The Mercury 10/19/15

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October 19, 2015

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THE WATCHMAN Before he was teaching in JSOM, Richard Bowen was fighting corruption in Citigroup Story by NIDHI GOTGI

THE MERCURY’S GUIDE TO DALLAS’ BEST HALLOWEEN ATTRACTIONS PG. 6

Alumnus wins Nobel Prize in chemistry Prize is first for university graduate, native of Turkey

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CHRIS LIN | MERCURY STAFF

Richard Bowen, who started as a professor at UTD in 2008, first noticed irregularities in how Citigroup was handling mortgage transactions in June 2006.

Even though he started issuing warnings immediately, Bowen’s testimonies were swept under the rug.

Richard Bowen’s office is like any other professor’s at UTD. There is a desk, some chairs, a couple of bookshelves and papers strewn in an organized mess.

There is also a stack of newspapers, consisting of The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, sitting inconspicuously in one of the bookshelves.

To the average visitor, they may not hold any particular value, but each paper details Bowen’s struggle against one of the largest banks in the U.S. In 2006, the senior lecturer in accounting blew the whistle at Citigroup when he noticed defective mortgages were receiving approval to be sold.

Ever since then, he’s been fighting to get the word out about corruption in the banking industry. ***** In early 2006, Bowen was working as the business chief underwriter of all correspondent mortgage operations at Citigroup.

Bowen was in charge of all the subprime units that purchased mortgages from other companies and banks. His job was to make sure these mortgages met company policy before they were ready to be sold.

By talking to his key managers, Bowen realized that in one area of the mortgage operations, a large number of mortgages were missing critical information.

He found out that the underwriters who worked in his department were overriding the company’s policy and approving incomplete mortgage files to make an easy profit.

“Basically what happened was the mortgage companies that were selling to us realized that even if (they) didn’t meet our requirements, if they left out the documents that prove they didn’t meet our requirements, we’d still buy it,” Bowen said. “They’d figured that out early on.”

Buying and selling these defective mortgages could’ve led to Citi repurchasing them, resulting in significant profit losses, the possible shutdown of Citigroup and numerous people getting laid off.

Bowen started issuing warnings immediately.

“The whole (system) was broken,” he said. “We were giving representations and warranties to those purchasers that were buying the mortgages that they met our guidelines. And so I took my job seriously.

I mean, this was a huge job. I just started trying to get it fixed.”

Despite Bowen’s efforts, by 2007, the defective mortgage rate in Citigroup increased to over 80 percent.

“That’s when I knew, you know, I had to get to the Board of Directors,” Bowen said. “This was widespread. Everybody knew about it. Nobody was really

doing anything about it. And that’s when I sent the Rubin e-mail.”

On Nov. 3, 2007, Bowen wrote an email to Robert Rubin, the newly appointed CEO of Citigroup. In the email, he detailed unrecognized financial losses and breakdowns in internal controls.

Bowen said he knew he had a limited amount of time left at the company, so he felt compelled to reach the Board as soon as possible. But no one would listen.

“This thing was getting bigger and bigger and people were looking the other way and it was very distressing,” he said.

By the end of January 2008, Citi placed him on administrative leave and relieved him of his responsibilities due to his incessant stream of warnings.

By this time, actions like the ones Citigroup had taken had started to play a major role in causing the Great Recession. He said it was a trying time for him and his family, but they sought support from each other.

“It will take a toll on you,” he said. “If you read some of the books about whistleblowers, a huge number of them go through divorces and it really

→ SEE WATCHMAN, PAGE 12

Religion mixes with politics on campaign trail Plano church forum with presidential candidates highlights growing influence of Christianity on conservatives MIRIAM PERCIVAL Mercury Staff

The church auditorium was filled with enthusiasm as the six presidential hopefuls strolled onto the stage. The audience looked forward to hearing about how religion plays a role in the candidates’ personal and political lives.

On Oct. 18, Prestonwood Baptist Church partnered with the Faith & Freedom Coalition to hold a forum to discuss the importance of faith in public life. Over 7,000 people attended the event, with 10,000 more watching the livestream online. Among the candidates present were Carly Fiorina, Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Rick Santorum, Ben Carson, Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Mike Huckabee.

The forum allowed each candidate 10 minutes to address the audience, and then another 10 minutes for a discussion led by Jack Graham, the pastor of the congregation.

Candidates discussed political issues such as the defunding of Planned Parenthood and the perceived attack on Christianity in America. While they mostly stayed within the realm of politics, candidates often talked about religion and how it affects their political and personal lives.

SURAIYA RAHMETULLA | MERCURY STAFF

On Oct. 18, Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz (above), Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush all visited Pretonwood Baptist Church in Plano for a forum on their policies and faith.

“The Bible is very clear about the responsibility to help the poor. It’s mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible, (but) I don’t think anywhere in the Bible (it says) that the government is supposed to do that,” Santorum said.

This forum was particularly unusual because of the number of candidates attending the event.

Political science professor Thomas Brunell said

that he has rarely seen an event like this hosted by a church.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a church getting multiple people like this to have a pseudodebate,” Brunell said. “Of course, politicians go to churches all the time, so that’s not surprising.”

→ SEE RELIGION, PAGE 11

For the first time in university history, a Nobel Prize has been awarded to an alumnus.

Aziz Sancar, who graduated from UTD with a degree in molecular and cell biology in 1977 and is currently a member of the biochemistry department at the University of North Carolina, was part of a team that was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Oct. 7.

The group’s work focused on how DNA is mended by a process called nucleotide excision repair. Their research found that cells continuously repair damaged DNA from carcinogens like UV radiation.

This finding, which has potential applications for cancer treatments, disproves the notion scientists have maintained for years that DNA is an extremely stable molecule.

“They’re also important in cancer treatment because many of the anti-cancer drugs do damage DNA and whether cancer cells can repair it or not could influence how cancer is treated,” Sancar said in an interview with nobelprize.org.

During his time at UTD, Sancar made an immediate impact on the school’s then relatively new chemistry department.

Claud Rupert, Sancar’s Ph.D. advisor, said the student displayed a tremendous work ethic.

“I’d say, conservatively, he worked 90 hours a week,” he said. “He came in here and nothing else existed but his work. If he wasn’t in the laboratory, he was in the library reading journals.”

Sancar, who received his M.D. from Istanbul University in Turkey in 1969, is also the first person from that country to receive a Nobel Prize in science.

Stephen Spiro, the head of the Department of Biological Sciences, said his own work as a Ph.D. student was influenced by Sancar.

“Back in the 1980s, one thing that molecular biologists spent a long time trying to do — and in fact what Aziz did here — was to isolate genes, to purify a piece of DNA that has on it a particular gene that encodes some particular protein,” he said.

“He did that here and it was one of the very early examples of cloning a gene. One of the techniques that he developed while doing that … would allow you to identify the protein that’s encoded on the specific fragment of DNA … I used that technique to actually visualize the protein product made by that cloned gene.”

Spiro said Sancar’s work on, which clarifies how proteins in human cells help with DNA repair, is hugely important to understanding the process of how DNA is healed.

“That’s something that he discovered,” he said.

“That this protein that’s involved in using light energy to repair DNA damage in some organisms, in humans is instead involved in the 24-hour clock.”

Although the full term implications of the discovery are not yet known, the impact on UTD has already been felt across campus.

“Having an alumnus named as a Nobel laureate shows that UT Dallas has come of age as an institution,” said President Ad Interim Hobson Wildenthal in an email. “For many years, we — and those who closely follow UT Dallas — have known we have outstanding faculty and students, but this recognition clearly validates our quality to a broader national and international audience. This should be a great moment for our campus community to celebrate, and we share this with those who have contributed their time, effort and money to support us and help UT Dallas become an emerging national academic presence.”

SANCAR

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In the last issue of The Mercury, in the story titled “Why Carry?”, Dennis McCuistion’s name was misspelled. Also, the number of CHL applicants was used in place of the number of CHL holders in the state, which is 826,000. Also, the number of years Will Perkins served in the Army was misstated.

In the story titled “A Survivor’s Tale”, the number of Jews killed by the Germans was misspelled. 71,000 Jews were killed.

The Mercury regrets these errors.

OPINION

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OCT. 19, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Editorial Board

Campus carry debate clouded by fear on both sides of issue The passage of SB11, the law allowing concealed handguns into campus buildings at Texas public colleges, has reignited the debate over campus carry.

Unfortunately, most of the arguments being made are founded in fear rather than fact.

For concealed handgun license holders, one of the main reasons they support the law is to defend themselves and others in the event of a campus shooting.

On the other side, those who are against SB11 are fearful of what may happen if someone with a CHL gets upset in a classroom and starts spraying bullets into professors and students.

What nobody seems to have discussed yet is that neither of these scenarios are statistically likely to happen.

In the United States, there are approximately 7,250 colleges and universities. According to a report

by USA Today, since 2006 there have been mass shootings at exactly six of these institutions. That means there has been a mass shooting at approximately 0.083 percent of colleges in this country in the last decade. Looking at the numbers, the possibility of actually needing to defend oneself with force in the event of an active shooter on a campus seems to be highly unlikely simply because campus shootings are incredibly rare.

On the flip side, the likelihood of a CHL holder committing a violent act is almost as improbable as a campus shooting. According to the latest available data from the Texas Department of Pulics Safety, there are 825,957 CHL holders in the state of Texas. Out of the 50,869 convictions in the state in 2013, only 158 were CHL holders. That’s just 0.31 percent.

Breaking those numbers down even further, only 34 of those CHL holders were convicted for a charge that involved weapons of any kind. In other words, only 0.067 percent of all felons in Texas were CHL holders who were arrested for a violent offense involving a weapon. Statistically, CHL holders aren’t prone to commit crimes, especially those that involve the use of an actual gun. The belief that CHL holders are a source of violence just isn’t supported by data.

While the number of violent CHL holders is low and the need to defend oneself in the event of a campus shooting is almost equally low, the hysteria around campus carry has persisted. A group of students at The University of Texas at Austin have even gone as far as promising to carry dildos on the first day of classes next Fall to protest the implementation of the law.

While there hasn’t been such an eye raising form of expression against SB11 at UTD, the number of those who are against campus carry is extremely high.

According to a recent poll conducted by The Mercury, 75 percent of students surveyed are against the law.

What people may not realize is that very few people at UTD qualify for campus carry to begin with.

To be eligible for a CHL license in Texas, you must be 21 years or older — unless you are an active or former member of the military, in which case you can get a CHL at 18. Along with undergoing a criminal background check, you also have to be a U.S. citizen.

Looking at these requirements, it’s made immediately clear that a large portion of students here at

UTD will not be eligible for campus carry.

About 25 percent of students are international, meaing a quarter of the student population is automatically ineligible to become CHL holders.

It’s harder to find out who exactly will be eligible out of the remaining students, but we know that there are roughly 17,322 American students on campus. In Dallas and Collin County — the main areas of residence for most UTD students — there were 22,947 CHL’s issued last year according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. A majority of these holders would have to be enrolled at UTD for there to even be a concern that most people would ever run into them.

It’s also unlikely that students will even encounter a CHL holder in general, even in a gun-friendly state like Texas. There are approximately 7,116, 637 adults in the state and only about 11.6 percent of them are CHL holders.

All of this said, it’s still important that the university do everything possible to inform and educate students about campus carry and its implications.

A large number of people we surveyed were either unaware or uninformed about the actual law and the fact that concealed handguns are already allowed on campuses, just not in campus buildings. This basic piece of information has to be addressed by UTD and the campus carry committee whose job it is to inform students about the policies it’s recommending to the UT System.

While most of this information has to be kept under wraps during the initial processes, the committee should constantly keep the student

population up to date on campus carry as much as possible. One campus town hall on the law has already been held, but that’s not enough. Events like these should be held at regular intervals to educate and allow discussion on the logistics of the implementation of SB11.

Also, Student Government should make an effort to regularly communicate with its constituents about the basics of the law. Boothing, passing out flyers, using SG’s website and, most importantly, talking to students will be critical to getting the facts out about campus carry.

Here at The Mercury, we aren’t in favor of more guns on campus, whether legal or illegal. That being said, we understand that campus carry is a reality we must learn to deal with. Since that is the case, the main course of action we have chosen to take is to inform our readers about the issue from every side of the story and try to get the truth out there.

Too often, the media has taken the issue of guns and made it into “clickbait” that gets views and likes on social media without looking too deeply into the actual facts.

Doing this is beneficial to no one. As the student newspaper of UTD, our job is to let students know the story behind the headlines and that’s exactly what we plan to do with campus carry. We’re going to tell you what is actually happening rather than let our emotions dictate our actions.

Whether the majority of students want it or not, campus carry is happening. It’s time we started coping with that fact and handling it constructively rather than cowering behind our illogical fears.

SPlit decision

TIM SHIRLEY | MERCURY STAFF

The first Democratic presidential debate was hosted on Oct. 13. News outlets across the board gave former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the nod as the night’s victor, but polls found a majority of people who watched the debate thought that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the winner.

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Student debuts novel Virtual rehab starts trials Author delves into civil rights, personal identities to spark debate

New project allows veterans to access physical therapy remotely

HAMID SHAH | ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR

The Multimodal 3D Tele-immersion Research Project will allow veterans and others who have undergone major injuries to receive rehabilitation from a virtual program rather than having to visit a doctor. The program, which is still in development, is not meant to completely replace doctor visits.

RAMAH JARADAT Mercury Staff

ZHONG ZHUANG | MERCURY STAFF

Sanderia Faye, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Arts and Humanities, discusses her novel "Mourner’s Bench" at Southern Methodist University. The book is about an eight-year-old girl’s coming-ofage journey in the context of the Civil Rights Movement.

BHARGAV ARIMILLI

novel received.

“I’m totally surprised and happy when people read the book — especially young people,” she said.

The Civil Rights Movement, coming of age and “I’m just blown away that people are enjoying (it), hope for the future all frame the life of an eight-year- and also when people see the relationship between old girl in “Mourner’s Bench,” the debut novel of this book and current events.”

One of Faye’s primary goals was to spark disUTD Ph.D. candidate Sanderia Faye.

The novel — published by the University of course about identities and civil rights.

“I hope that the book opens a door for converArkansas Press — details the life of Sarah Jones, a girl living in a small town in Arkansas who struggles sation between readers — between mothers and to come to terms with religion and the Civil Rights daughters, fathers and sons or just families — to talk about the Civil Rights Movement Movement in the 1960s. and how we can play (a role) in “It was actually a writing prompt I hope that those movements today,” she said. that started the whole thing,” Faye, Because the novel is told from the who is in her fourth year in the aesthe book opens perspective of an eight-year-old girl, thetic studies program in the School a door for conFaye said she found certain parts of the of Arts and Humanities, said. “The writing more challenging than others. prompt was to tell a story that you versation beSarah, the protagonist, is confronted had heard before but weren’t sure tween readers with discrimination and prejudice. whether it was true or not.” to talk about “Those parts were the most chalThe story that Faye had initially lenging, and sometimes I would written was about two young girls, the Civil Rights come back to those days later,” Faye Sarah and Malika, who registered Movement. said. “She had to face experiences adults to vote in 1965 during the that only adults should be facing.” passing of the Voting Rights Act. Faye said she hopes the novel will After several changes and edits, the also serve as a reminder that there is story grew into a novel centered on Sarah. The story focuses on the four generations of still progress to be made.

“I’m sad to know that what I wrote about — women in her family, including herself. what took place in the 1960s — is still present Though most of the characters and their experiences are fictitious, “Mourner’s Bench” in our lives today,” she said. “We’re still talking incorporates several historical figures into its about equal rights and we’re still asking for a storyline. One such character, Carrie Dilworth, voice in this society.”

Faye emphasized the role of UTD in her path was a board member of the Southern Tenants Farmers Union. Another, John Walker, was an towards completing the book.

“It gave me a place where I could study literature attorney for the NAACP. Daisy Bates, a promiand creative writing from a scholarly perspective,” nent character in the novel, was an activist that fought for integration in Little Rock Central Faye said. “Being a scholar and being able to critique your own work as a scholar enhances the High School in Arkansas.

Critics and readers have praised “Mourner’s Bench,” quality of your fiction.”

With her debut novel completed, Faye already citing its realistic portrayal of the events and people of the time. Michael Cart of Booklist hailed the novel for has plans for the future and is exploring new “successfully dramatizing an essential era in American opportunities.

“I will continue to write,” she said. “I’m working history.” Dennis Lehane, author of “Shutter Island,” on my next project. My goal is to finish my Ph.D. lauded the novel as “a stunning debut.”

Faye said she was delighted by the response the and to hopefully teach creative writing.”

Mercury Staff

Disabled veterans will be able to take part in new experimental treatments this November when a virtual rehabilitation program starts preliminary trials.

Veterans in the Dallas area will be the first to try out the Multimodal 3D Tele-immersion Research Project, a technology being designed and made accessible to students by researchers at UTD. The new technology will permit students to access physical therapy without the commute to the doctor’s office. It uses a mix of high-speed Internet, 3-D cameras and sense-of-touch — or haptic — technology to allow the device to record the amount of force a patient exerts in their muscle movements.

The patient stands in a room surrounded by cameras from many different angles while their figure is put into a virtual scene shown on the screens.

When they move a part of their body, the force and location of that motion is recorded and sent to doctors through the haptic device.

For example, patients will be asked to knock down chairs that are shown in the virtual reality but do not exist in real life. The haptic device re-creates the resistance of the chair, making it seem like reality, and their force and motion is recorded.

“The idea is we will be able to transmit the appearance aspect and also the force feedback and other aspects since we have haptic devices,” Suraj Raghuraman, a graduate student in computer science and one of the designers of the project, said.

“So if you shake my hand over here, I’ll shake the device’s hand over there and it will transmit it to

the other side with the exact kind of force.”

This technology is specifically designed for rehabilitation uses, especially for people who are unable to commute to the hospital due to long distance or lack of transportation.

“The idea of the system is to make it accessible, but you still have to go to the doctor,” Raghuraman said. “It is not replacing going to the doctor, just making it easier.”

Students can try the technology free of cost.

Veterans and other students will also be able to access this technology for rehabilitation purposes in the future, when the technology is completely ready.

“The VA (Veterans Affairs) here is like an hour away and the wait times there are insane, so anything that can make me not drive to the VA is a good thing,” Justin Dismore, a marketing junior and an Air Force veteran, said. “It’s good for conserving time and money.”

Raghuraman says that there is still a long way to go before the technology is 100 percent accurate.

The technology requires a faster Internet — 20 times faster than the average speed. Visually, the image quality could also improve by making the images in high definition.

“We have a lower resolution, and since we have limitations on how close the camera can be placed, we need a higher megapixel camera,” Raghuraman said. “The detail of the images is kind of noisy, so it is not ready for prime-time, just for testing purposes.”

Overall, the Multimodal 3D Tele-immersion Research Project will change the lives of people who need physical therapy.

“I might use this now that I know it’s going to be available here,” Dismore said. “It sounds like it’s going to be very convenient.”

LIFE&ARTS

OCT. 19, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

A Survivor's tale: Occupation Professor recounts experience during Nazi occupation of Hungary

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ATEC short films impress animation studio with intricacy Summer animation class rushes to finish two shorts in 11 weeks

ANDREW GALLEGOS | PHOTO EDITOR

Zsuzsanna Ozsvath looks at pictures of her family at her home not far from campus. Ozsvath and her family were living in Hungary when Germany invaded the country and started rounding up the local Jewish population.

CARA SANTUCCI News Editor

This is the second part of a multi-part series on Ozsvath. Read the next issue of The Mercury for the next installment of the story.

Zsuzsanna Ozsvath pauses for a moment to take a sip from her cup of espresso. She leaves a little smudge of pink lipstick on the ceramic. She closes her eyes, pulling the memories to the forefront of her mind.

The 81-year-old professor in the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies retrieves a small prayer book and holds it in her hands. It was her mother’s during the war. Between the pages are slips of papers and photographs — precious mementos. The book falls open to the center.

A six-pointed cloth star the color of a daffodil sits innocuously on the page. She holds it up to the light.

There are little perforations around the edges where it was sewn to her mother’s clothing.

“In two weeks, every (Jewish and) Hungarian man, woman, child — the infant and the aged — (wore) the yellow star,” she said.

By May 1, 1944, the Germans moved the Hun-

garian Jews living in the countryside into ghettos.

500,000 people were deported to Auschwitz in Poland during this period. No trains were running to Poland from Hungary anymore, so they were sent on walks known as death marches to the camp.

Those that survived the transportation were killed in the gas chambers.

“I tried to convince my parents to commit suicide, because by that time I knew they (were) going to separate us, and that we (were) going to die,” Ozsvath said.

She was 10 years old when she made that suggestion.

Budapest was scheduled for deportation on July 2. At the last minute, Horthy, the governor of Hungary, decided not to go through with it. Instead, he sued for armistice, consenting that he had lost the war.

Ozsvath’s father was taken away on Oct. 20, 1944 as a slave laborer. He was sent on a death march. Miraculously, he survived three days on the walk before fleeing in the chaos of a busy street. He made it to a train station and boarded a

→ SEE SURVIVOR, PAGE 7

ATEC | COURTESY

Students in the Animation Studios class made two shorts, “Snatch” (above) and “Terminal B.” Both of the films had to be made in a small amount of time to meet the requiremnts of the course. Students had the chance to work with local animation company Reel FX on the shorts.

CARA SANTUCCI News Editor

ATEC’s first summer Animation Studios class completed and screened two short films created under the guidance of Dallas-area animation company, Reel FX. The students showed the shorts, entitled “Snatch” and “Terminal B,” first to representatives from Reel FX and later at a premiere at the Angelika Film Center in mid-September.

Peter Dang, an ATEC senior who came up with the original idea for “Terminal B,” directed and worked on the animation for the film. He said collaborating on the projects with experts from Reel FX was an excellent chance for students to get a taste of the real film industry.

“It’s a really great opportunity for you to work with people in the industry,” Dang said. “I, personally, learned a lot just because you get all these people from different departments that actually work in the industry, so they know how it works.”

Dang said he was going for a “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” aesthetic with the animation

style used in “Terminal B.” He said the class had a lot of fun animating in that fashion because they hadn’t done anything like that before.

Because the course was only 11 weeks long, Dang said he and the team working on the shorts really felt the pressure of a time crunch.

“We just made decisions and the short just had to be finished,” he said. “And it was finished and I think it was a success.”

Asya Mantey, another ATEC senior, came up with the original story idea for “Snatch.” She primarily worked on lighting for both of the shorts and was the director for “Snatch.” She said it was the lighting that really suffered under the pressure of the deadline.

Although the course finished in the summer, she and the rest of the lighting team worked well into September to complete their jobs.

“We were all working every hour we could to work on the lighting of these shorts,” Mantey said. “So my first few weeks of school were literally me going to class and then going right to the lab to work on lighting … Now I actually know it’s really tough making

→ SEE ATEC, PAGE 7

PINPOSSIBLE

Wood Geometric Jewelry LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

S

ometimes I think people who read Pin Possible assume I have a lot of talent when it comes to creating crafts. Unfortunately, my last couple of projects would probably lead them to believe otherwise, but this week I’ve tried to bounce back with some woodwork.

I’m a huge fan of geometric jewelry. I like the simplicity of basic shapes and how they interplay with one another to create something that looks wonderfully complex. So for this week’s Pin Possible, I opted to try creating some of my own. Pinterest swore to me that it was a simple project, but I very much thought otherwise.

WHAT YOU NEED

- 1 piece of balsa wood - X-acto knife - Glue - Paint and paintbrush - Jewelry hardware: jump rings, earring hoops, necklace clasps - Pliers - Wire cutters - Ruler - Safety pin

I NSTRUCTI ONS

1. Sketch out the basic shapes for your design on the wood.

2. Cut out the shapes with the X-acto knife.

3. Paint the shapes.

4. Glue them together to create the desired shape.

5. Let the shapes dry for several hours.

6. Roughly lay out how you want the shapes to connect with each other if attaching pieces together using jump rings.

7. Using the safety pin, poke holes into the shapes for the jump rings.

8. Attach the jump rings to the shape.

9. Attach the jump rings to the other wooden shape you’re using, or to the hardware.

10. Repeat until you’ve attached all the pieces where you want them.

At first look, the instructions probably seem ridiculously simple. You’re just cutting some pieces out, painting them and then attaching the hardware. The hard part, I believe, comes before I do any of that, though — it’s in the design part. I’m not an artist and while I can usually tease out the basic shapes in most pieces, I’m not great at it, so my designs often fall a little short.

I attempted a couple different necklaces and earrings, but the wood kept chipping apart where I was poking the hole or it just didn’t end up quite as I had envisioned it.

I also used watercolor paints for the first time doing this project. While it was fun for me to learn a new paint medium, next time I think I’ll just stick with acrylic.

It’s just easier to get those crisp lines I like to see in my geometric jewelry.

All in all, it was a stressful project. After a couple attempts, I’ve managed to create something I’m at least content with.

Difficulty Cost Durability

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

6

THE MERCURY | OCT. 19, 2015

LIFE&ARTS

UTDMERCURY.COM

Halloween haunts From zombie walks to burlesque shows inspired by the darkest of nightmares, here are five upcoming Halloween events to keep in mind as the holiday approaches.

Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival Location: East Hickory and Industrial Street - Denton Celebrate with a twist of culture by commemorating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Oct. 24. Denton will host this all-day event outside of Industrial and East Hickory Street. Admission is free and will include festivities such as a lantern-lit twilight parade, a pumpkin patch, coffin races, street performers and much more.

Rockstar Bingo at the House of Blues Location: 2200 N Lamar St Dallas, TX 75202 The House of Blues will have a Halloween edition of Rockstar Bingo on Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. DJ Health will be the music entertainment of the evening and the event will be hosted by radio personality Brian Glenn. The event is free and welcomes family and friends to a night filled with beats, free bingo and Boogie Woogie food specials.

Halloween Extravaganza at The Alamo Drafthouse Location: 100 South Central Expressway #14, Richardson, TX 75080 The Alamo Drafthouse will have a weekend movie and event special. On Oct. 30, the theater will have tickets to the classic ’80s film “Halloween III.” The movie starts at 9 p.m. and tickets can be purchased in advance on the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema website. On Oct. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m., the theater will have a free event called the Alaween Halloween Carnival. There will be a costume contest with prizes, trick or treating in the theaters and Halloween-themed cocktails.

Texas Theatre Halloween Night Burlesque and Drag Show Location: The Historic Texas Theatre – 221 W. Jefferson Blvd, Dallas The Texas Theatre, a landmark entertainment venue in Dallas since the 1930s, is having a special spooky-themed show on Oct. 31 called The Evil Queen of Burlesque. General admission is for $20 and VIP is $25. Doors open at 8 p.m. and curtains open at 9 p.m. For more information, visit the Texas Theatre web site.

Slaughterhouse 2015 Location: 2615 Elm Street (Deep Ellum) With over 16,000 square feet of haunted space, Dallas’ Slaughterhouse will be open from Sept. 26 through Nov. 1. The attraction has been open for over a decade, making it the longest running haunted house in downtown Dallas.

Regular admission is $24, but the Slaughterhouse posts daily updates on specials and coupons on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY: CHAD AUSTIN | MERCURY STAFF CATHERINE NANAGAS | MERCURY STAFF ALVIN NGUYENLY | MERCURY STAFF TIM SHIRLEY | MERCURY STAFF DESIGN BY: CONNIE CHENG | GRAPHICS EDITOR ANDREW GALLEGOS | PHOTO EDITOR HAMID SHAH | ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR

ED STEELE PHOTOGRAPHY LLC | COURTESY

Coffin races are the most popular attraction at Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival.

Participants race down the Hickory Street in homemade coffin carts.

LIFE&ARTS

UTDMERCURY.COM

THE MERCURY | OCT. 19, 2015

What to watch on

7

→ SURVIVOR

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

WORDS BY MIRIAM PERCIVAL AND TEENAZ RALHAN Mercury Staff

HEADLINE BY CHAD AUSTIN | MERCURY STAFF

American Horror Story: Freak Show — Added Oct. 6 The fourth season of the “American Horror Story” series once again offers viewers a thrilling horrormystery starring Academy Award winner Jessica Lange. The series has always been known for pushing the boundaries with its fast-paced, nightmarish manner of storytelling. The fourth season focuses on the lives of carnies in one of the last remaining freak show attractions in America during the 1950s. As soon as the group arrives in the small town of Jupiter, Fla., trouble arises with unexplained murders and other terrifying occurrences.

CATHERINE NANAGAS | MERCURY STAFF

Million Dollar Baby — Added Oct. 1 Rejected by her family and doomed to work a dead-end waitress job for the rest of her life, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) finally pursues her dream of becoming a professional boxer. Fitzgerald eventually convinces the gym owner Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), a hardened trainer who doesn’t teach “girlies,” to train her to be a boxer. After years of hard work, when Fitzgerald is ready to take on tougher opponents, Dunn won’t let her live up to her full potential because of his past regrets. When she makes it to the big fight, will they both be ready for what comes next?

car traveling back to Budapest just in time to reunite with his family.

“Although there were constantly police overlooking the stations … in this moment there (were) none, and so he got away, and he got home,” she said.

In Budapest, the family had a Slovakian nursemaid named Erzsi that moved with them from Békéscsaba.

When the Germans arrived and it was clear Ozsvath and her family were in danger, Erzsi promised she would save them all.

“How (could) she save (us)? She didn’t have any money. She didn’t have an independent life … It (was) very sweet, but it (had) no validity. But I was wrong to think that,” she said. “When the siege of Budapest started (and) virtually every house was ruined and bombed down, she was in the streets trying to get false papers.”

The family and Erzsi ultimately survived by hiding out in a so-called “White Cross Hospital.” Despite the name, it was merely an apartment building with stacks of beds where families were waiting out the occupation.

Hungry and tired, Ozsvath was resting on a window seat one day in the hospital when a Russian bomb exploded in the courtyard below. All of the windows broke in around and on top of her. Several people next to her were killed, but she managed to survive.

“I survived because somehow (I had) an instinctive reaction … I grabbed some winter coats that were hanging from beds … and I pulled (them) over my head,” she said. “That’s the way I stayed alive.”

Her parents had been sitting further away from the windows and were not injured. After the bombing, the refugees in the hospital descended into the basement where they hid from Christmas Eve until Jan. 17, 1945. Then, just as the war was coming to a close, the Russians invaded.

I tried to convince my parents to commit suicide, because by that time I knew they (were) going to separate us, and that we (were) going to die.

— Zsuzsanna Ozsvath

CHAD AUSTIN | MERCURY STAFF

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — Added Oct. 1

→ ATEC

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Growing up impoverished, all that Charlie (Freddie Highmore) wants is a dry place to stay and a warm meal to eat. When Charlie gets a chocolate bar for his birthday present, he miraculously wins a Golden Ticket to tour Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

Wonka (Johnny Depp) takes Charlie, accompanied by his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly) and all of the other contest winners, for a wild adventure in his factory. From funny looking Oompa Loompa’s to ever-lasting gobstoppers, Willy Wonka’s factory has it all. Little do the children know, however, that they are all in a secret competition for a sweet prize.

AVLIN NGUYENLY| MERCURY STAFF

Batman Begins — Added Oct. 1 This movie is one for all action-lovers to watch. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) watches his parents die at the hands of a mugger on the street as a child. When he grows up, Wayne decides to avenge the death of his parents by making it his mission to eliminate injustice in his town of Gotham City by disguising himself as the Batman with the help of his handy gadgets.

ALVIN NGUYENLY | MERCURY STAFF

A Christmas Carol — Added Oct. 1 Christmas season is fast approaching, making it the perfect time to watch this holiday classic. Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) is a rich miser with no holiday spirit and apparently no time for any joviality either.

On the night of Christmas Eve, three spirits visit Scrooge to change his perspective on Christmas and life in general. This is a must watch for any Christmas fanatic.

TIM SHIRLEY | MERCURY STAFF

animations and it’s something to really appreciate.”

Normally, the ATEC Animation Studios classes have two semesters to finish just one short. Mantey said she felt the harsh deadline was actually helpful in forcing them to work quickly and efficiently.

“I think it’s necessary to be under a time crunch or else you’ll never get it done,” she said. “I thought it was really impressive we did manage to do two shorts in a summer.”

ATEC junior Ethan Crossno credited the help and guidance of the Reel FX team with the class’s ability to finish two shorts in such a small amount of time.

“They had a lot of helpful little tricks that really sped it up,” Crossno said. “Without the stuff that they gave us, we probably wouldn’t have been able to make them in 11 weeks. It’s a pretty big feat to do two shorts in 11 weeks.”

Crossno was involved in the lighting and texturing of both shorts. He also was in charge of setting up a pipeline — a way for clips to move between departments like lighting and animation smoothly — for the project. For this class, Crossno reworked the existing pipeline to allow lighting and animation to be done at the same time.

“There are hundreds of things that could go wrong and all of them go wrong,” he said. “It’s just a lot of teamwork with the other departments.”

Once the two shorts were complete, the team showed them to Reel FX to hear their feedback on the finished products. Crossno, Dang and Mantey all said the representatives from the company were really impressed with the shorts.

“It was really nice having them around and hopefully we’ll be able to have future projects with them,” Mantey said.

78

OCT. 19, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

SPORTS

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH Freshmen and sophomore players lead soccer teams in goals, points

Women should be embraced in men’s sports Commentators reactions to female broadcaster during MLB game highlights lack of acceptance of women in sports industry

PABLO JUAREZ MERCURY FILE PHOTOS

SAHER AQEEL | MERCURY STAFF

COMMENTARY

Freshman forward Jacqueline Kaufman and sophomore forward Danny Meyer have found footing on the soccer teams after transitioning to the collegiate game. Both players are leading their squads in scoring.

PABLO JUAREZ Sports Editor

At the collegiate and professional level, young players often encounter growing pains as they adapt to the difference in game speed, physicality and overall competition. However, for sophomore Danny Meyer and freshman Jacqueline Kaufman, their underclassmen designations are just that — merely designations.

Both recruited from out-of-state, each player is leading the offensive attack for their respective soccer teams.

Kaufman was initially recruited as an outside midfielder, but a shift in formation caused her to move up to forward.

“I really like it,” Kaufman said. “I like getting to score a lot more. It’s fun.”

Kaufman said her love for sports, specifically soccer, stemmed from her early childhood experiences with her father.

“I loved sports as a kid because that was a way I really connected with my dad,” she said. “I grew up just sitting on his lap watching football and talking sports with him.”

After being diagnosed with a liver disease at the

age of 10, Kaufman said she debated on quitting soccer altogether. Upon not receiving the recruitment offers she was hoping for, she said she was ready to hang up her cleats for good.

A phone call from women’s soccer head coach Kanute Drugan expressing the team’s interest in her changed that.

Kaufman explained the key game aspects she focused on during the off-season to prepare for her first season as a Comet.

“I tried to work on my shot and perfect (it),” she said. “(Also), making the smart pass and having a better touch on the ball.”

Kaufman said she wasn’t sure what to expect coming out of high school. An Illinois native, she said one of her biggest concerns was the thought of not being able to make connections at UTD. “Being so far from home, (I thought) I wasn’t going to be able to connect with the southern culture,” she said. “That really worried me, but I’ve made a lot of really good friends … I like the south and I like the southern hospitality.”

One of 15 freshmen on the roster, Kaufman has recorded nine goals, including four game winners, and accounted for 24 points — all team-highs.

As a collegiate soccer player, she said she’s realized

the importance of teamwork and its direct correlation to success on the pitch — something different from her playing career in high school.

“In high school, you can basically be a ball hog and be great,” Kaufman said. “Everyone on the team will still love you because you put the ball in the back of the net, but if you don’t use your teammates in college, you’ll wind up getting the ball taken (away) easier and getting knocked down a lot.”

Meyer, who started 21 of 22 games last season, primarily played as a left midfielder in his first season as a Comet. He is now the team’s leading scorer.

He attributes much of his success to a change in position.

“A large part of the reason why I’m scoring a lot is because I’m playing at forward,” Meyer said.

“Last season, I mainly played as left mid. Also just from having that one season under my belt, I knew what to expect this season.”

Men’s soccer head coach Jason Hirsch said he decided to move Meyer up to forward after seeing his knack for putting the ball in the back of the net during practice.

→ SEE YOUTH, PAGE 9

NUMBERS ON THE BOARD CHAD AUSTIN | MERCURY STAFF

Change, in all facets, can be a frightening proposition for humans. Once people begin to develop a habitual lifestyle, the slightest deviation from the status quo can place them in a state of pandemonium.

For women and their role in men’s sports, however, change has been long overdue.

On Aug. 24, Jessica Mendoza became the first woman to call a nationally-televised MLB regular season game. Mendoza first hit the broadcasting scene as an analyst for ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” in 2014. On Oct. 6, 2015, she became the first female analyst in MLB post-season history, joining the ESPN crew as part of the broadcast unit during the Houston Astros and New York Yankees’ AL Wild Card game.

Her appearance was a groundbreaking moment for the sports community, in particular for aspiring female commentators.

She garnered support from the press, but for some baseball traditionalists, hearing a different voice on their television sets was not something they appreciated.

Sports radio host for WZGC in Atlanta, Mike Bell began trending on twitter after posting sexist tweets regarding Mendoza’s commentating.

“Really? A women’s softball slugger as a guest analyst on an MLB Wildcard game? Once again, ESPN too frigging cute for their own good,” he tweeted that evening.

He has since issued a formal apology and has been suspended by CBS. I was disappointed to see that a sports media personality would take jabs at Mendoza on a public forum because he didn’t believe she belonged in a male dominated sport.

Mendoza grew up playing softball and was tabbed The Los Angeles Times “Player of the Year” coming out of high school. She played at a collegiate level at Stanford and currently holds career records in batting average, hits, homeruns, slugging, runs and stolen bases. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, earning Gold in 2004 and Silver in 2008.

Suffice to say, she doesn’t lack athletic credentials.

The problem with Bell’s comments, and, to a larger extent, those who opposed her appearance, was the attempt to discredit her because of their belief that softball is inferior to baseball — a belief that stems from the sexist idea that women have no place in men’s sports.

This is a stigma that continues to prevail in the sports community, further hindering the elimination of gender barriers across all sports.

Bell failed to realize that, as a public figure, he is held to a higher standard. As a radio host, he should be using that medium to unify the sports community, not create widespread controversy.

If a woman can call a game better than a man in a male sport, then so be it. I have no problem with it. I don’t take gender into consideration when evaluating someone’s ability to commentate.

My basis of judgment falls squarely on their ability to provide meaningful game analysis, maintain consistent but upbeat commentary and exude an amiable persona.

The path to closing the gender gap in sports is going at a slow but steady pace. Soon enough, we’ll have the first female NBA coach. Earlier this year, Becky Hammon, a former WNBA all-star, became the first female to coach in the NBA summer league. Now, as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, she is helping close that gap. What five-time NBA champion coach Greg Popovich said was especially noteworthy.

“I don’t even look at it as, well, she’s the first female this and that and the other,” he said. “She’s a coach and she’s good at it. I think some people thought this was some kind of gimmick or we were just trying to be cool. I’m glad she’s there. I respect her opinion. I enjoy the give-and-take with her.”

We need to face the facts. Times are changing.

Women’s roles in sports are becoming increasingly more important. It’s time to eliminate the outdated and sexist idea that a woman isn’t qualified to be a part of male sports, whether it is as an analyst, sports anchor or coach.

UTDMERCURY.COM → YOUTH

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

“Being a forward, a lot of the time you’re playing with your back to the goal, which means you’re facing your own goal,” Hirsch said.

“You need someone up front that’s strong and that can hold those balls up, but then also has the speed that if we’re on a counter attack and we played him behind the other team, that (he has) the speed to kind of run on to the ball and beat defenders to it. He’s got both of those attributes.”

Meyer, a recruit from Arizona and a native-born German, said his concerns centered on the uncertainty of the team for whom he was coming to play.

“I was really nervous,” he said.

“I had no clue what to expect. I had never seen the team play. I didn’t know how good they were, how good I was compared to them or what their play style was.”

Despite only being a sophomore, Meyer currently leads the men’s soccer team in goals with nine scores

SPORTS

so far this season.

With the post-season approaching, Meyer said maintaining consistency and not playing down to opponents will be the points of focus in the team’s bid for a conference championship. The team was bounced out by HardinSimmons last year.

“That was something I told myself I (wasn’t) going to let happen again,” he said. “I don’t want to lose to those guys.”

Even though the women’s record isn’t as strong as the men’s, the prospect of getting hot at the right time and developing chemistry further with same group of players in the next couple of years has Kaufman excited.

“In the past (few) games, we’ve made some pretty big strides,” she said. “Our team is definitely getting a lot better. I really can’t wait until the ASC tournament because I think we’re going to take a lot of teams in our conference by surprise that we played early on.”

In the past few games we’ve made some pretty big strides ... I think we're going to take a lot of teams in our conference by surprise that we played early on.

— Jacqueline Kaufman

THE MERCURY | OCT. 19, 2015

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OCT. 19, 2015 | THE MERCURY

COMICS&GAMES

PUMPKIN PATCH

LIFE OF TEMOC

ALVIN NGUYENLY | MERCURY STAFF

HALLOWEEN COSTUME

BRYAR BENNETT | MERCURY STAFF

CLASSIFIEDS ROOM FOR RENT Furnished ROOM for RENT by female UTD employee in Carrollton. $560/month Includes rent, FiOS, electricity & water. Female, Junior, Senior or Grad student ONLY. Available NOW. Call (214) 542-9555 for more information.

ALVIN NGUYENLY | MERCURY STAFF

UTDMERCURY.COM

NEWS

THE MERCURY | OCT. 19, 2015

11

UPCOMING EVENTS Omer Bartov, a professor of history from Brown University, will be discussing the Holocaust and the challenges of investigating genocide.

Hector Ruiz, a founder of Advanced Nanotechnololgy Solutions, will be visiting campus to discuss changes in the semiconductor industry.

Watch the volleyball team take on conference rival East Texas Baptist University.

Join Meteor Theater as they celebrate the day Marty McFly came to the future by watching all three “Back to the Future” movies.

UTD's annual volunteer day. Register before Oct. 24 to participate.

Come watch as UTD TV teams up with the Improv Club to perform on-the-spot sketches.

Join Residential Life as they host this annual alternative to Trick or Treating.

→ RELIGION

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

During the primaries, many Republican candidates try to win votes by appealing to the right wing crowd.

One way they do this is by visiting churches since a majority of Republicans are Christians.

“The first thing you have to do is win the primary, and the way you do that is appeal to the average Republican voter who is going to vote in the primary,” Brunell said. “That’s somebody who is further to the right and much more likely to be conservative, but also more likely to be religious as well.”

While the event at Prestonwood was unique, religion in politics isn’t a new phenomenon.

“I think that religion has always been a part of American politics like this and we always talk about the separation of church and state. But our leaders have very traditionally been church-going people,” Brunell said. “Even to the extent that I think that non-believers and non-church going people, if they want to be elected to public office, they have to go to church.”

Voters are also affected by this close relation between religion and politics.

Biology junior Julia Craig, who is a member of Campus Outreach, believes that many of her political and personal decisions are affected by her faith.

“I am very religious, all of my decisions are based on the Lord and what His word says, or at least I

try to make them be,” she said. “I can’t separate my church and my state so I’m going to push for those people who have ideals alongside mine who are going to make those happen.”

Similarly, mechanical engineering sophomore Morgan Cannon, a member of the UTD chapter of the Fellowship of Christian University Students, believes that religious and political views are difficult to separate from one another.

“I feel like it’s so hard for it not to be interconnected,” she said. “Your religious beliefs affect every other part of your life and the decisions you make and how you treat people. I think it’s very hard to separate the two.”

While healthcare studies junior Dawn McElroy is a Christian and favors the inclusion of those ideas in politics, she recognizes the limitations of using religious beliefs to justify political actions.

“You can take something from the Bible or another religion’s holy book and justify it with, ‘Well, this is what God told me to do, so I think that we should do it,’ and I think it becomes tricky because if you’re using

this divine intervention that is skewed or isn’t the truth, then it ends up doing more harm than good,” McElroy said.

A study done by the Pew Research center in 2011 shows that 70 percent of Protestants favor the GOP party. Similarly, Gallup polls show that, in 2011, 68 percent of Democrats are pro-choice regarding abortion.

McElroy believes that both parties have strayed from the fundamentals of Christianity.

“The Democrats, most of them are for abortion, and I don’t think that that’s what the Bible (says),” she said. “On the flip side, I feel that the Republicans are decreasing funding for things like Medicaid, Medicare and social security. The Bible also teaches you need to take care of the poor and the less fortunate.”

While the forum didn’t give a voice to every Christian in the country, one candidate said he believes it’s time to put more of an emphasis on faith in the political realm.

“I think one of the reasons the doors are opening (is) because it’s time to bring God back to our country,” Carson said.

Your religious beliefs affect every other part of your life and the decisions you make and how you treat people.

— Morgan Cannon

12

THE MERCURY | OCT. 19, 2015

→ WATCHMAN

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

takes a very dramatic toll on you. My marriage is very strong and my family is very strong, so we stayed together. But it was hard.”

Although his family remained intact, Bowen’s health suffered.

He had three major operations for a ruptured colon and lost about 30 pounds.

“I remember being in meetings and confronting people with what the situation is and I (have a) distinct memory — my stomach is turning in knots, just tightening (and) actually hurting,” he said.

The tables seemed to be turning when the Securities Exchange Commission reached out to Bowen. The SEC had subpoenaed documents from all the CEOs of the major banks when they found Bowen’s email to Rubin. As soon as the SEC began to pursue this case in October 2008, the bank bailouts started to happen.

In 2010, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission called Bowen because they found a heavily redacted copy of the complaint he had filed for retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after Citi had placed him on administrative leave.

Bowen testified before the senior investigative and legal staff of the FCIC on Feb. 27, 2010, and on Mar. 22, 2010 he was invited to testify in an open hearing broadcasted on national television.

Everything was going fine until breaking news on Apr. 29, 2010 changed the way the FCIC would treat Bowen’s testimony.

“After I’d put my testimony in the mail, that’s when it hit all of the press in the country,” Bowen said. “All of the headlines (said) that the largest single shareholder of Citigroup, the U.S. Treasury, was going to sell on the open market its $7.7 billion shares of stock in Citigroup.”

This bailout would allow taxpayers to make $7.5 billion in profit. It would only be possible if the stock prices stayed up. Bowen said his testimony posed a challenge to this outcome. So, in January 2011 all of his findings, including his testimony for the SEC, were given to the national archives and sealed from access for five years.

“There was obviously concern by parties that if this sensational testimony came out then the stock price would drop,” he said.

Bowen also said there were signs that people involved with the cover up benefitted financially. The Deputy General Counsel on the FCIC was named full partner at the international law firm Cadwalader Wickersham and Taft LLP in December 2010, a month before Bowen’s testimony was buried.

“You just don’t go straight into being a full partner,” Bowen said. “One of their large clients is Citigroup. Now, is that a coincidence?”

To cope with the stress of this seemingly

NEWS

never-ending struggle, Bowen said he turned to his faith.

“I spent a long time praying about that,” he said.

On Mar. 20, 2015 Bowen called for a public investigation of the cover up by the SEC and the FCIC, but he said the level of interest to bring his suppressed testimony to light is low.

“I believe corruption extends to the highest levels of our government,” he said. “I’m worried sick about this country. I’m trying to make this happen because the public needs to wake up. The public needs to understand what happened.” ***** Bowen started at UTD in 2008 in the midst of his struggles against Citi. He said that the community here has supported him through this ordeal.

“UTD has kept me sane when I was going through this,” he said.

Clinical professor and the Executive Director of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance Dennis McCuistion is working with Bowen to boost the campaign for a congressional investigation.

“I consider Professor Bowen an American hero, frankly,” he said. “He took a great chance in his career in being a whistleblower for Citigroup … he blew the whistle on the worst kind of cabal between Washington D.C. and New York City and Wall Street bankers who run the country and they didn’t pay any attention to him and covered up all the bad stuff they did and he’s paying the price for it. He and I and a few other people are not willing to let them get away with it.”

McCuistion and Bowen are speaking at conferences held by the National Center for Policy Analysis to educate the American public on what caused the financial crisis of 2008 and how to prevent it from happening again. Bowen is also supporting a campaign called “Whistleblow Wall Street,” launched on Oct. 3, which encourages people to reveal wrongdoings in big banks.

Although the public investigation hasn’t made much progress, Bowen said he will not rest until significant changes have been made. Even though the statute of limitations has passed and the Department of Justice can’t prosecute those responsible for the fraudulent activity at Citi, Bowen still wants to hold the Department answerable through the Government Accountability Project.

In January 2016, all of Bowen’s discoveries will be made available again, but he said he fears that the documents will be heavily redacted.

Still, Bowen is prepared to stand guard against corruption and fight for the truth.

“I want to see some fundamental changes,” he said.

“I want to see this congressional investigation happen. I want to see this discourse and subject material get into the presidential election, because the control that the large banks have on this country, from my standpoint, is going to ruin this country.”

UTDMERCURY.COM