It’s the Great Pumpkin! Dallas Arboretum rings in autumn with Pumpkin Fest. See Insert Thursday, August 26, 2010
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Volume 96 | Issue 22
Sunny 79° / 60° The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Searching for Consecutive Wins
ntdaily.com
Rawlins brings old method to UNT BY K RYSTLE CANTU & SARA SMILEY
Senior Staff Writer & Intern
PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Senior linebacker Craig Robertson and junior offensive lineman Troy Kokjohn take a break from practice to talk to head coach Todd Dodge. The Mean Green will attempt to win two straight games when it faces Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Fouts Field. To read the story, see No. 2 on Page 3
Study investigates link between texting while driving, accidents BY A DAM BLAYLOCK Staff Writer
The potentially life-threatening danger of talking on the cell phone or text messaging while driving has gained more awareness in recent years with increased exposure from various news media and drivers-education campaigns. Texas’ state and county accident data on the correlation between cell phone use and driving echo national statistics. Denton County Sheriff’s spokesman Tom Reedy noted a rise in distractions people are facing behind the wheel. “There’s always been distractions, but I’ve never seen it so ubiquitous as I have in the last three to four years,” he said. Several reports have been released by various law enforcement agencies and transportation authorities on distracted driving and links to phone use as the cause of accidents. Until recently, however, the reports made little distinction between talking on a cell phone and texting. UNT Health Science Center researchers Fernando Wilson and Jim Stimpson showed an increase in vehicular fatalities that they linked to a parallel increase in text messaging nationwide in their study published Sep. 23 in the American Journal of Public Health. Although the national motor vehicle fatality database, called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, records only accidents as a result of distracted driving, Wilson and Stimpson were able to estimate through scientific method that increased texting volumes resulted in 16,000 road fatalities from 2001 to 2007. The same study showed that people who talk on their phones while driving are 30 percent more likely to have an accident. People who text are 23 times more likely to crash. The study by Wilson and Stimpson echoed other previous
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GREG MCCLENDON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
In Denton County last year, there were 226 accidents involving cell phones, leaving four people permanently injured. Nine states and the District of Columbia have banned hand-held devices and five other states have partial bans. national and state data that showed cell phones as a major contributor to accidents and subsequent fatalities. In 2009, there were 5,474 fatalities and 448,000 injuries as a direct result of distracted driv ing, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. Of those fatalities, 995 reported the use of cell phones as a contributing cause of the crash. In a report released covering the current year from Jan. 1 to Sep. 30 by the Texas Department of Transportation motor vehicle injury and fatality data, Denton County has the 13th-highest mortality rate out of 253 counties, with 22 deaths in 2010 to date. The same 2010 report ranked Denton County as having the third-highest fatality rate in accidents where the cause was directly linked to cell phones with two deaths so far. Reedy shared his own view of texting while driving. “Texting [while driving] is crazy,” he said. “There’s something wrong with you if you’re texting down the road. These people are morons.”
Tala Elnakib, a psychology junior, remarked on an accident she once witnessed. “I saw a girl drive through a store window once while texting in a parking lot,” she said. People are so connected to their cell phones, the devices are like a third arm, Elnakib said. People even text while they’re crossing the street, she added. Catherine Shuler, a public relations senior, shared the story of someone she knew who was personally affected. “I used to work with a girl who was killed while she was texting and driving,” she said. The girl’s mother later posted a video re-enactment on Facebook of a girl who got in an accident while driving and texting, Shuler said. Never t heless, Shu ler confessed her own occasional driving practices, indicating the temptation she’s with faced when texts are received while she’s driving. “I can’t say people who text and drive are bad, because I do it,” she said. In response to increased awareness, nine states and in the District of Columbia have
banned hand-held devices, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website. Five other states, including Texas, have partial bans in place.
UNT President V. Lane Rawlins has formed four councils and one committee that will make critical decisions for key parts of the campus. Rawlins said he hopes to initiate a model of shared and collaborative decision-making that will positively impact the campus. He also hopes these councils will create a fair system of checks and balances between all areas of council. “We have a number of issues on campus that we are working on,” Rawlins said. “Instead of trying to check on each other all the time, why not form a council that will make the decisions?” Rawlins has instilled this approach before at other institutions, he said, and it worked out positively. He believes UNT will have the same outcome. “I have found that this is both a shortcut way to get to decisions and a way to make sure that all the people who should be involved in the decisions are involved,” Rawlins said. “The real decisionmakers are around the tables and talking to each other.” The councils fall into four different categories: capitol projects, enrollment, finance, and image and public relations. In addition, there is also a planning committee for UNT’s institutional planning documents, such as “UNT’s Five Year Strategic Plan 2008-2013” and “Strategic Plan for Research 2010-2020.” Those documents are both geared toward research expansion. “Our hope is to bring all the different viewpoints together to make good decisions about the future of the university as we move forward,” said Elizabeth With, co-chairwoman of the enrollment council. The capitol projects council’s main goal is to develop a process that receives broad input from all key constituencies on campus, said Rodney McClendon, chairman of the capitol projects council. It will also develop a priority list for future projects on campus, such as renovation and building. “We want to make sure that our process is very formalized and that we are hearing from the deans, vice president, etc. ...,” McClendon said. “We need a process to verify the needs of the campus as we continue to grow.” McClendon said UNT does
have a process already, but that Rawlins wants to improve upon it and make sure it is more formal and inclusive. “He wants to make sure it actually addresses the needs of the campus in the short term as well as the long term,” McClendon said. The enrollment council was established to determine the size of the university’s future enroll-
“Our hope is to bring all the different viewpoints together.”
—Elizabeth With Co-chairwoman of the enrollment council
ment. The council is supposed to identify resources and strategies to achieve enrollment goals for the campus while increasing overall academic quality, With said. “Being able to make predictions about future enrollment is going to help increase the amount of opportunities available for students,” said Chase Fowler, a performance freshman. “No one will be left out.” The finance council’s role is to review the university’s needs and maintain budget priorities, according to a news release. The image and public relations council will be in charge of developing and increasing strategies to enhance the university’s reputation and increase engagement and awareness in the North Texas region, as well as university pride among students, alumni and faculty, said Debra Leliaert, co-chairwoman for the image and public relations council, in an e-mail. “The council will also plan on focusing on promoting UNT intercollegiate athletic programs to draw positive attention to the university,” Leliaert said in person. “We are focused on raising the image of the university.” One of the main goals of the council is to increase awareness of the quality of the institution, Leliaert said. “We want to make the degrees earned by our students are worth more and to make the university one that donors want to invest in,” she said.
Polka on the Street
PHOTO BY JAMES COREAS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Side Street Circus Band played polka music for Oktoberfest attendees. The Oktoberfest event was a celebration of German culture with traditional foods and beverages in addition to the German music.