The Mercury 02 23 15

February 23, 2015

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THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

FROM BOOBS TO BIGOTRY

A STEADY RECOVERY

Blogger Anita Sarkeesian on unfair portrayals of women in gaming

Club sport returns after ten years, new blood eager to excel

PG 8

PG 6 DANIEL CHOSEN AS POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT AT UT AUSTIN

PLUS +

NEW ATEC SCHOOL APPROVED

GUNS ON CAMPUS? State bill allowing concealed carry for some students reaches Texas Senate

Dallas emerges as vibrant music scene // OPINION, PG 3 Professor helps Dallas students learn math // LIFE&ARTS, PG 7

Firm to bring nanotech research to market // NEWS, PG 4

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

The Senate State Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 17, which would allow licensed holders to carry holstered handguns openly and Senate Bill 11, which would undo a ban of concealed handguns for licensed holders 21 or over at state university campuses on Feb. 12.

The committee passed both bills with a 7-2 vote. They will now proceed to the full Senate for debate.

SB11 has raised the interest of those on college campuses in particular. Bill McRaven, the chancellor of the University of Texas System, sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor

Student assaulted ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus on Jan. 29 speaking out against concealed handguns on campus.

In the letter, he said health professionals from the UT System have expressed fear that having guns on campuses will contribute to more shootings at universities.

“There is a great concern that the presence of handguns, even if limited to licensed individuals age 21 or older, will lead to an increase in both accidental shootings and self-inflicted wounds,” McRaven said in the statement.

John Sharp, the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, also released a statement to Patrick concerning the bill. In the statement, he

said he didn’t feel any concern that having gun owners with legal weapons on campus would raise safety concerns and that the Texas A&M University System will not oppose campus carry.

Students have had varied takes on SB11. Julie Gavran, an Arts and Humanities Ph.D. student and the Southwestern director for The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus, said bringing guns on campus poses more risks than benefits.

“I think allowing more guns on campus, you have increased chances of suicide, accidental discharges, threats and so forth,” Gavran said.

Richardson Police notified UTD Police on Feb. 12 that a female student was sexually assaulted at Point North Park.

According to an email sent out to students, faculty and staff by UTD Police Chief Larry Zacharias, the student reported that she turned into the parking lot at the park, located about a block away from campus on Synergy Park Boulevard, when she heard a strange noise from her car.

She got out to check the noise and use the restroom. According to the email, the assault occurred

→ SEE GUNS, PAGE 4

→ SEE ASSAULT, PAGE 5

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY IAN LAMARSH & ANDREW GALLEGOS | ASST. GRAPHICS & ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Board of regents approves ATEC school ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE Web Editor

The UT System Board of Regents approved the creation of a new Arts, Technology and Emerging Communication school on Feb. 12.

The new school, set to start in September, will take with it close to 1,300 students currently in the School of Arts and Humanities and six degree programs associated with ATEC and EMAC. It is expected to help both schools grow in the future, said UTD President David Daniel “ATEC, with its own dean and an even better spotlight on the wonderful work there, will be in a better position to go raise private dollars for scholarships, support

for research and other resources that will benefit our students,” Daniel said. “At the same time, the School of Arts and Humanities in the post-ATEC and -EMAC era, I think, can focus on the things that are important to their future as well — again, raising dollars to support arts and humanities, creating new programs and so forth.”

Provost Hobson Wildenthal said the idea of a separate school for these programs emerged in fall 2014.

“When a group of individuals becomes reasonably distinct from another group of individuals, in this case, even physical separation to a degree but mainly the social structure of the standards they achieve, diverge, it makes sense to not force them together but to let each group take charge of its own destiny,” he said.

Students, for the most part, have welcomed this new development, said Todd Fechter, interim director for ATEC. Within the next few months, a lot of decisions need to be made about the future of the program, he said.

The creation of the new school will allow the ATEC program to develop new courses and concentrations, and provide students with the opportunity to pick from a variety of diverse options, Fechter said.

“We’re looking for problem spots that we can improve upon, collaborations within ATEC and also with other schools which is Computer Science Engineering, Brain and Behavioral Sciences and Arts and Humanities,” he said. “So, we’re now just in the evaluation process of what are the opportunities we have in front of us, what new opportunities we’re looking to build within

the university and also with corporate partners and with outside research.”

Avenues for collaboration One of the factors that contributed toward the decision to create a new school stemmed from the different nature of research that ATEC programs have in comparison to the more classical humanities courses like history or literature, particularly while evaluating doctoral dissertations, Wildenthal said.

Another factor was the level of potential collaborations between research in ATEC and those in computer

→ SEE ATEC, PAGE 5

Daniel shortlisted for UT Austin presidency spot UTD president among three frontrunners selected to replace Bill Powers as head of flagship university, set to interview in early March ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

UTD President David Daniel has been named as a finalist for the presidency at UT Austin.

According to a report by the Austin AmericanStatesman on Feb. 19, Daniel is among the top three candidates to replace current UT Austin President Bill Powers when he steps down in June. They will be interviewed for the job on March 4 by the Board of Regents.

Among them are Greg Fenves, UT Austin’s executive vice president and provost, and Andrew Hamilton, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford in

England. Joseph Steinmetz, executive vice president and provost at The Ohio State University, was also a candidate but dropped out of consideration according to The Dallas Morning News.

Daniel, who has had his current position since 2005, is the university’s fourth president. After receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from UT Austin, he served as a faculty member there from 1980 to 1996. From there, he moved to the University of Illinois, where he was the dean of engineering from 1996 to 2005 before coming to UTD. “I’m proud to serve The University of Texas System as the president of The University of Texas at

Dallas, which is my immediate and primary focus,” Daniel said in a statement. “It is an honor to serve the system and the state of Texas in any capacity, and I welcome the opportunity to do so. Any success I have had owes to the significant energy and effort of UTD’s highly qualified faculty, our talented, smart students and our dedicated and hardworking staff. I am grateful to, and proud to be a part of this community.”

During Daniel’s time at UTD, the university has tripled its spending on research, added 50 new academic programs and has increased enrollment from 13,000 to 23,000 students.

Larry Faulkner, who served as UT Austin’s presi-

dent from 1998 to 2006, is leading the committee to find Powers’ replacement.

“A highly distinguished group of individuals, led

by Dr. Larry Faulkner, was appointed to identify candidates to serve as the next president of UT Austin,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Hobson Wildenthal in a statement. “Given the stature of the committee, I thought it inevitable that David Daniel would be put forward for consideration by the Board of Regents. Everything in his professional history, but most especially the immense progress that The University of Texas at Dallas has enjoyed under his leadership, qualifies him for such consideration.”

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Feb. 10 t 5XP VOBGGJMJBUFE NBMFT XFSF JTsued criminal trespass warnings after speaking loudly through the public address system in the Physics Building at 12:29 p.m.

Feb. 11 t 0ïDFST GPVOE ESVH QBSBQIFSOBMJB in a student’s apartment during a State Fire Marshall’s inspection in a Phase 2 apartment at 1:52 p.m.

Feb. 12 t " TUVEFOU SFQPSUFE TIF IBE CFFO struck by a moving vehicle while walking in Parking Lot B around 9:55 a.m.. t " SFTJEFOU SFQPSUFE UIBU TPNFone entered their apartment and took $1,000 worth of property from their bathroom in Phase 7 at 4:29 p.m.

Feb. 15 t "O VOBïMJBUFE QFSTPO XBT BSSFTUFE for criminal trespass and another unaffiliated person was issued a criminal trespass warning for the campus at 12:32 a.m.

Feb. 18 t " TUBê NFNCFS SFQPSUFE UIBU B wheelchair had been stolen from the visitor center at 9:43 a.m.

Feb. 19 t5XP VOBïMJBUFE QFSTPOT XFSF BSSFTUed for other agency warrant arrests as well as for driving while license invalid and possession of drug paraphernalia at 12:09 a.m. on West Campbell Road.

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LEGEND VEHICULAR INCIDENT

Corrections:

THEFT

In the Feb. 9 edition of The Mercury, in the photo series titled “Beardface Dogman spotted at The Compound,” Evan Weaver Gordon was incorrectly referred to as Beardface Dogman.

DRUGS & ALCOHOL

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OTHER MAP: UTD COMMUNICATIONS | COURTESY

JUST THE FACTS

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The Mercury regrets this error.

OPINION

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FEB. 23, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Muslims must stand for peace SHEEREEN IBTESAM GUEST COMMENTARY

Islam preaches tolerance, peace and understanding, and the voices that stand for these principles must be louder because there is simply too much misinformation regarding the religion.

It was tragic to hear about the three SyrianAmerican Muslim lives lost at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

In my opinion, that was a hate crime. The man must have had some ounce of hate to go to the extreme measure of shooting them. Maybe it wasn’t about race or religion, but I believe it was motivated

by hate.

In the past year, there has been a trend of tension dividing Islam and the Western world. Just look at the anti-Islamic protests outside of a Muslim conference in Garland earlier this year. These protestors were waving American flags as they spread misinformation claiming Sharia law was taking over.

Consider the backlash in Austin during the Texas Muslim Capitol Day movement by the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR.) One woman took over the microphone claiming that Sharia law would not take over America. She clearly did not understand the intention of the event which was for Muslims to learn about the democratic political process and how to advocate for important issues.

We cannot brush this issue under the rug. Just look at what happened in Paris with the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists being shot by French citizens who

thought the cartoonists deserved to die because of inappropriate cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Such cartoons can bring about strong opposition, but killing people is wrong in Islam. Everyone should know that, but it’s becoming increasingly harder for people to have a sense of ease and trust with Islam when they hear of ISIS committing massacres across Iraq and Syria killing Christians, Yazidis and even Sunni Muslims for refusing to swear allegiance to them.

It’s not just the people in Iraq, but also even some Americans doing work in Syria or part of the American press. The killing of Americans such as Kayla Mueller and James Foley by ISIS is devastating, and it shows the volatility of the area taken over

by ISIS. ISIS has become a disgrace to Islam, and many Muslims condemn the Charlie Hebdo and ISIS

Dallas music scene emerging North Texas artists starting to become more popular on national stage, local scene deserves more recognition

attacks. Maybe, there’s more that Muslims can do; advocate for peace, for example.

It’s not just Muslim lives that matter, but all lives that matter. I feel that the people who express antiMuslim sentiments do not understand or hear the true message of peace that Muslims wish to express.

The anti-Islamic protestors are just hearing their own loud voices of anger. It’s time for Muslims to have a strong voice, to spread a message of peace and fight against the web of misinformation regarding Islam.

Islam does not support nor promote violence.

Killing is wrong according to the Quran. Islam is a peaceful religion that does not endorse extremism or fundamentalism at all.

In the words of Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”

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PABLO ARAUZ COMMENTARY

Take a drive through Deep Ellum on any given weekend and you’ll likely hear local music echoing among the old buildings with buffed out graffiti with the canyon of downtown skyscrapers and massive highways looming in the background. The music tells the story about an abundance of culture that many people take for granted.

Some say Dallas is boring when it comes to stuff to do. It can feel like a stifling place to live if you’re a music head, but in fact the city has deep cultural relevance on the world stage that is only now getting significant attention. As someone involved with the music community here for about ten years, I’m seeing a renaissance of music activity, and the mainstream is noticing in a big way.

Earlier this year at the Grammys, locally-bred artists St. Vincent, Pentatonix and Sara Jaffe took home awards showing hard evidence that North Texas has talent, but

COMET COMMENTS

these accomplishments just scratch the surface of an entertainment revitalization of sorts happening in and around the Big D. Dallas is also winning street cred as a hub for hiphop. Blue the Misfit, who recently played a show here at UTD, has been playing some stellar shows and has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, among other great local artists. Earlier this month, Justin Mohrle, a Garland-native has been in the spotlight for working with Dr. Dre. Even more recently, rapper Buffalo Black landed a soundtrack deal for director Spike Lee’s newest film, ‘Da Sweet Blood of Jesus’. These are all signs that hip-hop in Dallas is alive and well.

Things are even things happening here in the North Dallas area with music venues and businesses opening up and frequent concerts happening among the quiet suburbs. The Compound is one such venue run by UTD alumnus Evan Gordon. He organizes shows for a variety of local performers playing a variety of sounds ranging from punk rock to new wave. There’s also Josey Records, a record shop warehouse off of LBJ where, according to Dallas Observer, hip-hop legends Q-Tip and DJ Shadow were spotted hanging out over the past few months. Then there’s Dead Wax, a little specialty record store in Carrollton for those with a taste for the

obscure.

Sure, the Dallas area is no Austin, a city so famed for its live music has that it has poured into every part of the city’s culture, even for those who aren’t involved.

From my observation, the live music capital of the world is drowning in hopeful artists just trying to find their place in the spotlight. Even among the underground community, there is a seemingly endless sea of music to the point of oversaturation.

Some tend to forget that Dallas also has an important place in modern American music history. The Big D has been a place for music going back to the early days of Deep Ellum blues when the likes of Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson walked the streets. Two decades later, there was the Sportatorium where Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Elvis all played on the same stage. Stevie Ray Vaughan also has roots in Oak Cliff.

Rhythm and blues artist Erykah Badu and the heavy metal Pantera also sprouted from the city’s creative atmosphere.

With so much happening, it feels like the same atmosphere is being invigorated. Just like in Austin, New York or Los Angeles, Dallas has more than just a scene now, but a community that’s thriving with organic culture in 2015. Now is a great time to support it.

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Tell us what you think about the role of women in video games and answer our poll at www.utdmercury.com.

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0%

Yes, because No, I don’t care I wouldn’t I don’t need an Yes, because No, they’re too they will about voting. know how to incentive to vote, I’m we need young to know register for a model citizen. understand my young pople what they’re problems better. voting. in doing. politics.

The online poll was open from Feb. 9 to Feb. 22 and had 37 participants.

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Lab takes research to market

Partnership between UTD and technology firm set to commercialize carbon nanotube growing process

State rep. pushing for new facilities ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

PARTHASARATHY S K | MERCURY STAFF

Ray Baughman is director of the NanoTech Institute and a chemistry professor. He’s spent several years developing a method of creating special sheets of carbon nanotubes, referred to as CNTs. UTD partnered with Lintec of America, a technology firm, to license Baughman’s process for creating the CNT sheets.

CARA SANTUCCI Mercury Staff

A recent agreement between UTD and a multinational technology firm will commercialize a technique for growing carbon nanotubes that can be used for state-of-the-art medical, electronic and structural applications.

The university finalized an exclusive licensing agreement with Lintec of America to utilize a new process for creating sheets of carbon nanotubes, referred to as CNTs. In order to foster this partnership with UTD, Lintec set up its new research facility five miles from campus.

The parent company, Lintec Corporation, is based in Japan and specializes in different types of adhesive materials, from office to military use. The company is also an expert on roll-to-roll processing, which is the process of continuously generating electronic materials on a roll of plastic or metal.

“We’re integrating Lintec’s products with UTD’s technology to create innovative solutions for a specific market,” said Marisa Haines, Lintec’s head of strategic partnerships. “(This process) could be a one-to-one replacement that is more elegant and easier to manufacture than existing carbon nanotubes.”

Lintec figured out there was a lot of

synergy between the technology that UTD was developing and what the company was doing in terms of product and manufacturing, Haines said.

Ray Baughman, director of the NanoTech Institute and a chemistry professor, has spent years developing a process of synthesizing these carbon nanotubes.

Baughman’s process involves growing CNTs into thick “forests” that stand between 300 and 500 microns tall. For perspective, a single strand of human hair averages about 70 microns in diameter. The forests are then pulled into sheets of CNTs that can be used for electromagnetic shielding, battery electrodes, armor, adhesives and artificial muscles.

Carbon nanotubes are strong, transparent and lightweight. CNTs are 117 times stronger than steel and 30 times stronger than Kevlar, the material in bulletproof vests.

A sheet that weighs four ounces could cover an entire acre. A recent study published by the American Chemical Society found that CNTs could be stretched up to 14 percent of their normal length without breaking.

“We’ve licensed to them very broad, intellectual property rights,” Baughman said. “In return, they pay money to the university. If they are very suc-

cessful, the university will be very successful.”

Although the university has shared Baughman’s process for creating CNT sheets, the NanoTech Institute will keep doing its own work with the materials.

Raquel Ovalle-Robles, Lintec’s applied research and intellectual properties manager, said the technology will continue to be developed at the university.

“The special property of these nanotubes is that once you pull one the other one will follow, and then they just stick together,” Ovalle-Robles said.

“This is a very unique technique. Only very few (people) in the world can grow them like this.”

Baughman and Ovalle-Robles see limitless applications of this technology. These CNT sheets are pulled into an aerogel, which can then be woven into textiles, adapted for use in artificial muscles or drawn into superconducting cables. There is even potential for clothing that can continuously monitor the wearer’s vital signs.

Around 2005, Kazuya Katoh, the deputy general manager at Lintec, first recognized the commercial appeal of Baughman’s research and began the discussion of a possible partnership between the two institutions.

→ GUNS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SG REPORT ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

Student government rejected a proposal given to it by Dean of Students Gene Fitch to amend the school’s drug and alcohol policy.

The proposed amendment would add notification of parents of students under the age of 21 who are found using drugs or alcohol to the university’s existing list of sanctions.

SG invited visitors to ask Fitch questions about the policy during the meeting. Visitors were also allowed to address their concerns to SG in a separate 15-minute session. During the session, SG faculty advisor Marilyn Kaplan said that the administration has always had the ability to contact parents if students have violated the drug and alcohol policy, the proposal would simply add that information into writing.

After hearing discussion on the proposal, SG took two votes; one on rejecting the proposal and another on forming a drug and alcohol safety ad hoc committee to provide suggestions to Fitch on alternatives to the proposed policy.

SG voted against the proposal 2018 and approved the creation of the ad hoc committee. Sophomore Jake Cruz was named committee chair. t

Legislative affairs committee chair Tim Sullivan said the com-

t

t

mittee is working on getting a survey out to students on their thoughts about Senate Bill 17, a bill currently being discussed in the Texas legislature that would allow concealed handgun license holders to bring their firearms on campus at state universities.

Technology Committee chair Charlie Hannigan said they have identified 22 bathrooms that they want to get step and pull door openers for. He said this would cost about $1000. He also said the committee has discussed its proposal to update security cameras around campus with UTD Police chief Larry Zacharias. He said each building currently has its own security camera system, making it difficult to update the current cameras.

During Residential Student Affairs Committee chair Akshitha Padigela’s committee report, SG president Brooke Knudtson said Loop Road will extend through the community garden. She said the garden will be replaced at a location yet to be decided. She said SG will advocate for the university to reimburse students back for anything destroyed during the construction.

The next SG meeting is Mar. 3 at 5:15 p.m. in the Galaxy Rooms.

When Gavran was a student at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, she was held up at gunpoint. She said that if she had a gun, the altercation could have turned deadly.

She also said that that there is no need to add guns as a layer of selfdefense because crime rates on college campuses are not high.

“It’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist…crime rates are so low already on state college campuses that there’s really not a problem to fix,” she said.

Others have not been convinced of the negative consequences the bill could have. Computer science senior Ryan Miller, who has a concealed handgun license, said while allowing people with CHL’s to carry their guns on campus may not help with safety and security, it will be beneficial because it will allow them to exercise their constitutional rights.

“We’re all adults on college campuses. Some of us are over the age of 21 and by the state of Texas we’re allowed to conceal handguns,” he said.

He said he got his CHL so he could learn more about gun laws and because it was a supplement to the training he already had as a gun owner.

Miller said people who aren’t familiar with concealed handguns don’t understand that they can only be used in specific situations. He said only certain crimes, including assault, robbery and rape, allow for the use of a firearm in self-defense.

“I feel like you would have less overreaction if people were just more educated about the law before getting such a license,” he said.

Some of the largest opponents of

“I’ve been interacting with Lintec for about eight years,” Baughman said. “They’ve been supporting our research and our institute by being an industrial affiliate. So, we got to know them, and they got to know people like (Ovalle-Robles) and (Kanzan Inoue).”

Before taking up positions at Lintec, Ovalle-Robles and Inoue worked with Baughman’s CNT technology as doctoral students at UTD. Inoue, who received his Ph.D. in physics from UTD in 2005, first encountered Lintec in 2007 when Katoh was looking for someone who could speak Japanese and English. A few years later, Lintec recruited Inoue, and he became the managing director of the new Richardson research facility.

Inoue’s experience with CNTs and Lintec’s interest in their commercial appeal led to the beginning of the exclusive licensing agreement.

In 2013, Ovalle-Robles joined Inoue and Haines at the new facility.

“Ten years from now, you should be able to see things you cannot dream of right now because you can create new materials and new solutions given the technology potential,” Haines said.

the bill have been police forces across the state. During hearings last week, several police chiefs testified against the billl, according to The Texas Tribune.

UTD Police Chief Larry Zacharias said he stands behind McRaven and UTD President David Daniel, who also does not support the bill. He said if there are fewer guns on campus, it’s one less problem for him to worry about.

Even though he doesn’t support the bill

I feel like you would have less overreaction if people were just more educated about the law before getting such a license.

— Ryan Miller, computer science senior he said people have misunderstood what it actually means.

“When (the CHL) law first came up, people said, ‘Oh, it’s going to be horrible. There’s going to be gunfights with road rage and O.K. Corral and cats sleeping with dogs and people taking the law into their own hands,’” he said. “In fifteen years, that hasn’t been the case.”

He said that emotion and hype get stirred up when this issue is discussed, but he doesn’t think that having concealed carry on campus would make that big of an impact.

There are several factors that Zacharias said

A state representative introduced a bill to the Texas Legislature on Feb. 16 to authorize funding for two new buildings on campus.

House Bill 1194, filed by Rep. Jeff Leach, would raise $99 million for a new engineering building and $95 million through revenue bonds for a new science building.

HB1194 was joint-authored by Rep. Angie Chen Button and Rep. Linda Koop, both of whom represent a portion of UTD in the Texas House of Representatives.

The engineering building would contain approximately 200,000 square feet of space, while the science building would contain approximately 175,000 square feet. If the bill is passed, both buildings are slated to open by September 2018.

Mary McClure, the chief of staff for Leach, said the buildings were proposed to provide more room for the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, which has experienced a 115 percent increase in enrollment since 2005, and for the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, which has had a 76 percent increase in that same time. “(Leach) represents UT Dallas, and it’s a remarkable institution that’s seen tremendous growth,” she said. “This is a core function of state government: to fund our needs. This is one of our big, big needs. We want UT Dallas to be a Tier One institution, and we believe this funding would put them on track to do that very soon.”

Leach reached out to university officials to see what they needed on campus, McClure said. They responded with a request for more space for the engineering and computer science programs.

The bill has until June to pass. If it goes through, the system will get the money through bonds to start construction.

In a statement, Leach said it was important to provide UTD with the proper resources to expand.

“A win for North Texas, HB1194 is a substantial step forward in attaining Tier One status, and I am honored to advocate for its passage on behalf of my constituents and all Texans,” he said.

would make it difficult for people at UTD to qualify to even carry concealed handguns.

“We’ve got about 25 percent of our student population or more, maybe 30 percent, that are under the age of 21, so they don’t qualify for a license,” he said.

“We have another 25 or greater percent that are international, and maybe if you take that to 30 percent, that are not residents of Texas. They can’t get a concealed handgun license.”

If the bill were to pass, the biggest change for UTD Police would be in how they would approach the subject of guns at orientation. Currently, Zacharias makes a point to tell new students that there are no guns allowed on campus.

With a new law, he would change how he discussed the policy, particularly with graduate students and new employees.

“What I would probably say differently is, ‘If for some reason you were ever in a position as a concealed handgun license holder where you were confronted or involved in a situation where the UT Dallas police department responded, you need to make sure that you are not a threat to my police officers,’” he said.

If the bill ends up passing, Miller said he would want lawmakers to listen to students’ opinions on this issue.

“What I would really hope comes out of it, personally, is that they would allow campus-by-campus decision on whether or not they want to implement concealed carry,” he said. “So it would be up to the campuses decision and up to the faculty and student body at each individual campus because I think such a law might not be appropriate for certain campuses or it might not be appropriate for certain student bodies that feel contentious about this issue. I fee like if one campus really wants it and one campus really doesn’t, they should be able to implement it their own way.”

UTDMERCURY.COM

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THE MERCURY | FEB. 23, 2015

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Activist honored with exhibit South African anti-apartheid advocate, politician Helen Suzman’s life highlighted in traveling exposition from Feb. 23 to March 27 NIDHI GOTGI Mercury Staff

An exhibition recognizing the accomplishments of South African anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman is visiting campus from Feb. 23 to March 27 in the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building atrium.

A representative of the Dobkin Family Foundation, curator Jill Vexler visited South Africa in 2007 to meet with the curators of the Helen Suzman exhibition and convince them to let her recreate the presentation in the United States.

During her stay, Vexler spoke with Suzman herself, describing her as energetic, focused and devoted to making the world a better place even at her old age.

The sole opposition to apartheid in the Progressive Party, Suzman fought for equal rights as a parliamentarian for 13 years from 1961 to 1973.

In a parliament dictated primarily by Calvinist, Afrikaner men, it was unusual for a white, Jewish woman to criticize the National Party’s policies.

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science, engineering and brain and behavioral sciences, he said.

Collaborations between ATEC and arts and humanities is strong and will continue to exist, said Judd Bradbury, an ATEC doctoral student and a senior lecturer in the Jindal School of Management.

“I think the reality, from what I hear from ATEC faculty members specifically, is a good cross-section of them (have) their backgrounds in humanities and they’re very diligent about making sure that there’s a really strong bridge that continues and I would even suggest that it’s the strongest bridge,” he said.

In recent years, there have been more collaborative projects with the computer science and brain sciences programs, he said.

Bradbury’s own work is in the area of data visualization and he uses a fair amount of algorithm building and cognitive sciences. He said that areas like gaming, visualization and e-marketing are becoming core technical skills required by companies.

Facilitating such collaborations between other schools was part of the reason the administration decided to create the School of ATEC in order to put it on an equal footing with other schools, Wildenthal said.

The impact of such collaborations are also expected to be reflected in the choices of prescribed electives for ATEC and EMAC undergraduates, and it will be particularly invaluable for EMAC students, said Stephanie Brisendine, EMAC senior and president of the User Experience Club.

With the new school encouraging collaboration, there is expected to be a wider range of options for students to choose from, she said.

In the past three years, the programs have hired several faculty members with industrial expertise, which have amped up collaboration, Bradbury said.

Faculty in the new ATEC school will be expected to go out and win research grants and projects from outside the university in order to facilitate better quality of research and growth, Fechter said. Some of these projects are well underway with various agencies and companies like the U.S. Army and Real Effects, a Dallas-based animation company.

The creation of a new school sends out a message of serious intent and commitment to not only other academics working in the field but also to the industrial community, Bradbury said. While many of the larger entertainment studios continue to be in California, those are not the only sources of collaboration in the ATEC field,

In her effort to eliminate racial segregation in South Africa, she was a spokeswoman for voting rights, health rights, and prisoner’s rights.

“She translated old-fashioned liberal ideals, such as rule of law, equal representation and equal opportunity,” said Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. “She fought so that everyone could share in the benefits of an open society.”

The exhibit will feature 40 years of photographs, letters, speeches and news articles about Suzman highlighting her work fighting apartheid despite facing anti-Semitism and other forms of opposition.

It will also show Suzman’s ongoing friendship with Nelson Mandela, which began in 1967 when they met at the prison on Robben Island, where Mandela had been detained for 27 years.

“What I admire about her is that her arguments were based on a vision of how good things could be,” Kratz said. “She’s a model of the kind of leadership and productive action for which

he said.

An industry veteran himself, Bradbury said Dallas, with its large base of creative media and advertising, is ripe for collaboration with the new school.

“You have a lot of technology focused organizations that are looking for cross-discipline students for hiring,” he said. “AT&T is probably the largest example, but they’re not the only example of organizations that are looking at Texas and DFW as a real good hub for relocation. I think ATEC will have some good opportunities in large organizations that are seeking some of this crossdisciplined talent and are technically enabled.”

Challenges and Expectations The creation of a new school has opened up possibilities of growth for both the School of Arts and Humanities and ATEC in several different directions.

“I think there are concerns that have been expressed particularly from folks who are focused exclusively on humanities that it might be a big change or a split… and I identify with those feelings,” Bradbury said. “Having been a change agent for a long time in the corporate world, I’ve heard those same sentiments from a lot of my clients.”

Daniel said the first major administrative step is to hire a new dean for the school. As the nationwide search for a dean continues, student and faculty input will be taken to decide the directions in which both the schools would like to go.

To that effect, two committees, an ATEC Task Force and an Arts and Humanities Strategic Planning Task Force will be instituted and nominations for both committees from faculty and students are being accepted at the moment, Daniel announced in an email to students and faculty on Feb. 16.

Benchmarking the school against leaders in the field like the MIT Media Labs in California is another challenge, as the new school must be on par with nationwide standards, Wildenthal said.

MFA and Ph.D. students in ATEC met with research faculty on Feb. 13 to discuss the future of the program, Bradbury said. Among other benchmarks discussed, one important standard under consideration for the new school will be the provision of funding and support in the form of research and teaching assistantships to attract international students to the doctoral program, he said.

Meanwhile, EMAC students are hoping to see major growth in their own programs, Brisendine said. It is very important for the program to debunk the myth that EMAC

RICARDO MICHELUCCI | COURTESY

The exhibit on Helen Suzman’s life — on display from Feb. 23 to March 27 — will also highlight her ongoing friendship with Nelson Mandela.

we should be preparing our students. I hope it will inspire

trains students to be social media managers, she said.

Both ATEC and EMAC are fluid and adaptive programs so that there is a lack of rigidity in the course structure, Brisendine and Bradbury said.

“I think most students don’t understand that structure, and so, they are left wandering the vague lines of EMAC, and they don’t know what to do with themselves,” Brisendine said. “… If you create a structure more permanent, that would leave less room for flexibility and adaptability. Finding that balance to where students are not necessarily lost but they know where they’re going (is important).”

Another problem with the EMAC program is that students often think of it as an easy program, not quite understanding how much effort has to go in if the student wants to be competitive in the job market, she said.

“If it were up to me and my limited knowledge, I would probably project EMAC as a degree for selfstarters, a degree for people who are driven and ambitious, can figure things out on their own and don’t need their hands held,” Brisendine said.

A similar problem was raised by Leslie McMillin, a former ATEC doctoral student in the design program. In the nascent days of the doctoral program, she and her colleagues had to sit in master’s level courses, and sometimes even in freshmen level courses, she said. It reduced the level of discourse in class and it seemed as if they weren’t learning any more than they had in their MFA program, she said.

Doctoral students were only required to take two core courses and several independent study courses, which isn’t a standard for other schools.

The ATEC doctoral program is the youngest in the university, and a lack of faculty combined with the young age of the program contributed to these problems, which will be addressed as the new school hires more qualified faculty, Wildenthal said.

The other goal is to actually create a favorable situation for students to enroll in these programs by providing scholarships, Daniel said.

For arts and humanities, the aim will be to improve performance facilities, expanding classical disciplines and perhaps even increasing tenured faculty positions in the performance arts, Wildenthal said.

The focus will be to move forward with the program in a way that will combine the university’s commitment to engineering and the sciences with a similar commitment to the creative arts and humanities, said Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, in a statement to The Mercury.

students to enhance the role of public service in their plans for

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while she was in the restroom.

According to statistics from the Richardson Police, this was the first sexual assault in the city reported this year. There were only four sexual assaults reported last year in Richardson.

Currently, no description of the suspect is available.

UTD Police are requesting that if anyone has any information on the incident that they call them at 972-883-2222.

the rest of their lives.”

Jill Kelly, assistant professor of South African history at SMU, will be conducting a panel interview on Feb. 25 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. discussing South African expatriates who will share what life was like during the apartheid years in South Africa.

Joan Gremont, the creator of the Arnold A. Jaffe Holocaust Library, proposed the panel and is working with UTD to set it up.

“It’s a good lesson in social justice and fighting for human rights,” Gremont said.

Kimberly Hill, a visiting assistant history professor at UTD, will be joining the panelists and answering Kelly’s questions through the perspective of her own experience in South Africa.

Although she didn’t experience apartheid firsthand, Hill is an expert in African-American history and civil rights movements.

Kelly said the intent of the panel is to have local South Africans share their experiences growing up in apartheid South

Africa.

She’ll ask questions about their youth, schooling, media and politics, among other topics. It is meant to give the audience some context of the time during which Suzman served.

There will also be a Q&A afterward for the audience to engage in conversation with the panelists.

Vexler, who is now the exhibit manager for the event, will also be in attendance and will talk about curating the exhibit.

Of all the people presenting, Vexler was the last to have any contact with Suzman before she passed away in 2009 and is still in touch with Suzman’s daughters.

“What I deduced from our conversations is that the evolution of her social activism wasn’t a marked climb from one topic to another,” Vexler said. “It wasn’t anything plotted or linear, but the deeper she got into the study of racial segregation and looked at the non-white realities in concert with legislation, the more she knew she had to act.”

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FEB. 23, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Media pundit calls out tropes in video games

LIFE&ARTS

PUPPET PAGEANTRY

SID PATEL | MERCURY STAFF

Anita Sarkeesian runs Feminist Frequency, an online site where she explores the roles of women in pop culture narratives. She visited campus on Feb. 11.

Blogger Anita Sarkeesian discusses problems with portrayals of women in male-dominated industry PABLO ARAUZ Life & Arts Editor

Since she was just old enough to play her first Gameboy, feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian has been an avid female gamer caught in a male gamer-dominated world. These days, she’s trying to change that.

Sarkeesian visited campus Feb. 11 to talk about sexist impressions in video games at the lecture hall in the Edith O’Donnel Arts & Technology Building. Her Feminist Frequency website is meant to examine a variety of media from a feminist perspective. A video series titled Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games was the basis for her presentation.

During her lecture, Sarkeesian focused on eight ideas in gaming that objectify and demean women, which she said many developers are guilty of propagating. One of the concepts, which she named the “Smurfette Principle”, calls out the way many developers create uneven character choices for gamers.

“In most games, men are the default and women are the other,” Sarkeesian said.

She said, there needs to be fairer representation in the medium. Her solution was for developers to give gamers varied options.

“If we’re going to have games that involve shooting hundreds of people, I’d like to see them equally portrayed as their male counterparts,” Sarkeesian said.

Sarkeesian is no stranger to virtual violence. Her work faced a major backlash in the Gamergate controversy, a debate that started in 2014 surrounding a chain reaction of events in the video game industry that resulted in threats to her and other women.

Another trope she mentioned, titled “What about the Menz” responded to the false equivalency that some gamers make about the way developers portray men as hyper-masculine giving them the impression that male character portrayals are unrealistic.

But she deconstructed this idea by showing the audience that there are really a variety of male characters in many games – masculine and otherwise – while women are too often

portrayed as the damsel in distress.

“There’s no standard oppressive social construct in the sexualization of male characters,” she said.

Another solution that Sarkeesian proposed to some of the tropes included using some of the techniques that developers use to cover the butts of male characters in games for female characters.

She also suggested that they use real pain sounds instead of sexual noises when female characters are in a fighting situation.

Part of her lecture briefly touched on fairly portraying women of color in games aside from the stereotypical exotic fantasy.

“When you find there’s so many ways to make a game, you’ll discover there’s so many different stories to tell,” Sarkeesian said.

Matthew Brown, director for the Center for Values in Science, Medicine and Technology, chose Sarkeesian to speak as part of the 2015 lecture series focusing on issues regarding gender in society. He said lectures like hers help raise ethical questions well suited to various aspects of the UTD community.

“We’re not going to tell people what they should value,” Brown said. “What the lectures try to do, we hope, is to provoke people to think more clearly about what they value and how those values apply to what they’re looking at in different areas of science and technology.”

When looking for speakers on the topic of gender, Brown said she was one of the first speakers that came to mind. He said she is one of the most important voices in the current discussion of gender and video games “Her critiques in video games and emerging media, I think, raise powerful questions about whose values are playing a role and what values are playing role,” said Brown.

He also said that a big takeaway from

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YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF

Natsumi Bailey, an arts and performance freshman, plays many characters in “Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget” but her favorite role is a satanic saloon madam. The performance premiered Feb. 19 and continues its run at the University Theatre Jan. 26-28 at 8:00 p.m.

Student actors tackle puppet theater in “Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget” MIGUEL PEREZ Editor-in-Chief

Like some strange lovechild born from the charming slapdash style of Monty Python and the technical precision of a stop motion film, “Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget” is a head-scratching experience, but it’s worth every minute.

The performance premiered Feb. 19 at the University Theatre and features puppets designed and handcrafted by students. Actors, dressed head to toe in black with matching cowboy hats, take the audience through the show as omnipresent guides.

The story, billed as a puppet western, follows a ranch hand named Doom McCoy living in Texas as he discovers the peculiar ability to bend space and time while riding his horse through the brush land.

Riding back home after running errands in the town market, Doom finds himself set back in time, repeating the events of his day.

In seeking answers for his cosmic ailment, Doom encounters odd characters like a gambling nemesis, a satanic madam and a Creole snake-oil salesman.

Writer and director Justin Locklear, who is also a Dallas-based actor and graduate of Baylor’s theater program, said the show was inspired by Westerns, puppets and the postmodern audience’s experience.

“I really enjoy puppet shows,” Locklear said. “I think they’re sort of imagination litmus tests where you either buy into it or you disengage, and there’s rarely a lot of in-between.

What puppets do is what humans can’t do — to be complete scapegoats. A puppet can be anything you say it is which humans can’t do.”

Locklear’s approach in figuring out what

worked for the show was to test responses among the cast and crew.

The result is a show that includes an array of media including live and prerecorded video and dynamic props like some kind of electric saddle, horse masks and miniature sets.

“It’s a way that we give the audience relief,” Locklear said. “We want to give you weird, tangential sort of things including video and sound and incongruous elements because then we can be more active. It allows the audience to be more active.”

The show also features several types of puppets including wood and paper dolls standing about four feet tall and smaller versions of some of the characters.

The actors themselves helped make many of the props including the puppets they handle during the performance.

Student actress Marissa Lopez, an arts and performance freshman, said she was excited when the project started but was under the impression the puppets would already be made.

“It was a little scary because I’m not the most crafty person, but it was really fun,” she said. “I thought that helped to understand the puppet’s motions better.”

When the show begins, the viewer must choose between focusing on the puppets and the actors handling them — translating their movements, voices and emotions.

Stephanie Oustalet, a freshman minoring in arts and performance, said acting through the puppet was the hardest aspect of the show.

“I, as a person, can act, but now, you’re taking this inanimate object and making it act,” she said. “You don’t use expressions; you use its body. In a sense, some people find it absolutely creepy that you’re taking an inanimate object and making it life-like. I mean, they make hor-

ror movies about it all the time.”

As the show carries on, the audience notices the actors spend much of their time moving about onstage, pushing set pieces and holding puppets and props.

Connor Spencer, a literary studies senior, said keeping his focus on the puppet throughout the extensive blocking and constant movement was the most challenging part of his performance.

“I’m always exhausted at the end of the show,” Spencer said. “It’s only a one-hour show, but between the fact that you’re physically doing so much with the puppets and the scene work and the fact that you have to have this incredible amount of focus between characters, it’s tiring.”

Still, the cast — most of who have never acted with puppets — agrees the experience has been a positive one.

“I came in not knowing what to expect and everything about it has really exceeded my expectations,” said psychology senior Austin Schmidt. “Justin has really led it in a really fascinating direction.”

The show presents the audience with a significant challenge in trying to overlook the restrictions of the medium, as is often the case with any kind of nonhuman-centered theater experience.

In the beginning, the show teeters on becoming an uncomfortable experience as actors bustle to keep the set active and believable and puppets fight to keep the audience in a state of suspended disbelief.

Locklear said his approach to figure out what worked was to test responses among the cast and crew to find out what worked and

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Art roast celebrates work of local artist duo

CentralTrak holds exhibition highlighting work, lives of local artists Brian Scott and Brian Jones, known together as Chuck & George HENA HAFIZULLAH Mercury Staff

Bright green, pink and purple lights shined behind the sign at CentralTrak, illuminating the sidewalk as self-portraits of two artists, one painted in clown makeup and the other as a devil, look out the window.

The vivid lights added an otherworldly ambience for “Who’s Afraid of Chuck and George?” — the visual art roast of local artists Brian Scott and Brian Jones that premiered on Feb. 13 at CentralTrak.

The group exhibition put together the two artists’ friends consisted of works that mocked the couple and their artwork. It was a celebration of Scott and Jones’ work and their involvement in the North Texas art community for the past 25 years. Throughout the years, they’ve collaborated with a wide variety of artists.

“Mockery is cruel, but it is also true,” Scott said.

The exhibiting artists include Gillian Bradshaw-Smith, Scott Winterrowd, Joey Seeman and others whose works have been featured in publications such as Juxtapoz, Art? Alternatives and The Dallas Morning News, as well as in art exhibitions in New York, Florida, California and throughout the country.

Bradshaw is 82 years old and is known for painting backdrops for photographers and publications. She met Scott and Jones by painting a backdrop for one of their photographer friends when she lived in Dallas in the ’90s. They’ve worked together on many set designs since then. “(Scott and Jones’) work is very interconnected as is their relationship; it is a living organic thing,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw made two naked, stuffed dolls that exaggerated the pair’s features for the exhibit.

Winterrowd, curator of education at the Meadows Museum, has been a friend of Scott and Jones’ for 19 years. He’s watched them grow and become the artists they are now.

His piece, the central image for the event, incorporates his early large-letter postcard style where each letter of the words “Chuck & George” is an image.

There are drawings of Scott and Jones’ hobbies and recent works, but most of the drawings are of their home.

“Their house is an art environment, from the way they have filled it from floor

SCOTT MCDANIEL | COURTESY

Local artists gathered to celebrate Brian Scott and Brian Jones, known together as Chuck & George, at CentralTrak on Feb. 13.

to ceiling with art, but also the way they have put a very individual stamp on every object throughout the house,” Winterrowd said. “From the fireplace with its painted bricks, bric-a-brac, numerous figurines and escutcheon announcing you have walked into the world of Chuck & George, to the faux wallpapered walls which have been recreated at CentralTrak.”

Bright colors and distorted caricatures of the duo are a staple in every art piece.

The colors and dramatic imagery are a friendly ridicule of the two, their lives together and their work.

Seeman, a visual and graphic design artist, made a piece for the exhibit that displays Chuck & George morphed together to form Siamese twins. The image is monstrous and shocking. However, Seeman isn’t only mocking the two artists, he is also poking fun at the early freakshow style posters that Chuck & George made.

Scott and Jones, or Chuck & George as they are known when collaborating

together, have been pillars in the Dallas art community since 1990.

“We’re essentially two people collaborating as this one monster,” Scott said.

The two met at The University of North Texas while studying art; there they formed their alter egos. The project started as a way to make fun of the art around them.

“We think some of the art happening around us is silly, so we make it better,” Scott said. “There’s something enjoyable of doing something bad, really well.”

The project garnered much more interest than they had intended, and Chuck & George became better known than the individual artists. One of their recent works includes the Table Scrappin Drawings, which feature caricaturized selfportraits of the two.

Jones is frequently depicted as a cherubic carny with large, doll-like eyes, while Scott is drawn as a sinister blue devil with contorted features.

“It’s nothing new for artists or writers to have alter egos,” said Director of CentralTrak Heyd Fontenot. “There’s a certain freedom of blaming your art on someone else.”

Although the artists collaborate on most of their works, the distinction in their art and personalities is evident.

“Scott is deliciously bitchy but never unkind,” Bradshaw said. “Jones is extraordinarily knowledgeable about music and movies. He’s hesitant, yet an extremely witty person.”

Bradshaw regards Jones’ work to be “cartoony and edgy” as he frequently paints childlike images in a dismal fashion.

One of Jones’ recent works features a painting of Big Tex on fire, commemorating the notable 2012 event.

Scott’s recent paintings for his CarniSutra series reflect his somber intensity and “melancholic nature.”

The name of the exhibit comes from the play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Many in their circle know the two artists’ love for this Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film.

“It’s devastating and destructive and life-affirming,” Scott said.

The 1966 film explores the dark side of marriage while also reflecting the deep

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LIFE&ARTS

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THE MERCURY | FEB. 23, 2015

Professor finds passion in math tutoring

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love between the couple. Fontenot chose this title to parody the artists.

“So, in a sense, I’m poking fun at Chuck & George and the idea of wedded bliss and magical collaboration,” he said. “With this title, I’m acknowledging the difficulties of both romantic and working relationships.”

Fontenot has curated many of the couple’s other exhibits, such as Circle Werk OT Project, Gun & Knife Show, That Mortal Coil and Domestic Animals at CentralTrak and the Webb Gallery.

“It’s important to recognize these two people who have dedicated their entire beings to art,” he said. “And I knew that when I invited their friends to make work about them, in honor of them, that we’d get lots of interesting contributions.”

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JENNIFER CHI | MERCURY STAFF

Junior Bonhyun Ku (left) and senior Young Sub Lee, both electrical engineering majors, help students at the Martin Luther King Branch Library in Dallas.

NIDHI GOTGI Mercury Staff

In 1991, Gil Sik Lee and his wife were making plans to adopt two children from low-income backgrounds in hopes of giving them a better life. An unexpected detour in Washington D.C. made him realize that education — instead of adoption — could be a way to help improve the lives of underprivileged children.

While on sabbatical from Louisiana State University doing research at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., Lee, an electrical engineering professor, took the wrong exit off of Highway 295 early in the morning. He found himself in a poor neighborhood with kids of all ages playing on the street during school hours.

This scene reminded him of his childhood in Taegu, South Korea, where most students dropped out before middle school and out of the 700 kids he went to elementary school with, only 10 pursued a college education.

“I have three mottos in my life: to be fair, consistent and humble,” Lee said. “It’s not fair that some kids are born into richer families, get good education and they can have a good living. Some kids are unfortunate and born into poor neighborhoods. They don’t care about education, but it’s the only thing that can break the cycle of poverty.”

He said he realized that education would turn these children into good citizens more than his upbringing would if he were to adopt them. So, in 1993, Lee and his wife, also an electrical engineering professor, started a tutoring program called Math School of Baton Rouge.

It was held in McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hours. Elementary students from second to fifth grade would attend and volunteers from LSU would dedicate their time to teaching children math.

“Kids from low-income areas believe they are weak in math, and they are because they don’t start at an early age,” Lee said. “But, that is not their choice.”

In 2001, Lee and his wife closed the Math School of Baton Rouge and moved to Dallas to start working at UTD. They immediately started negotiating with school principals in South Dallas to allow them to hold tutoring sessions at their campuses, but their efforts weren’t successful because administrators didn’t want to deal with liability issues.

Lee said he was upset about the fact that he wanted to open up opportunities for underprivileged students but his

efforts and proposals went unacknowledged.

Finally, in the spring of 2005, Ora Hankins, the manager at Martin Luther King Branch library, welcomed their proposal for a free tutoring program.

Later dubbed IntelliChoice, the program has since then opened four other branches at the Harrington Library, the Vietnamese Community Center, the Emily Fowler Libarary and Skyline Library. A sixth branch in Carrollton will soon be established in 2015.

Soo Hyun Lee, a ninth grade math teacher at Newman Smith High School, heard about Lee’s program and was interested in making it available to her own students. She has volunteered to be the manager at the Carrollton branch once it opens. The location is still undecided.

“There are many good volunteers,” Lee said. “That is why the program is operating.”

UTD alumnus Joshua Choe is the branch manager at Martin Luther King Branch Library and drives 50 miles from Denton every Saturday to tutor.

“I think UTD has a history of students going out to make an impact in their community,” Choe said. “It’s not just about studying there. It’s about ‘What can I do with my life?’ I think that’s a big part of education and UTD has definitely had an impact on my service-oriented mindset.”

Saikrishna Singireddy, a senior at Plano East Senior High, also dedicates his time to assisting the non-profit and helping students succeed.

“There’s one girl who has attended tutoring since I first started volunteering and she used to really struggle,” Singireddy said. “ Now, she finishes her homework within the first 15 minutes and tries to learn advanced material to get ahead in school.”

Singireddy was referring to eight grader April Pibrdant, who is now two years ahead of her school’s curriculum as she learns algebra and geometry.

“It’s not that the students are weak in math,” Singireddy said. “They just need extra attention and motivation which their parents aren’t able to give them.”

The volunteers focus on preparing juniors and seniors for the SAT by conducting practice tests. Lee provides a variety of free prep books that the students wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

“I’m trying to work with the high school kids who are taking their SATs,” Choe said. “A lot of these kids are going to be the first in their families to go to college. If I can help them in any small way to improve their possibility of getting into college, I think that’s making an impact in the

PIN POSSIBLE For those who have read my Macchiatos and NeuCOMMENTARY roscience blog, it should come as no surprise that I love coffee. By extension that also means I’ve had my fair share of Starbucks drinks. Surprisingly, my favorite drink from the chain contains no coffee in it — just a lot of chocolate: the Double Chocolaty Chip Crème Frappuccino.

Another thing I love to do, especially during test week when I am looking for every excuse to not open my neuroanatomy textbook, is bake. One of my favorite cupcake recipes — and the one my friends will immediately say is my go-to recipe for parties — are double chocolate chip frappuccino cupcakes.

This is one of those things that I love about Pinterest; occasionally I find these super adorable recipes that combine so many things that I love.

LINDA NGUYEN

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YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF

Connor Spencer, literary studies senior, and Andrew Smith, arts and performance freshman, control miniature versions of the show’s characters.

what didn’t.

“You get to pry and pick and play the numbers game to see how the audience will respond,” he said.

It soon becomes clear however that the cast is reveling in their self-awareness through script and expression. Ultimately, it makes the whole ordeal delightfully absurd.

“Doom McCoy and the Death Nugget” will continue its run at the University Theatre Jan. 26-28 at 8:00 p.m., and tickets for students are free with a Comet Card.

@utdmercury DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP FRAPPUCINO CUPCAKES

Instructions: Cupcakes 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs and water.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into the lined cupcake tins until they’re about 3/4 of the way full.

4. Turn the oven down to 325 and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Chocolate Mousse 1. Whisk the sugar, egg yolks and water in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water — being careful not to let the bowl touch the water — for eight minutes.

2. Pour the chocolate chips into another bowl.

3. Pour the mixture over the chocolate chips and let it sit for about two minutes, then stir.

4. Fold the Cool Whip into the chocolate mixture.

For the Chocolate Mousse - 6 large egg yolks - 3/4 cup and 2 tbs of sugar - 1/3 cup of water - 1 package of semisweet chocolate chips - 2 packages of Cool Whip (about 2 cups)

For the Cupcakes - 1 package of devil’s food cake mix - 1 package of instant chocolate pudding mix - 1 cup of sour cream (about one container) - 1 cup of vegetable oil - 4 eggs - 1/2 cup of warm water - 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (about one package)

According to the recipe, it will yield about 24 cupcakes, but I usually get about 30. The chocolate mousse recipe will probably yield way too much mousse for you to put into the cupcakes, but more chocolate is never a bad thing.

In order to get the mousse into the cupcakes, you’re going to want to core them. I use a spoon to do this and then pipe the mousse into the middle using a zip lock bag with a hole cut in the corner.

Honestly, the hardest part about these cupcakes is piping the icing all nice and pretty, but it’s totally doable. If you want to invest in an actual piping set, you can play around with how you want to top the cupcakes. Since I usually end up with more mousse than I need, I usually just use the extra to top the cupcakes, but you can also top them with whatever other icing you might prefer.

LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

LINA MOON | MERCURY STAFF

→ PUPPETS

Every issue, The Mercury’s craft connoisseurs will scour Pinterest and craft blogs in search of the best and worst DIY projects. Show us your results on social media using #pinpossible.

Kitchen Supplies - Oven - Cupcake tin and cupcake liners - Mixing bowls and spoons - Metal bowl - Ziploc bags

at Wh l ’l you → d nee

community, and that’s what I look forward to in my commute every Saturday.”

Lee said the owner of Young Jae Academy in Irving has offered to provide professional SAT prep free of charge to those who can achieve a certain minimum score, so Lee is working toward arranging this opportunity for his sharpest students.

Saachi Minocha, an information, technology and systems freshman, volunteered at the Harrington Library branch and helped two sisters who had just moved from Mexico overcome their communication barrier to learn math. She looked up Spanish vocabulary relevant to math and taught the kids how to count U.S. currency and tell time.

“They were really curious, attentive and ready to learn,” Minocha said. “I put in the extra work because I found it awesome that what I was learning in school was applicable in the real world. I thought, ‘If I had the skills to help them, then why shouldn’t I?’” The two girls, Rosalini and Shirley, stayed with Saachi throughout the program from the end of her sophomore year to her senior year in high school.

“I tried to put my knowledge to good use and the students were genuinely trying to learn,” Minocha said. “Both parties were invested in the program for the right reasons so I think everyone benefitted.”

Lee hosted a banquet at the Omni Hotel in November 2014 to award scholars with good attendance and high work ethic. A total of $20,000 in scholarships were given out to 40 kids chosen from among the five learning centers. George Fair, dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, was the keynote speaker at the banquet.

Companies such as Texas Instruments, Exxon Mobil and Samsung either donated $20-25 for every hour that their employees volunteered at IntelliChoice or matched their employees’ donations with their own contribution.

The donation money is used for scholarships and books.

Lee wants to expand this fundraiser to as many individuals as possible to make it more of a community fundraiser rather than receive large sums from one or two companies.

He is also looking for volunteers to serve at the Carrollton branch and contribute to existing branches.

“I think that there should be more of a spotlight on professors like Dr. Lee who have a vision to give back to the community,” Choe said. “He’s focused on what he can do as a professor at UTD for the people around him and he sets a great example.”

the lecture for students was to find solutions to the shortcomings of developers showing equitable representation in video games.

Ryan Whorton, arts and technology senior, attended the lecture. He’s currently studying game development and said he’s deeply trying to learn how to be fairer in his work.

He also said that if student developers at UTD followed Sarkeesian’s solutions to the tropes, everything could change in the next two generations of games.

“I think that if I can just get one part of say, like the character design to go away – whether it’s the disproportionate breasts or butt physics, like if I could just get one thing fixed in my art, I would feel like at least I’d done a small part in making things better,” said Whorton.

8

FEB. 23, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

SPORTS

LACROSSE GETS BACK IN ACTION

Club sport returns to play 10 years after original team disbanded, new members fight to learn the game, raise funds for squad

YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF

Members of the lacrosse club practice two days before they leave to play the University of Tulsa. The club, which has formed again after the original team was disbanded 10 years ago, consists of just 14 players.

PRIYANKA HARDIKAR Mercury Staff

The team showed up almost two hours early when the norm was to arrive an hour before the game started to warm up. They were setting the tone for the program and getting everyone in the mindset to win.

It was the first time the UTD lacrosse club would be playing in a decade. They knew what they had to prove, and they did – defeating Dallas Baptist University 22-3 on Jan. 30.

Ten years ago, the lacrosse team was a member of the Lone Star Alliance, but after half a season, it fell apart due to a lack of organization and commitment.

This year, president of the club, junior Derek Aguirre, brought it back.

“A lot of people wanted to play, but not a lot of people wanted to put the work into starting it,” Aguirre said. “I’m not afraid of putting some extra work to see it happen because I have a clear vision of what I want in the future for lacrosse.”

The team currently consists of 14 players, including team captains Charles Shiu and Casey Glad and vice

president Preston Ooi. It is voluntarily coached by head coach Zac Gutierrez and two assistant coaches, Sam Lockett and Dexter Goode.

Gutierrez, who has played lacrosse since high school, played varsity on the collegiate level at the University of North Texas. He also worked as an athletic director at the YMCA in McKinney.

The sport contains four positions: midfield, attack, defense, and goalie. Team member Sean Barnett calls it a mix between hockey and soccer, and he prefers to switch between goalie and offense, not wanting to be stuck in one position.

Lacrosse, one of the oldest games in North America, was originally played by Native American tribes and later modified by European immigrants.

The lacrosse stick is a long-handled stick with a net designed to catch the small rubber ball the game is played with.

On offense, the purpose of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent’s goal, through catching, carrying and passing the ball with the stick.

Defensively, the purpose is to prevent the opposing team from scoring and to gain the ball through stick checking, body contact or positioning.

“You get a stick, you get to hit people with it and you get messed up,” Barnett said, laughing.

He said the goalie position in lacrosse is like the quarterback position in football because it lets him dictate how the game is played but also puts a lot of pressure on him.

“Every time a shot gets by you, it’s so heartbreaking,” he said. “All eyes are on you when you mess up. It’s all on you, and that gets to you.”

But after a few minutes, Barnett remembers making great saves and showing off his skill. The adrenaline kicks in, and he’s in his zone. With that, the pressure fades away or he just stops noticing it.

While half of the players joined the team with some prior experience, the other half are playing for the first time. The team’s roster is smaller than most other teams, and that pushes members to play extra cautiously to prevent careless injuries.

Shiu, who only began playing last fall, said one of the challenges that came along with a team of varying skill was keeping everyone on the same page.

In the beginning, he would just hold the stick at home, but eventually he developed a certain bond with it.

“There is a personal connection you have with your equipment that’s unique to sports – the stick especially because you need it to do everything,” he said.

The next step as a new player was finding a dense wall to practice throwing and catching on. That — along with watching YouTube videos — helped Shiu get a feel for the game.

Getting in shape was another obstacle, with the amount of running involved in the game.

“The hardest thing is sticking with it, thinking in the long-term and knowing that one day you’ll be decent at it,” Shiu said.

When Gutierrez began working with the team, his main objective was to teach them how to run their squad like a business. He noticed they were lacking in organization, and they needed some direction.

“This isn’t about me or the other coaches,” Gutierrez said. “It’s about the team having a good experience — one they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”

Money was one of the biggest obstacles in building the team. Aguirre’s biggest fear was getting everyone

→ SEE LACROSSE, PAGE 9

Senior captain battles with injury Point guard leads men’s basketball team from sideline with damaged hand, attempts to play one last home game on Senior Day ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS Managing Editor

As the pile of bodies continued to grow on top of him, he thought he was going to die.

Nolan Harvey, a point guard for the men’s basketball team, had just hit a game-winning, three-point shot with less than a second left in overtime against Whitworth University in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament. After the ball went through the net, the largest home crowd in school history stormed the court in a frenzy.

In their excitement, spectators started to form a dog pile on top of Harvey. He began to scream for them to get off to no avail.

“Everything goes black because I can’t see anything now because everyone is on top of me,” he said. “I can’t breathe because there’s so much weight on my chest and there’s not a lot of oxygen down there.

There was a small point in time when I was just like, ‘Alright, I’m OK with dying right here. This is good.’”

After everyone had finally gotten off of him, officials confirmed on video replay that the shot had counted. The Comets had just won a ticket to advance to the next round of the tournament in their last home game of the year.

Harvey, now a senior, said that moment last season has been the greatest memory of his career. For the seniors on the team that year, that was their last experience getting to play in front of a home crowd.

This year, seniors had the last home game of their career when the Comets took on Concordia on Feb. 21 on Senior Day. On this day every year, the seniors on the team have a special moment of recognition with parents and loved ones on the court before the game.

Unfortunately for Harvey, the chance to create just one more memory on the court he had played on for four years was marred by an injury that sidelined him earlier in the year.

During the team’s road game at Concordia in January, Harvey had poked the ball out of the grasp of the man he was guarding with the tips of his left hand. After the play, he noticed something was wrong.

“I just looked down and my finger was jagged and pretty messed up,” he said. “I went over to coach and was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not sure what’s the deal with my hand. It doesn’t look too good.’”

He didn’t know it at the time but his middle finger was fractured during the play. Despite his injury, Harvey finished the game, playing mostly with his right hand. A few days later, a doctor informed him he would need surgery to repair his hand. If he wanted to heal properly, the doctor said he couldn’t play for the rest of the year.

When he heard the news, he couldn’t believe it.

Already playing through a torn ACL that had finally started to feel better, Harvey thought the worst was already behind him.

“Everything was going OK. I was out there competing, doing what I love,” he said. “It was kind of taken away from me. Especially in this last bit of my senior year–this last part of my career–to have that taken away, there was a small period of time where it just felt real crappy, just real alone almost. You’re just like, ‘Wow, this really sucks.’ It was a bad time.”

His teammates were shocked when they heard the injury had taken Harvey out. Matt Medell, a senior guard and one of Harvey’s closest friends on the team, said he was devastated when he found out.

Head coach Terry Butterfield said he’s been sad all year because of Harvey’s injuries.

“I’m devastated for Nolan,” he said. “I think Nolan got a raw deal. First of all, he tears his ACL, which usually is a season–ending injury. He decides to brace up and suck it up through the pain and he’s sort of doing OK, and then, he turns around and fractures his finger and has to have surgery. I can’t think of a guy who’s had worse luck when it comes to basketball and has meant so much to the program as Nolan.”

Despite the injury, there was a slim chance Harvey could come back to play at least a few minutes on Senior Day. Even though he had no guarantees, he continued to work out and prepare to play the game.

“He’s in there every single day,” Medell said. “He’s still working out, keeping his legs in shape…he continues to rehab and work through (his torn ACL) just on the off chance that he’ll be back this year.

He hasn’t given up on himself and he for sure hasn’t given up on the team.”

Being sidelined forced Harvey to take a more vocal route than he is used to when it comes to leadership.

Instead of being out there to lead by example, he took up a role as a coach of sorts, guiding and mentoring the younger players.

He said the transition from leading as a player to leading as a spectator on the sideline was the hardest part of being injured. The experience also gave him a new appreciation for the role his coaches play.

“As a player, (Butterfield) would be grilling someone hard or yelling at someone hard and I would be like, ‘Alright, he gets it, he gets it.’” Harvey said.

“Now, I kind of understand because I see why he’s yelling. From the outside looking in, looking on the court, you can kind of see how good we can be. So, when people don’t perform as best as they can, you kind of understand why he expects excellence out of all of us because he’s seen it before.”

As senior day neared, Harvey said he was still hopeful he would get another chance to go make a start on his home court. Unfortunately, by the time

ARUN PRASATH | MERCURY STAFF

Senior guard and captain Nolan Harvey cheers on his team from the sideline during Senior Day on Feb. 21. Harvey, who has played all four years at UTD, has been out with a fractured finger since January.

senior day had finally arrived, his hand had still not healed enough to play.

Even though he wasn’t an active player, Harvey still dressed out and warmed up with the team. Before the game, he took the chance to slam home a few last minute dunks during lay-up drills, palming the ball solely with his right hand as he drilled it through the rim.

After the seniors got a pre-game introduction with their parents and loved ones, it was finally time for tip-off. As the game started, the emotion and importance of the day was evident as fans screamed in excitement with every play.

Even though the Comets had a clear advantage with the size and noise of the crowd, they struggled to get past Concordia’s full-court press. As the game wore on, UTD couldn’t get past the Tornados’ stifling defense, falling 96-84 to close out their season.

Harvey could only watch from the sidelines as his last home game as a senior slipped away in front of his eyes.

“It was pretty sad, especially not being able to be a part of it, not really having the control over that game that I wanted to have,” he said. “That was tough.”

Despite having finished the regular season on a three-game losing streak, the team still has a seed in

the ASC tournament, which starts Feb. 26. Harvey said he’ll still continue to do everything he can to get healthy and play in the tournament.

Butterfield said even though Harvey may not be able to continue to play with the team, he still knows how important he is to the team.

“Anybody that knows Nolan knows that there is not really anything that can really hold him back,” he said. “Nolan has contributed in other ways: talking to the young guys, coaching up the guys. He’s been like a second coach for us out there on the floor. Nolan’s just going to be successful in whatever endeavor he decides to take on. I just wish he could’ve played out his senior year in the way I know he could. He could’ve been a real difference maker to us in so many different ways. I sort of feel like it’s unfinished business, because he didn’t get a chance to really complete the play.”

Although his last game was derailed by injury, Harvey said he was still grateful for the experiences he has had on the floor at UTD. “It was a great experience,” he said. “I really appreciate everything this university and the student body has done. They’ve made it an awesome experience for me playing here.”

UTDMERCURY.COM

SPORTS

THE MERCURY | FEB. 23, 2015

9

ASC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN WORDS: ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS | MANAGING EDITOR

WOMEN UT Tyler: The best team in the league this season has been UT Tyler. The Patriots, who have only lost one game so far, have put up the most points per game in the conference while also having the stingiest defense in the ASC. Senior forward Brittany King is their go-to player, and her height and strength in the paint have made her one of the hardest players to guard this year.

UTD: This season has been one of the strongest the Comets have had under head coach Polly Thomason. The team has the best defense in the league, only allowing 55.4 points per game. Senior guard Madi Hess has stood out for the Comets, leading the ASC in assists, three-point field goal percentage and defensive rebounds. If the team wants to take home an ASC crown, it will have to continue to play stout defense, especially if it wants to get through tournament host and rival UT Tyler.

Louisiana College: The Lady Wildcats have had a solid outing in conference play up to this point.

They have the third highest scoring offense in the league and are second in three-pointers made.

Senior center Danisha Allison is third in the ASC in rebounding and will be the go-to player for Louisiana College

Howard Payne: The Lady Jackets have stood out on defense this season, rejecting 5.1 shots a game. Junior guard Danyel Bradley leads the conference in scoring, putting up 22.4 points a game.

Hardin-Simmons: Hitting .406 from the field, the Cowgirls are third in the ASC in field goal percentage this year. Shooting is their best chance to make an impact in the conference playoffs.

Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Crusaders have struggled at times this season, entering the conference with a below .500 record. Despite this, they have still put up the second most potent scoring offense in the league, averaging 75.4 points per game.

Concordia: Concordia hasn’t had much to brag about this season, but one aspect of the Tornados’ defense this year is particularly tenacious: steals. Concordia averages over 10 steals a game, leading the ASC in takeaways. Look for quick hands from the Tornados as they take the court in the tournament.

Ozarks: The Lady Eagles limp into the ASC playoffs as the last place team. They rank third in blocked shots, picking up 107 rejections so far this season. One bright spot for Ozarks is their defensive rebounding; the team averages 31 defensive boards a game.

MEN East Texas Baptist: ETBU has managed to come out on top of a wild ASC regular season with a 20-5 overall record. The Tigers allow the fewest points a game in the conference, only giving up 67.6 a contest.

They also have the highest field goal percentage in the league, shooting .466 from the field. Junior post Jamil Samuel, who is second in the ASC in rebounding, will need to step up if ETBU plans to take the conference crown.

Hardin-Simmons: HSU entered the season as favorites to win the ASC and it has not disappointed. The Cowboys are second in scoring offense, putting up 80.5 points a game and also leads the league with 6.6 blocked shots per game. Senior forward Derrick Jefferson, a second-team Preseason All-American, will be the key to HSU advancing. He averages 19.1 points a game.

Louisiana College: The Wildcats have the third highest scoring average in the ASC this year, putting up 77.7 points a game. They also average 9.2 takeaways a game, second in the conference. Junior forward Anthony Gaines, Jr. will be a key player to watch; the 6-foot-3-inch scorer averages 20.6 points a game, third in the conference.

Howard Payne: Rebounds have been key for the Yellow Jackets this season. HPU averages 15.6 boards on offense a game, first in the conference. Look for senior guard Brandon Gould to be their go-to player.

He averages 16.6 points a game, ninth in the ASC. Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Cru have not lead in many key statistics this season, but they will still enter at the third seed in the conference tournament. One area UMHB stands out in is defensive rebounds; the team pulls down 28.2 boards a game, second in the ASC. Senior wing Jerard Graham, who averages 19.4 points a game, is fourth in the league in scoring.

Concordia: The Tornados have polar opposites on each side of the floor this season. While averaging 89.5 points a game – first in the ASC – they also give up 83.7 points a game on defense, coming in dead last in the conference. Senior guard Josh Sanchez is seventh in the conference in scoring, having put up 18.21points a game in the regular season.

UTD: After having one of the most successful seasons in program history last year, the Comets find themselves in a tough spot heading into postseason play. A young roster, filled with freshmen and transfer players, has shown streaks of both strength and weakness throughout the course of the year. A key area for UTD this year has been three-point shooting; the team has an average of .378 from the field, first in the ASC. The Comets will need senior guard Rafael Farley to continue to shine if they want to advance. He averages 21.8 points a game, second in the ASC. Ozarks: The Eagles come into the tournament on a technicality; Sul Ross State was actually ahead of them but was barred from playing in the ASC tournament because their Division III membership is restricted. Still, the Eagles have averaged 76.8 points a game, fourth in the conference. Senior forward Kelby Robinson leads the team with 15.8 points a game, tenth in the conference.

TEAM LOGOS: ASC SCHOOLS | COURTESY

→ LACROSSE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

on board and then being told that they couldn’t play because they couldn’t afford it.

New equipment costs anywhere from $500 to $700, and because the school does not fund much money for the club, the team members are required to pay for all expenses.

The team attempted ways of raising money through

crowd funding, selling t-shirts, online fundraising and sponsorships. Sometimes, they were forced to resort to pitching in themselves.

“A lot of companies want to put money into something that’s already established and recognized,” Ooi said. “But having no money just made us work harder and knowing we have nothing made us want to build something out of it.”

Aguirre said he realizes they haven’t tried everything, and this year, fundraising will definitely be a focus. They have considered holding a car wash, sending letters to family and family friends asking for donations and leaving jars at local restaurants for donations.

So far, the team has won three games, falling short by six on the most recent game. There are eight more games left.

Their next game is against Tulsa on Feb. 22, while their

next game at home is on Feb. 28.

Aguirre’s hope is that they can win the division and the school can see lacrosse as a viable sport for the NCAA. “The club is at a point where if I leave, I know the club will still go on,” Aguirre said. “It feels great looking out in the field and seeing UT Dallas lacrosse jerseys. It is truly out there.”

10

PHOTOS

THE MERCURY | FEB. 23, 2015

UTDMERCURY.COM

EXPRESS YOURSELF DESIGN BY CONNIE CHENG | PHOTO EDITOR & ANDREW GALLEGOS | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

E 1

B 1

C A Love Line

A panel of relationship experts gathered in The Pub on Wednesday, Feb. 11 to answer questions during Sexual Responsibility Week.

B UTDesign Makerspace Opening

Students and faculty celebrate the opening of the UTDesign Studio inside Synergy Park North on Thursday, Feb. 12. Makerspace President Vivien Ngo chatted with visitors before Mark Spong, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science, performed the ribbon cutting.

C SUAAB Variety Comedy Show feat. Godfrey

Popular comedian Godfrey came out to the Clark Center on Wednesday, Feb. 18 to perform his expressive stand-up routine for students.

B 2 A

D B 3

D Tailgate

Students gather to tailgate before the Feb. 21 basketball games. The tailgate was hosted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity.

E Mock Rock

F — ANDREW GALLEGOS | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

Student organizations competed in the first annual Mock Rock competition, hosted by the Student Organization Center at the Clark Center on Feb. 20.

Groups showed their skills by dancing, performing skits, and lip syncing.

B1, B3 — ANTHONY LAURIENTI | MERCURY STAFF D, E1, E3 — LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

F Africa Night

B2, E2 — SID PATEL | MERCURY STAFF

The African Student Union hosted an event in the Galaxy Rooms on Feb. 21 to celebrate the cultures of Africa, from North to South. The evening included a head wrap competition, fashion show and dance performances such as this one by the Spicy Suya Boys.

A, C — RANJIT SREENIVAS | MERCURY STAFF F

E 2

E 3

7 11

FEB. 23, 2015 | THE MERCURY

COMICS&GAMES 921 Episode 3

Anonymous submission The Jumpers 1 - Unexpected Landing

by Tim Shirley The Jumpers 2 - Mixed Up

by Emily Grams

by Emily Grams

Conquest of the Samureyes

by Ian LaMarsh

12

THE MERCURY | FEB. 23, 2015

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