The atmosphere was electric at UTA Central Library as dozens of teams gathered for the highly anticipated 2023 Datathon on April 15.  

Teams of students worked together at the UTA Libraries' first Datathon event to solve real-world type challenges. Students used data science tools and techniques to solve problems they were given during the 24-hour event. 

Some of the skills students used to solve these problems included networking, teamwork and building relationships. 

Rubab Shahzad, a data visualization librarian, shared the feedback she received from participants indicating that the event was a success. She hopes to build upon the foundation of this year's event to make the 2024 Datathon even better. 

"If you are interested and had a good time at the Datathon, we'll have some similar workshops coming up, hopefully in summer and fall as well," Rubab said. "Follow us on Instagram throughout the year to watch for upcoming events." 

Along with problem-solving challenges, there were several workshops hosted by professionals who shared their knowledge with students. Some topics covered in the workshops include machine learning, augmented reality, data visualization and intro to data science.  

Uma Syed, an aerospace engineering major, stated that she saw the Datathon as a great way to get experience solving problems you could face as a professional.  

"I am looking forward to the workshops and all of the challenges that they are going to give out because I want to learn code," Uma said. 

Fellow aerospace engineering major, Zoila Martinez, stated she looked forward to learning how data analysis could be applied to different problems. She said that she was curious about how to use those skills in her future career.  

 One of the event sponsors, MathWorks, demonstrated its MatLab programming platform at the Datathon. This platform is designed specifically for engineers and scientists to analyze and develop systems and products.  

Armando Garcia, MathWorks Senior Customer Success Engineer, stated that MathWorks is proud to support UTA and its students. As part of the event, MathWorks hosted one of the data challenges.  

"The challenge consists of building a fitness tracker using machine learning. Hopefully, this will be a fun event for the students to learn how to use machine learning for something that is very relatable and applicable," Armando said. "It will be good practice for them to go into the industry with those skills." 

Rubab thanked the event's sponsors, MathWorks and the UTA Computer Science and Math Departments, for their continued support. She also thanked the Association for Computing Machinery UTA student chapter, who helped organize the Datathon. 

 

The UTA Datathon has started a tradition of collaboration, innovation, learning and exploring the power of data. UTA Libraries looks forward to building upon this exciting new field in 2024 and beyond. 

To get future updates on upcoming Datathon events, follow their Instagram page UTA Datathon at https://www.instagram.com/utadatathon. 

Students enjoyed a moment of calm at the UTA Central Library on Tuesday, May 2. The Destress event gave people a brief time to escape from the stress of final exams and projects. 

Music played in the background to create a soothing atmosphere as students enjoyed snacks, drinks and hot tea. As part of a relaxing exercise, students could color a mandala. A mandala is a geometric arrangement of different symbols. Mandalas are used in some spiritual traditions, but they can be used to focus attention or as an aid to meditation.  

Navneeth Krishna, a computer science master's student, shared that it is important to take time out of your day so that you can renew your mind. 

"When we learn to destress, we can learn something new and refresh ourselves," Navneeth said. "I found out quite early that destressing is very crucial. I take 15 minutes of mindfulness every day to relieve the day's stress." 

Navneeth advises that mediation is an essential tool for self-care and should be done at least once a day. 

According to the Mayo Clinic's website, there are several ways to manage stress that can have several health benefits. 

Some of these stress management strategies include: 

• Getting regular physical activity 

• Practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation yoga or tai chi 

• Keeping a sense of humor 

• Spending time with family and friends 

• Setting aside time for hobbies 

The Mayo Clinic also advises against static stress management methods, such as watching television, surfing the internet or playing video games. At first, they may seem relaxing, but they may increase stress over the long-term.  

It is also vital to eat a healthy balanced diet and avoid tobacco, excess caffeine, alcohol, and the use of illegal substances to reduce stress. 

Priyanka Cheepurupalli, a computer science master's student, shared Navneeth's thoughts about the importance of stepping away from the books for a few minutes. 

She noted that events like the one sponsored by the library allow a person to "take a break from everything and relax a bit so that the mind can get refreshed." 

Mindy Nguyen, a psychology major, stated that people need to take small steps to accomplish a goal so that one does not stress overseeing the big picture all at once. She added that taking regular breaks and pacing yourself as you study is critical. 

While exams are stressful, don’t let them consume you. Take small steps, breathe and relax.  

For more information about managing stress, visit the Mayo Clinic's website at https://www.mayoclinic.org or seek help from a physician. 

Dropkicks, bodyslams, moonsaults, colorful outfits, excited fans, and a necessary message converged during the Diversity in Spots event, held Wednesday, April 26, at the Maverick Activity Center. The event featured an afternoon of entertainment with live wrestling but also opened the door to discussing the need for greater diversity in sports.   

Before the start of the wrestling matches, former professional wrestler and ring announcer Aaron Machbitz shared with the audience how professional wrestling can be one of the most inclusive sports in the world. 

"If we have these conversations (about diversity) here in this space, then it can domino out to create these larger conversations that are much needed and very necessary," Aaron said. "This event encourages you to have these conversations to think about diversity, inclusion, and how professional wrestling can be used as a vehicle of change." 

Throughout the event, students got the chance to watch three live wrestling matches. These matches showed students that sports can unite people, strengthen communities and build lifelong friendships. 

As each match unfolded, the audience connected with the action before their eyes in and around the wrestling ring. Each time the wrestlers did a body slam, a DDT, or made a jump from the ropes, cheers from fans resonated throughout the gym. 

These cheers later boiled into a fever pitch. Phrases like "Oh no, he didn't" or "Wow" could be heard from the audience as they jumped from the seats with their hands waving in the air in surprise at what they were witnessing. 

Chris Loper, a communications major, stated that excitement could be seen as the drama unfolded in the ring. He noted that he is drawn to wrestling because of the excitement it brings to the audience. 

"I got into wrestling by watching it on television, with events like Monday Night Raw or SmackDown every Friday night," Chris said. "Every time you hear a slam in the ring, it's a dramatic moment. This is amazing." 

Chris stated that while the matches were great, the event's message was powerful one that sports need to be a place for everyone. He noted that much more work is still necessary to have more inclusion and better minority representation in sports. 

In between matches, several UTA athletes shared their history with racism they experienced in their athletic career. 

Morgan Westbrook, a UTA softball player, spoke to students about the discrimination she faced while looking at other universities' athletic programs. 

Morgan recalled the pride she felt when stepping onto the competition field against one of these other universities as a maverick and winning the game as a freshman.  

She added that diversity in sports still needs to be sought after so that future athletes won't face the same discrimination she faced on or off the field. 

Students also had the chance to explore a mobile exhibit from the UTA Libraries Special Collections Department called “Mavericks in Motion.” The exhibit highlighted the history of UTA sports and athletes, with photos and memorabilia on display. 

The Diversity in Sports event saw people from across the university not only enjoy the action inside the wrestling ring, but also take to heart meaningful lessons from the athletes who shared their stories. Not your typical wrestling event. 

Students got to hold history in their hands and make “connections” during a visit to Special Collections at the UTA Central Library. 

Latin American Culture and Civilization, Spanish 3312, students studied materials from the Chicano Civil Rights Movement on Wednesday, April 19, as part of a class assignment. 

The hands-on lesson paired students up to review a document related to the labor movement and answer some basic questions about it. These questions included finding out when the document was written, who its audience was, its importance and why it was created. 

Students later used the El Malcriado newspaper, published between 1964 and 1976 and founded by Cesar Chavez, to find the meaning behind the political cartoons in the publication. 

Professor of Spanish, Dr. Chris Conway stated that using historical documents in a lesson helps to connect students to the history they are learning about in class. 

“I have found over the years that students are fascinated with working with materials of this kind. College students and high school students are saturated in digital visual culture. They lack exposure to physical non-virtual artifacts,” Chris said. “My experience with them is that they respond positively to the materials in Special Collections. There is a hunger for that kind of tactile contact with history.” 

Evan Spencer, a public services archivist, stated that this type of lesson connects students with the past and helps them research future topics. 

“The critical thinking exercise is to analyze a primary source, but it is also to get them comfortable working with this type of material,” Evan said. “We have a lot of return visits from students to work with something that they saw during the class session. They work that into a final paper for the class or some other project that they are doing.” 

Jenna Randle, a Spanish major, stated that this type of activity helps to connect you with the information you are learning in class better. By looking at physical documents, Jenna noted that she could see similarities in historical events in different countries, such as the same type of struggles that Cubans and Americans both went through. 

Caroline Garcia, a Spanish major, stated that working with historical documents connects her with her roots.  

“For me, I think it is more a part of my culture as a Chicana to learn our history of how working conditions used to be for Hispanics and Latin American people,” Caroline said. 

The ability to not just see pictures or video about a topic, but hold the past in their hands, is part of what makes our Special Collections department at UTA Libraries so vital to the future.  

Conway shared that the point of the lesson in Special Collections is to “give them this experience of working with primary sources and to create a sense of excitement and discovery.” 

People can find more information about the UTA Libraries Special Collections Department online at https://libraries.uta.edu/collections/special-collections. 

Information about UTA Libraries can also be found through its social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

Archives have traditionally been seen as a repository of knowledge to gain insight into the past. Through a new exhibit, the UTA Libraries Special Collections archive has been reimagined to allow the creation of new art. 

The Retro Remix: Archives-Inspired Student Art exhibit is on display through Sept. 1. It features an exhibition of student art that "remixes" historical materials from the Special Collections Department. 

Evan Spencer, a public services librarian and archivist, stated that Special Collections partnered with 27 students from the art and art history program for the exhibit. Students used photos, maps, book pages, and documents from the archive to create these original works of art. 

"In the exhibit, we have displayed the student's art next to the materials that inspired it. Sometimes it was a map from 1771 that inspired a new artistic endeavor," Evan said. "We have put a QR code with each original item in the exhibit. This is so visitors can scan the code and make their own remix." 

The Retro Remix exhibit is divided into three different sections. The first section is called Layered Composition. The artwork created in this section uses several archival items to create a new original work. 

The next section is called Colorized, where images from the past that are black and white or grayscale have realistic colors added to them. 

The third section is called Question Everything. In this section, students were instructed to construct a fake image that looks believable and real. For example, an artist might add an object like an iPhone to a person's shirt pocket in a 1950s photograph. 

At the end of the exhibit, there are several items on display that haven't been remixed yet into art. People can use those items to create new artwork or use archival items used in the exhibit. They can also choose images from the UTA Libraries Digital Gallery at https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery. 

People can submit their Retro Remixes for consideration to be displayed digitally in the Special Collections Department online at https://bit.ly/41nbEZd.  

Prizes will be awarded for the best monthly submission. 

"We want to encourage students and library staff to participate if they are inclined to test their Photoshop skills," Evan said. "We want submissions and welcome different takes on different things." 

The Retro Remix: Archives-Inspired Student Art exhibit is displayed in the Special Collections Department from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through Sept. 1. 

The Special Collections Department is on the sixth floor of the UTA Central Library building.