Author: The UTD Mercury
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Alum brings border town together with cafe, bikes
In Brownsville, Texas, only blocks from the United States-Mexico border, one UTD alumnus works alongside Mexican citizens in the coffee shop he opened two years back. Graham Sevier-Schultz graduated from UTD in 2012 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. He stayed in Dallas, working at restaurants and cafes to gain experience and ideas while preparing…
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Play to offer introspective look into theater
As the winter weather begins to lift, the School of Arts and Humanities will be bringing a production of “The Flu Season” to the UTD stage. Directed by Thomas Riccio, a professor of performance and aesthetics, the production consists of a relatively small six-member cast. Set in a psychiatric hospital — and, in a fourth-wall…
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OIT, OSA to provide free assistive technology
The Office of Information Technology and the Office of Student AccessAbility are partnering to provide visual- and learning-impaired students, faculty and staff with screen reading and magnifying software called Fusion Assistive Technology. Fusion is a combination of Job Access with Speech, a screen reader, and ZoomText, a screen magnifier. Melinda Colby, the senior director of…
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RISD to adopt new election system
Officials from the Richardson Independent School District have decided to transition from an at-large election system to a hybrid system following the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the district. The school board voted unanimously to move from an at-large system to the hybrid system on Feb. 4. In an at-large system, all voters within…
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UTD featured in ‘State of the City’ speech
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct J.J. Koch’s stance on Richardson’s proposed tax cap. He does not oppose the tax cap but opposes the mayor’s stance on it. Richardson Mayor Paul Voelker addressed local businesses, government and community members on Jan. 30 at the annual State of the City Address. Voelker highlighted…
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Anderson controversy prompts review of admissions
UTD was thrust into the national spotlight in December 2018 after a student petition to remove Jacob Anderson, a UTD student accused of sexual assault, went viral. Anderson transferred to the university in 2016 after expulsion from Baylor University. University President Richard Benson said in a statement that the university had “admitted a student while…
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Academic scandal highlights need for improved transparency
The recent controversy surrounding the Justice Administration and Leadership program came to light in a Feb. 3 report by The Dallas Morning News, in which transfer students in a criminology master’s program were awarded A’s for classes they did not attend. There still remain unanswered questions. However, The News took things a step further by…
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Q&A: Student Counseling Center
The Mercury sat down with several Student Counseling Center staff, including Kimberly Burdine, psychologist and director of community engagement; Jenna Temkin, psychologist and director of clinical services; and Jim Cannici, director and psychologist, to learn more about the changes that the Student Counseling Center has made to its operations and programming. To start off, what…
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Shutdown at the D.C. corral
During the Trump presidency, Americans have seen many records broken. We’ve broken all sorts of stock market records. No president has had more federal judicial appointments than President Trump at this point in his presidency. Now, we’ve had the longest government shutdown. However, the term “government shutdown” is a purely bureaucratic term. What has occurred…
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Remix to conviction
In early January, Lifetime aired a documentary series chronicling R&B singer Robert “R.” Kelly’s history of sexual assault and pedophilia, with alleged crimes going back 30 years. In all six episodes, one point was made overwhelmingly clear: R. Kelly’s success is fueled by not only the enablers who continue to support him, but also by…