Shambhu Sharan

 Written by Shambhu Sharan on 08-15-09

ARLINGTON – UT-Arlington’s volleyball team won a three set match against Northwestern State on Wednesday in Texas Hall after losing over the weekend.
The Maverick team took the first set 25-10, the second set 25-13 and the third set 25-12 in the Southland game against the opponent Lady Demons. UTA’s overall record is now 7-11 and jumped up to 3-3 in the SLC.
Middle blocker Christy Driscoll, outside hitter Amanda Aguilera and junior hitter Bianca Sauls killed seven each and the team had a total of .507 hitting percentage with only one hitting error throughout the game.
UTA’s head coach Diane Seymour said tonight’s mavericks played a remarkable game.

“This is probably the most crisp they have been where they are pretty error free for the night.” said Seymour. “I knew going into third set tonight that have had zero errors ended up with only one. So again that’s kind of one of those nights that you can’t do anything wrong. I wish tonight could have been every night. But, tonight was our night and I am pleased with it.”

The Demons had to wait until the third set to establish a lead, but the Mavs were quick to void it. Raegan Daniel provided 28 assists and libero Alicia Shaffer had four digs.

“We are extremely comfortable in Texas Hall,” said Emily Shearin. “Playing here makes us very comfortable. We definitely had to play our game throughout. That team was not playing as

good as we had been playing. So, we lowered our play today. Emotional side, we have to keep our emotion high throughout the game. We will definitely play our game not going their level they played.”

Northwestern State tried a late-set rally and the Mavs won the match with a 25-12 third set.

“They both did a very good job,” Seymour said. “Our two middle blockers are very quality players. I was very pleased with how Christy approached the game today. Emily had a few less kills, but I saw her take the best swing she’s taken since she’s gotten to UTA. Daniel made the blocker successful.

UTA dominated the first set from beginning to end against the Lady Demons.

“I’ve been confident in my hitters all season,” Daniel said. “But they obviously did really good tonight. We got really excited the whole match which made us play faster and harder.”
Tara Frantz, Bianca Sauls and Daniel finished the first set with a hitting percentage and the team combined 11 kills on a .688 percentage.

“We’re really confident in Texas Hall,” Daniel said. “We just need to work on taking that confidence on the road with us.”

The team put down 15 more kills on a .469 hitting percentage in the second set. Sauls added four kills and Driscoll and Daniel pitched in three each.

Shearin minded the net with one solo block and a block-assist with Daniel.

“We definitely had to play our game throughout,” Shearin said. “We knew that [Northwestern State] isn’t playing as good as the other teams we’ve been playing. We had to keep our emotion

high throughout the game.”
The next match the Mavs will play is against Central Arkansas on Saturday.
“The teams have been struggling this season,” said Seymour. “This is important match to win here home because Central Arkansas defeated North Division. Teams have other two places to play. We have only two kids who played in Central Arkansas in that Gym. We are the only one in Southwestern team Central Arkansas has not beaten. We are confident. We don’t care who are playing, where we are playing. We are going to win this match.”

UTA have defeated Central Arkansas for three consecutive years 2006-08.

Wed, 11/26/2008 – 00:13 — upif

SMU economics professor and best-selling author Ravi Batra doesn’t stay quiet when he smells a rat.

When Batra talks, alarms often go off.

And, just after Batra finished telling a government class that President-elect Barack Obama won’t be able to turn around the economy for at least three years, the fire alarms at Eastfield College went off early Tuesday morning.

For Eastfield students, it was the second day in a row that fire alarms had sounded.

For Batra’s students, alarms are nothing new.

Batra, known for writing The Great Depression of 1990, doesn’t like the government bailing out the banks.

Batra, who also spoke recently at Richland College, said the United States is facing a terrible credit crisis, and the bankers have done it again. He doesn’t think Obama’s new economic team can immediately make a difference.

“Because there will be another election in two years,” Batra said. “It will take two or three years.”

Batra, author of The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos said making a living and investing will be difficult because of corruption.

“Whenever a crisis appears, Wall Street jumps to the front row to profit from it,” Batra said. “America, wake up and say no to the worst plan yet devised for crisis profiteering.”

The often-controversial author said that instead of solving a problem in the housing market, the bailout money is going to the wrong people and institutions.

“It is an old habit of Wall-Street brokers and financiers first to generate a crisis and then to profit from it — a practice that may be called crisis profiteering,” Batra said. “They have engineered another bailout with the help of a prominent financier Hank Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. The $700 billion rescue plan is the biggest boondoggle of all time. The bankers will come out smiling but the public has to foot the bill. It will not even solve the economic problem, which stems from excessive deregulation that was once championed by Goldman Sachs and Hank Paulson himself. So now he comes to the rescue of his buddies.”

Batra, who has been battling the bailout since the idea emerged this fall, said deregulation has spawned a culture of speculation.

“Once the dust settles a bit, speculation will surge again; so oil could make a comeback and scorch the economy,” Batra said. “The government will have to borrow a lot of money; that will raise interest rates. Thus the bailout could sicken the entire economy. The slump could then spread from financial institutions to the rest of the nation. In any case, the bailout should be limited to troubled banks, which are the lenders.”

Batra, who has also written The Great American Deception, The Crash of the Millennium, The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism as well as Stock Market Crashes of 1998 and 1999, questions the thinking behind the bailout.

“Why should we bailout Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley that are the borrowers? The government wants to unfreeze the credit system; so then rescue the banks, i.e. the lenders. Why rescue the reckless borrowers like Goldman Sachs and others?”

Batra wants Congress to take another look and solve the real problem.

“What should we do? The current problem is not with banks and financial institutions, but in the housing market,” Batra said. “So the remedy should be applied there and nowhere else. There should be a partial bailout of harried homeowners who cannot pay their mortgages. They should be penalized somewhat for their reckless borrowing but still rescued for the sake of the economy.

“If homeowners are able to make timely payments for their home loans, the banks will be paid and their loans will be secure,” he said. “The banks will have a healthy balance sheet and will not need any rescue. The housing-market will also stabilize. If some banks still fail, then the FDIC will come to their rescue. The total cost of the home-owner bailout will be less than $500 billion, a fraction of what the government has promised to spend on its multifaceted bailouts — Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, Fannie May, AIG and now the entire financial sector.

“What he said is true,” Eastfield College political science and history teacher Stacey Jurhree said. “It is the corruption of our leaders. Not just at the federal level. At every level. Look at the Dallas Independent School District. And, in Lancaster, there is corruption. It is everywhere. Our leaders have become corrupt.”

Dr. Juhree said he was impressed with how Batra challenged a myth about wages.

“You always hear how increasing wages will cost people jobs,” Juhree said. “What he showed was that if you increase wages, you increase jobs.”

Batra said the country will go through some pain.

“We are moving toward a new Golden Age,” Batra said. “There is some hope.”

Batra advised not investing any money right now unless buying gold.

“You can get into gold with a bit of safety,” Batra said.

Source http://www.planostar.com/articles/2008/11/25/mesquite_news/news/12.txt

Interior design field trips in Metroplex
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
THURSDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2010 09:44 PM

Interior design junior Timothy Ballard measures the doorway Thursday at the Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park. The History of Interior Design and Interior Materials classes take measurements as part of the weekly hands-on study with 15 different buildings throughout the metroplex. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)

Interior design students are stepping out of the traditional classroom environment for a different take on hands-on learning.

In the history of interior design and interior materials classes, one architecture and two interior design professors take students on a field trip to historical buildings. The class spends the first half of the week in a lecture and reading, and the second half is devoted to a field trip to a building in the Metroplex.

Architecture assistant professor Douglas Klahr, interior design interim director Rebecca Boles and interior design assistant professor Susan Appleton teach the combined classes this semester. Students look at historical residences, courthouses, churches and museums to learn about local history and interior design.

Interior design junior Julie Berkes said she enjoys the class because it’s unlike any other class she has taken at the university.

“Slide shows and books are great ways of learning, but being able to actually go and see the building styles we are studying really makes it sink in,” she said. “And because I grew up in the area, it is nice to learn more about the buildings I have seen all my life.”

The Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park was designed by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze in 1936. The dates of the 15 buildings the two classes are studying range from 1899 to 2009. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)

The class visits buildings built from 1899 to 2009 to learn about technologies that were available during different time periods. During the field trips, students spend three hours documenting what they see and drawing sections of the buildings they explore each week.

“The different building styles I have studied are interesting, but I have also gotten a lot of drawing experience,” Berkes said. “It’s good to be able to draw something just by being inside the space.”

On Thursday, the class studied Fair Park’s Magnolia Lounge, built by the Swiss-born American architect William Lescaze in 1936.

The class divided into five groups, measured walls and studied characteristics of the international-style building.

Interior design junior Timothy Ballard studied the stylish material of doors and windows and documented it through photos and drawings.

“Being here gives clear understanding of the design,” Ballard said. “This building looks different than pictures, so I am getting a practical experience. No class offers this many field trips.”

The professors collaborate by teaching different aspects of interior design. Klahr teaches styles around the world, Appleton about Metroplex buildings and Boles about building materials.

Interior design junior Stephen Norsworth maps out part of the Magnolia Lounge on Thursday in Fair Park. Norsworth sketched out the interior and exterior front of the building as part of his group’s assigned section. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)

“I think the more students travel and see, the better they understand places,” Boles said. “They absorb more information and know how to describe it after looking at buildings.”

The professors decided to teach differently because students complained that the history of interior design class was boring when taught solely in a classroom.

“The field trips help students to understand the city in a new way,” Klahr said.

Boles said students can become better designers and get more visual vocabulary by seeing the buildings first hand.

“The class is different because we actually get to see and touch what we are learning about,” Berkes said.
http://www.theshorthorn.com/content/view/18858/265/

School of Architecture Reaccreditation to be announced in July
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
WEDNESDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2010 09:43 PM
Members of the National Architectural Accrediting Board left the university on Thursday afternoon after presenting the preliminary reaccreditation report to the School of Architecture students, faculty and staff. Members of the National Architectural Accrediting Board left the university on Thursday afternoon after presenting the preliminary reaccreditation report to the School of Architecture students, faculty and staff.

Team chair Frank Guillot read the report his five-team members prepared and said the report will be edited and reviewed back and forth between him and the school over the next several months. He will present his report to the NAAB.

“The final determination will be made in July and then the school will be notified immediately,” Guillot said.

Guillot said the report stated that the school met several expectations such as a diverse student body, outstanding faculty research, sustainability and meeting weekly office hours.

The school did not meet a few conditions such as program preparation, professional development and curriculum course details.

Guillot said Architecture Dean Donald Gatzke and Architecture Program Director Bijan Youssefzadeh are great assets for the school.

“The overall tone of our visit was exceptional and rewarding,” Guillot said. “We’d like to give the deepest appreciation to the students who shared their concerns with the entire team for the commitment to follow their education and they desire to become a good citizen of the architecture community.”

Architecture senior Marisol Hoyt attended the meeting for the first time and learned about the reaccreditation process.

“Reaccreditation means a lot for me,” Host said. “I am planning to study at UTA because the school has divisive programs.”

Guillot said the team found the students highly diverse, enthusiastic, motivated, talented and engaged. The team particularly complimented the dean for his close ties with the professional communities.

Architecture sophomore Christopher Laskoski said he loved the team’s presentation.

“I am looking forward to see more diversity as professional point of view,” Laskoski said. “The school is in good standing and hope the school will be reaccredited.”

Gatzke said he was very pleased by the findings of the team.

“They reinforced what we think are the key issues for a design school to focus on and the areas of concern are really very easy to address,” he said. “The success of this visit is what happens when everybody, faculty, students, staff and administration do their jobs in the very best way they can. It’s truly a complete team effort.”

Gatzke said the team remarked on the diversity of the school and the range of ideas, teaching strategies and content of the curriculum.

“The team’s comments indicated that the school continues to make progress at a rapid pace,” he said.

NAAB team member Joseph Mashburn said the school has a great long history.

“You are blessed to be here,” Mashburn said. “I encourage all students to take advantage of the faculty.”

David Shove-Brown, another NAAB team member, encouraged students by working hard until they reached their goal.

“You need to keep working and doing great things,” Brown said. “Feel confident you have done the work. Be familiar with your strength.”

http://www.theshorthorn.com/content/view/18916/265/

Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn senior staff
THURSDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2010 08:27 PM
GET INVOLVED
To become an ecoRep contact your resident assistant, residence director, sustainability director Meghna Tare, or visit http://www.uta.edu/sustainability/ for more information.
Sustainability Director Meghna Tare encourages on-campus residents to get interested in helping the environment with a new program next fall.

The new program, ecoReps, is a peer-to-peer educational program designed to help students in residence halls and on-campus apartments with their environmental footprint through environmental awareness and behavioral changes.

“The ecoRep program will train student leaders who will promote environmentally responsible behaviors in the residence halls and apartments,” Tare said.

Residence life Director Mari Duncan said ecoReps has two benefits.

“It is a great way to get involved for a great cause,” Duncan said. “It will make students more active and involved.”

Students should be residents and interested in sustainability to become ecoReps, she said. The ecoReps are volunteer positions.

“I hope they become proactive members of their community and implement some of the ideas and some of their ideas in regards to sustainability,” Duncan said.

The office is hoping to elect 14 ecoReps, two from each residential community in April.

Tare said she wants students’ participation and involvement in the sustainability’s new program.

The elected eco-representative will implement ideas like green movie screenings, green speed-dating, residence hall gardens.

Resident assistant Kelsey Jackson said she hasn’t heard about ecoReps, but thinks the initiative would provide resources for other programs like RecycleMania.

“I will be joining the program to represent Brazos House,” she said. “It will show students involvement not only faculty and staff. It sounds like a good program.”

Tare said the students involved in the university’s sustainability program will gain recognition through awards. The students will be listed on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Web site. They receive opportunities to participate in public forums and meetings and interact with other universities.

Students wanting to be an ecoRep for their halls or apartments can contact their residence assistants or residence directors. Students can visit the Sustainability Office in Preston Hall Room 204. Fore more information about the various programs and events, visit http://www.uta.edu/sustainability/.

http://www.theshorthorn.com/content/view/18936/265/

Blue and White Bash in UC on Feb. 26
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
Thursday, 18 February 2010 06:08 PM

Students make a music video at the 2008 Blue and White Bash in the University Center. (The Shorthorn: File Art)The Bash, one of the university’s largest traditional Homecoming events, will take place from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Feb. 26, on the University Center first floor.

The event, organized by students from EXCEL Campus Activities, started in 2001. The Bash was formerly known as the Blue and White Bash.
http://www.theshorthorn.com/content/view/18838/134/

“It’s a great way to interact with other students and classmates,” Student Activities Director P.K. Kelly said. “It’s a great opportunity to have fun. It is very interactive. The focus is active participation. This event heavily relies on volunteers.”

Each year, students get the opportunity to choose a different theme for The Bash. This year, a comic book superhero theme will set the tone for The Bash.

Kelly said he would love to have students, faculty and staff volunteer during the event, even for an hour.

When & WhereWhat: The Blue and White Bash
When: Friday, Feb. 26, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Where: The entire first floor of the University Center
Attendees: students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members“Last year, the event was based on ’80s movies,” said Angie Mack, EXCEL campus traditions student director. “All the activities revolve around the theme.”

Events at The Bash include a rock band performance, a giant Spiderman climbing wall, laser tag, a motion simulator and giant boxing rings. People can dress as their favorite superhero for a costume contest. Different comic book character impersonators will also pose for pictures with those attending. Free food and drinks will be available for attendees.

Ms. UTA Rosita Tran said the Bash is one of her favorite Homecoming events.

“It’s fun, creative and makes great memories,” she said. “It’s very inviting. Students should come out and enjoy themselves.”
Mack said there will be more inflatables and physical activities this year.

“Students should attend the event because there is free fun, free food and participation in a tradition that has been a part of Homecoming for a very long time,” she said.

Volunteers will receive free Bash T-shirts. People can sign up to volunteer at the event by registering through the Bash Web site.

Student Activities assistant director John Hillas said faculty, staff, alumni and students can bring their friends and families. Community members are also welcome.

School of Architecture’s accreditation up for renewal
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
Thursday, 18 February 2010 09:39 PM
The School of Architecture is up for review of its accreditation this week.

Five team members from the National Architectural Accrediting Board’s will visit the school on Saturday and leave Wednesday.

Architecture Dean Donald Gatzke said the team will review the curriculum, students’ work, the exhibitions of projects and tour the facilities.

Architecture associate professor Steven Quevedo said he has been coordinating the exhibition. Gatzke and architecture program director Bijan Youssefzadeh led the school’s accreditation effort.

The School of ArchitectureAccreditation lasts for up to six years
Last accredited in spring 2004
If the school passes, it would be accredited until spring 2016.
The team will meet with the advisors, faculty, staff, alumni and students when they arrive. After the team leaves, it will hold another meeting where it will give a report of its initial findings of the school.

“If students have issues, opinions and concerns, they can ask the team members,” Youssefzadeh said. “Our students should attend the meeting because it is their degrees, and they work very hard to attain the degrees.”

The school’s accreditation determines whether or not a student receiving the professional degree will be able to sit for the Architect Registration Examination after graduation.

“The accreditation is a time to showcase students’ work as well as a time to reflect on the design quality the school has established on an international level,” Quevedo said.

Alex Dahm, American Institute of Architecture Students president, said he has been assembling the students’ work to contribute toward an exhibition that will be on display throughout the school. Dahm said he encourages students to stop by the School of Architecture over the next week to discover the school’s work.

Architecture senior Ravin Reddy said he would attend the meetings with the team. He said he would like to get his Ph.D. in architecture from UTA.

“Due to the recent economic downturn, there are very few job opportunities for architecture students and graduates, so in many cases, it is a very good time to remain in school,” he said. “The faculty and staff have done a wonderful job of assembling the student work to be on display throughout the school.”
http://www.theshorthorn.com/content/view/18857/265/

Interior design field trips in Metroplex
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
Thursday, 18 February 2010 09:44 PM

Interior design junior Timothy Ballard measures the doorway Thursday at the Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park. The History of Interior Design and Interior Materials classes take measurements as part of the weekly hands-on study with 15 different buildings throughout the metroplex. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)
Interior design students are stepping out of the traditional classroom environment for a different take on hands-on learning.

In the history of interior design and interior materials classes, one architecture and two interior design professors take students on a field trip to historical buildings. The class spends the first half of the week in a lecture and reading, and the second half is devoted to a field trip to a building in the Metroplex.

Architecture assistant professor Douglas Klahr, interior design interim director Rebecca Boles and interior design assistant professor Susan Appleton teach the combined classes this semester. Students look at historical residences, courthouses, churches and museums to learn about local history and interior design.

Interior design junior Julie Berkes said she enjoys the class because it’s unlike any other class she has taken at the university.

“Slide shows and books are great ways of learning, but being able to actually go and see the building styles we are studying really makes it sink in,” she said. “And because I grew up in the area, it is nice to learn more about the buildings I have seen all my life.”

The Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park was designed by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze in 1936. The dates of the 15 buildings the two classes are studying range from 1899 to 2009. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)
The class visits buildings built from 1899 to 2009 to learn about technologies that were available during different time periods. During the field trips, students spend three hours documenting what they see and drawing sections of the buildings they explore each week.

“The different building styles I have studied are interesting, but I have also gotten a lot of drawing experience,” Berkes said. “It’s good to be able to draw something just by being inside the space.”

On Thursday, the class studied Fair Park’s Magnolia Lounge, built by the Swiss-born American architect William Lescaze in 1936.

The class divided into five groups, measured walls and studied characteristics of the international-style building.

Interior design junior Timothy Ballard studied the stylish material of doors and windows and documented it through photos and drawings.

“Being here gives clear understanding of the design,” Ballard said. “This building looks different than pictures, so I am getting a practical experience. No class offers this many field trips.”

The professors collaborate by teaching different aspects of interior design. Klahr teaches styles around the world, Appleton about Metroplex buildings and Boles about building materials.

Interior design junior Stephen Norsworth maps out part of the Magnolia Lounge on Thursday in Fair Park. Norsworth sketched out the interior and exterior front of the building as part of his group’s assigned section. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran)
“I think the more students travel and see, the better they understand places,” Boles said. “They absorb more information and know how to describe it after looking at buildings.”

The professors decided to teach differently because students complained that the history of interior design class was boring when taught solely in a classroom.

“The field trips help students to understand the city in a new way,” Klahr said.

Boles said students can become better designers and get more visual vocabulary by seeing the buildings first hand.

“The class is different because we actually get to see and touch what we are learning about,” Berkes said.

Helping others is where the heart is
Written by Shambhu Sharan, The Shorthorn staff
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 06:26 PM
When I was younger, I felt it was worthless to help others who refused or who were unable to help me.

As I grew older my attitude changed. I started to feel that helping others was my duty in life. I help by volunteering my time or money to those in need.

When I help others, it helps me develop the feeling of selflessness. When I think beyond myself and consider the needs of others, I tend to focus less on my own petty problems. My problems always seem less severe when I see some of the problems others face.

Several years ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, many people were displaced and some moved to Dallas. I was trained in relief by the American Red Cross, so I went to the Dallas Convention Center to help.

I helped the refugees there by distributing juice, fruits, clothes and water. While I was there, I also helped with the cleaning efforts around the center. It was a wonderful feeling, to be given the opportunity to help so many people in need. My personal reward was simple — seeing the smiles of the children and their parents.

People should try to help, even if they are not able to be physically present where the help is needed.

For example, in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, I could not be in Haiti to help with the disaster relief, so I organized a place in Richardson for people to stop and donate supplies and money. It was a cold and rainy weekend, but people still stopped to donate, and it felt good to be able to help even from far.

I volunteer my time in order to make a difference in the life of someone else. I volunteer my services in a variety of ways. Sometimes I give money, and other times I give my time and love to those in need.

We do so much for ourselves, we should do something for others as well.

— Shambhu Sharan is a journalism senior and a reporter for The Shorthorn
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