SPORTS
victims can receive free help ARTS & LIFE: Trauma Page 3 Employees use break to get ahead NEWS: Page 2 Student finds UNT’s ad embarrassing VIEWS: Page 6
UNT suffers tough loss in season opener at Clemson Page 4
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 4 Views 5 Classifieds 6 Games 6
Volume 96 | Issue 7
Stormy 80° / 72°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Death penalty march comes to Denton BY TAYLOR JACKSON
By the Numbers
Staff Writer
A crowd took to Oak Street on Saturday to show opposition to the death penalty. The group of about 50 marched along the path from the Denton Square to Wooten Hall, yelling chants from hand-w ritten notes. “It’s barbaric, racist and classist,” said Brit Schulte, an art history senior, about the death penalty. The rally in Denton was in support of one specific death row inmate, Rodney Reed, who was found guilty of killing his girlfriend. His case is up for appeal. Rodney’s brother, Roderick Reed, spoke after the march and documentary about updates on his brother’s case and his personal feelings about the death penalty. Shulte is part of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty organization at UNT. She listed the main stances of the organization. The case has been documented in “State vs. Reed,” a documentary that premiered at the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival and was shown by the organizers after the march in Wooten Hall. “Those without the capital get the punishment,” Reed said. The event was organized by the International Socialist Organization, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and Amnesty International groups at UNT. It began at the Square, where organizers sat in circles on the
1972 Year the death penalty was ended
1976 Year the death penalty was reinstated
463 Number of people executed in Texas since 1976
337 Number of people on death row in Texas
10 Number of women on death row in Texas PHOTO BY ZEENA KHALAF/INTERN PHOTOGRAPHER
Stephen Benavides and other protesters march along Oak Street to Wooten Hall, voicing their views against the death penalty. pavement writing slogans as they thought of them on picket signs and talked about what kind of turnout they could expect. It was the first of what the supporters hope will become an annual march in Denton. Reversal and abolition of the death penalty comes down to grass root movements and student awareness, Schulte said. “This isn’t going to sit on some politician’s desk,” she said. “It has to be a grass roots effort.” Deathpenaltyinfo.org has
statistics about the history of the death penalty. According to the site, the death penalty was once abolished nationwide in 1972 but was reinstated in some states in 1976. Since then, Texas has executed 463 people, more than four times as many people as the next closest state. There are 337 people on death row in Texas at the moment, and 10 of them are women. Forty-two percent of people on death row are African-American. Joe Cartwright and Jacob Jackson, who have served in
Bouncing Off the Walls
the Marine Corps, disagreed with the protest. “If you can’t live by society’s rules, you basically gotta take ‘em out of society ...,” Jackson said. “Why should we pay to cage them up for the rest of their lives?” Cartwright also asked how justice would be served in the case of someone who “murders innocent people.” Rally attendees heard from Rick Halperin, SMU’s human rights education program director, and Lily Hughes from
Austin. Hughes organizes an annual march, which will have its 11th event on Oct. 30. The death penalty, Halperin said, is “the human rights issue.” The speakers took issue with Rick Perry, who is “executing at a greater rate” than President Bush did as governor, they said. Jack Gillis, a political science junior, supported the cause
42 Percent of people on death row who are African-American Info courtesy of deathpenaltyinfo.org because the death penalty is “classist and racist.” For more information, visit w w w.nodeathpenalty.org.
To see video about this article see ntdaily.com. Check out the views page for the editorial boards thoughts on the death penalty.
UNT volleyball off to its best start since 1976 season Wilson, Saey earn honors at tournament BY FELICIA A LBA Staff Writer
PHOTO BY BERENICE QUIRINO/ PHOTOGRAPHER
Ronnie Cade, a member of the UNT Parkour club, performs tricks outside of the new Life Sciences Complex on Monday afternoon. The club meets on campus once a week to “free run.”
A 2-2 split at the Samford Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. over the weekend gave the UNT volleyball team one of its best starts since the program launched in 1976. The Mean Green won two matches and lost the other two in the four-team tournament PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB/ SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER to put the team at 5-2 overall Junior Kayla Saey returns the ball to FIU last season. The team ended the weekin the regular season. “We played a really tough end with two wins and two losses at the Samford Tournament. Syracuse team early, then we Northwestern State (4-3) beat a good Samford team The team was led offenwhere we played t he best sively by senior outside hitter proved to be a tougher chalvolleyball of the season so far,” Amy Huddleston, who contrib- lenge for UNT, defeating the head coach Ken Murczek said. uted 20 kills and a .308 attack Mean Green in a disheartening percentage. Junior setter Kayla five-set match (25-19, 16-25, Friday Saey brought 52 assists to the 21-25, 25-17, 12-15) to conclude the tournament. UNT entered the first day court. “I think we can do a better of t he tournament against job at coming out strong at the Sy racuse a nd suf fered t he Saturday season’s first loss in four sets W i t h t h e m o m e n t u m beginning of games,” Wilson (25-20, 15-25, 25-18, 25-22). cont i nu i ng to f low, U N T said. W i lson’s stel la r per forThe tea m ra l lied in t he started the second day of the second set with a win over the tournament with a three-set mances helped her earn them undefeated Orange (6-0) but sweep against Tennessee Tech All-Tournament honors for the first time while Saey earned couldn’t keep the momentum (25-23, 25-23, 25-14). running in the remaining two Hudd le ston w a s a ke y t he honors for t he second sets. component in the match once consecutive week. “I think we try to emphaThe Mean Green improved in again, leading the Mean Green the second match against host in kills for every match. Her size new t hings, t here’s a Samford (4-2) and defeated the 67 overall kills brought her to new vision and also exciteBulldogs in four sets (15-25, seventh place in school history ment,” Murczek said about the season’s successful start. 25-16, 25-23, 25-18). for career kills. UN T now heads to t he “During the Samford game Junior libero Sarah Willey we really reached a peak and held down the back row with Texas State Tournament to saw what we can do,” sopho- 78 digs overall to earn Sun Belt face Alabama, Texas State and more middle blocker Rachelle Conference Defensive Player Tennessee-Martin on Friday in San Marcos. Wilson said. of the Week.