North Texas Daily 4/26/2018

Men’s basketball signs Larry Wise, 1st commit of 2018 class SPORTS: PAGE 7

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

VOL. 112 No. 14

NTDAILY.COM

Cruz challenger O’Rourke draws hundreds at UNT

By Lizzy Spangler @LizzySpangler Hundreds of people attended a town hall with Beto O’Rourke, Texas’ Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator. The town hall took place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Gateway Center at UNT. If he wins, O’Rourke, who is running against incumbent Ted Cruz, will be the first Texas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 1988.

O’Rourke dove into his speech by first talking about immigration.

“Though we are comprised of asylum-seekers and refugees, the very foundation Beto O’Rourke of our strength, our success and yes, our security, is that we are the destination of choice for people, in no state more so than the state of Texas, the most diverse state in the most diverse country on the planet,” O’Rourke said.

Overflow rooms were provided to seat more people. Organizers live streamed the town hall for those attendees.

The event was slated for 11 a.m., with UNT Democrats President Jordan Villarreal introducing Democratic candidates who attended the event, such as Linsey Fagan and Mat Pruneda, among others.

O’Rourke took the stage at around 11:30 a.m. and received a standing ovation from the audience.

“I am so privileged and lucky to be part of something that is giving me so much hope at a time that, I gotta tell you, I desperately needed it, where I began to question just where this country was going and what we were capable, still, of doing,” O’Rourke said, after thanking organizers and attendees.

He touched on the current state of health care in Texas.

“This bold, courageous, strong, bighearted state is the least insured state of

SEE O’ROURKE ON PAGE 3 Top: Mother Tongues performs at Dan’s Silver Leaf on Friday as part of Thin Line Festival’s music lineup. Thin Line Festival brings artists from around the world to Denton to showcase their photography, music and film work. Will Baldwin Above: Festival goers dance at Dan’s Silver Leaf. Will Baldwin Left: Cory Coleman plays a guitar over Claire Morales during a performance of the Mountain portion of Elk River Sessions. Elk River Sessions played at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton on April 19 as part of Thin Line Festival’s music lineup. Jake King/DRC Read more Thin Line Festival coverage on page 5

Entering a struggling sports program is never an easy thing to do, and for sophomore outfielder Hanna Rebar, it took time to adjust.

After playing 51 games in 2017 during her freshman campaign, Rebar finished with the third lowest batting average on the team (.213) while collecting five home runs and 20 RBIs. This season, though, she completely flipped the switch.

After an off-season consisting of countless early mornings and late nights, Rebar’s game has

exploded for the Mean Green.

“Coming into this year, she’s put in the extra work and has done other things she didn’t do last season,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “She’s really fixed trying to stay ahead of her swing.

When students put in extra work, they’re going to be great hitters.”

As a result, Rebar is currently third on the team in batting average (.306), second in RBIs (28) and has doubled her home runs with a team-high 10 long balls this season. Rebar knows she owes all her success to her hitting coach, Natalia Kozlowski.

“I have to give a lot of that to

SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 7

North Texas sophomore Hanna Rebar runs to third base in a game against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on March 10 at Lovelace Stadium.

Sara Carpenter

Located at the Music Annex, UNT’s instrument repair shop is a place where students and faculty can come for quick and convenient repairs. Most minor repairs are free of cost for UNT students, but major repairs may cost a fee. Because of the sheer amount of music majors, technicians are also specialized according to the type of instrument, from woodwind and brass instruments to pianos.

“The main reason is because we have so many music majors and not [one] full-time music store in this area,” woodwinds repair

SEE REPAIR ON PAGE 4

SEE PETITION ON PAGE 2

A student picks up equipment in the instrument repair shop on campus. The shop operates out of the music annex and works with all kinds of instruments. Paige Bruneman

UNT instrument repair shop quickly fixes musicians’ prized possessions

By Amy Roh @rohmyboat Technicians who repair instruments at UNT are rarely surprised — or bored.

Horns that have been run over, bells that have been squished “like a taco” and instruments stuffed with questionable objects often come through their doors.

“I’ve pulled out live ammunition out of an instrument before,” brass repair technician Justin Cooper said. “I didn’t know it was live at the time.”

IN THIS ISSUE

By Devin Rardin @DevinRardin Nearly 500 people have signed a petition to designate Open Air Outreach, a group that demonstrated on UNT’s campus in late March, a hate group.

Communications junior Seth Knievel created the petition and plans to send a report with the petition as supporting evidence to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors hate groups throughout the United States.

“It’s not my intention to quell speech or stop it from being heard,” Knievel said.

“Instead I think recognizing speech is the goal of the petition.”

The Open Air Outreach group came to Arlington in March for a National Street Preachers Conference. The group demonstrated on March 29 and 30 in the Library Mall as part of the conference itinerary The small group of demonstrators held signs that said, “BLM are racist thugs,” “Every real Muslim is a Jihadist” and “Got Aids Yet?” The street preachers sparked a large student protest, including spontaneous dancing, music and signs.

Once the petition plateaus, Knievel said he will send it to the SPLC. It is tracking 1,600 extremist groups and identifies 954 groups in the U.S. as hate groups.

SPLC defines a hate group as an organization with “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”

Knievel said the group aligns with other organizations designated as hate groups by SPLC. He said the demonstrators recognized the white Christian male as an ingroup, which he says is similar to many fascist organizations.

Humor and home runs, Rebar flourishes for Kee

By Luis Diosdado @luis_diosdado9

Petition asks Open Air Outreach to be named hate group

NEWS

ARTS & LIFE

SPORTS

OPINION

Students protest, petition for UNT’s EarthFest to become fully vegan pg 3 The group Mean Greens For Animals protested the Earth Day celebration, asking the university to make the menu vegan.

Voices of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ serve up laughs to UNT pg 4 H. Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman visited UNT’s Coliseum this week as part of the Mary Jo and V. Lane Rawlins Fine Art Series.

Amber Walker continues to grow in confidence as season winds down pg 6 Looking to break records in high jump, Walker enters the home stretch engaged and prepared to break onto the scene of C-USA.

This & That: Cats vs. dogs pg 8 They say that dogs are a man’s best friend, but what about all those ancient hieroglyphics portraying royal cats in robes? You can decide which pet is better in this week’s This & That.

NEWS Page 2

North Texas Daily Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Kayleigh Bywater @kayleighbywater Kayleigh.Bywater@unt.edu Managing Editor Kayla Davis @kaylajeann19 KaylaDavis@my.unt.edu News Editor Sarah Sarder @sarderrr Sarah.Sarder@unt.edu Arts & Life Editor Alec Spicer @Spicer_Alec AlecSpicer@my.unt.edu Sports Editor Matthew Brune @mattbrune25 MatthewBrune@my.unt.edu Opinion Editor Nina Quatrino @ninaquatrino NinaQuatrino@my.unt.edu Visuals Editor Jake King @King_Jake1st JakeKing@my.unt.edu

Production Team Design Editor Kelly Fox @kellythefox1 KellyFox2@my.unt.edu Designer/Copy Editor Marshall Cearfoss @JustMarshalling MarshallCearfoss@my.unt.edu Designer/Copy Editor Kaitlin Pennell @k_itlinn KaitlinPennell@my.unt.edu Designer/Copy Editor Kiera Geils @KieraGeils KieraGeils@my.unt.edu Social Media Manager Kenli Gunter @kenliiiii KenliGunter@my.unt.edu Senior Staff Illustrator Austin Banzon @Austinbanzon99 austintroybanzon@my.unt.edu

Business Director Adam Reese 940-565-4265 Adam.Reese@unt.edu

Faculty Adviser Gary Ghioto 940-891-6722 Gary.Ghioto@unt.edu

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

NTDAILY.COM

UNT updates sex harassment policy

By Lizzy Spangler @LizzySpangler

like, ‘OK, this isn’t useful anymore, but [that] might be useful.’”

The UNT Policy Office has updated the university’s sexual harassment policy to comply with Texas law and updated the disability accommodation policy to make the Office of Disability Accommodation “the clearinghouse for all decisions regarding student accommodations,” according to the policy website. “[The ODA] is the clearinghouse for issues of, particularly, the academic accommodations for students,” said Joanne Woodard, vice president for institutional equity and diversity.

“Those are the ones that we get questions on most often, in terms of making sure students have what they need in order to participate fully in the academic environment.”

The changes are part of the persemester updates to UNT policies for spring 2018. The university notified students about the changes via email.

“The University Policy Office, in collaboration with policy owners, aids in the development, review, approval and maintenance of university-wide policies,” the email read. “Since the fall update, the policy office has modified, added or deleted 26 policies.”

Kinesiology freshman Leah Dawson said she vaguely remembers receiving the email about spring policy updates and that she supports the regular updates.

“It needs to be updated because we change as the years go on,” Dawson said. “[You] have to consistently [be]

Spring 2018 policy changes The university created a sick leave donation policy, which allows eligible employees to voluntarily give other eligible employees their sick leave.

It deleted a number of policies due to duplication or incorporation into other policies.

Texas law SB 969 prompted a change in UNT’s sexual harassment policy. The law, which “relates to requiring certain public and private institutions of higher education to provide amnesty to students who report certain incidents” led to a change in the way UNT defines harassment.

“Most of the changes were done to comply with the definitions that were provided by the legislature in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board around sexual harassment and making sure that we had the explicit definitions as they related in the educational context as well as in the employment context,” Woodard said.

The university also updated its Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity policy in response to a state law, SB 968, which requires higher education institutions to provide students and employees with an electronic option in reporting certain offenses.

“All policies at the university get on a cycle of review,” Woodard said. “We frequently review all policies to make sure that the policies are all consistent and you don’t have verbiage that is

File different in all the policies.”

Policy change process “There’s a policy that requires the review [of policy] by the policy owner every six years,” said Stephanie McDonald, a policy manager in the UNT Policy Office. “[There may be a] change in process or in the function of the policy, there may be a change in state or federal law … those are typically big reasons for changes.”

When a policy is determined to need change, a policy working group made up of different representatives from different divisions on campus evaluates its functions and day-to-day operations according to McDonald.

“Then we have our policy advising group that’s made up of higher level VPs,” McDonald said. “And they review just to be sure that it fits with

the mission and the direction of the institution.”

Following an evaluation from the Office of General Counsel for “legal sufficiency” according to McDonald, the new or updated policy is sent to the President’s Office for final approval.

In terms of student involvement in policy revisions, McDonald said the voice of the students is reached through the Student Government Association.

“If it’s a policy that directly affects students, then we send that over to the student government office for their review and response,” McDonald said.

“That response is taken to the policy advisory group for them to consider in their consideration of the policy.”

All the spring policy updates can be seen on the UNT Policy Office’s website.

Long wait times caused by algorithm issues on new e-ride app, UNT says

By Sean Riedel @SeanRiedel An issue with the algorithm for UNT’s e-ride app, which launched in spring 2018, is responsible for what students report are overlylong wait times, officials said.

UNT Transportation Services launched the e-ride on-demand system to create a safer and more convenient mode of transportation for students to get around campus after dark.

However, some students have expressed issues with the service.

“What we’ve found when addressing these concerns is that there is a problem with the algorithm of the app that, in some instances, gives incorrect wait time information,” said Trista Moxley, senior communication transportation specialist. “The issue that we’re finding is that the algorithm on the app is not accounting for the correct number of seats available, so instead of showing empty seats and giving an accurate estimated wait time, the app is showing the e-ride as full and assuming that it will have to be empty before anyone else can be added.”

Moxley said the department is working with a third party to fix the algorithm issue.

E-ride runs between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday and from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Sunday. The number of cars running per night varies, but is generally one or two.

“The service was initially intended to be for students who had safety concerns, back when Transportation Services was part of the police department,” Moxley said. “Since then, it has evolved to become a service for students going to and from places that aren’t on the Mean Green Night Rider route.”

Communication studies freshman Simone Haight said she has called the e-ride service

eight times but has only ridden five times due to long wait times or refusal from e-ride. E-ride does not offer services if the pickup location is on a UNT shuttle route that is functional at the time.

“I’ve had several instances where I’m walking [back to my dorm] with friends at night, around 9 [p.m.] or so, or it will be pouring down rain and I’m at the opposite side of campus, and instant e-rides refuse to come to a bus route,” Haight said. “On weekends, in particular, the buses are spaced out up to 30 minutes until the next bus comes, so you either have to stand in the dark or rain or just walk instead.”

Haight said she does still plan to use the service on nights when she comes home late but hopes to see some change.

Moxley said Transportation Services is always looking to improve any problems that arise and has taken action to address the issues raised by students.

Business freshman Kylee Pape has been an e-ride driver for about six months and said she does not think some people fully understand what the service is.

“E-ride is a program that is meant to run supplementally to the bus service provided by DCTA,” Pape said. “E-ride is not an Uber, and it isn’t even paid for by tuition money. It’s a self-sustaining program with a few drivers a night to help out students. We cannot always guarantee fast service with how busy some nights get, but we can guarantee meaningful service.”

Pape said the wait times vary for every person, due to busier times of night and to students asking to be taken to more distant locations, such as Discovery Park.

“The app is new and we hope that students can bear with us as we make needed adjustments to ensure its accuracy in the future,” Moxley said.

A demonstrator uses his megaphone to speak over people at a protest at the Library Mall on March 30.

Kathryn Jennings

Student aims to label street preachers org a hate group PETITION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 that separates people into groups, especially an ingroup and an outgroup, that becomes very dangerous,” Knievel said.

Knievel’s main goal for the petition is to recognize the demonstrators as a hate group. He said he does not think the label will inhibit any legal action.

“It will force [the demonstrators] to look at what they are doing and really think about it.”

Dustin Aguilar, college pastor of Christ Community Church, said the label will only encourage the demonstrators.

“I think labeling them a hate group would give fuel to their fire because they would feel that is Christian persecution,” Aguilar said. “I think what they are saying is wrong and ridiculous. The church should vocally disavowal those groups but I am not quite sure about calling them a hate speech [group].”

Computer science sophomore Andres Montoya said the demonstrators should be labeled a hate group since they are personally attacking specific groups.

“I think [the protest] is pointless because I’m here for an education,” Montoya said.

“I don’t care what they think.”

Knievel’s Christian faith encouraged him to be vocal against the demonstrators, he said. After the protests, he wrote verses from the Bible, Quran, Torah and other quotes around the Library Mall with chalk.

“They are sharing what I consider to be a false gospel and they are hurting people,” Knievel said.

Brandon Bell, who leads the local student ministry group Christian Campus Community, said all Christians struggle to honor God while loving everyone, and

the demonstrators are taking the wrong approach.

He said change comes from relationships not from yelling and pointing fingers.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Bell said.

“It’s heartbreaking and absolutely not the approach that Jesus took to try to convict the world of truth.”

Aguilar told street preacher and conference leader Jesse Morrall the latter’s demonstration is not the gospel.

“We are here to share the gospel and call sinners to repentance,” Morrall said.

He took issue with a sign that listed a number of attributes that can lead to damnation.

“The sign implies that if you are not a Democrat you don’t have to worry about hellfire,” Aguilar said. “If you are not a Muslim you don’t have to worry about hellfire. It’s absolutely not the gospel. In fact, you are preaching a different gospel.

It’s saying that all you have to do to be saved is not be these things on this sign. I take a huge issue with that.”

Biology junior Diana Hortelano said the demonstrators were expressing their views in the wrong way.

“I think that’s wrong,” Hortelano said.

“If you want to be heard you need to do it with respect. They are just adding more problems to society.”

UNT officials created a safe space after the protest for students seeking counsel.

Knievel said in the petition that the protest “affected the well being of our students on campus.” He said the petition directs the conversation to peaceful political action.

“I just felt like it was the best political action that students could take,” Knievel said. “[Petitioning] is very healthy and it is a very peaceful way to share how you’re feeling about a situation.”

NEWS AROUND THE US Suspect in two shootings arrested by Dallas police

Supreme Court supports immigration travel ban

Federal judge rules against Trump administration’s decision on DACA

Confederate Monument Committee chairman asks for updates

Golden State Killer in Custody

After a high-speed chase, Armando Luis Juarez, 29, was arrested by authorities on Tuesday. Juarez shot two Dallas police officers and a store loss-prevention officer at a Home Depot, which resulted in a fivehour manhunt for the gunman. Two victims have been hospitalized and one of the police officers has died from the wounds, according to Denton Record-Chronicle.

President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which will support restrictions on travelers from five Muslim countries, received support from the Supreme Court on Wednesday, according to USA Today. The Conservative justices said the administration has the authority to limit immigration for national security.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said the White House was “arbitrary and capricious” in its decision to end the Obama era program, according to NPR. Bates gave Homeland Security 90 days to explain why DACA is illegal.

Confederate Monument Committee chairman John Baines penned a letter to the commissioners court asking for updates on their work to add context to the monument, the Denton RecordChronicle reported.

After 40 years, authorities think they have the Golden State Killer in custody, CNN reported. Authorities identified Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State, who allegedly killed 12 and raped 48 in California from 1976 to 1986.

The 72-year-old suspect was identified through DNA evidence.

By Devin Rardin

NTDAILY.COM

Page 3

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

A group of friends chat while enjoying Scrappy’s Honey Sunflower Ice Cream at EarthFest Thursday evening. Kathryn Jennings

Members of the UNT organization Mean Greens For Animals hold up signs with facts about what being vegan does for the environment and suggest being nice to animals and not eating them. Kathryn Jennings

Sophomore Mackenzie Owens receives corn on the cob at UNT’s EarthFest April 19. Kathryn Jennings

Students urge EarthFest to adopt fully-vegan menu

By Jacqueline Guerrero @gagaart1

A group of students protested UNT’s EarthFest on April 19, urging the university to make the event’s food an all-vegan affair to support sustainability.

Despite UNT’s assertions of sustainability and low waste at the annual event, the group called Mean Greens For Animals is taking issue with the event’s non-vegan menu.

An online petition created by the group has about 100 signatures encouraging the university to move to a fully vegan menu for the event. Integrative Studies junior and Mean Greens For Animals President Carla Flores said the petition started before EarthFest in 2017.

UNT’s eighth consecutive year of

EarthFest drew about 2,500 attendees.

The event was intended to celebrate Earth Day — which took place on April 22 — and aims to educate and spread environmental responsibility.

Cheltzie Miller-Bailey, UNT campuswide events coordinator said she began working in her position approximately six months ago and was unaware of the online petition before being asked about it by a North Texas Daily reporter.

Flores said she contacted MillerBailey before the event and received no response on where the meat on the menu would be coming from.

Mean Greens For Animals protested in front of the event’s food line April 19 with posters and remarks claiming the event was not sustainable.

“We are pushing for [EarthFest] to be completely plant-based food that

they give out and even more that we are trying to make it a non-plastic event as well,” Flores said. “We are talking about the environment. That is what this is about. To be kind to the environment is to not eat animal flesh, to not eat animal secretions, to not use plastic.”

Flores said UNT was “not being green” because plastic was used in the food area, which was under a white tarp tent. She also said the event was “falsely advertising” a sustainable menu.

The menu consisted of regular and jalapeño bratwurst, vegan chili, roasted corn and honey sunflower ice cream.

UNT Student Activities official food budget for EarthFest was $15,000, and another $5,000 was budgeted for other activity expenses.

Miller-Bailey said the bratwurst

on the menu was locally sourced from Syracuse Sausage in Ponder, Texas.

Integrative studies sophomore Amy Li said she didn’t think the menu was correctly publicized by the university.

“They advertise like fruits and vegetables, and I didn’t really see any fruits or vegetables,” Li said. “I like the vegan option, but not everybody is for the vegan option.”

Kinesiology junior Jorge Guerrero said he feels EarthFest should not be all-vegan but does think there should be more awareness of the vegan lifestyle and sustainability.

“There are a lot of people and a lot of food to have,” Guerrero said. “At least having the vegan option is kind of cool.

There could be more, there could be less, but I think it’s good.”

Miller-Bailey said although UNT

Student Activities does listen to advocacy practices from students and organizations, that does not mean it will change its events for a singular group.

“We definitely want to make EarthFest as sustainable as possible, like that is our goal,” Miller-Bailey said. “But at the same time, we have to be considerate of the entire UNT student body. In addition, we have to consider our budget ... we want to offer the best event possible, but in order to offer food but also activities and educational opportunities and materials ... having an all-vegan menu is not fiscally possible at this point.”

EarthFest began in 2010 and has two major UNT partners: UNT Dining Services and the Office of Sustainability.

Between 25 to 30 different on- and offcampus organizations participated in EarthFest in spring 2018.

DCTA plans more campus-centric routes to address crowding

By Devin Rardin @DevinRardin The Denton County Transportation Authority is considering changing UNT bus routes to help with overcrowding issues. The proposed changes look to create more campus circulation.

DCTA is seeking public feedback before the proposed routes can go into effect in August 2018.

Officials held a public hearing on April 18 to gather opinions on the changes.

“The only problem is that it gets really crowded,” said Manasi Ramadurgum UNT Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science student. “Sometimes it is hard to find a seat.”

The changes would make the Eagle Point route UNT-centric. The new route, if selected, will allow Eagle Point to serve Maple, Kerr, Honors and Victory Halls.

It will also create a single-bus ride from Victory Hall to the General Academic Building and the Union.

Currently, students have to switch buses when riding from Victory Hall to the Union or the General Academic Building.

The changes will raise the seven-minute frequency time for buses to 20 minutes.

“Another great benefit is that it will provide another campus circulator,” said Adrienne Hamilton, communications

Courtesy DCTA

manager at DCTA. “Right now, the Mean Green circuit serves as the only campus circulator going from Fouts Field to the Union. This will help provide some relief from the congestion that has been happening on the Mean Green.”

The current campus shuttles include Mean Green, North Texan, Eagle Point, Discovery Park, Center Place, Bernard Street, Colorado Express and Sam Bass.

The Sam Bass shuttle will no longer be in operation if these proposals are put into action.

A total of 1,199,128 students boarded the campus shuttles from October 2017 to March 2018. Hamilton said the changes to Eagle Point are based on student complaints and collaborations with UNT transportation.

“We work strategically with North Texas, especially the transportation department, so the changes we are making are in response to student suggestions and strategic efforts on both UNT and DCTA to help improve ridership and better serve the UNT student population,” Hamilton said.

Trista Moxley, the senior communications specialist for UNT Transportation, said UNT contracts all of their routes with DCTA. All the bus drivers

are DCTA employees and all the routes are the result of regular meetings between the two organizations.

Students said it takes an extended period of time to ride to lot 20 from Victory Hall, then switch buses to go to the Union.

UNT Transportation also received several complaints of overcrowding on the Mean Green shuttle.

“Any change that we make, including this one, we want it to help our students have less stress about getting to class on time,” Moxley said.

Another proposed change involves Route 8. The change would allow for better connectivity with the A-train and direct service between the Downtown Denton Transit Center and UNT. The new route would also serve the south side of campus.

UNT students can ride the Route 7 and 8 buses for free if they present their student identification.

DCTA is also looking to increase the regional fare by 20 percent in August 2018.

The transportation organization wants to remain a part of the regional fare system, which gives riders access to the Metroplex transit system with one pass.

DCTA is seeking alternatives and no changes to local fares are planned.

O’Rourke talks healthcare, veterans, immigration in speech at UNT town hall O’ROURKE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the 50 in the Union. More than four million of our fellow Texans have no insurance whatsoever,” O’Rourke said.

“I think that this state could be the one to lead the way for the country, to guarantee high-quality universal healthcare for each and every single man, woman and child in the United States of America.”

Talking about the role of people in a Democratic society, O’Rourke said it is about more than just showing up to town halls and voting on November 6 in the general election.

“It is about listening to and working with the people in your life,” O’Rourke said. “As the son of a Republican mother, who we have convinced to vote for me in this election, I know that we’ve gotta be open to everyone, listen to everyone, try

to understand everyone in our lives.”

O’Rourke ended his speech by taking pictures of the crowd and saying, “In this year, 2018, if we don’t get a picture of the fact that we were here and share this with the world on social media, then it just did not happen.”

Following his remarks at the town hall, there was a question and answer session where attendees asked O’Rourke about a variety of issues including immigration, women’s health and education.

“As we know you’re for Medicaid for all,” one attendee asked. “What will we do with the [Veterans’ Affairs] once we [move] over to a Medicaid-for-all system?”

O’Rourke answered the question by affirming his position on keeping the VA as it is.

“The VA doesn’t go anywhere,”

O’Rourke said. “It continues to be, and maybe with even greater investment and oversight and accountability, a center of excellence for the care of veterans.”

Aileene Stark, a retired teacher who attended the town hall, said this was the first town hall she has attended.

“I was already a Beto supporter,” Stark said. “But I wanted to see him in person and hear him.”

Another attendee, Eddie LedesmaPorter, who works as a beverage consultant, said he read about Beto and liked what he heard.

“My reasoning for wanting to hear him speak was not taking any money from [political action committees],” Porter said. “[That] was the biggest thing. His commitment to visiting all the Texas counties makes me feel like he cares for all Texans, which I think is huge.”

Representative Beto O’Rourke, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, speaks at the Gateway Center on April 20.

Sara Carpenter

ARTS & LIFE Page 4

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

NTDAILY.COM

Good as new: Instrument repair shop gives UNT musicians quick fixes REPAIR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 technician Ann MacMillan said.

For students who have a stacked schedule due to juries and recitals, the shop is a helpful stop without having to drive longer distances to other shops out of town.

“The shop is definitely important,” cello performance junior Emma Bittner said. “The nearest place to get a quality repair besides here is in Plano, and most of us can’t give up our instruments long enough for that sort of repair. Here, you can drop your instrument off after you’re done practicing for the day and pick it up the next morning for most repairs.”

The shop itself helps out an average of 10 students every day but can vary depending on the time of year and type of repair. MacMillan said students often arrive at the shop in a panic because their instruments are the central part of their performances and daily classes.

“I always laugh when they say, ‘Oh, you saved my life!’” MacMillan said. “[Students] are so appreciative because for them, it is kind of life or death. If they have a jury, they’re real nervous, and if their instrument doesn’t work, it’s scary.”

After the repair, MacMillan said it is still nervewracking to see students perform the instrument when she attends their concerts.

“It’s also scary because I’ll work on an instrument, and then I’ll go to the concert,” MacMillan said. “I’ll

be there like, ‘Please work, please work, please work,’ and when it does work, it’s very satisfying.”

MacMillan has been at the shop since 1997, working as the only technician at the time. As the demand and amount of students grew, she became full time and was joined by a team of technicians who helped expand their services even outside of work. “[After] three years, I was realizing that this was getting too much for just part time, so they moved me to full time and then we started doing outside customer work,” MacMillan said.

Growing up, she said she was always interested in solving problems and building things together.

“Even as a kid, I was a take-apart-er,” MacMillan said. “I loved the finished feeling of sanding wood, [smoothing a] crack or having a saxophone pop. I just feel really good.”

As she graduated high school, MacMillan knew she wanted to her career to be in music. She soon began her apprenticeship to study and practice instrument repair. She also pursued other avenues, like teaching.

“I started out right out of high school, but I got a music education degree, taught one year of band and then I came [to UNT] to get my master’s,” MacMillan said. “I kept thinking that my path was going to be teaching college, and even during my doctorate I had an interview at a college to teach trumpet.”

That ended up not working, and MacMillan had to change plans. She said she did not like solely working that position. She began looking for something that would marry her passion for instrument repair with

A saxophone in the process of being repaired in the instrument repair shop on campus. The shop operates out of the music annex and works with all kinds of instruments. Paige Bruneman her love of teaching, which came to her in the form of UNT. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” MacMillan said. “That’s when I finally just stopped and was like, ‘OK, just concentrate on this,’ and this [repair job] opened up right after that. It was the best of both worlds. You get to teach kids and work on great instruments for great musicians.”

Now, MacMillan continues to work with UNT’s students and faculty while also teaching at places like SMU and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Throughout her time here, she said the work she

does at the shop comes from a place of passion and love for the process.

“We can [strive to] not just making it work, but [to making it better],” MacMillan said. “Even little things: let’s get the intonation fixed, let’s get everything else checked out. It’s really an art form if you look at it that way. There’s a lot of repairmen who don’t care, they just want it playing, but this is a real art form.”

H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman deliver laughs to UNT

By Camila Gonzalez @camiladeville The audience was excited from the moment they saw the two comedians’ silhouettes as they walked past projection screens. They walked onstage without an introduction because they did not need one.

Actors and comedians H. Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman performed at the UNT Coliseum at 8 p.m. on Tuesday as part of the Mary Jo and V. Lane Rawlins Fine Arts Series.

Benjamin and Mirman star in the television show “Bob’s Burgers” as Bob

Belcher and his son Gene, respectively.

Mike Fleming, coordinator and cochair of the Fine Arts Series, said that choosing artists and events for the series is a long process.

“We start by soliciting submissions, and we try to get as many submissions from students as possible,” Fleming said.

Submissions go to a committee comprised of UNT staff, faculty and students. The committee sorts through the submissions and assess their feasibility and cost.

Fleming said this event was suggested by a graduate student. At the time, the full cast of “Bob’s Burgers” was touring.

Once the suggestion went through the full process, the tour was over, but Benjamin and Mirman were still available.

The show began with the two giving students advice based on questions they had written on notecards before the show. A few of them had spelling mistakes, but most of them led to funny answers in which Benjamin and Mirman teased the people who asked the questions. They advised struggling actors to get out of Denton.

Ecology senior Aaron DeLeon said he enjoyed this part of the show because the comedians were not afraid to poke fun at the audience.

H. Jon Benjamin is the voice of Sterling Archer in the FX show “Archer” and plays Bob Belcher in “Bob’s Burgers.” Benjamin came to UNT as part of the Fine Arts Series. Trevon McWilliams

“I don’t do comedy at all, but I just like to make fun of people,” DeLeon said.

Human development and family science sophomore Lauren Hanson is a fan of “Bob’s Burgers” and “Archer,” which also stars Benjamin. She also liked the first part of the show, but was not sure about the rest of it.

“Some of it was classically funny and some of it was like, ‘Did you come up with this on the way here?’” Hanson said.

After the questions were answered, Mirman did his own set. He talked about being recognized at a sperm bank and signing up for Christian Mingle.

“I signed up for Christian Mingle even though I’m married and Jewish,” Mirman said to the crowd.

After his set, Benjamin came on stage and talked about his expectation that he would have diarrhea after barbecue.

“I think there was too much diarrhea emphasis because after one joke it wasn’t funny,” DeLeon said.

At the end of his set, a jazz trio came on stage. Their instruments had been at the back of the stage during the entire show. Benjamin stood at a keyboard and gave a dramatic monologue as the band performed morose music.

“I am the Jazz Daredevil,” Benjamin said to end the monologue. “And this song is called, ‘Well I Should Have Learned How to Play the Piano.’”

He proceeded to play the piano by bashing random keys. The audience was at their most vocal during this part. The crowd seemed to love the song, but not everyone felt that way.

Media arts sophomore Juliana Cohen does stand up comedy. She has seen a few episodes of “Bob’s Burgers” and wanted to seize the opportunity to watch these

comedians perform. She said they were talented and delivered “random, absurd comedy,” but she did not like the jazz number.

“It was funny, but it was short and anti-climactic,” Cohen said. “As a struggling comedian looking at a successful comedian, [I thought] I could do that, just not play the piano. Why am I learning the piano?”

Cohen said that watching a wellknown comedian make jokes about diarrhea and dildos made her feel like she does not have to try as hard in her comedy career.

“This guy just comes out and is like, ‘I gotta poop. Doop, doop doop,’ and we all die laughing,” Cohen said.

All three students said they liked the show overall, even though there were parts they said could have been better.

Students can submit recommendations for future Fine Arts Series events at fineartsseries.unt.edu.

Off the top of her head, Cohen said that Bo Burnham, Ryan Seacrest and Tyra Banks would all be interesting guests.

Fleming said people often confuse the Fine Arts Series with the Distinguished Lecture Series, so he wants his group’s programs to stand out.

“We’re trying to make a name for the Fine Arts Series,” he said.

Fleming said even though not every submission can be taken, he encourages students to suggest artists.

“My goal is to have as many student submissions as possible because at this point I’m getting older and I don’t really know what’s out there,” Fleming said. “I want to know what people are into and who they want to bring.”

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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

A day inside Thin Line

Page 5

The Dose: ‘Elk River Sessions’ follows passion of Denton musicians

By Zach Helms @ntdailyZack

Mother Tongues performs at Dan’s Silverleaf as part of Thin Line Festival’s music lineup. Will Baldwin

Looking back at the 5-day film, music and photo festival

By Rachel Linch @rachel_linch Every year deep in the heart of Denton, people from all around the state come to the Thin Line Fest to throw a five-day celebration of film, photography and music. This year’s festival lasted from April 18 to April 22 and offered hundreds of opportunities to see these different art forms from local and out-of-town artists all around Downtown Denton.

Throughout the festival’s 14 venues, each moment was a new opportunity to be surrounded by local and out-of-town creativity. This is a glimpse into what a day at this year’s Thin Line Fest was like: Hickory Street Office photo gallery: A celebration of reallife art Light shines in through the windows of the Hickory Street Office doors and onto the photographs being displayed inside. Knowing her photo is on one of the display boards in the lobby, 20-year-old concert photographer Abby Stanford walks in off the Square to find it.

“I took that,” she said when she saw it for the first time in the gallery.

She remembers the moment it was captured: the band LANY was playing at the House of Blues in Dallas, and she was sitting in her favorite spot, looking at the concert from above through her lens.

“I went up on the balcony, climbed four flights of stairs for this spot and tucked myself away in a little corner,” Stanford said. “I love overhead crowd shots because you can see how many people are swamping over this one human being, so it’s fun.”

Now, photo of LANY lead singer Paul Klein, titled “The Breakup,” is a finalist in Thin Line’s photo contest.

“It’s fun seeing your work up on a wall for other people to come and see,” Stanford said. “I have a website, I have an Instagram and all that stuff, but it’s fun to see a physical copy of your art in front of people’s faces.”

The piece hanging in the Hickory Street Office gallery is one of four Stanford submitted to the contest.

Out of the 720 submissions from 212 different photographers, her work

caught the attention of Thin Line’s photography board.

“Her concert photography is from such a different angle and a fresh perspective,” said Al Key, Thin Line director of photography. “It’s hard to get a moment, and I think Abby really catches some moments with her photography.”

Each of the three photo galleries at Thin Line showcases the real-life moments captured by photographers in Denton and across the nation. The festival also gives Denton locals like Stanford the opportunity to share their love for photography in the town they call home, which makes the festival even more special.

“It’s fun to bring people from across the nation and get to meet them and show them our art and our town,” Stanford said. “I just think it’s really cool that Thin Line happens in Denton — I love it.”

The Campus Theatre: Historical night for a historically impactful film As the sun begins to go down on the third day of Thin Line, festival goers file into the green seats of the Campus Theatre to view the world premiere of “Dodging Bullets.”

Moments before the lights dim, co-director Bob Trench and special guest Meskwaki Native American Dirk Whitebreast are brought on stage to introduce the documentary film, which focuses on the effects of historical trauma in the Native American population.

“The film was made for nonNatives,” Trench said. “Even from Minnesota — where I’m from — which is a big Indian [state], they don’t know these stories.”

The project took four years to complete after extensive research, many interviews and a great amount of collaboration with Native Americans to make sure their stories were told truthfully.

Whitebreast is one of the many Natives connected to the film. He is part of the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa and became a long-distance runner after his 18-year-old sister committed suicide 11 years ago, an issue many Natives consider to be “an epidemic.”

Now, he tells his story of resilience

and challenges the stereotypical views most of the country has about Native Americans.

“Films like these are important because you can have a person who has no idea what our world is like, what we go through, and one right word could change their mind,” Whitebreast said.

When the filmmakers were choosing where to premiere “Dodging Bullets,” they had many options. But the Dallas Fort-Worth area’s historical connection to the film’s subject matter is what made them choose Thin Line.

“We chose it because the Indian relocation program in the ‘50s brought a lot of Native people to the Dallas metroplex area,” Trench said. “Bringing it here was more important because it tells a big story about educating people and letting them know what’s going on in Indian country today.”

The film is one of six documentaries world premiering at Thin Line. The festival’s film team was honored when they found out Dodging Bullets had entrusted Denton with the important premiere.

“The reason they made this film is that there aren’t many films like it,” said Susan Carol Davis, Thin Line film director. “I think we’re showing something that is unique because it’s not a film that’s often made, therefore it’s an important one to honor and see.”

As the credits rolled across the screen of the Campus Theatre, the audience applauded. It is the response the filmmakers were hoping for, and as they look beyond the world premiere at Thin Line, they are hopeful for the impact the film will have on future generations.

“No documentary films make any money — they are done as either art or they’re done to help elicit change,” Trench said. “‘Dodging Bullets’ is here to elicit change.”

Dan’s Silverleaf: Rocking into a new day of Thin Line It’s a few minutes past midnight, the photo galleries have closed and the last films have been screened for the evening, but Dan’s Silverleaf is alive with music. Members of the

community are standing near the stage ready to experience Denton band Mother Tongues’ performance.

“This is our hometown — it’s awesome to play here,” Mother Tongues lead singer Tyler Spears said. “There’s so much support and so much love. It’s just a super creative and inspiring place to play.”

The band was created three years ago by original members and brothers Tyler and Garrett Spears.

Tonight, they are playing at Thin Line for the second year alongside Trent Reeves, Calvin Lebaron and Drew Mealer. The music they create is more experimental than anything, although many describe it as psychedelic rock.

“Mother Tongues have, in a way, started to become like a staple in the fest as far as locals that we continue to work with every year, and it’s a great sound too,” said Dallas Guill, Thin Line co-director of music.

The Denton band is one of 44 music acts playing during the fiveday festival spread out over four locations. Since the music acts are made up of local and out-of-town artists, Mother Tongues is getting the chance to represent the town they love with fellow musicians they admire.

“Everyone needs a glimpse of what Denton is and bringing in people that have never been here, it’s inspiring,” Garrett said. “Everyone that comes here just has such a good time and I feel like that’s the beauty of it.”

As people come walking through the door in the early morning hours, one day of Thin Line comes to a close and another is welcomed in by the experimental sound of Mother Tongues.

They are just one moving piece of the festival that celebrates the many aspects of art in and outside of Denton. In just one day of Thin Line, original photography is admired, documentary films are seen and live music is enjoyed. And in a few short hours, it will all be happening again.

“Denton is like a Mecca for artists,” Tyler said. “It’s a big city with a small town feel, so to have a festival like this is awesome to see. It gives a chance for everybody to be a part of something.”

Catch up or get ahead.

Enroll for summer term.

Summer I begins June 5 Summer II begins July 10

“Elk River Sessions” is a powerful and genuine piece of art.

The documentary sets out to accomplish many things with noble intent, and although it falls short on a technical level, it goes far beyond any expectations I had for the story.

It follows a few dozen Denton musicians during their journey up into the Missouri Ozarks as they produce a folk album. The cabin’s owner, Catfish, goes on to dedicate the proceeds of the album to dear friend Traci Batson, who suffers chronically from multiple sclerosis (MS), which continues to progress throughout the film.

Along with the musicians’ journey, Traci’s time in and out of hospitals and doctor’s visits are also chronicled.

Seeing as how the album was dedicated to helping her and her husband with the many medical bills accompanying her struggles, every scene that showcased a finished song almost felt like a small battle victory for Batson’s fight for her health.

I often felt as though the time in the cabin bonded everyone very closely, and the interviews throughout their time there were fantastically personal and sincere.

The passion for their music and their love for Batson was conveyed so purely, and it is clear that this was a work of genuine intent.

The music, which perfectly operates as a balance for both the subject and soundtrack of the film is equally beautiful.

Denton has always been known for its boundless amount of musicians, but I can’t imagine this album sounding any better than it did in the film with the artists chosen for the project. Its folky sound echoed the relaxed nature of their time within the cabin, but it also amplified the moments on screen when themes of camaraderie and community were front and center.

The film is not without problems, however.

Jesse Thompson from the River portion of Elk River Sessions plays the banjo and harmonica. Jake King Throughout the film there were sound mixing problems.

Interviews were constantly at different volumes — with their individual sound quality all over the place — and the background music fading out for interviews was often still too loud, making it difficult to hear what was being said in multiple interviews.

It was also a bit difficult to follow the narrative and apply a logical timeline to the events.

Much of the B-roll footage showcased what seemed to be several unrelated scenes at totally random times within the recording process. It was often quite chaotic, and I found it very difficult to keep track of what was going on or what someone was trying to say when attempting to contribute to the overall composition of the piece.

That may be the charm of this film, though — a bunch of musicians from different bands all playing and fooling around with the sound they were trying to get right.

Amidst the many instruments were several musicians communicating what they had in mind for the song they were making at in the moment.

Although it’s not particularly a pleasant mix of sounds, it captures how musicians communicate and how effective the method is when hearing the final versions of the respective track.

Finally, the editing is very choppy, and it often felt like the wrong clips were layered with the right audio. There were also stylistic choices made early on that were later abandoned, making the early parts of the film feel like they could have easily been cut from a separate documentary.

As mediocre as the technical production is, it is the passion behind the project, as well as the generous people, that made “Elk River Sessions” such a pleasure to watch.

Seeing the group work so hard on an album that would go on to assist in paying the medical expenses for Batson — a Denton local — felt like the perfect representation of the culture in Denton.

My rating: 3/5

SPORTS Page 6

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

NTDAILY.COM

Improvement, depth headline offseason

By Simreen Kheraj @Simreenkheraj

Sophomore Lauren Cox watches her shot at Maridoe Golf Club on April 3 in Carrollton, Texas.

Courtesy Rick Yeatts

North Texas women’s golf had its fair share of ups and downs this season, but the Mean Green managed to finish strong and are now ready to take on the 2018-2019 season. While it may seem early to start thinking about next season, a team with only one senior on the six-woman roster already has expectations going forward.

The team started the season slow and faced challenges due to injuries and lack of consistency, but they steadily improved and peaked in the conference championship April 16-18.

Head coach Michael Akers knew the team’s potential and managed to keep them motivated and pushed them to improve in both practice and tournaments.

“We’re in year two of our rebuilding process, and I feel like our season was good overall,” Akers said. “The rankings and scoring average improved, and placement at conference was much improved. I’m pleased with our progression.”

The success the team saw was partially brought on by the abundance of resources they had at their disposal, like Maridoe Country Club, where they not only practiced but also hosted their own tournament for the first time in the history of the program.

“Maridoe’s practice facilities are great,” sophomore Lauren Cox said. “It helped all of our games to be able to practice on such a tough golf course and

to use their long-range and short-range facilities. On the tournament side, I think it helped our team a lot to host our own event. We invited great teams to our event, and they reciprocated and invited us to theirs.”

The competition the team played against in their 2017-2018 season also helped prepare them for the main event, the Conference USA Championship.

In those championships, North Texas took fourth place behind a record final round and had two players, Cox and junior Sabina Pena, place top five individually. The finish gave them plenty of confidence heading into the off-season, and now they are focusing on building on this season’s success.

“It’s hard to go off to summer, but I’m playing in a few tournaments this summer to keep up my game,” Cox said.

“Our coach was saying in our meeting he wishes we were going straight into our next tournament. We have good momentum to go into the first event of the fall.”

For the coaches, the off-season will mainly be dedicated to recruiting more players to add to the roster for next season to add depth they previously lacked.

The team only had five healthy players to utilize in every tournament, which did not leave much choice on who to bring to each event.

“Every team can only bring five girls to the tournaments, so every time we have to qualify before we go,” senior Nyca Khaw said. “Having that competitive environment will constantly help us

improve our confidence and other skills to be better and win tournaments. You have to own your spot.”

In order to create that competitive environment, the coaches will be focusing their attention on bringing in new players to add to the lineup.

“Recruiting is always the name of the game and always the top priority because, at the end of the day, it is all about the quality of recruits that you bring in — not necessarily talent but work ethic,” Akers said. “You have to find young ladies that want to play golf at the next level who are going to put in time that’s required for us to be successful. The perfect number in my mind is seven. We didn’t have enough this year so seven is the perfect number.”

Akers and his team show no signs of slowing down as they have yet to meet their potential, and that is what they aim to do in their upcoming season.

The team has high expectations for the 2018-2019 season and hope to finally earn the C-USA Championship title. But in order to get that far, the team must remain patient.

“There’s never been a doubt in my mind about what’s going to happen here,” Akers said. “It’s just a matter of time. The NCAA rules have changed, and now it takes longer to get a program where you want it. I’m certainly looking forward to next year. After our finish in conference, I’m really looking forward to getting the roster where it needs to be and competing.”

FIU completes sweep of Mean Green in Denton

By Luis Diosdado @Luis_Diosdado9 Two weeks ago, the North Texas softball team sat in first place in the Conference USA standings. Pitching, hitting and fielding were all clicking for head coach Tracey Kee’s team.

Unfortunately, the Mean Green (22-23, 8-9) will likely fall into the seventh place spot after dropping both their games against Florida International (26-23, 10-7) on Sunday morning, 6-0 and 8-3.

With the loss, North Texas has now lost six consecutive games.

“We just have to get our game in check,” Kee said. “As fast as we fell from first place, we understand that we can climb back in these last few games.”

Florida International 6, North Texas 0 Game 1 was all Florida International, as the Panthers jumped on freshman pitcher Maria Priest straight out of the gates.

A two-run home run and an RBI double put the Panthers up 3-0 in the opening frame.

Despite throwing all seven innings, Priest struggled to find any success against the opposing hitters. She gave up six runs on 10 hits while walking eight batters and only striking out one.

Offensively, the Mean Green were shut down

by Florida International’s Shannon Saile. Saile threw 6.0 innings, only allowing four hits and striking out eight.

“She’s proven to be one of the best pitchers in this conference,” Kee said. “Her reputation is exactly what her numbers are, and she’s the best strikeout pitcher we’ve faced so far.”

Saile’s 1.80 ERA and 232 strikeouts currently lead C-USA. North Texas allowed five runners on base throughout the game.

“Offensively, we had our work cut out for us,” Kee said. “But you can’t give up runs as fast as we did and think you’re going to score as many on a kid who’s ERA is that low.”

Collecting base hits in the losing effort for the Mean Green were sophomore outfielder Katie Clark, sophomore catcher Nicole Ochotnicki, sophomore infielder second baseman Lacy Gregory and junior outfielder Sally Gastelo.

Florida International 8, North Texas 3 The start of game 2 was déjà vu to the first game. Florida International once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a couple of big hits after a leadoff walk to start the game.

Even though freshman pitcher Hope Trautwein has been the ace of the team this season, the Panthers gave her a tough time on the mound, collecting 10 hits leading to their eight runs.

A grandslam in the fourth inning highlighted the big day at the plate for Florida International.

However, with six strikeouts in her outing, Trautwein now has the second most strikeouts in a single season by a freshman pitcher (137) and is not far from breaking the original record of 158 set by Ashley Kirk back in 2011.

A pair of base hits from Clark gave the Mean Green another milestone on the day, as Clark has now safely reached base in 17 straight games.

“I just try to see my pitch and do what I can to get on base,” Clark said. “I look to get my offense going and just looking for a pitch that I can drive.”

Two of the three runs for North Texas today were driven in by freshman infielders Miranda Holguin and Kourtney Williams.

Holguin entered the game in third inning after sophomore shortstop Lindsay Gregory had to exit the game with an injury.

“Kourtney hasn’t been getting the chances she deserves, so I decided to go with her knowing we needed more offense,” Kee said.

“And Miranda is just a competitor. Even if her numbers don’t show it, I never have problem with her out on the field.”

Now, the Mean Green turn their attention to their upcoming schedule of University of Southern Mississippi then the University of Alabama at Birmingham to close their regular season.

“We’re really focused on getting back on track in conference with these next six games we have coming up,” Clark said.

Next up: The Mean Green face Southern Miss in a three game series starting on Saturday on the road.

North Texas sophomore Lacy Gregory throws the ball in a game against Houston Baptist University on April 11 at Lovelace Stadium. Sara Carpenter

Amber Walker is a freshman high jumper for North Texas’ track and field team. She has finished top five in all four outdoor meets.

Trevon McWilliams

Jumping over expectations

By Matthew Berger @Bergersthoughts On a rainy Wednesday afternoon in late April, the North Texas track and field team practiced their drills in preparation for an upcoming meet Saturday in San Marcos for the Texas State Invitational.

Off in the distance of Fouts field, freshman high jumper Amber Walker stretched, getting ready for her final tuneup before the Conference USA Championships on May 11. The freshman is currently ranked No. 70 in the country and will most likely need to beat her previous high of 1.70 meters by .04 meters in order to place for nationals.

To her, achieving that goal will not be problem.

After placing out of the top 10 in two of her three events during the indoor track season, Walker has been on a tear during the outdoor portion of the schedule. Since track and field went outside, Walker has competed in four events, finishing no lower than fifth place in high jump at any meet, including a first place finish at the Bobby Lane Invitational.

“I feel like during this outdoor season, I have put in a lot more effort and work in practice,” Walker said. “I have gotten a lot better at speed and running which has helped my ability to jump higher, and it is showing now on the track.”

Since going outdoors, Walker has finished fifth, fourth, second and first in her four meets. Walker senses with each week and each meet she performs well at, she feels her confidence growing.

“I feel more confident in my abilities,” Walker said. “I was not able to jump what I was jumping in high

school, but once I was able to achieve [and beat] that, [it] gave me more confidence in all the other meets since then.”

Assistant coach Derek Mackel has worked with Walker since she came to North Texas and has been beside her throughout the year. For Mackel, the future for the Mean Green high jumper is bright because of her work ethic and preparation outside of the track meets. With her steady improvement, he hopes it will result in a strong finish at the all-important conference meet.

“She’s done really well recently, and we are excited for what is going to happen to her in the near future,” Mackel said. “She has been working hard, and all that hard work will pay off soon.”

Mackel has coached one AllAmerican player and 26 AllConference players during his seven seasons at North Texas. He has seen great athletes come through the program and has an abundance of confidence in Walker’s abilities as a freshman to reach — and perhaps surpass — the level of the athletes before her.

“She has done really well to stay hungry every week, and she does not settle for anything,” Mackel said.

“She wants to be the best high jumper she can. We are looking for her to set some new [personal records] at the next meet and a top eight finish in the conference.”

Walker’s teammates have similarly seen her hard work throughout the year. Junior high jumper Jourden Taylor has been with the program since his freshman season and is glad to have another teammate to go through practices with. It helps both of them grow as athletes, and the relationship

built through teamwork is showing in the meets.

“It is great to have another teammate on the field who knows the event as well as you do,” Taylor said. “I can give her advice, and she can give me advice. It is always good to have someone who goes through the same struggles through practice and events with you.”

The advice and practice Taylor has given Walker has been beneficial to the growth of the freshman. Taylor sees Walker’s growth first hand, and as the season has unfolded, her confidence has only blossomed as a result.

And he has seen it pay off.

“You can see from her first event that she had the potential to be really good, and it just took her a couple of meets to face increased competition to see that she belonged,” Taylor said.

“After the indoor season, where we face our highest level of competition, she came to outdoor knowing she could compete.”

Walker has competed well throughout the entire season and has one more meet before the biggest tournament of her collegiate career to date. One of the freshman’s goals is setting a new personal high in the high jump this weekend at Texas State to finish her regular season, but it is not her only one.

Walker is ready to leap over all of her expectations and hopefully jump into the record books.

“I have a goal this weekend at Texas State, and that is to jump the 1.73 meter mark as a higher height for me going into the conference meet,” Walker said.

“After conference, where I am ranked at, I definitely see a podium finish. All I have to do is keep putting in my time, practice and the effort I am supposed to, and the success will transfer over.”

NTDAILY.COM

Page 7

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

Rebar’s charisma unites softball

North Texas junior golfer Thomas Rosenmueller hits the ball in the Trinity Forest Invitational on Sept. 26. Sara Carpenter

Men’s golf comes up short at C-USA

By Joshua Paveglio @ Joshpaveglio North Texas sophomore Hanna Rebar slides into second base in a game against Tulsa on March 2 at Lovelace Stadium. Sara Carpenter

Power at the plate, personality shine during Rebar’s sophomore season SOFTBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Coach Koz,” Rebar said. “She worked a lot with me outside of practice. She sets up a lot of hitting sessions and drills that really helped me individually.”

Rebar is a second year transfer out of Stephen F. Austin University. She spent only a semester in Nacogdoches, Texas before deciding it was best for her to leave the program. Thanks to current North Texas assistant coach and former Stephen F. Austin University head coach Gay McNutt, Kee was able to acquire Rebar during a time when she desperately needed more names on her roster.

“Our roster had dropped down to 14 players due to injuries and transfers, so we were in dire need of a quality student athlete,” Kee said. “Since coach McNutt was the one who recruited her, I was able to get a solid and honest opinion from her. We just felt it would be a good mix for Rebar and ourselves.”

It was a big decision to make, but Rebar felt confident in her

choice to make the move to Denton.

“I really liked that the coaching staff was totally honest with me from the get-go,” Rebar said.

“They told me exactly what they needed from me and what was expected from me. It was just very welcoming and felt like they really wanted me to be a part of their program.”

But much like many of the other players on the North Texas roster, Rebar’s importance on the team goes far beyond the numbers she puts up out on the field. Her outgoing and accepting personality has made her one of the more charismatic players on the team and everyone’s friend.

“She’s really the heart of this team,” sophomore infielder Lacy Gregory said. “She always keeps the team going when we have a down day by coming out here with her energy and bringing everyone else up.”

In practices or games, Rebar balances the fine line between business and having a little bit of fun with her teammates. In a sport where the teams play

over 50 games in a span of three months, her teammates and coaches appreciate all she does for the spirit of the Mean Green.

“She knows when to be goofy and when to be dialed in and focused,” Kee said. “On the field, she’s trying to have quality atbats and playing right field the best that she can, but off the field, she’s one of those kids that isn’t intimated by coaches. She likes to have fun and laugh, and she is really quite witty.”

Team chemistry has been a key part of North Texas’ success this season, and Rebar has been the glue holding that together. With all of the different personalities on the field or in the dugout, it is easy to see where Rebar’s importance is with this team.

“This year we all just have a really good mesh with each other,” Rebar said. “We all like playing with each other and have similar interests off the field. It makes it easy getting to know everyone.”

The combination of her unique personality and her offensive production sets Rebar apart from others. Often, she shows the

leadership qualities she gained over such a short amount of time.

Her improvement at the plate has opened several eyes including Kee and company, and it helped North Texas get off to a hot start in conference play before more recent struggles. Regardless of how the team is doing, Rebar always seems to have the antidote for everyone.

“As a teammate, how can you not look at her numbers and be impressed?” Kee said. “You can never predict who your leaders are going to be, but if she stays on the course she’s on and continues to work as hard as she does, then I think she can develop into that.”

Putting aside all the jokes and laughs, Rebar is a determined player. North Texas has yet to win a conference championship in its 14 year tenure, but she has her sights set on changing that over the course of the next couple years in Denton.

“My team and I want a ring,” Rebar said. “That’s our goal as a whole, and it’s something I’ve wanted since college started. It would be a dream come true.”

A look at McCasland’s first 2018 signee do not expect him to be in the high 30s in terms of percentage, but it looks like he has no problem taking the open three, which is almost a necessity for guards on this team, unless your name is Ryan Woolridge.

The rebounding looks like a strength, but it’s so hard to tell at the high school level because of the difference in strength and size. At 6 feet 5 inches, he’s taller than 90 percent of high school players, but he at least knows how to use his body and get in position for rebounds from the clips I saw, explaining his numerous double-doubles.

Head coach Grant McCasland speaks to Ryan Woolridge during a game against Bethune-Cookman. File

By Matthew Brune @Mattbrune25 A few days ago, men’s basketball officially picked up their first signee for the 2018-2019 season.

Larry Wise is a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Waxahachie High School, one of the best teams in 5A. His team was ousted in the third round of the playoffs this past season — not the dream scenario for Wise.

He averaged 18 points per game his senior season and was rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com. Wise was named First Team All-Region and First Team All-State in 5A. Finally, he was ranked the No. 23 player in Texas by Texastop100.com and No. 27 by TexasHoops.com.

No crazy windmills, no dribbling wizardry, not even any trash talk, Wise’s

highlight films do not do anything to make North Texas’ fans mouth water, but you can tell he is solid all around. The only thing everyone has seen at this point are his numerous highlight tapes on Hudl.com.

It is obviously impossible to know even half of his game off of about 15 minutes of highlights, but you can get a good sense of his tendencies and play style which is what we’ll focus on here.

The good Crafty slasher is the best way I can describe Wise on film. He finds a way to score around the basket using a variety of moves. I saw a f loater, a reverse layup, a deep post seal and a tough lefty finish by the right handed Wise.

He appears to be a confident shooter with a solid stroke from behind the arc. I

The questions He does not show a lot of explosion off the dribble at the high school or AAU levels, he kind of just eases by smaller players and uses his size to easily get off an efficient shot in the paint. If he has a burst off the dribble, it certainly did not show on the highlights.

His jump shot is not funky, but it’s a set shot of sorts as I mentioned earlier. It’s like a mix between Ricky Rubio and Trevor Ariza, which is a weird mental image. Regardless, coming off of a year where several North Texas wings could not shoot — and several wings tweaked their shots — his stroke alone could prove valuable to this team if he cleans it up, but we don’t know yet.

Look, I know it’s a highlight tape, and it is supposed to be all offense, but I saw very few assists and even less defensive plays on anything I watched. I’m not saying he can’t play defense or can’t pass, but I just did not see any of it.

Can this year’s team use him?

I have been vocalizing my thirst for long, athletic wings on next year’s team and while he has some size, he does not seem to check that box. Given I have never seen him play in person, I cannot make a verdict of any kind here, but I think junior Michael Miller offers more athleticism on the wing despite being two inches shorter.

If his jump shot and defense comes around to be Division I level, he could contribute on the wing, but as for now, I do not think he’ll make a big impact on next year’s team. But that does not make him bad, he was ranked top 25 in the state for a reason. Wise could be a perfect replacement for A.J. Lawson in the future, it’s just a matter of when. That’s the biggest question for me.

Sitting four shots back in fifth place with just three holes remaining in the Conference USA Championships, the odds of winning the conference grew more unlikely by the second Monday afternoon.

However, junior Thomas Rosenmuller birdied then eagled his final two holes while junior Ian Snyman birdied his final hole leading the team back into competition. The resilience they showed throughout the season manifested itself in the dying moments of their season. This sat the Mean Green comfortably four shots ahead of fifth place Rice, leaving them with better odds to face on Tuesday afternoon.

Rice’s final three holes Tuesday determined whether North Texas moved on in the tournament. And, despite the Mean Green’s push, Rice’s final score of +17 finished one below the Mean Green, eliminating North Texas.

The Mean Green finished fifth in the tournament and failed to continue to compete in C-USA match play for the first time in men’s golf history.

“We were the only team in the conference who had made match play every year, and that streak was broken today which was pretty unfortunate,” head coach Brad Stracke said.

This season was the first time they failed to reach match play since joining C-USA back in 2014.

Stracke described Rice’s final push and the play which decided his team’s fate.

“We were looking pretty good and there was only one group left,” Stracke said. “It was the toughest hole on the golf course, and the Rice guy was 10 feet away from the hole and hits it for birdie. They needed two pars on that hole to tie us, and I thought we were looking pretty good considering it was the hardest hole on the course. Rice pulled it off, and you have to give it to them shooting one under on the 18th hole.”

The University of Alabama at Birmingham won the tournament with a total score of 872, five shots better than second place Middle Tennessee State.

Snyman led the Mean Green with a second place individual finish in the tournament with a score of 214 from a 76-67-71 performance over the three rounds, finishing second by three shots and just missing the tournament championship.

He now awaits an individual bid into the NCAA regional, which is a likely scenario after finishing second in the tournament.

His teammate junior Thomas Rosenmueller finished tied for 11th at three over par and freshman Vitek Novak tied for 26th at nine over par.

“I had a rough start to the tournament and got it going in the second round,” Snyman said. “The last round I could have shaved a few shots which would’ve made a difference. I’m a little disappointed with my final days individually. There were some positives, but I’m disappointed, and there’s always room for improvement.”

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OPINION

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

Page 8

NTDAILY.COM

#SaveStudentNewsrooms is crucial for journalism’s future

By The Editorial Board @ntdaily In this age of fake news and ethical dilemmas, the future of whether or not journalism is “a dying industry” lies in the hands of journalists — student journalists, to be exact. #SaveStudentNewsrooms is a campaign put on by the University of Florida’s The Independent Alligator that emphasizes the importance of independent journalism in college newsrooms throughout the county.

Student media is arguably one of the most important factors and privileges that comes with studying at a private or public university. This includes studentoperated radio stations and podcasts, television stations, magazines and newspapers.

In Southern Methodist University’s

case, the university is taking over the Student Media Company — the university’s independent, student-led publishing company — due to lack of funding. The journalism department is taking over different aspects of the publishing company, but the fate of other components — like the university’s award-winning yearbook — are still up in the air.

Even though alumni recently raised $40,000 to try and keep the student media company independent, SMU denied it.

Imagine what censoring outlets like the university newspaper would potentially do to the student community.

At the North Texas Daily, our newspaper staff is made up of students — 100 percent. Every writer, reporter, photographer, videographer, illustrator, unpaid staffer, paid staffer and editor on

our staff utilizes the Daily in tandem with attending journalism classes. We do not do it because we have to — we do it with a purpose.

We do it to bring unbiased news to the UNT community.

We do it to tell the whole truth, no matter how difficult it is to accept.

We do it to get an experience in a way that a 80-minute lecture or a month-long “deadline” assignment can’t teach.

We do it to learn.

We do it for you — the student body, staff, faculty and Denton residents.

To be censored or told what to do does not only provide a twisted source of news, but it also gives us students — who are working so hard to make some sort of impact at UNT — a false sense of hope and faith in our ability to be the watchdogs and the source of truth for our communities now and in the future as

THIS & THAT

well.

Being a “student newspaper” does not knock the importance of free, unbiased reporting in universities — sometimes student journalists start a wave that can’t be stopped.

In December 2015, Daily staffers were some of the first onsite after the shooting of UNT student Ryan McMillan. Last semester, the Daily broke the news that Donald Trump Jr. was scheduled to speak as a part of a university-based speaker series and followed up with multiple articles spelling out cost and implications of his appearance. Just a week ago, the Daily broke that a racial slur was found on a receipt in our very own University Union.

Now, imagine in those same instances, you received the news of them from outlets like donaldtrumpjr.com or a University Union newsletter — the chances of you

getting the full stories are unlikely.

Although “UNT” is the logo plastered on the paychecks of the very few (and by very few, we mean a lower and lower amount every year) paid members of our staff, the Daily staff is and always will be determined to provide accurate, truthful and crucial information to the community.

Other student papers aren’t as lucky.

So if you have a moment, go take a look at some other student news publications. It can be one in our own backyard — like The University of Texas at Arlington’s The Shorthorn or Texas Woman’s University’s The Lasso — or take a look at the Independent Alligator or others. Not only are you supporting students’ abilities to hone their craft and share truth, but you are contributing to the future of journalism.

THIS & THAT

Reasons why I’m a cat person Dogs are better, no question animals, but cats are just as great with the right training. I can’t tell you how many times I would be crying on my bed and my cat Bobo would notice and come lay down with me to help. A cat’s capacity for emotional intellect is heartwarming to witness firsthand.

By Rachel Herzer @coolrachdoritos Cats versus dogs is a debate as old as time, and this has been a long time coming.

But before I begin, let me disclaim that I love dogs, too. You won’t find me bashing them in this article because while I do prefer cats, I still think dogs are really dope. Dog people don’t seem to be capable of such noble thinking and usually rest on the argument that “cats are mean,” but I digress.

The dictionary defines “cat” as “a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout and retractable claws,” and I couldn’t have said it any better myself. But I will.

Intellect For one, cats are geniuses.

You can’t get anything past them (especially catnip toys).

There are so many stories of cats using their uncanny intelligence to help humans and other good causes. One iconic cat named Oscar lived at a nursing home and could sense which patients were about to die with a very high accuracy, to the point where his predictions would sometimes even prove doctors wrong. He would stay with the patient and keep them happy and comfortable until they passed.

I know dogs are kind of known for being great emotional support

Personality Every cat has its own personmeow-ity. I have three cats: one cat that is typically ornery, chill and standoffish, one that is younger and energetic and loves to play fetch with ponytails and another who is big, lazy and has a snoring problem but who is the absolute sweetest thing on Earth and can never get enough love.

That is a pretty varied assortment of personalities within one household. Now imagine how many cat personalities there are at an animal shelter and how well you could mesh your own temperament with one of them and create a beautiful, cat-human relationship for years to come.

One trait seemingly ubiquitous to all cats is their independence.

They don’t need you at all times, and they know you know. They are in control of how and when they get attention, which is perfect for a pet. Sometimes cats like to be left alone for hours at a time — just like people.

And unlike with dogs, this usually does not result in the destruction of your home.

Maybe your toilet paper, though.

Aesthetics Last but perhaps most importantly, cats are simultaneously adorable, gorgeous and fascinating. No other animal vibrates a calming frequency and kneads your tummy when they are happy (called “making biscuits” in the cat community, which is also charming). No other animal will allow you to stroke its magnificent fur, then an instant later start licking its own butthole in front of you.

There is a reason cat videos are so popular on the internet: because they are cute as hell.

Have you ever seen a cat loafing on a glass table? What about that cat that plays with Q-tips? Don’t hesitate to reach out for more cat content suggestions.

Something about these cuddly, weird, beautiful rascals is just paw-sitively alluring (please don’t boo at my puns).

At the end of the day, the choice is yours: cats or dogs? Allow me to assure you that you don’t have to choose. You can live at the center of the Venn diagram if you want.

“I like both cats and dogs” is an acceptable answer, but be aware that “I like neither” will not be accepted at this time or ever.

Illustration by Gabby Evans

are crying in your room at night?

In the media Dogs are always that one animal in movies that play the lovable human companion — and rightfully so. They are either the protectors or the best friend of the main character, or child of a happy couple. Either way, you never see dogs as the villains. If anything, cats are almost always portrayed as the antagonists.

By Kenya Menjivar @kenya_menjivar Dogs have been known as man’s best friend for as long as I can remember.

They are creatures of love, affection and life. Don’t get me wrong, they make us angry when they don’t listen and will sometimes pee in the house — even though they know they aren’t supposed to. We still love them anyway. Their sweet puppy eyes and wagging tails are enough to reel us in and forever have our hearts.

So what does it mean to be a dog lover? Oh, so many things.

Cats are cold When people come to me to argue cats are nearly as good enough as pets as dogs, I chuckle.

Cats are some of the least loving animals I know. You aren’t their pet — they think you are their pet.

Every cat I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting has been so cold to me. They do not accept my affection or niceness.

That’s not to say all cats are like this. Though I will say the

feeling I get when I see a cat is nothing close to the feeling of when I see a dog walking my way. At night, if I see a stray cat lost and lurking, it won’t come near me. It would rather be fed and have me go my separate way.

There’s no intimacy between me and the cat.

But dogs never get tired of your presence. They usually want more attention because they think you haven’t given them enough. It’s almost as if they have this hole that always needs to be filled with love. I know it sounds cheesy, but if you are ever fortunate enough to meet a dog, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

They need love, and you have some to give. It makes them the perfect companion and lifelong friend.

I’ll choose dogs any and every chance I get.

Illustration by Austin Banzon

Man’s best friend First and foremost, dogs are a huge source of joy in life.

I know from personal experience that dogs aren’t just here to get fed and to use the restroom. My dogs are always down to go on adventures and to actually live their lives with me.

When I get home from a long day of work or a stressful day at school, I look to my dogs for a good cuddle. They make you feel like you are the only important person in their lives. There’s something peaceful about sitting on your couch and watching a movie with your dog sitting right beside you as you rub their belly. After all, who better to give you a sloppy wet kiss when you

Trump’s border wall will impact southern ecosystems, biodiversity will suffer

By Sean Rainey @HeldBubble Most of us are familiar with President Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall.

This huge barrier would potentially run along the border between the Southern United States and Mexico.

Despite the current political

atmosphere and our own opinions about whether or not we actually need a wall, there are environmental concerns that must be considered.

Our planet’s ecosystems are diversified and maintained by immigration patterns of the organisms that dwell within. Erecting a barrier would further fragment already struggling ecosystems and create a difficult obstacle that both plants and animals would have to contend with.

UNT ecology professor James Bednarz said, “Our ecosystems rely on immigration and dispersal habits of both plant and animal species.”

“These functioning ecosystems help perform environmental services which we humans rely on,” Bednarz said.

An Environmental Service is a

natural process that occurs within the environment. It provides a benefit to other organisms — an example is how oxygen is a byproduct of photosynthesis performed by plants.

As you may have guessed, constructing a barrier will limit not only human movement, as is the intention, but it will further restrict animals and plants.

Bednarz provides examples of organisms that would be put at a considerable disadvantage with the construction of the wall.

“The wall would further jeopardize already endangered species such as the White Sided Jackrabbit and the Ocelot, both of which can be found near the border,” Bednarz said.

When there are dispersal limitations,

like a giant wall, these organisms will inevitably have an even more difficult time finding a mate for reproduction.

While there are other challenges that the wall presents, the ability to find a suitable mate is extremely important for endangered and declining species.

Bednarz also notes that whatever proposal is enacted to secure the border should consider the ramifications to the environment. He is absolutely right. In our anthropocentric society, we often jump to conclusions without considering how the environment will be affected by our decisions. In a world suffering from over-population, global warming and a lack of resources (and so on) we cannot afford to allow our environment and the biodiversity of our planet to suffer further.

There are many other solutions proposed instead of a wall.

Restoring the Rio Grande, for example, would greatly restore the degraded environment along the border.

The Rio Grande is a natural barrier and it has lost at least seven native fish species due to pollution, climate change, and neglect, according to the National Park Service.

Other suggestions include restoring infrastructure on both sides of the border, making it a safe and welcoming place for all.

“Electronic security measures or other solutions that ensure the safety and protection of the southern border ecosystem while still maintaining a secure border,” Bednarz said.

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