Author: The UTD Mercury

UTD Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and External Relations Mary Evans Sias has been named president of Kentucky State University, leaving the UTD administration with its second major vacancy to fill in less than six months. Sias, who joined UTD in 1995 as an associate provost and associate professor in the School of General…

“Eurotrip” had promise as another teen cult classic, brandishing the supposed masterminds behind films such as “Old School” and “Road Trip,” but in the end, it fell far short. The story line followed Scotty (Scott Mechlowicz) on a quest through Europe for a sexy German girl named Mieke (Jessica Bohrs). With his smarmy friends Copper…

A chilly night with projections of snow did not keep UTD and Collin County jazz enthusiasts from attending the biannual Kelly Durbin & Friends performance on Feb. 13. The performance turned out to be quite popular, attracting nearly 150 people to the Jonsson Performance Hall. Suffice to say, most of the crowd was significantly older…

Strong winds ripped through UTD Feb. 19 detaching a 100-foot piece of copper from the Eugene McDermott Library’s roof. Library officials estimate repairs will cost $30,000-$50,000. “The 40-50 mph winds just rolled that thing up like a banana peel,” said Physical Plant Director Delbert Overstreet, referring to the copper roofing that was detached in the…

The UT System Board of Regents has allocated $500,000 to analyze a possible bid for the Los Alamos National Labs management contract. System Chancellor Mark Yudof was authorized to use the funding to hire consultants to explore the feasibility of a bid in a Feb. 4 meeting of the Regents at University of Texas, Brownsville.…

Poetry readings are often regarded as a bunch of literary posers listening to someone over-dramatically whining about lack of love and bemoaning their general state of being. The Underground Poetry Circus on Jan. 29 in The Pub was a pleasant reminder that this is not always the case. Living up to the idea of a…

Ice-cold three-point shooting plagued the UTD men’s basketball team when the Comets could least afford it. Leading American Southwest Conference (ASC) foe Mississippi College by one at halftime on Feb.12, the Comets misfired on 13 of 15 threes in the second half to drop a vital game 74-66. With the defeat, UTD lost crucial ground…

Spending is misguided with funding in decline. I am concerned about how the university budget is being handled. I watched President Franklyn Jenifer give the speech about increasing tuition last fall because he said we were in a serious fiscal crisis. I did understand him, until I heard that the Student Union was going to…

In the first postseason basketball game in UTD history, cold second-half shooting doomed the Comets as they fell to American Southwest Conference (ASC) West division champion Sul Ross State 77-57. With the Feb. 27 loss, the Comets were eliminated from the ASC tournament, and their most successful season ever came to an end. “It’s disappointing,…

Editor’s Note: Following is an editorial of The UTD Mercury’s editorial board. The Editorial Board consists of the newspaper’s management team (editor-in-chief, managing editor, section editors, advertising managers and copy editor.) The editorial board will discuss, debate and develop editorial positions on issues affecting the UTD community as needed. We welcome your responses. It’s the…