On The Catwalk
bids farewell to another semester NEWS: SGA Page 2 bookstore lacks diversity VIEWS: Campus Page 6 Tennis team heads to New Orleans for tournament SPORTS: Page 8
Modeling organization raises money for orphanage See Page 4
Thursday, April 22, 2010
News 1,2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5,8 Views 6 Classifieds 7 Games 7
Volume 95 | Issue 51
Stormy 74° / 63°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Interim President Diebel fields questions Diebel discusses Tier One, disabled access BY K RYSTLE CANTU Staff Writer
UNT Inter im President Phil Diebel took questions and comments from students Wednesday at Discovery Park and the Syndicate. The meetings gave students a chance to talk to the president and air their questions and concerns to Diebel. Students asked what to expect when new interim president, V. Lane Rawlins, takes over and what UNT hopes to accomplish during the next year. Student safetyrelated topics, such as making curbs safer and more wheelchairfriendly for disabled students, were also covered. Tobye Nelson, an educational computing graduate student, asked Diebel what Rawlins will bring to UNT. “I did have the opportunity to meet with him twice,” Diebel said. “He has a world of experience. He has been a university president for 17 years.” Rawlins served as president for both the University of Memphis and Washington State University, which is known for its research and title as a flagship university in Washington, Diebel said. “Obviously he has done the things that we want to do,” Diebel said. “Particularly with regards to research.” Diebel said he was confident in Rawlins’ years of experience. “He’s a very talented man and he wants to be close to students again,” he said. “I think he brings an awful lot to the table for the university.” UNT’s journey toward Tier One status and the challenges UNT will face over the next year were
PHOTO BY CRISTY ANGULO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
UNT Interim President Phil Diebel spoke to a crowd of about 15 at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Syndicate. The meeting gave students a chance to talk to Diebel and discuss the hopes and concerns about the future of UNT. discussed. Additional research facilities were announced, as well as news on the development of the UNT law school, scheduled to open by 2012. “The law school is moving along,” Diebel said. “ The first class to be brought in will be in September 2012.” Diebel said they have a facility to house the law school ready to go in downtown Dallas, and Dallas has already pledged $16 million to renovate the old city hall for its use. “One of my intentions when I came back to the university after being retired is to keep things going the way they have been going,” Diebel said. “I’ve been with the university for 26 years prior to my retirement.”
Diebel said his last day in office as an interim president will be May 13. After that, Rawlins will take the reins for UNT. “This is something that I have been comfortable doing,” Diebel said. “But I’m also anxious to return back to my former life, which will be happening pretty soon.” UNT filed its strategic plan for research April 1, Diebel said. It is a reallocation of existing resources and commitment to new resources toward achieving Tier One status. “We need to make sure that we set the stage for the next president to come here and continue to implement the strategic plan and be prepared to operate under the budget that is going
to be approved by our Board of Regents,” he said. Diebel also said the university plans to go into a legislative session and present its agenda for the upcoming years. Improving access Devin Axtman, a political science sophomore, asked Diebel how he plans to make the campus safer for disabled people. He said a curb on campus damaged one of the tires on his wheelchair. “It is extremely important that you bring that to our attention,” Diebel said. “We have to make sure that we have our curb cuts done properly and that we provide as much access as possible.” If any other students were
to run into a similar situation they should let the administration know and a physical plan of action will be on board, Diebel said. “There is no reason why we can’t be very reactive in getting that done,” he said. “ We need to get right on it for sure.” Axtman said he was pleased with Diebel’s reply. “I’m happy that it’s a high priority,” he said. “It’s good to know that they’re being productive about the issue.” Fight for Tier One status Kyle Tabrizi, a biology senior, was concerned about the competition with seven other universities for Tier One status. “I just want to make sure
the progression forward wasn’t stopped or held back by any means,” he said “Do you think the future president will continue to make sure that this university moves forward to Tier One status no matter what happens?” Diebel replied that the progress would not slow. “If anything, it’s starting to speed up,” he said. “Additional research space is something that we’ve added, and we have identified the funding sources to pay for that.” Diebel said that is necessary if the university is to achieve Tier One status. “We’ve already had to give back 5 percent of our general revenue that we received from the state,” Diebel said. “We’ve had to cut back on our budget, no pay raises and such to go around.” Diebel said they did leave in more than $1 million in additional scholarships for students. “Dealing with a little less money in our budget is always a challenge,” he said. “Plus we’re going to have to give back 5 percent again for the next fiscal year.” The next challenge will be to implement a strategic plan for research, which is a high priority and will be time consuming, he said. Third will be the legislative meeting in January, in which Rawlins and Chancellor Lee Jackson will represent the university in presenting the needs of the institution. “There has been no slacking of the pace moving forward,” Diebel said. “We expect for Dr. Rawlins and his successor to do everything in their power to implement this plan and keep this institution moving forward. I am very confident in that.” “I think everything I heard was very positive,” Tabrizi said. “It was what I wanted to hear.”
Anti-virus software wreaks havoc on campus computers BY SHEA YARBOROUGH Senior Staff Writer
Around the world and on the UNT campus, Windows XP computers using McAfee anti-virus protection crashed Wednesday morning after the company sent a corrupt file. Almost 4,000 UNT employees were unable to use t heir computers that morning as the machines began to restart
continuously, said Maurice Leatherbury, acting vice president for information technology. The campus was virtually shut down for three to four hours this morning, causing a drain on productivity, he said. “I had people standing in the hallways because we can’t operate without our computers,” he said. McAfee sends daily updates
to combat new v ir uses, which also surface on a daily basis, said Leatherbury. Something went wrong with the Wednesday update. McAfee sent out a corrupt file, causing computers to sporadically reboot and then continue rebooting uncontrollably, Leatherbury said. The company has put temporary fixes in place until they can fully correct the problem by the end of the day, it hoped, he said. “It w a sn’t a v i r u s,” Leatherbury said. “It was our virus protection company sending us a bad file.” Windows Vista, Windows 7, cell phones and Mac products were not affected, Leatherbury said. If people h av en’t dow nloaded Wednesday’s version of McAfee protection software, don’t, he said. “It’s today’s version,” he said. “If they haven’t downloaded that, they’re safe. We are correcting it as I speak.” At 10:15 a.m., the thought circulating was that a virus outbreak had seized UNT’s net work, sa id Cha rlotte Russell, an information security officer. “We were working with GRAPHIC COURTESY OF DAMEON RUNNELS/MCT McAfee all day,” she said.
Almost 4,000 UNT employees were unable to use their computers Wednesday morning as a corrupt file was sent to all UNT campus computers during a routine anti-virus software update.
See CAMPUS on Page 2
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF DOUG GRISWOLD/MCT
International Planned Parenthood Federation has voiced opposition to disclosure laws for people with HIV. Planned Parenthood believes young people have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose their HIV status.
Organization fights HIV laws BY A LEX CHEATHAM Staff Writer
I nt e r n a t ion a l Pl a n ne d Parenthood Federation has voiced opposition to disclosure laws for people with HIV, saying young people have the right to decide if, when and how to disclose their HIV status. The organization’s “Healthy, Happy and Hot” guide explains the sexual rights of people and says the federation opposes laws that make it a crime for people not to tell sexual partners they have HIV. Andrew Butler, a drawing and painting junior, said his
initial reaction to the guide’s advice is that it’s not a good idea for anyone. “I c a n s e e [ P l a n n e d Pa rent hood’s ] a r g u ment, but I feel like it would be a bigger violation of rights to deny someone the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to be with someone sexually [if they are infected],” Butler said. Butler said he would feel upset and betrayed, and the majority of people would feel the same way. Most, he said, would decide against having sex with someone who is HIV
positive for safety reasons. “I feel like this is more of a health and well-being issue rather than a human rights issue,” Butler said. “The rights of safety should supersede whether or not someone wants to disclose information.” T he f e de r a t ion i s a n inter nat iona l agency t hat includes Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The organization provides counseling and medical services for sex and pregnancy related issues. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
To read more about this issue, see the Daily’s editorial on Page 6
See HIV on Page 2