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Volume 95 | Issue 27
Sunny 64° / 44°
Search for new vice chancellor begins BY LISA GARZA
Senior Staff Writer The UNT System is searching for not only a new president but also a vice chancellor. The newly created position of vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Success will report directly to Chancellor Lee Jackson. A search committee has been formed to evaluate potential candidates for the vice chancellor position. Rey Rodriguez, associate vice chancellor of Government Relations, is chairman of the committee. “We’re looking for somebody who can come in and provide a level of academic and research experience and exposure at the system level that would allow us to communicate and coordinate with each of our component institutions,” he said. There are no applicants yet, but Rodriguez said a search firm has been contracted that is “visiting with folks.” Jackson could not be reached for comment at press time. None of the provosts for the universities in the System will report directly to the vice chancellor.
“We’ve been engaged in this process for a couple of months and have all the best interests represented across a ll campuses,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve identified those needs, who could best fill those needs and who can help facilitate us as a more g row n-up s y stem a s we mature into the future.” A listing for the vice-chancel lor posit ion is posted on the Academic Keys for Ad m i n ist rat ion Web site by the search firm, but the responses will be used to get a sense of who is interested in applying for the position, Rodriguez said. This process is t y pica l for searches to fill administration positions because it allows potential candidates to find out if the job “is t he right f it” w it hout endangering their current employ ment by inquiring about another job, Rodriguez said. W hen t h i s process i s complete, a formal announcement will be posted on the university’s Web site.
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PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Chancellor Lee Jackson answers questions from students, faculty, administrators and professors at the faculty senate meeting Feb. 17. The newly created position of vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Success will report directly to Jackson.
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
PHOTO BY MARIA WEBSTER/PHOTOGRAPHER
Sandra Spencer, the director of Women’s Studies at UNT, will host a lecture presented by Sarah Jakiel, the associate director of the Polaris Project. The lecture will entail topics of the modern-day practice of slavery and human trafficking.
Guest to talk sex trade, slavery BY A LEX CHEATHAM Staff Writer
In honor of Women’s History Month, the Women’s Studies Program at UNT is hosting a lecture on the modern-day practice of slaver y: human trafficking. The event is f ree to t he public and will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in Eagle Student Services Center 255. T he le c t u re, pre sente d by Sa ra h Ja k iel, associate director of the Polaris Project, will seek to provide an understanding of human trafficking for those who are new to the topic and aim to offer insight to more complex questions about the different types of trafficking, emerging trends and the trafficking trend in Texas. “Huma n t ra f f ick ing is a hidden crime and is something that’s not readily evident,” Jakiel said. “Trafficking in the U.S. is definitely up there with underdeveloped countries; probably even greater.” The Polaris Project receives more hotline calls from Texas than any other state regarding human trafficking because of border proximity, the state’s size and high levels of migrant
labor, Jakiel said. “Hu ma n Tr a f f ick i ng i s much more prevalent than we’d like to t hink. It’s not just in countries overseas. It happens here just as much,” said Sandra Spencer, director of Women’s Studies. Ja k iel w i l l a lso d iscuss severa l loca l case st ud ies as well as Texas state-level
ficking by lobbying political officials. It also offers an anti-trafficking hotline, available 24 hours a day, as well as a Public Outreach Program to inform citizens and increase awareness of the realities of Human Trafficking. An estimated 17,500 individuals are trafficked into the
“Trafficking in the U.S. is definitely up there with underdeveloped countries, probably even greater.”
—Sarah Jakiel Associate director of the Polaris Project
legislation and provide ways for students and community members to get involved. The project is one of the la r gest a nt i-t r a f f ick i ng orga n i zat ions i n t he U.S. The organization works on commercia l labor a nd sex t ra f f ick ing w it h loca l a nd national programs. The project tries to advance public policy on human traf-
U.S. each year, Jakiel said, and 244,000 American children are at risk of being trafficked into the sex industry. Labor trafficking encompasses a wide range of operations, such as domestic servitude, small-scale labor operations, and large-scale operations. This means forced labor in places such as farms, sweat-
shops a nd major mu lt inational corporations. Jakiel said that some people who can be seen watering the lawn and taking children to the bus stop are trafficked labor. Unknown to outsiders, they are unpaid and likely under strict house arrest. Commercial sexual exploitation is prevalent in the U.S and one of the most lucrative trafficking enterprises, Jakiel said. Individuals are forced to engage in sexual acts against their will for the benefit of someone else. In ma ny circumsta nces, pi mps ret a i n t he prof it s and mainta in t he indiv iduals through beatings or by holding them captive. Traffickers generate billions of dol la rs each yea r, a nd trafficking holds no border, according to t he project’s Web site. “T here a re major t r a fficking problems in the United Kingdom, Japan, the U.S. and other industria lized countries. It’s not all relegated to under-resourced areas.” Jakiel said. “It’s definitely worldwide.”
UNT, Denton to receive new water main upgrades BY LISA GARZA
Senior Staff Writer UNT and the city of Denton are separately forging plans to improve the waterline system on campus and the surrounding area. The university contracted Schneider Electric last fall to evaluate utility usage on campus. The city has yet to choose a contractor for their proposed project. UNT’s project The largest portion of the proposed improvement work was to install a new underground chilled water loop that will be controlled by upgraded plants throughout campus, according to the Utility Assessment Report. “They came back and recommended improvements to things that will pay for themselves over a period of time,” Director of Facilities Charles Jackson said.
The report states that the “old underground piping is failing and just keeping it operating has led to large operation and maintenance costs in recent years.” The water that comes from the power plants on campus is used to cool and heat each building. Last fall, facility workers dug up the pipe connecting Terrill and Marquis halls after a pipe leaked, leaving Terrill without air conditioning. The pipe needed to be replaced, Jackson said. “It had finally just rusted away and water was just running out,” he said. Jackson said the pipes are more than 30 years old and that “we are fortunate that they are still moving water.” The chilled water/hot water plant for 14 buildings on campus is near the Physics Building. Underground pipes connect all of the buildings to that facility. A pipe will be constructed in
million worth of different utility improvements. Jackson said the next steps in the approval process are to go before the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in March and the Texas Bond Review Board later in the spring. “This [project] has been going on a long time already and we still have some time before we can sign the contracts with them to implement,” said Jackson. The contract may be finalized in June. About 30 months are GRAPHIC COURTESY OF UNT needed for completion, Jackson The section of line replaced by the city of Denton will be along Highland Street said.
from Avenue C to Maple Street.
a loop system that will connect to the future parking garage on Highland Street, which will contain a new chilling plant. The goal is to have two chilling plants to run the entire system on campus, which will decrease operation and maintenance
costs, Jackson said. “Our whole goal is to reduce the cost of operations for the university, save energy and help reduce our carbon footprint,” Jackson said. The Board of Regents approved a proposal consisting of $42
The city’s project The city has a waterline replacement project scheduled for the UNT area in the summer of 2011, said Jim Coulter, general manager for water utilities for the city of Denton. “We’re replacing the 6-inch waterline with an 8-inch waterline,” Coulter said.
The section of line replaced will be along Highland Street from Avenue C to Maple Street. “This line has averaged approximately 4 breaks per line per year and meets our replacement criteria,” said John Cabrales, the Denton public information officer. Though the line beneath Chestnut Street is in poorer cond it ion, Cabra les sa id replacing it was complicated by the fact that it passes within the UNT Campus and has landscaping and other obstacles. “We are currently evaluating the possibility of abandoning this line and rerouting service lines or using trenchless line replacement technologies for this particular line,” he said. The estimated cost is $200,000 with the money coming from a water utility maintenance budget.