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school in Frisco welcomes UNT students NEWS: High Page 2 Green unable to complete comeback SPORTS: Mean Page 4 programs offer alternative to dropping out VIEWS: UNT Page 5
Choir still singing despite setbacks Story on Page 3 Video at ntdaily.com
Tuesday,September 29, 2009
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Volume 94 | Issue 19
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The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Unemployment rates on decline BY A MBER A RNOLD Senior Staff Writer
Since the economic downturn, many Americans have had trouble finding and keeping jobs. However, based on numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Denton residents are weathering the storm better than the rest of Texas and the nation. According to the bureau’s Web site, unemployment in Denton County has dropped from 7.8 percent in July to 7.6 percent in August. That figure is lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent for the month of August. The city of Denton’s unemployment rate is even lower than these numbers at 6.5 percent — only 1.5 percent higher than the natural rate of unemployment. Unemployment rates include only those who are available for work and are seeking work. “College towns are inflated a little bit, because we’ve got 30,000 students here spending money, and I’d be surprised if students are cutting back on their spending as much as the general public,” said Jeffrey Rous of the economics faculty. It should be noted that unemployment is not a direct indication of whether the recession is coming to an end any time soon, said Steve Hipple, an economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In many cases, after a recession ends, unemployment will still rise for quite some time. “Unemployment is what we call a lagging indicator,” he said. “At the BLS, we try not to make any projections based solely on
unemployment statistics.” In the past, it has taken two years or more for unemployment to stop increasing after a recession ends, he said. Although the last recession ended in November 2001, the U.S. didn’t see unemployment reach its peak until June of 2003, he said. Terry Jewell of the economics faculty also noted unemployment is a lagging indicator when forecasting what students can expect from the job market. “I’d expect them to look at the numbers and see that the recession is over by the end of this year,” he said. “However, if you’re graduating in May and looking for a job, the labor force is still going to be difficult at that time.” Students will most likely fare better in the government, education and health care sectors of the job market since each has been adding jobs since the recession began, Hipple said. Bob Wiman, an account manager of the Proflex Personnel employment agency, said he has seen an improvement during the past few months. “It’s still a lot harder to find a job than it was a year ago, but I’ve been seeing improvement,” he said. One of the biggest reasons Texas has not been as affected by the recession, Jewell said, is because the state’s economy does not rely on things like financial institutions or automakers. “Texas learned after the oil crisis during the ’70s to diversify its market, and that’s the reason that it’s dealing with the recession and unemployment so much better,” Jewell said.
PHOTO BY MORGAN WALKER / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Miguel Sanchez pours paint on Paul Harder, a new media senior, for Harder’s interactive art project Saturday at Fouts Field during Family Weekend.
Art student becomes canvas BY MORGAN WALKER Staff Writer
Things got messy at the Mean Green Village on Saturday afternoon. During Family Weekend, Paul Harder, a new media senior, wandered around the field dressed in a white plastic suit and goggles while spectators covered him with messy things like mustard, spray paint, and chili as part of an interactive art project for his performance new media class. He also participated in a similar interactive project last week where he dressed as a Tetris block.
“For t h i s projec t we’re supposed to f i nd ways to interact with the public and bring them into the piece,” Harder said. His i n it ia l pla n wa s to place himself in a stockade, a wooden device used in medieval times in which people hurl items such as vegetables at him, but he said his teacher was afraid he would get hurt. Harder then said his idea was to start out using colorful paint, but he didn’t want to limit anyone. Participants were allowed to throw dirt, chili, feathers
or anything else that would stick to his suit, as long as he didn’t get hurt, he said. “I w a s ju s t hopi ng to get stra ngers interested in making spontaneous art by making myself the canvas,” Harder said. Ha rder a lso broug ht his girlfriend, Chelsea Anderson, a Denton veterinary assistant, along for the project. “He’s ver y advent u rous w it h his ideas and doesn’t mind taking risks,” Anderson said.
Harder is also a housing ambassador at UNT and was accompanied by fellow ambassadors who were participating in the Chili Cook-off. “I think it’s a really good idea to see where people w i l l act ua l ly go w it h t he project since he leaves it up to everyone else,”, David Dix, a ma nagement senior a nd housing ambassador, said. Harder said he would bring in the finished project, now a colorful suit, to class this week for a grade.
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Student housing provides different safety options BY MELISSA BOUGHTON Senior Staff Writer
Safety in housing both onand off-campus goes far beyond locked doors and fire alarms to keep students sleeping soundly. However, many residents are unaware of what efforts are put in place to keep them safe. On-campus safety measures Only seven dorms of the 13 on campus have some form of a fire sprinkler system in case of an emergency, said Tommy Jones, the safety services officer in Risk Management Services. However, the other dorms have fire drill procedures and fire alarms. UNT does not have plans to add fire sprinkler systems to any of the seven dorms that are without them, said Ryan Paris, a fire safety specialist. Paris said sprinkler systems are expensive and could cost UNT hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the size of the building and what type of system is installed. “There are fire extinguishers throughout all the buildings and they also have a fire-alarm system,” Paris said. “There are smoke detectors in every room and all through the hallways.” Jones said that the fire-alarm systems are in place to alert students in case of a fire and they do fire-alarm drills at least twice a semester to make sure everything works properly.
Measures taken on campus to ensure students’ safety include fire alarm systems, fire extinguishers, police patrol and cardoperated doors. “In terms of on campus, there is always just a great sense of security around here,” Shelton
The Right Housing in the Wrong Economy Part 3 of a Series Alves, Crumley Hall desk clerk said. “Especially in the residence halls, the RAs make sure everything is OK and they do rounds in the evening. Not only that, but the police officers also do rounds in the residence halls which is really nice.” Alves said residents on-campus have basic safety concerns, especially during move-in time, but to help students with their concerns the residence assistants help out with programs such as selfdefense and computer safety. Other safety benefits in a dorm on-campus are the card-operated doors to get in the building. If someone who doesn’t live at a dorm tries to open the doors after a certain time, they remain locked and can’t be opened without a student ID or someone letting people in from the inside of the hall. “There’s always someone here, so it’s never creepy,” Mary Nogay, a chemistry freshman, said. “Just the fact that there’s like several thousand people that live here
and are always moving around here constantly makes you feel more comfortable than living in an apartment with people you don’t know.” Off-campus concerns Students who live off-campus have to worry about keeping their doors locked and walking in the dark at night. The Ridge, City Parc, Uptown and The Forum are all studentliving apartments and do have fire sprinklers in place in their units. A fire earlier this year at Woodhill Apartments concerned other apartment complexes because Woodhill did not have a fire sprinkler system in place, according to a previous Daily article. “We have sprinklers, we have alarms, we have the fire detectors, all of that to make students feel safe,” Alexa Cantu, a community assistant at The Ridge Apartments, said. In addition to fire-safety measures, Cantu said The Ridge Apartments off-campus also have courtesy officers from the Denton Police and Fire Departments that live in the apartment complex and also a security officer on duty. “We don’t really have too much crime. Nobody’s car is being broke in, so I feel good about living off-campus,” Joshua Hamilton, a kinesiology junior said. “I do take my time getting
PHOTO BY MELISSA BOUGHTON/ PHOTOGRAPHER
Students who live on-campus must use their student ID card to enter dorms after 10 p.m. as a safety precaution. The dorms’ doors stay locked until 7 a.m. out of my car when I get home late at night and things like that basically to stay safe.” The University Courtyard offers protection to its residents t hrough red “pa nic buttons” in every bedroom. The buttons can be pressed in the event of an apartment emergency. “Usually, they are thought to be used for burglary but I’ve seen them used in medical emergencies,” said Geoffrey Brown, a community assistant for University Courtyard. Authorities typically reply
to the call from the “panic button” within about 10 to 15 minutes, he said. Hamilton said he thinks students feel safer on-campus because more police patrol. Where to stay Students making a decision to live on- or off-campus based on security concerns have to consider location and what measures apartments and dorms have in place to protect them. Some apartments are safer than others and some dorms
have more security measures in place to keep students safer than others. Overall, many students said they feel more comfortable in an on-campus environment where someone is monitoring the halls’ activity 24/7. “I think it’s just the preference of where you want to live. I think it’s safe both ways,” Cantu said. “I’ve lived on-campus and I’ve lived offcampus, and I felt safe in both areas. I think that bad things can happen everywhere, so it’s just a personal preference.”