Time warp
Rocky Horror cast to dazzle at UNT Insert Page 4 Thursday, August 26, 2010
News 1,2 Sports 3 SCENE Insert Classifieds 4 Games 4
Volume 96 | Issue 18
Stormy 86° / 72°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Famous composer to reside at UNT BY JACQUELINE FLUSCHE Staff Writer
PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Junior running back Lance Dunbar cuts upfield against Rice in the Mean Green’s first home game. The Green Blur leads the team with 263 rushing yards. UNT will attempt to end its seven game losing streak when the Mean Green open Sun Belt Conferene play against Florida Atlantic on Saturday.
Conference schedule gives injured Mean Green new life
BY ERIC JOHNSON / BEN BABY Editor-in-Chief / Senior Staff Writer
After a 0-3 start, the UNT football team will limp into conference play Saturday against Florida Atlantic (1-1) with 10 of its starters watching the game from the sidelines because of injuries. With its top two quarterbacks on crutches, the Mean Green will turn to third-string quarterback Riley Dodge. The redshirt sophomore started 10 games last season, but was moved to wide receiver after shoulder surgery. No. 11 set a school record by completing 67 percent of his passes in 2009, but will have to take better care of the football if the Mean Green has any chance of ending its seven-game losing streak. Riley Dodge led the Sun Belt Conference with 15 interceptions last season. “I’m a lot more matured,” Riley Dodge said. “I understand this game, just realized that every play doesn’t have to be a home run. Sometimes it felt like I
pressed some, trying to make something out of nothing.” The Owls’ porous run defense has allowed 570 yards rushing in two games this season and could be gashed by UNT’s home run threat, junior running back Lance Dunbar. The Green Blur embarrassed the FAU defense in 2009, rushing for 238 yards and three touchdowns. “We want to make sure that he gets the ball 20 to 25 times a game,” offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. “Lance is our guy. We’re going to feature him, and he needs to touch the ball and we’re going to create ways to do that.” Riley Dodge adds a different dimension to the running game. “He brings a lot more mobility and he can get us out of some bad situations,” Canales said. After leading the conference with more than 185 rushing yards per game last season, the Mean Green is averaging a pedestrian 137 in 2010. UNT will need to feed the ball
to junior running back Lance Dunbar in order to ease the pressure off Riley Dodge. Dunbar had a career-low 12 carries last week against Army. Saturday’s game plan for Riley Dodge is a simple one. “Get the ball into my playmakers’ hands, protect the football, manage the football team and get the ball in Lance and James’ hands,” Riley Dodge said. As for the defense, with half of the starting secondary in street clothes, the Mean Green will have to find a way to contain the Owls’ NFL-prospect wide receiver Lester Jean. The 6-foot, 3-inch senior leads the Sun Belt with eight receptions and 132 yards per game. The Mean Green will have to find a way to get pressure on 6-foot, 6-inch junior quarterback Jeff Van Camp to keep the ball out of Jean’s glue-like hands. With an offensive line that averages more than 290 pounds, a UNT pass rush that is averaging one sack a game could struggle to
Coalition urges students to discuss energy with admin BY TIM MONZINGO Senior Staff Writer
A new organization at UNT will be outside the University Union from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. today asking for signatures from students on a petition to make the university more environmentally friendly. The Sierra Student Coalition hopes to inspire students to petition UNT President V. Lane Rawlins to step up the university’s commitment to sustainability by cutting fossil fuel as an energy source. “We’re hopi ng to [get] support to show President Rawlins as well as the rest of the leaders at the school that the student body here really is environmentally conscious and we do care,” said Trey Thomas, a chemistry freshman and a volunteer for the organization. “We’re not just going to sit back and keep burning coal.” They hope the large number
disrupt the Owls’ offense. “They are a physical football team,” head coach Todd Dodge said. “Their strength is their overall size and experience.” A solid Owls rushing attack will also pose problems for UNT, as junior running back Alfred Morris averages nearly 80 yards per contact and exploded for 147 yards and two touchdowns against the Mean Green that spoiled the team’s homecoming in 2009. But the players said they are not worried about last year or making excuses. They just want to end the losing. “Whatever it takes to win,” Dunbar said. “It doesn’t matter how many yards I get, I just want to win.” Despite the slow start, Todd Dodge said UNT still has a chance to win conference. “Even though we’ve had injuries, we’ve still got expectations,” Todd Dodge said. The game will begin at 6 p.m. in Boca Raton, Fla. and can be heard on KNTU, FM 88.1.
Internationally renowned composer and pianist Jake Heggie will be a guest artist for the UNT Institute for the Advancement of t he A rts this academic year. Heggie’s works include the operas “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby-Dick.” During his stay, he will compose a symphony based on the character of Ahab from the classic novel “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. “I’m hopi ng to le a r n from the students as much as I have to offer to them,” Heggie sa id. “I’m excited because I’m a huge champion of education.” T he UN T Sy mphony Orchestra and Grand Chorus w i l l p e r f or m t he w or k April 25, 2012, on campus, according to the College of Music’s website. Richard Croft, a professor of music and internationally renowned tenor, will sing the role of Ahab. Students will also have the opportunity to work with Heggie in class situations and discussions, and he will coach voice and composition students. Heggie said he has played t he piano since he was 6 years old and started writing music at age 11. His opera, “Dead Man Walking,” has been performed nearly 150 times worldw ide over the past 10 years, according to his personal website. “MobyDick,” which premiered in the Winspear Opera House in Dallas, is scheduled to open in Australia in August 2011. It will then show in Calgary, San Francisco and San Diego in 2012. James Scott, dean of the College of Music, is responsible for bringing Heggie to the university. He believes that Heggie will contribute in many ways. “Certainly here, anyone shou ld be i nterested i n he a r i ng h i s mu sic, but ou r si ngers a nd perhaps our student pia nists a nd cer ta in ly our composers, will all benefit from working
“Anyone should be interested in hearing his music.”
—James Scott College of Music dean
with him on a one-on-one basis,” Scott said. Talise Trevigne, a soprano who played Pip in “MobyDick,” worked with Heggie w h i le prepa r i ng for t he opera. “W hen you wa lk into a room and sit down to work with Jake, one thing is clear: You have walked into a room of genius,” Trev igne said. “He’s absolutely captivating and so wonderfully positive. It’s pretty much every musician’s dream to work with a composer like that.” Hegg ie’s residency w ill not only contribute to the College of Music, but There are hopes of Heggie working with other departments i n t he u n iversit y, Scott said. “With his deep involvement with ‘Moby Dick’ and Melv ille, we’re hoping to reach out to t he Eng lish department and American l iterat u re facu lt y a nd s t u d e nt s t o s e e i f w e mig ht put toget her some panels or somet hing t hat would be of interest beyond the College of Music,” Scott said. Hegg ie w i l l live at t he university from Oct. 23 to Nov. 21 and from Feb. 14 to Feb. 28. “I love young people, and I love anything that I can offer to them in the way of words of advice or words of experience that might be useful to them,” he said. There will be a concert featuring his chamber works and song cycles at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 in The Paul Voertman Concert Hall. To learn more about his work, visit jakeheggie.com.
Splashing Around the Pond
“We’re not just going to sit back and keep burning coal.”
—Trey Thomas Chemistry freshman
of signatures will help show the dedication of the UNT students to env ironmental causes, Thomas said. Students who attend the event can get free snow cones and will have opportunities to have their picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cutout of cartoon environmentalist superhero Captain Planet. Student speakers will also be present to talk about the reasons behind t he clea n energy movement and what they would like to see as UNT moves to become sustainable, said Jenny Marienau, a repre-
sentative of the national coalition who founded the UNT chapter. T he u n iversit y get s 40 percent of its energ y from wind and 60 percent from the burning of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, Marienau said. For a university that says it is interested in sustainability, that is too much, she said. “[That] is way too much, especially for a school that claims it is very passionate about susta inabilit y,” she said.
See GROUP on Page 2
PHOTO BY BERENICE QUIRINO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Outside of the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building sits a small pond for fish and turtles, some of which approach students as they sit on the rock ledge. The Elm Fork Education Center, a program housed in the building, draws students from grade schools around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The pond and other facilities provide teaching opportunities for educators and parents who visit with the children.