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Thursday, March 25, 2010
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Volume 95 | Issue 35
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ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
SGA president, VP candidates debate issues BY SHEA YARBOROUGH Senior Staff Writer
Sparks began to fly after an hour of discussion Wednesday, when Student Government Association candidates for president and vice president began to disagree on issues facing UNT. The debate is part of the SGA’s electoral process each spring semester. The election selects student leaders to represent UNT’s 36,000-student population. Friends were running against friends, said Dakota Carter, SGA president, which he said fits in with the “incestuous” nature of SGA. “We struggled to find quality candidates,” Carter said. “To be honest, there were a lot of qualified people who couldn’t run because they haven’t had a year of service in the organization.” The “homecoming fiasco,” Gretchen Bataille’s resignation and spending student fees were debated by Kevin Sanders, a political science sophomore, and Andrew Robertson, also a political science sophomore, both running for president. Robertson said he felt members of the SGA did not handle the election of a same-sex pair to the Homecoming Court the way they should have. “I panicked like most of the people in the senate,” Robertson said. About 50 people were at the debate, many of them yawning, stretching and playing with their phones. The audience increased to about 70 people half way through the evening, but many began filtering out when the debate became more heated. Sanders chose Mercedes Fulbright, a political science
PHOTO BY MELISSA BOUGHTON/ASSIGNING EDITOR
Andrew Robertson, SGA senate speaker, and Kevin Sanders, SGA speaker pro-tempore, debated hot issues surrounding each of their campaigns for SGA President. sophomore, as his running mate, while Robertson chose Cameron Jean, a marketing sophomore. All four weighed in on the topic of parking permits, while the audience smiled and laughed. “If the price of the parking permit is too high, use other ways of transportation,” Sanders said. “Ride a bike or take the bus.” As to the $180 price of a UNT parking pass, Robertson said he did not know what the money went toward other than parking.
“Is the parking equal to $180? Probably not,” Robertson said. “Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is.” Both candidates agreed that most students’ ignorance of the SGA is a problem. However, they disagreed on what to do about it. Robertson suggested adopting Texas A&M University’s campus comment boxes. Sanders was strongly opposed to the idea. “We are not Texas A&M, we are not the University of Texas,” Sanders said. “We are the
University of North Texas.” All the candidates had problems keeping their answers short, despite the moderators’ repeated requests to do so. Sanders continued to pull from his sustainability platform, and said he wanted to cut down on paper use wherever possible. Instead of using comment boxes, Sanders proposed a weekly five-to-seven-minute video with the SGA president updating students on issues. “It’s all about utilizing the World
Wide Web,” Sanders said. “Using paper for comment boxes is not fiscally responsible.” All four candidates, who said they have been friends since their freshman year, said nothing was going to stop them from being involved with SGA or from being friends. Of t he 10 students polled after the debate,
seven said they would be casting their vote for Fulbright and Sanders. Two said they were undecided, and one was voting for Robertson and Jean. This was helpful to see the platforms of both sides, said Lauren Dollarhide, a hospitality management junior. “Kevin and Mercedes won the debate,” Dollarhide said. “I don’t feel Cameron and Drew have a solid platform and I don’t feel they will fairly represent the UNT campus like Kevin and Mercedes could.” Sean Smallwood, a political science freshman, said he felt reassured in a vote for Robertson and Jean because he said they have the most logical explanations on how to get things done. “I think they can do this in an effective manner,” Smallwood said. Two referendums will also be on the ballot, Carter said. Robertson wrote a bill to add two justices to UNT’s Supreme Court, bringing the total to seven. Robertson said UNT’s large student population required the change. The second referendum was headed by Carter to allow nonmembers of SGA to run for president and vice-president. “SGA are not the only people who have the right to run the student body,” Carter said. “If you’re a leader, you’re capable and can get people to vote for you, by all means.”
Voting starts Monday, March 29 and ends Friday, April 2 at 5 p.m. Vote at www.unt.edu/sga
Committee selects Engineering program may be cut new vice chancellor BY LISA GARZA
A LEX CHEATHAM
since January 2008. He was the Staff Writer associate vice president and Terry Pankratz has been controller of Texas A&M beginselected as the new vice chan- ning in December 2005. At Texas A&M, he was responcellor of finance for the University sible for financial operations and of North Texas System. administration of the Pa n k rat z, who university’s operating was unavailable for budget. His cost-savings comment, was selected init iat ives include from 45 candidates by a the implementation search committee, and of shared accounting will join the chancelservices with the Texas lor’s cabinet on April 1 A&M branch campus for an annual salary of in Galveston, as well $275,000. TERRY as improving service “His years of expe- PANKRATZ rience in Texas higher educa- delivery to campus departtion will serve the UNT system ments. “Terry Pankratz has had expewell,” UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson said in a news release. “He rience in all levels of university impressed me with his judgment financial administration, from and character and his work at a operating a student union to finanmajor research flagship univer- cial aid to developing residence sity will be critical in helping the halls to the budgets and financial reports of two large universities,” system advance.” The committee’s chairman, Rey Jackson said. “He brings a wealth of Rodriguez, said the position was experience in Texas higher educacreated because UNT is one of the tion to the UNT System.” Prior to working at Texas A&M, only major universities without a Pankratz served as Vice President vice chancellor for finance. Pankratz, who holds an MBA for Business and Administration from Texas A&M University at and Chief Financial Officer for Commerce and a bachelor’s degree Texas A&M University Commerce in business administration from beginning in March 2004. More than a year ago, the Texas A&M, has 20 years of financial and administrative experi- UNT System began planning for the position. The UNT Board of ence. “[He] will oversee our finan- Regents approved the position cial reporting to outside agen- in May. Jackson said the UNT System is cies, guide our budget processes and board presentations on finan- committed to developing the most cial matters, and recommend innovative and efficient ways to all necessary debt issuance for reduce costs to meet strategic new initiatives and construction and service goals. “Terry Pankratz will have projects within the UNT system,” an important role in leading Jackson said. Pankratz served as the vice discussions to achieve innopresident for finance and chief vation, efficiency and greater financial officer at Texas A&M effectiveness,” he said.
Senior Staff Writer
Students in the Construction Engineering Technolog y program said they are stuck in limbo after an e-mail was leaked detailing plans to cut the program. School officials said the information was an unauthorized release from someone in the College of Engineering. A proposal from Costas Tsatsoulis, dean of the College of Engineering, was attached containing a list of programs and faculty members to be terminated. Mike Newby, an engineering junior who is in the program, forwarded the e-mail to the NT Daily with the original sender’s name deleted. The e-mail identifies Cheng Yu, Zhenhua Huang and Althea Arnold, all associate professors in the program, as the faculty members who will lose their jobs if the proposal is approved. “It was frustrating learning the way we did and that we were not going to know until it was a done deal,” Newby said. “Maybe…there ultimately are no other options but it doesn’t seem like phasing this program out would be the best decision.” Uncertain future The e-mail was forwarded to faculty and students in the college on March 9, two days before Tsatsoulis presented the proposed program cut to Provost Wendy Wilkins, who will ultimately make the final decision. “We didn’t want to tell the students anything until a decision was made,” Tsatsoulis
PHOTO BY AUGUSTA LIDDIC/PHOTOGRAPHER
Mike Newby, a construction engineering technology junior, just found out that the CNET program he has been enrolled in for two years is in the process of being phased out. The termination of the CNET program at UNT would affect about 130 students who are currently enrolled. said. Students said the notice immediately caused them to worry about the program’s status. “I think what happened in this case that some people acted overly quickly before the plans had even been shared with me,” Wilkins said. Newby said that since the program at UNT is the only of its kind in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, eliminating it would displace 131 students in an industry that is projected to grow within the next eight to 10 years. “We are not really sure if we are going to be fine or not because we don’t know the outcome,”
Newby said. “I don’t know that we can find out if we’ll be OK until ABET makes their decision. That’s a long time to be in limbo for schooling that you are paying for.” Newby said the biggest concern among students in the program is that if it is eliminated, their degrees won’t be worth as much because the program won’t be accredited. Currently the program is not accredited, but students expected it to receive accreditation by the time they graduated. Tsatsoulis said the program would still seek accreditation as planned in fall 2010. Wilkins said her understanding was that
eliminating the program would not affect its eligibility for accreditation. “The accreditors aren’t going to be asking what’s happening in the future, they are going to be looking into what’s happening now,” she said. According to ABET’s criteria listed on their Web Site, accreditation may be granted for a shorter period of time, usually two years, if the future “appears precarious or definite weaknesses exist.” Newby said the dean told the students that accreditation is not the only factor that matters when applying for a job.
See CNET on page 2