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Volume 94 | Issue 24
Stormy 68° / 65°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Poor drainage causes flooding on campus BY COURTNEY ROBERTS Assigning Editor
Students going to and from cla sses nea r t he G enera l Academic Building had to take a giant leap to avoid the ankledeep water surrounding the area Tuesday afternoon. A U N T Fa c i l it ie s a nd Maintenance worker arrived on the scene to fix the flooding problem using a shovel to force t he water dow n into the drain, then a pump to clear the remaining surface water. “ W hen s omet h i ng l i ke this happens, we call it ‘frog stranglers’ or when you have too much water in a short amount of time,” said Lanse Fullinw ider, UNT g rounds m a i nten a nc e m a n a ger. “Because it’s a low spot, it’s going to set then it becomes surface drainage.” Fu l linw ider sa id t he building might be a spot that needs attention. “For other areas on campus, it’s the same way,” he said. “I know there’s a certain volume of water that [the drains] can carry.” Dav id Young, t he utilit y crew leader, said most of the drains on campus, which are
owned by the city of Denton, date back to the ’40s. “In most of the area, there’s a lot more concrete than an absorbing system,” he said. “Just adding drains won’t do anything because all the pipes will fill up.” Young sa id t hey usua lly put mulch around the trees, but when it rains, the mulch blocks the drain and they have to clean it off. “One problem is the sidewa l k s slope in t he w rong direction mostly because of the ground settling over time,” he said. “We have to usually re-pour the sidewalks to slope to the curbs instead of towards the grass.” Trying to keep their shoes on as much dr y ground as possible, Kat hleen Digna n and Jen Jones, both seniors majoring in behavior analysis, treaded through the murky water on tiptoes unsuccessfully. “There are a lot of places on campus that are f looded where you have to hike up your pants when it rains,” Dignan said. “I hate having to go to class with muck on my f lip-f lops after treading through the water.”
PHOTO BY CLINTON LYNCH / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A UNT Facilities and Maintenance worker, who asked to not be identified, tries to force the murky water down the drain after a thunderstorm caused flooding outside the General Academic Building on Tuesday afternoon.
Proposed bill replaces lenders Sick students
face isolation
UNT embraces direct loans for students
BY MELISSA BOUGHTON Senior Staff Writer
BY JOSH PHERIGO Staff Writer
The U.S. Senate is reviewing a bill that may help simplify the student loan process. In the past, students who need a federal student loan would select a private lender, but t he bi l l proposes t hat only the U.S. Department of Education provide money for loans. St udent s wou ld receive those loans through the bill’s Direct Loan Program. UNT bega n t he progra m this fall, but the bill would ma ke it ma ndator y for a l l universities to use it. “So far, we are one of the success stories of the Direct Loan Program,” said Deborah A r nold , s e n ior a s s o c i a t e director of UNT Fina ncia l Aid. More t ha n 20,0 0 0 U N T students receive some form of f ina ncia l a id or student loans to pay for their education, UNT Financial Aid officials said. “Students receiving direct loans are generally pleased w it h t he prog ra m’s qu ick distribution of money,” Arnold said. A nt hony Pepe, cr i m i na l justice sophomore said this is his third semester receiving student loans from a student lending company. “My family’s income doesn’t allow me to qualify for financial aid, so I use loans to pay for my tuition,” he said. Pepe said he is optimistic about the prospect of elimi nat i ng pr ivate st udent loa n compa n ies f rom t he program. “I think it would make the process much easier,” Pepe
PHOTO BY SUSAN MISKA / INTERN
Gargi Bhakta, an accounting freshman, said she’s frustrated with the stress of filling out her financial aid form. said. “I first applied for loans in September of my freshman year, but didn’t receive any money until the following February.” The company Pepe initially chose did not inform him that he didn’t qualify for its loan until months after he submitted his paper work, he said. His parents had to financia l ly suppor t h i m u nt i l he found a not her lending company, he said. Pepe, a transfer student, sa id he l i kes t he idea of government consolidation. “St udent s w ho receive loans wouldn’t have to go
seek out pr ivate lend i ng companies only to risk being rejected for the loan,” Pepe said. “The government would be a guaranteed lender.” U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas represents the 26th District of Texas and voted “no” on the bill. A c c or d i n g t o a pr e s s relea se publ ished on h is Web site, the congressman said the legislation would further “expand the federal government at a severe cost to taxpayers.” Burgess said in the statement t hat he believes t he removal of the Federal Family Educat ion Loa n Prog ra m
const it utes a l i m it i ng of freedom of choice on citizens by mandating the Education Department’s Direct Loan Program as the only available student lending option. C a mer on W he eler, a n education junior receives b ot h f i n a nc i a l a id a nd student loans. He said that he agrees with the congressman’s assessment on the proposed bill. “It’s rea l ly a mat ter of p e r s o n a l p r e f e r e n c e ,” Wheeler said. “You have to decide if the liberty to choose a pr ivate lender is more important than the simplicity of direct lending.”
The proposed legislation also seeks to provide: •
Additional funding for grants to historically black and minorityserving universities.
•
A simplified and reformed Student Financial Aid Form (FAFSA).
•
Add it iona l f u nd i ng for Cooperative Education workstudy programs.
•
Grant repayment waivers and loan forgiveness for students active in the Armed Forces.
With the spread of swine flu fresh on the minds of the UNT community, the administration is taking action by isolating dormdwelling students who may be sick with the contagious virus. Victory, Traditions, Mozart, Legends and College Inn halls have private rooms with bathrooms set aside for students living on campus who are diagnosed with the flu. The private rooms and bathrooms allow sick students to be isolated from others on campus while they are recovering from either seasonal or swine flu. “The first week in September we started making a plan,” housing director Elisabeth Warren said. “First, it was one person, then two and then I’m not sure exactly how many right now, but we’ve kept up with it.” Students who have flu-like symptoms are encouraged to go to the Student Health and Wellness Center, and once there, the student is given a flu test. However, Warren said the health center is only testing for seasonal flu because of the costs and process time of the swine flu test. Once a student tests positive for the flu, the health center staff contacts the housing staff to let it know the center’s staff is sending the sick student back to the dorm. “We treat it the same, it doesn’t matter whether it is swine or seasonal flu,” she said. Warren said once contacted by the health center, the staff finds an available space in one of the designated halls, the bed is made and the student is sent to that room for recovery. Arrangements for food delivery are also made for the isolated students. “Usually, honestly, they call their folks and their folks come
and take them home when it’s possible,” Warren said. “The isolation rooms are for those that can’t.” Chelsey Joseph, an elementary education freshman, said she was wrongly diagnosed with swine flu and was told she would have to be isolated. “The hall director called me and told me I would have to be isolated in a room,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice.” Joseph lives in Victory Hall and has a private room with a shared bathroom. She said she believes students that don’t have roommates should have a choice to stay in their room or be isolated. “I just think it’s a pain because when you’re sick, you don’t feel good as it is and then you have to move your stuff,” she said. Joseph’s father took her home to Houston to avoid isolation in the dorms. Ben Taylor, hall director at Kerr Hall, said most of the students opt to go home because they will be out of it for a while in any case. Not all students living in the dorms have been made aware of the isolated rooms. Taylor said there are too many students who just want a private room, so only students who have the flu are told about the isolated rooms. “We tell people who need it that it’s there so that we don’t have a mad rush on ‘I want a private room,’” he said. Some students who are aware of the isolated rooms are worried about the effect the quarantined rooms might have on the non-sick students living in the dorms. “Even though they are isolated, I am still scared it could be airborne,” said Raul Galaviz, an English literature sophomore and College Inn resident. “I think it is going to worry people that live here. I appreciate the attempt that UNT is trying, but I would rather have them go home.”