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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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Volume 95 | Issue 10
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ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Sticky accelerator pedal prompts Toyota recall BY K RYSTLE CANTU
been vigorously tested,” he said. “We’ve also made changes to the design of the accelerator pedal going into production. We’ve changed the material, and that is going to be the production fix.” John said the new vehicles in production will not contain a reinforcement bar because of the new design and new material being used. He said they are also still investigating if any recent accidents in Toyotas were because of accelerators sticking. “We’re always investigating,” he said. “We find a problem, we start working on the solution. That doesn’t mean we’ve stopped looking at the problem.”
Staff Writer
Toyota dealerships announced a recall Jan. 21 of about 2.3 million select vehicles and suspended the sales of eight of the models involved. All of these vehicles are equipped with a specific pedal assembly, which is causing the accelerator to stick or return slowly to an idle position. This is a concern for drivers because if an accelerator sticks, the vehicle will continue to drive at the speed it first accelerated at. For example, a car driving at 80 mph will continue to drive at that speed without slowing down, despite the release or ease on the accelerator. “The driver basically loses control of the gas pedal function. They don’t have the ability to tell the motor whether or not it should slow down or not,” said James “Turbo” Turbeville, a lead technician at the Denton Goodyear who is studying automotive business management. “It can be a frightening thing, you take your foot off the gas to stop for traffic and you keep going.” The problem If a pedal sticks, Toyota dealers said the vehicle can be controlled with a firm and steady application of the breaks. Turbeville suggested using the emergency break. John, a Toyota spokesperson
PHOTO BY MELISSA BOUGHTON/ASSIGNING EDITOR
Toyota announced a recall on more than 2 million of its vehicles in January and stopped the sales of eight of its models. Among the list are the 2007 to 2010 models of the Toyota Tundras. who withheld his last name under company policy, said the problem with the accelerators is because of environmental occurrences. “This condition is caused by condensation that is getting in between two pieces of plastic that need to be able to rub up against
each other smoothly,” he said. “Because the plastic is getting condensation or moisture in there, the plastic will tend to stick to itself.” Detecting this was difficult because the condition either lessened or disappeared all together
once the condensation was gone, John said. “It wasn’t a quality control issue,” he said. “It was an issue that occurred in the market due to environmental conditions.” The solution
Toyota is adding a precisioncut steel reinforcement bar to the accelerator pedal, John said. This will reduce surface tension between the friction of the driver’s shoe and the adjoining surface. “Simply, we’ve identified that as a very good remedy, and it has
‘Erratic acceleration’ In October Toyota received three complaints on Corolla vehicles with this type of problem, with no accidents or injuries involved within those complaints, John said. In other local reports, speculation is linking this problem with Toyota Avalon crashes. A car accident in December 2009, in Southlake, involved a 2008 recalled Toyota Avalon. The accident claimed the lives of four people. The Avalon was reportedly drove through an intersection at high speed and crashed into a metal fence, hit a tree, and landed upside-down in a pond.
See TOYOTA on Page 2
Visitors to offer Gas drilling may cause quakes advice for UNT BY K RYSTLE CANTU Staff Writer
BY A LEX CHEATHAM
Greene, and others. Staff Writer Lively said the purpose of the Board of Visitors is to advise, To accommodate the fastpaced growth within the univer- understand university issues sity system, UNT President on a national level, and offer Gretchen Bataille invited a Board advice to Bataille on many issues of Visitors to provide UNT with like degree programming and recruiting. direction and leadership “I wanted an advias UNT and the North sory team to advise Texas region continue to me specifically on expand. what the university The board is composed should look like, of a group of 16 distinwhat skills students guished individuals and should have and is the first of its kind at what needs to be UNT, board member Bill GRETCHEN done to enhance Lively explained. BATAILLE the university,” she “The members of the board are chosen to be said. Jennifer Christopher, a kinesidiverse. They represent many ology senior, said she different fields and are thinks it’s a good idea very different in terms to have such a group of their backgrounds,” of people offering its Bataille said. “Because input. there is such a variety of “It will only help perspectives, they can UNT, and since they offer a broader range don’t work here, they of opinions to help the won’t be biased. university.” BILL LIVELY They can give their UNT’s enrollment grew more than 4 percent last fall, opinions and say exactly how with an even larger 12-percent they feel,” Christopher said. Bataille said it’s important to hike in graduate students, bringing the university total to obtain as much good advice from more than 36,000 overall. And outside sources as possible. “These are the people hiring theThe numbers are steadily our graduates, publishing our increasing. The 2009 school year was the books, opening museums, and ninth-consecutive year of record- we need their advice,” Bataille breaking enrollment and the said. The Board of Regents will meet largest growth in the last seven years, according to the Office in May to vote to approve the of Institutional Research and Board of Visitors. Bataille and the Board of Visitors will then Effectiveness. “The university has changed continue to meet formally in a lot since I graduated in 1970,” January and June of each year. Lively said. “It was good then, The Board of Visitors is not a governance board and has no and it’s great now.” Because of this growth, UNT part in policy making at the finds it important to have a group university. “It’s a wonderful thing to be of people looking out for the students and the university as involved on an advisory board a whole. Members of the board like this. [Bataille] plans to ask include KERA CEO Mary Anne for our advice and really listen,” Alhadeff, alumnus “Mean” Joe Lively said.
Several cities in the DallasFort Worth area were hit by small earthquakes in 2009, which researchers and city officials said may have been caused by nearby gas drilling. For many, the recent natural gas drilling at the Rayzor Ranch property has raised the question of whether Denton will also be affected by the tremors. However, the direct link between the two is still awaiting results from research at Southern Methodist University. “We’re work ing on t he problem,” said Chris Hayward, the geophysics research projects director at SMU, “But right now we don’t have anything.” The quakes took place in Grand Prairie, Irving and Euless in November, and Cleburne was hit on June 2, 2009. Len Kubicek, a North Lake College geology professor, said the small earthquakes are most likely caused by fracking, a technique used among gas drillers to release natural gas trapped in rocks. During the process, water is injected into the ground at high pressures to break apart layers of shale and release natural gas confined within the rocks. The gas is then sucked into collection pipes. The remaining water is pushed back up to the surface and stored in underground wells. In this lies the problem, Kubicek said in an e-mail. The earthquakes are actually caused by the water disposal wells that are drilled to dispose of the used wastewater, he said. Ed Ireland, the executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, said he has been aware of SMU setting up seismic equipment in areas that were impacted. “There hasn’t been any evidence that links the two, to my knowledge,” Ireland said.
PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB/ PHOTOGRAPHER
Some experts say that drilling rigs in Grand Prairie could be causing small earthquakes. It’s believed that this phenomenon could be caused by a drilling technique called “fracking.” Over the past few months, researchers speculated whether it is the saltwater injection or the fracking process that is causing the tremors, Ireland said. To his knowledge, however, there hasn’t been a link between the other theory and the tremors either, he said. Ireland said that Chesapeake Energy took precaution months ago when it closed down a saltwater injection well near Mansfield. Charlye Heggins, a Denton City Council member, said she was the only city council member
who voted against gas drilling in Denton. “I was opposed to it then and I’m still opposed to it,” she said. Heggins said she believes the earthquakes that occurred in other cities are related to the gas drilling going on, and if it is brought to Denton, other hazards, such as breathing problems, will occur for residents as well. “I’m not going to like it,” she said. “But, if the city passes it, I’ll just grin and bear it, I guess.” Residents who were involved in the 2009 earthquakes said they
felt little or nothing at all. Amy Sprinkles, communications director for the city of Grand Prairie, said “a home or two might’ve felt it.” Seismic activity is increasing in North Texas, where it once was a rare or non-occurring event. Though only speculation exists about the cause of the quakes, Doranna Corley, a 63-year-old Grand Prairie resident, said that one thing is clear. “It just seems a little strange that we’ve had all these small earthquakes when they started drilling,” Corley said.