North Texas Daily 2-25-16

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NORTH TEXAS CONDUCTING STUDY ON ATHLETES WHO HAVE TORN ACLS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016

VOL. 106 No. 6

NTDAILY.COM CAMPUS HOUSING

Attorney: Cpl. Bean wrong to kill McMillan

UNT to decide whether to include genderinclusive housing By Lisa Dreher Staff Writer @lisa_dreher97

Gina McMillan-Weese sits next to Ryan’s father Walter McMillan as she cover s her face and cries during the news conference held by their attor neys on Feb. 23. Hannah Ridings | Senior Staff Photographer

McMillan legal team says Texas Rangers overlooked key witnesses By Tiffany Ditto Staff Writer @TiffanyDitto Rain fell from the sky Tuesday while tears fell from the eyes of Gina McMillan-Weese and Walter McMillan, just as they did months before, when their son, Ryan, was shot and killed by a UNT police officer. The parents sat next to their attorney as she recounted the critical decision made by UNT police Cpl.

“We believe it was a senseless overreaction by an agent of the university,” Higginbotham-Brooks said. “Parents send their children to the University of North Texas to be educated and protected. In the case of Ryan McMillan, no protection was offered.” The response Police released camera footage showing McMillan walking toward Bean holding what authorities are calling a hatchet, telling the officer

multiple times to shoot him. Bean, in the video, tells McMillan about six times to stop, but he doesn’t. Bean felt threatened and shot the 21-yearold. But the problem, according to the family’s legal team, is Bean positioned himself too close to McMillan, which caused the officer to lose control of the situation. What’s more, they said, is Bean moved too quickly to kill McMillan instead of subduing him with a nonlethal weapon, such as a Taser or

pepper spray. “There is physical force, there is intermediate force, and there is deadly force,” criminologist Dexter Simpson said. “In this particular case, officer Stephen Bean of the UNT police jumped to the extreme end of the use of force continuum very quickly. If this officer had not rushed in, and had waited for backup, Ryan may still be alive.”

American associations like the Progressive Black Student Organization, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, African Student Organization and BSU challenged their black history knowledge in a Jeopardy-like trivia competition. The overall winner of the event was BSU, whose contestants left the auditorium with small gold

medals and free UPC T-shirts. “We are always instilled with the spirit of excellence,” contestant and BSU intern Isaiah Williams said. “So I kind of knew we were going to be here and humbled that we are.” The audience of about 10 people grew as losing teams took their seats. Conversation and loud outbursts of support echoed

SEE INVESTIGATION ON PAGE 6

Whether the university should implement policy to allow gender-inclusive housing options is back on the table at UNT. The issue has been brought up before, in 2014, but university officials did not find a solution. But a proposal from College of Arts and Sciences SGA senator Mia Murric has reopened those talks to allow students to live with whomever they want, regardless of biological sex or gender identity. “I think that being in a safe space around other people who don’t identify with a gender would help them gain confidence,” Murric said. The director of housing operations, James Fairchild, said if a student contacts his department, requesting accomodations, the situation will be handled “as best [they] can,” but said there are no procedures in place. “We don’t really have that in a policy necessarily,” he said. The possibility of genderinclusive housing has been brought to the Residence Hall Association’s attention before. Four students in 2014 petitioned RHA for their Introduction to Women’s Studies course as a group project. “When I was an RA and a

SEE CAMPUS HOUSING ON PAGE 2 FACILITIES

Students a Student organizations compete in trivia games at UPC’s Black History Bowl priority for new tech By Kaylen Howard Staff Photographer @TheKaylenHoward officer TRIVIA

WEATHER

Today H: 59°F L: 35°F 7-Day Forecast Friday H: 62°F L: 40°F Saturday Sunday

Stephen Bean to shoot and kill their son, and painted a grim picture of how UNT and police officials have shut the public out of the investigation. The family suspects Bean lacked the proper training and lost control of the encounter the early morning of Dec. 13, 2015, when police responded to a criminal mischief call on the corner of Oak and Fry streets. They’ve hired Renee HigginbothamBrooks to challenge the Texas Ranger investigation into Bean’s actions.

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H: 72°F L: 53°F H: 75°F L: 51°F

Monday H: 76°F L: 57°F Tuesday H: 73°F L: 47°F Wednesday H: 63°F L: 42°F

Remains of scattered paper and the distinct aroma of fast food linger throughout the auditorium. After a three-hour Black History Month trivia competition, Black Student Union program director Jesse Anyalebechi walks alone toward the exit doors, both hands in his

@ntdaily @thedose_ntdaily @ntd_sports

#FreeKesha

Kesha’s appeal to work outside of her record label after claiming that her producer assaulted her was shot down by a New York judge. Taylor Swift donated $250,000 to help Kesha with her legal battles, and several producers offered to make music with her for free.

#DamnDaniel

Joshua Holz posted a compilation of Snapchat videos complimenting his friend Daniel’s outfits. After the post went viral, both Daniel and Josh were invited onto the Ellen Show.

#Likebutton

Facebook added 5 new emojis in addition to the like button.

EDITORIAL ON PAGE 10

SENATE ON SCALIA

SEE TRIVIA ON PAGE 5

MUSIC

Award-winning Denton rapper looks to the future By Kayleigh Bywater Senior Staff Writer @kayleighbywater

TRENDING

pockets and a satisfied smile on his face. Five teams of eight players went head-to-head Tuesday night in UPC’s first Black History Bowl, located in the University Union Lyceum. “It was a lot of fun,” Anyalebechi said. “Everyone definitely knew what they were doing.” From 6 to 8 p.m., African-

The names LL Cool J, Tupac and Jay Z are commonly synonymous with catchy songs and deep lyrics. But when rapper and radio DJ Christopher Avant hears these names, he thinks of heroes. Avant, a Denton local who goes by A.V. The Great, said he has been rapping and singing for as long as he can remember and is ready to become a hip-hop household name.

“Crafting words together is unlike any experience,” Avant said. “Having the ability to create a meaningful, impactful song or set of words really brings a whole new level to the music.” Avant said he was constantly surrounded by music as a child. His dad was a DJ, his grandma had a vast collection of CDs and his mom was always pushing him to take the leap into the music industry. He began creating R&B songs at a young age,

SEE MUSIC ON PAGE 4

Underground rapper Christopher Avant has won awards for his music and resides in Denton. Hannah Ridings | Senior Staff Photographer

ATHLETICS

Finances delaying addition of Mean Green baseball and men’s soccer By Alex Lessard and Courtney Anderson Associate Sports Editor and Staff Writer @alexjlessard @cpaigea23 Of the 14 schools in Conference USA, there are 12 baseball programs and nine men’s soccer programs. Five Texas schools have made it as far as the Super Regionals of the College World Series in the past two years, and four C-USA teams made the NCAA men’s soccer

tournament last season. Yet, North Texas doesn’t have the opportunity to compete with those Division I programs in either sport. North Texas hasn’t always been without baseball and men’s soccer, however. In the mid-1980s, the baseball program accumulated a 54-234 record and was disbanded after just five seasons. Men’s soccer became a Division 1 program in 1976, but was disbanded in 1994 as a part of university budget cuts. Although baseball and

men’s soccer are now sport clubs administered by the Pohl Recreation Center, athletic director Rick Villarreal is open to the possibility of resurrecting both North Texas programs. “I think there’s a lot more talent out there,” Villarreal said. “The conference itself is very strong in soccer, so I think we can be successful there. And I truly believe we can be successful in baseball.” As sport clubs, baseball and men’s soccer receive around $5,000 each year from the university, but

often have to pay the majority of equipment and travel expenses themselves. Despite this, they still compete against other top-tier schools in Texas, including Baylor University and Texas Christian University. There are only four Division I men’s soccer programs in Texas, with Southern Methodist University being the closest to Denton. The lack of programs creates an opportunity for North Texas to take advantage of the Dallas-Fort Worth

SEE ATHLETICS ON PAGE 7

By Alejandro Medellin Staff Writer @skinny_fats On the second floor of the Discovery Park campus, Kendra Ketchum sits in her office, making moves to modernize UNT’s databases. Recently hired, she has come to be a part of the school’s information technology overhaul; an initiative UNT president Neal Smatresk said is a priority. Ketchum, the chief technology officer, arrived at UNT in December. Months later, her whiteboard is plastered with graffiti of flowcharts and plans for technological change. She navigates through her iPad Pro to review her notes. It is clear she’s not stopping any time soon. “I’m in this business because of the students,” she said. One of Ketchum’s primary duties is data warehousing, connecting all of UNT’s data banks from all departments in order for administrators to be aware of trends. The initiative, officials said, will allow leaders on campus to make more precise and data-driven decisions. One benefit of her work, Ketchum said, is administrators will be able to analyze data to determine things like which courses are effective. “During her time here so far she has focused on executing the ITSS strategic plan along with the continued improvement of our converged infrastructure and architecture initiative,” said Ketchum’s boss, chief information officer Rama Dhuwaraha. Essentially, Ketchum is making it simpler to use the vast data available to the university community.

SEE FACILITIES ON PAGE 3


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