20110727

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S A T A R L I N G T O N

WednesdayJuly 27, 2011

Volume 92, No. 124www.theshorthorn.com

Since 1919

NICOLE LUNAThe Shorthorn staff

Friends and family of two UTA employees killed in a Saturday shooting are planning their memo-rial and funeral.

Sisters Trini Do and Michelle Ta, along with three of their family members, were shot dead by Do’s estranged husband, Tran Do, Sat-urday night at a birthday party for Tran and Trini Do’s 11-year-old son at the Grand Prairie Forum Roller World skating rink. Four others were injured. Tran Do shot and killed himself at the end of the ram-page, police say. A public visitation is scheduled for today at 7 p.m. at Moore Funeral Home in Arlington. A candlelight vigil will follow at 8:30 p.m. outside the funeral home.

Do, 29, filed a protective order against her husband in December claiming he threatened her with a gun three times last year. She asked that it be dismissed weeks later, saying, “My husband promised to change and will work on our mar-riage for the kids,” according to Tar-rant County court documents.

Trini Do joined TMAC, former-

ly the Texas Manufacturing Assis-tance Center at UTA, in 2002 and had worked as a research associate handling financial records. Ta, 28, joined the TMAC staff in October 2004 and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from UTA in August 2008. She also managed financial records for the center, which is based at UTA’s Automation & Robotics Research Institute campus in Fort Worth.

The sisters were good employees, Drew Casani, TMAC regional direc-tor, said in a statement. He helped organize a small wedding reception for Ta when she married about a year ago.

“They were, without a doubt, two of the hardest workers and best peo-ple I have ever worked with,” he said in the statement.

The sisters attended Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church . Members expressed sorrow for the family. The women had many friends in the con-gregation. Ta was youth leader.

Accounting junior Si Nguyen was close friends with Ta. He organized the vigil.

“I was speechless,” he said, refer-ring to when he learned about the shooting. “I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to believe it.”

Two staffers die at hands of relative

CRIME

Michelle Ta and Trini Do were killed by Do’s husband at her son’s birthday party.

SHOOTING continues on page 3

BY VALLARI GUPTEThe Shorthorn staff

As the mercury soared past the 100-degree mark, cars roared to ac-tion during Texas Autocross Week-end races. Twelve universities com-peted Saturday for “Fastest Time of the Day” on UTA Parking Lot 49. The University of Kansas made the laps in the least time in two races, followed closely by UTA.

University of Kansas driver Nick Roberts completed the morning lap in 51.273 seconds, and UTA’s driver Chris Moulckers took 51.886 sec-onds. Roberts completed the after-noon track in 38.613 seconds and Moulckers in 38.909 seconds. Some cars sped 80 miles per hour.

During the afternoon race, UTA’s Formula Society of Automotive En-gineers team members participating in the friendly competition threw ice cubes down each others’ shirts to beat the heat.

But the heat didn’t slow anyone down.

Students had been preparing for the 11th Texas Autocross Week-end with an unprecedented passion throughout last week. UTA Formula SAE is a group of car enthusiasts who design and drive race cars that they build themselves.

Formula SAE is a collegiate en-gineering design competition spon-sored by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Moulckers, a mechanical engi-neering junior, started racing with his father when he was 16. He has been on the UTA Formula SAE team for three years.

“I have this hobby, and I would like to make it a lifestyle and even get paid for it,” he said.

Karen Hibbard came out to sup-port her son’s team in the Autocross races. Karen Hibbard’s son, Michael Hibbard, is a UTA Formula SAE team member.

She said she wanted to support him to be successful in whatever he loves.

Racers blaze through 100 degree-Texas heat

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Twelve universities battle on the pavement for 11th Texas Autocross Weekend.

BY VALLARI GUPTEThe Shorthorn staff

Tom and Chelsea Keesler moved into their apartment in the Chris-tian Campus Center building last spring.

They decided to do an unpaid internship at Free Bucks and at least one of them is there throughout the day.

“If people need something and drop by, we are here,” said Tom Kee-sler, kinesiology and physical educa-tion sophomore.

The Keeslers wake up early each morning to make sure students have enough coffee and snacks by 7:30 a.m. Free Bucks, a part of the Chris-

tian Campus Center located across the University Center Starbucks, of-fers free food and a place for stu-dents to gather.

More than a hundred students go to the center every day during spring and fall, Tom Keesler said.

It is hard to build a personal re-lationship with each and every per-son because there are many students going in and out of the center, he said.

The Keeslers also read and talk with international students who may want to learn English or become flu-ent in it.

Mechanical engineering alumnus Hui Wang loves to meet strangers.

“I like to meet people of differ-ent cultures and learn more about them,” Wang said.

Conversation and coffee at Free Bucks

STUDENT LIFE

The Keeslers intern at the Christian Campus Center’s shop and set up the free food.

FORMULA continues on page 5

BY MONICA S. NAGYThe Shorthorn staff

Designs for a refresher of the University Center’s lower level are almost complete.

The refresher will affect Student Affairs entities that work from the lower level, or basement. The ma-jority of the update includes new carpeting, paint, branding, and

some furniture and cabinet space by the first few weeks of fall.

Jeff Hazelrigs, Student Con-gress vice president, works in the basement and said the update will help make the workspace more of a destination.

“Student groups suffer from a lack of exposure,” the business ju-nior said. “Making it brighter and bringing it up to date will help.”

Hazelrigs said he’s worked in the basement since he was a fresh-man and calls it his “home on campus.”

The majority of the work should be done by September , and the carpet should be installed some-time between Aug. 8 and Aug. 12, institutional construction director Bryan Sims said.

UC lower level designs get fi nalizedFACILITIES

The downstairs renovation should not affect operations, says construction official.

RENOVATE continues on page 8

COFFEE continues on page 8

The Shorthorn: Casey Holder

Mechanical engineering junior Chris Moulckers takes the UTA Racing 2007 Formula SAE car around the track during com-petition Saturday afternoon on Parking Lot 49. Moulckers managed the second fastest time of the day, 0.2 seconds slower than Kansas University’s Nick Roberts.

The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt

Kinesiology sophomore Tom Keesler and Arlington resident Chelsea Keesler set up hot dogs, coleslaw and baked beans Tuesday afternoon at the Christian Campus Center Free Bucks Coffee Shop. Free Bucks provides free coffee, tea and snacks Monday through Friday and free lunch Tuesday and Thursday.

ONLINEFor visual renderings of the proposed designs, visit www.theshorthorn.com.


Abby Rimel, University of Kansas mechanical engineering alumna (left), and me-chanical engineering senior J.P. Merkel (center) discuss some details of the bat-tery technology that went into UTA Racings’s 2011 hybrid Formula SAE race car Saturday afternoon on Parking Lot 49. UTA Racing hosted the 11th annual Texas Autocrsoss Weekend beginning with an open house Friday in Woolf Hall.

Comics deserve eyesOPINION | PAGE 4

Google Plus’ website structure is based on practical socializing. SCENE | PAGE 6

Social CirclesColumnist wants source of movies to getas much attention as the films.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011The ShorThorn

Police rePortThis is a part of the daily activity log produced by the uni-versity’s Police Department. To report a criminal incident on campus, call 817-272-3381.

correctionsBring factual errors to The Shorthorn’s attention via e-mail to [email protected] or call 817-272-3188. A correc-tion or clarification will be printed in this space.

MondayTraffic StopAt 1:58 a.m., officers conducted a traffic stop on 1500 S. Cooper St. A non-student had a possible warrant for his arrest, but because of extenuating circumstances, he was released from the scene.

SundayWarrant Service - MisdemeanorAt 11:37 p.m., a non-student was arrested for outstanding misdemeanor warrants that were held out of Arlington Police Department 308 E. Mitchell St. The non-student was transported to Arlington Jail.

Warrant Service- MisdemeanorAt 8:11 p.m., a non-student was arrested for multiple misdemeanor warrants that were held out of Fort Worth Police Department and Benbrook Police Depart-ment 1100 S. West St. The non-student was transported to Arlington Jail.

Traffic StopAt 5:44 a.m., a non-student was stopped for operating his vehicle in an unsafe condition and he was cited for “operate/move vehicle in unsafe mechanical condi-tion,” no valid Class C driver’s license on 400 W. Grand Ave.

Warrant Service- MisdemeanorAt 2:34 a.m., a non-student was arrested on a misdemeanor arrest warrant, fol-lowing a traffic stop on 1500 S. Cooper St.

SaTurdayFire/Fire alarmAt 9:20 p.m., officers were dispatched to a fire located at the Thermal Energy Plant 301 W. Third St. Arlington Fire De-partment responded and there were no injuries.

Minor in Possession – alcoholAt 2:46 a.m., officers were dispatched to Meadow Run apartments. A non-student was issued a City of Arlington citation in connection with consumption of alcohol by a minor and a UTA student was issued a City of Arlington citation for disorderly conduct.

What you Wish the World Could Be: Early years of Six Flags over Texas: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, until Aug. 13. Central Li-brary sixth floor parlor. Free. For more information, contact Erin O’ Malley at [email protected].

Exposure: Photos from the Second Battle of Fallujah: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, until Aug. 13. Central Library sixth floor. Free. For more information, contact Erin O’ Malley at [email protected].

$2 Movie – Finding nemo: 5:30 p.m. Today and Friday; 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Planetarium. For more information, contact the Planetarium at 817-272-1183 or [email protected].

Texas rangers discounted Tickets: 7:05

p.m. The Ballpark in Arlington. Prices vary. For more information about tickets, contact Rangers Ballpark at 972-RANGERS or 972-726-4377.

THurSday

897 Square Group Show: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat-urdays; 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. Weekdays until July 29. Gallery 76102. Free. For information contact Corey Gossett at 817-272-0365 or [email protected].

one World, one Sky: 2-3 p.m. Thursdays; 1-2 p.m. Saturday. Planetarium. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children. For information contact the Planetar-ium at 817-272-1183 or [email protected].

Ice World: 6-7 p.m. Thursdays; 1:30-2:30 p.m. Sundays, Planetarium. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children. For information contact the Planetarium at 817-272-1183 or [email protected].

Prom – Free outdoor Movie: 9-10:45

p.m. Maverick Activities Center west lawn. Free. For more information, contact EXCEL Campus Activities at 817-272-2963.

FrIday

Hispanic Heritage Month Planning Com-mittee meeting: noon to 1 p.m. Multi-cultural Affairs office in the University Center lower level B150. For more information, contact the office at 817-272-2099.

SaTurday

Pink Floyd laser show: 7-8 p.m. Plan-etarium. $6 for adults, $4 for children. For more information, contact the Planetarium at 817-272-1183 or [email protected].

Today

Calendar submissions must be made by 4 p.m. two days prior to run date. To enter your event, call 817-272-3661 or log on to www.theshorthorn.com/calendar

calendar

Provost Donald Bobbitt will remain at UTA for the next several months before his transition to his new role as the Uni-versity of Arkansas System president.

His departure date is yet to be an-nounced, but he might remain through October, President James Spaniolo said in a statement Friday. Bobbitt, also the vice president for academic affairs, ac-cepted the Arkansas job on July 14.

Bobbitt will officially begin his new job by Jan. 1, 2012.

Spaniolo said he wasn’t surprised that Bobbitt was selected.

“We have been truly fortunate to have Don Bobbitt as our provost for the last couple years,” Spaniolo said Friday dur-ing a town hall meeting for faculty and staff. “And no one is going to miss him more than I am.”

— Johnathan Silver

In less than a week, UTA will enforce a tobacco ban on all university properties. The entire university community is ex-pected to help enforce the new policy.

The university is informing the com-munity of the new policy through media like UTA newsletters MavWire, Trailblazer and in person at New Maverick Orienta-tion activities fairs. Stickers labeled “To-bacco Free Campus” now adorn various locations around campus.

Starting Monday, university communi-ty members who believe someone is vio-lating the policy may informally request that individuals comply with the policy. If a direct appeal doesn’t work, individuals should contact the Human Resources Office or the Vice President of Student Affairs Office to be referred to the ap-propriate administrative official. Repeat offenders will be dealt with through an already established administrative and/or disciplinary policies and procedures.

“That’s a very positive and exciting thing for our university,” President James Spaniolo said about the new policy Friday during a town hall meeting for faculty and staff.

UTA is not alone in wanting a tobacco-free campus, Spaniolo said. During a May UT System Board of Regents meeting, the UT System Student Advisory Council recommended a tobacco ban for all UT System institutions. Spaniolo said it was nice that UTA is leading the effort in that respect.

It will take some time for some people to make the adjustment to a tobacco-free environment, he added.

— Johnathan Silver

cliche by Rebecca Stephens

Provost departure date has yet to be announced

Campus tobacco ban begins Monday

administration

student life

onlineView more of the calendar and submit your own items at theshorthorn.com/calendar.

onlineView an interactive map of today’s crime log at theshorthorn.com/crimemap.

news Front desk ......................... 817-272-3661news after 5 p.m........................ 817-272-3205advertising ................................. 817-272-3188Fax ............................................. 817-272-5009

UC Lower Level Box 19038, Arlington, TX 76019

Editor in Chief ........................ Dustin L. [email protected]

news Editor ......................... Johnathan [email protected] Editor ........................ Lorraine Frajkor

[email protected] desk Chief .................... Natalie [email protected] Editor ........................... Ashley Bradley

[email protected]

Photo Editor ................................... Aisha [email protected] Editor ........................... Jessica Patzer [email protected] ......................... Steve McDermott [email protected] ad Manager .................. Daniel [email protected]

Campus ad representative ........ Bree [email protected]

FIRST COPy FREE ADDITIONAL COPIES 25 CENTS

THE UNIVERSITy OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON91ST yEAR, © The ShorThorn 2011

All rights reserved. All content is the property of The Shorthorn and may not be reproduced, published or retransmitted in any form without written permission from UTA Student Publications. The Shorthorn is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Arlington and is published in the UTA Office of Student Publications.

Opinions expressed in The Shorthorn are not necessarily those of the university administration.

What are youdoing upthere?

Livin’ high onthe Hog! You gotta try it.

TodayHot • High 102°F • Low 80°F

ThursdayHot • High 101°F • Low 80°F

FridayHot • High 101°F • Low 81°F

SaturdayHot • High 100°F • Low 82°F

SundayHot • High 101°F • Low 83°F

MondayHot • High 103°F • Low 81°F

TuesdayHot • High 105°F • Low 81°F — National Weather Service at www.nws.noaa.gov

seven-day forecast

www.theshorthorn.com

Visit us online!

By shelly WilliamsThe Shorthorn staff

Islamophobia is the hatred or fear of all Islamic persons, politics or culture. Combine that with the topic of “New McCarthyism” and one has a graduate student’s pre-sentation on political oppression in the United States.

Economics graduate student Stephen Benavides and Khalil Meek, Muslim Legal Fund of America president, will discuss how a fear or hatred of Muslims has expanded into a fear or hatred of activists, causing political op-pression within the nation. The event is at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the University Center San Saba Room, and is sponsored by the Students for a Democratic Society. The Muslim Legal Fund of America is a charity that helps support legal cases involving civil rights and civil liberties.

McCarthyism is defined as making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist ac-

tivity during the 1950s, though unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful or irrelevant evidence.

The issues facing the Muslim community are not new and do not only impact Muslims, Meek said. Benavides, who is a part of the Students for Democratic So-ciety chapter on campus, said the issue of Islamophobia came about after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. But it’s evolved into what he calls “New McCarthyism.”

“It’s not based on communism. It’s based on ‘Do you oppose the United States’ stance on terrorism,’” Benavides said. “Terrorism is the new communism. The political op-pression that we’re talking about is that all you have to be is a white stu-dent activist who puts efforts into their stances, and you’re likely to be under investigation by the FBI.”

McCarthyism shows that abus-ing political power to limit groups based on race, religion and politi-cal ideology is wrong and can rip-ple through society unless people stand up for those who are tar-geted, Meek said.

“Currently, the primary targets

are Muslims, but this is changing quickly, and more and more peo-ple are being affected,” Meek said.

Using stories of protestors and activists stopped by the FBI be-cause of their views on The War on Terrorism, Muslims and other issues, Benavides said he wants to show how political oppression goes beyond Islamophobia.

“On Aug. 24, 2010, in cities throughout the U.S., 19 people were raided by the FBI — student activists; white, non-Muslim in-dividuals.” Benavides said as an example. “Reason was the govern-ment was under the assumption they were supporting terrorism.”

The two topics are tightly-relat-ed issues, Meek said. If the Ameri-can public hates Muslims, they’re not going to care if a few thou-sand are rounded up and placed in cages, as they were just after 9/11, Meek said.

“We need to make people un-derstand that it’s not just Mus-lims,” he said, “That if we destroy our principles for one group, we destroy it for all.”

shelly [email protected]

Students for a Democratic Society host discussion about Islamophobia

student life

Speakers will draw parallels between the fear of Muslims and the Red Scare.


made With loveCheck out next week’s Scene to read about Biology senior Cristy Kha and arlington resident Cindy Kha who create handmade jewelry from oven-baked clay. The pair molds the clay into dif-ferent shapes, including mushrooms, sushi, poop, toilet paper rolls and more. Cristy Kha said the jewelry-making process has brought the sisters closer together.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS1 People person6 Throw for a loop

10 Crew cut’sopposite

14 Good on one’sfeet

15 In __ of: as asubstitute for

16 Ring out17 Woods has often

been atop it20 Mass. hours21 Food with a

VeterinaryFormula

22 Ungentle giants23 Cilantro, e.g.24 Word on some

euros26 Hold one’s nose,

perhaps31 Power strip inserts32 It may be

promised33 Dedicated work35 Justice appointed

after Clarence36 Religiously

devoted38 Go up the creek

without a paddle?39 Doggy bag item40 She had a big hit

with “Thank You”in 2001

41 Prepares, as ahook

42 They’re fun tojump in

46 Ben-Gurionairline

47 Toll-road toll unit48 Talk Like a Pirate

Day cry51 Thrift store

stipulation52 Counterterrorism

org.55 Pet owner’s

bane, and a hintto what’s hiddenin 17-, 26- and42-Across

59 Case the joint,say

60 Plant used forfirst aid

61 Blair’spredecessor

62 Tool used tocreate 42-Across

63 “__ of Steel”: ’80sworkout video

64 Sudden increase

DOWN1 Hamster’s home2 Prima donnas

have big ones3 Happy tune4 Will Ferrell

holiday comedy5 Personal theology

elements6 Burn a dessert on

purpose?7 Helps out8 End of a common

list9 It’s W of the Urals

10 Orbital high point11 More than just

butterflies12 “Still mooing,” at

a steakhouse13 Bygone

automaker18 Banjoist Scruggs19 Watching the

clock, perhaps23 Above the strike

zone24 Biblical birthright

seller25 Getaway spots26 Suck down27 __-frutti28 Hard to get close

to29 “Yikes!”

30 Puts in a goodword?

31 Debate side34 Miami couple?36 City on the Arno37 1-Across, usually38 Word processing

command40 Indian metropolis41 Aromatic firs43 Emissary44 Misses45 Escape hatch, e.g.

48 Way, way off49 Jessica of

“Fantastic Four”50 Stink to high

heaven51 Long, long time52 Pacific

archipelago53 Volume54 Memo header56 Catch red-handed57 Fever cause58 Suds source

Tuesday’s Puzzle SolvedBy Jonathan Black 7/27/11

(c)2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 7/27/11

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.7/27/11

DR. RUTH

Dr. RuthSend your questions to Dr. Ruth Westheimer c/o King Features Syndicate235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017

Instructions:Fill in the grid sothat every row,every column andevery 3x3 gridcontains the digits 1through 9 with norepeats. Thatmeans that nonumber is repeatedin any row, columnor box.

Solution

Solutions, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 The ShorThorn

World VieWWORLD

Report: 78 dead in Morocco military plane crash, 3 surviveRABAT, Morocco — A C-130 military transport plane crashed into a Moroccan mountain Tuesday in bad weather, killing 78 people, the state news agency said. It said there were three survivors. The crash in a southern region close to the disputed Western Sahara was this country’s deadliest in years.

NATION

Conservative ire threatens GOP debt plan in House of RepsWASHINGTON — Thwarted by conservatives in his own Republican Party, House Speaker John Boeh-ner scrambled Tuesday to secure enough GOP votes to beat a fast-closing Aug. 2 deadline and stave off the potential financial chaos of the nation’s first-ever default. Even with time running out, the speaker promised to quickly rewrite his debt-ceiling legislation after budget officials said it would cut spending less than advertised. Meanwhile, public head-butting between Democratic President Barack Obama and the Republicans showed no sign of easing. The White House declared Obama would veto the Boehner bill, even if it somehow got through the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The invisible wounds of war: There’s an app for that?WASHINGTON — When terrifying battlefield memories come rushing back, causing night sweats, flash-backs or a panic attack, some troops and vets now find comfort by reaching for their smartphones. Using new-age technology to cope with age-old wounds of war, they tap into mobile phone applica-tions, or “apps,” designed to help with post-traumatic stress and brain injuries.

Ohio health care prohibition question cleared for fall ballotCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Voters will get the chance to decide whether Ohio can opt out of the national health care overhaul after the state’s top election official said Tuesday that opponents of the federal law have enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot. Secretary of State Jon Husted determined that supporters of the amendment, which would prohibit Ohio from partici-pating in the federal Affordable Care Act, had gathered 427,000 valid signatures. They had submitted more than 546,000 and needed roughly 358,000 of them validated to make it on to the ballot.

TEXAS

Gov. Rick Perry tries to rope in job transfers from CaliforniaSAN ANTONIO — In Vernon, Calif., billboards and radio ads bought by the city in suburban Los Angeles portray Texas Gov. Rick Perry as some kind of unstoppable, job-lassoing marauder — an image Perry himself would no doubt embrace if he decided to run for president. “This just in,” begin the radio spots, which started airing in June, “Texas Gov. Rick Perry is urging Vernon’s 1,800 employers to move their 55,000-plus jobs from California to Texas.” Beneath the voiceover, an emergency siren wails.

dylan Pham, Ta’s hus-band, and Ta had just cel-ebrated one year of mar-riage and were planning to move to a new home. Now, the family is trying to stay strong, Nguyen said.

Theresa Vu was Ta’s friend. They were both part of the Vietnamese eucharis-tic Youth Society at the same church.

“i really was just speech-less and shocked when i found out what happened early Sunday morning,” Vu said.

Vu went to church with a group of friends to pray for Ta and her family.

“Saying the prayers and listening to the words made my voice crack,” she said. “After that, i cried almost halfway through the mass. it seemed unreal that some-thing like that could happen to someone i knew.”

Family friend Brittany Nguyen said she was some-what aware of the problems going on in the family.

“i knew there had been some problems in the fam-ily recently,” she said. “But

i didn’t think it was serious enough that things would play out the way they did.”

Brittany Nguyen almost attended the party the night of the shooting.

“i saw both Michelle and her younger sister (lynn Ta) right before it happened. i was supposed to be there but didn’t go,” she said. “Michelle Ta and Trini do were like family to me. i moved here two years ago and Michelle took care of me like i was her own sister.”

Trini do filed for di-vorce in december 2008, but the case was dismissed in April 2009 because she did not further pursue it. in the documents filed last year, she stated she and her husband had marital prob-lems for years, but matters got worse in 2010, she re-ported.

She reported Tan do dragged her into a closet in early 2010, pulled out a gun, shot into the ceiling and threatened to shoot her if she left him. He pulled a gun again in November, she reported. on Nov. 21, 2010, as their daughter cried, Tan do dragged her into a bed-room, placed a pillow over her face and threatened to shoot her after she indicated

she wanted a divorce, Trini do reported.

The following month, Trini do requested and re-ceived a protective order against her husband, which prohibited him from abus-ing, threatening or harassing her, possessing a firearm, or going near her house, her work or the homes of her parents or sister. However, on Jan. 5, Trini do requested that the order against her husband be dismissed.

Gwen Bain, licensed pro-fessional counselor and clini-cal coordinator of SafeHaven Arlington resource Center, said most cases of domes-tic violence happen behind closed doors. When victims make a statement against their abusers, sometimes they retract it out of fear or hope.

“The abuser will threat-en the victim, and can say he’ll make matters worse for her and her family if she doesn’t drop the charges,” Bain said. “Sometimes the abuser will go into a hon-eymoon phase in which he makes promises like going to counseling to convince her to stay.”

NIcOLE [email protected]

Shootingcontinued from page 1


The impromptu memorial that has come together in front of Grand Prairie’s Forum Roller World offers words of hope to the family of the victims who lost their lives in Saturday’s shooting. Two victims of the shooting, Michelle Ta, 28, and Trini Do, 29, were employed by UTA.

OPINIONABOUT OPINION

Dustin Dangli, [email protected]

Opinion is published Wednesday.

REMEMBERThe Shorthorn invites students, university

employees and alumni to submit guestcolumns to the Opinion page.

THE SHORTHORN

Wednesday, July 27, 2010

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDustin L. Dangli

[email protected]

The Shorthorn is the official student newspaper of the University of Texas at Arlington and is published four times weekly during fall and spring semesters, and weekly during the summer sessions. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of THE SHORTHORN EDITORIAL BOARD and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of individ-ual student writers or editors, Shorthorn advisers

or university administration. LETTERS should be limited to 300 words. They may be edited for space, spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements. Letters must be the original work of the writer and must be signed. For iden-tification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s full name, address and telephone num-ber, although the address and telephone number

will not be published. Students should include their classification, major and their student ID number, which is for identification purposes. The student ID number will not be published. Signed columns and letters to the editor reflect the opin-ion of the writer and serve as an open forum for the expression of facts or opinions of interest to The Shorthorn’s readers.

EDITORIAL/OUR VIEW

We haven’t moved yetStudents need to use time left in current athletic conference

to go out with a bangDriving north on State Highway

360, there’s a UTA billboard advertis-ing the university’s move to the West-ern Athletic Conference.

Wait, wait, wait, there’s still one final season in the Southland Confer-ence this semester.

This season features a lot of “finals” so the UTA community needs to go all out and make it one of the best.

These will be the final games against the universities that have been our competition since 1963. The teams will play their SLC competition for the final time. One final game for vol-leyball and basketball on the infamous

Texas Hall stage.Teams, coaches and student athletes

need to take their game to a new level. This is UTA’s chance to leave the SLC with several undisputed champion-ships. The athletes will need to push themselves to new levels at every game to leave the SLC as a dominant force and set the tone for next year’s move to the WAC.

That means senior players will have to let their experience shine, and rookies need to get on the college level quickly.

To get UTA athletics to a new level, the teams can’t do it alone. Maverick

fans need to come together and pack all the venues. This is the final season that fans can cheer on the Mavericks to exorcise the Northwestern State demons, chop down the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, or shoot down the Lamar Cardinals.

More importantly, this is the last time fans can raise the roof at Texas Hall for a sporting event. When com-pleted, the College Park Center will host volleyball and basketball games, and the university has been teasing that the transition may occur this year.

— The Shorthorn editorial board

Since 1919

ALMOST PERFECT by Mason LaHue

On June 23, another great musi-cian was added to the 27 Club, a group with members that include Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim

Morrison and Kurt Cobain, who all died at the age of 27.

Amy Winehouse wasn’t exactly quiet about her problems with drugs and alcohol. In fact, according to Billboard.com, her song “Rehab” peaked at the number nine spot on the Billboard “Hot 100” list in June 2007 and sold 1.7 million downloads.

In the song, she blatantly says that she is not going to rehab, even though people wish she would.

Later, in January 2008, she did check herself into a facility, but it didn’t work. Like most of the people struggling with ad-dictions, Winehouse relapsed.

Addiction isn’t easy to overcome. It’s serious, it’s a problem and it’s life-threaten-ing.

Winehouse fans should take this as a message. No mat-ter how young, how attractive, how bold someone is, they can-not escape the de-mons of the world. No one is bullet-proof, and there are always consequences for actions.

After broke news about Winehouse’s death, Facebook posts started flooding my news feed. Posts of shock and sadness scrolled my page. These people wanted more explanations as to what happened to her. Others weren’t surprised and posted things like “They tried to make me go to rehab, I should of said yes, yes, yes...”

Whether a fan of her or not, a lesson should be learned.

For example, like a lot of college stu-dents, I spend some weekend nights con-suming alcoholic beverages. As long as I have a designated driver, I wouldn’t say I’m being completely irresponsible, but Wine-house has reminded me that I need to watch what I’m consuming so as to not ruin or end my life.

Amy Winehouse was an icon. She was a woman with immense talent, massive soul and colossal beauty. She will be missed by her family, her friends and her fans. Learn from her mistakes and realize it’s impos-sible to lead a real “rock n’ roll” lifestyle without major consequences.

Don’t take advice from “Rehab.” If you or a friend have issues with alcohol or drugs, get help before it’s too late.

Rock’n’roll has its price

Whether she died because of her addictions,

Amy Winehouse should serve as an example

YOUR VIEW

With the San Diego Comic-Con and release of the Cap-tain America film, last week was big for comics.

Scratch that, last week was big for media derived from comic books.

There’s a reason there has been a surge of comic book films in the past few years, and it’s because of the rich source mate-rial.

But it’s time to go back, and for comics to get some respect and get read.

Captain America made $65.8 mil-lion in its opening weekend. The Captain America comic book recently rebooted to issue #1, and it didn’t do that well. Although they both introduce the super soldier to audiences, the comic took a more unique route to how the Captain dealt with modern times.

The content is better, but price is an-other advantage to the comics. A movie ticket for the Captain America film in 3-D can run more than $12. Comic books, on the other hand, sell for about $3 or $4.

For fantastic art and stories, that’s a steal.In addition to the Captain rebooting

to pull in new readers, DC Comics is relaunching all of their books this Sep-tember. That means a new jumping-on point for fans to get the stories of Super-man, Batman and the rest of the Justice League, that aren’t told on the screen.

Resetting storylines is the comic in-dustry’s latest ploy to save a dissolving readership, but it’s a win-win for both

sides. Some stories are better told at the beginning. When I started reading this year, I was lost in year’s worth of story-lines. Did you know Bruce Wayne isn’t the current Batman? It’s the perfect time for a reboot and to start reading.

Despite its name, San Diego Comic-Con has become more a celebration of American geek culture rather than a look at the comics industry. That’s not to say the latter is gone all together, but it isn’t as relevant. Ryan Higgins, Comic Con-spiracy podcast co-host, said the show floor was about 20 percent dedicated to comic books and 50 percent to games. For what’s supposed to be the country’s cel-ebration of all things super, it shows how minuscule the comics industry is com-pared to the entertainment born from it.

The movies, television shows, video games, toys and games based off building-leaping heroes are still good (except for the Catwoman movie), but the source material doesn’t get the readership it deserves.

Reboot to

original

Comic-based movies are all the rage, but the text deserves to be revisited

YOUR VIEW

Dangli is a journalism junior and editor in chief of The Shorthorn.

Join the discussion by commenting at theshorthorn.com.

DUSTIN L. DANGLI

ASHLEY BRADLEY

Bradley is a journalism senior and Scene editor for The Shorthorn.

Join the discussion by commenting at theshorthorn.com.

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“It would have been wonderful if the temperature had been favorable,” Karen Hibbard said. “Everyone has a great spirit even in the heat.”

Karen Hibbard said she wanted to see what took up so much of her son’s time, besides studies.

She said she was impressed that students from different universities had traveled far to participate in the Autocross weekend.

Travis Bland, University of Kansas alumnus, worked on his team’s cars, trying to tighten some parts at the 11th hour.

Bland said he was glad that he could be a part of the team that came to UTA.

At friendly competitions such as

Autocross, one can actually learn from other teams, he said.

“It’s good to make connections that you can carry on for a few years, some-times even longer,” Bland said.

Moulckers worked all of last week with his team to get the cars ready for the Autocross races.

“I had only seven hours of sleep in the past week working on the hybrid,” he said.

A team of about 15 students worked on the Hybrid-’11, the latest car that uses both electricity and con-ventional fuel, for the past year. The Hybrid-’11 was supposed to get on the road Saturday but couldn’t because of voltage problems.

Vikram Nair, Formula SAE accu-mulator and frame lead, said the team did not expect ordering and receiving the car parts would take a long time.

A lot of complicated electronics are involved in the process, and the team

is mostly a team of mechanical en-gineers, the mechanical engineering graduate student said.

The team worked until 4 a.m. Sat-urday, to make sure the hybrid was safe to go on the road.

Nair said the team didn’t drive the Hybrid-’11 in the races because it had not been tested on the road before-hand.

Bob Woods, mechanical engineer-ing professor and team adviser, has worked with the team since 1983.

“Each year we have to build a brand

new car,” he said. “Teams can’t reuse the car unless they’ve made the modi-fications.”

Students work on the team free of cost because they consider it a learning opportunity. Woods said the team has an excellent blend of students, from freshmen to graduate students.

Woods said if the UTA Formula SAE team were not voluntary, the cost of each car might be well over half a

million dollars.“The hybrid car is probably over a

hundred thousand dollars, with all the equipment on it,” he said.

Lena Gerry didn’t know anything about cars when she started working on the team three years ago. Now, she is the team captain for the Formula-’12 car.

“I just knew it would be a really good way to get my foot in the door, to better myself as an engineer,” she said.

Gerry said she feels proud and con-fident when she sees the parts she helped design and build being used on the car.

“None of the parts broke down,” she said. “Everyone was excited, and I learned a lot.”

Vallari [email protected]

Formulacontinued from page 1


Evan Pistora, Wichita State University mechanical engineering senior, waits at the starting line to begin a timed lap for his team Saturday afternoon in lot 49. Texas Autocross Weekend gives students across the country a chance to test the cars they have been working on and see what other Formula SAE teams are doing.


Sean Roy, UT-San Antonio mechanical engineering senior, waits for the signal to start his run Saturday afternoon in lot 49. UTA’s Texas Autocross Weekend brought 11 com-peting universities to campus and gave racers the opportunity to test their cars on three different track set-ups.

onlineFor more Formula SAE photos, visit www.theshorthorn.com.

uta Formula Sae team meetinGS• Woolf Hall Room 102

7 p.m. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. SaturdaysOpen to all majors

uta’S race carS on the road• F-’09• F-’07• F-’06• F-’05• F-’03• F-’92

racinG SchoolS:• UTA• UT-Austin• University of Kansas • Kansas State University• Texas A&M University• Texas Tech University• University of New Mexico• University of South Florida• Wichita State University• Oklahoma State University• University of Oklahoma • Cincinnati University

SCENEABOUT SCENE

Ashley Bradley, [email protected]

Scene is published Wednesday.

REMEMBERCheck out next week’s Sound Byte where we review folk band The Wood Brothers.

THE SHORTHORN Wednesday, July 27, 2011

What is your favorite re-freshing drink?“That’s simple. It’s water.”

What is your favorite cool-down food?“I’m from India, so I eat rice.”

What is your favorite re-freshing drink?“Frappuccino Mocha.”

What is your favorite cool-down food?“I don’t really think food is a cooling re-freshment.”

SCENECAMPUS

LISTTO-DO

EXCEL Campus Activities Movie Se-ries shows PromWhen: 9 p.m. ThursdayCost: FreeWhere: Mavericks Activities Center west lawnContact: 817-272-2963What: Disney movie about a large group of students getting ready to go to prom — what they are expecting to be the best day of their lives.

The Modern shows The RobberWhen: 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday; 5 p.m. Saturday; noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. SundayCost: $8.50Where: The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth3200 Darnell Street Fort WorthContact: 817-738-9215What: A German film based on a true story about a man who decides to rob banks because he’s bored.

Madison King CD Release Party When: 8:30 p.m. SaturdayCost: $8 at the door; $15 with pur-chase of CDWhere: City Tavern1402 Main StreetDallasContact: 214-745-1402What: Madison King releases her first album, Darlin’, Here’s to You, which is pop/rock with a blues-like sound. Bands, including RTB2, David Ramirez and Here, in Arms, start playing at 8:30 p.m.

WildernessArtist: Tally HallLabel: Quack!MediaAlbum Release Date: June 21Genre: Indie-rockRanking: ★★★★

BYTESSOUND

Tally Hall was formed in 2002 while members were attend-ing the University of Michigan. The band’s debut album, Mar-vin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, includes the song “Good Day,” which keyboardist Andrew Horowitz had won a $10,000 scholarship for writing. The band is currently on tour with Austin band Speak and British singer/songwriter Casey Shea.

Read the album review and listen to a sound byte at theshorthorn.com. See Tally Hall live at 9 p.m. August 5 at The House of Blues in Dallas. Tickets are $11 in advance and $13 the day of the show.

Jay Das, chemistry gradu-ate student

Hussain Alamri, electrical engineering senior BY ASHLEY BRADLEY

The Shorthorn Scene editor

In the beginning, there was MySpace.

Since then, websites like Twitter and Facebook have ruled the land of social networking. Now, there’s a new kid in town.

Google Plus has been up and run-ning for about a month and, accord-ing PCMag.com, is already rumored to have reached more than 18 million users.

“Google has the brains. I would be afraid of them,” management lecturer David Mosby said.

The website is similar to other social networking websites because users can communicate with friends, family and colleagues, but it brings something new to the table called “circles.”

When users first sign up with Google Plus, they can set up a profile with pictures and details about their interests, like with other websites. Once they start adding “friends” to their page, that’s where the difference comes in. Instead of adding people to one list, users can add people to differ-ent groups.

The default circles are “friends,” “family,” “acquaintances” and “follow-ing.” More circles can be added. Users can pick what they share with each circle.

“You get to choose who sees your post,” business sophomore Jerry Fer-guson said. “That’s how it’s really sup-posed to be — where you add who you want and are in complete control of your page.”

He said the feature makes his on-

line social life easier to organize be-cause he can target certain posts to certain people.

Paul Adams, a former social proj-ects head at Google, researched how people interact socially and came to find that most people carry on dif-ferent lives when it comes to their circles.

In an online presentation, Adams makes an example about a woman named Debbie and her different cir-cles. In one circle, she has her friends in Los Angeles. In another, she has her friends in San Diego. In another, she has her family. And in another, she has her “swimming kids” or people that she works with.

Adams makes the point that all of these groups only have Deb-bie in common, so she wouldn’t want to post a picture of some of her New York friends danc-ing on a table at Hoot-ers for the rest of her groups to see.

“Social networks are not new,” Adams said in the presentation before showing a picture of Native Americans, one with an “OMG” bubble coming out of a Na-tive American’s mouth. “People don’t have one group of friends.”

The question here is whether Google Plus will take over, forcing Facebook and other networks down a road

similar as MySpace’s — dying.Public relations senior Jared

Chism currently interns for adver-tising firm Balcom Agency. He said when he first gets to work, where he has titled himself the integrated communication intern, he logs on to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and, now, Google Plus.

“I study this stuff to be ahead of other people who are graduating with me,” he said. “To get a good job once I graduate, I’ve realized it’s important to know how to use this stuff other than just for personal use. There are a lot of companies looking for people who know how to use social media.”

From a business stand point, circles will be good for target-ing certain audiences, whether it be consum-ers, vendors or part-ners, Chism said.

“Another pro is that if you look in the left hand corner you’ll see other tools like email, calendar and docu-ment storage,” he said. “The site is completely different because it ex-tends to be more than a social network.”

Though the site might be good for business measures, it’s still pretty user-bare, Chism said.

“People who are satisfied with Face-book and Twitter won’t start joining until they think, ‘I guess I need

to be on that because everyone else is,’” he said. “It has potential to be a game changer but it depends on how Google continues releasing it.”

Because the version of Google Plus running currently is still an unper-fected version, the only way to get an account is by invitation.

Marketing assistant professor Ritesh Saini said he thinks the invite-only access is a tactic to get more people interested in the website.

“It was the Marx brothers who fa-mously said ‘I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member,’” he said. “If a product seems to be scarce, there will be more of a demand for it.”

This tactic has worked for Google in the past, and will probably continue to, Saini said.

“The very fact that it’s attached with a well-known brand name will make people comfortable using it,” he said.

ASHLEY [email protected]

Google Plus’s circle feature lets users interact with different groups independently

NETWORKING BY NUMBERSTwitter Launch Date: March 2006Users: More than 200 million

FacebookLaunch Date: February 2004Users: More than 750 million

Google PlusLaunch Date: June 2011Users: Rumored to be about 18 million

Sources: Twitter, Facebook, www.PCMag.com


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THE SHORTHORN is currently accepting applications for the fol-lowing positions for the FALL Semester;

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HOUSING

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011The ShorThorn

Wang was an international student from China was keen

on meeting new people from different cultures, nationali-ties and religions.

Free Bucks gives him the opportunity to interact with people from China, along with those from other coun-

tries, via the Chinese Bible Study, he said.

Wang participates in the weekly Chinese-language bible study held at Free Bucks from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays.

The group cooks a Chinese dinner and bonds over cups of coffee. More than ten stu-dents take turns every week cleaning dishes and cooking for the rest of the group.

Wang said anyone inter-ested in learning Chinese is also welcome to join them.

“I learned a lot of new things and made good friends in my four years at UT Arling-ton,” he said.

Even Tom and Chelsea Keesler have learned a few words of Chinese with the group.

Chelsea Keesler said she wished more students used the study areas at the center.

“It’s nice to know that peo-ple feel comfortable to hang out here,” she said. “That’s what this place is for.”

Chelsea Keesler said it’s refreshing to see how open-minded people are.

“People just talk. It’s nice to hear them talk and not get angry,” she said.

Conversations about cul-ture and religion, which could turn into an argument, rarely do so at Free Bucks, Chelsea Keesler said.

Chelsea Keesler and her mother run an online store that sells crafts.

“[Free Bucks] is pretty much a full-time job, actu-

ally,” she said.Tom Keesler juggles his

schoolwork along with taking care of the center’s mainte-nance.

“I am the landscaper of the the center,” he joked.

Chelsea’s mother also helps the couple run the cen-ter whenever Tom has exams.

There is not a separation sometimes between personal life and work, Tom Keesler said.

“Luckily we have friends who live across the street,” Chelsea Keesler said.

Vallari [email protected]

“We’re still working on some branding ideas,” Sims said. “As far as the core de-sign, that’s complete.”

There isn’t a specific time-line for completion of all as-pects of the project as the university is still waiting on new furniture from general contractors.

Sims said UTA is await-ing confirmation from the furniture manufacturers for the delivery dates. He said they are still selecting differ-ent fabrics and colors for the furniture, hence longer wait times.

“I don’t see anything af-fecting operations,” he said.

The basement will follow UTA’s colors, orange, blue and white.

Greek Life assistant Navot Singh said they set up tem-porary tables with computers as work areas for students

because the area is cleared for updates.

He said a majority of the students won’t need to use the basement until the end of September, and they should fare fine with the stations.

Singh likes that the fur-niture and color scheme will match throughout the base-ment, something not present now.

“It will show a unity,” Singh said.

Monica S. [email protected]

Coffeecontinued from page 1

Renovatecontinued from page 1


Kinesiology sophomore Tom Keesler and Arlington resident Chelsea Keesler have worked at the Christian Cam-pus Center Free Bucks Coffee Shop serving free lunch and providing a warm welcome to the UTA community. Chelsea Keesler said they love it there and they love the students. “There are so many people that come in here, how often do you get the chance to be a part of someone’s day?” Tom Keesler said.


Arts and Hands, a local food bank in Arlington, donates all of the food that is served at Free Bucks.

20110727

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