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facebook.com/theutdmercury | @utdmercuryApril 13, 2015
THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM
CHECK OUTAN EXTENDEDQ&A WITH TOURÉ
DISAPPEARINGACT
PITCH PERFECT
America's bats are dying. Read about the fungus responsible for the plight.
Coaches, players break down the art of pitching
PG 6 PG 5 PG 9
Violist invited to play at Carnegie Hall // PG 6
Photos from iWeek 2015 // PHOTOS, PG 7
PLUS +
A SHOW OF FAITH
Touré, a journalist and host of "Th e Cycle" on MS-NBC, came to campus on April 1 to discuss the me-dia’s role in the ongoing battle for civil rights.
Touré is the author of “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to be Black Now” and “I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon.” He was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work of Non-Fiction in 2012 for “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?”
Sponsored by the Offi ce of Diversity, SUAAB, Me-teor Th eater, the School of Arts & Humanities and the Multicultural Center, the event began with an opening address on what civil rights means in today’s society, while also touching on the various protests and move-ments of the past that gave way to the liberation of diff erent oppressed groups.
“Th is has been a critical battle in the history of America: the tension between being the great demo-cratic nation that we think we are and the strangling power of these straight, rich, white men who have controlled this nation since the beginning,” Touré said.
He also discussed how the media —specifi cally tele-vision— prevented protests and civil rights violations from going unnoticed. He said television made the events covered visceral and immediate, creating a sense of severity and urgency in the viewing population.
“Television has been a key driver in all these move-ments because discrimination can survive in silence,” Touré said. “If we don’t shine a light on those things, they are able to persist. Silence aids and abets the status quo.”
Following Touré’s remarks, Cinematheque pre-sented a compilation of videos from various civil rights movements. Th e short documentary covered the Afri-can American, Chicano, Native American, Women’s, LGBTQ and Arab Spring movements, highlighting the role the media played in giving a voice to those who, at the time, had none.
After the video, Touré sat before the audience and fi elded questions.
Touré engaged the audience in a frank, open discus-sion about race, often touching on more current ex-amples of civil rights protests. He briefl y spoke on the events that occurred in Ferguson recently and issues the United States has had with Boko Haram and ISIS.
He often drew these topics back to the way media reframes and delivers news to the general public. For example, when the protests in Ferguson occasionally grew violent, he stressed the importance of keeping the context of the events in mind.
“Sometimes to get heard, you have to burn something down,” Touré said. “I’m not saying they should have done it, but would media have been continued to be there if it hadn’t been violent? I don’t know.”
As an example, he cited Malcolm X, who drew criti-cism for his militant remarks and was often compared to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Whether the instances of civil rights violations are based on race, gender, sexuality or income, Touré gave a call to action for all people to consolidate their pro-tests and work together to eliminate injustice wherever it crops up in society.
“Civil rights, as I see it, is about protecting rights wherever they might be deprived over demography,” Touré said. “If all Americans are born with unalien-able rights, then why would we allow so many people’s rights to be constrained because they happen to be black or gay or female?”
After years of planning and preparation, the con-struction of Comet Town, the development project on the north side of campus that will feature new din-ing and housing, is set to commence.
Groundbreaking will take place on April 16 at 3
p.m. in the corner of Rutford Avenue and Synergy Park Boulevard.
Construction is slated for completion by the sum-mer of 2016 and later that fall students will have the opportunity to move into the apartments and use the new venues.
Calvin Jamison, vice president of administration,
said Comet Town is an attempt to produce a live, play and study environment for a university previously known for being a commuter school.
“It will set the tone, create the energy and provide our own fl avor of a destination where our faculty and students can gather and obtain diff erent amenities, as
Journalist talks race in mass media
Comet Town to break ground April 16
TOURÉ
CARA SANTUCCIMercury Staff
PRIYANKA HARDIKARMercury Staff
ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEEWeb Editor
Iqbal Gill remembers being bullied in the first grade for wearing a turban and having long hair.
He remembers coming home one day and making the painful decision to take his turban off, despite
his parents asking him not to.“I’m not going to lie; it was sad,” Gill,
now a biology sophomore at UTD, said. “It was hard.”
Gill is a member of the Sikh com-munity, the fifth-largest religion in the world. Yet, the lack of awareness among the children back in his school continues to astound him, he said.
“A lot of people don’t understand,” Gill, who is also secretary for the Sikh
Student Association here, said. “They didn’t really want to understand or try to under-
stand. They just wanted to make fun.”In American schools, only the three Abrahamic
religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — are brought up, Gill said. Children aren’t really aware of
Sikhs, who wear a turban and grow out a full beard, just like Muslims, but are very different in their faith, Gill said.
Gill's experience in elementary school is reflective of a lack of knowledge in American communities about diverse religious rep-resentations and symbols of those faiths. The freedom to express
one's beliefs through rituals and symbols makes for a unique conversation.
For Sara Melnick, arts and technology and computer science double major, religion is a right of expression. “When I think of religion, I think of the First Amendment and the right to practice that religion,” Melnick, who is Jewish and the
president of Hillel at UTD, said. “It might be wearing the hijab or a cross or a yamaka.”Choosing to wear a symbol of one’s religion makes an immediate statement about one’s faith, but sometimes faith need not be quite
as obvious, she said.
The sacred thread
Hindu Brahmin boys between the ages of 8 and 16 traditionally go through a sacred thread ceremony, "Upanayanam," which marks the start of their learning and a devo-tion to the spread of knowledge. At the ceremony, they are required to wear a cotton thread, a com-bination of three threads, which they continue to wear around their upper body at all times for the rest of their lives.
It is with this thread that Ramakrishnan Pitchai Kumar chants to the gods every morning, afternoon and evening for 20 minutes.
As he chants, he performs yogic breathing exercises at the same time focusing on cleansing his mind, body and soul of toxins and sins.
He adorns his forehead with "vibhuti," or burnt ash, and prays. Traditionally, Brahmins are not supposed to partake in exter-
nal pleasures because they are supposed to be the preservers of knowledge. They’re not supposed to have meat, fatty food or even spices, Pitchai Kumar, an information technology management graduate student, said.
Today, a lot of Brahmin boys have let go of these restrictions, he said. Among his friends and peers are people who have told him repeatedly that most of what he does is simply a ritual — meaningless and silly.
“Sometimes I feel if no one else performs these rituals then why should I?” he said. When he was baptized as a Brahmin, he was a fifth-grader who went through the motions without realizing the importance or reason
behind the ceremony. As he grew older, ridden with doubts, he explored the historic meaning of the ceremony and found out the true significance of these
Students navigate external, internal ways of expressing their faith
→ SEE RELIGION, PAGE 12
→ SEE COMET TOWN, PAGE 12
YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF
Sara Melnick, president of Hillel, sports her necklace with a mezuzah pen-dant. The jewelery was a gift from her grandmother and is a replica of the Jewish door adornment that doubles as protection.
YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF
A Sikh student ties a traditional turban at Tie a Turban Day on April 2 on The Plinth. The event was an initiative by the Sikh Student As-sociation to inform students of their faith.
2 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 NEWS UTDMERCURY.COM
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THE MERCURYUTDMERCURY.COM
Volume XXXVNo. 7
ContributorsJennifer Chi
Cedric Davis IITaylor Heagler
Sejal MaliAdam Richards
Justin ThompsonShyam Vedantham
Senior StaffNidhi GotgiEmily Grams
Priyanka HardikarLinda NguyenArun PrasathCara SantucciTim Shirley
Parthasarathy S.K.Yang Xi
Editor-in-Chief Miguel Perez
[email protected](972) 883-2294
Managing EditorEsteban Bustillos
[email protected](972) 883-2287
Web EditorAnwesha
Photo EditorConnie Cheng
Social Media Manager
Joseph [email protected]
Life & Arts EditorPablo Arauz
Assistant Graphics Editor
Assistant Photo Editor
Andrew [email protected]
Ad Sales RepresentativesNaaema Abedin
Monisha [email protected]
Media AdviserChad Thomas
[email protected](972) 883-2286
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D
March 30
apartment leasing office at 8:47 a.m.-
lia were reported inside of a dorm in Residence Hall West by peer advisors at 10:55 a.m.
from an unlocked vending machine in the Phase 2 apartments at 9:34 p.m.
March 31
common-law husband was calling and making threats to harm her at the Ad-ministration Building at 9:34 p.m.
April 4-
ed several times between January and March by another student she was in a relationship with.
April 6
its contents were taken from a locker in the Activity Center at 3:36 p.m.
-len from his truck in Lot B at 8:21 p.m.
driving with an invalid license and for driving under suspicion of DWI at 1:40 a.m. on Campbell Road.
April 7
stall of a men’s restroom in the Founders North building at 8:12 a.m.
B
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Shielah MuantanaNeuroscience sophomore
“Should businesses have the right to deny service to groups of people based on religious belief?”
Are you for or against the concealed carry of handguns on campus?
AgainstFor
“There’s no reason to not sell your prod-uct to someone just
cause of what they are inclined to believe.
They’re your custom-ers, that’s it.”
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Apart from your name and photo, personal info will not be published.
We reserve the right to reject submissions, and we cannot be responsible for their return. We reserve the right to edit for clarity, brevity, good taste, accuracy and to prevent libel.
The next issue of The Mercury will be pub-lished on April 27. Contact us by April 15, and submit your opinion by April 20.
Tell us what you think about religous issues and answer our poll at www.utdmercury.com.
RESULTS FROM LAST ISSUE“According to me, they should not refuse because it is immature of which
religion you are, you have the right to work wherever you want, have whatever
business you want to grow, and it’s upon you on how
you take it.”Abhinav Parakh
Telecommunications engineering graduate
COMET
COMMENTS
The online poll was open from March 30 to April 12 and had 30 participants.
APRIL 13, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COMOPINION 3
“I don’t think so ... the U.S. is a multina-tional country because
people are coming from across the globe and living out here,
so it’s got so many, so many people living out
there.”
Arash DinitITM graduate
THE LONG FIGHTState legislation threatens to inhibit the rights of LGBT citizens within the state, activists must not hinder in their fight for equality
ADAM RICHARDSCOMMENTARY
27% 73%
Warm weather:After months of feeling the cold, cruel sting of winter and fall, spring has finally come into full effect. There are still rainy days, but the threat of another week where the university population will be snowed in seem to be long gone. Texas weather has been known to be anything but predictable, so hopefully there isn’t anymore wintry days ahead.
Bluebonnets on campus:Another plus from spring time weather coming to campus is the appearance of Bluebonnets at UTD. Located on the traffic dividers between the Student Services Building and the Ac-tivity Center, the flowers are a nice reminder that students are in the best state in the Union.
Richardson mayor target of ethics probe:On April 8, WFAA reported that Richardson’s city attorney assigned outside legal counsel to determine if Mayor Laura Maczka had violated ethics rules by accepting a job with a developer that had had a major project in the city she approved during her term. Maczka announced last week that she will not be running for a second term, even though she is unopposed.
Club sports on the rise :Even though the varsity sports here are UTD get most of the competition, club sports have found their own path to success. Over the weekend, members of the table tennis team played in the national tournament, the swimming team went to nationals in Atlanta and the gymnastics team went to nationals in Philadelphia.
Office 365 switch:The switch from Zmail to Office 365 has been a good news/bad news type of situation. Office 365 has a brand new interface that allows users many more options and settings, so it has been a huge benefit in that sense. Unfortunately, some students have had a hard time with the switch and haven’t adjusted as well as others, with some losing the memo of the switch in their old email accounts.
Cometsand Craters
It’s hard to deny that the past year has been a whirlwind one for LGBT rights. Marriage equal-ity has swept the nation, with same-sex marriages occurring in 37 states and the Supreme Court expected to expand that right to the remaining thirteen.
Transgender individuals are starting to gain repre-sentation in the media, and the justice department has been instrumental in extending nondiscrimina-tion protections (such as in hiring and schooling) to the trans community.
Queer issues have never been as front and center in our national dialogue as they are in this moment. However, such progress has enraged the religious right, and now a new wave of anti-LGBT legisla-tion once again threatens the livelihoods of queer Texans.
While the ground slowly sinks out from under-neath their political opposition to same sex mar-riage, conservatives have found new avenues of attack in order to limit the LGBT community’s freshly gained civil rights.
Three primary modes of engagement have emerged in the last few months: framing LGBT rights as a removal of local control, claiming that expanding nondiscrimination ordinances trample on religious liberty and that protecting the rights of trans people will result in cisgender women being raped in bathrooms by men posing as women.
The result is several bills pending in the current session that target LGBT rights.
Most onerous are HB 1747 and 1748 by Debbie Riddle, which would not only make it a misde-meanor for transgender people to use facilities corresponding to their gender identity, but make it a felony for any entity that allows them to do so.
What the preceding list illustrates is not just typi-cal homophobia or transphobia, but a concerted effort to punish LGBT people for fighting and gaining equality in this country. This is laid bare by the contradictions in the bills being proposed such as using local control arguments to propose state level restrictions on marriage, while disallowing individuals and municipalities that same power to expand nondiscrimination laws and services.
The religious freedom bills are often proposed with examples such as that of keeping small-town bakers from having to bake wedding cakes for same -sex couples. It is important to note, however, that within the bounds of this legislation, they have provisions that can extend to literally any service or form of employment. The legal argument for a wed-ding cake exemption is flimsy enough as it is, but allowing someone to be fired from, for instance, an engineering job citing sexuality or gender identity as a cause serves no purpose. Much like the “state’s rights” arguments used to prop up other forms of legal discrimination, the idea of “local control” as a reason to not protect LGBT people goes away as soon as it is politically convenient.
Almost all the bills listed above are good examples of this kind of hypocrisy, but HB 1747 and 1748 stick out the most, as they not only wrest control away from individuals and businesses but impose shockingly harsh penalties for doing so.
This, at a time when, according to advocacy group Equality Texas, 85 percent of transgender Texans have experienced harassment because of their gender identity or expression, 46 percent have
experienced physical assault and 47 percent of transgender Texans have been verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation because of their gender identity or expression.
In addition, though the legislation claims to be, according to the two bills’ author Rep. Debbie Riddle, protecting “women and children from going into a ladies restroom and finding a man who feels like he is a woman that day,” Equality Texas notes that 17 states and more than 200 cities across the United States have passed and success-fully implemented public accommodation laws and none have experienced an increase in public safety incidents.
In addition, Equality Texas also notes that Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso and Arlington all have ordinances that allow everyone to use the restroom appropriate to their gender, all with no increase in public safety incidents.
In other words, these bills have no factual basis and serve to criminalize and jail trans people for the apparent crime of using the restroom, something that is already hard enough for trans people without a bounty placed over their heads.
In short, the increase in visibility of queer issues and resolution of some national level discrimination does not mean that the LGBT movement is over and we can afford to become complacent. Action must still be taken to protect LGBT individuals throughout the state.
Call and write letters to the above legislators, as well as your own, to express opposition to these types of bills and support for expanding protec-tions. Do the same for your city council members.
It is imperative that our lawmakers know the effects these bills will have on LGBT people; that according to a 2013 equality federation poll, the majority of Texans do not want these laws; and that proposing them will hurt the image of the state and keep us from retaining and attracting talent and businesses. The work of LGBT activists and allies has gotten us so far in so little time, and we need to prevent those efforts from ending up in vain.
SB 673 and HJR 1745 -Takes marriage license power away from local courts and put the power in state legislature’s hands.
HB 623 - Would punish county clerks for issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
HB 1747 and 1748 - Would make it a misdemeanor for transgender people to use facilities corresponding to their gender identity and make it a felony for any entity that allows them to do so.
OTHER BILLS- HB 1156, HB 1911, HB 2553 and 2555, HB 2801 and 2802, HB 3567 and 3864, HB 3602 and 4105, and SB 1155.
STATE Legislation that threatens LGBT RIGHTS
Trophies:Student Media groups won 32 awards at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association confer-ence held in San Antonio on April 8 -11. Among the awards, our Editor-in-Chief, Miguel Perez, was named Editor of the Year for the entire association.
4 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 NEWS UTDMERCURY.COM
Family, friends gather at memorial recognizing student, staff deaths
Moot court team wins championship series
For the first time since the mock trial program began in 2006, two teams qualified to the Opening Round Championship Series in Memphis, Tennessee, which took place from March 20-22.
The three UTD mock trial teams won a total of 34 awards this past season, as opposed to the five they won last season.
“It’s the best we’ve ever done.” said mock trial coach Tony Seagroves.
Mock trial is run through the Pre-Law Advising and Resource Center and gives students the opportunity to simulate a civil or criminal trial by acting as wit-nesses or attorneys. Through this extracurricular program, students of all years and majors have the chance to improve their public speaking, critical thinking and acting skills.
Mock trial teams vary in size but usually consist of six to eight people on a team across two or three teams. Each year, every par-ticipating university is given a case
packet containing evidence and affidavits for the case. This year’s case was a civil case involving the death of a child shot by another child. The parents of the child who was shot are suing the other child’s family.
At each tournament, each team represents the plaintiff in two rounds and the defendant in two rounds.
Seagroves was on the mock trial team from 2009 to 2010 before graduating from UTD. When the coaching position became available, he was offered a job.
“I like to give back, and each one of these students, to me, is me back then — looking for someone to help them realize their goal,” he said. “My goal is for them to be as successful as they never thought they could be.”
The program has picked up pace this year as an influx of new students have joined.
Seagroves has helped revamp the program through training sessions and individual meetings with team members on a weekly basis. He has also implemented a
buddy system that teams rook-ies with veterans.
“Every student is assigned a buddy,” he said. “I take some-one who’s done mock trial before and partner them with someone who’s never done it before.”
He said this allows the stu-dents to teach each other what the other doesn’t know and help each other out.
It’s not just Seagroves who’s brought in change to the pro-gram. The team members themselves are doing better, said Diego Perea, an actuarial science senior and co-captain of a team.
“People this year have worked really hard,” he said.
The program previously consisted of two teams, but this year, a third team was added.
“I think the three-team structure makes it better than the two team structure we had last year,” Perea said. “Everyone gets to compete more. Everyone gets more experience.”
Solemn condolences were shared among families, friends and members of the UTD community who gathered to commemorate the loss of nine students during the 2014-2015 academic year at a memorial service called “Comets Remember,” on April 2 in the Galaxy Rooms.
Psychology and child learn-ing and development senior Nicholas Raviani; software engi-neering freshman Ankitha Vemu; neuroscience freshman Vishnu Yadlappali; psychology junior Shifa Mirza; psychology freshman Benjamin Shorr; finance senior David Pimentel; computer science senior Matthew Weddle; molecu-lar biology junior Phillip Munoz-Perez and graduate student in the Jindal School of Management Anna Moses were all remembered at the event.
Assistant vice president of stu-dent affairs Yolande Evans wel-comed the guests. Associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students Gene Fitch, student government president Brooke Knudtson, SG vice presi-dent Nancy Fairbank and SG sen-ator Charlie Hannigan conducted the ceremony, which was initiated with bagpipe music provided by Matt Willis.
Hannigan led the attendees in a moment of reflection for the students who’ve passed and their families and friends. Fitch then addressed the families in express-ing the deepest sympathies on behalf of the entire university for their loss.
“We challenge our students to remember facts and formulas and to apply them in a way that cre-ates the possibility for progress,” Fitch said. “Your students were involved in the vital pursuit of a better world. Today we remember them, their passion, their excel-lence, their struggles and their achievements.”
Knudtson also took a moment to comfort the loved ones of those who were lost by repre-senting the student body and extending condolences on their account.
“Although our campus is very large, UT Dallas has a special way of making every student feel like an integral part of this uni-versity,” Knudtson said. “Every student is important. UT Dallas is a community and a family. We are all Comets. When one person or family experiences a loss, we all do.”
Fairbank recited “We Remember Them” from the Hebrew Union Prayer Book to celebrate the mem-ory of the deceased and offered support to the families in the
audience. As Fitch declared each student an “Eternal Comet”, a gong was sounded and a bouquet of flowers was presented to their respective families.
Lawrence J. Redlinger, executive director for strategic planning and analysis and Moses’ supervisor, said he was saddened by the loss.
“Anna was a great employee and a great person with a positive attitude,” Redlinger said. “Bad things happen to good people. It’s another star taken from the sky.”
Yvonne and Max Raviani, par-ents of Nicholas Raviani, sat in the audience as they accepted the bouquet that honored the memo-ry of their son. He was a semester away from graduation and work-ing full-time when he lost his life in a shooting, Max said.
“Nick cared about lifting peo-ple up,” Yvonne Raviani said. “He was a mediator. He was a sweet person. Nobody should have to experience this kind of loss. We’re here today because this is all we have.”
Hannigan brought the ceremo-ny to a close by quoting author Norman Maclean.
“We pray that all those who’ve experienced a loss this year may see beyond their sorrow and find peace, “ Hannigan said. “May we find the strength to endure tough times and find comfort through the university community.”
NIDHI GOTGIMercury Staff
SEJAL MALIMercury Staff
TONY SEAGROVES | COURTESY
Nathan Radke, Kelsey Preston, Genevieve Khuong, Diana Hargrave, Diego Perea, and Chris-tina Lanier competed in the tournament as one of two UTD teams — both of which advanced to the Opening Round Championship Series for the first time in organization history.
Student government members lead ceremony, pay their respects
5THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 INFOGRAPHICUTDMERCURY.COM
APRIL 13, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM6 LIFE&ARTS
YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF
Nineteen year old pre-health junior Shan Su was one of 114 student musicians chosen in February to perform in New York this summer.
PRIYANKA HARDIKARMercury Staff
New ‘Furious’ fi lm resorts to same formula
“Furious 7” has a nonsensical plot and dull dia-logue, but it speeds past these road bumps that might otherwise sideline any other fi lm with a fa-miliar mix of levity and the care it shows for its fallen cast member.
James Wan directs the latest entry in the “Fast and Furious” franchise. He’s a newcomer to the series, but he has paid his dues in the horror genre with excellent fi lms like “Th e Conjuring” and “Saw.” He mostly succeeds taking over the series after Justin Lin directed the previous four fi lms. Each subse-quent fi lm in the series seems to raise the bar in terms of fi st-pounding, physics-defying feats. Th is is undoubtedly true here: the sequences in which cars fl y out of airplanes onto mountains or through buildings in Abu Dhabi are incredibly fun. Seeing this with an audience just compounds the giddy ef-fect.
Wan also shoots the car choreography well. All of the muscle cars look splendid and get to dominate their own frames upon their introduction to be ad-mired fully.
On the other hand, he has less of a handle on the rest of the fi lm. Hand-to-hand action sequences with the actors, compared to their automotive coun-terparts, are somewhat underwhelming. Th ere’s a constantly shaking camera, high frequency cutting and editing and choreography borrowed from ear-lier fi lms in the franchise.
Th e script, penned by Chris Morgan, is heavy on the family motif and light on the logic. Vin Die-sel probably says the word “family” here more fre-quently than he says “groot” in last year’s “Guard-ians of the Galaxy.” Th ere’s no elegancy or subtly here, probably because it wouldn’t be heard over the cars and hollering audiences.
Th e plot to “Furious 7” doesn’t hold up well upon any inspection due to the high-wire juggling act it is attempting to pull off . Th e fi lm takes place at the convergence of “Fast and Furious 6” and “Th e Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” Deckard Shaw (Ja-son Statham) is out to get revenge after his brother Owen (Luke Evans) was placed into intensive care after the sixth fi lm. After he kills Han (Sung Kang), which took place in the third fi lm, Deckard is gun-ning for Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), amnesiac Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), hacker Tej (Ludacris) and wannabe ladies’ man Roman (Tyrese Gibson).
After failing to enact revenge after Deckard puts Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) into the hospital and blows up Dom’s house, Dom gets aid from a shad-owy government agent named Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). Th e latter approaches Dom with a propos-al: help him rescue a hacker named Ramsey (Na-thalie Emmanuel) who has a program that can track anyone using ubiquitous technology from terrorist Jackande (Djimon Honsou), and Mr. Nobody will
→ SEE FURIOUS, PAGE 8
SHYAM VEDANTAMCOMMENTARY
SOUND OFSUCCESS
Q: What’s the best part of your job?A: Probably having a small part in having an impact on how people
think and see the world. I remember this one situation where they gave me a reader — a three to four sentence thing for me to read — about nine people being killed in Chicago over the weekend and that’s it. If you say that, then it perpetuates the myth that Chicago is this Wild West where the violence is out of control, when Chicago is not, in fact, in the top twenty in terms of per capita homicides. You have to provide the proper context of “Chicago remains on pace to have its lowest homicide rate since 1964.” I insisted on adding that little bit. You have to be able to say, “I am adding something valuable to the discourse and I’m proud of these stories that I’ve done.”
Q: Where do you see the future of journalism going? What advice do you have for students considering a career in journalism or freelance work?
A: It’s getting harder and harder to make a living being a journalist. If you’re interested in journalism, think: “Could I possibly see myself doing anything else?” And if you could, then go do that, because you aren’t going to make that much money and it’s a diffi cult job. It’s an important job, but what we need is people who are passionate and committed. If your heart’s not in it, then you’re corruptible.
Q: Do you think, in recent years, we’ve moved away from the concept of truly informing our audience?
journalist / critic / TV personality
→ SEE TOURÉ, PAGE 8
Student violist selected to perform with National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall for second year
Q&A /// with TouréQ&A
“I am adding something valuable to the discourse and I’m proud of these stories that I’ve done”
One thing I’ve learned is to acknowledge that there will be mistakes and to give it my all when I’m playing.
— Shan Su
MSNBC | COURTESY
Six years ago, Shan Su began volunteering at a medical center in Indianapolis bringing patients blankets and food when she realized there was one more way she could contribute.
She could play the viola for them — something live they could experience. It was what made her different.
During the holidays, Su makes her way to nursing homes or hospitals and performs solo. Sometimes, she brings her brother along or her friends from school.
“One of the best comments I got was at a nursing home when one of the residents was there with her daughter,” Su said. “After I performed, her daughter told me ‘That was the first time I saw my mother smile in several months.’”
Now a junior, Su has been selected to perform the viola with the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall for the second year in a row. 19-year-old Su is one of 114 students chosen last February from around the country to perform at the New York venue this summer before traveling to China on a seven-city tour led by guest conductor Charles Dutoit and featuring pianist Yundi Li.
The application included a series of audition videos, a biographical essay and two recommendations. While at the UNT music building, Su said she was drawn to a NYO poster and its logo and appealing white background bursting with shades of bright red and blue.
“I thought I’ll learn the excerpts and see what happens,” Su said. “There’s nothing to lose.”
After a wait of several months, Su received an email in February from the NYO. Inside, bold red letters spelling out “Congratulations!” caught
her attention, and she knew.“That night, I showed my teacher the email,
and she said that she expected nothing less from me,” Su said.
This year in the NYO, Su and the other musicians will be playing Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto, which is nicknamed “Emperor,” with pianist Yundi Li and Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. There will also be a commissioned work that is still being written by Tan Dun, Su said.
She said they might play “America the Beautiful” and “Porgy and Bess” like last year, to exhibit a fun and familiar piece that inevitably brings out a captivated audience.
“I am really looking forward to the first sound we make as a group,” Su said.
While Su described the Beethoven piece to be structured, classical and more on the predictable side, she said the Berlioz piece is strange and unconventional in the story it tells about how Berlioz met a lady while watching her act in a Shakespeare play.
The piece tells the story by featuring an off
stage instrument in the lonely movement, a waltz for the dance, a march to the scaffold for his execution and with pizzicato for his head falling and rolling after he is beheaded, Su said.
“From my experience last year, we really have a lot of energy that we put into the music since we’re all here because we want to be here,” Su said. “We have a tendency to propel each other upward, and after seeing what everyone else sounds like, we become better versions of ourselves.”
Su started playing the viola in fifth grade. Since she already played the piano, she was able to read music with more ease and progress quickly with the viola.
The NYO series was the first time Su performed repeated concerts of the same material.
“We’ve performed the same concert, but they haven’t heard it before and they deserve to hear it as freshly as we did it the first time,” Su said.
Often, at the end of professional orchestra performances, Su said she sees the musicians frown unintentionally or display a blank expression, something they try to avoid with the NYO, making sure to smile at the end of the concerts to preserve the freshness.
She said they do this because someone’s true reason behind attending a concert is never clear. Some may be there because they have a free afternoon, but others might be there because they need something else from the music, Su said.
Su, who enjoys reading commencement speeches, remembers one delivered by a musician whose parents wanted him to pursue medicine instead.
“He said, ‘If you’re a doctor, you may get woken up at 2 a.m. to do an appendectomy and
→ SEE VIOLIST, PAGE 8
7 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 ICYMI: iWeek UTDMERCURY.COM
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International Talent Show — Indian Students Association, Bangladeshi Stu-dent Organization, FACSS Jasmine Blossom Dance Group and Solina Vong Cam-bodian Traditional Dance Dabke showcased performances from their cultures on April 3 in the Activity Center main gym.
Passport to the World — EMAC junior Lena Ohanian shares pilaf from her Armenian cuisine. Students gathered in the Visitor Center Atrium on March 30 to explore the cultures of the world.
International Tea House — Tania Raharja, MAT graduate student, serves samples of Japanese green matcha tea. On April 1, tea lovers came to the Student Union Galaxy Rooms to taste tea from around the world.
World Beats Party — On April 3, the Galaxy Rooms turned into an internation-al dance party where revelers came garbed in cultural clothing.
Turban Day — Members of the Sikh Student Association brought their turban tying skills to the Plinth on April 2.
LINDA NGUYEN | MERCURY STAFF
JENNIFER CHI | MERCURY STAFF
RANJIT SREENIVAS | MERCURY STAFF RANJIT SREENIVAS | MERCURY STAFF
YANG XI | MERCURY STAFF
ARUN PRASATH | MERCURY STAFF
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it’s your job to save that patient,” Su said. “‘But if you’re a musician, people come to you at 8 p.m. at your concert hall and it’s your job to save them also, in case that’s what they needed.’”
Su said one of the challenges of playing comes with making the group dynamics work, and it is important to adapt to the people around you, particularly because the viola players are centered in the middle of the orchestra. Because the capacity of Carnegie Hall stands at 2,000 seats, it takes time to adjust to the different acoustics and people, she said.
“It teaches you how to work with others without verbal communication and how to multitask, doing completely different things with both hands while responding to the sounds you hear, immediately after they are produced,” Su said.
Taking these lessons to NYO, Su is ready to
perform and tour for the second time – this time in China. Although she was born in China, Su has never seen the major cities, and she said it will be a new experience.
Playing with a world-class pianist and conductor who were once child prodigies is also something she said she is honored to be a part of.
Even though her long-term goals aren’t clearly defined yet, the biology student hopes to follow her medical path, while pursuing music on the side.
“I don’t want to fall behind because I’m doing a different major,” Su said.
But nothing has changed; Su still practices an hour a day and it has become a ritual, she said.
“As much as you eat and sleep, you practice,” Su said. “Mistakes are inevitable, and there probably is no such thing as a perfect performance. One thing I’ve learned is to acknowledge that there will be mistakes and to give it my all when I’m playing.”
8 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 LIFE&ARTS UTDMERCURY.COM
A: We (at MSNBC) are providing context and perspective from a liberal perspective. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re cherry-picking facts and telling people a certain narrative, that’s propagandist.
I don’t like it when people used the term “the media” because the media does many different things at the same time, but I can speak to what we (at MSNBC) are doing. I think we provide a service and good information and a valuable per-spective.
Q: We know the media has a huge influence on how people think. How do you think the me-dia should hope to shape the public’s opinion towards the recent incidents in Ferguson?
A: It’s tricky when we enter into these situations wanting to be advocates. Where you can, in a bal-anced way, do stories or add context that helps people see that immigrants are not criminals and black people are not criminals or what have you, that’s of value. Wherever we can do little things to underline the sophistication of people of color, I think that’s valuable.
Q: As a journalist, do you think racial profil-ing is an infringement on civil rights and does it belong in the context of law enforcement? Is this something that is happening?
A: Absolutely, without a doubt it is happening. Police departments understand that racial profil-ing is not effective policing. White people are above the average in terms of the numbers of those carrying something illegal.
Black and brown people were below the average, but they are overstopped and overpoliced so then the number seems larger than it is.
Q: Have you ever faced racial profiling from peers or anyone else?
A: I remember feeling sort of boxed in. Some-body actual said to me, “We know you can write about Run-D.M.C. but could you write about Eric Clapton?” Once this magazine was doing a special drug issue and they called me and said, “Do you have anything you can contribute, do you happen to know any drug dealers you could write about?”
At first, it was exciting, but then I was like, “Oh, now I know why they’re calling me. They need a black guy to write about a drug dealer.” A lot of times (racial profiling) functions in not in overt ways. The more cognizant you are of stereotype threat, the easier it becomes to reject it.
A newly founded art club is encouraging non-art majors to show off their creativity, receive feedback and practice their skills in a group setting.
After realizing that the campus was lacking an extracurricular outlet for students to improve their art skills and showcase their work, Khadijah Mazhar, president of Art UTD, decided to found the organization this semester. Members had their first meeting on Feb. 26.
The officers envisioned Art UTD during the be-ginning of the fall semester when they came to-gether wanting to create a space for students who have a passion for the visual arts.
“It is a way to show people who like art but can’t take an art class that they can do something they enjoy without the stress of taking a class,” said Aakansha Jain, a biology sophomore and treasurer.
Mazhar said the hardest part of officially creating the club was finding a sponsor. After a full semes-ter of searching for an ATEC professor to take the role, the organization had little luck. Eventually, Honors Program Specialist Sheila Kelly signed on to be the sponsor of the group. Kelly said she be-lieves Art UTD is a great outlet for other students outside ATEC majors who enjoy art.
“It’s something the university needed because everyone is math, science and engineering, so it’s
great to have an art thing,” Kelly said.The organization meets twice a month. Finance
sophomore and event coordinator Angela Chang said that at meetings members give insightful ad-vice to help students strengthen their techniques and artistic abilities.
“Showcase (meetings) allow other viewers to view your artworks and critique them. This is the key significance of the club,” Chang said.
Vice president and sophomore Natalie Barletta said she has always had a passion for the arts but really started to focus on photography in middle school. Along with being a creative outlet, the club allows her to reminisce and think about her photography, Barletta said.
“The process of making art is also really satisfy-ing,” she said. “It’s like you get lost in the process and in a different world until you step back and look at your progress or results.”
Officers are planning workshops to help mem-bers by creating tutorials on using different types of mediums, revealing techniques and personal tricks. Chang also hopes to plan day trips to art museums in Dallas and host anime movie nights for members. With future activities in the works, the group’s main mission is showcasing and cri-tiquing members, Chang said.
“The club enables every member to evaluate others works and create an environment for in-teresting discussion,” she said.
Art club inspires creativity → TOURÉCONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
→ VIOLISTCONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
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TAYLOR HEAGLERMercury Staff
Group promotes workshops and showcases for student art
UPCOMING EVENTSRAINBOW GUARD: IDENTITY FORUM
April 13, 4:30 - 5:30 PM, Libra Room
Rainbow Guard is a group that represents LGBTQIA students on campus. The queer identity forum is for students to meet and share their experience.
MUSICA NOVA: MUSICAL FIREWORKS
April 24, 8 PM, Jonsson Performance Hall
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LIFE AFTER UT DALLAS
April 22, 5:30 - 7:30 PM, McDermott Suite
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CRAWFISH BOIL
April 20, 3 - 5 PM, University Village Phase 3 Pool
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IMPROV SHOW
April 15, 7 - 8:30 PM, Jonsson Performance Hall
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CONNIE CHENG | PHOTO EDITOR
Art UTD president and biology senior Khadijah Mazhar shows other officers one of her paintings.
help Dom gain the upper-hand on Deckard. This adds to a globe-trotting plot that takes
the crew from Caucasus Mountains to the Unit-ed Arab Emirates and then back to Los Angeles. There are a lot of characters to try to flush out and story to push through. Still, most of the cast members get their moment to shine. The snarky Rodriguez is on full throttle, especially in a fight scene with bantamweight champion Rounda Rousey – who isn’t a great actress per se, but her mixed martial arts are believable.
The banter between Ludacris and Gibson light-ens up an already bright film. Russell’s charisma is delightful and he seems like he is going to be a player going forward in the franchise. Statham’s character doesn’t get developed at all, but he func-tions well enough in the stereotypical villain role.
This is an ebullient film packed with action by Wan. He keeps the pace moving so fast that it doesn’t matter what hiccups in story logic or char-acter motivation exist. It’s good fun like the previ-ous entries in the franchise.
Unfortunately, Paul Walker’s tragic death last year looms over this film. Walker died in a car accident in late 2013 in the middle of filming the movie. His scenes were completed with his two
brothers as body doubles and digital face replace-ment.
His scenes with onscreen wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) about his moving on from car chases to carpooling take on a deeper meaning. It’s a role that could’ve easily been overacted or cartoonish, but he executed well. Only people really looking for this will notice though, as his likeliness was mostly recreated well, other than some inordinate stillness and improper lighting.
There’s also a nice coda to the film honoring his contributions to the franchise, giving the series an unexpected heft that will leave some audience members in tears.
Ultimately, people already know whether or not they want to see this film. Nothing major in the film is any different than the previous entries. Yet, those aren’t required watching for the pop-corn fun this film offers. Those not invested won’t have a bad time. Those who have invested in this series will get exactly what they wanted. There’s already an eighth movie in the works, so this fran-chise still has plenty of gas in the tank.
To the casual observer, pitching may appear easy. If the pitcher can throw the ball faster than the batter can hit it, then the thrower wins.
What many may not understand, however, is the technique that goes into being on the mound. Having a strong arm is only the base of what makes a pitcher great. Pitchers often have to use every part of their body, including their brain, to make it through a game.
One of the main aspects of throwing the ball is the use of the entire body to effectively get the ball from the mound to the plate. Baseball pitching coach Jonathan Armold, who pitched two years in the minor leagues, said this is key to the success of the pitcher.
“Efficient velocity is going to come from the ability of a pitcher to link up their lower half, their core, to their arm,” he said. “The arm is really just the vessel with which you’re going to get the ball to your target with your body.”
He said players who can throw with their body can throw for longer periods of time because their arm will get less fatigued. He said pitchers have to incorporate their hips to trigger rotation throughout the entire body.
Armold said the first thing he does when he evaluates pitchers is look to see if they use their more than their arm to throw.
“Is the mechanic, is the motion efficient to the point that he’s not just throwing all arm?” he said. “Because that’s the primary spot that arm injuries will happen from, either a bad move or a bad mechanic or a bad motion com-bined with he’s not actually throwing efficiently because he’s not actually using the rest of his body into the throw.”
Assistant softball coach Jenny Fuller, who has been pitching since she was ten years old and played at Baylor University and in a professional league in Europe, said confidence is also key.
“You can’t go out there and just look like somebody can get a hit off you or hit a home run off you. You have to look the part,” she said. “That’s what I tell (the players.) At least look like you can pitch.”
Once on the mound, pitchers have to do more
than just throw fast. Fuller said they also have to be accurate and get the ball in the right spot.
Senior baseball pitcher Tyler Dauer, who has been pitching since he has been five years old, said much of this accuracy comes from the smallest details that go into getting the ball to go where it needs to go.
“You have to understand where your arm slot is,” he said. “If you want to throw it outside, you have to hold the ball slightly longer. That’s the challenge of playing baseball. Anything you do, a minuscule amount of difference, can change the entire outcome.”
With a 5-3 record on the mound and a 2.36 ERA, Dauer leads the pitching crew for the Comets. He said fine points such as how he positions his plant foot can drastically change how he throws the ball.
With nine innings and no game clock, it’s not uncommon for some players to never have to even touch the ball on defense.
This means a lot of the game depends on how players can mentally deal with the grind of the contest. This is especially true for pitchers, who are often the only players who are involved with every defensive play. Armold said the mental aspect is one of the hardest for pitchers to handle.
“You’re going to fail,” he said. “You’re going to have games where your going to get beat up and you’re going to have games that you get knocked around … It’s kind of about having a fall back and having a go-to and being able to mentally revert back to your successes rather than harp on your failures.”
Fuller said the stress placed on pitchers is another big factor that weighs into the game.
“If you don’t have a pitcher, you don’t have anything in softball,” she said. “All that pressure is on that pitcher. Mentally, you just have to keep it together. If you get a home run hit off you, you just have to brush it off and just go to the next hitter; otherwise you’ll just fall apart.”
She said pitchers can’t focus on what’s going on around them when they are up to throw or else they will get distracted and fail to per-
form well. Once, when she pitched against the University of Arizona in college, she said she gave up several home runs in a row partly because of the special circumstances surround-ing the game.
Arizona had won the national title the year before and she said the attention that was being focused on that particular game caused her to not give all of her focus to what was going on. The next few games, however, she was able to bounce back and win seven in a row.
Even though they have mental strain put upon them by the game, pitchers are not immune to trying to do the same to their com-petition. Dauer said he often tries to trick out his opponents at the plate with the order in which he throws the ball.
“A good example of that is throwing two fast-balls versus throwing a fastball then throwing a curve then throwing another fastball,” he said. “You don’t want to get in any rhythm. So you want to play a little trick or mind-game.”
Even though baseball and softball are very similar, there are several key differences that make them vary in how they’re played.
One of these key differences comes in pitch-ing. In baseball, the distance between the mound and home plate is 60 feet, 6 inches. In softball, that distance is only 40 feet.
Lauren McLeod, a sophomore pitcher for the softball team, said that doesn’t mean it makes the job less strenuous, however.
“The one thing that I would try to explain to people is that (pitching) is not easy and it’s nothing like baseball,” she said. “I’ve thrown to baseball players before who think they can just hit home runs but they really haven’t seen the same trajectory of the ball.”
McLeod, who has a 4.27 ERA, said one of the pitches that has often confused those unfamiliar with the game is the rise ball, where pitchers use the backspin to force the ball to literally move up in its trajectory as it heads toward the bat-ter. She said she has used this pitch on baseball players who have never seen anything like it and have a hard time adjusting to its curve.
The difference in distance can also make it harder for batters to hit the ball, she said. Since there are 20 extra feet missing in softball com-pared to baseball, the ball often arrives much sooner, cutting down on reaction time, McLeod said.
Along with all of these challenges, McLeod, who is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall, said she has also had to deal with people who think she can’t throw because of her size and because of her gender.
“I would think people just see a 5-5, 110 pound girl and they think, ‘Oh, I’ll be able to hit a home run off her, she’s nothing,’” she said. “And then they try to step in the box and it just doesn’t go down like that.”
No matter which game is being played, it’s hard to argue with those who say the pitchers are the most important players on the field. With so much riding on how they throw, games are often decided on whether they pitch well or not.
This holds true even when the pitcher is playing against someone who can take them on at the plate. Dauer said when a pitcher who is playing well faces off with a hitter who can hit the ball, the pitcher will more than likely come out on top.
“The hitter has to react to what we’re throw-ing,” he said. “We don’t really have to react to what the hitters doing. I can throw a slider or a fastball or change-up and that’s difficult for the hitter to read.”
McLeod, who has been pitching since she was 8-years-old, said the responsibility of pitchers to keep players on the opposing team from scoring has made them natural leaders.
“You have to be a leader on the field because everybody is going to look to you to win the game,” she said. “Of course, all of the other defensive players, they’ll have their moments when the ball comes to them and they’ll have a game winning play, but (pitchers) have to be a leader on the team and keep everybody in control and collected. I can say most of my leadership skills have come from being a pitcher throughout the years.”
APRIL 13, 2015 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COMSPORTS 9
NUMBERS ON THE BOARD
Lauren McLeodsophomore pitcher
“I would think people just see a 5-5, 110 pound girl and they think, ‘Oh, I’ll be able to hit a home run off her, she’s nothing,’ And then they try to step in the box and it just
doesn’t go down like that.”
THE ART OF PITCHING BYESTEBAN BUSTILLOS
Source: eFastball.com
CHALLENGES
MIND GAMES
DIFFERENCES IN PLAY
LEADERSHIP
ARTTHE ART OF PITCHINGART OF PITCHINGARTARTARTARTART OF PITCHINGART OF PITCHINGART OF PITCHINGARTARTART OF PITCHINGARTARTARUN PRASATH | MERCURY STAFF
Technique, mental toughness more imporant to quality of pitching than pure arm strength according to coaches, players
10 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 ADVERTISEMENT UTDMERCURY.COM
711 APRIL 13, 2015 | THE MERCURY COMICS&GAMES
Not What It Seems: Episode 1
Puzzle: Seppuku
Soft Ghetto
Killing a Joke 101
Cutting It Close921: Episode End
by Tim Shirley
by Tim Shirley
by Emily Grams
by Ian LaMarshby Justin Thompson
by Cedric Davis II
12 THE MERCURY | APRIL 13, 2015 NEWS UTDMERCURY.COM
rituals. Each thread represents gratitude
and indebtedness to teachers, par-ents and the saints who created knowledge, Pitchai Kumar said. The knot that holds them together stands for the single dot that is the start of the universe while the thread is the circle of the universe itself, he said.
With time, he realized perform-ing these rituals had a calming effect on him, he said. He could focus on his goals better and be more disciplined in life.
Wearing the mezuzah
Melnick often likes to accessorize with symbols that represent her faith.
She wears a Star of David ring along with Star of David earrings and the mezuzah, a long, columnar pendant with Hebrew letters on it.
A gift from her grandmother, the pendant is a door adornment that has Shin, the first letter of the Words of Shema, a Hebrew prayer.
It can be anywhere from three inches to a foot long, and is con-sidered a form of protection for the Jewish household, Melnick said.
Usually, she wears these orna-ments on Jewish holy days, but sometimes she wears them just to remind herself of her religion, she said.
There are three levels of obser-vance in Judaism — the orthodox, who are the most observant, the conservatives and the reform, who have assimilated their religion with the modern times, Melnick said.
It’s easy to spot orthodox women, who are required to dress modestly and cover their heads after mar-riage. A man wearing a yamaka or a tallit, the cloth with the tassels on them, is also easily identifiable as Jewish, Melnick said.
But for her, the fact that her reli-gion is a more personal, less overtly visible aspect of her life is desirable, she said.
“It’s not always obvious, which is kind of nice because you don’t want to feel like you are immediately judged based off of something as special as your faith,” Melnick said. “I personally like that.”
The hijab
Perhaps one of the more widely discussed symbols of Islam, the hijab is a head covering for Islamic women that adds to their modesty and prevents any other man but their father or husband from seeing their hair.
What isn’t discussed perhaps as much are the other aspects of reli-gion that come along with wearing the hijab.
“What is a hijab, what does it do? It’s just a piece of fabric,” said accounting junior Zarah Barkatullah. “If you’re not modest, if you’re not religious from within, what difference would a piece of fabric make?”
With a hijab comes the commit-ment to pray five times a day, eat halal food, wear modest clothing and going to the mosque regularly, among other requirements, said accounting sophomore Sumaiya Sayeed.
Without incorporating these changes to lifestyle, wearing the hijab is meaningless, she said, which is why she doesn’t wear one herself.
“I’m waiting to wear the hijab until I’m ready for it because I don’t want to wear it and then take it off because then it just seems like a joke, I feel,” Sayeed said. “When I’m ready, it’s going to be full on. If I’m not ready, I’m not doing it halfway.”
Sayeed, a dancer, knows that once she wears the hijab she won’t be able to perform. She also knows that she won’t be able to eat any kind of meat that is not kosher. She said she needs to make these changes and become more religious from within before she starts wear-ing the hijab.
Zarah said wearing the hijab would be very superficial for her as well, although she tries to pray five times a day.
“I’ve seen so many families which force girls to wear the hijab and then when they go out, they just take it off,” she said. “That just sends the wrong message out.”
Zarah’s younger sister, Zarifa Barkatullah, a business administra-tion freshman, however, felt the urge to wear the hijab at the young age of 13. To her, the covering is as natural as her glasses, and she can’t imagine going out without it, she said.
“It was good to start early, because when you start early it becomes very natural for you,” Zarifa said. “When you start early, I don’t think people say too much to you.”
In the United States, it hasn’t been too hard for her to wear the hijab, but when she studied in London about five years ago there was an incident that made her feel unsafe.
She and her classmates were walking down the street with their teacher in London, all wearing hijabs, when some men in a car pulled up and shouted profanities involving religious slurs at them. The incident left her shaken but didn’t deter her from taking off her hijab, she said.
For Zarifa, praying five times a day has become the norm from the time she was nine, and the usual impediments that women her age face, having to tailor their fash-ion to a modest standard, doesn’t bother her at all.
Yet, the two sisters differ on the way they are perceived with a hijab on.
Zarifa doesn’t feel people treat her differently because of her hijab,
but Zarah said the one time she and a friend chose to leave their scarves on after praying and venture out, she felt people weren’t as welcoming as other times.
People didn’t smile as much at her and seemed wary of her, a feel-ing she didn’t think she had when she stepped out of the home with-out any overt symbol of her religion on her, Zarah said. Women who choose to face that judgment on a daily basis and still wear the hijab are very brave, she said.
The iron bracelet
Of the five symbols of Sikhism — the knife, the long shorts, the long hair, the comb and the brace-let — the iron bracelet, or “kara” is perhaps the most common identi-fier of Sikhs.
Gurbani Makkar, president of the Sikh Student Association and neuroscience senior, said wearing it reminds her to do the right thing every time she writes or performs any action with her hands when she sees the bracelet or hears it clang.
A baptized Sikh has to wear all five symbols at all times in addition to other lifestyle changes they must make, and Makkar hopes that one day, she will feel close enough to God to be able to do that.
As a child, Makkar kept her hair long, never cutting it as per the edicts of Sikhism, but as she grew older, societal peer pressure got to her and she cut off her hair to look fashionable, she said.
Now, she wants to go back to wearing her hair long and praying more.
For Iqbal Gill, taking off the turban didn’t impact his beliefs in any way.
“If you believe, you believe,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you have a turban or if you have a beard or cut hair.”
He still holds firm that taking off the turban, while hard, was still the right thing for him to do. He wasn’t forced to do so, he made a choice.
“I had the choice of putting up with the bullying and trying to explain to them,” he said.
In his own way, he practices the single most powerful teaching in his faith — equality. Equality between men and women, and the awareness that in no one should be embarrassed or hurt by any of his or her actions, Gill said.
“With the life that God gave me, I try to make the most out of it and represent my Sikh community in front of everyone else as well (as I can),” he said.
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Students may soon have the option to check out tents and sleeping bags pending an agree-ment between the Outdoor Adventure Club and Recreational Sports.
Lauren O’Neal, president of the club and a biology sopho-more, approached the Rec Sports staff to talk about the university providing camping equipment in order to encourage students to get outdoors.
“I think it would really help a lot of students who don’t have the funds or don’t have the space for outdoor equipment if they were able to rent it from UTD,” O’Neal said.
Before meetings with Rec Sports could go any further, O’Neal and the club needed to gauge student interest in the project.
Ben Piper, the associate direc-tor of programs for Rec Sports, expressed the need to hear a large portion of students on campus
wanting this equipment.“(Rec Sports) didn’t want to
jump into anything without knowing the numbers of students we might affect or knowing the grand scheme of what (O’Neal) has in mind,” Piper said. “If we have a large constituency that wants access to equipment like that for a reasonable price, then that would be something we would be interested in.”
The Outdoor Adventure Club was made official earlier this school year. O’Neal said the club’s mission is to help students get involved in outdoor activities and services.
“Creating a space where people can share interests and go do things together will contribute to campus life by creating connec-tions between students,” O’Neal said.
The club held hiking and kay-aking trips earlier in the year and plans to take a group to Dinosaur Valley State Park later this semes-ter to camp.
“Another big point of the club is to help people get off campus,” O’Neal said, “Even if they don’t have cars or feel like they don’t have anybody to go with.”
O’Neal applied and won a $500 grant from Outdoor Nations, a non-profit organiza-tion concerned with getting the current generation outside, to engage the campus community in outdoor recreation.
O’Neal used the grant money to set up a bank account that would support club outings and fund necessary equipment.
Unlike other schools, UTD
does not have any university-sponsored outdoor education programming. Piper does not see that changing in the immediate future.
“We’re not set up like other universities are. We don’t have an outdoor program,” Piper said. “We’re just not at that point yet.”
O’Neal has plans to set up a table to get a feel for student interest in the club at the Earth Week event hap-pening later in April.
In order to further figure out other groups of students on campus that would sup-port the project, O’Neal has approached the Sustainability Club and the Geoscience Club with the idea.
“It’s been hard to get momentum through that approach,” O’Neal said. “We’re hoping to get more of this idea out to a larger portion of the student body through out Earth Fair booth.”
Although Rec Sports needs more information on student interest before committing to the project, Piper recognizes the importance of the out-doors to college students.
“(It’s important) to be able to get away from the Metroplex and be in nature or see the stars and see how big the sky is,” Piper said. “Little things like that are just gigantic for refreshing somebody’s mindset and refocusing.”
Club advocates camping rentals for all students
CARA SANTUCCIMercury Staff
LAURENO’NEAL
well as have a place where stu-dents can just hangout,” Jamison said.
Comet Town, which will in-clude 13.2 acres of land, will be located on the north side of Syn-ergy Park Boulevard, between Rutford Avenue and Floyd Road. It is part of a transit-oriented de-velopment that is located around what will ultimately be a DART Cotton Belt Station.
Jamison said the long-term vi-sion of the station is to obtain a certain amount of accessibil-ity that allows a person flying to DFW to find rail service, ride to UTD, stop, check into an apart-ment in Comet Town and head over to class.
Comet Town will include three phases. The first will have apartments with pools, outdoor
dining, a grill area and a game area. The second phase includes 16 townhouses that consist of two bedrooms each, and the third phase contains approxi-mately 20,000 square feet of res-taurants and entertainment.
Jamison said he hopes Comet Town will bring in a pub with multiple TVs in every direc-tion. He said although it is too early to decide the specific eating choices that Comet Town will showcase, there will be café seat-ing around the restaurants. The ultimate goal is to create four phases — breakfast, lunch, din-ner and nightlife, Jamison said.
“Over the years, UT Dallas has created its own unique cul-ture,” Jamison said. “We want the environment to reflect that but also give students the oppor-tunity to grow and develop in an environment that is inclusive, supportive and that creates a continuous part of the commu-
nity experience.” The challenge with Comet
Town is that the traditional model that one uses to attract potential tenants cannot be used for the project, Jamison said.
“What we have is a mini city,” Jamison said. “I don’t see it as a difficulty. I see it as an opportu-nity.”
In the last seven years, the cam-pus size has increased enough to where it is like Texas Christian University or Southern Method-ist University has been added to UTD, and as the campus grows, the goal is to leave a legacy, he said.
“A decade from now, when people look back at UT Dallas, they will talk about what were some of the defining moments of the history of the school, and this last decade has been a time when we came together and said, ‘Let’s absolutely transform this campus,’” Jamison said.
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PARTHASARATHY S.K. | MERCURY STAFF
Business administration freshman Zarifa Barkatullah (left) and ac-counting junior Zarah Barkatullah are sisters and believe wearing the hijab goes along with commitments like eating halal food.
