Category: News
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UTD celebrates legacy of founding faculty member
Holocaust survivor, retired physics professor who taught at university for 66 years passes away at age 94 Wolfgang Rindler, a professor emeritus of physics and one of the founding faculty members at UTD, passed away earlier this month on Feb. 8. He was 94. Rindler was born in Vienna, Austria in 1924 and fled to…
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ATEC dean addresses student petition
Concerns raised include large class sizes, lack of job market for graduates A group of ATEC students created a petition raising concerns and complaints about their school. The group, called Concerned Students of ATEC, created a website and circulated the petition, calling attention to what it calls the “overall instability and irrelevance” of their school,…
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Text to 911 available in Plano
New platform to allow access to emergency services without placing phone calls By the summer of 2019, residents of Plano will be able to text their 911 call center. The software upgrade will cost the city upwards of $350,000. The funding was first approved by the city council on Feb. 11, said Susan Rodriguez, a…
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Student commemorates Parkland shooting victims
Freshman paints Spirit Rocks on anniversary of shooting to honor friends killed in tragedy A UTD student spent this Valentine’s Day honoring the lives of those lost in the Parkland, Florida shooting last year. Though Katie Silverman, a political science freshman, attended elementary and high school in Southlake, she went to middle school in Parkland.…
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Chartwells workers allege lack of food safety training
Management claims all associates receive ongoing training during employment Following student concerns about food safety, The Mercury obtained evidence that suggests many Chartwells workers did not receive state-mandated food safety training until earlier this month. In Texas, the certification is considered the responsibility of the employer and is typically administered through a third-party company and…
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Richardson residents comment on councilman’s viral tweet insulting Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
Richardson City Council member Scott Dunn made national headlines last week over a tweet in which he referred to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a “bimbo.” In a statement on Monday, Dunn said he had received a number of death threats since the incident. The date and context of the tweet are unclear, as Dunn…
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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…