The Mercury 11 09 20

November 09, 2020

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THE MERCURY

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OUT OF THE BLOCKS New track & field team finds its footing.

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UTD student takes part in COVID vaccine trial

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living our values, introducing new minors

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ATEC seniors produce celestial film

Nov. 9, 2020 | The Mercury

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NEWS

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Editor-in-Chief Cindy Folefack

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Managing Editor Emaan Bangash managingeditor @utdmercury.com

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Nov. 4 Student reported that his bicycle was stolen from Residence Hall Southwest at 1:12 p.m.

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Graphics Editor Chiamaka Mgboji

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Photo Editor Anna PhengsakNews Editor Marco Salinas

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Life & Arts Editor

Nov. 4 A University Medical Response EMT was assaulted by an individual in UV Phase 8, reported at 3:28 p.m.

Nov. 5 A bicycle was reported stolen from a Residence Hall Northwest bike rack at 11:32 a.m.

Web Editor Shannen Barrameda

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Outreach Editor Samantha Lopez

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Opinion Editor Madison York opinioneditor@ utdmercury.com

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LEGEND VEHICULAR INCIDENT THEFT DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD | COURTESY

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Nov. 09, 2020 | The Mercury

TABLE OF CONTENTS

tABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS..........................................................4-7 COVID VACCINE TRIAL, PANDEMIC

TRACK PHOTO SPREAD.....................12 TRACK STORY...............................13

RESPONSE .......................................04 NEW MINOR......................................05

OPINION..................................................14

STUDENT SAFETY AMBASSADORS.....06

CUSTOMIZABLE MAJORS..............14

PAYING FOR GRAD SCHOOL ...............07 SECTION JUMPS.......................................15-16 COMICS........................................................08

News Jumps................................15 HOUSE ADS...................................16

LIFE&ARTS.................................................9-11 WILD WEST MURAL.. ........................09 ATEC’S “NIGHTSHIFT”.......................09 CLASSICAL LATIN COMPOSER............09 SPORTS...................................................12-13 Visit utdmercury.com for more stories in your orbit!

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NEWS

Nov. 9, 2020 | The Mercury

UTD student takes part in COVID vaccine trial

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer conducting two-year trial on test subjects EMAAN BANGASH Managing Editor

ANDRES ANDUJAR | COURTESY

Andujar documented his experience with the vaccine trial on Instagram.

Amidst a pressing nationwide need for a vaccine, a UTD student took it upon himself to participate in a two-year COVID-19 vaccine trial.

After seeing ads for vaccine trials on social media in September, accounting senior Andres Andujar started researching pharmaceutical companies to find ones currently conducting vaccine trials. He settled on the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which currently works with German company BioNTech SE on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine through the modification of mRNA. So far, Pfizer has spent about $2 billion on vaccine development. According to an open letter from Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bouta, Pfizer plans to apply for Emergency Authorization Use in the U.S. after the safety milestone of the vaccine is reached by mid-November. Pfizer could not be reached for comment.

“I think, as long as the trials have to be, the obvious need for something to be ready soon meant that people have to act fast and get in-

volved. And the science needs to get done quickly and efficiently if we’re going have a global vaccine that everyone can use in like a year,” Andujar said.

Andujar signed up for the trial on Sept. 25 and was notified that he qualified within 48 hours. He said that the company had collected enough volunteers but was still looking for diversity in the genetic profile of its participants.

“They were excited about my participation because I was Latino, and they had already met their quota because like … basically everyone from any part of continental Asia was covered,” Andujar said. “They basically only needed Latin Americans, Black, Alaskan-American — basically minority ethnic groups.”

His mother wasn’t pleased, he said, and it took him a while to assuage her fears. He approached his father about the trials first for his approval, and later his mother.

“She freaked out, and then I told her the signs, and she became slightly less freaked out and was still pretty mad at me when I left to go to my

SEE TRIAL, PAGE 16

How does UTD pandemic response compare with other system schools?

A comparison of how UT Austin, UT San Antonio also responded to the pandemic

SMRITHI UPADHYAYULA Mercury Staff

Texas’ coronavirus response has evolved over the past few months on account of the rapidly changing situation, and the state’s universities have adopted different approaches to combatting the pandemic.

The state has seen over 800,000 confirmed cases so far and upwards of 17,000 fatalities. In early October, Governor Greg Abbott issued new guidelines to reopen some public venues at 75% capacity and allowed the resumption of elective surgeries in certain counties.

Texas universities have also been making ef-

forts to resume operations while keeping students and faculty safe. UT System schools are offering classes in online, in-person and hybrid formats. This limits the number of people on campus and allows students who are not comfortable returning to campus to stay home. UT San Antonio is offering live tech support from 7:30 AM to 6 PM on weekdays to help students navigate their virtual classes.

Both UT Austin and UTSA are quantifying their level of campus operations on a scale from fully on-campus to fully virtual. UT Austin is currently at level three on their five-level reopening scale. UTSA also lists their status as level three, but on a four-level scale.

Many UT System schools now require a daily self-assessment of students and employees on campus to see if they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or have recently come into contact with anyone who has reported symptoms.

“We have a Dean of Students team of campus tracers who follow up with each student that reports these things,” said Amanda Smith, dean of students and associate vice president for student affairs.

However, these assessments vary in their level of thoroughness. UTA’s self-assessment tool requires a temperature check, while UTD (through their Daily Health Check) and UT Austin simply ask students to report their

symptoms. UT Austin has taken the idea of the self-assessment one step further with its Protect Texas Together app. This app allows students to log their symptoms as well as what buildings they have visited on campus to aid contact tracers should they test positive. Contacts identified through such means will receive test results within a 15-minute window so that they don’t have to quarantine unnecessarily.

All UT system schools have placed limits on gatherings taking place on campus. In an Aug. 21 announcement from Student Affairs, UTD announced that all in-person gatherings held

SEE PANDEMIC, PAGE 16

Nov. 9, 2020| The Mercury

NEWS

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Living our values minor ATEC, A&H develop minors focusing on African, ethnic studies ALEENA HASSAN Mercury Staff

One of the outcomes from the Living our Values Task Force is the initial development of multiple new minors.

Both ATEC and A&H are creating new minors, with the former being in Ethnic Studies, and the latter being in African and African Diaspora Studies. As of Fall 2019, there were 1,351 students – representing a small fraction of the student body – pursuing a minor at UTD. There are currently 65 different minors offered across all schools. A&H currently offers Asian Studies and Latin American Studies, but its two new proposed minors will be its first related to African Studies.

Associate Provost and biology professor Stephen Spiro worked with a discussion group that branched from the task force and developed a series of re c o m m e n d a t ion s in early August – one of them being the new minors.

“It’s important that the entire campus have the opportunity to study these topics,” Spiro said. “I worked with a group of faculty, staff and students in the discussion group and this was the one thing that got passed as a final recommendation.”

ATEC Associate Dean Lisa Bell said that the school had been discussing the Ethnic Studies minor since the second half of the spring semester but recognized the overlap with A&H, which was also considering their minor before the task force recommendations were made.

“The field of Ethnic Studies is close to Critical Media Studies, so it was a natural outgrowth,” Bell said. “ATEC grew out of A&H, so there’s still a lot of friendships and shared interests between the two.”

Both minors are interdisciplinary, with the proposed minor curriculum spanning across ATEC, A&H and EPPS. Ethnic Studies plans to offer a broader array of areas to study, while African and African Diaspora Studies plans to be more concentrated.

“While proposing similar minors may seem like a challenge, this is not a zero-sum situation,” Bell said. “I hope [the minors] will attract attention and stimulate productive student conversations. I’ve been impressed by the constant student presence this summer on issues that are going on.”

A&H assistant professor Anne Grey Fischer, who was a member of Spiro’s discussion group, similarly credited student presence to leading the push for the minors.

“This work was truly made possible by the Black student mobilization this past summer during the global uprising against anti-Black violence,” Fischer said. “The student demands for Blackcentered coursework and Black faculty galvanized faculty efforts first – to provide historically underrepresented students with the opportunity to see themselves in their coursework through the study of African American and African diasporic histories, literature, art, music and philosophy.”

In order for a new minor to be approved and offered, faculty first have to submit their proposal within their respective schools, then to the provost’s office, then to the Committee on Educational Policy and lastly to the Academic Senate to be voted on.

Serenity King is the current Associate Provost for Policy and Program Coordination and oversees the approval of new minors at the second stage. She said that the process to approve

“To realize [these] program(s) would signal to our home region and to prospective students and scholars abroad that UTD is further turning toward a global humanities model.”

-Peter Park

ELIZABETH NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

a new minor can take months but depends on how quickly the faculty in charge of developing the curriculum submit their proposals.

“It starts with faculty coming together to develop proposals, then it comes to my office, and usually one or two things are tweaked,” King said. “If it is approved by May 2021, then it can be offered in the fall of 2021.”

This is not the first time an Ethnic Studies minor has been proposed. Emeritus A&H

professor Peter Park proposed the minor in 2018, but it was not approved.

“I am glad that another Ethnic Studies minor, proposed by faculty members in the School of ATEC, seems to be on track,” Park said. “To realize [these] programs would signal to our home region and to prospective students and scholars abroad that UTD is further turning toward a global humanities model.”

Nov. 9, 2020 | The Mercury

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NEWS

ROSHAN KHICHI| MERCURY STAFF

The Ambassadors mainly serve to educate and inform students on pandemic safety protocols.

Educating, encouraging safety on campus Ambassador program created as part of pandemic response measures TYLER BURKHARDT Mercury Staff

The Office of Facilities and Economic Development has repurposed its student staff to serve as Student Safety Ambassadors while on campus.

The OFED has re-trained its pre-existing student workers in proper pandemic protocols, including how to educate others. This provides them the versatility to also serve as student-educators at a time when the OFED is unable to host as many campus events, said OFED Director of Administration and Operations Dee Lambert.

“The goal of the program is to utilize current students to educate and inform the UT Dallas community, faculty, staff and guests on campus about best health and safety practices with the goal of helping limit the transmission of COVID-19 on campus,” Lambert said.

Created over the summer and working in tandem with the Office of Parking and Transportation, the Student Safety Ambassador program is UTD’s ongoing effort to be proactive in its pandemic response, Lambert said. Quarantining, contact tracing and sanitation are all fairly reactionary processes, and while they’re critical to limiting the spread of COVID-19 around campus, they do little to prevent UTD students from contracting the virus in the first place.

“We wanted to ensure that we could properly equip the UTD community with accurate information in the hopes that they would employ it to take an active role in their safety and in the safety of

everyone on campus,” Lambert said.

Students on campus can observe the work of the Student Safety Ambassadors through a number of initiatives, such as the distribution of masks to students and the posting of informational signage and brochures around campus.

The Mercury was unable to get in touch with any current Ambassadors. Lambert said in an email to The Mercury that the OFED wants to protect the identity of its ambassadors.

“These students have unfortunately been threatened at times and subjected to less than pleasant interactions from non-compliant students,” the email said. “By having a student named in [the] article, angry or annoyed students could look them up and try to engage them in unsafe manners.”

Ambassadors continue to maintain an active presence on campus, Lambert said, by monitoring heavily trafficked areas of campus and encouraging Comets to wear masks and follow protocols while at UTD. She also stated that the Student Safety Ambassadors are expected to continue serving in these capacities for as long as the pandemic remains a concern.

“We will have additional students returning to campus in the spring who weren’t there in the fall, giving us the opportunity to start the process all over again,” Lambert said. “That gives us an opportunity for us to continue helping students integrate into campus life, and we’re excited to help them understand their part in helping UT Dallas maintain a healthy environment.”

Nov. 9, 2020 | The Mercury

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ALESANDRA BELL | MERCURY STAFF

Financing the future: how to pay for grad school Advisors, alumnus discuss ways of findings funds for education EMAAN BANGASH Managing Editor

According to Pew Research Center, a third of adults have student loan debt. While this typically ends after graduating college, some students find an even bigger challenge afterwards: financing graduate school. Beyond paying for application and exam fees, tuition rates for graduate school can cost between $20-60k per year. Student loan debt can be an issue for students, and according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 73% of 2019 medical school graduates reported having student loan debt. Director of Health Professions Advising Center Doyen Rainey said it isn’t unheard of to come out of medical school with $200-250,000 in loan debt, but people typically don’t see it as a problem because they pay it off once they become a doctor.

“People are kind of laser-focused on getting into medical school, and then figure ‘I’ll cross the bridge of paying for it later.’ I mean, you wouldn’t think it would work out okay. But it actually does work out,” Rainey said. “There are many ways to pay for medical schools and the medical schools themselves have financial aid departments that are interested in helping students to connect with funding. Obviously, the school wants to get paid, so the schools themselves are very helpful in helping students to figure out ways to pay for their education.”

For aspiring law students, the path looks a

little different. Pre-law advisor Barbara Kirby said financing law school is one of the first concerns discussed with pre-law students.

Some of the most common ways to pay for law school consist of taking out loans, and even these come in different forms: basic graduate school loans – where a student can borrow up to $20k a year – graduate loan plus and borrowing from a private bank, which can often involve higher interest rates and no loan forgiveness.

Pre-law students often take a gap year to pursue other interests or work to save money to pay their tuition. During the first year of law school, Kirby said, students are often discouraged or even barred from working.

“One of the things is that you’re going to law school for that opportunity to be in a profession where your financial incentives are great,” Kirby said. “And so, it’s a conversation that I’m looking with students at: here’s how much you’ll borrow, here’s how much you can expect in the kind of job you can expect when you come out.”

However, some students can’t take out loans for religious reasons or because interest rates are too high. In Islam, for example, charging or paying interest – known as “riba” – is considered forbidden and can prevent students from pursuing graduate degrees. Kirby said that law schools often work with students to make the financial aid interest free somehow, but ultimately the responsibility falls on stu-

dents to generate funds themselves if they are unable to arrange it with the school.

Rainey said there are several other ways to finance graduate school aside from taking out loans – although it’s the most common way to do so. While scholarships in medical school are rare, students can often pursue programs where – in exchange for their services as a doctor in the military – their tuition will be paid for.

“Sometimes there are community resources, where members of the community have pooled their money to send somebody to medical school,” Rainey said. “It amounts to a loan, kind of, but it’s not alone with interest. Your name isn’t necessarily on a contract.

What you’re essentially doing is paying back the members of your community later.”

Among the multiple ways to pay for school, there exists the unconventional. During his free time at UTD, political science alumnus Shahin Zangeneh studied and invested in stocks through day trading, which is one of the ways he paid for his undergraduate education in addition to working as a translator part-time.

“I was using most of my free time learning first how to do it, then I used the residuals from my previous job,” Zangeneh said. “It’s tough to say that it’s easy for everyone because you need some initial capital.”

He said he hopes to continue investing in stocks when he attends law school – as well as take out loans to defray the costs – but said it

might not be profitable to do so while balancing being a student.

“I don’t know how busy I’ll be during grad school and my method is kind of time-intensive, so I would wait to see until I got to grad school,” Zangeneh said. “I would do the same thing in grad school if I had the free time but I would emphasize my own studies before anything. Ideally, I’ll take my income, whatever savings I managed to maintain (hopefully a lot), I’ll put it into an index fund and let it sit and then day trade whatever amount of money that I’d be comfortable with at the time.”

Kirby said making good grades during undergrad, as well as planning out a timeline for taking the required graduate school exams, is paramount. She said financial assistance in most graduate programs depends on GPA and test scores.

“You don’t want to be in a position where you’re thinking about these things at the last minute – to get to the end of your junior year and suddenly be thinking about ‘How do I afford all of these things?’” Kirby said. “You want to be thinking about every aspect of graduate school admission as you go along so that your timeline puts you in the best position to get the numbers that you need, and you’ve done the research about what schools will fit with your profile.”

Note: The opinions expressed above are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific financial advice.

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COMICS

Nov. 09, 2020 | The Mercury

PAT THE PIGEON: TURKEY TROUBLES

DEVOLUTION

ISABELLE VILLEGAS | MERCURY STAFF

LOSING MOMENTUM

ELIZABETH NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF

QUINN SHERER | MERCURY STAFF

THE GREAT AMAZON RACE

TIME CRUNCHED

CHARLIE CHANG | MERCURY STAFF

BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF

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LIFE & ARTS

Nov. 07, 2020 | The Mercury

LAUREN DOUGHERTY

UTD alumni honors Texas with “Wild West” mural Located in West Dallas, Elianna Paek’s mural pays homage to social justice

ROSHAN KHICHI | MERCURY STAFF

Psychology alumnus Elianna Paek’s colorful pegasus mural is located at 516 Fabrication Street in West Dallas

Mercury Staff

If you happen to drive through west Dallas, you may notice that the landscape is more colorful than usual, thanks to the mural work of several local artists, including one UTD alumnus.

2020 psychology alumnus Elianna Paek (@thepackpaints on Instagram), was one of 16 local artists whose mural work was featured on the buildings in the Tin District and Singleton Boulevard area of West Dallas as part of the third annual Wild West Mural Fest, which ran from Oct. 17-24. The week culminated in the sixth annual Art Walk West; a free event put on by the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce that showcases the artistic culture of the area.

According to the festival website, artists were asked to focus on one of three themes: “Seeking Social Justice,” which responds to current activism issues, “The Wild Wild West,” which pays homage to all things Texas, and “West Side Stories,” which focuses on the history and culture of the West Dallas area.

Paek’s mural, which can be found at 516 Fabrication Street, draws inspiration from the iconic Dallas Pegasus motif, as well as the wild west and social justice themes. The mural features a galloping black Pegasus with orange and purple wings. Measuring approximately 900 square feet, the art fest mural is Paek’s largest work to date. It took seven full eight- to nine-hour days of work to complete, Paek said.

“I kind of wanted to do like the intersection of the social justice and the Wild West themes because they asked us to kind of stick with those two themes,” Paek said. “So, it’s kind of somewhere between there like with the kind of rainbow wings, and then a little bit of an inversion on the class Pegasus, I guess, with it being a black horse.”

Will Heron, a Dallas-based artist and founder of the Wild West Mural Fest, said that the event is intended to engage the community and reflect its diverse culture.

Heron works with local business owners and landlords to find walls to use as canvases, so the fest is truly a community partnership.

Public response to the murals has been good, especially on social media, Heron said.

“We definitely want it to be something that’s added to the community and not something that doesn’t fit in with what already exists,” Heron said. “We’re not trying to gentrify the community, we’re not trying

to change the community, we’re just trying to add to the culture that already exists there.”

Because graffiti is common in the West Dallas area, Paek recommends that people go visit the murals as soon as possible.

Another experience that she recommends is Fabrication Yard, an abandoned warehouse located in west Dallas that functions as a free wall for artists to express themselves. It’s a good place to see local artists at work and meet other creatives, said Paek.

“You can paint anything you want on the wall,” Paek said. “There’s always really cool, interesting artists. And you can just walk right up to them and ask them about what they’re doing. It’s a really great place to learn and start conversations.”

Paek studied psychology while at UTD and said that she sees a close connection between artistic expression and her academic field.

“I feel like the best art comes from a place of communication,” Paek said. “Whether you’re communicating something about an idea that you have, or something about your feelings, or whether it’s something political, it always involves some sort of communication. And I think that ties in with psychology as far as being able to introspect about your feelings and being able to think about thinking, I guess—metacognition.”

Paek started doing mural work in 2016, when she volunteered with the MHMR of Tarrant County to create a mural in the clinic’s adult daycare. Since then, she’s done murals at the Richardson Senior Center and for some small businesses in the area. After applying for the mural fest in 2019, she used the space at Fabrication Yard to hone her skills. Heron admires Paek’s dedication and said that he’s seen her craft improve a lot in the last year.

“She’s definitely up and coming and has such a great talent,” Heron said. “That dedication is what paid off for her … I’m really proud of her.”

Both Paek and Heron emphasized the importance of the mural fest as a means of initiating conversations about social issues and making creativity more accessible. Public art, like murals, are especially significant because they transcend socioeconomic barriers and allow everyone to enjoy art.

“I just hope that [the mural] brings a little bit of brightness and a little bit of color into people’s lives,” Paek said. “I feel like it’s a more democratic way of experiencing art.”

Nov. 07, 2020 | The Mercury

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LIFE & ARTS

ATEC seniors produce celestial film ‘Nightshift’ explores adventure, yearning CALIS LIM

Mercury Staff

ATEC’s Animation Lab is producing a short film called “Nightshift,” which is projected to be released in December, marking the end of more than a years-long production. Despite the onset of COVID-19, production doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

“Nightshift” follows a little girl named Hannah as she awaits the presence of someone or something. During that time, she is approached by a moon woman and embarks on a journey, an adventure of flying and playing in the sky.

During the spring of 2019 , there was an open call for students to share stories about the theme: childhood. This was when current director Nicole Solis, ATEC senior with design and production minor, pitched her story and got selected.

“Essentially, the whole short is called “Nightshift” because it’s based off of the feeling that I would feel whenever my dad would go work his job as a night shift nurse,” Solis said. “He would be gone during the night working, and then during the day I would see him for a little bit, but then he would have to go to sleep in order to work the next night, so that’s where that started.”

While Solis pitched her story, current co-director Alyssa Fontanilla, an ATEC senior, realized that she had a similar childhood experience.

“When I first heard Nicole’s pitch, it resonated with me so deeply,” Fontanilla said. “My mom actually worked nightshifts growing up—and she still does—while my dad works dayshifts. So I had a lot of that kind of feeling of like missing her. I would see her for an hour in the transition period between nighttime and daytime when she goes to work.”

After the pitch was selected, it was now both Solis and Fontanilla’s roles to be able to get the message across in the story.

“We have that fantasy sequence and we were trying to really pull on the playfulness: the idea of a child playing with their parent,” Fontanilla said. “We also wanted to make sure that there is that comfortable, sweet, ending moment where a family is altogether and you feel very in the moment and very complete, like nothing else in the world could possibly go wrong. And I think trying

to capture that vision as well as the playful energy and the feeling of waiting for someone is something that all of our artists are working really hard on trying to keep in the short,” Fontanilla said.

For the following semester, Solis and Fontanilla worked on developing the story and the characters. They devoted the fall of 2019 to laying down the foundation of the short and figuring out what it would look like, Solis said.

It was around spring 2020 where Solis and her co-director started to work with other students with various specializations to actually start turning the concept into reality. One of these students is ATEC senior Bianca Del Rio, who is the layout and animation lead.

“Layout was a really important transition period from the storyboards to actually putting stuff into 3-D space, and it was kind of like the growing pain section where we had to take the director’s vision and make sure it looked exactly the way they wanted it to look,” Del Rio said. “And of course, animation is that important department of actually bringing the characters into development that the directors created… That’s really important to me: being able to bring a character to life.”

Yet with the arrival of spring 2020 came one obstacle: COVID-19. As the school scrambled to figure out how students would work online, the professors were uncertain what to tell the student filmmakers. They consequently told the students to stop working, and production halted for a month. It was not until UTD started implementing Microsoft teams and decided to make work remote that production resumed, Del Rio said.

“I’m so incredibly impressed with everybody who’s worked on this from all of the animators. All of the lighting artists, all of the riggers, everybody. Just because the pandemic hit didn’t mean we lost steam; everybody kept steamrolling through it,” Del Rio said. “It looks amazing. I’m so excited for everybody to see what lighting is bringing to the table.

I’m so excited for everybody to see the really awesome amount of animation the team has done, ‘cause it looks phenomenal.”

Solis said this short is important not only because of the sheer amount of effort that the team has put in, but also because it’s a heartwarming story that’s very personal to her heart and the heart of many people in the crew.

ATEC ANIMATION LAB | COURTESY

Nov. 07, 2020 | The Mercury

LIFE & ARTS

CPR Classical honors Latin-American composer, faculty member

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Robert Xavier Rodriguez recognized for his compositions NANDIKA MANGSINKA Mercury Staff

If you’ve tuned in to CPR Classical’s radio station any time this past month, you may have encountered the rhythmic melodies of Latin-American influenced compositions – some of which were created by a world-renowned composer turned UTD faculty member.

With October being National Hispanic Heritage Month, CPR Classical chose to honor music professor and Endowed Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies Robert Xavier Rodriguez by recognizing him as one of “18 Latin American Composers You Should Know.”

His compositions were played intermittently on the station from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to commemorate his contributions to the genre.

“I am delighted to be recognized,” Rodriguez said. “I am of Latin-American heritage. I am pleased to see Latin-American artists featured and I’m honored to be included. Art is universal. Art belongs to all cultures.”

Rodriguez’s music is influenced by both his learned European classical training as well as his innate Hispanic heritage. He said that classical symphonic music is largely a European field, in which there are many European expectations of composers. However, his music also draws on his Latin-American heritage, which he says contributes to a wider musical experience.

“Latin-American music is generally closer to nature,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not so much driven by intellectual systems as by the joy of sound and pulsating rhythms. I write music for audiences who are used to European music.

But I also write music for audiences who have a special interest in the music of Latin

America and, in particular, the Mexican tradition. I enjoy drawing upon Mexican folk traditions and merging my background.”

Rodriguez’s music has been performed worldwide and he is an award-winning composer, now mainly focusing on children’s works. He said that he did not initially incorporate Latin American components, such as colorful percussion sounds, folk melodies and Mexican mariachi elements, into his works.

Though much of his portfolio caters to the traditional sounds and forms of classical music, some of the pieces derived from his Hispanic background include Frida, based on the life of Frida Kahlo, La Curandera, a one-act comedy and Monkey See, Monkey Do, a children’s opera that incorporates Mexican folk elements.

“They both celebrate the Mexican tradition,” Rodriguez said. “Frida Kahlo’s life was the stuff of great drama, and the Mexican background adds a distinctive flavor to the music. These are a small part of my work, but an important part that I very much enjoy.

Out of my 140 or so compositions, there’s only about a dozen, but the pieces that seem most popular with the public seem to be my Latin American pieces.”

In light of his compositions being played on the radio during Hispanic Heritage Month, Rodriguez said he is always glad to know that his music is reaching an audience – that, indeed, the musical experience is incomplete without an audience.

“Composers write music to communicate, and so the ultimate goal of an artist is to find an audience and to find performers,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a three-way experience: the creator, the performer, the audience. So it’s wonderful to see the complete experience taking place.”

ALBERT RAMIREZ | MERCURY STAFF

Rodriguez’s music has been performed worldwide and he is an award-winning composer, now mainly focusing on children’s works.

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Nov. 9, 2020 | The Mercury

SPORTS

Out of the blocks

ROSHAN KHICHI| Mercury Staff

Nov. 9, 2020| The Mercury

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NEWS

New track & field team finds its footing LAUREN DOUGHERTY Mercury Staff

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, the new UTD track and field team has hit the ground running in its first semester as an official program.

Establishing a track and field team has been a goal for head cross country – and now track and field – coach Danielle Kcholi since she became UTD’s first full-time cross country coach in 2018.

The new track program was announced last fall and is now in its first semester of operation.

Kcholi said that because the program is just getting started, the team is primarily composed of distance runners who also compete in cross country – though the team does have two freshmen who are solely track athletes. As the sport and campus continue to grow, Kcholi said, the long-term plan includes hiring more coaches and building a track.

“UTD is such a great place to grow a track team,” Kcholi said. “It’s going to take us a little bit longer than we expected just because of COVID and budgetary restrictions that are due to that. It’s just a great place to be, and we hopefully will attract a very diverse track and field team – eventually where we can cover all the event groups.”

Computer science freshman and track athlete Jocelyn Heckenkamp said that she doesn’t see the lack of facilities as a detriment to the team.

“It’s not a disadvantage that can’t be overcome,” Heckenkamp said. “From a running standpoint, we’re just going to do what we’ve always done: just keep running and run fast.”

The team currently meets in small groups to practice, Kcholi said, and the size of the athletic fields allows the runners to stay apart from one other so that they never come into close contact. Athletes living at home this semester are still able to do the workouts on their own.

“We’re able to meet every day, so we’ve

been able to get some work done,” Kcholi said. “It’s not like a normal year at all, but we’re lucky to have been able to do what we’ve done so far.”

Freshman Devan Bailey decided to stay home in Pennsylvania for the fall semester but has been able to train on his own. Bailey communicates with Kcholi to get the workouts and completes them at a local track or on the roads near his home.

Bailey said that while he enjoys the flexibility that training independently provides, he’s looking forward to running with the team when he comes to campus for the spring semester.

“I really want to get out of the perpetual limbo to kind of have more structure and also to share it with others, because that’s another really big joy for me for the sport, is to be able to run with others and kind of share that experience,” Bailey said.

The plan for the rest of the academic year is to have a shortened three-meet cross country season beginning in January, after which the outdoor track season will begin, said Kcholi. Under normal circumstances, there would be an indoor season as well, though Kcholi thinks that is unlikely to happen this year.

In the meantime, the team has been able to compete in a virtual meet series organized by Kcholi and another ASC coach. Participants practice and run on a nearby local track, recording their times with their watches for Kcholi to post.

While the events are casual, Kcholi said, they’re a good way to keep the athletes engaged during what would normally be their peak competition time.

Participation in the virtual series has been a bit limited so far, but Kcholi is hopeful that the upcoming event in November will have good competition.

“That last race is kind of like a mini championship, so [the runners] can look at how they compare to the other schools in the conference, and it’ll be a nice little fun thing to do before they go home for

ROSHAN KHICHI | MERCURY STAFF

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14

OPINION

Nov. 07, 2020 | The Mercury

Custom majors for custom dreams Customizable degree plan give students control over their academic experience KEERTHI SRILAKSCHMIDARAN MERCURY STAFF

Though the current college major system at UTD provides numerous options for students, giving students the chance to design their own major and explore areas of interest would promote flexibility and alleviate pressure to fulfill a certain number of requirements.

With almost 80% of college students in the United States switching majors at least once in four years, it is evident that many students have multiple areas of interest they’d like to pursue in college. Corequisites, prerequisites and lower-division and upper-division classes make it difficult for students to switch majors or add concentrations because of the completely new set of requirements they have to meet. In some cases, a change of major or an added concentration or minor can add an extra year to a student’s college career. More rigorous majors, in particular, offer little to no room for electives in other disciplines, and with most students trying to graduate within

four years, they often prioritize taking courses needed to graduate rather than electives of personal interest.

While UTD’s core courses can ensure that even the most STEM-inclined students get a bit of the arts and humanities, scheduling problems are inevitable and students may end up in classes they don’t like just for the credit.

With the university emphasizing exploration and open mindedness on campus, there is no reason they shouldn’t make it easier for students to pursue their unique interests with a custom degree.

More than 900 four-year colleges and universities – including Brown University, Swarthmore College and the University of Washington – allow their students to design their own major with an advisor’s help.

These majors allow students to combine their interests into a single degree plan that may not be offered by the school already.

In the past, students have created majors ranging from ethnomusicology to biological art to technology and society. Colleges like Swarthmore require a certain balance of

courses – typically around 12 courses – that provide students with a comprehensive understanding of their major topic. To demonstrate mastery of the custom major, students have to write a thesis, fulfill an examination or complete a project approved by faculty.

With the advisor’s approval of the custom major – as well as assessment for mastery of the major subject – custom majors are a great way for students to take more courses that they are passionate about.

In some cases, they can even be used as a replacement for a double or triple major and decrease the amount of time students have to spend in college.

However, majors like biological art that focus on two vastly different areas of study may make it hard for students to gain a deep understanding of both aspects of the major. To counteract this, students could plan to attend graduate school or take on internships to learn by experience.

Though reducing requirements for existing degrees can be a good start for

increasing flexibility, taking out some requirements for traditional majors can reduce the value and understanding a student can gain from that major. Many students who take a traditional major with reduced requirements may struggle later in their field because they weren’t as prepared. People with custom degrees, however, choose courses directly related to their prospective field and understand that they might not get as deep of an understanding of certain topics as those who took a traditional major route would.

Nevertheless, advisors should ensure that the degree name is easy to understand and prepares students for higher education should they intend to pursue it.

UTD has always encouraged students to explore their interests and choose courses they’re passionate about. Giving students the chance to design their own major and take a combination of courses that will directly benefit them in their career will allow them to make the most of their university experience.

JUHI KARNALKAR |MERCURY STAFF