MARCELO YATES | STAFF

Students left out of gubernatorialcandidate's visit

Library schedule extending to 24 hrs

CONNIE CHENG | PHOTO EDITOR

Although it’s been a matter long unspo-ken of, the exchange of parking permits among students has been confirmed to be both against university policy and a crime.

According to UTDPD’s Lt. Ken MacK-enzie, there were instances of students breaking into vehicles and stealing permits the first week of classes this year.

Regardless of break-ins, purchasing a permit using someone else's vehicle infor-

mation is a crime.“When you buy a sticker, that sticker

goes with your car,” MacKenzie said. “Buying a permit for a car under your name that is not your car is considered fil-ing fraudulent information, and that is a crime.”

The lower price, closer proximity to campus and more convenient access to available parking has created a type of black market where commuting students can purchase residential parking permits from UV residents.

UV lots have become coveted by com-muting students wishing to pay less for more accessible parking.

Some UV residents have turned this into an opportunity to make a profit by purchasing residential parking permits for their peers and charging them a larger amount of money than they paid to ac-quire the permit online.

Signs advertising the sale of residential

Republican gubernatorial can-didate Greg Abbott spoke Sept. 2 at the McDermott Library about his higher education campaign.

Students were surprised to !nd out about his appearance because they were neither noti!ed about the speech nor permitted en-trance to the event.

Student Government Presi-dent Brooke Knudtson said she found out about Abbott’s visit after a student asked her if she knew about his speech in the Mc-Dermott suite.

She called Amanda Rockow, vice president of public a"airs, to con!rm Abbott’s appearance.

“When I called (Rockow), she did con!rm that he was on cam-pus, but she also apologized be-cause she said, ‘I wish we could have had student be involved, but it was his decision to not include the students,’” Knudtson said.

#e Abbott campaign could not be reached for comment.

Knudtson said SG has made several attempts to contact both candidates to see if they would come to campus to speak. Al-though SG did not hear anything from democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis’ cam-paign, Knudston was in corre-

spondence with a representa-tive from Abbott’s campaign.

She said she received an email on July 29 from a mem-ber of Abbott’s campaign say-ing that the attorney general’s schedule would be booked from September to October.

SG persisted and sent the campaign another email ask-ing it to visit campus.

With a student body of around 20,000 potential vot-ers, Knudtson said it was unfortunate Abbott did not choose to include students in his appearance, but she said hopefully he will make anoth-er e"ort to come to campus and meet with students.

“I was disappointed in the fact that we reached out to them, and they didn’t want to allow student involvement,” she said. “Hopefully things turn up for them, Greg Ab-bott and Wendy Davis, and they can come to campus an-other time.”

Abbott’s higher education platform calls for Massive On-line Open Courses to count for college credit, a statewide AP credit policy that would grant credit at Texas public universities to any student who scores a 3 or above on the AP exam and encouraging community colleges to utilize block schedules to allow stu-dents more $exibility to work.

Rosalyn Hu", president of UTD’s chapter of Turning Point USA and an interna-tional political economy se-nior, said there are two sides to the story, and she doesn’t think the blame falls solely on Abbott and his campaign.

Following a push from Student Govern-ment, the university administration has ap-proved a proposal that will extend library hours.

The hours have not been finalized, but the library is expected to be open 24 hours on some days, said Provost Hobson Wil-denthal.

Since the beginning of her term, SG Vice President Nancy Fairbank has been work-ing with Ellen Safley, dean of McDermott Library, and Wildenthal to extend library hours.

“We have just heard a lot of feedback from students, not just last year, but with the last several student governments,” Fair-bank said.

Wildenthal said the team is moving for-ward with their plan to have a 24-hour schedule during the week and longer hours on weekends and most university holidays.

This is an issue student government has

had on its radar based on student input.Fairbank said the library conducted

a poll of 415 students for their thoughts on library hours, and SG also conducted its own, smaller study consisting of 20 students. She said it was evident students wanted the library to be open longer in both studies.

“The vast majority of students surveyed want a 24-7 or 24-5 library,” Fairbank said. “There is a significant portion of students who want earlier or later hours on week-ends.”

Wildenthal said Safley has been given the authority to increase her budget and to hire new staff members. The library will begin its extended hours after hiring is completed and the library staff works out what the ex-act schedule, safety and other similar issues.

The library will be open as much as, if not more than, other universities in Texas, but he does not know at this time what areas

NO PARKING ZONE

ABBOTT

DUNCAN GALLAGHERSta! Writer

LINDA NGUYENSta! Writer

LINDA NGUYENSta! Writer

Exchange of residential parking passes confirmed fraudulent

→ SEE ABBOTT, PAGE 5 → SEE BLACK MARKET, PAGE 5

→ SEE LIBRARY, PAGE 5

GET INTO THE GROOVESEE PAGE 6

THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

September 8, 2014 facebook.com/theutdmercury | @utdmercury

Did you make it into our Welcome Week photo spread?

BROTHERS ON THE PITCHSenior, freshman play side by

side on men's soccer team → Sports, page 10

YANG XI | STAFF

MIGUEL PEREZ | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

→

2 THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 NEWS UTDMERCURY.COM

ContributorsPablo Arauz

Nicole BrownDuncan Gallagher Andrew Gallegos

Emily GramsAnand JayantiIan LaMarsh

Sarah Rachel LarsonMadison McCallLinda Nguyen

Parthasarathy S.K.Suman SridharanJustin ThompsonShyam Vedantam

Yang Xi

The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holi-days and exam periods, and once every four weeks dur-ing the summer term.

Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimina-tion by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. The pub-lication of advertising in The Mercury does not con-stitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or the UTD administration.

Opinions expressed in The Mercury are those of the editor, the editorial board or the writer of the article. They are not neces-sarily the view of the UTD administration, the Board of Regents or the Student Media Operating Board.

The Mercury’s editors retain the right to refuse or edit any submission based on libel, malice, spelling, grammar and style, and vio-lations of Section 54.23 (f ) (1-6) of UTD policy.

Copyright © 2014, The University of Texas at Dallas. All articles, photographs and graphic assets, whether in print or online, may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without express written permission.

Editor-in-ChiefMiguel Perez

editor@utdmercury.com(972) 883-2294

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Aug. 29: At 2:21 a.m., an ua! liated person was arrested for driving while intoxicated, third or more, and driving while license invalid with previous con-viction without " nancial responsibility on Campbell Road.

UTDPDBlotter

Aug. 25

the ATEC building by an unknown male claim-ing to be a student at 9:56 p.m.

Aug. 26

ing a police squad and a golf cart at 10:48 a.m. in the Activity Center Parking Lot.

Aug. 27

blue Toyota Prius in Lot H as she was walking through the parking lot. # e vehicle left the scene without providing information.

Aug. 28

the basketball courts in the Activity Center Parking Lot by an unknown male at 9:38 p.m.

Aug. 30

arrested on Campbell Road for driving while license invalid and other agency warrant. # e warrant was from Grand Prairie PD for driving while license invalid.

Aug. 31

Dining Hall West employee at 4 p.m.Sept. 2

was stolen from Phase 8. Sept. 4

possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in Res Hall Southwest.

LEGEND

VEHICULAR INCIDENT

THEFT

DRUGS & ALCOHOL

OTHERMAP: UTD COMMUNICATIONS | COURTESY

Aug. 30: from the Phase 8 Apartments, building #56 at 12:06 p.m.

Sept. 3: At 6:47 p.m., a student report-ed a theft in Phase 9.

SUMAN SRIDHARANSta! Writer

JUS

T TH

E FA

CTS

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Staff PhotographerMarcelo Yates

The Mercury is a proud member of both the Associ-

ated Collegiate Press and the Texas Intercollegiate

Press Association.

Corrections:

In the Aug. 25 issue of The Mercury,

“Comet Comments.”

spelled in the article titled “Jack of all trades.”

The Mercury regrets these errors.

Smoking zones, gubernatorial visits and an expan-sion of library hours were among several issues debat-ed at the first Student Government meeting of the fall semester on Aug. 26.

A proposal to increase library hours from 18 to 24 hours Monday through Thursday has been in the works, and the senate discussed possible expansion plans.

SG also considered improved marking of smoking and nonsmoking areas so students are better able to identify nonsmoking zones. SG brought a related issue of recategorizing e-cigarettes as tobacco products up for discussion in accordance with the recently updated Texas Health and Safety code. Smoking e-cigarettes will be prohibited indoors in addition to the 30-feet smoking ban around buildings.

Several whiteboards in the residence halls lacked sufficient adhesives and fell apart as a result.

“We just thought it would be a really cool thing … welcoming (students) to campus … and the fact that many of them are breakable and defective was

very concerning to us,” said SG President Brooke Knudston.

SG has filed a complaint with the supplier to fix the problem, and the boards will either be repaired or the amount reimbursed to the university, Knudston said.

cans along Drive A, and the Student Affairs commit-tee proposed that the amount be increased.

Creed with Dean of Students Gene Fitch. The creed asks students to aspire to the values of “honor, integrity and service” in all that they do. This creed was initially an honor code approved by both the staff and the student body, though both administrators and the senate were hesitant to hold students to these values due to enforce-ment issues.

Sept. 13 at Reunion Tower. The turnout is expected to be the largest ever with 70,000 participants from SMU, UNT and UT Southwestern, among other schools. Students and staff can register at www.heart-walk.org and sign up for the UT Dallas team.

in one of the Galaxy Rooms.

SG REPORT

“Abortion. Women should have the rights to their own bodies.”

Alex VuongBiology freshman

“What issues do you want gubernatorial candidates to focus on?”Question related to “Students left out...” on pg. 1

“Abortion. It should be up to the mother and father who con-ceived the child. It shouldn’t be up to the government.”

Jason LevyNeuroscience junior

“Legalization of marijuana and other substances.”

Joseph WilkinsonElectrical engineering senior

Co

met

C o m m

en

ts

SEPT. 8, 2014 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COMOPINION 3

Israeli perspective absent in Gaza article

I am writing in response to the article printed in the Aug. 4 edition of The Mercury enti-tled “Trapped in Gaza.” It put to print statistics that are at best, contested, and at worst, false. It also portrayed negative emotions and was incredibly one-sided. The intention of this letter is to set some facts straight and show that Israel is on the defense and did not strike first.

Israel continues to act upon the safety concerns of Israeli citizens, after being attacked time and time again from Gaza. This war has tried to come to a halt many times this summer; however, Hamas has shown disinterest in the 11 cease-fire attempts. Those attempts have either been rejected or vio-lated by Hamas not by Israel, according to The Washington Post.

Stephanie Blitshtein, a UTD student, was in Israel during Operation Protective Edge and heard time and time again: “Is-

rael ceases, Hamas fires.” This was proven true.

“The war definitely affected me while I was in Israel,” she said. “Our itinerary was being adjusted on the first day of my trip to avoid potentially dan-gerous areas.”

Statistics used in The Mer-cury from the UN have been highly contested. Both The New York Times and BBC ad-mitted after the article’s pub-lication that the proportion of terrorists to civilians is lower than initially reported.

The death toll is tragic; how-ever, Israel has the technology and the accuracy of the Iron Dome, a protective shield over Israel that disarmed over 4,000 rockets fired from Gaza into Is-rael this summer alone. Blitsh-tein witnessed the Iron Dome in action as she and her family were awoken at 5 a.m.

“We all jumped from our beds, in our pajamas, and stood under the stairs because at that point we wouldn’t have enough time to reach the bomb shelter,” Blitshtein said. “In the window we could see the poof in the air of the Iron Dome in-tercepting the missile. If Israel

did not have an Iron Dome, I would most likely not be alive right now.”

In contrast, Hamas uses Pal-estinian civilians to protect ammunition, places rockets in civilian homes and uses UN schools, hospitals and mosques to store its weaponry according to the Gatestone Institute.

The Israel Defense Forces also take tremendous efforts to protect and clear any civilian areas by providing phone calls, text messages and leaflets prior to entering any area, which is also not stated in the article.

There is no other coun-try in the world that provides that much effort to protect the opposing side. To add to the death toll of Palestinians, more than 100 Hamas rockets have backfired and hit its own people and towns according to The Algemeiner.

“Trapped in Gaza” states that life in a war zone is a normal thing for Palestinians, but no-where is it mentioned that it is just as real and as much of a part of life for Israelis.

“The entire country has a ‘we are all in this together’ at-titude that really comforted

visitors to the land,” Blitshtein said. “When I heard a bomb siren, I was frightened, but as soon as the siren stopped, life went back to being as ‘normal’ as it could be. Israelis have an incredible way of picking themselves back up.”

The article mentions that three Israeli boys were found in the West Bank but had no men-tion that these boys were cap-tured, tortured and murdered by Hamas. Originally Hamas made no claim of this happen-ing. Later, Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas official, admitted that it was Hamas’ doing, according to The Washington Post.

While on this trip, Blitsh-tein traveled with same-aged soldiers in the IDF to make another connection to Israel. When told of the deaths of the boys, the soldiers had an unex-pected reaction.

“The news of their bodies actually being found devas-tated them. Every single one of our soldiers cried,” she said. “Throughout the entire trip, the soldiers were portrayed as being the strongest individuals we’ve ever met, but in this mo-ment they were so vulnerable

to the outcomes of terrorism.”Later, she found out that two

of her new Israeli friends were some of the men who went out to search for the boys during the mission.

The Mercury’s article uses the term “open-air prison” and “prison” multiple times, but Gaza is not in any way such a space. The long waits in the airport are normal in Israel as well, and security measures are set in place to protect the lives of people everywhere.

In the article, there is a con-tradicting theme. One sen-tence states, “they (the people of Gaza) value life,” but then later says “… they feel like they are not living anyway.” How can someone value their life but feel as if they are not allowed to live or have nothing to live for?

It is also mentioned that there are no underground trenches and there is nowhere to go in case of an airstrike, when in reality, Hamas has used its resources, many given by Israel, to build tunnels in-stead of shelters, according to The Washington Post.

The article also states there is

a scarcity of rations, but it does not state that Israel is helping to aid all citizens with food, supplies and clean water. As Gaza continued to attack Israel with 83 rockets on Aug. 21, Is-rael was sending aid with over 230 trucks of food, medicine and general supplies and over 260 tons of gas to Palestinians that were in harm’s way, ac-cording to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This summer, as Blitshtein was looking forward to ex-panding her trip to stay with family, her plans were changed due to the conflict.

“I was honestly devastated when I had to cut my trip short,” she said. “My fam-ily planned an entire itinerary for us, but because of the war many places were shut down, and my family was scared to let us go places, especially out-doors like the beach, for fear of a siren going off and us not having a place to run to and be safe.”

Needless to say, her expe-rience was not what she was expecting and neither was the one-sided article she came home to.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

REBECCA GERBERTExecutive Director of Hillels of North Texas

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VOTE ONLINE “Texas and other conservative states trying to limit abor-tion. I feel like we have no right to tell people what to do with their bodies.”

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LINA MOON | GRAPHICS EDITOR

4 THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 ADVERTISEMENT UTDMERCURY.COM

5THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 NEWSUTDMERCURY.COM

Comparing college parking pricesThe second parking garage opened up this fall adding 750 more spaces. Sixty four orange and

gold spots were added to Lot J and 359 residence spaces were added to Lot T. The new parking ga-rage has Einstein Bros. Bagels and an IHOP Express set to open in spring 2015 along with offices for Parking and Transportation, said Cris Aquino, director for parking and transportation.

There will be two additional parking spots in Lot T for Zipcars, taking the total number of Zip-cars on campus to 11.

Prices for all permits have gone up and a green spot costs $107 annually and a gold spot costs $187.

DESIGN BY NICOLE BROWN | STAFF DESIGNER

RESEARCH BY ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE | WEB EDITOR

DESIGN BY NICOLE BROWN | STAFF DESIGNER

RESEARCH BY RESEARCH BY ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE | WEB EDITOR| WEB EDITOR

parking permits were found on UV mailboxes by The Mercury photographer Yang Xi.

Computer science senior and commuter Alex Henke-meier had the opportunity to purchase a UV parking per-mit via a friend but ultimate-ly decided against the trans-action. Henkemeier didn’t want to take the permit away from his friend if he at some point decided to bring a ve-hicle to campus, he said.

“I wanted a red sticker be-cause it’s cheaper and spots are easier to find,” Henke-meier said. “The worst spot in red is better than the worst spot in green, because a lot of the farthest away apartments are still closer to campus, and it saves time because there are more open spots and youv don’t have to spend 20 min-utes looking for a spot.”

Only one UV permit is allowed per user account a year. This means any student selling their permit does not own a vehicle, does not need access to a space or has means of purchasing permits using multiple accounts.

“As an ex-resident, I can confirm that I did this,” said a chemistry senior on the UT Dallas subreddit who wished to remain anonymous. “I usually never drove anywhere outside of getting textbooks, so I just left my car at home and sold my sticker to a semi-trustable acquaintance that always complained about parking.”

He sold the permit for $10 over its original price.

Randy Herbert, an emerg-ing media and communi-cation senior and former resident, said the business venture had occurred to him as well.

“I had it as a business idea myself back when the resi-dential spots were $40 dollars

and I lived in the apartments,” Herbert said. “Most of the commuters said they would have considered the idea, but had already purchased a nor-mal parking permit by the time they heard of it.”

While some UV residents see the issue as an opportunity, others have voiced complaints about commuting students using third-party residential parking permits to park closer to campus.

“As a resident myself, not only is it annoying when people do this, it's straight up unethical,” said electrical engi-neering student Daniel Side-lsky. “There is nothing like not being able to leave cam-pus with your car because you know there will be no parking left when you return.”

The price of residential per-mits has doubled this year from $45 to $90 in order to help pay for new parking infrastructure. The potential profit gained from these under-the-radar

transactions has been reduced, and may help to eliminate the issue.

Students wishing to sell their unused residential permit will now have to pay $90 to pur-chase it under their name off the school's website.

“I doubt anyone could make a profit off of it now because of the price increase,” Herbert said.

The risk of being caught also discourages students from participating in the residen-tial permit market. According to Cris Aquino, director for parking and transportation, no incidents of this nature have been reported, but the practice is not authorized by the ad-ministration.

“If an incident of this nature were to be reported to parking and transportation, the case would be fully investigated,” said Aquino. “If confirmed, the case would be referred to the Dean of Students for fur-ther action.”

→ ABBOTTCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

→ BLACK MARKETCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

→ LIBRARYCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“Somebody from outside can’t just book a room in the library,” Hu! said. “Someone from the university has to know so wheth-er, it (is a) higher up, a VP, some-body knew.”

She said that doesn’t excuse what happened, but students shouldn’t immediately blame the candidate.

“It’s not necessarily Greg Ab-bott’s fault. I’m sure he prob-ably did want to meet students,” Hu! said. “I’m not saying he’s right for that, but I’m saying it goes both ways.”

She said this is also one of the reasons the Republican Party may be beginning to lose college students’ votes.

“He’s a republican candidate,” she said. “From that perspective, if you come to campus speaking about higher education especial-ly at UT Dallas, which is basi-cally a tier one school, then you really do have to reach out to students. And I’m not sure if he responded to students’ requests to come speak at UTD, but that’s the thing, if you’re a candi-

date and you don’t reach out to students, and you say, ‘Well why isn’t the Republican party pro-gressing, and why aren’t we get-ting all these votes,’ it’s because stu! like this happens.”

She said all political parties, whether Republican, Democrat or Libertarian, should embrace college-aged voters who want to be involved.

“It’s getting to know who’s running for o" ce, getting to know people so we can make up our mind,” Hu! said.

She said she hopes Abbott decides to come back to cam-pus and respond to student questions. She also hopes Davis makes a visit to campus as well.

Marisa Lucky, vice president of the UTD College Democrats and political science sophomore, said politics aside, as a student who wants to be informed, be-ing excluded from the speech was upsetting.

Although the UTD College Democrats aren’t rooting for Ab-bott, Lucky said it would have been interesting to be involved in his speech on campus.

“Him not being available for comment by students is insult-

ing to our intelligence and insulting to the campaign pro-cess as a whole because having transparency in a campaign is one of the most important as-pects in the sense that I really want to be able to ask a can-didate about their policies and have them talk about them,” Lucky said.

She said she would have been more upset if Davis had made an appearance on cam-pus and not allowed students to attend.

Davis spoke at a rally at the University of North Texas, Sept. 5, ending a week-long tour of Texas universities. Ear-lier this week she also visited and spoke with students at the University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M University and UT San Antonio.

Davis’ higher education campaign stresses more fund-ing for grant programs and graduate stipends as well as ex-empting textbooks from state sales tax.

# e results of November’s will reveal the $ rst new gover-nor in over a decade.

JUSTIN THOMPSON | STAFF DESIGNER

of the library will be open or how functional the library will be during these extended hours.

Fairbank said some staff members are concerned with safety and security during the extended library hours. The es-cort system is and will be avail-able to students, but they hope to add regular police patrols at regular intervals during the ex-tended hours, she said.

The idea of a Comet Card reader that would only allow students into the library if they swipe their card has been brought up, but Wildenthal said when the library transi-tions to its extended hours, this will not be in place.

Ultimately, there are two is-sues regarding services to stu-

dents: one is being a 365-day-a-year university and the other is being a 24-hour university, said Wildenthal.

He said he hopes the uni-versity will continue to extend student services such as keep-ing dining halls and the student union open on most university holidays.

“The bigger issue is the life of the university on holidays,” Wildenthal said. “We have a community of 5,000 to 6,000 people living on campus. They don’t just disappear (on holi-days).”

His goal is to offer more to students in terms of student life and what is open on weekends and no-school days.

“If the public psychology resonates with a 24-hour open-ing, it’s not that hard,” Wil-

denthal said. “Whether it’s maximally cost effective is the wrong question. People want it, they’ll be happy when they get it. Part of it is personal because I want the library to be open Sunday morning and Saturday night, and I really want it to be open on the (days the university is closed).”

Safley is still consulting Human Resources and UT-DPD about different factors that go into extending library areas. She sent a preliminary report and budget to the pro-vost on Aug. 27, she said in an email to The Mercury.

“It is hoped that the ex-tended hours could begin during the fall semester if the budget is approved etc.,” she said. “I do not expect delays.”

6 THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 WELCOME WEEK 2014

WELCOME WEEK 2014 7UTDMERCURY.COM6 THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 WELCOME

However safe and quiet the campus may seem, UTDPD doesn’t deter from staying alert by requiring rigorous and consistent training for its almost two dozen police officers.

Campus police officers are more than just cops. Both new and expe-rienced officers are held to state standards of training and to the UT System training requirements, which means more academic and physical training.

Lt. Ken MacKenzie, head of the criminal investigations division, over-sees the hiring of new campus police officers.

“When an interested can-didate applies to be a cam-pus police officer, there are a series of detailed steps in the application process that cover everything from the applicant’s financial situation, work habits and physical abil-ity,” MacKenzie said.

This summer, 43 applicants agreed to take the written test to become UTD police officers. Seventeen of those applicants withdrew or failed to show up. Out of the 26 that took the test, 14 failed to achieve a passing grade of 70. Twelve applicants passed and could move on to the next step, which is a preliminary interview.

The interview is comprised of five interviewers, including the chief of police, a lieutenant and a sergeant. This summer, three were disqualified from the interview and nine went on to the physical tests.

The obstacle course measures agility by testing applicants on timed physical tasks, like jumping over a two-foot and a four-foot wall, run-ning quickly around orange traffic cones and dragging a 165 pound dummy in a simulation of saving a life. The ability test includes situa-tions that would be encountered on the job like changing a tire. Out of the nine that showed up for the ability test, all passed.

At this point, those who have passed and have not attended a police academy for the required six months, do so as they are hired by

UTDPD.After an officer successfully completes a police academy, he or she is

sent to Austin for four weeks to complete Lateral Academy, a month-long course for UT System-specific rules.

“(UTDPD) can enforce laws that most police departments don’t,” MacKenzie said. “For instance, the Education Code (which) allows us to make contact with any person to see what they are doing on campus. A city police officer has to have probable cause to make contact. It’s for student safety.”

Even experienced police officers that start working for the UT System have to learn these rules, MacKenzie said.

Trey Kiser, a campus officer, has worked on campus for a year and a half. As a new officer, it took him eight months to go through the process of being hired, including going through Lateral Academy.

“Lateral Academy reassures rules like the UT System policy for vehicle pursuits,” Kiser said. “You can only pursue if it’s for a felony. And how we don’t pursue motorcycles.”

After an officer finishes Lateral School, the last step is Field Training Officer, or FTO, where new officers learn the ins and outs of working on campus. Lt. Diane Bartek, head of patrol operations, personally assists new officers in FTO, which can last anywhere from seven to 16 weeks depending

on each officer’s training experience.“FTO includes teaching officers how to write reports, how to work

the radio, make traffic stops and how to check contact information,” Bartek said. “That’s all standard. Then, you have the additional learning of the UTD campus orientation and geography.”

FTO is very job related, and the obstacle course is reflective of encounters an officer can have while on duty, Bartek said.

After the completion of FTO, UTD police officers are finished with their training for the year and are able to patrol on their own, equipped

While it’s a good commercial for the Paris catacombs, “As Above/So Below” is ultimately another unimpressive foray in the found-footage horror genre.

Scarlett, played by Perdita Weeks, is essentially Lara Croft, the famous fe-male treasure hunter. On top of owning two Ph.D.s and a black belt in Capoeira, she is on the hunt for the philosopher’s stone, which promises immortality, in order to redeem her father’s tarnished legacy after he committed suicide in pursuit of the stone.

Now, after discovering a language key to decipher a map that her father couldn’t solve, she assembles a ragtag group to descend deep into the under-ground catacombs in Paris to uncover the fabled stone.

!is group includes George (Ben Feldman), who has had a scorned rela-tionship with Scarlett, and Benji (Ed-win Hodge) the cameraman document-ing her pursuit. Experienced catacomb

explorers Papillon (François Civil), Souxie (Marion Lambert) and Zed (Ali Marhyar) join them on the expedition.

Director John Erick Dowdle is probably most known for his 2010 "lm “Devil,” which expertly built up tension through claustrophobia, editing and sound design. He similarly used a con"ned space — an elevator in “Devil” — as the set up for his horror "lm.

However, “As Above/So Below” does not use its setting mechanic as e#ectively. Dow-dle chooses to go with the found-footage tact to shoot the "lm, enabling him to do most of the "lming in the actual catacombs instead of soundstages. !ese catacombs make for some naturally creepy and eerie visuals.

Unfortunately, this style makes the "lm feel cheap and gimmicky. Nearly all the scares have been rehashed from other horror "lms with scenes underground. !e shot se-lection is unoriginal and uninteresting. !e limited point of view of the camera makes moving shadows in the background too on the nose.

!e lackluster script cowritten by Drew Dowdle doesn’t help. !ere are “National Treasure”-style clues on the ancient walls and tombstones, but they are solved within

seconds of their introduction, leaving no time for the audience to ponder the riddles. !e resolution to the group’s horror is out-of-the-blue and unearned.

To the Dowdle brothers’ credit, while characters are mostly one-note, their in-terplay worked. Quips between the six principal characters in reaction to the idea of crawling over bones or encountering strange cults make them empathetic before their inevitable deaths — not many survive this night.

Even though “As Above/So Below” has many problems, the pacing is excellently feverish and energetic. !e 93-minute runtime whizzed by quickly. !e real cata-combs remain a popular tourist attraction today, and this "lm does pique interest into that bit of history by incorporating related historical events such as cave ins. In the end, some of the scares work and low ceil-ings and wet catacombs provide a natural tension. But the "lm should bury the faux documentary horror genre for good, be-cause it could have been much better with-out the gimmick.

Located on the intersection of Coit and Campbell, Manny’s Uptown Tex-Mex Restaurante made its debut on Aug. 1.

!e food selection is diverse and breakfast is served all day, but toast and drinks are conspicuously missing from the menu.

For those who prefer their salsa to have a kick, the restaurant o#ers fresh, homemade spicy salsa with chips as complimentary appetizers.

Chilaquilles, a popular breakfast option recommended by the server, are composed of savory scrambled eggs with tortilla strips, bell peppers and onions — all sautéed to the perfect chewing consistency. But, the sides included bland roasted potatoes and boiled beans.

!e C.H salad consisted of a mountain of lettuce with a few cucum-bers and tomatoes, topped with a large onion ring served with grilled beef fajita and ranchero sauce. !e beef was full-$avored with spices and well done.

Manny’s sopapillas were warm, little pillows of bread sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar crystals. !e honey syrup used to glaze the pu#ed bread complimented the pastries.

!e restaurant’s style borders between rustic and retro with lively His-panic music greeting customers upon entrance. It feels energetic with southwestern-style aesthetics and vibrant artwork scattered throughout the restaurant.

!ere’s an outdoor dining area, which creates a natural garden atmo-sphere and allows for a pleasant dining experience for those who like the summer weather. It’s an excellent place for a family outing or for students to mingle after class.

!e service was excellent except an instance when the server disap-peared for some time, but overall, the sta# is friendly. !ey’ll accom-modate dietary needs by removing cheese or recommending vegetarian options.

Additionally, the restaurant provides catering and delivery options for groups of more than ten people.

Overall, the menu feels slightly too upscale for the o#erings since the taste is mediocre, but the nice ambiance, energetic atmosphere and great service makes Manny’s a good option for a casual outing.

SEPT. 8, 2014 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM LIFE&ARTS8

UTDPD trains hard

Found-footage ploy ruins film

SHYAM VEDANTAMCOMMENTARY

Training procedures for campus police amp up academic, physical instruction

→ SEE TRAINING, PAGE 9

UNIVERSAL PICTURES | COURTESY

Perdita Weeks and Ben Feldman as Scarlett and George in “As Above/So Below,” a 2014 release that pans a treasure hunter’s quest for the philosopher’s stone that will grant her immortality. The lackluster script mitigates the energetic pace of the horror flick.

Horror film features one-note characters trekking through Parisian catacombs

JUVERIA BAIGSta! Writer

CONNIE CHENG | PHOTO EDITOR

Manny’s C.H. salad is served with grilled, spicy beef fajita and ranchero sauce. Manny’s Uptown Tex-Mex Restaurante serves breakfast all day and opened at Coit and Campbell on Aug. 1.

Manny’s Uptown Tex-Mex Restaurante o!ers upscale menu items, decent food

New Tex-Mex eatery good for casual outing

7601 Campbell Road(972) 407-1616 mannysuptowntexmex.com

ATMOSPHERE: Vibrant and rusticSERVICE: Accommodating, relaxedSOUND LEVEL: loud, due to the blasting music.RECOMMENDED: Chilaquilles, lunch specials, SopapillasPRICES: Lunch specials or breakfast, $7; appetizers, $5 - $12; entrees, $15 - $17OPEN: Daily for lunch or dinnerRESERVATIONS: Accepted only for parties of six or moreCATERING: Accepted for orders of more than 10 peopleSTUDENT DISCOUNTS: No

QUICK BITES

SARAH RACHEL LARSONSta! Writer

→ SEE TRAINING, PAGE 9

UTDPD | COURTESY

UTDPD o!icers train to stay up to date with UT System’s requirements.

9THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 LIFE&ARTSUTDMERCURY.COM

iFRIEND KICK-OFF MIXER

Sept. 19, 3 PM - 5 PM Galaxy Rooms

Each American student will be paired with one international student for a cultural exchange program.

R.S. GWYNN

Sept. 17, 7:30 PM Jonsson Performance Hall

R.S. Gwynn, poet in residence at Lamar University, is the author of award-winning collec-tions and will read from his newest collection of poems, titled Dogwatch (2014).

VETWORKING FAIR

Sept. 24, 1 PM - 6 PM Veteran Services Center

Student veterans and their spouses can meet with employers, provide resume’s, gain valuable career fair experience and attend professional workshops.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SCREENING: “STORIES FOR WOMEN’S LIBERATIONS”

Sept. 18, 5:30 PM - 7 PM Faculty/ Staff Dining Room

The Jennifer Lee directed documentary won “Best of the Fest” at the Los Angeles Women’s International )LOP�)HVWLYDO��7KH�ÀOP�H[SORUHV�WKH�LPSDFW�RI �WKH�VHFRQG�ZDYH�RI ��IHPLQLVP�RQ�WKLV�JHQHUDWLRQ�

to handle problems they encounter on the job.

Lt. Tim Dorsey, head of the sup-port division, said UTDPD doesn’t often encounter problems on cam-pus for which it doesn’t have a solu-tion. Training classes relating to the school are a priority for UTDPD.

Because the international student population makes up about 23 per-cent of the total student population as of 2013, UTD police officers benefit from understanding how to interact with the variety of cultures on campus.

“In the past, everyone who has worked here has taken a class on multiculturalism,” Dorsey said. “It was very beneficial because it helped us understand culture from all over the world.”

Those who took the multicultur-al course learned how to overcome language barriers to communicate with people with cultural social norms and body language different from U.S. culture.

Somer Fernandez, a campus offi-

cer, said working on a diverse cam-pus can be a simple as respecting each other.

“Working here, you learn as you go,” Fernandez said. “But the most important thing is respect. When you show respect, you often get respect back.”

Other situations call for extra care and understanding, such as people from certain cultures who use the police as a last resort when handling a problem, Dorsey said.

Every two years, police officers are required to complete 40 hours of in-class training. These training classes cover anything from using a Taser, state-and federal-law updates and more specific training experi-ences. UT System officers also have to requalify for the use of their fire-arms twice a year through a written test over safety and active shooting.

If an officer failed to complete any part of the required training, that officer would lose his or her license to be a police officer in the state of Texas.

Dorsey said that, to his knowl-edge, no UTD officer has lost his or her license due to incomplete

required training.Another training exercise con-

ducted by UTDPD in conjunc-tion with the Richardson Police Department was in response training to an active shooter on campus. UTD, being a college campus, is susceptible to situa-tions like these, Dorsey said.

“It was training in a situ-ation where someone with a gun on campus is firing shots, kind of like Virginia Tech, for example,” he said.

UTDPD prepares for the worst in a school that is known for its low criminal activity and high academic rigor not because it has to fulfill state and system requirements, but because it is simply able to.

There are important reasons to take the job as campus offi-cer seriously, but not at the expense of the students, said Kiser.

“We’re here to help,” he said. “We’re not here to harass peo-ple, we’re here to keep them safe and make sure they abide by the law.”

→ TRAININGCONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

From Peyton and Eli Manning to Ve-nus and Serena Williams, sibling athletes can have some of the strongest rivalries, but for Dalton and Daaron McFarling the deep bond formed as teammates only strengthens their bond as brothers.

Both on the men’s soccer team, they are playing together for the first time in their career. Dalton is coming off a career season for the Comets. He started all 19 games for the team last year and gained all-ASC second team honors. Heading into the season, he was tabbed as the ASC preseason defensive player of the year.

Daaron, on the other hand, is in his freshmen year on the squad. The rookie from Lovejoy High School was named the district 10-5A MVP as a senior and led his squad to three district titles, a sec-tional title and an area title throughout his high school career.

Oddly enough, the talent Dalton showed for the team early on wasn’t what made head coach Jason Hirsch seek out his younger brother.

“I don’t remember exactly how it hap-pened, but I think (Hirsch) ended up at one of his soccer games,” Dalton said. “And he’s like ‘I’m pretty sure I watched your brother play this weekend … he

looks pretty good. I think he’d fit in here.’”

Despite his lack of experience at the collegiate level, Daaron has shown some promise early on. He even started the team’s first game of the season.

“Physically he’s got the tools, mentally he’s got the right attitude towards the game,” Hirsch said. “Technically, skill wise, he’s got the tools that he needs to play at that position, so we’re hoping he can step up and help us right away, which is what looks like is going to happen.”

Oddly enough, one of the major factors that allowed Dalton and Daaron to play together at UTD in the first place was a mix of timing and a bit of bad luck.

Dalton, who started his collegiate career playing for Trinity, got injured his first year there. He received a medical redshirt, which allowed him to transfer to UTD and maintain his four years of eligibility.

“The thing is, if Dalton had played his first year at Trinity and didn’t get the medical redshirt, they wouldn’t have played together,” Hirsch said. “If I had a family member in the same sport as me, and I had the opportunity to play with them for a year, I think that would be a great thing.”

This series of events allowed for the

710 SEPT. 8, 2014 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM SPORTS

V-ball team hosts Labor Day tourneyThe volleyball team (3-1) won three out of

four matches at the UTD Labor Day Tourna-ment on Aug. 29 and 30.

The team played four non-ASC matches in the tournament. The Comets defeated Hendrix 25-22, 13-25, 28-26, 25-17 in their first match of the weekend.

Senior outside hitter Taylour Toso led the team with 12 kills and junior setter Kayla Jor-dan had 38 assists. Freshman outside hitter Al-lie Harman hit .400 in her first game with the Comets.

Coach Marci Sanders had two freshman players, middle blocker Emma Wallbrown and outside hitter Aimee Willhelm, starting in this match.

“(The freshman players) did awesome this weekend,” Sanders said. “Allie Harman played great for us. Emma Wallbrown stepped in because

MARCELO YATES | STAFF

The volleyball team will host it’s first conference games at home in the Activity Center on Sept. 9 against East Texas Baptist University. They are currently 6-2.

MADISON MCCALLSta! Writer

YANG XI | STAFF

Senior, freshman brothers play side-by-side on soccer team

→ SEE BROTHERS, PAGE 12DALTON MCFARLING

→ SEE V-BALL, PAGE 12

DAARON MCFARLING

BROTHERHOODBOUND BY

LINA MOON | GRAPHICS EDITOR

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOSManaging Editor

7SEPT. 8, 2014 | THE MERCURYCOMICS&GAMES 11

The Forest

by Emily Grams

by Anand Jayanti

by Ian LaMarsh

“Ass-troid”

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12 THE MERCURY | SEPT. 8, 2014 SPORTS UTDMERCURY.COM

→ V-BALLCONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

→ BROTHERSCONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

brothers to play together for the first time.

Now that they are on the same team, however, the McFarlings have to deal with a bit of a com-petitive instinct between each other.

“It’s like a father-son fight, you know?” Dalton said. “The father is going to die before he lets his son beat him up.”

For Daaron, the pressure of living up to his older brother’s legacy brings about its own unique challenges.

“It’s motivation for me,” he said. “Because if I screw up, I hear it almost 24 hours. So it’s just motivation for me to work harder because he’s always watching me, and he’s always mentored me.”

On the field, they’re primar-ily defensive players, forming the final layer of defense for the Comets before the ball gets to the keeper.

Daaron lines up as a right back and Dalton mans the left side of the two central defend-ers. Even though they play on opposite sides of the defense, they still have to communicate with each other more so than other players.

When they were growing up,

however, Dalton was always a defensive player whiles Daaron was more offensive, according to their father, Brad McFar-ling. This placement on op-posite sides of the field helped to foster the sibling rivalry be-tween the two.

“That just drew out the competition between them,” he said. “One just thinks he can score all the time, the other thinks he can stop him all the time.”

Despite those strong feel-ings, the two have found play-ing together has only helped them bond so far. Daaron said having Dalton there to guide him has helped his transition into the team easier, with the older McFarling telling him about the veterans and how he should act around the other players.

Growing up, Dalton pre-sented a similar sort of influ-ence and mentorship to his younger sibling. Soccer was a mostly foreign concept to the family before a friend asked if Daaron wanted to join his son on a team.

This set up the stage for the brothers’ careers in soccer. Even though Dalton played football in high school, he said he enjoyed soccer more.

From there, Daaron walked

the path his older brother had paved.

“Pretty much our stories are the same,” he said. ”I’ve always followed him.”

The relationship between the two doesn’t end at the side-lines. Off the field, the two enjoy playing video games to-gether and sharing a common love for Liverpool F.C. Dalton, who is getting married in De-cember, even named his young-er brother as the best man for his upcoming wedding.

“They’re as close as any two boys I’ve seen,” their father said. “They battle it out be-tween themselves, but don’t get between them. They’re very close. They’re best friends.”

As soccer players, however, they will be judged for better or worse on how they perform.

In Dalton’s eyes, the bond they share off the field will only increase their level of play on it.

“Whenever you’re playing on a field with 11 guys, you’re fighting for your brothers, and now you got one that’s blood. It kind of changes the game a little bit,” Dalton said. “He doesn’t want to screw up be-cause he doesn’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to screw up because I want to show him how it’s done right.”

we had some issues going on and did well in transition. Ashley Levy was another fresh-man that did a good job for us.”

The second match of the day ended quickly when Trin-ity won in just three sets. Even though the Comets kept close behind, they were never able to gain the lead.

Entering the season, the team has only one senior, but Sanders has faith in the return-ing juniors and sophomores.

“I feel like we are experi-enced even though our clas-sifications don’t show it,” she said. “Our freshmen last year won (a game at) the NCAA (Division III) tournament, so they’ve got the experience and the maturity.”

The Comets defeated South-western 25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17 and University of Dallas

21-25, 25-18, 22-25, 32-30, 15-12 on Aug. 30.

UTD kept the lead for the entire first set but struggled in the second set against South-western. Southwestern had a four point lead at 2-6 after gaining six consecutive points and won the second set.

The team regrouped and won the last two sets of the match with a four-point lead in the first and eight-point lead in the second. Sophomore middle blocker Holyn Hand-ley had 14 kills, and Jordan had an impressive 43 assists.

The match against Univer-sity of Dallas went to five sets with a lengthy fourth set. UD won the first set, but the Com-ets won the second set with 10 kills and finished with a seven point lead. The third set posed another loss for the Comets, but the team quickly stepped up its game and pulled a win in the fourth set.

“When we got to the fourth

set we realized that we did not want to lose to that team,” Jordan said. “Everyone started going after everything, hitting the ground and making good saves. We took control of the ball.”

The fifth set was another close one, but the Comets were determined to win.

!e score was back and forth up to 5-7 until the team regrouped and gained six points, beginning with a service ace by junior defensive spe-cialist Kelsey Morrison and four kills by sophomore middle blocker Michelle Toro and Harman.

The Comets finished the set and beat UD with a three-point lead.

!e team also went 3-1 in their subsequent outing in the Austin College Classic on Sept. 5 to Sept. 6. !ey beat Hendrix, St. !omas, and Austin College, but lost to Texas Lutheran.

!e team will play its "rst ASC game against East Texas Baptist Uni-versity 7 p.m. at home on Sept. 9

MARCELO YATES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior middle blocker Taylour Toso (right) and freshman middle blocker Emma Wallbrown (left) go up to block the ball as it comes over the net at the Labor Day tournament on Aug. 29 and 30. The team was tabbed to finish second in the ASC, according to the league’s preseason poll.