Battling Adversity
observes alcohol awareness ARTS & LIFE: UNT Page 3 Bicycle polo offers sport to “everyone” ARTS & LIFE: Page 4 Get out and vote in the upcoming election VIEWS: Page 5
Mean Green football struggles in Homecoming game. Page 2
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
News 1 Sports 2 Arts & Life 3, 4 Views 5 Classifieds 6 Games 6
Volume 96 | Issue 31
Stormy 79° / 62°
City, UNT lock horns over power BY TIM MONZINGO Senior Staff Writer
“Notice to defendant: You have been sued.” Those are the words at the top of a civil citation delivered to UNT in February 2008. Since then, UNT and Denton Municipal Electric have been squabbling over whether the university owes more than $1 million in unpaid electric bills. The latest set of oral arguments in the case was heard by the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth on Oct. 6, and both parties await a decision. A date has yet to be set for further litigation. UNT says Denton Municipal Electric is required to give the university a 20 percent discount approved by the Texas Legislature in 1995. “It is our position that this lawsuit is simply a matter of statutory interpretation,” said Nancy Footer, UNT’s vice chancellor and general counsel. Footer said the university appealed an earlier judgment that awarded the utility company $111,988, with an additional $1,071,245 held by the court pending the suit’s outcome. Kelley Reese, the university’s relations and communication director, said UNT’s representation would not discuss the case further because it is an ongoing case. UNT’s argument is that the 1999 bill, known as the Texas Utility Restructuring Act, allowed utility companies to change the rates of their services but maintained the mandated discount, according to documents filed with the court.
Not so, said Michael Whitten, who represents the city’s interests in the suit. The city argues that the 1999 legislation gave it the option to discount electrical services, but no longer required the company to do so. The case comes down to the interpretation of an already confusingly worded piece of legislation, Whitten said. If the university prevails after the appeal, the $1,071,245.49 currently in escrow, meaning the court holds it until a decision is reached, will be returned, according to the court documents. If Denton Municipal Electric prevails, the money will be awarded to the company, along with a 9.25 percent interest charge “on each installment withheld beginning on the 31st day following the date the installment was originally due, until paid,” according to files received from the court. Sara Penn, a fashion design sophomore, said if the university loses, students would end up paying for it. “We pay for it one way or another, whether it’s through our state taxes or our tuition,” she said. That, she said, is unfair. “It’s not our fault it didn’t get taken care of,” she said. “We pay enough, I think.” The university and the city agreed that legal fees will be paid by the losing party, a sum of $35,000 if the case is not taken to the Texas Supreme Court. An additional $10,500 is incurred if the case is appealed to the Supreme Court, according to the case documents.
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
PHOTO BY MIKE MEZEUL II/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Sophomore forward Michelle Young launches a kick toward the FAU goal. Young registered her first multi-goal game of 2010 with two goals and an assist.
Soccer team wins sixth straight BY SEAN GORMAN Winning its fifth and sixth straight games, the UNT soccer team continued to play well at home, defeating Florida International 2-1 and dominating Florida Atlantic 5-0 this weekend. The sweep guarantees the Mean Green (11-5-1, 6-2-0) its 16th straight winning season and placed UNT in a three-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt Conference. “Friday’s game was huge because they were ranked eighth in the region and we knew they’d come after us with their best effort,” head coach John Hedlund said. Friday
Honoring goalkeeper Mandy Hall and forward Dani Watson on senior night, the Mean Green picked up a critical win over then second-ranked FIU (8-7-1, 5-3-0). Mistakes hurt UNT early, as FIU’s Mayara Bordin scored on a penalty kick in the 17th minute to give her team the lead. Freshman midfielder Kelsey Hodges responded less than four minutes later, scoring her team-leading eighth goal of the season off an assist from sophomore forward Michelle Young. “Practice and making the extra effort to improve my game has helped me a lot,” Young said. “Whenever I put more
time into my game during the week I play my best.” The scored remained tied at one until Young made another play in the 76th minute, taking a long pass from sophomore midfielder Ellen Scarfone to score the game-winning goal. UNT kept the pressure on the Golden Panthers all night, outshooting them 16-8. Sunday The Mean Green notched its most one-sided Sun Belt victory in three years in a win over the Owls (3-5-0, 4-11-0). Hodges added her second goal of the weekend to give UNT the lead in the 10th minute after she intercepted a bad pass from the goalkeeper. A minute later, freshman
midf ielder Loreli Ra msey notched her first career goal. Young then stopped an attempted clearing by the Owls goalkeeper, gained possession and scored on an empty net. “I’m more comfortable with the physical part of the game,” Young said. “That alone has gotten me a couple goals.” Watson got in on the action in the 29th minute, drilling a blast from outside the box into the left corner of the goal. Hall didn’t allow any goals outside t he pena lt y shot, lowering her goals against average to 0.69. The Mean Green travels to face t he Universit y of Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. Thursday.
UNT was invited to Dallas to take part in the segment by WFAA co-anchor Cynthia Izaguirre, an alumna of the university. Izaguirre contacted Mona Hicks, the dean of students, to set up the interview. Hicks then sent out a notification of the event to all students through EagleConnect to get them involved. In the end, about
60 members of the UNT community were taken to Dallas on a charter bus paid for by the division of student affairs, Hicks said. This is not the first time WFAA has given UNT time on the air. The station has covered UNT Homecoming before, and, Hicks said, Izaguirre came to Denton earlier this year to report on the
energy-saving exercise machines installed in the Pohl Recreation Center. Hicks said the morning trip to Dallas gave students the chance to show their support for UNT and take part in a distinctive experience. During the segment, SGA President Kevin Sanders was interviewed. Sanders was asked
what are the things that make UNT what it is. “It’s the students,” he said. Sanders said it was an honor to be able to represent the university to the Dallas-Fort Worth community. “We love our university and we’re not ashamed to tell people we love our university,” Sanders said.
Senior Staff Writer
Students display spirit on regional morning news show BY ISAAC WRIGHT Staff Writer
A s a prelude to t he Homecoming festivities, UNT students appeared on WFAA Channel 8 Daybreak on Friday to show off their school pride for the Dallas area to see. At 5:45 a.m., UNT students took part in one hour of WFAA’s morning newscast. Cheerleaders,
dancers, the executive branch of the Student Government Association and the school mascot, Scrappy, participated. “I don’t want to wake up that early again for a while, but it was a lot of fun,” said Kellie Hill, SGA director of campus involvement. “It was still dark outside, but there was definitely a sense of unity and students getting really excited.”
Officials open Life Sciences Complex UNT president, students to talk BY CLAIRE LEO
Contributing Writer
Applause echoed throughout the Life Sciences a mph it heater a s a g re en r i b b on f l u t t e r e d t o t h e g r ou n d , m a r k i n g U N T ’s continuing commitment to becoming a Tier One research university. T he ne w l y c on st r uc te d Life Sciences Complex officially opened Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The universities with the best research facilities are often the ones with the best u nderg raduate prog ra ms,” s a i d Wa r r e n B u r g g r e n , provost and v ice president for academic affairs. “That’s no correlation, but proven cause and effect.” Mor e t h a n 10 0 p e ople at tended, i nclud i ng Tex a s State Representat ive My ra C r ow nov er, U N T S y s t em Chancellor Lee Jackson, UNT President V. Lane Rawlins and other figures involved with the university.
The $33.2 million project took more t ha n t wo yea rs to complete and is the first building on UNT’s campus to be certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. Sp e a k er s a t t he e v e nt e x pre s s e d hope t h at t he building will jumpstart UNT’s efforts to be recognized as a prestigious research university. The Life Sciences Complex contains many state-of-theart features, such as the four cl i mate-cont rol led g reenhouses on the roof and an aquatics facility that features bot h f resh a nd sa lt water t a n k s. T he bu i ld i ng a l so i ncor porates a n open-lab design, allowing cooperation and collaboration bet ween researchers. “The most important thing is, for t he f irst t ime in 25 years, all biochemists and all physiologists are together in one complex,” said Art Goven, ch a i r m a n of t he biolog y
BY DANIELLE BICE Intern
PHOTO BY AUGUSTA LIDDIC/PHOTO EDITOR
Warren Burggren, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, cuts the ribbon at the opening of the Life Sciences Complex on Saturday. department. There are no classrooms i n side t he L i fe S c ienc e s Complex. However, 80 to 90 g raduate st udents w i l l be able to work one-on-one with mentors in the open labs. “Wit h i n t he resea rch facility, you have to realize that a tremendous amount of educat ion ta kes place,” Goven said. The ribbon-cutting cere-
mony celebrated the movement of faculty and staff into t he labs, but t here is st i l l some work to be done with 15,000 square feet of unfinished space. “T h is bu i ld i ng s y mboli zes t he prog ress U N T is making,” Student Government Association President Kevin Sanders said. “It shows we’re not going to play second fiddle to anybody.”
UNT President V. Lane Rawlins will talk with students at 1 p.m. today in the Bruce Hall lobby and at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Discovery Park student lounge. The Really, Let’s Talk discussions are usually held twice per long semester. “It’s an open forum for dialogue between the president and the students,” said Laurea Dunahoe, special events coordinator. “They can ask any questions they may have or bring up any topics that are on their minds.” The president does not have any other administrators present at the discussions, Dunahoe said. The discussions are a way for students to voice their concerns directly to the president. “It’s a really great chance for the university president,
vice presidents of different departments and myself as student body president just to see exactly how students are feeling,” said Student G over n ment A ssociat ion President Kevin Sanders. Issues t hat have been discussed in past forums include smoking policies, parking and the progression as UNT moves toward being a Tier One university, according to the UNT website. Discussion topics range from small things, like dorm food, to big issues, like how enrollment is being handled by the administration, Sanders said. “We need to know those kinds of things,” Sanders said. “In the end, what the students can take from it is that their leadership actually does care and that they do have a voice within the university because we’re not going to take anything lightly.”