Issuu

Ducks Amok

glassblower designs equipment NEWS: Master Page 2 Soccer team loses LIVESTRONG game SPORTS: Page 5 People should not drive while distracted VIEWS: Page 7

Duck Derby raises $6,000 for Denton Parks Foundation. Page 3

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

News 1,2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5,6 Views 7 Classifieds 8 Games 8

Volume 96 | Issue 15

Stormy 88° / 72°

ntdaily.com

The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas

Mayborn dean to teach in Liberia BY K RYSTLE CANTU Senior Staff Writer

Mitchell Land, the interim dean of the Mayborn School of Journalism, will depart from the U.S. on Sept. 26 to help lead an 11-day journalism workshop in the Republic of Liberia. Land is going to help train journalists who will cover the African nation’s general election in 2011, in which Liberians will select a president and fill seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Land was recruited by the U.S. Department of State to participate. “It’s going to be very important for these journalists to understand how vital their role is,” he said. “Not to cover it as a horse race but to press the candidates to address the issues that are of concern with the voters.” Land is going to Liberia through a partnership between the Press Union of Liberia and the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia. He is expected to arrive on Sept. 27. Land will conduct a series of lectures on election coverage and political campaigns, advanced reporting and media ethics. Land will also send footage to his current UNT students in media ethics so they may observe the experience, he said. “I want the students to see some of those interviews and take this for a learning opportunity for both the students and me,” Land said. Arthur Mehos, a journalism graduate student and graduate services assistant, said he’s interested to see what journalists in Liberia will learn and gain from their experience with Land.

“He’s been working very hard, and he’s put a lot of hours into it,” Mehos said. “He’s v e r y excited about MITCH doi ng t h is, LAND and he’s really going to be beneficial to their learning experience.” Nicole Holland, a journalism graduate student, agrees. “He’s very open minded with a strong moral and ethical base,” she said. “A combination of traits like that makes him very well suited for this endeavor.” Land lived nearby in the Ivory Coast in 1980, when Liberia was u ndergoi ng a long civ i l war and a coup d’etat, or overthrowing of the state. Since then the country has undergone two coups and a civil war. Land’s trip is one of many efforts that have been put t hrough by orga nizations before 2003, such as IREX and Journalists for Human Rights, Land said. “The countr y has been torn apa r t, t housa nds of people k i l led, bu i ld i ngs blown up and critical infrastructure at every level destroyed,” he said. “Helping foster those practices that support democracy is crucial in a country that has been through so much.” Land will return to the U.S. on Oct. 8. “I just hope to do some good,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much I love Africa. My children were reared in Africa, and my son is in South Africa with his family. I love it and I go back as often as I can.”

Playin’ the Blues

PHOTO BY DREW GAINES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The 12th annual Denton Blues Festival ended Sunday night with a performance by Guitar Shorty, a Texas-born modern blues giant. Shorty and his crew were one of 11 bands that played at Quaker Park this weekend. They shared the stage with the likes of Pops Carter and Big Bill Morganfield, whose performances drew hundreds to the venue. The Denton Black Chamber of Commerce put on the free festival. It will return next year to electrify Denton once again with the blues.

Changes initiate criticism, debate about Texas education State official discusses curriculum

Changes could improve college readiness

BY A DAM BLAYLOCK

Gail Lowe, chairwoman of the Texas State Board of Education, spoke at a meeting of about 100 people Thursday regarding misconceptions about the state’s K-12 curriculum changes. The changes, most of which will go into effect in fall 2011, have incited national controversy across the media since they were approved in May, and Texas has been criticized for possibly bringing political and religious agendas into public schools. Lowe was enthusiastic as she explained the differences in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, or TEKS, at the monthly meeting for the Denton County Republican Party at the Lewisville Medical Center. “This has been a very long year,” Lowe said. “Curriculum is the most important part of education.” Lowe talked about several key changes that she said would better prepare students for college and life. The state adopted new language and social studies standards, among others, Lowe said. “We did change about 15 percent of the document,” she said. Lowe addressed some of the concerns that religious content would be added to the science curriculum. “We don’t teach creation, and we still teach evolution,” Lowe

Changes made to the state’s K-12 curriculum should help better prepare students for entering college, said Gail Lowe, the chairwoman of the Texas State Board of Education, at the Thursday meeting of the Denton County Republican Party. Out of the 3,432 students who enrolled for the first time in college at UNT in 2007, 407 did not meet the minimum college standards in one or more of the core areas — reading, writing and math, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The board also reported for the same year that more than 50 percent of Texas high school graduates were not academically prepared to succeed in entry-level college work. “I felt totally unprepared when I came to school,” said Kelcey Smith, an art education sophomore. “… People should be more prepared for when they go to the university.” The Advisory Committee on Higher Education Cost Efficiencies estimated that nearly $200 million was spent on developmental education classes to bring students up to college expectations in 2009. That report estimated an annual savings of $10 million if developmental efficiency was improved 5 percent. At 15 percent efficiency, that number leaps to an estimated

Staff Writer

Pedro Calles, a biology sophomore, gets some studying in before class. said. “But there’s something in the skills section where they examine all sides of the evidence. We’re not telling them how to think, but giving them the evidence to determine for themselves.” The board did approve teaching students about the religious principles of the Founding Fathers. “Our country was founded on religious principles … and our students will know that,” Lowe said. “… I think the [Founding Fathers] fully intended that our government would not separate church and state.” Other changes have been criticized by groups and individuals as “changing history,” but Lowe insisted that wasn’t the case. One purported change,

that Thomas Jefferson had been removed from much of the curriculum, didn’t occur, according to the final published version posted on the Texas Education Agency website. “We never proposed taking Jefferson out of the curriculum,” Lowe said. “We just didn’t want to add him to world history… [but] we conceded in the end.” Nancy Nelson, chairwoman of the department of teacher education and administration, said the curriculum changes have faced a lot of scrutiny. “It depends on where you stand politically and religiously,” Nelson said. Teachers’ promotions and raises are often influenced by the test scores based on the curriculum, which can put pressure

PHOTO BY CHAZZ MORISSON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

on educators, she said. “We’ve got the standards,” Nelson said. “There’s not much room for teachers.” Lowe disagreed. “Teachers are free to add to it,” Lowe said of the new curriculum. Because of the political and ideological implications, undergraduate professors at the College of Education don’t want to put themselves in an oppositional position with the state curriculum, Nelson said. “I wasn’t even aware that they’ve changed,” said Sara Pair, an education senior. T h e Te x a s E s s e n t i a l Knowledge and Skills standards can be found on the Texas Educat ion Agenc y website.

$30 million annually in savings from students who proceed past those developmental classes into standard college courses. Sara Pair, an education senior, paralleled Smith’s sentiments. “I felt like I was prepared because I prepared myself,” Pair said. “I don’t think the problem is with the curriculum, the problem is that the students are taught to pass the test.” Nancy Nelson, chairwoman of the department of teacher education and administration, noted the pressure placed on teachers to get their students to produce higher test scores. Texas was really the first at implementing high-stakes testing, she said. High-stakes means that not only does it impact whether the students progress to the next grade, but teachers’ reputations are at stake, too. “Even property values increase in neighborhoods with schools that have higher testing scores,” Nelson said. Erron Huey of the educational psychology faculty seconded Nelson’s statement. “[My teaching] was pretty broad to begin with,” Huey said. The Learning Center in University Union 323 has many services that can help students improve in their studies, according to a leaflet. Inside, the center offers programs to help students get through many of the academic obstacles they might encounter. “We have online tutoring, academic support programs and study sessions for specific classes,” said Allyson Gardner, the coordinator for Learning Success programs.