Editorial Board: SG must improve transparency to boost voter turnout
As 2017 Student Government elections ended with another low turnout, it is important to consider what can be done to increase student participation in choosing representatives. Only 6.5 percent of the student population made their voice heard. In an effort to improve student involvement in SG elections, The Mercury increased...
Election and reflection: Reflection
With the 2017 Student Government elections drawing to a close, the current president and vice president are wrapping up their term in office by reflecting on their administration. “I underestimated how much work it is,” said Akshitha Padigela, SG president and finance senior. Over the past year, Padigela spent 20...
Election and reflection: Election
JW Van Der Schans and Alex Holcomb from the CometUnity ticket have been elected as next year’s Student Government president and vice president, respectively. Van Der Schans, an international political economy senior, has been a member of SG since his sophomore year and has served on the executive council as...
Student Government Forum
Correction: The candidate on the far left of the stage is misnamed in the video.
Ed Board: Presidential, vice presidential candidates well-suited for uncontested positions
Because this year’s Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates are running unopposed, the Editorial Board of The Mercury has decided to publish an evaluation of the candidates in place of an endorsement. The content of the evaluation is based on an interview The Mercury conducted with the candidates. Running...
SG Report: February 20th
Net ID System SG senator Rahul Sonwalkar of the Technology Committee has finalized the creation of a new Net ID system. Passwords will expire every year instead of every six months. The new password will go into effect immediately, rather than after the 15-minute window it currently takes to update....
SG Report: February 6th
Meet Your Senators In the effort to make themselves more available to the student body, senators will meet with the leadership of student organizations, offering the officers an opportunity to voice their concerns and needs. Invitations are currently being drafted. All organizations will be invited to send their president or...
Mercury Midday News 01/26/17
This week we discuss the role that the media plays in academia with Dr. Alex Piquero and the impact of Texas’s proposed “bathroom bill” with Student Government senators.
Tobacco to be banned on campus
According to a university-wide announcement made by President Richard Benson, smoking on campus will be prohibited. Starting June 1, a comprehensive tobacco ban — which includes cigarettes and e-cigarettes — will go into effect. Of the 14 UT System universities, UTD is the last campus to implement a policy banning...