North Texas Daily - 1/26/17

Celebrating 100 years of excellence in journalism VOL. 109 No.2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

NTDAILY.COM

Texas legislature to debate number of issues A look into 10 issues the state will be debating

By Keoni Holoman The Texas legislature convened in Austin for the 85th legislative session on Jan. 10, and will continue to meet for the next 140 consecutive days.

Bill proposals from Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other legislators are being discussed, ranging from transportation regulations to more controversial issues like LGBT and gun rights.

Some of these bill proposals have been long debated by Texans and with the current change in federal administration, the concern is increasing.

UNT students, in particular, may feel the direct effects if some of these bills are enacted depending on their personal lives and future career fields. Here are 10 issues to pay attention to this session: Education Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposed his “School Choice” bill that will allow the property tax funds that would be allocated to a child’s public school education to now be managed by the parents so they can decide to spend it towards home or private schooling.

Four thousand people rallied at the state capitol in Austin on Tuesday in support of the decision, but this also causes concern among current and future public school teachers in need of access to those funds.

Another controversial issue being tackled throughout this legislative session is regulations to decrease the rise of improper relations between teachers and students.

The legislature will also discuss how state assessment tests hold school districts accountable.

LGBT Rights Legislation in both the Texas House and Senate have submitted a total of 21 proposals regarding the LGBT community, 17 pro-LGBT and four anti-LGBT. While there are far more proposals in favor of maintaining and expanding LGBT rights, the four in opposition have caused concern and further debate.

The anti-LGBT bills include the repeal of city ordinances that protect LGBT members from employment and housing discrimination, banning transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with, and allowing businesses,

SEE GOVERNMENT ON PAGE 2

IN THIS ISSUE

MARCH ON DENTON

Denton residents gather to protest the inaguration of President Donald Trump

By James Norman Millions of people gathered on Saturday at women’s marches in cities across the country to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Denton was no exception.

Hundreds of people gathered on the Square to show support and solidarity for the country-wide women’s demonstration. “Everyone is here for a different reason,” said Brooke Scoggins, one of the planners for the

ARTS & LIFE Band Together Dention festival pg 5 A range of local bands performed at the Band Together festival this past weekend and at various house venues.

SPORTS

Denton event. “But we all share the same values and that’s what brings us together.”

The march began at noon in front of the Courthouse on the Square. By 12:30 p.m., the demonstrators formed a circle around the courthouse, and shortly after began marching around the building, chanting a variety of slogans: “not a wall, build a bridge,” “they go low, we go high,” and “sí, se puede. Yes we can.”

Overwhelmingly, people said

Driving past some of her 2,000 acres of land, Robin Young dons a black t-shirt that reads “It is well” with a thick brush and gloves nestled on the floor. As Garth Brooks plays in the background, Young cannot help but talk about her favorite topic — bees.

“It’s just like snakes or guns or anything that could kill people,” Young said. “You don’t have to be afraid of them, you just need to understand it and respect what it is.”

She’s skeptical, however, that her bees will make an appearance today. It is a chilly 57 degrees, too cold for them to come out.

“They have two muscles, one pulls one way, one pulls the other,” Young said. “It makes them vibrate and that’s

how they fly. So just like a runner, when it’s really cold, their muscles don’t work right.”

After five years of beekeeping, she can easily tell.

Young and her husband, Jack, operate Soul Honey, a small business that sells big at the Denton County Community Market. Along with their honey, the business produces beeswax-based products like lotion bars, lip balms and various salves.

Her fascination with bees began when Jack gifted her with a two-day beekeeping class for her birthday.

“I came home with two hives and never looked back,” Young said.

Now, she boasts seven apiaries, or collections of beehives, scattered north of the North Texas High Speedway all the way up to

with the march in Washington,” said Curtis Kimberlin, a UNT student and a member of the LGBT community.

“I felt like this election was very saddening and heartbreaking for many Americans.”

As the march went on, there was non-protest activity around it. Several booths were set up with the purpose of helping people become more

SEE ACTIVISM ON PAGE 3

By Bianca Mujica

Robin checks the bee hives, trying to find a good one to harvest a honey sample. Ruben Paquian North Sanger. She and her husband own over 2,000 acres of land dedicated to livestock and their bees.

In all her years of beekeeping, Young has made it a point not use pesticides.

It’s a conscious choice and a challenge she thoroughly enjoys.

“It’s just fascinating,” Young said. “I’m a religious

person of faith and it’s just amazing to me how God’s design works. When you try to understand his design, it’s much easier than trying to do it your own way with those pesticides.”

Last year at the Texas Beekeepers Association

SEE BUSINESS ON PAGE 6

High-flying Ryan Woolridge settling in with the Mean Green

By Clay Massey The number zero flies underneath the basket at the Super Pit, pirouetting through the air. His acrobatic finishes have left fans mesmerized several times this season.

The 6’3, 175-pound point guard seems to slow down

time, dancing his way through defenders on his way to the hoop.

Hanging above the hardwood floor below, he lays the basketball up and in for two points.

The nifty finishes have started to become a signature move for freshman Ryan

Candice Adams pg 7 After overcoming lingering knee injuries, senior basketball player Candice Adams is playing her last season at North Texas.

OPINION Flag burning pg 9 Columnist Morgan Sullivan dives into why flag burning should remain legal under the Trump Administration.

the march’s intention was to show solidarity with the other marches around the country, namely the march in Washington, D.C., which attracted over 500,000 people.

But at about 1 p.m. the sound of a gong exploded across the Square and the crowd fell silent. The crowd put up peace signs in the air and observed a moment of silence. Once over, the crowd jeered and chanted, many speaking with each other.

“I wanted to stand in solidarity

Soul Honey “bee-lieves” in the power of bees First generation

By Amy Roh students share experiences

NEWS Ceremony for new building pg 2 The College of Visual Arts and Design symbolically commemorated their new building at their groundbreaking ceremony.

Protesters gather at the Square in Denton, TX to protest the recent inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Jake King

North Texas freshman guard Ryan Woolridge transferred from San Diego to be closer to home. Colin Mitchell

Woolridge. It’s something head coach Tony Benford was not only looking for, but desperately needed. With two of his guards graduating after this season, Benford needed a young guard to fill the backcourt.

So when a homesick Woolridge — then at San Diego University — wanted to transfer, Benford knew he had to make his move.

“I just wanted to get back closer to home,” Woolridge said. “I missed it.”

After finding a passion for basketball from shooting hoops in his backyard of an upscale Arlington neighborhood with his father, he decided it was something he wanted to pursue. With his father’s aide, Woolridge developed an athleticism some defenders cannot match.

“He pushed me to play all sports,” Woolridge said. “But in high school, I decided I just wanted to focus on basketball.”

Woolridge spent half a semester at San Diego before wanting to come home to Texas. He was highly recruited out of high school and ended up in California after a successful career at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield.

In his senior season, he averaged 17.3 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game as Lake Ridge posted a 24-8 record.

Woolridge was a two-star recruit out of high school, and after an impressive performance in the famous

SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8

Fernanda Ramos was the first and only person in her small north Houston town of Conroe to go to college. She remembers getting a call from her mom at the end of her first day that her dad was in her room, on her bed, crying. He already missed her that much.

Ai Van Nguyen and her family came to live with her uncle in the United States when she was six years old. Her parents spoke only Vietnamese then, and still do now. She, however, was thrown into a Texas school in first grade and was fluent in English by second grade.

Sam DeLeon did not think college was possible for most of his life. It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that his best friend pushed him to treat academics seriously so he could use education to improve his and his family’s life.

These are only a few of the many firstgeneration college students at UNT and across the country. According to a study conducted by the Department of Education, an estimated 50 percent of the country’s university population are first generation college students. Only 24 percent of those students, however, tend to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Although these three have been academically successful, they still face hardships that their peers did not. Their parents could not prepare them for the challenges they would face, their family’s income makes paying for tuition difficult and they have often felt alone.

DeLeon said it would have made a tremendous difference in his life to have someone that understood his situation and was willing to walk through things with him as he learned.

“It would have helped so much to have someone sit down with me for just 30 minutes instead of me having to play catchup,” DeLeon said. “It’s easier to start high than work back up from being low.”

DeLeon is currently an integrative studies senior, with concentrations in business, public relations and sociology.

His current and future family is his main

SEE STUDENTS ON PAGE 6

NEWS Page 2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

NTDAILY.COM

Texas Congress to debate these ten issues

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD Jihadist group crushes Free Syrian Army in northwest Syria A powerful jihadist group crushed a Free Syrian Army rebel faction Wednesday in the northwest of Syria, dealing a critical blow to the moderate win of the Syrian rebellion and to new Russian-backed peace talks, Reuters reported. The Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham group, formerly the Nusra front, launched an attack on a number of FSA groups in northwestern Syria on Tuesday. They accused the group of conspiring against them at peace talks in Kazakhstan this week.

Major Chinese steel company gets debtfor-equity bailout As China drowns its debt, metals trader Sinosteel Corp. got a multibillion-dollar debt-for-equity rescue that could be the first of many to come for state-run companies, the Associated Press reported. Sinosteel has borrowed and invested too much, too fast and posed a risk for the country’s floundering economy. Stateowned banks agreed to accept shares in the company to repay half of the $9 billion it owes.

28 killed in Al-Shabaab attack on hotel in Mogadishu Al-Qaeda-aligned Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab killed 28 people Wednesday in a Mogadishu hotel, Agence France-Presse reported. The attackers set off two car bombs and opened fire on security guards, the city’s main ambulance service said. The attack began when a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament. A second blast went off after ambulances and journalists arrived.

United Kingdom’s Supreme Court gives parliament Article 50 vote The UK Supreme Court ruled the country’s parliament must first vote before beginning the process of leaving the European Union. The decision to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty - the legal mechanism to start the process for leaving the EU - will take place by the end of March, the country’s prime minister Theresa May said. The negotiation to leave will likely take two years.

GOVERNMENT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 individuals and government employees to refuse service to same-sex couples based on religious opposition. The bills also include discipline for school employees if they choose to disclose student’s orientation to their parents, regardless of the student’s desire to withhold that information.

Border Control With a change in federal administration and campaign promises of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico border, House Speaker Joe Straus proposed cuts in border defense spending but increasing monitoring of sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants.

Transportation The ride-hailing rules that led Uber and Lyft to stop operations in Austin are up for debate once

again.

A bill introduced by Sen. Charles Schwertner proposes that ride-hailing rules apply statewide and another bill by Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas opposes this idea and plans to eliminate those regulations to create a free market.

Ride-hailing rules would require drivers to pass a background check and be fingerprinted before being hired.

While the ride-hailing rules for Denton are not restricted, a two-thirds vote in favor of these regulations could cause staffing problems and longer wait times for ride requests, but also hurt the wallets of local students who work for Uber or Lyft.

Child Protective Services Previous solutions to the high turnover rate in social workers were made in the 84th legislative session but more improvements in the system are being discussed.

Bills to lower caseloads and the number of foster group homes as well as improve the foster

healthcare management have been proposed.

Students beginning social work careers in Texas will be affected by the decisions made about CPS. In a letter to the Dallas Morning News from UNT social work major Terri C. Lynn, Lynn mentions how improvements in employee care will actually increase caseworkers’ effectiveness in the field.

“Management needs to focus on the health, pay, and well-being of their employees first, so in return, their employees will be mentally and physically prepared to help other families in need,” the letter read.

Abortion Bills from the Texas House and Senate are being proposed to reverse the third-trimester exception in abortions, ban fetal tissue donation for research and prevent abortion from being covered by insurance providers.

Matijuana legalization is being discussed again this session after numerous debates by both state and federal lawmakers over when it is appropriate if at all, to allow citizens legal access to it.

Other states like California, Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have legalized marijuana for medicinal uses and D.C. has legalized marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use.

While the answer has been a resounding “no” for decades, proposals for different allowances have been submitted. The Texas House and Senate have proposed bills that allow marijuana use not only for medicinal reasons but to grow it legally as well.

These bills have been fiercely opposed from some of the Texas House and Senate, but nothing has been decided yet.

@newzjunkie21

Marijuana Legalization

UNT research focuses on children with autism Staff Reports UNT faculty are now working on research and development for a new auditory processing training model for children and young adults with autism. A UNT press release said a $378,885 grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will fund the development of the program.

UNT department of audiology and speech-language

pathology faculty members Erin Schafer, Kamakshi Gopal and Lauren Mathews are working together to create and test a model for auditory processing training to enhance communication skills among children and young adults diagnosed as high functioning on the Autism Spectrum Disorder scale. Researchers say that this model could be adopted by Texas schools in the future, the press release said.

Researchers will recruit 60 students, ages nine to 21, to aid in their studies on high functioning autism.

Each student, with an accompanying parent for those under 18 years-old, will attend training sessions at the UNT Speech and Hearing Center three times a week for 12 weeks to complete computer-based listening training and one-onone training with a speechlanguage pathologist.

The press release said each student will use digital, remote-microphone technology to improve their signal-to-noise ratio. This technology includes a wireless receiver that the student wears in their ear and a microphone with a transmitter for the person who’s guding the student through the process.

Students will be tested on auditory and behavioral processing at the start and end of the program.

UNT begins work on new visual arts and design building

By Celeste Gracia

North Texas Daily Editorial Board Hannah Lauritzen | Editor-In-Chief Linda Kessler | Associate Editor Adalberto Toledo | News Editor Kayleigh Bywater | Arts & Life Editor Reece Waddell | Sports Editor Preston Mitchell | Opinion Editor Collin Mitchell | Visuals Editor

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To pitch a story, or contact the Editor-in-Chief, please email northtexasdaily@gmail.com

Students, professors, and other members of the UNT community gathered Tuesday inside the Lightwell Gallery of the current art building for the groundbreaking ceremony of the new building for the College of Visual Arts and Design.

Platform party members like dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design Gregg Watts, UNT President Neal Smatresk, Vice-President of Corgan, the architectural company working with UNT for design of the new building, David Zatopek, and project executive of the Hunt Construction Group, the construction business partnering with UNT, Clint Binkley shoveled sand in front of the audience.

With this symbolic event, the new building broke ground.

“I’m very excited for this building. It’s a wonderful plan. I’m so happy they could incorporate the old building and make it one big unit,” UNT Provost Finley Graves said. “Our program here is already the top in Texas and one of the very best in the whole nation. This building will signify the status of it and also elevate the awareness of the program and how unique the program is.”

Construction for the $70 million project is set to finish in the fall of 2018, according to a UNT press release. As stated in the release, features of this building will comprise of a multi-purpose courtyard with landscaping and seating, a rooftop dye garden, a new gallery with study space and a total of 181 classrooms and teaching areas.

“I think the best part is when this building was first approved, what

Officials break ground to signify construction and renovation in the Art building at UNT. The College of Visual Arts construction is a $70M project that is expected to be complete by fall 2018. Travis McCallum I asked our new dean of art to do was tell me how this building will tell a story of the future of CVAD,” President Smatresk said. “We’re looking at what will meet the needs of the art community as well as the professional world for the kinds of students we’ll produce so that we can be that creative campus that’s a part of our dream and aspirations.”

Students also shared in the excitement of faculty, although it was bittersweet for some.

“I’m not going to be here to enjoy it because I’m almost done,” fashion design student Elia Shepherds said, who is graduating in the spring of 2018. “I think it’s exciting because our fashion building right now is just a portable, so it’s very needed.”

“I think it will be nice to have everyone in the same place because

a lot of different colleges inside of CVAD are unknown,” New Media Art student Rachel Jones said. “It will be nice to have a new sense of community within CVAD.” Professors look forward to the future implications of this new building for their students’ education.

“Culturally it’s going to put North Texas on a national and international map,” associate professor Elaine Pawlowicz, core drawing courses teacher, said. “I think CVAD is posed to be one of the best art schools in this country with this kind of facility. More collaboration will be available with other colleges and we’ll have a great new gallery space that will be accessible for all students to come and see what we do.”

Dean Watts explained that the design focus of this building is to keep an open mind for what the future will hold, constructing interior spaces to be more flexible with stand alone furniture instead of built-in, while still placing emphasis on the importance of solidarity.

“The great thing about design is that it’s always evolutionary,” Watts said. “While the design will be finished, there’ll be an evolutionary aspect inside, and the building will literally live as we go forward.

The idea you heard us talking about today is bringing everybody together. One college, one building, but there’s a third part to that, and it’s one community.”

@celllyg

TRENDING @ntdaily @thedose_ntdaily @ntd_sports

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#RyanGosling Mixed reactions poured in from around the world when Madame Tussaud unveiled the wax figure of the La La Land star.

#NintendoSwitch More games have been announced for the latest Nintendo console including Splatoon 2 and Mariokart 8 Deluxe.

#MaryTylerMoore Actress Mary Tyler Moore died Wednesday at the age of 80. She is best known for her role on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 3

Denton residents unite to protest for women’s rights University’s construction

spending increases by 91.4 percent

ACTIVISM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 involved in politics and government.

Voter registrars set up their own booth set up by Stephanie Hawkins, an associate English professor at UNT. “All I’m doing basically is providing the opportunity for people to become more active and engaged citizens locally and in their state,” Hawkins said.

Some attendees, like Joseph Kane, were one of a few Trump supporters that showed up. Kane, however, showed up to understand the other side.

“I think as Americans we’re doing a disservice to our country if we don’t get the perspective of our fellow Americans,” Kane said. “It’s to experience what their narrative is and what’s important to them.”

One of the main themes of the march was to ask the question “why do we march?” Attendees were allowed to write down their answer to that question and put their answers in boxes labeled with the very same question.

“Basically the idea is to just share

By Jackie Guerrero

More and more people gathered at the Denton Square. Volunteers handed out slips to protestors so that they could write down their reason for attending the event. Zoee Acosta your reason for being here,” Hawkins said. “Share what you stand for with someone else.”

Dempsene Lester and Linda Cooper Dixon, who were giving away free Black Lives Matter

and “My President” t-shirts with Barack Obama on them, had strong sentiments against Trump but felt confident in the march.

“I want us to get back to us being a collective nation, where we look

Chants were led by volunteers that stood on the sidelines. The crowd marched on as they chanted about equality. Zoee Acosta

out for everyone and not just a select few,” Lester, a teacher, said.

While Denton didn’t have quite the numbers compared to other marches across the country, eventplanner Scoggins is happy with the results.

“I think what’s amazing is that it was just a small number of us getting together because we wanted to do something that showed unity in the community,” Scoggins said. “To have this kind of turnout shows that the community is united.”

Kane said that while he didn’t agree with some of the signs he saw, he appreciated that is was peaceful and relatively civil.

Jeff Peters, a Denton resident who was holding a sign that read “Proud Feminist,” said he believed it was important to stand up for everyone’s rights.

“I still think our power is in the vote,” Peters said. “Turning out like this is great, but the only way to fix this is to vote them out of office.”

@jamestnorman_wl

The university’s spending on construction has increased by 91.4 percent from the fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2017, due to new buildings and renovations on the UNT campus.

David Reynolds, the associate vice president of facilities, said there has been a notable increase in spending from 2014 to 2017.

“Significant changes in residence halls and dining,” Reynolds said.

“They have significantly increased their spending since about 2015. I’ll say [in] around numbers was in the neighborhood of about four to five million dollars per year, up to about 2015, 2016, 2017 has been around the 10 to 12 to 14 million dollar range.”

From fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016, the spending only increased by 12.3 percent. But for 2017, spending jumped up by a little over 90 percent.

New residence halls, upgrades in current halls, dining facilities and class buildings are the cause of the big increase in spending. Reynolds said he hopes the campus improvements cause less distractions to students than in previous years.

Students can expect to see a new track and field complex begin construction in the summer of 2017, alongside renovations to the first floor of Sage Hall, Reynolds said. In the spring, construction on Clark Park will wrap up.

Helen Bailey, division of finance and administration director, said the project-estimating process is based on looking at resources on construction cost data and understanding the full scope of the project.

Reynolds said it takes around 18 to 24 months for a project to come in and go through all the steps to getting the correct approval by the Board of Regents.

Bailey said each project varies

in length depending on the scope and dollar value of that project. The process of building each project has to do with the window of time the school has to produce either the renovation or building.

“Like the [College of Visual Arts and Design building] project is about a three-year, $70 million project, and that is the beginning of the design to opening the doors,” she said. “But a little $1 million project might be done over a summer.”

The budget funding “almost never” comes from students’ tuition, Bailey said. So students shouldn’t expect an increase in tuition rates because of the ongoing campus construction projects. The money that feeds into the budget comes from the university and locally generated revenue, higher education assistance funds, grant funding or other legislative appropriations, bonds and donations.

The donation projects usually go to non-academic projects, like athletics.

UNT student Blake Rodriguez is not bothered by the campus construction, finding it good for UNT. “I think the renovations are necessary because UNT is a very old campus, and it’s good to upgrade buildings and residence halls,” Rodriguez said.

“It makes the campus look up to date with today.”

Bailey said UNT is constantly trying to improve its flagship campus to attract new students and promote research.

The facilities UNT provides are “important to all these efforts” and is why the campus continues to expand.

“There is only one for sure thing as this campus grows and expands, and that is change is for certain,” she said.

“The university is thriving to always be the best it can be to have the best facilities for their education.”

@gagaart1

As Texas governor race looms, political Renewable Denton Plan loses website domain parties keep working Staff Reports

By James Norman Despite the end of the 2016 election, political parties in Denton have no time for rest. They’ve all set their their eyes and efforts on garnering support for the 2018 Texas Governor’s race.

“The main effort [for the next race] starts immediately upon an election happening,” chairperson for the Denton Democrats Phyllis Wolper said. “In many cases, you’ve already talked and met with candidates. It’s never too early.”

Running a political party, especially in a county with a safe Republican majority, is always about growing their followers. Officials have no time to get comfortable.

“It has to be [a year-round process],” chairperson for the Denton County Republican party Lisa Hendrickson said. “Comfort breeds laziness, and when you get comfortable, you lose territory you used to have.”

But losing territory hasn’t been an issue for the Republicans in Denton. Hendrickson said after the 2016 results, she’s more confident than ever of the direction her party is going. Hendrickson said that her party has not lost a seat to the Democrats in a decade, but that it is necessary to continue working.

Wolper’s hopes to turn Denton blue were dashed on Nov. 8 when about 35 percent of registered voters voted straight Democrat to the 63 percent of Republicans that did the

same. He acknowledged that while there was a lot of disappointment in the results of 2016, it also presented a challenge of where to go from here.

And regardless of the loss, Wolper sees potential in the amount of new people it brought out to participate.

“I’ve had dozens and dozens of emails and messages from people saying, ‘I’ve always voted, but I’ve never done anything else,’” Wolper said. “It’s time for me to be a good citizen.’”

Wolper said her party is doing this by targeting new areas with special efforts and focus to get support.

“Flower Mound, Carrollton, all of our major metropolitan cities with a special interest in where we lack representation,” Wolper said.

James Felber, the Denton Libertarian party’s chairperson, was a little more frustrated with the results than the major parties. The party received 1.47 percent of straight ticket votes, and the Libertarian candidate, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, received just 3.88 percent of the county’s vote. “[The Libertarian party] didn’t perform as well as I expected,” Felber said. “Considering that both Hillary and Trump were very unpopular candidates.”

Felber added that while their party’s candidate for the railroad commission, Mark Miller, only received 5 percent of the vote in the general election, he was by far the most qualified person in the race.

“He was endorsed by all the major

Denton County Democratic Party Chair Phylis Wolper. Courtesy

The City of Denton forgot to renew the domain for the Renewable Denton Plan’s website, renewabledenton.com, a Denton Municipal Electric spokesperson said.

The former website of the project to increase renewable energy in Denton 30 percent by 2019 now links to an advertisement for

Affordable Car Insurance. Clicking the “About Us,” “Get Quotes,” or “Contact” pages direct you back to the main page.

Manager of external affairs for the DME, Brian Daskam, said the information is still out there. He said the easiest way to access the plan’s new page is by going to cityofdenton. com and searching Renewable Denton Plan or by visiting http:// projectrice.squarespace.com/#intro.

College of Education appoints new dean

By Robert Warren

Denton County Repbulican Party Chair Lisa Hendrickson. Courtesy newspapers,” Felber said. “And you know, basically the Republican person won in a landslide and that is just frustrating.”

Felber said he truly believes there is a monopoly created by the Republicans and Democrats.

Moving from the previous race, each party has already created plans for what’s next. Wolper for example, said there is a constant process of fundraisers and meetings to “keep the lights on.”

“We have set fundraisers we have set every year,” Wolper said. “We have certain campaigns to sign up sustaining membership, then you have your special fundraising for campaigns and for outreach.”

The Democrats’ next fundraiser will be on Feb. 4 at the Appleton Arts Center. Wolper said she expects speakers from state government.

There will also be music and chili.

The Republicans have a similar strategy in regards to outreach.

Their most recent event was an inauguration watch party at headquarters in Washington, D.C. And their next big fundraiser is the Lincoln-Reagan dinner at the D-FW Hyatt Regency on March 4.

While Felber’s party hasn’t met yet to discuss their 2017 goals, there

is a meeting scheduled for February, and they have a few people ready to run for “certain positions.” He also said the Libertarians are inviting anyone who has good ideas who don’t feel like they have a home in the major parties.

The Denton County Green party could not be reached for comment.

They held a meeting Jan. 14 to discuss their goals for the upcoming year. According to their agenda, the meeting consisted of introducing newcomers, preparing for upcoming events (such as the women’s march), as well as helping prepare their members to effectively lobby their officials with written letters, phone calls and “in-person meetings.”

Though Denton Republicans may have won the most recent election, they’re working to secure their grasp on the county.

“Our goal is to make sure that even though we won, we’re trying to keep boots on the ground all over Denton County,” Hendrickson said.

“Just because the election is over, doesn’t mean you pick up your toys and go home.”

@jamestnorman_wl

The UNT College of Education will welcome more freshmen in August as the university sees more growth in enrollment. But they’ll also be joined by their new dean: former University of Texas at Austin education chair Randy Bomer.

He is finishing his term there and in the fall and will be joining with education majors and faculty to improve the quality of learning at the college.

“Improving the quality of students’ learning is the top priority of the students’ education,” Bomer said.

Bomer said he is looking into where he is going to move during spring break and will be making several visits to the campus to check it out. He said he and his wife are looking forward to being in a new change of venue.

This change will be in stature as well. Bomer will not only get a bump in status, he will also become the dean for a college regionally and nationally recognized as 4th in Texas by the Best Education Schools website.

“I will be sad leaving my faculty and students at The University of Texas,” Bomer said. “But my wife and I are really looking forward to meeting the people at the University North Texas and the coming to a new area.”

Olivia Eubanks, a kinesiology freshman, said she thought one area of improvement could be advising.

“It’s helpful,” Eubanks said. “I just wish it was more efficient in guiding us towards our career.”

In response Bomer said the college needs to make sure students are ready for their future careers.

“I agree that they should be fully equipped as they head out toward

their careers,” Bomer said. “And that can be done through career orientation and placement services.”

Daniel Flores, a kinesiology junior, said that there could be more scholarships and internships within the College of Education and suggested narrowing down what the college of education really is since there is so much under it.

Bomer said the colleges are nearly always looking for individuals, families and business to fund financial aid for students.

“We want to provide them with as much financial support as we can,” Bomer said.

Bomer also wants to place a lot of his efforts on improving research output at UNT. He said there’s room to improve and will bring in new people that will allow the university to commit more energy and funds to research.

“I want to help the university and the college to solidify it as a research institution,” Bomer said “There is some room to grow in that status. I can make very deliberate hirings in new faculty to rise rankings in the institution.”

Bomer said that there are a higher number of students in the College of Education at the University of North Texas than that of UT Austin. Bomer pointed out how the University of North Texas has really moved up in the rankings and how he is excited to soon be a part of that. He will begin his post Aug. 1.

“We need to look at existing programs and how up to date they are and then I would imagine at that time we would be looking to add new programs and would decide if so what.” Boomer said “I think the way the education is taught is good. I think they are doing an amazing job.”

@robofthunder

ARTS & LIFE Page 4

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016

Uncle Sam’s art of waving

By Austin Jackson Towering inches above the cement side of University Drive, a fiery figure waves vigorously to the oncoming traffic. Tildon Henderson, 65, marches to the beat of his own boom box, blaring one of the 20 or more CD’s he has packed for his daily venture.

The gospel music playing from his boom box preaches prosperity, singing out “He is risen!” His gestures and costume, however, warns of a different April holiday. Henderson’s job is to remind the commuters stuck in the University Drive crawl to take a break from traffic, sit down, relax and pay your taxes.

Each morning of the busy season, or the four months leading up to April 15, he suits up in coattails and a top hat, becoming a life-sized Uncle Sam portrayal of red, white and blue nylon.

He covers his face with cat-eyed

women’s sunglasses and sunscreen, making sure to apply Chapstick to his cracked, blistered lips.

Though his lips are burnt from a 40-hour work week under the sun, he still stretches his mouth into a wry little grin. Henderson said smiling is half the battle.

“They like to see people happy, they like it when you smile and get their attention.” Henderson said. “You gotta be happy, it’s part of my job.”

Working and waving In 2006, Henderson needed any job he could find, and interviewed for an entry level marketing position.

When he heard he would not only do advertising, but also be the advertisement, he didn’t care.

A job is a job, and the paycheck cleared.

He said he has worked everywhere from warehouses to baseball diamonds, but in waving, he found a passion.

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Henderson said his love and skill for the gig grew with each passing year. Before picking up the tricks of the ”human billboard” trade, he took his title, “costume waver,” literally.

He put on the costume and he waved.

Instead of feeling discouraged with the apathy of commuters, Henderson adapted, upping his game with smiles, gesturing and holding out air high fives to passersby’s.

In 2017, it’s an interactive experience, a conversation of sorts.

He appreciates the honks, he respects the eye contact but he said what inspires him to go out there everyday to put on a show are the smiles.

“The biggest adaption and joy is dancing,” Henderson said.

It’s the reason he brings his boombox and 23 CDs in a push-cart to his outdoor office.

He lacks the range of motion and spry moves of a traditional dancer. His spin-moves require several stubby

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little steps and his arms don’t venture far past his robust belly, but for what he lacks in physical talent, he said he tires to make up for it with tenacious charm.

Henderson’s charm hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Ahmed Samiullah, owner of the Valero gas station neighboring the Liberty Tax Service franchise on Fort Worth Drive, said Henderson, or “Sam” as he calls him, has been a constant joy for the past 10 years.

“He’s very funny, always making action and bringing energy,” Samiullah said. “That’s his bread and butter, standing all day long, working hard. Nothing wrong with [that], it’s his way to earn money.”

Computer engineer Wes Howard, 45, said he cherishes Tildon’s presence and considers him a fixture of Denton’s landscape.

“I always know it’s tax season when he’s out there,” Howard said.

“I look forward to seeing him and his goofy smile every year, being so enthusiastic. I actually feel a little anxious until I see him. He is older, [so] I get kind of worried something happened.”

But Curtis B. Lucky, the owner of two Liberty Tax Services locations in Denton, said that despite Henderson’s age, he has not missed a step since he took over the position.

“He hasn’t slowed down the whole time he’s been here,” Lucky said. “I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon.”

Lucky, who opened his first franchise in 2001, said the role of wavers is to direct drivers toward the office.

The position is vital to the growth of his business.

“They’re our number one resource for breaking into customers,” Lucky said. “One of our first [questions] we ask clients is how did [they] hear about us. They say, ‘Well, we saw the guy out there waving, so we thought we’d come in.’”

He said it takes a special kind of person to be a waver and that you never know if they have got what it takes until they go out there and do it. With Henderson, he has been confident from day one.

NTDAILY.COM

Tildon Henderson waves at a car, Jan. 16, as it passes outside of Liberty Tax service. Tom Gonzalez “He’s always been very confident in himself,” Lucky said. “He pushes the envelope a little more and more.

He has the personality, that’s for sure.”

No regrets After an eight hour day of laying his heart out on the street for a little over minimum wage, dusk draws in, signaling the end of his shift.

His dance moves become more subdued as he grinds out the final stretch.

When 6 p.m. strikes and the air of the balmy day is whisked away by the chill of a January night, Henderson takes off his sunglasses, exposing bright white skin around his eyes, and whips out a flip phone.

After many clicks, he sends a quick text. Within moments, his wife, Viriginia, helps him gather his boom box and his cart and the two go home for the night.

For two years, Henderson and Virgina were a dynamic waving duo: Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty. Both worked as wavers for Liberty Tax Services. But when she comes to pick him up, she prepares to head off for her overnight shift at Walmart.

Virginia said the stability of Walmart was preferred over the life of a waver.

“She’s not as wild and crazy as I am,” Henderson said.

But the idea of the pair retiring is laughable to them. They don’t envision quitting their jobs anytime

soon. Losing the purpose of work would be a loss for the pair.

This year has been harder than others for Henderson. He said the construction has both interfered with his engagement with potential customers as well as his consumption of fumes.

But he stands resolute, he doesn’t complain, he takes it.

“That’s how I was raised,” Henderson said. “If you don’t feel happy, then get happy. You gotta get with it. Feeling bad, it’s a waste of time, especially if you’re working.”

He said that while some smile, others flip him off and swerve at him to try to scare or intimidate him. For every customer that hits their blinker and decides they should get their taxes done that day, there are thousands who just keep driving.

He doesn’t let the bad get to him and said that if he is down, he fakes it until he makes it, standing guard over the streets like soul-powered Uncle Sam. He finds solace in the duty and purpose of what he calls God’s work.

Every day is a success as soon as he wakes up.

“I don’t work for the man, I work for God,” Henderson said. “Each day, getting to wake up and do my job, is a success.”

@a_jack17

Estereo Vida works to provide for Denton community

By Sadia Saeed

NEW DENTON

LOCATION lil’ d

LOCATED IN

In 1997, a quiet church was built in Denton. Small, homey and with few people, the Mission Templo Bethel was constructed for the Spanish speaking community. By 2004, the church had grown as more people joined, forcing the church to get a new home. Now, 13 years later, the church stands tall amongst its residents as the congregation grew from 80 to about 200 people.

As a need for communication among the city’s Spanish speaking community grew, Estereo Vida made its way to Denton. “[My sister] came here just to take a vacation, and that vacation became 17 years,” said Jose Paiz, a pastor at Mision Templo and an Estereo Vida worker. “She opened a church and I came in 2002 to help with the church.”

Paiz and his sister, Sofia Paiz, witnessed the beginning of the radio station when a woman from the church came to Mission Templo with an idea.

“A woman spoke to us that we were going to have a radio station in this city and that moment we started to pray and save money,” Paiz said. “I was working for a big radio station in Dallas at that time so I loved this [idea], and when she told us that God talked to her, we believed it. We had nothing, we didn’t know how to do it.”

Hitting the ground running A believer in prophecy and Christian faith, the congregation started working on setting a radio station up. With no prior knowledge or experience, the church went ahead and applied to the Federal Communication Commission with the idea for the station on the very last day to submit applications. They were the first ones approved among 8,000 applicants.

“This radio business is for big fish and we are a small one, trying to survive,” Paiz said. “But the FCC approved us. It was a miracle.”

After such strenuous work, the radio did not get on air because the church did not have money to support it. They lost their license and went back to square one - trusting in their belief.

Two months later, the FCC granted the church another license for 18 months, giving Paiz and the congregation another chance. Not wasting another moment, Estereo Vida was on air in 2015.

“We started out first air show from the [radio] tower,” Paiz said. “From there we got our first show and two months later God gave us our office and we started buying equipment. This is our second year [focusing on Estereo Vida] and our volunteers here help us a lot.”

The main team consists of Jose Paiz, Juanita Diego Estereo Vida, Marita Perez and Bertha Mitchell, who were all shocked at how far the radio has come.

“Every person involved in this thing has been nothing close to circumstances,” Mitchell said.

“Everything has been a miracle. From having nothing to having money to having this is really incredible [resource].”

Mitchell has been involved with radio for many years, and her experience has helped Estereo Vida grow in Denton. As a radio host in Mexico, Mitchell’s dream was always to work at a Christian radio station.

When she moved to Texas, her husband ran into Pastor Paiz, who was looking for someone with experience.

“I didn’t even attend this church,” Mitchell said. “So many years later I realized that God has this plan with your life. I get to work in something I love so much. How we came to happen was random, but nothing to God is random.”

Providing for the community From the beginning, Paiz has had three goals for the station: to provide education, inspiration and celebration. It was vital for Paiz to aid the community

RAYZOR RANCH

2735 West University Drive Suite 1059 Denton, TX 940-243-5660 Jose Paiz, Juanita Delgado, Marita Perez and Bertha Mitchell stand next to their radio logo. Zoee Acosta

members through a station that caters specifically to the Spanish speaking community.

“When I came here, I saw that our community has a lower level in education, so we started so many programs in church trying to educate our people,” Paiz said. “What a better way to education people than a radio station?”

Education was just to start, as Paiz wanted to also keep people inspired.

“Our people work really hard and they need to live day-by-day with inspiration,” Paiz said. “Most don’t have any documents, so they just live. They don’t know what’s going to happen so we need to inspire them. The rest, after that, is celebration with music.”

Although the station itself has only been running for about a year, the team has big plans for the future, including reaching out to second and third generations of Spanish immigrants through the culture’s love of music.

“The main focus is the Spanish speaking population,” said Marita Perez, the DJ for Estereo Vida. “We are speaking [for] generations, but our children also like the music. Sometimes they also want other songs from another station, and I figured why not bring it here as well.”

Perez said the community is what brought Estereo Vida together, and it’s because of them that they continue to operate by heading monthly fundraisers and selling food and clothes.

Their support is what guides the radio station, Paiz said. “[When we started out] we needed $100,000 and we didn’t have any, but people started to [donate] money,” Paiz said. “We don’t have the [most] expensive equipment, but we don’t have the cheap equipment. God provides us what we need.”

Estereo Vida started off as an idea two years ago, from a church that was just finding its foothold. A year later, it has provided the Spanish speaking community of Denton an outlet and a source. From new immigrants to those that need help finding something to live for as they set up their new life, and from a quiet church to a grown platform, Mission Templo Bethel rooted themselves as the providers to the community.

“You see how people grow with education and that’s our goal [with the radio],” Paiz said. “We have four people starting their own businesses.

It’s nothing short of a miracle.”

@sadiasaeed97

NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 5

RECAPPING

Local bands and artists perform in Denton venues as a part of Band Together Denton. Top: Monogamizer plays a set at LoadIn. Bottom: Artist William Austin Clay performs a set at Load-In. Sara Carpenter

By Alec Spicer

Throughout the many house venues and abundance of performances that Band Together Denton brought fourth this weekend, the sense of the community’s love for Denton’s music was apparent. Both days of the festival brought something unique and different, showcasing something for everyone.

LOAD IN | FRIDAY NIGHT 8:27 P.M. Nestled back on Riney Road, just past a high voltage Denton Municipal electricity lot, sits Load In, a veteran amongst the Denton house venue scene. William Austin Clay paced back and forth in sunglasses at the start of his set.

“I wear them because my future is so bright, I can’t see the haters, you know?” Clay said.

The crowd was immediately engaged as Clay, the only solo artist on the bill, easily commanded attention by asking everyone to get down low as he tapped each of them on their head. Laughter could be heard in between each of Clay’s songs due to his nonchalant one-liners.

“His music is good, but he’s actually a really funny guy too,” festival attendee Lydia Martinez said.

Although his 80s-esque, synth heavy sound was a stark contrast to most of the other bands on the bill, Clay’s music was still right at home as he heard the end of his set, singing “you get a job, pay your bills and then die.”

9:21 P.M. As Monogamizer set up for their performance, people were quickly making their way back in the house to catch the trio. It was the progressive rock band’s first time playing at Load In, though you would have never guess based on the audience’s enthusiasm.

Monogamizer’s sound is heavy, yet rhythmic.

“The way I would describe it is weird metal, I guess,” guitarist and vocalist Zach Collett said. “Manic.”

The band has been together for nearly three years, and it is apparent. Three fourths of the way into their set, the band noticed bassist and vocalist Randall Day’s microphone had cut out. Despite the shortage being out of their control, Day was unfazed and continued the show through its remainder with vocals just as loud as before.

In fact, it’s the same commitment to their sound that lead the crowd to applaud even louder at the end of their set, with someone from the back of the room exclaiming that they could still hear the band just as clear.

THE RABBIT HOLE | FRIDAY NIGHT 10:29 P.M. The white picket fenced yard of The Rabbit Hole was nearly empty just as headlining band Biographies finished their sound check on the other side of the front door.

The living room was met with undoubtedly the biggest crowd it had seen all night, emphasizing that it was clear the band had built their following beyond Denton.

“I know they’ve opened for Lydia before, so my

friends and I drove here from Frisco to see them,” festival attendee Kaitlin Pennell said.

Though the band, comprised of Katie and Michael Slosarski, Chance Maggard, Ethan Mclure, JD Perry and Kollin Weaver, performed in extremely close quarters, they utilized every inch of space they had.

At one point, Perry put his guitar down to hit the drums back and forth with Weaver. The band interacted with each other just as much as they did with the crowd.

Biographies ended with the loudest audience reaction of the night, matched with the most fitting lyrics.

“Let my voice resonate within-side the house.”

YELLOW SUB | SATURDAY NIGHT 8:20 P.M. Although Yellow Sub housed one of the smaller spaces for shows, the band Mink Coats packed the room with heads trying to poke through the front doorway just to listen.

The crowd was just as diverse as the line-up, which was something the band even noticed.

“What’s cool about this venue is that it’s not your normal house party, it’s bringing all genres [together],” guitarist Taylor Copeland said.

It was to this diversity that the band attributes to how well their set went.

“It was a cool experience to have a band of kids who were like nine-year-olds play right before us,” guitarist and vocalist Jared Starcher said about the band prior to theirs, Marathons and Unicorns, which features Midlake keyboardist Eric Nichelson and his sons, Owen and Tate.

It’s clear that Mink Coats was a crowd favorite as several people stuck around after their set to let them know how much their sound was appreciated.

“I actually stayed all the way until the end for this band, they were good,” UNT alumnus John Bush said.

Mink Coats’ latest release, “Cashed Hits,” can be found at bandcamp.com/minkcoats.

DANE MANOR | SATURDAY NIGHT 9:13 P.M. Across town at Dane Manor, the girls of Pearl Earl had a crowd spilling out from the living room into the kitchen and dining room.

The self described new-wave psychedelic rock group was originally asked to perform by the festival founder herself in the early stages of planning. After a short break from performing at the end of last year, the trio were delighted by the attendance in their first show back together.

“This is our first show in about three months, and the

turnout for us with this festival was way more than we thought it would be,” guitarist and vocalist Ariel Hartley said.

Among the overwhelming support was UNT junior Emily Berger, who was no stranger to a Pearl Earl show.

“This is my first time at Dane Manor, but I’ve seen Pearl Earl before,” Berger said. “They put on a great show.”

The mood of the room was infectious as it was not hard for the crowd to pick up on Pearl Earl’s obvious chemistry.

Drummer Bailey Chapman attributed this sense of chemistry to their close relationship beyond music, something that is important in every band.

“We’re so close,” Chapman said. “We aren’t just band mates, we’re best friends. We’re sisters.”

JAGOE HOUSE | SATURDAY NIGHT 10:54 P.M.

Though the seven-member band’s sound is difficult for even them to describe, it added to the overall unique vibe that Band Together Denton wanted to spread.

“We couldn’t all decide on one dynamic,” vocalist Courtney Marie said. “We all have such different tastes which resulted in our own sound.”

The group is versatile if nothing else. It was only a matter of minutes and a few songs into their set before the audience began chanting for song requests.

The crowd engagement came as little surprise to guitarist Corbin Childs.

“We’ve always had a really loyal fan base that supports us,” Childs said.

Regardless of genre mixing or extended hiatus, if there was one thing made clear by the end of the night among the audience, it was that Denton was longing for Ella Minnow’s presence.

Before Ella Minnow could even get a note in, bodies gathered shoulder to shoulder in the room with anticipation. This was the band’s first show in three and a half years, and people were ready to hear what they had to offer.

@spicer_alec

A weekend full of music leads to a $3,500 local charity donation

By Alec Spicer & Kyle Martin Hundreds of Denton music lovers gathered to form this past weekends’ first Band Together Denton festival.

The show celebrated the house venue scene throughout the city and the variety of talent in Denton’s music scene while also raising $3,500 for Mentor Denton.

TWO DAYS, 10 HOUSES, 60 BANDS

What started as a celebratory house show seven months ago quickly blossomed its way into becoming much more this past weekend.

After Tiffany Youngblood, a Denton County Volunteer and Marketing Coordinator, found herself planning a last minute house show at her own home in May 2016, she set her mind on something bigger.

The original plan was for a oneday festival at a smaller number of venues, but after a surge in interest

over the months spent planning, the festival grew.

“It was originally supposed to just be 15 or 20 bands, then the next thing I know we received 120 applications from artists to perform,” Youngblood said.

With charity in mind, ticket sales looming and band applications stacking up, they hatched a plan to distribute funds raised from the festival.

Sixty percent would go to Mentor Denton, 20 percent would be split between featured bands, 10 percent would go to the house venues and the remaining 10 percent would be used to pay off overhead and operational costs. With over $6,000 in ticket and merchandise sales accrued over the weekend, this led to over $3,500 donated to help at-risk kids through Mentor Denton, according to a press release from Band Together Denton.

In the early stages of the process,

the UNT alumnus thought it was important to figure out a way to combine two of her most important passions: music and volunteer work.

“Tiffany messaged me on Facebook with the idea last summer and I immediately replied,” festival co-founder Emily Cline said.

With this connection, Band Together Denton was born.

All that was missing was an organization to partner with, one which Youngblood and Cline came to decide would be Mentor Denton.

Cline, a local music blogger and photo editor for the Dentonite, a Denton-based blog, was more than willing to team up.

They said neither of them expected interest in the festival to grow at such a rapid rate.

“People were so willing to support charity and local music,” Cline said.

Local band Biographies plays a set at The Rabbit Hole as a part of Band Togther Denton. Sara Carpenter

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Closing out the night’s shows at Hettie Hacienda, a roughly 800 square-foot house close to the Denton Courthouse off McKinney Street, was Denton band Dome Dwellers. The trio blended mathrock and indie styles while the living room of the house was packed to the brim. After the show, steam and dank smells escaped through the doorways of the living room and kitchen. As is normal at any given house show, people tend to vibe with the music and can get hot and sweaty.

“The bands that I see at house shows are the most inspiring to me, as far as being a musician. It’s pretty intimate,” bassist Adam Sewell said.

“Seeing a band affects you a lot differently when it’s five feet in front of you.”

Dome Dwellers began in 2012 as a music project put together by three friends in college while attending UNT. Its original members were English senior David Gore, Michael Slack, a 2015 UNT alumnus with an undergraduate degree in printmaking and studio art, and one other member who is no longer a part of the band.

Gore and Slack toured across the west coast as a duo for a short time.

But now, with Sewell on bass, Dome Dwellers is a trio again.

Hettie Hacienda was festive and animated. “Standing-room only” would be an understatement, with several folks finding a place perched on the countertops, arching over the crowd among the kitchen cabinets.

Many in attendance had made stops at some of the other four venues that were hosting shows for the night. Public relations senior Kayla Whatley, was volunteering at the ticket sales table, just outside the kitchen door of the Hettie Hacienda.

Tickets were $5 for a venue pass, $15 for a one day and $25 for a twoday pass. One-day and two-day

passes were all access to any of the 10 venues.

“I’ve never heard of anything quite like this,” Whatley said. “I think it’s a good way to bring awareness to the house show scene.”

Like many in the Denton music scene, house shows are where many bands start to build a following.

Because there is no age requirement at these house venues, nearly anyone and everyone shows up to such events.

Dome Dwellers is no exception to that tradition.

“That’s how we got started,” Gore said. “We just started out playing house shows.”

When the goal as an artist is to make your art seen, exposure is a key to success. House shows offer exposure for bands wanting to make a name for themselves. At these shows, bands get to perform, mingle with attendees and sometimes even sell some merch.

“When it’s the right house show,” guitarist and vocalist Slack said. “It’s hard to pass up.”

MORE THAN EXPECTED

Though initial plans were for a one day show with a modest lineup, Youngblood and Cline ultimately decided to extend the festival into two days with ten houses and 60 bands featured. Youngblood said while diversity was a priority when it came to choosing bands, it was no easy task.

“We listened to every application’s Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Facebook before making a decision,” Youngblood said.

From rap to jazz to noise rock, the festival lineup showcased a wide variety of music present in the DFW area.

Although ecstatic about how well the event came together, Cline said she had worries as well.

“My biggest fear was that no one

would show up or that we would have technical issues,” Cline said.

Other attendees felt the festival provided a new opportunity for Denton, praising Youngblood and Cline for their originality.

“They did an awesome job with the festival,” guitarist Corbin Childs said after his band Ella Minnow’s set at Jagoe House. “Everything was on time and went really smoothly.”

While Youngblood and Cline spearheaded what came to be an organized, well-received festival, their team of volunteers was a necessity. Some volunteers, however, saw the experience as a privilege they were excited to be a part of.

“I recently moved to Arlington and was feeling really disconnected from Denton Music,” said Ashley Givens, a front door volunteer at Load-In. “I figured this was a great way to help out. And for a great cause, too.”

For others, the Band Together has given them a sense of hope for the future of the music scene in Denton.

As the festival came to a close and many of the attendees spent their weekend bouncing from house to house, one thing was clear to them — the support and gratitude for local music and for supporting Denton was alive and well.

From under-aged to middle-aged, Band Together Denton solidified that the continued support for Denton’s music is ever-present.

“I’ve been coming to house shows since I went to UNT back in the early 90s,” UNT alumnus John Bush said.

“This festival reminds me a lot of what the music scene here was like back then — vibrant.”

@spicer_alec & @Kyle_Martin

NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 6

First generation students share their struggles and successes STUDENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 motivations to maintain his 3.5 GPA so that he can graduate with honors.

With graduation in his near future, he wishes he could encourage his younger self to believe in a seemingly impossible future.

“It can be more than just an idea,” DeLeon said. “College actually is tangible.”

Academic support is at the top of Ai Van Nguyen’s list for things first generation students

need help with. She frequently struggled to understand what her peers already knew, so she made school her priority, never creating trouble for herself.

“All I ever knew since I was a kid was to study so I can have a better life for my family and myself,” Nguyen said. “My parents never ask about grades, but I have the mentality that if I don’t get into medical school, they’ll be disappointed.”

Nguyen said her parents have always been her main motivation. She goes home to Arlington every single

Spanish sophomore Fernanda Ramos, smiled as she shared her goals to travel. Samantha Hardisty

weekend, and even wants to buy them a house so they can finally have one of their own. Her older sister has been in the military for 10 years, so she does everything she can to maintain their close relationship.

“When I told my mom I was coming to UNT, she did the math to see how many days I’d be at school and how many days I’d be home,” Nguyen said.

“And every Friday when I get home, my dad has boba tea in the fridge ready for me.”

Nguyen, a biology and psychology double-major, was an Emerald Eagle Scholar but now works for the program by helping others understand things she didn’t know when she was a freshman. She often meets students similar to herself and has found a passion for using her experience to be the mentor she never had.

Nguyen isn’t the only first generation student looking to make their family proud. Many first generation students feel the need to tackle the challenges of college in order to provide hope.

Fernanda Ramos is also determined to make the people she’s close to proud. But she also hopes to prove the people who questioned her wrong.

However, getting here took some sacrifice. After being in a small town with the same people all her life, Ramos decided to move to a smaller high school for her last year to improve her ranking and financial aid opportunities.

When she decided on UNT, more challenges arose.

The people in her town on the north side of Houston either

Integrative studies senior Sam DeLeon laughs often as he recounts his college experience. Samantha Hardisty went to community college or did not go to college at all.

Some ventured as close as the University of Houston, but none left, and none would think of going as far as she did. She received support, but it was clear that she was wanted at home more than anything.

“We lived in a trailer home and my dad would say ‘wherever you go, I’m going to take the trailer, that’s why it’s mobile,’” Ramos said.

She is still close with her parents and they remain involved in her education, but she was never able to talk to them about college because they were just as confused as her.

She is now in her sophomore year as a Spanish major, and while she intends to continue,

she occasionally experiences low motivation.

“Sometimes I want to take a semester off, but then everyone back home will be proved right,” Ramos said. “I just have to remind myself that once I get my degree, I get to do what I want.”

What Ramos ultimately wants is to join the Peace Corps. But she said most people don’t understand why she wants to dedicate her life to traveling and helping people, just like they didn’t understand why she insisted on moving across the state for school.

She said she feels like the black sheep of her family and of her town.

“There was a lot of feeling like I was alone, because I

didn’t know anyone who’d done this before,” Ramos said.

While college, in general, can be difficult to go through, these first generation college students are looking more towards what’s ahead of them than the struggles they are facing now.

“I have pride in what I’ve done because not a lot of people have the opportunities that I’ve had,” DeLeon said. “I want to help people succeed and find their potential. I feel like I’m breaking stereotypes, like I’m telling others in my situation that it is possible.”

@bianamujica

Source Gaming provides a new home for passionate gamers

By Travis McCallum Fervor washes over the fingers of gamers pushing desperately to claim the victory prize. The crowd stares in awe, commenting on bold plays the competitors make on the big screen. A charismatic announcer echoes each compounding action until “thud!”

The audience lets out a deafening cry in the viewing room at Denton’s newest e-sports lounge: Source Gaming.

Robert McAshan opened doors to his new business on Jan. 5.

Source sets the precedent for a new wave of consumers to engage in video games, or what he calls “a community for gaming.”

As a small town with over 100,000 people and a concentrated culture point for diversity with two universities, many gamers in Denton were hoping for a space dedicated to gaming. McAshan hopes his niche will build a community for demanding gamers in town.

“Denton can be a fickle mistress,” he said.

McAshan never imagined he would be the owner of a video game lounge. McAshan jokes he was a career college student in school for 12 years since 2003. He graduated with a B.A. in general studies from Schreiner University in Kerrville then completed a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and technology at UNT and finished with a masters degree in 2014. Throughout his fulltime college career, McAshan worked for 10 years at Daniel Measurement & Control, an oil and gas company in Houston.

After graduating from school, McAshan knew he didn’t want to work in the oil and gas industry forever, so he left to take a yearlong vacation to find the right job for him. Not getting hired, he eventually created his own job as owner of Source Gaming.

McAshan said Source Gaming sets itself apart from companies in the past because it doesn’t nickel-and-dime customers to

play video games, and they are free to experiment with virtual reality technology or attend tournaments. Members are able to play their own games or the many free-to-play titles offered, including League of Legends and Final Fantasy XV. The goal is to fill all the machines while keeping the prices low.

Source wants to operate as a third home or space for high school and college students.

Parents are also an ideal consumer with an option for parental controls when they bring their children.

An entire room is available with two HTC Vive headsets for maximum exposure to VR. McAshan jokes at the intense battleship games players simulate.

There’s even a Playstation VR headset for people who prefer console play sitting down.

“When we went off to the E3 [gaming convention], the two biggest buzz words were e-sports and VR,” Marketing Director Warren Lee said.

Electronic Technician David Eller focused on his opponent in Street Fighter V. Travis McCallum Different events allow Source to collaborate with organizations like TESPA UNT, an e-sports organization. An ongoing program called the Red Line Series

features weekly tournaments like SMASH 4 where players will have the opportunity to compete for prize money in their favorite video games. Talks are in the way

to include local businesses, like More Fun Comics and Games.

@Travis_McCallum

North Texas couple keeps beekeeping local BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Convention, Soul Honey won first place in the “Black Jar Blend” category, where visitors vote on the best honey without knowing its source.

In fact, their honey also beat the Texas State Fair winner.

“People are really just amazed

at the fact that it’s all local honey,” Young said. “It’s maybe five, 10 minutes away from Denton. They’re pretty much getting it as locally as they can get it. So we get really positive feedback.”

As her truck rumbles onto the dirt road, Young recalls the day she was stung the worst. She was eight months pregnant with her youngest when a dozen bees surrounded her.

Young was too busy ushering her children to church to pay much attention. Onlookers, however, thought otherwise.

“I had women and men come up to me saying ‘Are you okay?’ and ‘Do you need to talk to somebody?’”

Young said. “They thought my husband was beating the hell out of me. I go and look in the bathroom and I have two black eyes and my

Robin’s husband Jack about to light the smoker, getting ready to look inside a hive. Ruben Paquian

face is all swollen, and I thought, ‘I need to let more people know I’m a beekeeper.’”

Young cultivates top-bar hives, a type of hive that harvests the whole swarm. This naturally makes the bees’ home cleaner and less prone to bacteria.

“In a top-bar hive, I harvest the whole comb,” Young said. “The honey and everything. That gives me more beeswax to make my products, but it also makes my bees work a little harder because they’ll have to rebuild what is lost.”

As Young prepares to open one of them, she gestures to come closer.

“Come on, be a part of this,” Young said.

It’s an easy gesture for Young, who gives presentations, tours and apprenticeships to the public about beekeeping. Every year, Young mentors 10 people, with the option of bringing a buddy along.

Apprentices are exposed to multiple hives on her farm and are even given the ability to build two of their own.

“Robin was offering such an enormous amount of knowledge,” former apprentice Kelly McGill said. “She wanted to help us get started and was willing to stay with us for a year. You could tell she did her research and she was excited to

hear what we thought as well.”

Recently, a species of bees was declared endangered for the first time in U.S. history. The wildlife service blames climate change, pesticides and loss of habitat.

In the face of this news, Young sees her apprenticeships as a way to help with their extinction.

“It’s not just the bees that are dying off, it’s the beekeepers,” Young said. “So many beekeepers are older, retired people. So I’m trying to get younger people to do it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also not.

[Because of the harvesting season], you’re free when crunch time comes to spend time with your families.”

Meanwhile, Young and her husband operate a sort of tag team.

He tends to the livestock, but still helps with harvesting the honey and other operations.

“I love the beneficial things and the medicinal purposes that come from the products,” Jack said. “It’s great to see the benefits that come out of them.”

The two are planning to open their market in April and look forward to interacting with their customers.

Although Soul Honey has received offers to sell their products at local grocers, they’ve decided to remain at the farmer’s market.

“I’m getting to the people of

Denton,” Young said. “People that I can talk to and get feedback on, where I feel like I’m closer with my customers. It’s just a very unique experience.”

Likewise, the customers of Denton have noticed Young’s dedication to the community.

“Her knowledge and passion for educating was so impressive,” customer Kandice Andrew Ray said. “Her property is beautiful yet functional, her products are amazing and her dedication to the wellness of bees is inspirational.

She also accepted no payment for the field trip. It’s her gift to the community.”

All of Soul Honey’s products are emblazoned with the Bible verse of Proverbs 16:24, which states that “pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

With the Denton community, perhaps Young is doing just that.

“I believe that honey can help you in many ways,” Young said. “I’m not a doctor so I can’t say how, but I believe it can really do you some good.”

@rohmyboat

SPORTS Page 7

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

NTDAILY.COM

Candice Adams going out with a bang in final season at North Texas

Nor th Texas senior guard Candice Adams (14) walks down the cour t. Dylan Nadwodny

By Matt Brune At a normal practice for the Mean Green women’s basketball team, most of the players go through various ball-handling, rebounding or defensive drills.

While they do this, senior guard Candice Adams can be found at an open hoop standing in one spot for several minutes sculpting her already faultless jump shot.

She does this time and time again, all by her lonesome. Once she is satisfied shooting from one area, she moves to another spot on the court. Adams repeats this routine for hours on end.

After years of fighting

lingering — particularly to her left knee — this is what Adams is relegated to in practice. No fast-paced drills or hard cutting for her, just the sweet sound of the net when she splashes home a jumper. “[Candice] is a warrior,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “She’s been through a lot. If you didn’t see that big bulky brace you’d never know anything was wrong with her. She symbolizes heart.

I honestly feel like when she’s rolling and leading we follow her.”

Adams is one of only two players on the current roster who have been at North Texas for four years. The other, senior forward Terra Ellison, has been

by Adams’ side the entire way.

In their tenure, the two have seen it all: teammates leaving, injuries and even a coaching change after their sophomore season.

“It’s been a journey, but [Terra and I] are grateful,” Adams said.

“We’ve seen two years of our first coach, [then we] came back and tried to rebuild the program with a new coach in our last two years.”

When she plays, Adams is known for two things, shooting and drawing charges. With 17, Adams currently leads Conference USA in charges taken. Her ability to step in front of oncoming opponents serves as the team’s rim protector of

sorts, deterring opponents from the paint. When she gets the call, Adams not only gets her team the ball back, but fires up the bench in the process. It’s a skill very few players possess because it is a scary thing to do.

It never feels good absorbing contact from an incoming player.

For someone with a lengthy injury history, it shows just how dedicated Adams is to the game and her teammates. “[Those plays] are a big momentum shift, I think it really gets us going,” sophomore guard Terriell Bradley said.

“Especially on offense, that helps us turn it up.”

Adams also acts as the

stress enough how much growth and maturity that I’ve accomplished.”

While her scoring and shooting ability is undeniable, Adams does more than make shots. She is the heart of the team.

Her coaches and peers attest to that. In every film session and practice she’s tuned in, admits her errors and aims to improve her game despite the restrictions she encounters.

“She’s one of two players that have been here for four years, so she’s been through the ups and downs,” Mitchell said “[She] really wants to go out with a bang and you can tell by her fire.

Hopefully we’ll keep following the energy she brings.”

In ninth grade, Adams verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Texas at Austin. However, she never played a game for the Longhorns as a gruesome ACL tear sidelined her for a substantial amount of time.

As a result, Texas revoked its scholarship offer.

Now, three and a half years after she first came to the University of North Texas, Adams is trying to soak in every moment in her final season. She knows her games in a Mean Green uniform are numbered, but she intends to make the most of every single one of them.

“Coach always tells me ‘this is it, go out with a bang, have no regrets,’” Adams said. “So I take my shots, I do what I’m supposed to do, and everything else will fall into place.”

team’s de-facto floor general. In several moments during games, Adams will reign the players on the court into a small huddle, usually before an opposing free throw attempt. The messages are usually clear and concise and the team frequently responds.

As a captain, Adams has become somewhat of an oncourt coach, aligning the team at either end of the court.

“Candice is our most vocal leader of course,” Bradley said.

“She keeps everyone in line [and] she really gets on us when we need it, but you need a person like that on any team.”

Equally as important as her leadership are her abilities on the court. Over the years, Adams has nearly perfected her shot. This season, she is shooting a career-high 40.2 percent from beyond the arc.

She leads C-USA in three-point percentage among players who attempt over five three-pointers per game.

Adams is also re-writing the North Texas history books.

Her 40.2 percent shooting clip from deep is currently fifth in school history. She is also fourth in program history in threes made and attempted.

It didn’t always come easy for her, though.

As a freshman, Adams shot 24.3 percent from three, averaged 6.2 points per game, and hit 17 threes in 23 games.

Suffice to say, she’s grown on the hardwood. Despite her major improvements, Adams believes her greatest accomplishment has come off the court.

“My growth mentally, as a leader, as a player and just as a person period, I’ve grown so much” Adams said. “I cannot

-N

@mattbrune25

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NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 8

Mean Green tennis facing familiar foes with revenge on their mind

By Cesar Valdes

Senior Alexis Thoma practices one-on-one with head coach Sujay Lama during practice on Thursday. The UNT tennis team faced Oklahoma State University on Saturday and lost 7-0. Katie Jenkins

The North Texas tennis team is hoping to serve up some revenge.

After being ousted by several schools last year, the Mean Green will get another crack this season at the teams they weren’t able to solve.

Of the 20 dual matches North Texas will play in 2017, half of them will be against opponents previously faced. The slate of 10 rematches are highlighted by bouts with Texas Christian University and Kansas State University.

The Mean Green finished 3-7 against these foes, and were only able to top the University of Texas at Arlington, Oklahoma University and Memphis University.

“The teams that we’ve been playing are high-quality teams,” associate coach Jeff Hammond said.

“I think when we now play some of them at home we’ll probably have that home court advantage. So, hopefully experience plays in and we

can beat some of these teams that we lost to last year.”

The change in location could help the Mean Green.

North Texas won all its matches in Denton last year. Against those 10 teams, the Mean Green lost all seven of them on the road and won the remaining three at the Waranch Tennis Complex. The ten rematches will be split, half at the Waranch and half away.

The Mean Green played six Power Five conference teams last season, which is second in Conference USA play. This year, they take on nine.

Regardless of their record a year ago, players are embracing the challenge. And looking forward to getting back to level pegging.

“It’s actually nice [playing the same teams] because you go in having a little more history of that player,” senior captain Alexis Thoma said. “[You] know how to play them, what not to do against them.”

One hurdle North Texas will have to clear if it hopes to dish out payback is its youth. Of the eight players on the current roster, seven are underclassmen. Thoma is the lone senior with four sophomores and three freshmen around her.

And while the majority of the team is relatively inexperienced, the Mean Green believe they are equipped with the talent to win now.

“I can rely on [my teammates],” sophomore Tamuna Kutubidze said. “Especially Haruka [Sasaki].

She’s my favorite because I can see several things that I could see [from] myself when I was a freshman. She’s working super hard and she has aim to do something for the team.

Something good.”

Sasaki is not the only freshman with potential to do great things.

Alexandra Heczey was ranked a career-high No. 26 in singles play in her native country of Hungary.

Fellow freshman Ivana Babic ranked

No. 5 in Croatia for the under-18 age group.

“It should be really good for us,” sophomore Maria Kononova said of her new teammates. “We can make more doubles teams and just the connection between each other should be really good, it will help us.”

North Texas gets its first crack at redemption Feb. 3 when it takes on the University of Tulsa in Dallas. The Golden Hurricanes were one of the seven teams to knock off the Mean Green last season.

“We’re all after one goal,” Thoma said. “We all want to win.”

If anything, going against these 10 teams for a second time in a row won’t be something this team dreads.

Instead, it’s an opportunity they relish.

“I prefer it because I can [get] revenge,” Kutubidze said.

@The_CesarValdes

Ryan Wooldridge at home with the Mean Green BASKETBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Whataburger Tournament, the offers began to roll in.

It was a bit overwhelming for the then18-year-old.

“Before I chose to San Diego it was really chill,” Woolridge said. “But at the end of my senior year, I started getting all these different offers. It was hectic. It was kind of stressful. I just had to push through it. I focused on basketball, basically.”

Woolridge never played a game at San Diego and transferred to North Texas last spring.

There was just one problem.

Benford did not have a scholarship to offer Woolridge, and he could not be on scholarship after transferring from San Diego due to NCAA regulations.

It did not deter the Arlington native, who paid his own way for classes before being offered a scholarship this past summer.

Woolridge was a big get for Benford and his staff.

“He’s got speed and quickness,” Benford said. “We can play fast when he’s in there. He has a very high basketball IQ. He needs to keep working on his shot, but he plays very hard when he’s out there.”

In his first season at North Texas, Woolridge has provided a spark in what has been a dismal season for the 6-13 Mean Green. In ten games, he’s averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest.

There is an area of his game he’s trying to improve, however.

Woolridge has struggled holding on to the ball, and has committed 26 turnovers. His assist to turnover ratio is 0.65, meaning he coughs the ball up more than he finds an open teammate.

Woolridge still believes he is not completely game ready after having to watch an entire season from the sidelines.

“I still feel like I’m shaking off

[the] rust,” Woolridge said. “It’s taken me a while.”

One of the beneficiaries of Woolridge’s 17 assists has been fellow freshman guard AJ Lawson.

Lawson is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game. He and Woolridge have developed a close relationship in their partial season together, with Woolridge describing the two as best friends.

The friendship has worked wonders on the court. The two redline the tempo during games, and are always looking to run in transition.

“You don’t find many people who can score themselves and also help out others,” Lawson said. “It started off the court. It just clicks with us.

Sometimes you can’t stop him. He goes 100 mph on every play he can.”

Woolridge feels a bond that he and Lawson have together. The two have built an important relationship, especially considering they appear

to be the future of the North Texas backcourt. “[Our chemistry] helps a lot,” Woolridge said. “I know where he’s going. I know where to put the ball.

I know if he wants an alley-oop or a jumper.”

Just a freshman, Woolridge still has a long basketball career ahead of him. He knows what he has to work on. Along with turnovers, putting the ball in the hole will be priority No. 1.

With basketball evolving and sharpshooters like Stephen Curry becoming role models, Woolridge wants to be sure he develops his outside game.

More than anything, though, Woolridge wants to live up to expectations.

“I just want to contribute even more than I am now,” Woolridge said. “Everybody wants to be the hype man who’s exciting.”

@Clay_FC

North Texas freshman guard Ryan Woolridge transferred from San Diego to be closer to home. Collin Mitchell

Freshmen softball twins continue playing career at North Texas

By Clay Massey With each new year comes a crop of fresh faces for head coach Tracey Kee and her softball team.

But in this crop, there are two faces that are strikingly similar to one another.

That’s because freshmen Lacy and Lindsay Gregory are twins.

Ever since they can remember, the two have played middle

infield together, turning plenty of double plays in the process. Their chemistry is undeniable.

“I don’t think we’ve ever played a game without each other,” Lindsay said. “We don’t really know how to play without each other.”

Over the years, the tandem became a force at shortstop and second base. If there is a ground ball hit in their vicinity, the twins are trying to turn two.

Softball sisters Lindsay and Lacy Gregory both play middle infield. Ruben Paquian

“I think we could turn a double play with our eyes closed at this point,” Lacy said. “It just comes naturally.”

The sisters are from Kingwood, Texas, a suburb of northeast Houston. They grew up there and played high school ball in their hometown. Despite a population of over 80,000 people, the community — including the twins — stayed tight knit.

Lacy and Lindsay first caught the eye of Kee during a camp she hosted in her first year as head coach. And even though they just got to North Texas this season, these are two of the first players Kee recruited.

As the recruiting process wore on, so did the number of schools and coaches trying to lure them.

“There was more attention being twins,” Lacy said. “We were basically known as the twins who played middle infield.”

Once Kee got a look, she knew she had to have them.

“I wanted them both,” Kee said.

It was a dream come true for the

sisters. They always wanted to play college softball together, and got the chance in Denton.

“We weren’t going to hold each other back if one of us wanted to go somewhere else,” Lindsay said. “But we always wanted to go together.”

The two are part of a group of five freshman Kee added to the program in the offseason.

Along with being nearly identical in appearance, the duo are nearly identical in softball attributes as well.

Both can hit the ball a ton. Lacy was named the all-conference defensive player of the year in 2011, and the all-conference offensive player of the year in 2012 during her high school career. She played in 58 games over her sophomore and junior seasons, hitting the ball at a .397 clip with 13 doubles, 42 RBIs and four home runs.

Lindsay is athletic and can drive the ball to both gaps. She was a three time all-district selection in high school while picking up an alltournament selection after leading

Kingwood to the state finals in 2013.

In her sophomore and junior seasons, Lindsay played in 67 games and hit just below her sister’s average with a .362 mark. She did best her sister in doubles with 16, but lost the home run title by just one — she hit three.

It was always a contest in the Gregory house.

“We’ve always been put up against each other competing in every thing we do,” Lindsay said.

“It’s back and forth. She’s better at some things, I’m better at others.”

The competitiveness the Gregory sisters play with made them a very attractive option for Kee. The jump to Division I sports, however, is not always easy for freshmen to make.

Thankfully for the twins, their hyper-competitiveness has eased that transition.

“They’re gritty kids,” Kee said. “[They] knew what was expected of them. I have five freshmen and they’re all adjusting well, but Lindsay and Lacy were especially

fast.”

Their drive to be the best is one of the twins’ distinguishing qualities, especially for Kee. In practice, the duo goes hard, even with each other. It can get heated at times, but it’s all in good fun.

Their coach loves it.

“It’s funny,” Kee said. “You’ll see them joking and competing against each other and one will get mad at the other, but they’re sisters.

It’s a good balance to have cause at the same time they understand they’re teammates as well.”

The freshmen continue to live together In their first year at UNT and now softball season, it helps to have a level of familiarity.

It also helps for the twins to stick together, which is easy for them to do. After all, they only have one car.

“Being around someone 24/7 is never easy, but we get along for the most part,” Lacy said.

@Clay_FC

UNT club ice hockey optimistic about playoffs despite difficult season

By Samantha Morrow It’s been one year since the suspension that grounded the UNT club ice hockey team. In that time, the team has gotten back on the ice and tried to overcome the struggles of a probation violation.

But things have not been easy.

In their first season since the punishment, the team has had trouble both on and off the ice.

Struggles filling the roster, paying dues — and even putting wins on the board — have loomed over what has been a tumultuous campaign. “[When] the season started, most of us didn’t know how the suspension [would affect us],” finance junior Bradley Harley said.

“But we went in trying to be our best and do the best that we could.”

As the season winds down, UNT has managed just one win in 18 games for a 1-17 mark. They went 11 games without a win and are

currently on an eight-game losing skid.

Despite this, the team is clinging to the hopes of making the postseason.

For that to happen, the Mean Green will need to knock off Texas Christian University this weekend, and get a little help. The Horned Frogs must also lose the remainder of their games for North Texas to participate in playoff hockey.

“The best word I can use to describe this season is rough,” advertising junior Jake Martinez said. “The biggest effect the suspension had on the team is it killed morale. Most of the guys are finding it hard to find the spark to move forward.”

To add to their troubles, the Mean Green found some weeks they barely had enough players suited up. When the season began, there were weeks North Texas only had nine players. Since there are six

players on the ice at a time, that left only three reserves on the bench.

In the NHL, there are typically four separate lines of five players, meaning there are around 20 players on the roster and 15 on the bench at any given time.

With practices that went late into the evening, gaining new players became a difficult task.

“In hockey, you cannot be effective with only nine players,” biology sophomore Michael Kolbus said. “It’s just not going to happen.

There were several weekends in a row we played three game a weekend with a small roster.”

As the losses continue to mount, there are not many changes the team can make personnel-wise.

With a depleted roster, North Texas has been forced to play the guys they have -- even if they are continually losing.

“No athlete wants to be 1-17,” Kolbus said. “Yes, our record is not

where we want it to be. It only gets harder the [longer we] go without a win.”

Going into what could be their final games of the 2016 season, North Texas must buckle down and find its spark if they hope to make it to the postseason.

With a roller coaster year nearly completed, the team is trying to stay resolute. And with a few key victories — plus a little luck in the coming days — the Mean Green could have a chance to turn their season around with a playoff berth.

“Our record does not define the kind of team we are [or] our skill level,” Harley said. “Personally I feel as if we have been playing well. I know we are still a good team.”

@sam_morrow14

The UNT club Ice Hockey practices in hopes of getting a few wins under their belt during the remaining season. The team was under a one-year suspension, issued in Fall 2015, that was lifted in Fall 2016. Their current record for the season is 1-17. Sara Carpenter

OPINION Page 9

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

NTDAILY.COM

Highlighting the ‘nasty women’ of Congress Student loans are worth it in the end

By Gabriela Macias After Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 presidential election, my heart was broken. It has taken me some time to process, but after the Women’s March on Washington, I was inspired. It served as a crude reminder that the fight for equality is anything but over, and that I’m not alone. That there are millions of women and men out there ready to fight for a better future.

The Women’s March and recent protests helped highlight all of the “nasty women” representing us in Congress, and helped me understand how little some of us know about them.

According to the Center for American Women and Politics, as of 2017 there are 104 women who hold a seat in Congress.

Composing 19.4 percent of the 535 members, 21 of these women serve in the Senate and 83 serve in the House of Representatives.

These numbers are a reminder that we still have plenty of work to do when it comes to the representation of women in office.

However, there are still many talented and remarkable Senate and House members. Here are a few outstanding women that should be on everybody’s watch-list to hold this

administration accountable for the next four years.

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is no stranger to any follower of the past election. Senator Warren has been a champion and leader of the progressive agenda. She has made it a purpose in her career to work on behalf of students and make college education affordable, to fight for Wall Street reform and to protect reproductive rights.

Warren is certain to keep being a leader in the Democratic Party and if the confirmation hearings of several Trump cabinet members like Ben Carson, Steve Mnuchin and Betsy DeVos are any indication of the years to come, Senator Warren is ready for a fight.

Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) is the first Latina ever to be elected to Congress. Masto comes from serving two terms as Nevada’s attorney general, where she worked to strengthen laws to prevent sex trafficking and violence against women.

She also supports comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border, but also helps the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. come out of the shadows to build a path towards citizenship.

Kamala Harris (D-CA) was the first African-American and first woman to serve as California’s attorney general and is now the second African-American woman to serve in the Senate.

Senator Harris has been a longtime public safety and civil rights leader. Throughout her career, she has fought for innovation and reform in the criminal justice system. She is also a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood, and fights to protect a woman’s right to choose.

These are just a few examples of bright shining stars that will make it a priority to keep fighting for a progressive agenda. They will continue building a country that does not give into fear or hate.

Hillary Clinton’s candidacy championed women and as painful as the results were, the goals of her campaign are still true today: equal pay for equal work, paid family leave, debt-free education, reproductive rights and immigration reform.

These are goals everyone needs to defend and to keep fighting for.

These congressional leaders cannot do it alone. They are going to need the support of everyone who holds these ideals dearly.

In her concession speech, Clinton said, “This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”

Let’s make sure we are prepared and more determined than ever.

Let’s turn the disappointment and heartbreak into action. As it was displayed in the Women’s March, with a common goal, women can be unstoppable.

@Gaby_Mac22

Featured Illustration: Antonio Mercado

By Nate Jackson Within all of the skepticism, which we direct towards the establishment, lies a beacon of hope.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, they are suing the Navient Corporation, “the country’s largest servicer of both federal and private student loans for systematically and illegally failing borrowers at every stage of repayment.”

Before attacking the problems with this situation, take a moment to figure out how we arrived at it.

Federal student loans were not widely available to common citizens in the beginning, and neither were Pell Grants. The Space Race between the United States and the USSR motivated Congress to change legislation and allow people who were not veterans to receive help from the federal government.

They were determined to show the world that capitalism was better than communism, which I strongly agree with, and that free enterprise was key to the American Dream.

Correspondingly, the U.S. Department of Education was created thereafter with the intent to ensure equal access to education for all citizens.

Knowing the history behind the federal and private student loan programs is significant because it allows people to understand that the intentions behind them were pure.

At a point in our history, higher education was a luxury for no one but upper-class Americans.

These programs were created to safeguard an opportunity to advance the disenfranchised and underprivileged, and to provide a

better way of living for their loved ones.

This legislation is, retrospectively, life altering. Especially for the majority of students here at the University of North Texas. As much as some people may hate to admit it, many college students came from middle-class families, making it nearly impossible for them to avoid student debt.

In fact, almost 70 percent of 2016 graduates left college with debt, according to the Wall Street Journal. The average student debt last year was “$37,172 per student,” said student aid analyst Mark Kantrowitz.

Either way you put it, we represent the run-of-the-mill American. So before the Space Race and the conception of the Department of Education, we would’ve been bound to grunt work without the chance to ascend in socioeconomic status. All things considered, with capitalism being its motivating factor, federal student loans were bound to be a target of exploitation.

Don’t get me wrong here, I believe capitalism is a great system in almost every case. But where does it stop?

Apparently nowhere in the case of Navient. For borrowers, one of the most alarming charges in the CFPB complaint is the allegation that “they incentivized employees to encourage borrowers to postpone payments through forbearance.”

This is an option in which interest continues to pile up, rather than have borrowers enroll in an incomebased repayment plan that can help them avoid fees.

In turn, Navient amassed $4 billion in interest charges to the

principal balances of borrowers who were enrolled in consecutive forbearances.

Student loan servicers are supposed play the middleman.

By definition, this is exactly who they are: an essential, trusted link between borrowers and lenders.

They’re supposed to handle the borrower’s account, process monthly payments and be your direct line of communication when it comes to your loan.

We’ve almost come to a point where we expect infractions like these from Wall Street, not from the people who are supposed to be in your corner to battle “the man.”

The reason why this lawsuit should matter to you is because it shows that, despite electorates’ cynicism towards the government, there are still high-ranking government agencies who care about college students. We’re not in this alone.

If you’re anything like I am, you do everything in your power to avoid thinking about loans. We have more than enough obstacles to bear, like getting internships and finding a solid job.

Is taking out a loan and attending college worth it?

Absolutely. An education is an investment to begin with, and is something no one can take from you. Don’t allow the thought of paying back loans cripple you.

@_NateJackson11 Choose optimism, not cynicism.

The argument for flag burning under Trump’s administration

By Morgan Sullivan Flag burning has been a controversial topic since the Supreme Court declared the act as a form of free speech, and is therefore protected due to Texas v. Johnson in 1989. This form of political speech is protected just like an anti-Obama Facebook post is.

However, the act of flag burning has been brought to the forefront recently by newly elected President Trump. During his campaign, Trump claimed he would make the act illegal. A 2013 Illinois flag desecration act made headlines when a man was arrested for burning the flag on July 4. The man was not charged, as the sheriff’s department cited Texas v. Johnson, and its protection of his free speech.

Flag burning is currently legal – if done as an act of political speech. For some, the act of flag burning is like spitting in the face of veterans. Although this opinion is valid, it’s not exactly the case.

Veterans fought for your right

to free speech, just like they fought for your right to continue voting, for your government to continue as a democracy and your right to bear arms.

The flag is not our country.

The flag is not representative of all of the millions of soldiers who have fought to protect our freedoms. The flag is a flag. It is not our country, it is not our laws or constitution and it is not our president.

The flag is a symbol. It is, at its very essence, a piece of material.

Although it has intense meaning and sentiment for some, it holds nearly no emotional attachment for others.

Although you may not like it when people burn the flag, as

an American, you have to accept people’s use of free speech.

Flag burning should stay legal because it’s the most intense way of protesting a government. Flag burning is the act of saying “this government does not represent me as a citizen.”

For some, writing an angry Facebook post about the government’s failures isn’t enough. Flag burning sends a message, one that portrays much more emotion and frustration than the clacking of keys. It’s a symbol of protest unlike any other.

If American flag shorts isn’t considered treason, neither should burning the flag. At least one is political speech, the other

is just a tacky fashion choice. In fact, the Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that a man could wear an American flag on the seat of his pants. Surely sitting on our stars and stripes is just as bad as burning the flag.

As a matter of free speech, we must stand with people who choose to burn the flag, not against them. We are lucky to live in a country where this kind of rebellion against the government is allowed.

This country didn’t gain its independence from England by respectfully declining to pay taxes. Our Founding Fathers raised hell, thus allowing us the option to do the same.

I don’t think I will ever burn the flag. Many of my friends, who argue for the right to do so, won’t burn it either. However, it gives me great solace to know that if I wanted to torch Old Glory someday, I could.

@sadsquadch

Featured Illustration: Samuel Wiggins

NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 10

Trump’s journey to silence the media

Illustration by Sam Wiggins

By The Editorial Board President Trump and his administration ordered a freeze on new contracts and grants from the Environmental Protection Agency this week. According to the Associated Press, this action has “raised fears” that states and select recipients could lose funding for water protection and waste management among other issues.

Additionally, Trump himself has banned the EPA from issuing press releases, blog entries and social media posts. Not to mention that an anonymous source from Trump’s transition team told The Hill that Trump plans to terminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment

for the Humanities, and seize control of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

This is especially alarming since the CPB, according to the Independent, helps fund National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service and the nation’s “approximately 350 public television stations.”

We’ve reported and editorialized about Trump’s war on “fake news” plenty of times until now, but imagining life without two of the media’s biggest titans – NPR and PBS – is a more disturbing thought than ever before.

Over 10 years ago, a survey commissioned by the Public Relations Society of America found that 61 percent of the general public trusted NPR and PBS the most for news, and much more than the likes of “the

Washington Post, Wall Street Journal or New York Times.”

Just last year, NPR’s flagship programs “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition” reached audience highs of 13.3 million per week and 13.5 million per week respectively. As of October, NPR maintains a total of 36.6 million listeners, proving to be a formative news source for many people who don’t subscribe to newsprint.

Considering its reputation as “America’s largest classroom,” PBS is broadcasted in 82 percent of American households and watched by roughly 200 million people.

According to Nielsen data compiled from Sept. 2015 to 2016, the service’s viewer base is much larger than A&E, TLC, Bravo, the

Discovery Channel and HGTV. Even if robbing the American populace of trusted news wasn’t one of Trump’s mandates, it’s still unethical for the new commander-in-chief to “repeal and replace” these outlets with his own false rhetoric. Not only does this set a negative precedent for the next age of Republicans, it has created a wide distrust of the media amongst citizens that doesn’t need to be there.

In regards to previous Republican presidents, Richard Nixon threatened to eliminate a $20 million grant to PBS back in 1969. Coming to the service’s rescue was Fred Rogers of the classic “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” who argued against Nixon’s threat at a Senate hearing that year.

In a moving monologue, Rogers expressed how he was “constantly concerned about what [America’s] children” see and that PBS is responsible for giving kids “an expression of care everyday.” Therefore, the fight to cut PBS subsidies has gone on for decades, but right now isn’t the time for that to happen.

Nor should it happen to any other reputable news source.

Trump’s unprincipled journey in silencing the media needs to end for the sake of journalists and private citizens. While it’s highly unlikely he can even cut funding for either outlet, trying to mediate the press is a thorn in the side of First Amendment enthusiasts everywhere.

START MOVING AHEAD. START TAKING THE LEAD. START OPENING MORE DOORS. START BUILDING YOUR FUTURE. START ACCOMPLISHING MORE. START FACING NEW CHALLENGES. START SEEING HOW FAR YOU CAN GO. START STRONG.

For more info about scholarships and ROTC at the University of North Texas, visit goarmy.com/gx48, email army.rotc@unt.edu or call 940-369-8011.

“I’M A REAL PRESIDENT!” Illustration by Antonio Mercado

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