to resume fighting, Ortiz that shot. gave Mayweather a third and final apolMuch like how Mike Tyson will alogy. ways be remembered for biting Evander Immediately after embracing Ortiz, Holyfield’s ear off, most people ignoMayweather retaliated with his own rant to boxing don’t know that it was cheap shots to the unprepared Ortiz Holyfield’s incessant headbutts that who forgot the first rule of boxing: provoked Iron Mike.

“Protect yourself at all times.”

The microcosm of society that ocTwo-pieced as it were, Ortiz fell curred within the ropes that night backwards to the canvas almost in cin- proves that perception is key. ematic fashion as Mayweather tagged There are times when you win but him with a 3-2 combo that landed you’ll still lose, and other times when square on Ortiz’s chin. you lose but you might still win — deIt happened so fast the ref didn’t even pending on how much people like you. realize it until Ortiz was on the canvas.

Sometimes justice or ethical considOrtiz was oblivious to what had erations in society boils down to the age occurred even after he missed his old popularity contest.

Staff Writers Nada Alasmi Paul Dang Editor-in-Chief Shane Damico Managing Editor Bobby Karalla

Web Editor Dhamodaran Subramanian Photo Editor Albert Ramirez

Director of Sales and Promotions Jessica Melton

Features Editor Anwesha Bhattacharjee Media Adviser Chad Thomas

Staff Photographers Akshay Harshe Ben Hawkins Christopher Wang Contributors Caryn DiMarco Lauren Featherstone Andrew John Himani Khandare Liza Liberman Joseph Mancuso

John D. McCrary Kim Nguyen Cathryn Ploehn Amber Randall Kyle Reynolds

3

How do you think peer review of academic dishonesty cases would affect you?

“A panel of students would put you on the spot. They would know you cheated, and rumors spread quickly around here.”

Farez Nosahai Neuroscience sophomore “Might be fairer since there is a broader opinion. They might share a similar view of what happened to me.”

Philip Nevandt CE freshman “It depends who is on the panel.

If the students have a clear sense of justice that would make it more likely to punish harshly.”

Katie Ener IPE Graduate student “Students have to understand other students situations because they can relate to a stressful night. The administration will be against me.”

Kawtar Eljaouhari Psychology junior “If I were falsely accused it would help me since students are my peers.”

Gilbert Cedillo CE sophomore “I wouldn’t cheat, so I wouldn’t get caught.”

Wei Sun SOM graduate student

utdmercury.com

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. Evidence of

discrimination will be the basis of denial of advertising space.

The publication of advertising in The Mercury does not constitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or The University of Texas at Dallas, or the governing board of the institution.

Copyright © 2011 UT Dallas

E-MAIL: news@utdmercury.com

MAIL: 800 W. Campbell Road, SU 24, Richardson, TX 75080-0688

4

News

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Prof offers students advice on handling, avoiding constant threat of identity theft JARED PICKENS Finance Professor

This morning a man woke up, grabbed a latte – nonfat of course – and a bagel and then headed to the luxury car dealership. After spending a couple of hours looking over the inventory, selecting options and adding the navigation package and custom sound system, he made his purchase.

He then drove his new German-engineered luxury vehicle to the mall, where he picked up a couple of custom tailored suits, an iPad 2 and a pair of diamond earrings for his girlfriend.

Sounds like a pretty nice life, right? And the best part about his day wasn’t all the stuff he bought. The best part was that he didn’t have to pay for any of it. You did.

Identity theft continues to pose an enormous threat to people across the United States. The federal government estimates that approximately 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.

That translates to one identity stolen every four seconds. In fact, in the time it took you to read my opening story, approximately three identities were

stolen somewhere in the United States alone.

With these staggering statistics, it is more important than ever to understand how thieves steal identities and to learn how to protect yourself.

Unfortunately, no one is immune from having his or her identity stolen. You were at risk from the day you were born.

How thieves steal identities Unfortunately for the consumer, identity thieves go to great measures to steal identities. The following are the most common ways for thieves to get access to your important and personal information: Dumpster diving – This is probably the dirtiest way for someone to steal your identity — literally. Thieves will actually go swimming in your trash, looking for anything with your personal information on it. The thief may visit your trash on a weekly basis to try and put items together.

For example, one week he may identify your name and address, and the following

week he will return looking for more information such as a driver’s license number, social security number or bank account numbers.

Because of the crude nature of this type of theft, many would think that this is the least popular way for thieves to get your identity; but the truth of the matter is that dumpster diving is still the primary way your personal data can be stolen.

Skimming – Have you ever been in a rush and quickly swiped your debit or credit card to fill your car with gas? Or maybe you needed to quickly get some cash out of the ATM and didn’t notice the little device attached to the outside of the credit card slot. These devices are called skimmers and can be very hard to detect, especially if you’re just quickly swiping your card.

The skimmer basically makes a digital copy of your debit or credit card information, allowing the thief access to enough information to either use your existing card or open up another card in your name.

Phishing – Phishing usually takes place in the form of an email disguised as an official message from a bank or credit union. The email will state some sort of problem that needs your attention and asks you to enter your personal information, such as a username and password or account number, in order to “access your account.” Phishing emails are often very sophisticated, using actual logos from the bank or company being imitated. Some phishing emails will even ask you to click on a link to “reset your password” and will direct you to a page that looks identical to your bank’s homepage.

Surfing – This usually takes place when you are at an ATM, on a public computer or at a checkout line at the local grocery store. Surfing is the act of a thief using his or her cell phone, or other electronic device, to take still images of your debit or credit card number, or other personal information, while you are preoccupied.

Types of identity theft There are several types of identity theft out there. The three most common types that you are susceptible to as a college student are: Financial identity theft — The most common type of identity theft, in which someone will use your personal information for their economic gain, similar to this article’s opening story.

Criminal identity theft — This happens when a thief gives your personal information, such as a drivers’ license, date of birth or Social Security number, to a law enforcement officer during an investigation or

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011 upon arrest. This isn’t the most common type of identity theft, but it does happen.

Medical identity theft — This can occur when a thief checks into a hospital for either an emergency visit or elective surgery visits using your personal information.

The thief gets the medical care they need (or want), but you get the hefty bill.

This type of identity theft is especially harmful because it can cause your medical records to be incorrect.

How to protect yourself from identity theft Although the government has taken certain measures to help protect your personal information, the onus is on you to keep your own personal data safe and private. In order to keep your credit report positive, medical files correct and criminal record clean, it is wise to try and follow the following guidelines: • Shred all documents that have any kind of personal information on them, including your name, address, account numbers and Social Security number.

This includes credit card offers or other offers from retailers. One good way to avoid having to shred all of your mail is to opt into electronic mail options offered by banks and retailers.

It will save you the hassle of shredding and it’s good for the environment.

• Update your antivirus on your computer regularly and encrypt your wireless Internet connection.

• Change your online banking passwords every three to four months.

• Consider “opting out” from receiving new

credit card offers and other junk mail. You can do this online at www.optoutprescreen.com. An additional advantage of opting out is that it will reduce your junk mail by 50 to 75 percent.

• Limit the number of debit and credit cards that you have and carry with you. Unless you are accepting a new job, it is NEVER a good idea to carry your social security card with you.

• Request a free copy of your credit report every three months at www. annuacreditreport.com to make sure there isn’t any new activity on your credit unless you have authorized it.

Identity theft is a major issue and can take years to recover from.

It is especially common among college students, primarily because of their transient lifestyles; so don’t think it can’t happen to you.

Take the time to understand your risks and remember to guard your personal information at all times.

I highly doubt that you would be willing to foot someone else’s bill for a new car, jewelry or even a cup of coffee for that matter.

To find out more information about identity theft or to learn what steps to take if you become a victim, you can visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website at www.ftc.gov.

If you are interested in learning more about personal finance, consider taking FIN 3300 as an upper-level elective for undergraduates or FIN 6300 for graduate students. Please email jared. pickens@utdallas.edu if you have any questions or are interested in taking a class.

News

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

5

UNICEF starts strong with Spina Bifida Week PAUL DANG Mercury Staff

UTD’s UNICEF chapter will host a weeklong charity event starting Oct. 3, making it the largest endeavor the newly founded group has coordinated since its arrival at the university.

The United Nations Children’s Fund is an emergency relief organization that provides aid and welfare to children in need around the world. Its efforts have been seen recently in Japan in response to the massive tsunami that struck in March, as well as in Haiti where a powerful earthquake leveled much of the country in January 2010.

Having been on campus for only a year now, the UNICEF chapter at UTD is an association of likeminded students who wish to promote philanthropy at the university.

Their upcoming fundraiser aims to raise money and awareness for the prevalent

BOMB

continued from page 1 contacted the Plano Police Department bomb squad who then informed the FBI of the situation, MacKenzie said.

According to police, the explosive consisted of a two-liter bottle filled with unknown chemicals.

Police said witnesses reported a bottle explosion had occurred prior to offi-

INTEGRITY

continued from page 1 of revisiting the policies to look for possible changes that could be made, Fitch said.

“As I recall, he had three or four things that he had raised, and a natural reaction for us is if someone is complaining is we’re going to look into that.

We’re not going to say there’s nothing to it,” he said. “And … the scholastic dishonesty policies were already been looked at and the article just spurred things along.”

A committee of students was created last year by Fitch, comprised of members of the Student Government, including then-SG president Grace Bielawski. The committe was tasked with reading through the policies and recommending — from a student perspective — what needed to be changed to make them fair to students, said Lewis Chang,

birth defect, spina bifida, which plagues about 1,500 newborn babies each year.

During Spina Bifida Week, members of UTD’s UNICEF will hold a bake sale in the SU throughout the entire week and a host talent show on Oct. 10 on the plinth outside the SU. Proceeds of the event will go directly to the overarching UNICEF organization and the Spina Bifida Association of North Texas.

Kamal Albright, psychology senior, orchestrated a 5K walk, which will give away Tshirts and frozen yogurt as a culmination to the week.

“This is the first time I’ve organized an event of this caliber, but through my whole life I’ve always been a person that gravitated towards helping others,” he said.

Albright, who had never heard of spina bifida before, learned about the debilitating disease from a fellow UNICEF member, Sasha Burrowes,

neuroscience junior, who told Albright about her 5-year-old brother who had the ailment and how every day was a constant struggle for him.

“It’s been really hard on my family,” Burrowes said.

“But we’ve been thankful that we at least live in a country where that sort of medical treatment is available. And that’s one of the things I wanted to emphasize with this week. Kids in other third world countries in Africa and South American countries — even over in Europe — they don’t have this kind of treatment available.”

Interactions like these are what give the organization its momentum, its members said.

The university’s UNICEF chapter members come from diverse cultures and walks of life, but their appeals to humanitarianism unite their assembly.

Isis Lopez, molecular biol-

cers’ arrival on scene. The explosion reportedly made a very loud noise and quickly dispensed chemical fumes, which smelled distinctly of chlorine.

Following their investigation, police arrested Stettler on Sept. 15 on charges of detonating “explosive weapons” or “chemical dispensing devices.”

Stettler said he could not comment in great detail about the incident

UTD graduate and former SG Academic Affairs chair.

Through this process of revaluation, the Dean of Students’ Office has proposed a number of policy changes to make it more student-friendly, Fitch said. Among these changes is the creation of a hearing committee instead of relying on a single arbiter for academic dishonesty cases.

UTD has also heightened dependence on faculty for grades and sanctions, he said.

These revisions have been sent to the UT System Board of Regents and are pending approval, although the university has started preparing for these changes, said Susan McKee, judicial affairs officer at UTD’s Office of Judicial Affairs.

In the past, if a student chose to appeal a scholastic dishonesty charge, a single faculty member served as arbiter for the case. However, the faculty member who

CHRISTOPHER WANG/STAFF

Kamal Albright (left) hands out flyers to students in the SU to promote UNICEF’s Spina Bifida Week. The weeklong event will start on Oct. 3 and culminate with a 5K walk on Oct. 29.

ogy junior, became president of the group this semester, but her familiarity with UNICEF and its work extends long back into her childhood.

“When I lived in Honduras, UNICEF would give out vaccinations, so I got my smallpox vaccinations from them,” Lopez said.

This simple yet lasting act of kindness made an impres-

sion Lopez who has decided to enter the medical profession, so she can extend the same helping hand that was once offered to her.

Lopez said Spina Bifida Week was only the beginning of UNICEF’s work at UTD, and a much larger Justice Week event will be hosted next semester.

The magnitude of the

weeklong juncture wouldn’t be void of obstacles, as the walk had to move from its original date of Oct. 8 to Oct. 29 due to a conflicting charity walk scheduled by Kappa Alpha Theta on the same Saturday.

Despite the delay, Albright still expects the walk to consist of at least 100-150 participants.

or his pending legal case, but he disagreed with the police department’s use of the terms “explosion” and a “bomb,” which Stettler said were more like a “pop” and a “soda bottle.”

“A chemical bomb sounds pretty extreme,” he said.

Stettler also said he felt the initial pursuit of the three students who were not involved in the incident — and the force used to enter their apartment

— fueled the severity of the actions taken against him.

“The reason they’re pursuing such harsh action and are following through with such big threats is because, (I) feel, to cover up the fact that they used way too much force that night for an instant that they overhyped,” Stettler said.

UTD and Plano police said they take all bomb threats seriously, large or small.

“An explosion is an explosion,” MacKenzie said.

“So if I use a small bullet on you, it’s not as bad as a big bullet?”

MacKenzie said the officers made a lot of quick judgment calls the night of the incident, but the level of force used was still standard procedure.

“A lot goes by our own observations. Our officers observed three guys running from them — even though it wasn’t to the

right apartment — they were giving pursuit,” MacKenzie said.

“The fact that all of a sudden now these people aren’t coming to the door — we gave them every chance in the world to come to the door, we even told them that they were going to be responsible for any damage if we had to force our way — they gave them more time than what I probably would have given someone.”

reported the alleged act of dishonesty did not have any role in the judgment process.

In the future, a panel consisting of faculty and students will hear all cases. Additionally, the faculty member who suspects a student of dishonesty, such as cheating on a test, will have a stronger say in the punishment, so that a student may be graded zero on a particular test rather than made to fail the entire course.

“In the past, there was only one hearing officer, whereas now there will be lots of different people looking over a case and deliberating as to the outcome,” Chang said. “I think that will certainly help make it better for the students and will help eliminate bias.”

Although Davis didn’t have the advantages of the changes, his academic career didn’t end in 2010. UTD President David Daniel reduced Davis’ expulsion to failing the course.

Davis said he was happy that the university decided to look at its policies after he wrote his piece in AMP. Side by side, students who are charged with scholastic dishonesty have the right to appeal and should be aware of school policies, he said.

One of the first things students should do to avoid getting into situations like that is to review the guidelines on the Office of Judicial Affairs website, Davis said.

“My biggest piece of advice to students would be that whenever you consider working with another student at any level and for any reason, make sure you clarify by your professor in writing, that what you are planning on doing is OK with him and the policies of the school,” he said. “I definitely regretted making the decision (to show my work), and would have done things differently had I done it again.”

TRUE TALES OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

— Judd Bradbury, senior lecturer, SOM “Recently, a student came under heavy suspicion for sitting in between two cheating students in a class test. Through the entire process of hearing, it became evident to me that he was completely honest. Students need to know what actions could be considered dishonest and extricate themselves from uncomfortable situations to prevent any suspicion from falling on them.”

— Elizabeth Salter, senior lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies “Students were asked to write a paper comparing zoo primates and primates in the wild. The student in my class took all the information and photos from a single well-known and famous study of chimps and simply changed the names of the chimps in the book to the chimps observed at the zoo. These are famous chimps, which are easily recognized by sight. The text sounded familiar but the picture of ‘Flo’ was a dead give-away.”

— Sarah Bloomfield, student member of the disciplinary committee “You do your work and you definitely help your friends through that process, but they really need to be helped — if you’re just giving them the answers they’re not learning anything and eventually, when they do get a job they won’t be successful. I think the most difficult job for a judge is to decide, after finding the student guilty, what’s the sentence that will help him in the future. That was the reason why I was interested, because I genuinely want to help these people to continue further on.”

DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE The discipline committee will be available for both scholastic dishonesty and student misconduct cases, said Kimberly Winkler, associate dean in the Dean of Students’ Office.

The selection of both students and faculty will be made annually every spring semester.

The panel must have at least two faculty members and one student available for a hearing to take place, although usually about seven or eight people are expected to attend, Dean of Students Gene Fitch said.

“We wanted students who were invested in the process even though they were not involved on campus,” Winkler said. “The students that we selected are connected to the campus and could see the value in this process being effective and help the campus as a whole.”

ACADEMIC INTERGITY IN THE SOM In a preparatory move, the School of Management has also looked at its own policies of academic integrity.

Faculty members in the SOM will have more control over choosing what sanctions they impose unlike before, said Douglas Eckel, assistant dean in the SOM. “The faculty felt that it wasn’t worthwhile going through the process if they had no control over the outcome,” he said. “Some faculty felt the sanctions were too harsh and some felt they were too moderate so we were assuming that this would make the faculty more interested in pursuing submissions to (the Office of) Judicial Affairs when they caught student dishonesty.”

While numbers from the Office of Judicial Affairs indicate that management students make up the largest group of the reported cases, Eckel said it wasn’t more of a problem than before and may be attributed to the large student population in the SOM. However, while the number of plagiarism cases has gone down from 58 cases in 2004-05 to just two in 2010-11, cheating cases have increases from 10 cases in 2004-05 to 41 in 2010-11 in the SOM alone.

As a result, along with policy changes that have been sent out to all faculty in the SOM to insert in their syllabi, an additional update on newer and high-tech techniques of cheating have also been given out to teaching assistants and faculty, Eckel said.

To increase awareness about academic integrity and encouraging students to be honest, the SOM management has also decided to subject scholarship applicants to a background check from the Office of Judicial Affairs to ensure they have a clean academic record, Eckel said.

6

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM n THE MERCURY n

L&A

OCT. 3, 2011

UP,

UP&

AWAY Student launches weather balloons into space JOSEPH MANCUSO Mercury Staff

S

ome students measure their success in A’s and B’s; sophomore Cody Morris, however, measures his success in the miles he puts between his weather balloons and the Earth’s surface.

The mechanical engineering student has been working on sending up see BALLOON page 9

PHOTO BY AKSHAY HARSHE/STAFF, GRAPHIC BY CARYN DiMARCO/STAFF

Mechanical engineering senior Cody Morris, far right, prepares to send out a weather balloon 10,000 ft. into the atmosphere to study weather phenomena. This balloon, called the Ardent Dawn, was launched on Sept. 26 equipped with two cameras and a camcorder. Although it is Morris’ hobby, he submitted the project for an undergraduate research grant.

Coming to the defense

New taco joint offers homemade recipes LIZA LIBERMAN Mercury Staff

CHRISTOPHER WANG/STAFF

UTD senior Richard Green ,center, teaches Kung Fu moves to members of his new martial arts club outside the Activity Center, where the club meets every Tuesday and Thursday.

UTD student starts new Kung Fu club AMBER RANDALL Mercury Staff

Richard Green, Arts & Performance senior, is in the process of founding a new club at UTD, one that in his words has the power to change lives.

Green’s passion for Kung Fu and the changes it brought to his own life led him to found the Kung Fu club at UTD in the spring of 2011.

Despite the existence of multiple martial arts organizations on campus, Kung Fu has a Chinese origin, and Green wanted to cater specifically to the Chinese population at UTD. Green stumbled upon the art about eight years ago when he drove past the Tyler Kung Fu and Fitness School. Growing up in a somewhat violent neighborhood, Green was often put in situations where he experienced physical altercations.

“I was looking for fights: I was a very angry person, a very self-destructive person and I

had nowhere I could put that emotion,” Green said.

When he came across the school, he believed it would be a place where he could release his anger.

His first experience with Kung Fu came when he was supremely bested by one of the school’s senior students, in a martial arts fight.

Since then, Green was drawn to Kung Fu and what it had to offer.

“They (the instructors) show you what you aren’t capable of and what you can’t do and then show you how to do it,” Green said. “That takes patience.”

Kung Fu brought under control to Green’s volatile temper, he said. Now Green wants to teach other students about the power Kung Fu can have in their lives. The physical aspect of Kung Fu should appeal to the athletically

see KUNG FU page 9

Inspired by tradition and fueled by more than two years of planning and hard work, Taco Ocho finally became a reality this May. The restaurant is located just four miles from campus and isn’t exactly what you would expect from a traditional taquería.

With its exposed ceilings, brick walls and industrial lighting, Taco Ocho maintains the authenticity of your neighborhood taco shop and adds a little space of its own with a hand painted mural of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City and a communal sitting area, offered in the center of the restaurant.

While Tacho Ocho owner Mani Bhushan is originally from India, many of the recipes used in his restaurant were passed down from generation to generation on his wife’s side of the family, a native to Monterrey, Mexico. Other recipes are

influenced by different Latin American countries.

The beef Colorado taco, for example, got its flavors from Ecuador, and the sabantina torta was created using an Argentinian flavor profile.

“We took the best of the most familiar Latin and Mexican flavors and presented our own take on them,” Bhushan said.

Ocho’s simple menu features eight options for each of the three traditional dishes —Tacos, tortas and tostadas.

Dishes include the classic chicken fajita and more complex creations like the sonoran tostada, which contains cactus, jicama and pickled jalapenos.

The quality of the food is another noticeable aspect of the eatery.“Our main focus is freshness, portions, and just making good, traditional dishes,” Bhushan said.

His dedication to creating high caliber food

see TACO page 8

BEN HAWKINS/STAFF

Taco Ocho is a new Mexican-Latin restaurant that opened in May at 930 E. Campbell Road, four miles from the UTD campus. The place has authentic Mexican decor and ambience.

L&A

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

7

Celebrations September brings campus to life

Arrr! Students dress like pirates before steping into the “cog” during SUABB’s “Talk-LikeA-Pirate-Day” in the SU mall on Sept. 19. Wenches and Jack Tars danced to music and took turns holding the loot while geting their pictures taken. “Talk-Like-A-Pirate-Day” is recognized across the globe by many countries and has become an iconic event.

AKSHAY HARSHE/STAFF

(Left) Students celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on Sept.

1 in honor of Lord Ganesh, the god of learning and wisdom. The clay idols of the god are worshipped for 10 days and immersed in water in farewell at the end.

(Below) Engineering graduate student serves guests at the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.

(Below right) Global business sophomore Rajesh Sethi offers prayers and flowers to the clay idol of Lord Ganesh.

AKSHAY HARSHE/STAFF

Scan this with a smart phone to find more pictures. Don’t have a smart phone?

The content can be found on the Web at www.utdmercury. com.

MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION/COURTESY

(Above) Muslim Student Association members break fast for Eid during the month of Ramadan while enjoying a game of scrable in the Galaxy rooms.

(Left) Students and staff enjoy a catered Tex-Mex meal as part of Hispanic Heritage Month in the Galaxy rooms on Sept. 29. Diners enjoyed music by Jose Apponte, a Brazilian Carnival Band.

ALBERT RAMIREZ/STAFF

Biology and business administration double major and sophomore Godswill Uwa “dukes it out” in a friendly game of Donkey Kong as part of the Super Mario’s Birthday Celebration Bash II hosted by SUAAB in the Galaxy rooms on Sept. 14.

ALBERT RAMIREZ/STAFF

8

L&A

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

Changing the dynamics of management

Dean reflects on SOM’s history and future goals SHANE DAMICO Editor-in-Chief

As part of the series on dean profiles, SOM dean Hasan Pirkul sat down with The Mercury for a quick Q&A. Where are you originally from?

I’m Turkish actually. I was born and raised in Turkey. I came to the United States as an exchange student in high school. I attended Polytechnic School in Pasadena.

Right across the street from Cal Tech and I decided that I would come back and get my college education in the united states but the program I was with required us to come back for at least some period of time and so I went back and finished college in Istanbul and immediately after finishing college I returned to the U.S. for my graduate studies.

I went to the University of Rochester in New York and took an assistant professor job at Ohio State after that and I stayed there for 15 years … I was very active in research and Ph.D. education particularly, I created the Center for Information Technologies and Management and led that group, the highest group there and 15 years later I came here.

This is my second job ever and I’m in my 16th year here.

What do you think you did that got UTD’s attention?

You know, I had a few years before then. They had a full professorship position at UTD and I interviewed for that position and they gave me an offer and I turned them down at the time because the offer was not competitive.

So they knew me from that experience and then they came after that and hired one of my Ph.D. students soon after that. When they started to search for a dean, somebody said why don’t we go get Hasan, this guy knows what he’s doing, he shares our values and commitment to high quality education and he seems like he’s capable.

He could be a dean. And that’s how they came to contact me.

My initial reaction was negative; I didn’t want to be a dean. I was a research faculty, I spent 75 percent of my time doing research working with Ph.D. students and that’s what appealed to me.

This administrative position meant I would give up my research and so that really, at first, was not ap-

CHRISTOPHER WANG/STAFF

SOM Dean Hasan Pirkul talks about his initial reluctance to accept an acdemic position and his dreams for the years to come.

pealing at all, but you know they said we don’t want you to come here and be a dean, we want you to come here and build this place and we’re going to support you and then the story changed — because then it was no longer an administrative position where I would manage, it was all of a sudden a big challenge and that challenge was exciting … the more I thought about it the more I got interested and when I visited them my assessment was that I had, at best, a fifty-fifty chance to build the kind of school

I wanted to be associated with. But talking with my wife, I remember saying ‘fifty-fifty odds are not bad, I’ll go take it and lets go there and build the school.’

What encouraged you to leave Turkey?

I just wanted to get a Ph.D. and then go back and contribute, this is more or less the same idea that made me be a dean, the same idea led me to get a Ph.D. But once I got my Ph.D., then it was a very difficult decision to go back to turkey because the environ-

ment in turkey is not very supportive in higher education for the type of research that I wanted to do.

I went to a tough school, worked really hard on my dissertation.., and I was afraid that if I returned then I would succumb to the environment and then stop my research.

What was the School of Management like when you first arrived?

There were 29 faculty members on tenured track and 12 or 13 not tenured track: small school, pretty

bad undergraduate program, high quality faculty — small — but high quality, programs were not very good overall, the school was not wellknown.

They really, in my opinion, were not competing in the major leagues and they weren’t in that state mentally.

Are you the only international dean at UTD? Well I guess if you think about it, a lot of these guys see DEAN page 9

Lots of pretty faces, not a lot of laughs JOHN D. McCRARY Mercury Staff

As a movie critic, it’s my job to fearlessly plunge into the unknown of new movies and come back to rejoice — or in this case warn — about the experience.

Well I’m having a hard time finding a way of sharing this experience with you, my reader,

because I’ve never been asked to report back on a movie this bad.

So in lieu of my usual anecdote, I’ll just tell you what happened and you can make of it what you will.

It’s 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and I’m in a dark movie theatre with some familiar faces from other DFW publications and a few of their plus-

ones. All in all, probably 15 to 20 warm bodies were at this screening of “What’s Your Number?”

Over the course of the entire film, which is a romantic comedy by the way, two people laughed two times, and both instances were little more than friendly chuckles.

This movie is 104 minutes long.

It could be that it was

WWW.AVCLUB.COM

“What’s Your Number?” is a romantic comedy that features a lot of young talent, and nothing

TACO

continued from page 6 came from years of experience working for a large Mexican fast-food chain, where he witnessed the lack of quality and freshness of the ingredients that were being served to customers.

When Bhushan set out to open his own restaurant, he said he decided that the quality and authenticity of his food were going to be of the utmost importance.

Bhushan said Taco Ocho uses fresh herbs and sauces that are made daily, right in his kitchen; and when it comes to cooking he uses the highest caliber of ingredients

such as Kosher salt and olive oil.

While Taco Ocho may be a little more expensive than your neighborhood taquería, with tacos at $3.50 each, they’re worth it. Every taco contains the most flavorful ingredients and an unheard of three to four ounces of meat.

The friendly staff, great atmosphere and beautiful décor perfectly accentuate the delicious food of Taco Ocho.

The flavors of Latin America and Mexico blend well in this restaurant and its commitment to service and quality make it the place to visit the next time you feel like grabbing a zesty bite to eat.

early and a small crowd of nothing but stodgy, grumpy ol’ movie critics, or it could be that this is just a bad movie.

Who knows, maybe your theatre will be packed with bachelorette parties and Anna Farris fan clubs.

I know I went in ready to forgive it for being a romantic comedy, but conventions and clichés aside, this movie just doesn’t have anything going for it.

The story centers on Ally Darling, played by Anna Farris, as she tracks down her ex-boyfriends in the hopes that one of them might have turned into “the one” since they’ve parted.

She reads in a Marie Claire article that if a woman has had more than 20 sexual partners then she won’t be able to find a husband.

So she swears off new men and starts scouring her list of 20 exes with her Casanova neighbor,

played by Chris Evans (Captain America).

You would think that having a list would give this story some structure, or maybe opportunities for comedy, but it fails to keep this already shallow movie from wandering or taking its time.

I had plenty of chances to step back and ask myself if this scene was really needed to further the story. A couple times I even asked twice.

Farris can be a bit of a polarizing figure, but I find her ditsy airhead routine funny. I’m a fan.

As the lead in a story that relies heavily on characters, what makes her funny just makes it seem like she doesn’t really care about what’s going on.

Being fired from her job, handling multiple rejections from exes and facing family conflict before her sister’s wedding is all met with the same cute doe-eyed reaction, so there is really no way to tell what matters and

what doesn’t.

She’s not the only talent whose performance just falls flat.

The NBC male comedy line up of Joel McHale (Community), Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) and Andy Sandberg (Saturday Night Live) may look like a funny man A-Team, but these are the sirens 20th Century Fox has employed to help cover production costs for their bigger projects.

Don’t get the wrong idea though. It’s not the actors who aren’t funny here. It’s their parts. There just isn’t anything funny in this story.

OK, so it’s not all that funny, but that’s only one half of the romantic comedy equation.

Well, this movie certainly doesn’t pull any punches (or do anything with the freedom that comes from an R rating), and Mr. Evans is fresh off men and starts scouring see NUMBER page 9

L&A

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

BALLOON

continued from page 6 the balloons for the past two years. Now he hopes that all his hard work in the field will pay off, in both research grants and a future career.

Though it has always been a childhood dream of Morris’ to work for NASA and send things to space, his interest in weather balloons and the heights they can reach was sparked in early 2010.

After reading an article about a European professor who launched a simple balloon with just a camera attached to it, Morris decided to take a similar approach.

“I thought the whole idea of it was really cool,” Morris said. “I did a bunch of research on it for about six months, just looking into what all it would take to actually accomplish it all. After a while, I decided I wanted to try a launch of my own.”

Morris was both challenged and inspired by two M.I.T. students who, in September 2009, gained national attention when they managed to send a camera to high altitudes using a weather balloon and a tight budget; incredibly, the students managed to launch the balloon for just shy of $150.

“I had the mentality that if two kids from M.I.T. could do it, there was no reason I couldn’t do it,” Morris said.

Since then, he has sent weather balloons into the atmosphere on two different occasions, each time capturing breathtaking photos from 100,000 feet

KUNG FU

continued from page 6 inclined, Green said, and is perfect for those who love a challenge, as Kung Fu is a life long sport and the learning never ends. Green still spends time working to master and learn new techniques of Kung Fu, practicing approximately four to six hours a day.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Kung Fu is that it exists only for the strong. However, there are aspects of Kung Fu that cater to those who are physically weaker, said Luke Tiner, the club’s vice president and Arts & Technology senior.

above the Earth’s surface.

“It is kind of a ‘wow’ factor to see photos that look almost like you are space — photos you took from 18 miles in the air and show you the curvature of the earth,” Morris said. “Most people appreciate that for what it is.”

Morris launched his first weather balloon on Sept. 5, 2010. It was simple, with little more than a camera and a GPS-enabled cell phone onboard.

The launch served as a test-run on a budget; Morris spent about $300.

“I did a balloon launch on Labor Day last year, which was semi-successful,” Morris said. “The GPS failed and we lost the balloon within the first 15 minutes. But a farmer found it about 16 days later and gave me a call, so everything was good.”

Once the balloon was recovered and Morris realized it was something he could really pull off, he set his sights even higher above the clouds.

On Sept. 26, Morris held his second balloon launch in Royse City.

He scheduled for two balloons to be launched early that Sunday morning; the Ardent Dawn and the Air Avant.

The Ardent Dawn made it into the air after the balloons swapped payloads, to accommodate excess weight, but the Air Avant fell victim to high wind speeds, which effectively ended the balloon’s short journey.

“The launch was a 50/50 success,” he said. “One of the balloons did not get enough lift from the windy conditions and ended up in power lines. The other

balloon took off, however, and was a success.”

The Ardent Dawn was outfitted with two cameras and a camcorder to record its journey, while the Air Avant’s payload contained a gutted out netbook equipped with the necessary sensors to monitor various atmospheric conditions, as well as cameras.

The balloons were each equipped with a GPS tracking device to help with recovery.

Under ideal circumstances, the balloons reach heights near or above 100,000 feet, or nearly 19 miles, before popping and falling back to the earth.

If Morris can gather the funding, he hopes to set his balloons apart from the other homemade balloons by making them more scientific in their pursuits, as time goes on.

“I did a submission for the undergraduate research scholarship,” Morris said.

“If I got the grant for that, I want to study ferrofluids at high altitudes.”

Morris is planning to send another balloon off this winter to make up for the Air Avant’s failed launch.

The balloon is expected to carry various weather sensors. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about Morris’ launches or viewing the galleries from the balloons’ journeys can visit www.aerialparade.com.

“This is a hobby, though I want to get into aerospace,” Morris said. “If I get into anything that has to do with going up to space, then this would definitely be the kind of start I have been looking for.”

“Smaller people come in all the time and it doesn’t take very long to show them that using what they have they can easily subdue an attacker twice or three times their size,” Green said.

Women also have a lot to gain from learning Kung Fu, Tiner said.

“A lot of Kung Fu is developed specifically for women to protect their honor, as in rape prevention,” he said.

Currently, the club consists of about eight members, all of whom are beginners. While other clubs may follow the same pattern at each meeting, Green and Tiner said they try to introduce new techniques at each meet.

“I see a lot of places, they’ll just have a set routine,” Tiner said. “We have order but it’s not always going to be the exact same thing.”

Green encourages more experienced students to come in and share what they know. He also wants to recreate the atmosphere found at most Kung Fu schools.

“Kung Fu schools always have a strong family type atmosphere and I want to keep that going with the people I meet here,” Green said. “I want everyone who comes in to feel like they are a part of something.”

The club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. outside the Activity Center.

NUMBER

continued from page 8 his Captain America work out routine.

While the leads are both pretty and charming, they certainly don’t create anything special as a couple.

In the moment when the resident lady killer tries to be thoughtful, he just points

DEAN

continued from page 8 are international in the sense that a few generations ago their parents came from somewhere else. That’s what’s nice about the U.S., the U.S. is more accepting of people who are from other places.

But frankly, I have spent 35 years of my life here in the United States. My experience in high school made it to where I was particularly adjusted to the culture. I don’t feel like I’m an outsider. When I look at Dean Kratz I don’t see a dean different from me because he was born here and I wasn’t born here.

Do you feel like you’ve had any landmark achievements so far?

Oh, I don’t know, I don’t believe in landmark achievements. I believe that achievements come in small steps and they add up to — in the end — something significant. And if you look at what this school has become I think it is a significant change from what it was before.

We are internationally recognized now, particularly in our

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

9

some lamps at Ally’s quirky little art projects so they’re just kind of lit up a little better, in a fully lit apartment.

Ally may gasp, but it’s a bit anticlimactic to say the least.

I don’t relish the task of trash talking but truth be told, the only commendation goes to the casting agents who somehow managed to get a relatively talented cast of comedians together for a movie

that really just isn’t funny.

The opening credits are a montage of pages and articles from indeterminable women’s magazines.

This is a story that is clearly born out of the world of diets, dating advice and scented advertisements.

If you need to scratch your Rom-Com itch this weekend, just go rent Bridesmaids.

3/10

strength in the research field, but we are also recognized for the excellence of our programs.

That is not an easy task to accomplish in 15 years because universities don’t change that quickly and perceptions don’t change that quickly.

We have been going full steam ahead in order to (accomplish) this change.

they are undergraduates or grad, I have tremendous confidence in my students.

I always say I will take my students and put them up against any other school in whatever competition they desire. I think we probably would lose in weight lifting and a few sports, but leave the sports aside, if we are talking about mental gymnastics our students will win.

Part of it is because they are smarter than most other universities’ but I guarantee you that there are other universities out there where their average is smarter than ours. It’s not just about brains, it’s about attitude, and our students have the right attitude.

They want to win, and it makes the difference. We can take on most universities just on our brains and the ones that are equally smart or even smarter than us, we will take them on because we will work harder and we will work smarter than them, we are more willing than them.

That’s the definition of our school, not just the students, but from the dean down that’s the culture. We shall not be denied and whatever it takes we will do it.

Do you have any future goals for the SOM? I want us to build an undergraduate program that is a model program. You give your student the opportunities to obtain the skills that others are failing to give their students.

If you stop and think about it, undergraduate education is very different from graduate education. You take a 17-year-old and you have an opportunity to mold them. By the time they leave here them for four years — sometimes five if they don’t work hard.

They are like my kids. That’s how I look at them and that’s my responsibility.

How do you see UTD students?

I visualize them as hardworking, driven students. Whether

10

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM n THE MERCURY n

Sports

OCT. 3, 2011

Two-setter system has volleyball on top ANDREW JOHN Mercury Staff

The UTD volleyball team extended its winning streak to five and improved its ASC record to 4-1 after sweeping Mississippi College on the road on Sept. 24 The team has had a promising start to the season. So far, the only ASC team that has defeated the Lady Comets is the consistently tough Crusaders from the University of Mary HardinBaylor. Although the final score of that match was 1-3, each set was close, so UTD looks forward to the next time the two teams meet.

“We just didn’t play well. We just got outplayed,” head coach Marci Sanders said. “We didn’t play at our potential. We gave up too many runs and points. We had lineup issues that night where we had to make quite a few changes that were unexpected. But I think we’re going to be ready when they come here. I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”

Despite the disappointing result from their first conference game, the Lady Comets bounced back from the loss with five consecutive wins. Recently, the team traveled to Clinton, Miss. to play against the Mississippi College Choctaws. UTD played well that game and prevented Mississippi from winning a single set.

Junior Hillary Baugh led the team with 10 kills, while junior Halea Williams and freshman Taylor Toso followed closely behind with nine and eight kills, respectively.

Following the Mississippi game, sophomore Tabitha Terrell earned the honor of the ASC Defensive Player of the Week. Terrell tallied a total of 16 blocks in the matches against Mississippi, the University of Texas at Tyler and Centenary College.

The team’s success may be related to a change in its gameplay strategy. At the start of the season, the Lady Comets were playing with freshman Hayden Higgins as the lone setter. Since then, the team has modified its playing style to utilize freshman Chelsea McHenry as another setter. Now, the two freshmen split the rotations.

“They’re both learning a lot. They’re both working hard, and they’re both doing a great job for us,” Sanders commented. “Since our last loss, we started splitting time, and we’ve been undefeated since we’ve made that change. (McHenry) has come leaps and bounds from the beginning of the season and really changed her effort in practice to make the program better.”

Sept. 30 through Oct. 1, UTD participated in the first of two ASC “Dig Pink” Crossover Challenges. Texas Lutheran University, or TLU, in Seguin, Texas, served as the host for the tournament. Across the two days, the Lady Comets played three matches against TLU, Sul Ross State University and Schreiner University.

In the Crossover Challenge, not only do teams from the ASC West get the chance to play teams from the ASC East, but the teams play to help raise the awareness of breast cancer through

ALBERT RAMIREZ/STAFF

Christina Murphy attempts a spike against UT Tyler on Sept. 20. The Lady Comets won the match in five sets. UTD competed against ASC WEst opponents in the ASC “Dig Pink” Crossover Challenge in Seguin, Texas, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

the Side-Out Foundation’s “Dig Pink” campaign.

Throughout the following weekend, from Oct. 7-8, UTD will play four more games in the second Crossover Challenge. This tournament will take place in Tyler, Texas. The Lady Comets will play against Howard Payne University, Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry University and Concordia University, in that order.

As for the rest of the season, the team’s current goal is to make it to the postseason, Sanders said.

“We’re just trying to make the tournament at this point. We’re still learning and getting used to our systems,” she said. “I think I put too much pressure on my girls last year, so this year we’re just taking it one game at a time. I just want to be top three in the East and get to the tournament. Then we’ll worry about the tournament whenever we get there.”

UTD

3-1

8-3

Mary Hardin-Baylor

3-1

8-3

Mississippi

3-1

6-7

Texas-Tyler

4-2

9-7

East Texas Baptist

1-4

4-9

Centenary

0-0

5-5

LeTourneau

0-6

0-14

Note: ASC East Division standings are accurate as of Sept. 29

Soccer shooting to control own destiny in ASC West ANDREW JOHN Mercury Staff

The UTD women’s soccer team had a strong early ASC record of 3-1 through its first four conference games.

The team’s only loss came to the Hardin-Simmons University Cowgirls. Losing 1-0, the Lady Comets played quite well, considering that Hardin-Simmons, or HSU, is the reigning Division III national champion. Coming into the 2011 season, the Cowgirls were favored to again win the ASC according to a pre-season ASC poll.

“We had moments when we played really well, but we weren’t consistent,” head coach John Antonisse said. “The talent is very even, but the mentality that (HSU) played with was more aggressive.

And we need to step into that. (We need to be) more aggressive when we take it to teams.”

Although initially disappointing, the loss actually served as a catalyst to motivate UTD to work even harder for the rest of the season.

The team now aims to win out the rest of the season, Antonisse said.

“We can control our destiny if we win out from here,” he said.

The Lady Comets bounced back strong from the loss with a 6-0 victory over McMurry University. Senior forward Leah Bowyer led the team with three goals, raising her career goal total to 40 and her season total to seven. The three goals also resulted in Bowyer’s fourth collegiate hat trick.

Junior Kelly Fields, sophomore Eboni Udenze and freshman Andrea Guevara each got a goal against McMurry, as well. On the defensive end, UTD dominated McMurry to the point at which sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Best was not even tested in the game. Yet, despite the

large margin of victory, Antonisse still sees areas in need of improvement.

“We played pretty well against McMurry, but it still wasn’t exactly what we’re capable of,” Antonisse said. “We did what we’re supposed to do, and we actually probably should have scored a few more.”

With such a successful start to the season, UTD appears to have a good chance of making it to the conference tournament.

In order to secure its spot, however, Antonisse said, the team must increase its intensity level and work hard throughout the entire game.

“We have to go out and play 90 minutes as hard as we can,” he said. “We have a tendency to drop off a little bit. We need to improve in our ball possession and finishing. But if we play with intensity, I think those two things will take care of themselves.”

The Lady Comets played away against the opponents from Howard Payne University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, respectively.

On Oct. 6, the team plays Texas Lutheran University at home and then will play another home game on Oct. 8 against Schreiner University.

Men snap scoring funk Comets bust out of offensive slump vs. McMurry ANDREW JOHN Mercury Staff

With its recent 5-0 thrashing of McMurry University, the UTD men’s soccer team has enjoyed an auspicious start to the 2011 season. The victory brought the Comets’ conference record to 2-1-1.

UTD’s lone loss this year came against the consistently strong Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys, or HSU. In that game, the Comets matched up evenly with HSU but gave up a penalty kick off a late tackle in the first half. The penalty turned out to be the deciding factor in the 1-0 game. “(We) couldn’t handle the physical pressure, especially in the first half,” head coach Jack Peel said. “We didn’t compete the first half. Second half we came out and we handled it a little bit better. And we created a few chances. We just didn’t take ad-

vantage of them.”

Although the defeat was a dent in the team’s record, Peel did not let the loss discourage the team’s morale, and the Comets bounced right back.

In the following game against McMurry, the Comets took complete control as they scored four goals in the first 16 minutes.

Sophomore Michael Darrow tallied three of those goals, marking the first hat trick in his collegiate career and earning the honor of the ASC Offensive Player of the Week.

Fellow sophomores Mark Brooks and Casey Cooper scored the other two goals in the Comets’ 5-0 win.

“We’re changing the way we play to be more aggressive on our attacking,” Peel said.

Coming into the McMurry match, UTD had not scored more than one goal in any of its previous games, excluding the exhibition at the start of the season.

In fact, the five goals the Comets scored against McMurry were more than the four total goals they scored in their first six matches.

“We need to dictate the pace of the game better. We need to take it to the other team,” Peel said.

“One of the big things is just getting more people in the penalty area and around the front of goal.”

Now, the team looks onto the second half of its season. UTD must continue its run of success in order to secure a spot in the ASC Championship Tournament.

Only six of the 13 teams in the conference make it to the postseason, but UTD’s chances look good as it as it has made it to the tournament eight out of the past nine years.

The Comets’ next two games are both at home. The first is against Texas Lutheran University on Oct. 6, and the second is against Schreiner University on Oct. 8.

BEN HAWKINS/STAFF

Michael Darrow attempts a header in a 1-0 loss to Hardin-Simmons on Sept. 22. Darrow was named ASC Player of the Week on Sept. 27.

Advertisement

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

Classifieds

11

To place a classified advertisement for the next issue, ad copy accompanied by payment must be received the Wednesday before publication.

Classified rates are $10 for the first 30 words and $5 for each additional 10 words. ADVANCE PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT. Call, fax or come by SU 2.432 or mail ad and check to The Mercury, Attn: Jessica Melton, 800 W. Campbell Rd., SU24, Richardson, Texas 75080.

For more information, Call 817-793-7035 — Email ads@utdmercury.com

JOBS

TUTORING

PAID FALL INTERNSHIP Plano Stationery/Invitation design studio seeks creative intern for a min of 8 hrs/wk.

Interested? Send resume/ references to hb@hbdesigns. net.

ELEMENTS TO SUCCESS TUTORING Expert college level tutoring in Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics. Visit our website today and sign up for a free consultation: www. elementstosuccess.com.

ADVERTISE

With The Mercury

12

News

WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM

OUT OF STATE continued from page 1

One reason for the much greater proportion of students at UTD is that the university is committed to educating Texans, stated Greg Morris, assistant provost of enrollment management, in an email to The Mercury.

“UT Dallas recruits highly qualified students from across the nation and from around the world,” he said. “But we take great pride in preserving our commitment to the education of Texans.”

Morris said this commitment comes from a state initiative titled “Closing the Gap,” which aims to increase the proportion of Texans receiving higher education degrees in

AID CUTS

continued from page 1 aid programs – which include the TEXAS Grant – were cut by 15 percent this summer, said Dominic Chavez, spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

In addition, Texas’s Top 10 Percent Scholarship was cut by 23 percent and two federal aid programs – the Academic Competitiveness Grant and the National Smart Grant – were completely eliminated.

More than 1,200 UTD students received aid from at least one of these four programs last academic year, according to information provided by Sarah Dorsey, deputy director of financial aid.

Texas’ largest financial aid program – the TEXAS Grant – served about 500 UTD students last year. During the summer, the program’s two-year budget was cut from $615 million to $560

THE MERCURY n OCT. 3, 2011

their state, according to information published by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Similar to UTD, enrollment at other Texas public universities is composed almost exclusively of Texas residents.

About 2 percent of undergraduates are out-of-state domestic students at the University of Texas at Austin, 2 percent at the University of Texas at Arlington and 3 percent at Texas A&M College Station, according to the fall 2010-2011 Common Data Set of the respective universities.

Texas private universities, on the other hand, have higher percentages of out-of-state enrollment — 49 percent at Southern Methodist University, 55 percent at the University of Dallas and 19 percent at Baylor University.

While UTD is committed to Texan students, the university’s admissions standards are based on academic merit and not the geographic location, Morris said.

“We strive to achieve the institution’s strategic goals by attracting the best and brightest to UT Dallas,” he said. “We recruit the ‘right students’ by focusing on the quality of the student as opposed to their geography.”

Accordingly, Morris said, as UTD grows in recognition and reputation, out of state enrollment will eventually increase.

“Our goal is to strike a perfect balance between educating Texans and attracting diverse and qualified out of state students,” he said. “Both approaches help our institution and our state.”

While 3 percent of the total undergraduate body at

UTD is composed of out of state domestic students, the percentage increases when measuring only the freshmen students.

Almost 5 percent of UTD’s 1,777 freshmen are out of state domestic students this fall, according to preliminary information from the OSPA and UTD’s census figures.

One reason for this larger percentage is the fact that UTD is one of a few institutions that allow freshmen to conduct research, Sanchez said.

A second reason is UTD’s generous scholarship packages for freshmen students, specifically the Academic Excellence Scholarship, or AES, he said.

One student who chose UTD after receiving an AES is Lorraine Bett, an ATEC freshman who

graduated from high school in Louisiana.

Bett said she applied to several universities such as Purdue University, Louisiana State University and the University of Tampa. Her final decision was between UTD and Tampa.

“I made a list of pros and cons (and) UTD won by three things,” she said. “Frist, they threw money at me, considering Tampa did not give me anything. Second, UTD is based more on technology than studio art (and finally) the dorms were awesome.”

Bett said she discovered UTD by looking for an Arts & Technology school on the College Board website.

Another student who chose UTD because of its scholarships is Sara Ho, biology freshman.

Ho graduated high school in

Colorado and said that in addition to her scholarship, she also chose UTD to stay with her family. When her mother’s job was transferred to the area in May, Ho waited to graduate and then moved to Dallas.

“I actually love it so far (and) I think it’s a friendly and supportive community (at UTD),” she said. “I like the layout and size of the campus (and) I’m meeting new people and creating networks.”

While Bett is an ATEC freshmen and Ho a biology major, the academic majors at UTD that have the largest percentage of out-of-state students are political science (9 percent), mathematics (8 percent) and international political economy (7 percent), according to preliminary information from the OSPA.

million, Chavez said.

The TEXAS grant is renewable each year and promises to cover the entire cost and fees of eligible students – those with an estimated family contribution of less than $4,000 per year – according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Students who never received the grant before –freshmen – will be the hardest hit by the cuts as the program will serve only 33 to 50 percent of new eligible students in the coming years, according to estimates by the Texas Coordinating Board. Last year, during the previous budget, 70 percent of new eligible students were able to receive the grant, Chavez said.

One eligible student who was unable to receive the TEXAS Grant this year, even though her mother’s financial contribution is less than $4,000 per year, is Kate Roberts, literary studies freshman.

Without the TEXAS Grant, even after accepting a federal Pell

Grant, two loans and a part time job, Roberts will be unable to afford her first year at UTD. “I am working as much as I can (and) I am hoping to get more financial aid next semester,” she said. “Right now I still have to pay this year’s bill, which is about $1400.”

Unlike Roberts, students who received the grant last year should continue to receive it this semester, according to information posted on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s website.

One student who was lucky enough to get his TEXAS Grant renewed is Andrew Jin, a psychology junior who said he received more aid from the state this year than he did in 2010.

“This year is the most I have gotten, which is surprising because I thought they were cutting funds,” he said. “I have a part time job, I have made more money and my parents have made more.

I think it’s a little backwards (that they increased my aid).”

In addition to the TEXAS Grant, the state cut its Top 10 Percent scholarship by 23 percent, Chavez said. The scholarship awards up to $2,000 per year to a student with academic need who is in the top 10 percent of his or her high school class.

Last year, 251 UTD students received the scholarship, which is renewable for a four year period, according to information from Dorsey.

The cuts in state financial aid are a result of Texas’ new budget, which was completed this July.

The budget began affecting students receiving aid this semester and will remain in effect for two years, Chavez said.

While the reductions in state aid affect many students, Texas is not the only source of aid available, he said.

“If you look at all the sources of financial aid for students in Texas last fiscal year, 73 percent came from the federal government and only 7 percent came from Texas,” Chavez said. “When

you step back and see the big picture, an overwhelming percent has been from federal programs.”

While there were no substantial cuts in federal financial aid for this fall, two programs – The Academic Competitiveness Grant and The National Smart Grant ¬– will no longer be funded by the federal government, Dorsey said.

These programs benefited about 500 UTD students last academic year and were awarded in addition to the federal Pell Grant.

“UT Dallas students will likely not feel a difference until summer semester,” Dorsey said. “. . . The effect will not be felt throughout the general Pell recipient population . . . (and) eligible students with the highest need would be most affected.”

So long as federal programs continue to be strong, Chavez anticipates the ability of students to afford college will remain strong as well.

But students like Roberts and Rasheed disagree. They said even

with federal aid affording college is difficult.

Rasheed received the majority of her aid this semester from the federal government but said that even with her TEXAS Grant and scholarship she cannot afford housing this semester.

“As a matter of fact I don’t work yet,” she said. “I’m in a dilemma since . . . juggling seventeen credit hours of school is crazy enough as it is, but I don’t like being broke.”

Chavez said that other than giving out financial aid, the state is working with universities to reduce costs though methods such as online classes, increasing faculty productivity and eliminating degree programs with a low number of graduates.

“When we look at the next budget cycle, things will not be any rosier,” he said. “We want to get more resources . . . (but) we can’t sustain to watch tuition to continue to increase. We are chasing a rabbit and we cannot catch it.”