THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF UTD — WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM APRIL 1, 2013VOLUME XXXIII NO. 6

Election ResultsYour Student Government for 2013-2014

PresidentVice president

sophomoresBROOKE KNUDTSON

CASEY SUBLETTKATIE TRUESDALE

Liza Liberman

Charlie Hannigan

Juniorssadhvi bisaria

raj dwivedielise keller

jacky lamjoseph lim

justin petersongabrielle ricks

cory sagduyujasmine singh

janani sundaresan

Grad studentsYijun chenrezwana rahimrohit sonwalkar

seniors

One year after record voting numbers, turnout decreases

JOSEPH MANCUSOMercury Sta�

Student Government elections came to a close March 29. Liza Liberman and Charlie Hannigan were elect-ed president and vice president, respectively.

Voter turnout on campus fell from roughly 10 percent of the student body last year, when nearly 2,000 students showed up to the polls. � is year, 1,327 votes were cast, rep-resenting less than 7 percent of students.

Liberman and Hannigan were the only senators to run for the highest o� ces, making this the second time in three years only one pair ran.

In addition to a two-group race for president and vice president, a large reason for the turnout last spring, the high-est in UTD history, was the inclusion of three referenda on the ballot. Students voted in favor of all three and elected Raj Dwivedi and Nate Fairbank president and vice president, respectively.

Dwivedi will serve as a senior senator next year.

Two candidates for a sophomore senate seat, Mohammad Adil and Jessica Santibanez, will be competing in a runo� election from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 2 to determine who will hold the seat.

“I won by two votes. However, in order for me to be on senate, I would have to have earned more than one percent of the votes,” Santibanez said. Santibanez received 275 votes, while Adil received 273.

Liberman and Hannigan hope to increase the awareness of SG on campus, reaching out to students who may not know what the organization has to o� er.

“We have around $10,000 free in our budget due to giv-ing up our funding of free scantrons,” Hannigan said. “With this, we plan on revamping the presence of student govern-ment on campus. People will know SG, and hopefully SG will know them.”

Hannigan also said the increased awareness of SG might encourage more students to run for o� ce in the future.

Bobby Karalla also contributed to this report.

UTD inches closer to reaching Tier OneATEC to introduce doctoral program, university boosts fundraising efforts as part of growing push to achieve goal

SAMANTHA LIMMercury Sta�

Researchers and alumni are continu-ing to work together to help UTD reach Tier One status by raising money, hir-ing more faculty and expanding other programs.

To achieve Tier One status, a uni-versity needs to meet four out of six requirements: high-achieving freshman class, high-quality faculty, membership in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, $45 million in restricted research expen-

ditures, graduating at least 200 doctoral students per academic year and an en-dowment of at least $400 million. Out of the requirements, only the restricted research funds requirement is non-ne-gotiable.

According to President David Dan-iel’s State of the University Address on Oct. 30, UTD has ful� lled the � rst three requirements. Lawrence Redlinger, Of-� ce of Strategic Planning and Analysis executive director, said the quality of

see TIER ONE page 7

ATEC sound work part of Perot ‘scape’SHEILA DANGMercury Sta�

� e work of 14 Arts & Technology stu-dents has recently become a part of a new piece of Dallas culture in the Perot Muse-um of Nature and Science, which opened on Dec. 1.

Students in the Digital Music Produc-tion class in spring 2012 worked to create the music for each of the exhibit halls in the Perot Museum. � e class was taught by Arts & Technology professor Frank Du-four, who described the music as the muse-um’s “musicscape,” which is meant to blend into the exhibits rather than stand out.

“All of these auditory landscapes contain music, but also silence, pauses, sound ef-fects and ambient noises,” Dufour said. “It’s not meant to attract the attention, it’s just meant to be perceived and be part of the whole experience.”

Examples of the music include a calm-ing piece with soft musical notes meant to evoke the pattern of � ight, and can be heard in the Rose Hall of Birds. Another track created for the Lyda Hill Gems and Min-erals Hall features chiming, higher-pitched notes.

Dufour had been in contact with a team

at the Perot Museum, and proposed that his class could design the musicscape, after rec-ognizing the opportunity for the students to be involved in the community.

Dufour said the biggest challenge throughout the class was working with the di� ering musical abilities of each student. Another challenge was coming up with ideas for each exhibit.

“� inking back, there were a lot of chal-lenges with aesthetics and in de� ning the

see PEROT page 7

jon alejandrosabrina arnoldisaac butterfieldemily cohen

yehia mokhtarandrew parkerali tejani

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

A Tri Delt serves pancakes at the Delta Hop, or DHOP, event at 10 p.m. on March 28 in the Dining Hall. Proceeds from the late-night social event will go toward the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To provide entertainment and attract more people to this fundraiser, the Musicians Network performed at the event.

Tri Delts raise money for charity

BRETT CHISUM/COURTESY

The Perot Museum of Nature and Sci-ence opened Dec. 1. Its exhibit halls feature music created in ATEC classes.

NSM to o� er actuarial master’sField employment expected to grow 27 percent by 2020PARTH SAMPATMercury Sta�

The university received approval from the Texas Higher Education Co-ordinating Board for the creation of a master’s program in actuarial science. UTD will be the first university to of-fer the degree program in Texas.

The degree will be offered by the School of Natural Sciences & Math-ematics starting this fall.

Actuarial science is a mixture of sev-eral disciplines including mathemat-ics, statistics, probability, economics, finance and government policies. Ac-tuaries are the professionals who use these principles to calculate the future risk or financial risk for companies.

The department currently offers a bachelor’s degree in the program, which was established in 2009.

“The bachelor program prepares you for parts of the five preliminary exams,” said Dr. Natalia Humphreys,

clinical associate professor of math-ematical sciences and associate head of UTD’s actuarial program.

To work as an actuary, a person must clear the preliminary exams. The five preliminary exams are the Probability (P/1), Financial Math-ematics (FM/2), Models for Financial Economics (MFE/3F), Life Contin-gencies Exam (MLC/3L) and Con-struction and Evaluation of Actuarial Models Exam (C/4).

“In the master’s program we are go-ing to offer MLC and Exam C com-pletely and we will also cover MFE because we only have to cover 3 addi-tional topics,” Humphreys said. “We will also give more advanced statisti-cal knowledge.”

Actuaries is placed second on the Best Jobs in 2012 by Careercast.com. According to the same article, the av-erage salary of an actuary is $88,202.

“The master’s program came as a decision on several levels,” Hum-

phreys said. “First of all, there was a demand for a graduate program. We had several students who already had a bachelor’s degree (in some other field), but wanted to continue and wanted to get an advanced degree in actuarial science. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have such a program, so the best we could offer them was a bache-lor’s degree in actuarial science which many of them took.”

A graduate from the master’s pro-gram typically should be able to get more advanced positions in the ac-tuarial job market. Actuaries can get jobs in the traditional fields such as insurance, consulting and in the gov-ernment, Humphreys said.

Actuaries can also work for unions and help in calculating and negotiat-ing benefits. They can also work for financial firms like Goldman Sachs,

see ACTUARIAL page 16

Comet Closet

PAGE 11

APRIL FOOL’SIT’S INSIDE...REALLY, IT IS.

REALLY. LOOK.Comet Closet

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UTD’s � rst fashion show

News WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 20132UTD Police scanner

March 17• Offi cers were dispatched in re-

sponse to a disturbance between two students in Phase I.

March 18• A student reported a theft in the

JSOM.• A student’s vehicle rear window

was broken by an unknown object.March 19• Offi cers were dispatched in re-

sponse to a report of criminal mis-chief at the Jonsson building.

March 20• An offi cer was dispatched to the

Phase I laundry center in reference to a burglary of a coin-operated ma-chine.

• Multiple students and non-af-fi liated individuals were issued cita-

tions for consumption of alcohol by a minor in Phase VIII. One student was issued a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia and one non-affi l-iated male received a criminal trespass warning.

March 21• An employee reported a burglary

of a coin-operated machine in Res Hall West.

• An unidentifi ed person took cash from the Bursar’s offi ce deposits with-out consent.

March 22• A non-affi liated male was arrested

for possession of marijuana less than 2 oz. and was issued a misdemeanor traffi c warrant. Two non-affi liated males were issued criminal trespass warnings for the entire campus.

March 24• A non-affi liated male was issued

a criminal trespass warning for the en-tire campus and was issued citations for minor in possession of alcohol and possession of drug paraphernalia.

March 25• A non-affi liated male was arrested

for a violation of his occupational li-cense.

March 26• A Res Hall North resident was

issued a citation for possession of al-cohol by a minor.

March 27• An employee was arrested for an

outstanding traffi c warrant and for driving while license invalid.

• A student reported a burglary to her residence in Phase VIII.

VIVIANA CRUZMercury Sta�

Senate approved bylaw amendments and debated over write-in candidates and removal policies at the March 19 Student Government meeting.

• Approved bylaw amend-ments included a $500 campaign limit for executive positions and $150 for a senate position. Stu-dents no longer need to provide a Comet Card to vote during elec-tions due to online voting.

• SG President Raj Dwivedi re-introduced his proposal of taking out write-in policies from the bylaws and no longer hav-ing write-ins as an option in future elections. Several senators spoke out against the proposal. Academic Aff airs chair Charlie Hannigan was the fi rst to open the debate about write-ins.

“Senate should never deny a student the opportunity to ex-press dissatisfaction with current candidates and nominate some-one they think can get the job done,” he said.

• Dwivedi told senators that there hadn’t been a viable can-didate for write-ins during the three years he has served on sen-ate.

“Having write-ins means ad-ditional work for ballot counters who have to go through all the joke responses looking for one actual registered student,” he said.

• Other points raised in criti-cism of write-ins were the pos-sibility of votes being a prank played by other students.

“Right now only fi ve votes are necessary for a write-in to fi ll an uncontested seat. Th is is too low a number,” Vice President Nate Fairbank said.

• Senator Alex Arendt sug-gested that empty seats could be fi lled by appointment in lieu of write-ins. Fairbanks also suggest-ed upping the minimum number of votes necessary to elect a write-in from fi ve to 25 or 50.

• SG Advisor Briana Lemos warned against removing write-in procedures.

“Senate cannot go down this

road. You cannot get rid of write-ins or set a number you think is fair. It will cause problems,” she said at the meeting. “Not allow-ing write-ins creates a very exclu-sive organization. Th e student body has the right to select who represents it.”

• Faculty Advisor Marilyn Ka-plan agreed with Lemos.

“Ninety percent of the student body is not involved, doesn’t know how to vote, when elec-tions are, so limiting who can run for SG in any scope is the biggest mistake you can make,” she said.

Dwivedi’s motion to remove write-in procedures did not pass.

• Hannigan’s motion to strike minimum vote requirements from write-in policies passed.

• Dwivedi proposed adding a bylaw stating that Senators removed due to accumulating three or more unexcused ab-sences could not return for the remainder of their enrollment at UTD. A motion to table the pro-posed amendment until the next meeting was passed.

Konrad Ryce, was caught reading The Mercury in in the Student Union! He will win a $20 gift card to Palio’s Pizza. Thank you Palio’s Pizza!

Caught Reading The Mercury

Palio’s is located next to Bike Mart and has discounts for UTD students and sta� !

Contact Palio’s at 972-234-4002.

News Brief

JSOM organizations to host fair from April 1-4

Student organizations within the Naveen Jindal School of Management will be recruiting new members and advertising at the fi rst annual JSOM Student Organization Carnival starting on April 1.

Th e event will run on April 1-2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and April 3-4 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Phi Beta Lambda, Healthcare Management Asso-ciation, JSOM Book Club and other organizations will be represented.

Free snacks will be available, Radio UTD will be there live and the UTD Food Truck will serve carnival-themed entrees.

-Samantha Lim

Opinion APRIL 1, 2013 n THE MERCURY n WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 3

The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the sum-mer term.

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SU 24, Richardson, TX 75080-0688

Editor-in-ChiefBobby Karalla

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Staff WritersSheila Dang

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The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the sum-mer term.

Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimination by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. Evidence of

discrimination will be the basis of denial of advertising space. The publication of advertis-ing in The Mercury does not constitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or The University of Texas at Dallas, or the gov-erning board of the institution.

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Asst. Graphics EditorAlison Kwong

What do you think of only one pair of students running for SG

president and vice president?

Pro athletes should work to end objecti� cation of women, not join in

� e entire country is at odds both over the right for gays to marry and how to stop widespread sexual and domestic violence against women, and more im-portantly how those issues are reported in the media. Fortunately, it seems the predominant thought among most young people I know is that members of the LGBT community are indeed also people, and that violence against women is not okay.

Unfortunately, however, the school of thought throughout the majority of the world of sports, on the other hand — among both athletes and fans alike — is predicated on mascu-linity to such an extreme that in the year 2013 fans and athletes alike have found themselves at a crossroads that could ultimately define how successful these social movements can become. Professional sports figures can leave an indelible impact on both movements, as they are the ones who define mascu-linity and act as role models for mil-lions of us around the country.

It’s time for athletes and those who cover them to stand up to stop violence against women, as they have begun to do in advocating for gay rights. � e In-ternet is easily the most important tool at their disposal, but apparently some athletes and writers have missed the memo on how to e� ectively use it either to grow the movement or to avoid mak-ing fools of themselves.

Toward the end of March, I read a think piece by � e Nation’s Dave Zirin praising certain athletes for acting as proponents for gay rights while simul-taneously encouraging the leagues they play for to institute policies and classes in an attempt to put an end to the cul-ture of excessive masculinity that has for so long plagued games.

“(S)ports bears a very speci� c re-sponsibility to take this struggle on,” Zirin writes. “No other institution reaches more men and no other insti-

tution plays a greater role in teaching boys how to de� ne their own manhood and masculinity.”

It makes perfect sense to argue that the men who de� ne manliness — an extremely subjective term — are heavy in� uences on youth and even grown men around the country. When I was young, I looked up to Dirk Nowitzki, Mike Modano, Alex Rodriguez and Steve Nash. I struck out on A-Rod, but the other three are generally considered positive in� uences. None of them — and no other athlete of note, at that — has tried to break down the wall of testosterone most athletes and fans hide behind.

Zirin’s argument that pro leagues teach athletes that women are solely looking to ruin an athlete’s � nances and career is as disturbing as it is true. Con-sequently athletes like J.R. Smith, for example, use women entirely as objects.

Smith received a direct message from a fan late in January notifying the Knicks guard that she would be attend-ing the game that night. Smith respond-ed with “Dope,” followed by a smiley face response from the fan. His response was revolting.

“You trying to get the pipe?” Smith asked the 18-year-old girl.

As disgusting as it sounds, that is the world we live in. Who am I to suggest this doesn’t happen all the time? I’ve heard stories about more explicit con-versations than that going on between professional players and their “road beef,” the title Zirin wrote is used by leagues for women who chase after ath-letes. Calling it objecti� cation would be an understatement.

Literally within minutes of read-ing Zirin’s excellent piece, I stumbled across a Knicks blogging site that was o� ering shirts with a sketch of Smith’s face complete with the quote, all for the bargain price of $28.99. He’s on the wrong side of the line separating masculinity and mysogyny, and for that he’s been immortalized.

A reader on the site where I found the link wrote the following thought:

“Sending a (message) like that, it’s pretty obvious she DOES want ‘the pipe’ and I think him replying is almost

making fun of/embarrassing her more than him actually trying to make some sort of awkward ratchet sexual advance.”

It’s still 2013, right?A professional athlete became a cult

hero overnight for asking an unknown fan 10 years his junior if she was trying to solicit sex via a Twitter direct mes-sage. � at whole “masculinity” thing must be working � ne for him, but the message it sends to fans and other ath-letes is one that supports the very move-ment Zirin and many more are working to bring to an end.

What’s more discouraging than the actual event itself, a very common oc-currence in the pro sports world, is the fact that readers take Smith’s side. Say-ing “it’s her fault” is so lazy.

� is issue of course isn’t limited only to sports. � e Mercury published four articles during the past two months reviewing sexual assault policies at uni-versities around the state, and from the reports one can conclude that victim blaming remains dangerously prevalent. As an immediate example, be sure to catch up with the Steubenville rape trial in which football players from an Ohio high school were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl. Residents and even the team’s coach aren’t hesitating to place blame on the girl, doubting that she did not consent.

As agonizing as it is to see cases such as these happen regularly, not all hope is lost for athletes on the social front. Sev-eral NBA and NFL players have joined the gay rights movement in recent years.

� eir energy is great; their campaign-ing is admirable. But in light of count-less tragic domestic abuse incidents in recent months, even those directly in-volving athletes, where are those out-spoken against violence toward and the objecti� cation of women?

Professional sports leagues have the capability to reach huge audiences that most other entities on the planet can only envy. Supporting gay rights is a very personal, and in some cases spiri-tual, issue for each individual and it can be very challenging to alter the way men view women. But it isn’t too late to start trying. Athletes and leagues have all the power.

BOBBY KARALLACOMMENTARY

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“� e format confused me a little bit initially because they only give you one option for presi-dent, vice president, few options for senate and sometimes you could vote for all the people there, so I don’t know why they even gave us options.”Matthew McIntoshME Senior

“I like to see some competition and debate. Other than that, I really liked that so many people are getting involved on campus with Student Government.”

Julia HartMarketing junior

“� ere didn’t seem to be any real competition or even cover-age that would be widely avail-able to the general public.”

Omer JemalPolitical science junior

“I’m surprised that students aren’t more interested in run-ning for o� ce. We have non-competitive elections.”

Vince PophamMarketing junior

“It’s been having problems for the last few years but this is the weakest one yet. I don’t know if it’s lack of student interest or SG not trying hard enough.”

Ravi KnutsonSociology senior

“I feel like the elections could have been promoted more ... I’m still voting, I just wish I would have known earlier.”

Alexandria SpurlockMarketing sophomore

Sports leagues can use power, popularity as an influence to redefine ‘masculinity,’ what’s acceptable to say to women

ALISON KWONG/ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR

Human rights are SO two hours ago

News WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY APRIL 1, 20134

INNOVATIONUTD’s commercialization programs have spun off 14 companies and created more than 50 jobs in the Dallas area

MicroTransponder, Inc. was one of the � rst spin-o� companies that kicked o� the technology commercialization pro-gram at UTD in 2007.

Initially launched by grad student Wil-liam Rosellini, the company now has a team of students and faculty at professors Michael Kilgard’s and Robert Rennaker’s lab, both from Behavioral and Brain Sci-ences, to conduct pre-clinical trials and research.

� e company specializes in implant-able medical device-based therapy to treat tinnitus, which is a ringing sound in the ear, and stroke patients. � e device is similar to a pacemaker and is implanted in the chest area with a wire that connects to a nerve in the neck.

By stimulating the Vagus nerve, this

microtransponder technology-based de-vice is able to go beyond the blood-brain barrier and rewire the neural structure in the brain, said President and COO Jor-dan Curnes.

� is property of the software-con-trolled device could be more e� ective as a therapy in comparison to pharmaceu-ticals, which have been the traditional means of treatment for stroke and tin-nitus, he said.

While the company awaits progressing through regulatory approval in the U.S., it has already received approval in Europe and has started a clinical trial at the Uni-versity of Glasgow, U.K. It plans to con-duct another 30-patient clinical trials for tinnitus in the U.S later, he said.

“When you � rst start, everyone says

it’s too hard, so you shouldn’t waste your time to do it,” Curnes said. “� e � rst challenge is to be determined enough, or naïve enough to ignore those people, be-cause if everyone listened to (the naysay-ers), we would never have any innovative new medical therapies.”

� ere are 10 full-time and 30 part-time employees, and Rosellini continues to serve as the chairman.

During the past six years, MicroTran-sponder, Inc. has raised more than $20 million and thousands of people have reached out to them thanking them for their research, most of who are families of stroke and tinnitus patients.

� e company expects to have their product out in Europe by 2014 and in the U.S. by 2016, Curnes said.

PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

Behavioral and Brain Sciences professor Michael Kilgard (center) with his stu-dents in his lab. This group, along with professor Robert Rennaker’s group works on pre-clinical trials to test the e� cacy of MicroTransponders, Inc. devices.

Fourteen new companies have spun out of UTD’s O� ce of Technology Commercial-ization since it was set up in 2008, which have created more than 50 jobs in the Dallas Metroplex, according to UTD’s annual report for 2012.

Researchers — UTD students and faculty — bring their inventions to the O� ce of Technology and Commercialization, or OTC, which evaluates the inventions for their uniqueness, novelty and commercial viability, said Robert Robb, associate vice president for technology.

Since 2008, 269 invention disclosures have been made, 66 of which were in FY12. � e OTC � led 213 patents and raised $20 million in startup capital.

Nationally, UTD performed 6 times better than the national average for number of startups per $100 million in research expenditures.

In Texas, universities similar in size to UTD such as Texas Tech, the University of Houston and UNT had listed either one or no startups each for 2010 while UTD listed � ve.

“We have a more aggressive program than most universities even within the System,” Robb said. “� e UT system has held us up as the poster child of how to (commercial-ize).”

Once an invention is found to be viable, the OTC helps researchers � le patents for the invention, license the technology and if commercially feasible, launch a startup company.

While the researchers who pioneered the invention are part of the startup, most start-

ups have business experts external to UTD on their board, said Becky Stoughton, direc-tor of OTC.

“We encourage people who are external to UTD to be part of the company, because UTD researchers have a full-time job and the company needs someone to be able to move it forward, and (researchers) are typically not able to do that,” she said.

Any invention created in a UTD lab is owned by UTD and of the revenues acquired from licensing, a percentage is put back into research while the rest goes to the OTC and inventors.

“A new invention is usually derived from research that is funded by taxpayers through the federal government through grants to the researcher’s lab,” Robb said. “� e govern-ment, the university, the state and UT System are all on board wanting to commercialize this technology developed by the university, for the public good.”

� e startups operate out of UTD’s Venture Development Center and contribute to the local economy by creating job opportunities, he said.

UTD students also bene� t from these ventures. � ese startups have raised more than $2.9 million as of FY11 in sponsored research for UTD. Figures for FY12 are not avail-able yet.

� ey also provide jobs for students enrolled in the integrated venture development class o� ered by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Currently, nine stu-dents are enrolled in the course helping four UTD startups with their market research.

Microtransponder, INC.

CirasysCirasys, Inc., pioneers in power con-

version technology, started in 2009 in an electrical engineering lab at UTD, and is currently a full-� edged company expect-ing its � rst product release next year.

During summer 2009, doctoral student Robert Taylor and electrical engineering professor Lewis Hunt ap-proached the OTC with their research on digitally controlling power conver-sion in devices. � ey formed the com-pany in July 2009. In an e� ort to gather feedback on the commercial feasibility of the technology, the OTC connected with Paul Gregory later that year. Greg-ory became interested in the project and joined the team, and is the current CEO of Cirasys, Inc.

� e technology provided by Cirasys, Inc. is one of a kind because of its ability

to control DC to DC power conversions using software control and has more sta-bility, performance and precision than the more commonly found analog to digital converters, Gregory said.

� ere is little competition in the mar-ket for digital power converters because experts are hard to � nd, he said.

“� e combination of expertise in con-trol and in power engineering is rare,” Gregory said. “It’s vanishingly rare.”

� e demand for the product is high, however, and companies that manufac-ture chips with controllers and build power supply devices. Major car manu-facturers like Nissan and cell phone makers like Samsung could be the po-tential end-users of the device, Gregory said.

Cirasys, Inc. operates out of the

Venture Development Center at UTD where Gregory and Paul Nichols, the vice president of marketing, have o� ces. Hunt, now a professor emeritus, is the consultant expert on the team.

Gregory and his team have had to overcome numerous challenges in the past four years, most of which were � -nancial, because � nding investors will-ing to fund small start-ups are rare in Texas, Gregory said.

� e company, however, was able to acquire funding from federal agencies and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which awarded them a $1 million commitment in grants.

� e company is expected to relocate to another o� ce location within the year and come out with a commercial proto-type by the end of 2013.

A Revolution in Digital Control and Conversion

Neurostimulation for Tinnitus and Stroke

YANG XI/STAFF

(From left) Professor emeritus Louis Hunt,consultant expert , Vice President of marketing, Paul Nichols and CEO Paul Gregory from Cirasys, Inc. at the Venture Development Center, their current operating base.

“When you � rst start, everyone says the U.S. by 2016, Curnes said.

Electrical engineering doctoral student Joey Sankman is cur-rently working as an intern at Cirasys, Inc., which is a require-ment for the integrated venture development class. Sankman, along with � nance graduate student Matthew Luna, is con-ducting a market research for the company and trying to iden-tify the value that Cirasys, Inc. would bring to their customers.

His doctoral research is in power management, and working with Cirasys, Inc. has helped him understand how the business

side of a start-up company is di� erent from the technology development aspect, he said.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, working closely with manage-ment at a start-up has been a valuable learning experience for him, Sankman said.

“You have to make sure that (your) product outperforms the competition in a major way, that solves the problem for your customer,” he said.

Student perspective

213 patents 213 patents 14 new companies 14 new companies $20 Million startup capital $20 Million startup capital50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex

213 patents 213 patents 213 patents 213 patents 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies 14 new companies $20 Million startup $20 Million startup $20 Million startup $20 Million startup capital $20 Million startup $20 Million startup capital $20 Million startup capital $20 Million startup $20 Million startup capital

50+ new jobs 50+ new jobs50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex 50+ new jobs50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex 50+ new jobs50+ new jobs in Dallas metroplex

14213 patents213 patents

ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEE/ Features EditorDESIGN: CONNIE CHENG/Mercury Sta�

NewsTHE MERCURY APRIL 1, 2013 WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 5

IN LAUNCHInstitute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Julie HaworthPublic Aff airs doctoral student

and senior lecturerProduct: Power bakeware

Eldad Falik’s mother-in-law is a great cook and he loves eating at his in-laws’. But whenever he attempted to cook his mother-in-law’s recipes, nothing seemed to go right.

“Every time I try a recipe at home, my mother-in-law makes it sound easy enough to be done in 15 minutes,” Falik said. “Af-ter two hours, I’m ready to call someone to install a big fan to get the smoke out of the kitchen and I still cannot � t the � sh in the bowl. So getting it done is not always as easy.”

His experiences in the kitchen and a desire to cook for his fam-ily sparked the idea of an online kitchen aid that would walk a novice through the recipe to step up their cooking.

Existing online products in-clude recipe blogs that don’t allow for dynamic content — customized instructions are not available to the user that can help them improve their cooking each time they cook, he said.

His product, when released, will incorporate multiple online services such as event manage-ment and a location-based shop-ping aid to create a complete guide to what Falik calls a culi-nary event.

� ese events could be any-thing from a � anksgiving din-ner to a barbecue night, which involve cooking a combination of dishes, pairing them up with drinks and organizing the event itself, he said.

Planned as an online platform as well as a smart phone app, the product would help with the event right from setting up the invitations, shopping e� ciently for the meal and cooking mul-tiple dishes at once.

What makes it di� erent from similar cooking applications, however, is the additional inter-active features Falik intends to include such as timing users as they cook and allowing users not only to receive instructions from the app but also to provide verbal progress updates back to the app.

Members on the platform will be able to share recipes with at-tendees of their event and also receive feedback on their cook-ing, he said.

Falik is currently conducting a market research and looking for technical developers who can join his team. With a full-time job and a family, progress has been slow, he said, and the prod-uct is expected to release some-time next year.

Eldad FalikMBA student

Product: Online Culinary Event Aid

A cooking class for her daugh-ter’s Girl Scout program � ve years ago led Julie Haworth to experiment with making eggs in the microwave.

After repeatedly trying to make scrambled eggs in a co� ee mug and having it explode, she � nally decided to � nd a manu-facturer who could create a cus-tomized bakeware just the way she wanted it.

� ree prototypes later, she came up with a workable prod-uct, which could be used to cook omelets and co� ee cakes in sec-onds.

� e product has a ramequin bottom, and a lid that has a quarter-sized hole at the top. Haworth � led for a patent for her product. While the U.S. Patent and Trademark O� ce re-jected her patent application for the bottom, they let her know that the lid was eligible to be pat-ented.

� e product has a niche mar-ket in visually impaired people and is blind-friendly because it has no jagged edges. Haworth is currently working out a partner-ship with Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind.

Her product is targeted for

lower-income families so that they can a� ord cheap food at home that can be cooked with-out much e� ort, Haworth said.

“I see it as a great way to en-courage people to cook at home — an egg is all of 20 cents — and you get an egg in the morn-ing, you’re good to go,” she said.

While Haworth doesn’t have a concrete timeline for the product release yet, she intends to run the � rst phase of production through Kickstarter, a website that lets the customers fund the � rst pro-duction.

Despite being a mother of three with a job at the university and the Ph.D. in public a� airs on the way, Haworth has success-fully managed her time to move this project forward one step at a time, meeting with attorneys, chefs and potential customers to gather feedback.

Bochsler’s class has helped her connect with possible mentors and motivated her to write on her product blog more often, she said.

“I think the camaraderie of (Dan’s) class is fabulous,” Haworth said. “We’re all encour-aging and there are some excel-lent people in there.”

Grandmaster Julio Sadorra has been playing chess since his childhood. By the time he was 14, he had gone through all the chess books available to him, and was hungry for more.

Struggling to improve his game in small town Cavite, Phil-ippines, he tried to � nd a GM who would be willing to train him. At the time, however, � e Philippines had only two GMs and his family didn’t have the su� cient resources to have him train under either of them.

� ough his hard work paid o� in the end and he won a chess scholarship to UTD, Sadorra’s � ght to the top was accompanied with a promise to himself — he would change the way young-sters trained for professional chess.

In the years that followed that promise evolved into a business idea for what will be his product today.

“I have had a desire since then that if I’d ever become a GM, I would share what I knew with others,” he said. “Now that I am a GM, I think I can give young players — especially those who want to improve — an opportu-nity to learn more.”

Earlier this semester, Sadorra, one of UTD’s chess players, enrolled in Bochsler’s start-up

launch class in order to convert his idea into a viable, economi-cally feasible product.

� is online chess training tool will not only deal with tactics, as do most other existing online training tools, but also help train players in strategy and decision-making, among other critical chess skills.

Still in the development phase, Sadorra’s � rst product is expected to release this sum-mer. He intends to market it as a smart phone app � rst, slowly ex-panding it to an online platform in subsequent phases.

He is currently conducting market research to gauge his audience, and has received feed-back from players at the Dallas Chess Tournament, Chess.com and the U.S. Chess Federation.

While he will handle the busi-ness operations, he has found an app developer in California who is a chess player himself, to start work on the product. He is also on the lookout for a web devel-oper to add to his team.

Bochsler’s class fosters his creativity and the constructive criticisms he has received from it have guided him through the systematic process of creating his business, he said.

UTD was grappling with in-su� cient parking spots in 2011, and Michael Savoie asked his social media class to conduct an online campaign called UTD ParkIt that would gather student feedback on the issue.

Mindy Tiu was among those in the class. While working on the survey, she came up with the idea of an automated park-ing system so that commuters and owners of parking lots could e� ciently utilize parking spots without manual intervention.

At the time, Tiu, a marketing senior, was enrolled in another course taught by Julie Haworth, where she needed to come up with a product idea and develop a marketing plan for it.

Haworth went through the idea and directed Tiu to the IIE, and Savoie and Haworth both continued to support her as her idea evolved.

� e product — YouPark — will enable commuters to check availability of spots in a lot on their smart phone, or even re-serve a spot in advance. For a university with a color-coded parking system like UTD, it will allow customers to park in a dif-ferent colored spot for a speci� c time and charge them hourly for the temporary upgrade.

YouPark is currently a regis-tered company, and the product — a smart phone app — is in the development stage.

ATEC senior Megan Tan is the designer and developer, while UTD alum Janus Venter is responsible for managing and forging partnerships with inves-tors. Tiu manages marketing op-erations for the company.

� e biggest challenge for them is � nding hardware and software partners and companies that will help them test the app in real time, Tiu said. Currently, they are negotiating partnerships with Globe Rangers for the RFID hardware and Parkhub, a com-pany that owns parking lots in the Dallas area.

YouPark’s target market ex-tends from university parking lots to lots in sports arenas, Tiu said, and each client will have a customized app catered to their speci� c setup.

Tiu is enrolled in Bochsler’s start-up launch class, which has helped her plan YouPark’s com-mercialization.

“� ese ideas are very impor-tant to us, but they could be potentially stolen, yet we all trust each other and help each other with our experience and our knowledge,” she said. “� e environment is very collabora-tive and supportive and Profes-sor Bochsler has a good network that can help many of us.”

Julio SadorraBusiness Administration senior

Product: Online interactive chess training tool

Mindy TiuMarketing seniorProduct: YouPark

Apart from commercializing research, UTD has a full-� edged entrepreneurship pro-gram at the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or IIE.

Set up in 2006, IIE is a part of the Jindal School of Management but is open to all UTD students, said Jackie Kimzey, executive director of IIE and a senior lecturer in management.

“We prepare our students for careers in the entrepreneurial mindset … whether they are working for Cisco or a small startup,” he said.

Spin-o� companies at UTD working with the OTC might consult IIE to help create the business model, acquire outside funding and to discover their niche audience.

However, Kimzey said, IIE, primarily o� ers degree programs, stand-alone courses and

certi� cation programs in entrepreneurship.Daniel Bochsler, senior lecturer in management, teaches two courses this semester:

start-up launch for undergraduate and graduate students who wish to develop their own business ideas, and the integrated venture development course for students who acceler-ate the research for UTD’s spin-o� companies like Cirasys, Inc.

Currently, 22 students are enrolled in these two courses, of which 18 are working on their own business ideas, Bochsler said.

Apart from learning how to successfully launch and run a business, students in these classes have the opportunity to interact with business leaders from the Dallas area while receiving course credit at the same time.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITORCONNIE CHENG/STAFFMINDY TIU/COURTESY

ABOVE SERIES: DANIEL BOCHSLER/COURTESY

time and charge them hourly for the temporary upgrade.

Daniel Bochsler and his start-up launch class, with Donnie Nelson, owner of the Texas Legends & general manager of the Dallas Maver-icks, at a Texas Legends game on March 21.

DREW MITCHELL/COURTESY

Become a Pro WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 20136

NewsTHE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 7

incoming freshmen for fall 2013 is “typical of those of previous classes” in terms of SAT score averages and National Merit Scholars.

Approximately 20,500 applica-tions had been received, Redlinger said, as of March 25. Of those, more than 7,500 were freshmen applica-tions, which is an all-time high for the university.

Bruce Gnade, vice president for research, said $45.5 million was used in restricted research expenditures in 2012. �e projection for 2013 is between $44 million to $47 million.

“Hitting the $45 million mark is all about the faculty,” he said. “�e faculty writes the proposals and does the research. Our o�ces tries to make that process as e�cient as possible to help faculty members be able to sub-mit their proposals on time, to help them be able to get their accounts set up on time. But that’s the only way we can impact that number. We’re here as a service group to help them be able to do their job more easily.”

�e Realize the Vision campaign that began in fall 2009 set a goal to raise $200 million in �ve years. While the $200 million is not going to directly meet a Tier One require-ment, the campaign has helped the university clinch the $45 million in restricted research expenditures that is an absolute requirement. Vice Presi-dent for Development Aaron Conley said $159.9 million has been raised in gifts and pledges since the beginning

of the campaign, and $89 million has been received in cash. Companies contributed the most to this number with $41 million, followed by $31 million from foundations and $30 million from individual alumni.

Donors can donate to any causes they want, although Conley’s de-partment requests people support research-related causes such as en-dowed chairs and professorships. Part of the reason why it’s relatively di�cult for UTD to raise money is because the university is still young and so are its alumni, he said. Many UTD alumni are still working and are unable to contribute as much as a retired alumnus with disposable as-sets, Conley said.

Before Conley came to the univer-sity, there had only been one UTD alumni event, held in Houston. Since then, Conley and Daniel have gone to Austin, Houston, San Diego, Albuquerque, Pittsburgh, Taiwan and around the Dallas Metroplex to participate in alumni events. Con-ley said alumni are excited to hear about UTD’s growth and the num-ber of alumni who have donated to UTD has gone up from 1,000 when the campaign �rst started to 2,500. Alumni now have an incentive to give back to the university, Conley said, because they hear about the impact donations have had on the university.

�is �scal year, UTD has already raised $40 million, more than the $35.5 million that was raised last �s-cal year.

“We’re doing better than we could’ve ever imagined,” Conley said. “�is $200 million goal is a very ag-

gressive goal for a university that’s never done a campaign before and we’re also doing it in a very short pe-riod of time.”

One hundred seventy-nine doc-toral degrees were awarded in the 2012 �scal year, while 53 doctoral degrees have been awarded so far for the 2013 �scal year, according to the O�ce of Graduate Studies. Dean of Graduate Studies Austin Cunning-ham said he hopes to see the 200 doctoral students requirement met and surpassed in the next �ve-to-seven years.

“With the development of the ex-pansion of the programs that are on-going on campus and the addition of new faculty and new research agen-das, that is an achievable, manageable goal,” he said.

ATEC is expected to introduce a new doctoral program in the next two years as part of that initiative. With the addition of new faculty, UTD can support and graduate more students, which will both im-prove the quality of the university and help it achieve Tier One status, Cunningham said.

Although UTD has achieved many milestones, raising $45 million in the 2013 �scal year in restricted research expenditures will be crucial to UTD’s success in achieving Tier One status.

As summer approaches, the $44 million to $47 million estimate will narrow, Gnade said, and there will be a better estimate as to how much money will be used on restricted re-search expenditures and its e�ect on Tier One �nally becoming a reality.

TIER ONEcontinued from page 1

concepts of each exhibit,” said Josh Casey, who worked on the Perot mu-seum and graduated from the ATEC program last spring. “We wanted to please the museum designers and ourselves as artists, so we dug deeper, sidestepping clichés to come out with something that we hope is original to the speci�c exhibit and complete for the museum.”

Students both outside and within the ATEC program agreed that the project provided vast exposure to the program and the university.

“I’m impressed by what (the stu-dents) have accomplished and I hope to see more UTD creative collabora-tion and projects,” said Khan Lee, economics and marketing junior. “�e students got invaluable experi-ence from the real life application of their work. Sound evokes all emo-tions and de�nitely enhances the ex-perience at the Perot Museum.”

ATEC junior Michelle Nguyen said that even within the program, she had heard little of the sound design classes prior to the Perot Mu-seum project.

“I didn’t even know that (the project) was happening, but I’ve de�nitely heard of the Perot open-ing recently, which looks really cool and engaging,” Nguyen said. “So it’s good that the program is being applied publicly like this, so that more awareness and exposure can help it grow.”

PEROTcontinued from page 1

Confucius Institute adds new partner university in ChinaInstitute creates mandatory debriefing program in effort to avoid cultural, relational issues overseas

JOHN THOTTUNGALMercury Sta�

�e plane landed at the Beijing In-ternational Airport on a hot summer day last fall. �en-history senior and current UTD alum Mathieu Debic set his �rst sights upon �ree Gorges University. Having done very well at his introductory Chinese classes at UTD, he was excited to have won the Confucius Institute scholarship to study in China for a semester.

�e institute o�ers scholarships to any student who wants to learn Chinese in China and often have more scholarships each year than ap-plications from UTD students. Of-�cially the institute has changed its partner university in China and is no longer a�liated with �ree Gorges University after hearing of issues at the school, and is instead now af-�liated with a much bigger and well-established South East University in Nanjing.

Debic said he was surprised at the way the foreign a�airs sta� treated the students at the university. For example, couples could not go into each other’s dorms, but befriending the guards could help students cir-cumvent rules.

“�e guards could be bought o� with a pack of cigarettes or a Mc-Donald’s cheeseburger to get back into the dorm after curfew hours,” he said.

Ming Dong Gu, the director of the Confucius Institute, said while a majority of students who study in China do not commonly report similar issues, the institute will now make debrie�ng mandatory when a student returns. No issues have been reported at South East University.

“Students can choose between a number of universities in China that are a�liated with the Hanban orga-nization,” Gu said.

A year before Debic studied in China, Eric Obodo, another recipi-

ent of the scholarship, spent a se-mester at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. He said the semester abroad helped him increase his �u-ency in Mandarin. He is now in China again, working as a private English tutor. All his expenses paid for by the host family.

Both experienced varying levels of culture shock, as social norms are much di�erent in China than they are in the U.S.

Snacking before a meal would be considered quite rude, while smack-ing your lips while drinking soup was considered as a sign that the person was enjoying the soup, Obodo said. Attendance, unlike at many Ameri-can universities, was mandatory and absences were frowned upon, Debic said.

�e debrie�ng program and a di�erent partnership should help students avoid the situation Debic found himself in, while also prepar-ing them for the cultural di�erences.

Campus Life THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 98

ABOVE: CONNIE CHENG/STAFF | RIGHT: PARTH PARIKH /STAFF

ABOVE: A reveler attempts to capture the moment during the o�-cial Comet Closet after-party held in the Galaxy Rooms on Thursday night, March 21. The post-fashion show festivites were sponsored by the Student Union Advisory and Activities Board (SUAAB), UTD TV, Cause & Action and Radio UTD. With the DJ duo Booty Fade be-hind the turntables, students partied all night long.

SERIES RIGHT: The dancing started on the evening of Monday, Mar. 18, when SUAAB and Residential Life held Splatterdance on the UTD ball �elds. The messy dance party kicked o� Springapalooza, the week-long event programmed by SUAAB for welcoming students back to campus after spring break.

SERIES BELOW (L-R): Student models Lewis Warne, Shanoya Taylor, and Clarissa Pollack walk the runway at the Comet Closet fashion show. Brooke Kundston adjusts fellow model’s hemline at the last-minute. The show was held Thursday evening, March 21, in the Founder’s buliding.

Get that spring in your step.

For full coverage of the Comet Closet fashion show, turn to the Life & Arts section, pages 10 and 11.

THIS SERIES: CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

THIS COLUMN: NITIN YADAV/STAFF ABOVE: NITIN YADAV/STAFF | BELOW: PARTH PARIKH/STAFF

Students looking to showcase their mu-sical talent can practice with Musicians Network for an experience in sharing their flair for performance.

Musicians Network, often abbreviated as MusNet, is a student organization cre-ated in fall 2012 that brings UTD stu-dents with musical inclinations together to put on shows at an assortment of campus events, including a concert at the end of each month.

MusNet began as an idea during summer 2012 from a group of students who en-joyed practicing their instruments together as a makeshift band. With no organization on campus that catered to the variety-band style, MusNet was created as an outlet for student musicians and a service to UTD events.

Bryan Szczerba, computer science fresh-man and vice president of MusNet, said the group is open to all students and is flexible enough to accommodate students’ busy schedules.

“Everyone’s invited — you audition and we put you in a different band to showcase your talent,” he said. “At any given time we have about three bands and people come and go as they want and play when they want to.”

Most members of the group are not mu-sic majors, Szczerba said. MusNet is a way for students who might not have time to devote to majoring in music or playing music full-time to perform in concerts

L&AWWW.UTDMERCURY.COM n THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 201310

YANG XI/STAFF

Mechanical Engineering junior Sha-noya Taylor stops at the head of the runway to commence the start of the �rst Comet Closet Fashion Show co-sponsored by SUAAB, UTD TV and The Mercury, on March 21.

TO READ MORECHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

The “Maximum Overdrive” show opened in the Visual Arts Build-ing on March 22. The exhibits showcase 17 di�erent work from nine artists in the Dallas region made from etched glass to acrylic.

Freedom of the artsExhibits made of different mediaSARAH LARSONMercury Staff

Displaying the assorted works of Dallas-area artists, Kevin Todoro’s “Maximum Overdrive” opening night brought together pieces with hu-mor and weirdness in an e�ort to satire the exaggerated themes of an apocalyptic ‘80s movie.

Kevin Todoro, a 2005 Arts and Performance graduate, began forming the gallery when Arts and Humanities senior lecturers Greg Metz and John Pomora approached him about putting together a gallery for the Visual Arts Building last year.

“I’m not a curator,” Todoro said. “I’m an artist and a photographer. So this to me was just collecting together a bunch of people that I know and seeing them all in the same room — people that I know and like — that’s really what the show is.”

Todoro currently teaches at Collin County Community College and is a freelance photographer. After graduating from UTD he worked as a photographer for the Dallas Museum of Art and earned his master of �ne arts from SMU in 2009.

Photography has been a large part of Todoro’s life since he was young, experimenting with old �lm cameras. While admitting doing “stupid stu�” like shooting from the hip or carrying the camera in his pocket, he was adventurous — taking the camera on a rollercoaster and capturing images while in a loop-the-loop.

Growing up, he knew he wanted to do something in photography, but he continued to dabble in other mediums of art, like sculpture and painting, becoming a jack-of-all-trades.

Todoro’s curatorial debut Maximum Overdrive is loosely inspired by Stephen King’s 1986 directorial debut of the same name, an apocalyptic movie — where machines come to life and try to kill humans — that was based o� of King’s own work.

It was last year just before the Mayan apocalypse scare that Todoro was asked to curate this show, so he thought it would be fun to use a pseudo post-apocalyptic title for it. �e movie is colorful and stupid, he said, so he aimed for a less serious, more silly gallery, giving the nine artists plenty of creative freedom

“Maximum Overdrive was a really horrible movie, but it’s funny be-cause it was so ridiculous,” Todoro said.

On the opening night of Maximum Overdrive on March 22 in the Visual Arts Building, the show started quiet and intimate, allowing early birds to inspect the 17 works of di�erent media like etched glass, acrylic, video and a barbell to name a few.

As the night went on and the room �lled with big names in the Dallas art scene — even a hired Andy Warhol impersonator — the beer �owed freely from a local artisan brewery supply, livening the crowd and lubricating the

see OVERDRIVE page 12 see COMET CLOSET page 11

Small town crime plays up class warfare“Book of Days” a contemporary production with visual illusionsJOSEPH MANCUSOMercury Staff

When the actors took the stage, they emanated an undeniable energy. Students and sta� of UTD suddenly became businessmen, pastors, mothers and murderers. Greed and jealously culminate into crime in “Book of Days,” a play written by Lanford Wilson and directed by Brad Hennigan.

In the performance, the perpetrators use the com-munities di�erences to try and hide the crime. Al-though Lanford wrote the script in 1998, “Book of Days” uses the small town as an example by which to re�ect many problems that persist today, such as the �nancial crisis and class warfare, Hennigan said.

“(�e play) is about small-town life and how it re�ects as a microcosm of society as a whole,” Hen-nigan said. “James conspires with Earl to commit murder, kills his father and then uses the divide that

exists between the liberals and the conservative, reli-gious right … to keep them from being found-out.”

It feels as though controversy is around every corner in “Book of Days.” Set in a small town, all the characters are familiar with each other and their respective �aws. �is candid nature between the townsfolk allows for very interesting interactions and never a dull scene.

�ere are many di�erent locations featured in the play, so to represent the various locations, Hennigan turned to projections. Various buildings and settings will be projected onto the set to change the location in a smooth and quick manner.

“�e mixed media approach does two things,” Hennigan said. “It modernizes the storytelling and, potentially, it allows for a greater connection with a technophile audience.”

To increase the realism and believability of the performance, actors were cast in roles that matched

their age. Sometimes, an actor’s personal history would also match the role, leading to intriguing re-sults.

“Kathy Lingo, who is a professor here (at UTD), is playing one of the older characters … who is an ex-hippie,” Hennigan said. “Kathy has actually shown me some photos that re�ect how close to her own life is to this character’s. She has �t it like a glove and enjoyed reliving that part of her life.”

�e play will run for two weekends, April 4-6 and April 11-13 in the University �eater. It starts at 8 p.m. and is expected to run for almost 2 hours. Tickets are free to UTD students.

“It’s a good play, it’s a funny play and it’s a dramat-ic play,” Hennigan said. “�ere are elements there that will keep (the audience) entertained one way or another. If they are able to recognize that the types of things presented are re�ective of things going on in our society, then that’s a bonus. “

MusNet mixes music genres

Instrumentalists and singers join to form bandsSARAH LARSONMercury Staff

see MUSNET page 12

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

Members of the Musician’s Network play at DeltaHop on March 28 in the Dining Hall.

Detailed 3-D e�ects highlight of family movie ‘�e Croods’

“�e Croods” brings unexpected fun and humor to the family-oriented, ani-mated movie space.

Directed and written by Kirk De Micco (“Space Chimps”) and Chris Sand-ers (“Lilo and Stitch,” “How to Train Your Dragon”), “�e Croods” is about a family of cavemen. In this family the two main characters are the father named Grug, voiced by Nicholas Cage (“Lord of War,” “National Treasure”) and the daughter, Eep, voiced by Emma Stone (“�e Help,” “Easy A”). �e rest of the family includes a mother, a brother, an infant and Grug’ stepmother.

�ey survive in the dangerous world by living in constant fear of what is outside their cave and sticking to the stringent rules set by Grug. However, Eep is the of the curious mold, and wishes to explore her surroundings.

One day, with the Pangea (a prehistoric continent) breaking o�, their cave is

see CROODS page 12

SHYAM VEDANTAMCOMMENTARY

COMET CLOSET

THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 11L&A

BREAK THE MOLD

YANG XI/STAFF

For its �rst time, the Comet Closet fashion show made a creative e�ort to present UTD’s unique sense of style. While maintaining many of the traditional runway ele-ments, the show proudly displayed its university character, casting everyday students in place of the industry’s cookie-cutter models.

�e debut gained plenty of buzz and a large turnout, with a packed audience leaving only standing room in the back.

LAUREN FEATHERSTONE/MANAGING EDITOR

The Comet Closet Fashion Show broke traditional definitions of fashion for student friendly style

�e styles portrayed did not ad-here to the spring fashion trends this year and seemed to instead tie in a multitude of in�uences.

More prominent themes, whether following trends or steer-ing away, could have created a more cohesive look to this varied collection.

Trends

Despite the hype around the grand �nale, the concluding ensemble wasn’t a shocker. �e net veil was a nice addition to the sleek, black dress, but not enough to amaze the audience.

�e model carried her-self well to Adele’s “Sky-fall,” but the slow-paced song prevented the show from ending on the pow-erful, high note it needed.

Finale

YANG XI/STAFF

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

Most of the out�ts were easy, wearable styles that were practical and stayed within the safe zone. While it’s com-mendable to put together an out�t that will look good on anyone, the overall modest attire sti�ed visual interest and left fashion risk-takers hanging on the sidelines.

�e segment that showcased elegant gowns made a nice breakaway from common looks, but the opening piece — a zebra-print, sequined mini — seemed a perplexing mis�t among the �owing, evening dresses. Although easily dis-tinguished, the handcrafted out�ts were a good e�ort toward one-of-a-kind pieces; one such ensemble, an aqua-blue Nigerian skirt and gold top was possibly the only challenging out�t in the collection.

Outfits

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

At the end of each round, the models in that segment circled the runway for one last time before the next segment commenced.

However, in a number of segments, a model was missing or an out�t was altered, which broke the consistency in the show and left the audi-ence confused.

Consistency

The models were confident with their walks in the first two segments, smiling and interact-ing with the audience seamlessly, while bring-ing a lighthearted, fun feel to the event. How-ever, with the slower songs the walks

seemed awkward and dragged on, and it became easy to tell which motions the models were directed to do — such as the men’s heel pop — since the poses came off as unnatural and forced.

Models

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

YANG XI/STAFF

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

Music

�e music for the �rst two segments, Lady Gaga’s “Scheibe” and Little Mix’s “DNA,” was upbeat and provided momentum for the show. �e later songs were slow and depressing — particularly Christina Perri’s “A �ousand Years” that came on for the evening gowns segment — which lost the audience.

L&A WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 12

conversation.Kevin Rubén Jacobs, an artist whose work is featured

in Maximum Overdrive, created several eclectic pieces that included materials such as Brut body spray, felt and even one piece composed entirely of the essence of invis-ibility.

“We were given the title and that’s enough for anyone to go o� of,” he said. “We don’t really need a thesis or an abstract to work with.”

Similar to Jacobs, many other artists took the liberty of the limited restrictions and created humorous works that are intriguing.

M, another artist whose work included a hot dog on the �oor, said his work was mostly about pretending and encouraging an audience to believe what you present.

“I guess I have some traditional skills in some other ways,” M said. “I like to draw — I’m mostly known for drawing — but when Kevin told me the title of the

show was going to be Maximum Overdrive, it was kind of a relief that I would get to do something dumb and lighthearted.”

Nathan Green, an artist whose work included a pot-ted plant in a wooden frame, moved from Austin to Dallas to work at the art residency program CentralTrak for UTD. His piece incorporated items from his previ-ous works, recycled to create a new one. He also enjoys adding in objects from everyday life in a way that pres-ents its aesthetic rather than its usefulness.

“Just being able to see an object that’s familiar in a new and unexpected way is very exciting for me,” he said.

Unlike Stephen King’s tacky movie �op, Maximum Overdrive, which will remain open until April 27, suc-ceeded in bringing together the contributions from local artists with the open-ended theme of over-the-top silli-ness and creativity.

From making faces at �e Mercury’s camera to be-ing welcoming and helpful throughout the opening, Todoro’s curatorial e�orts were just as impressive as Maximum Overdrive’s achievement.

OVERDRIVEcontinued from page 10

geared toward their own personal style.Ted Yu, molecular biology senior and stage

crew manager for MusNet, said that the group tends to adhere to the typical band setup with four or five pieces.

Although each band usually has a drummer, a bassist, about two guitars and a vocalist, Mus-Net does not exclude artists with other instru-ments from joining.

“Any instrument that people are willing to

play, that people want to play, is an acceptable instrument,” he said. “We have ukuleles, horns, violin, piano, keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, vo-cals. So, we don’t turn any instruments away.”

The most consistent event that MusNet has to offer is the monthly Spotlight Series spon-sored by SUAAB, which is an hour-long concert held at either the plinth or the Pub, where the bands of MusNet perform the work they have practiced during that month.

The concerts typically have a theme and his-torically have played more mainstream music in order to attract an audience and advertise to

new members.Yu said that Spotlight Series was created to

give MusNet a direction and a goal. Rather than jams which can last indefinitely

with nothing to show for their work at the end, Spotlight Series creates structure for MusNet and emphasizes the collaboration and leadership aspect of performing.

While it can be easy for organizations to find acoustic performers that can fill a timeslot by themselves, the group provides a different pack-age, one that arguably has more value, Yu said.

“Musicians Network is here to provide bands,”

he said. “We have a product that may have a lot more energy, displays the collaboration of many different instruments and is more akin to the music we are more likely to hear on the radio.”

In the past, MusNet has performed for the UTD Police Department’s National Night Out, Comet Cupboard, Viva Volunteer, 21st Class and more recently Springapalooza and the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

MusNet has 20 active members and conducts rehearsals every Saturday in the library.

MusNet’s final Spotlight Series of the semes-ter will be 12 p.m. on April 23 at The Pub.

sealed o� and the world as they know it starts falling apart. A lush for-est opens up behind the cli� that housed their cave.

In order to �nd a new home, they must ven-ture through this new world. �eir journey is aided by Guy, voiced by Ryan Reynolds (“Green Lantern,” “De�nitely, Maybe”). In essence, the movie is about the changing family dy-namics, adapting to new circumstances and living without fear.

De Micco and Sand-ers create a stunning and breathtaking visual world with their anima-tion. �e credits begin with a �re-crackling animation that immedi-ately captures the audi-ence. When the family travels into the jungle landscape, the animals and vegetation are cap-tured almost as well as “Avatar.” Animals are also very creatively in-spired, usually combin-ing two distinct traits of two very di�erent animals.

From a visual stand-point, the movie’s animation and 3-D is

some of the best that we’ll get to see this year. It’s promising to see 3D used in an a mature way without gimmicks in some family/kids mov-ies.

�e music is moving and pleasant. Animated features usually lean on soundtracks to en-hance the movie expe-rience; it’s certainly the case with this movie. �e soundtrack is fun and has simple tunes, but they work well for the intended audience. Alan Silvestri made a soundtrack that will captivate children ev-erywhere in the upcom-ing weeks.

While the story and themes traversed in this movie aren’t new, that doesn’t detract a lot from the movie. For the children who watch it, this will be the �rst time they see these themes, and the movie does a good job presenting and addressing them. Several characters, par-ticularly Grug exhibit contemporary humor, particularly parodies of modern-day inventions.

�e pace of the script is energetic and driv-ing, so there wasn’t a point where the movie dragged during its short 98-minute runtime.

In fact, the movie

does a lot with its time, so credit goes to the ed-iting and concise script.

Some will say that the movie is unoriginal and unsophisticated, but as a family �ick, it doesn’t need to be.

�is movie won’t be the next “Toy Story” or “Wall-E,” but it might well be nominated for the best animated fea-ture.

Without a doubt, people of all ages will enjoy this movie. It has a good message about being brave in the face of new things and the di�erence between not dying and living.

7.5/10

WWW.BEYONDHOLLYWOOD.COM/COURTESY

Set in prehistoric times, “The Croods” is the story of Eep’s adventures with Guy, a boy she meets. Eep is voiced by Emma Stone, while Ryan Reynolds is Guy’s voice.

CROODScontinued from page 10

MUSNETcontinued from page 10

CONNIE CHENG/STAFF

“Maximum Overdrive” curator Kevin Todora (center), a UTD alum and faculty at Collin Community College, shares a joke with two guests on the opening night of his show, March 22, at UTD’s art barn.

Sports APRIL 1, 2013 n THE MERCURY n WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM 13

CHRISTOPHER WANG/PHOTO EDITOR

UTD knocked out of Cowboy CupSecond undefeated regular season comes to an end at the hands of DenverSHAWN CHOSports Editor

�e UTD rugby team fell to Denver University 30-7 in the �rst round of the Cowboy Cup at UTD soccer complex on March 23 to end its second season in the

TRU Lonestar Conference.Despite the long trip down from Colo-

rado, Denver University put up 12 points in the �rst half to go up 12-0. �e Com-ets fought back in the second half, put-ting up seven points, but DU held on for the victory to advance to the �nal game

the following day on March 24.“It was a good game,” head coach Tony

Wagner said. “Our guys were �ring on all cylinders. It’s just that DU were just a little bigger and faster than we were get-ting to the breakdowns.”

At the end of the day, DU players were

just too strong and very organized to handle for the two-time state champions.

“DU has a well-established rugby club, and they were physically bigger

see RUGBY page 14

SPORTSBRIEFS

�e men’s tennis team defeated Ka-lamazoo College 6-3 on March 26 at San Antonio to stay undefeated against NCAA D-III competition.

�e Comets returned to conference play against No. 10 UT Tyler on March 29 at Tyler. �ey will then take the road to face the University of the Ozarks on April 3 before returning back to host Trinity on April 12.

�e Comets (9-1) opened the match against Kalamazoo with two wins in doubles and later went on to add four singles wins to claim the victory.

�e women’s tennis team dominated St. Catherine University with a 9-0 home victory on March 25 to improve its record to 10-2.

�ey took on UT Tyler on March 29 and will return home to host Trinity on April 12 for the last home matchup of the season.

Juniors Byron Cole and Jean-Jean Gwo have been named the ASC East Division Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, by the league o�ce on March 28.

�e men’s golf team dropped points and fell to �fth place after the �nal round of the John Davis Group/UTD Classic at the Golf Club at McKinney on March 26.

UT Tyler claimed the championship while Mary Hardin-Baylor placed just behind for second place. Schreiner �n-ished third, Concordia placed fourth just above UTD who �nished at a team total of 988.

�e Comets will return to play in the LeTourneau Spring Invitational on April 1-2.

SHAWN CHO/SPORTS EDITOR

Comets’ AJ Paradowski is surrounded by several opposition players as he tries to move up �eld during the �rst round game against Denver University.

Brittney Lightfoot is one of UTD’s four women golfers. The ATEC sophomore wishes to pursue a career in 2-D animation and train young aspiring golfers in the future. She averaged 120.2 in the ASC Championship tournament last year.

Comets snap losing streakUTD replaced its four-game losing streak with a series sweep

SHAWN CHOSports Editor

�e Comets swept the University of the Ozarks in a four-game series on March 29, ending their four-game losing streak.

�e softball team is now 15-8-1 overall and 6-4 in the ASC as it prepares for a string of conference games until the end of the season.

�ey crushed their opponents 16-0 and 18-0 in the third and �nal game of the series. During the four games, the Comets outscored Ozarks 49-6.

Sophomore right-hander Megan Ara-gones picked up her third win of the sea-son, and senior right-hander Jeni Olbeter recorded her eighth win of the season.

Senior Stephanie Harris went 4-for-4

in the third game with three hits, a double and one RBI.

Olbeter dominated the �rst game on the mound as she struck out a career-high 11 batters to complete the game. She re-tired the �rst 12 batters she faced before allowing one unearned run on just two hits with no walks.

UTD got o� to an early start as junior Avery McHugh recorded a two-out dou-ble to left �eld to bring senior Rachel Ri-ley home. Later in the sixth inning, a sac �y by sophomore Hannah Creech proved to be enough to edge out Ozarks 2-1 for the �rst win of the four-game series.

In the second game of the double-header, the Comets put up 13 runs in �ve innings to roll over the Lady Eagles 13-5. Aragones picked up the win with a solid

performance, striking out seven in �ve in-nings of work.

Freshman Robin �omas and Harris each went 2-for-2 with two runs while sophomore Jordan Bratcher went 2-for-4 with three runs scored to cap o� the sweep.

“On days when we have all three phases of the game,” head coach Brad Posner said, “we are very tough to beat.”

After losing two double-headers to UT Tyler and East Texas Baptist on March 19 and 25, it was important for Posner’s team to get back to winning ways in order to salvage its chances of making the playo�s.

“We knew going in that these were go-ing to be the two toughest teams we were

see SOFTBALL page 14SHAWN CHO/SPORTS EDITOR

Senior right-hander Jeni Olbeter (8-5) had a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Mastering the mind gameLightfoot graduated out of one of Dallas’ best high schools

ANWESHA BHATTACHARJEEFeatures Editor

The first time she played golf, Brittney Lightfoot hated it. The 12-year-old couldn’t hit the ball, and she told her father in no uncertain terms that she was never going to play golf again.

Today, Lightfoot is one of UTD’s four women golf players, an ATEC sophomore and a graduate of Dallas’ best high school — Talented and Gift-ed Magnet.

“At the end of high school I started to get better at (golf ) and I found that I could actually do this,” she said.

Lightfoot averaged at 120.2 in the American Southwest Conference last year, and placed 23rd at the UTD Lady Comet Classic tournament on March 18-19.

Motivated by her dad, Lightfoot started playing for First Tee, an orga-nization that helps young golfers train by providing them with the resources they need.

In high school, she was assistant

coach at First Tee and started getting better at her game. That made her practice more, and once she started do-ing well in tournaments, she ended up liking it.

“My proudest moment was in high school, the first time I got an eagle,” she said. “Since then, I’ve made a lot of birdies but not too many eagles.”

For a long time, Lightfoot wanted to be a nurse like her mother. Unfor-tunately, she didn’t enjoy science and nursing wasn’t an option anymore.

She found her niche, however, in activities she’d enjoyed since her child-hood — drawing and playing video games.

Looking through colleges in Texas, she came across UTD’s ATEC pro-gram and decided to pursue a career in animation instead. Now she wants to graduate and work at a small company in Texas and work on 2-D animation TV shows.

Juggling her academics and golf can be intense at times because her prac-tices can sometimes take up more than 20 hours each week.

She was experimenting with her swings for a while, but has decided to stick to one style this season, and prac-tices take up more time, just because places on the course that used to be safe for her with her old swing, aren’t safe anymore.

“The basic thing is practice,” she said. “Once you get good at your golf swing, you don’t think about it, you just do it.”

Playing a good round of golf depends on how calm the golfer can remain through the game, she said. Lightfoot listens to music and having the tune in her head helps her get a better shot.

In high school, course work took up most of Lightfoot’s hours, leaving very little time for extra-curricular activi-ties. Most of her lunchtimes were spent in a corner of the class, reading books.

Now, with golf, academics and as a member of UTD’s Onomatopoeia, she finds little time to read, although she does have “Anna Karenina” lined up for

see LIGHTFOOT page 14

Sports WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 14

Comets .500 in ASC

SHAWN CHO/SPORTS EDITOR

After winning three of their last five games, the Comets were 6-6 as of March 30 and sat in fourth place in the ASC East. With six conference games remaining — three each against Mis-sissippi College and East Texas Baptist — UTD must hold off LeTourneau in order to clinch a spot in the ASC Championship Tournament in late April. The Comets’ playoff lives could very well come down to the three-game regular season finale against ETBU on April 19 and 20 on UTD’s home field.

stronger than we were,” Wagner said. “However, our guys never quit and fought through hard for the entire 80 minutes. �ey con-tinually pounded DU, wanting to score more and get back into the game.”

�e Comets did have another game the following day to decide the third and fourth place team, but Angelo State, who lost against Colorado School of Mines in the �rst round, were unable to place a team on the �eld due to too many injuries.

“We were extremely disap-pointed that Angelo State had to forfeit against us on Sunday because we wanted one more game,” Wagner said. “But that’s how it is.”

After another undefeated regu-lar season, the rugby team will be losing six starters to graduation, but Wagner is con�dent that, with the number of returning players and new players, they’ll be able to continue the recognition the club has gradually gained.

“One day we are going to lose,” Wagner said. “But it’s up to the guys to keep that day from com-ing. We’re going to go into next year with a bulls-eye on our back just like we did this year. It’s ulti-mately up to the guys to step up each and every year.”

�e reigning state champions are looking to compete on the next level with schools with well-established rugby club programs like DU and Colorado School of Mines. In order to do that, they’ll need to �nd bigger, stronger play-ers who are willing to commit to the sport and work hard.

“When you compete at the next level like we did,” Wagner said, “the teams get bigger, stron-ger and just as fast as we are.”

Despite the loss, it was another successful season for the Comets as they recorded another unde-feated regular season and retained the state title in its sophomore year.

“�ere are clubs in Texas that are envious of what we have here at UTD with so many guys want-ing to play.”

Wagner’s goal for the team is to come out stronger and better than the previous year’s team and continue the legacy that the club has created at UTD.

“Win or lose, these guys love to play the game of rugby,” Wagner said. “�ey just want to keep play-ing, and that’s why I keep coming out to enjoy the time with them.”

RUGBYcontinued from page 13

the summer. Growing up with an older sister who was ath-

letic and played many sports, petite Lightfoot was too timid to play any sport that needed an ath-

letic build, which is why golf is so special for her. “You don’t have to be athletic (to play golf ),”

Lightfoot said. “Golf is about technique.“Eventually, Lightfoot wants to be a golf coach

for kids, to see them learn and help their talent grow, but for now she is focusing on her swing as she prepares for the upcoming American South-west Conference Championship on April 15-16.

LIGHTFOOTcontinued from page 13

going to face,” Posner said. “While those two teams were good, we are more focused on where we are and ways in which we can get better to es-tablish ourselves as one of the

top teams.”They will have 12 confer-

ence games remaining at home compared to only nine on the road.

The last four-game series at Louisiana College to close out the season will be the series to keep a close eye on.

“If we continue to hit, pitch,

play solid defense and take care of business on our home field, we will put ourselves exactly where we want to be in the end,” Posner said.

The Comets will travel to Austin College for a double-header on April 3. The next double-header will be at home against UT Tyler on April 5.

SOFTBALLcontinued from page 13

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News WWW.UTDMERCURY.COM THE MERCURY n APRIL 1, 2013 16Pub breaking even, not pro�ting from extra hoursSAMANTHA LIMMercury Sta�

�e Pub’s trial run of extended hours, which began Feb. 1 and will continue until May, has ex-perienced mixed levels of success so far.

Jarrod Samples, evening man-ager at �e Pub, said around seven-to-nine new employees have been hired to cover the new shifts, including some people who al-ready work at the dining hall. Stu-dents are still sending in resumes, he said, and it can be hard to work with peoples’ schedules both dur-ing the day when students have class and at night.

Director of Dining Services Bob Agee said the target for sales at �e Pub is $250 per service hour. However, �e Pub’s sales are currently around $120-$180 per service hour all day. Assistant Director of Retail Shadaya Had-dix said that currently �e Pub is only breaking even, not pro�t-ing, from the extended hours due to the cost of keeping the kitchen open longer as well as paying more employees.

Samples said overall students like the change in hours, but some want to order food after mid-night. However, the kitchen closes

at midnight although �e Pub stays open until 1 a.m. Monday through �ursday. Students like chemistry junior Jacob Mandel have taken advantage of �e Pub’s extended hours by eating there at 10 p.m. on several occasions.

“I never really learned to cook anything, so the alternative on those nights would’ve been not really eating much of a dinner at all,” he said. “(�e extended hours) have helped a lot.”

Samples said the extended hours also help the employees not only by giving them more hours and opportunities to work, but also by allowing students a wider time frame to use replacement meals.

“Instead of getting hit so hard at 9 p.m. with all the meal transfers, it’s kind of spreading out and it’s not wearing us out so much,” he said.

While �e Pub’s main use is for dining, students also study there without purchasing food. Agee said on Friday and Saturday around one-third of people who go to �e Pub are studying while the other two-thirds of people ac-tually buy something. In the after-noons and evenings of weekdays, he said, up to 40 or 50 percent of tables are used for studying pur-poses only.

“A lot of students bring out-side food instead of buying food,” Haddix said. “To me that’s taking a chair or table from a paying cus-tomer. It’s been like that since �e Pub’s been here, and it’s going to take a lot to change that.”

Another problem Agee ad-dressed is that many students go o� campus during the weekends, which reduces �e Pub’s sales because students who are not on campus will not buy food from �e Pub.

“Any time the students are not on campus, that’s problematic for �e Pub. It’s a service people aren’t going to use when they’re not present,” he said.

Recent events at �e Pub such as showing the movie Skyfall have boosted sales. During special events �e Pub will o�er food not usually on the menu like chicken fried rice and popcorn chicken. Other special events at �e Pub in the future will continue to help with their sales.

When the three-month tri-al ends in May, Agee, Student Services and Student Govern-ment will make a joint decision on changes regarding �e Pub’s hours. Meanwhile, the dining department continues to explore how it can expand.

Merrill Lynch and other such financial organiza-tions. They can work for accounting firms such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers or KPMG, Hum-phreys said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 27 percent employment growth from 2010-2020, which is faster than the average growth.

“There has always been a demand and there

will continue to be a demand as we can see from the Bureau of Labor Statistics predictions,” Humphreys said. “But, due to growth of actu-arial programs all over the United States, the entry-level (students) may have a little bit more difficult time in finding a job than it was 10-15 years ago.”

The department is planning on hiring someone who is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, said Humphreys, which is the highest designation one can get in actuarial science. The candidate must also have teaching and research experience.

ACTUARIALcontinued from page 1