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Fraternity raises money, awareness for cancer Page 2
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
News 1,2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5,6 Views 7 Classifieds 8 Games 8
Volume 96 | Issue 8
Stormy 80° / 73°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Denton City Council bans K2 BY A BIGAIL A LLEN Managing Editor
Denton residents w ill no longer be able to buy or sell K2 starting Sept. 21. T he Cit y Cou nci l voted yes unanimously to ban the drug in Denton at its Tuesday night meeting in City Hall. The ordinance prohibits the use, pu rcha se, possession a nd sa le of t he prev iously lega l substance because of its potential health risks, the Denton police chief said. If the ordinance is violated, the crime w ill be considered a Class C Misdemeanor, said Stephanie Berr y of the cit y attorney’s staff. A wa r n i ng on labels of K 2 products reads “Not for huma n consumption.” The drug, developed by a Clemson University chemist during the ‘90s, is intended for use as potpourri, police said. But police have seen incidences of people smok i ng the drug, which is known to produce marijuana-like reactions in the consumer. The Denton Police Depa rt ment has encountered issues with K2 use, Denton Chief of Police Roy Minter said. “Users may experience far more intense effects compared to smok ing ma rijua na,” he said. “K2 may cause intense anxiety, agitation and even seizures or conv ulsions by in hibit ing t he neurot ra nsmitters more efficiently than marijuana and therefore presents a serious danger to the user when overdosed.” Beginning in May, Minter
Denton Fire Chief Ross Chadwick addresses City Council members about the proposed budget cut affecting a couple of fire stations in Denton. The cut will reduce the number of firefighters in fire engines from four to three. said, the police department began having run-ins with K2 problems. Some of the cases he presented to the Council to back up his suppor t of t h e or d i n a n c e i n c l u d e d people ranging in age from a 17-year-old boy to a 67-yearold man. Denton joins a list of other North Texas cities that have banned the substance, such as Allen, Cleburne, Mansfield, Dallas and Plano. Although the U.S. has yet to ban K2, some Western countries have
already done so, including Au st r ia, Ca nada, Fra nce, Germany and Italy. Mayor Ma rk Bu r roug hs said he initially felt uncertain about making the decision to ban the drug as a city. “This is not t he norma l f u n c t i o n o f c i t i e s … ,” Bu r roug hs sa id. “Because it is a current problem that appears to be growing in our community, it’s one of those situations that, ‘Does it add anything beneficial?’ … and I think the answer is no.”
Calling for a Cure
Through investigating, the police found 12 places that sell K2, including such stores as The Zebra’s Head and EZ Check. T he ba n i ncludes a l ist of names used for K2 in an at tempt to prevent na me cha nges from inva lidating the ordinance. I n ot her bu si ne s s, t he Council a lso una nimously approved a $5,000 increase in tax exemptions for senior cit i zens a nd considered a proposed cut in the Denton
Staff Writer
Mase Taherian, a kinesiology senior, and his Delta Sigma Phi fraternity brothers are standing up against cancer. For the last four years, they have spent 100 consecutive hours per year standing on a large plywood box in order to raise money and awareness for cancer. They have partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and will donate all proceeds to the charity. Some sororities on campus are helping to spread the word, Taherian said. See GREEKS on Page 2
Fire Rescue budget that would reduce the number of firefighters on the fire engines for a couple of outlying stations from four to three. The fire department issue inspired several comments from the community and the city government members. “O ver t i me i s a ser iou s problem w it h cit y governments, a nd we have some serious overtime issues…,” Burroughs said, adding that t he cit y needs to “f i nd a better way” to handle the fire
department situation. Battalion Chief Ken Gold spoke, saying the issue was not about overtime. “It’s not about overtime, it’s about our ability to do the job effectively and safely,” he said. “... If you cut staff on the fire engines, you’re not trimming fat, you’re chopping muscle and bone.” The Council will decide on the potential cut at its 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21 meeting in the City Hall Council Chambers at 215 E. McKinney St.
Texas student government leaders band together BY ISAAC WRIGHT
PHOTO BY BERENICE QUINIRO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ALL PHOTOS BY AUGUSTA LIDDIC/PHOTO EDITOR
City Manager George Campbell and Mayor Mark Burroughs listen to citizen’s inputs on the proposed budget Tuesday evening.
Though practically nonexistent for a number of years, the Texas Student Association is intent on re-establishing itself as an organization that spea ks for students across the state. The association consists of representatives from Texas universities who take student issues to the state Legislature. D u r i ng t he su m mer, t he University of Texas hosted a meeting for the association members to choose their officers and reform the organization after years of inactivity. A major change instituted i n Aust i n wa s a mea su re a l low i ng a w ider a r ray of schools, including pr ivate universities, to join the association. “At one point it was just state schools,” sa id Kev in Sanders, the vice chairman of the association and president of t he UNT St udent Government Association. “In the summer, we extended it to all universities.” In November, t he g roup will hold another meeting in Austin where the members w ill begin formulating the a ssociat ion’s agenda a nd decide what issues are most pressing and require intervention at the state level. “We’re com i ng toget her a s st udent leaders of ou r universities and finding out what issues our students are concerned about,” Sanders said. “We decide to go and
“Let’s find issues where we can look each other in the eye and say ‘This is important.’” —John Lawler TSA chairman talk to the Legislature about them.” TSA chairman John Lawler sa id t he TSA is t he state’s la rgest st udent advoc ac y group. It was first formed in 1948 and remained in place a s a n orga n i zat ion advocating for students at a state level for 45 yea rs. He sa id during the 1970s and ’80s, the organization was active a nd successf ul in f ighting state deregulation of tuition and had a student defense fund in place. But according to a posted summary of the organization’s history on the TSA website, discord between schools and inf ighting led to its collapse by December 2003. Since then, however, large state universit ies, such as t he Un i ver sit y of Te x a s, Texas A&M Universit y and Texas Tech University, have returned to the table following efforts by the University of Houston, Texas A&M and UNT to re-establish it. “We don’t w a nt to get divided,” Lawler said. “Let’s find issues where we can look each other in the eye and say,
‘This is important.’” Many students said they are not aware the TSA exists. However, many also said that an organization formed to handle student issues on a state level is a positive thing. Carolina Echeverry, an aviation logistics sophomore, said it’s best if most student issues are handled at the local level by a student’s own university, but for issues that the school can’t handle, a statewide organization is a good thing. “I think it’s a good thing because you just need to be heard,” she said. The TSA is recruiting more schools into t he organization to include those schools’ opinions and issues in the representation to the state Legislature. “It’s one thing to have a single representative or an ad m i n i st r ator before t he Legislature, but what really makes a difference is when you have packed room of educated individuals standing shoulder to shoulder,” Lawler said. “That’s the thing that leaves an impact.”