‘Lock the Gate’
dedicated to adoption ARTS & LIFE: November Page 3 UNT recognizes staff members ARTS & LIFE: Page 4 internet: prisons of the mind VIEWS: Phones, Page 7
Dunbar carries Mean Green to explosion over Western Kentucky. Page 5
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
News 1,2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5,6 Views 7 Classifieds 8 Games 8
Volume 96 | Issue 39
Stormy 58° / 46°
UNT won’t let the bedbugs bite BY ISAAC WRIGHT Senior Staff Writer
UNT is working to rid some campus buildings of bedbugs after receiving several reports of their presence in labs and a dorm. UNT has enlisted the help of pest control services to treat a dorm room in Santa Fe Square and two laboratories at Discovery Park for the blood-sucking creatures after students and faculty reported seeing the elusive insects. Billy Roussel, the Residence Life coordinator, said the university was made aware of the bedbugs on Oct. 22, and by the following week it had arranged for exterminators with ThermaPure Texas to eradicate the problem. The room in Santa Fe was treated Thursday. “This is the first time we’ve had them hit multiple buildings,” Roussel said. “We have had isolated incidents in the past.” Since Thursday, Roussel said, there have been reports in other dorms. These claims have been investigated, and no evidence of the insects has been found. Today, exterminators will investigate again. In Discovery Park, the problem was exaggerated, said Vickie Coffey, a Health and Food Safety officer. “I would never ever call it an infestation,” Coffey said. “We’ve found about five [bedbugs].” Exterminators are treating the Discovery Park rooms as well. Coffey said the pests could have traveled to the building on backpacks of students whose rooms are affected. Because the problem at UNT was relatively minor, she said, Risk Management Services is taking this opportunity to raise awareness of the problem by publishing information about bedbugs for current and future residents. “This isn’t something that we want to alarm people about,” Coffey said. “We want to educate them.”
Students living in Santa Fe who have heard about the situation have had mixed reactions. Monica Fatorma, a biology freshman, is concerned about the pests. “There’s already roaches and lizards in there,” she said. “I think they should fix the problem before people live here because we’re paying $1,000.” Another student didn’t think it was a big issue. “NPR did something on bedbugs not too long ago saying that just because you have bedbugs in one room doesn’t necessitate them being in the whole building,” said Caldin Morgan, a philosophy senior. “I think we found them early enough that it wasn’t a problem.” Although the nuisances are generally found where people sleep, they can be found anywhere, as the outbreak at Discovery Park shows. This is because they generally will attach themselves to items and are then carried from place to place, said James Kennedy, a biology professor. “You could go to any hotel or motel room, and you could pick one up on your luggage,” Kennedy said. “A lot are resistant to pesticides, and people have gotten lax about them.” Fifty years ago, Kennedy said, bedbugs were a major problem, and many ways to control the parasitic insects existed and infestations became relatively rare. Because of a lack of vigilance and changes in how household pests are dealt with, there has been a resurgence of bedbugs in the past five years, he said. The health concerns are relatively low, however. They are primarily an irritant, Kennedy said, and they can affect anyone. “Certainly people get freaked out when they see them,” Kennedy said. “They instantly assume that they did something wrong. It’s something that can happen to the cleanest house, to the cleanest people.”
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BERENICE QUIRINO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bedbugs have infested a dorm room in Santa Fe Square and two labs at Discovery Park.
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
PHOTO BY MIKE MEZEUL II/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The crew members of the Blue Angels’“Fat Albert” C-130 aircraft work diligently together as they turn the aircraft at a nearly 55 degree angle during the weekend’s Alliance Air Show. Fat Albert joined the team in 1970 and flies more than 140,000 miles each season. It carries more than 40 maintenance and support personnel, their gear, and enough spare parts and communication equipment to complete a successful air show.
Blue Angels jet through North Texas
BY JOSH PHERIGO Assigning Editor
Packed t ig ht ly i n t he diamond formation they’ve made internationally recognizable, six F/A-18 Hornets roared across the North Texas skyline Thursday afternoon, arriving in style for the Alliance Air Show. Now in its 64th season, The Blue Angles are the U.S. Navy’s aerial demonstration squadron. The squadron tours the world as ambassadors for the Navy, showcasing the capa-
bilities of U.S. Naval aviation, said Lieutenant Commander Amy Tomlinson. She said most people don’t realize there are 130 Blue Angels and six pilots. “It’s amazing working with the team,” Tomlinson said. “The enlisted folks deserve the credit. They work longer and harder and don’t get as much credit as they deserve.” After a high-speed, lowlevel pass, the Angels landed and taxied the glossy blue and gold jets with the same preci-
sion they had demonstrated in the air. It’s a routine the pilots know well, Tomlinson said, especially this late in the year. Beginning in January each year, the squadron trains for three months, learning the show and familiarizing new members with the fast-paced nature of the Blue Angles’ style. It can be a pretty steep learning curve, said Logistics Specialist Second Class Bill Kelly.
But it’s an experience the New Jersey native wouldn’t have passed up. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Kelly said. “Every person wants to be here, and we all work together perfectly to achieve the mission.” For Kelly, the squadron’s repairables manager, that mission involves supplying the jets with every replaceable part they could need to keep them in the air.
See SQUAD on Page 2
Event begins novel writing month BY DANIELLE BICE Intern
People began typing furiously on computers in the Cyber Café in Willis Library to start their 50,000-word novels Monday. About 20 UNT community members kicked off the 11th annual National Novel Wr it i ng Mont h. Nat iona l Novel Writing Month is an international event in which writers try to create a 50,000word novel by t he end of November. “We usua lly have about a dozen people participate throughout the whole month, and I would say maybe half of those people finish a 50,000word novel,” sa id K rist in Boyett, a librarian at Willis Library. The event began w ith a pep talk by Boyett and the distribution of National Novel Wr it i ng Mont h “su r v iva l kits.”
The kits include a calendar indicating how many words writers should write a day, buttons for the 2010 event, a bookmark, a coupon for the Cyber Café and candy. Writers were then encouraged to begin their novels. For some, like library staff member Lisa Cuevas, this is not their first novel written for National Novel Writing Month. “One year, I went over 50,000 words,” said Cuevas, who has written four novels in the past four years she has participated. “The determination keeps me going.” The event is supposed to inspire writers to finish an entire novel without revising and deleting their work. “I just heard about it last night,” said Erin Harvey, a biochemistry freshman. “I’ve worked on [a novel] for a couple years, and it’s just not going anywhere, so let’s see if this month makes a difference.”
“One year, I went over 50,000 words. The determination keeps me going.”
—Lisa Cuevas Willis Library staff member
After the novels are written, the writer must decide what to do with the unedited work. “I’ve look into [publication], but I haven’t really edited my novels enough to actually send them in to publishers,” said Amy Blackburn, a creative writing and Spanish language junior. About 8 percent of participants finish their novel, according to the national statistics of the novel writing month. “I got about halfway through, I think,” said Jessica Phillips, a librarian and second-year
participant. “I wasn’t doing it correctly. I was doing it with someone else, so we were trading off back and forth every day, so it just kind of fell apart.” However, the UNT writers do well compared to the national statistics, Boyett said. “By comparison of t he national stats, we do pretty well,” she said. “Fifty percent is pretty good. Most people drop out, so we’re pretty proud of our writers here.” To learn more about the monthlong event, visit www. nanowrimo.org.
Rangers’ World Series appearance brings profit to area BY TAYLOR JACKSON & M ATTHEW CARDENAS Staff Writer & Intern
Around campus, the Texas Rangers colors have been seen more often, and UNT students have gone to bars around Denton to celebrate and watch together. The team lost the World Series to the San Francisco Giants four games to one. “It really does suck to go all the way to the World Series and do this bad,” said Allen Foss, a business sophomore. “We had so much momentum. There just aren’t any other words.”
Local bars like Cool Beans and Fry Street Public House have got ten a n i n f lu x of students lately. “We had three classes come straight from the university,” sa id Ch r is Br i n, a P ubl ic House bartender. Brin said he thinks most of the fans were real fans, a nd P ubl ic Hou se w a s packed du r i ng t he ga mes w it h ever yone wea r i ng Rangers gear. He also said the bar earned a profit when the games ended at 9 p.m. because of well drinks. Mike Stockdale, Cool Beans
manager, thinks the crowds were “bandwagon fans” and that he saw a lot more Rangers gear than he can remember. Stockda le a lso sa id t he bar’s profits increased during the games. He “couldn’t put an exact nu mber or percentage on it, but when it’s f ull more money is spent since other local teams, like the Cowboys, a ren’t br i ng i ng t he prof it anymore,” Stockdale said. Jensen said that 50 to 60 people were usually at the bar during the games with each person spending about $10 to
15, so Public House expects about $500 to $ 900 during the games. “I caught hometown fever,” said Jordan Jensen, a Fry Street Public House bartender. “It’s exciting to watch.” The Rangers have played in San Francisco and at home, and the tickets sold for as much as $450 on websites like www. StubHub.com after the games sold out. The original revenue from ticket sales went to the teams. The team declared bankr uptc y i n May a nd w a s purchased by Nolan Ryan,
a former Ranger and Hall of Fame pitcher, and his business partner Chuck Greenberg, accord i ng to t he Da l la s Morning News. This was also the team’s first time to be in the World Series. “I’m a Rangers fan, so I never think they’ll lose, but if they did, I would still be a Rangers fan, win or lose,” said Jamie McCook, a Side Bar bartender, before the end of the Game Five. Terry Clower, an economics faculty member, thinks that being in the Series will greatly
impact the team and area. Clower also said students going to bars and the games are really just “substitution spending.” “Instead of drinking and watching the game at a place like Cool Beans, you spend the $450 on a ticket and go to Arlington,” Clower said. “You would still be spending money, just in different places.” The Rangers can also look forward to greater turnout and spending next season, he said. “Next season’s tickets and merchandise sales will go up just because they got in World Series,” Clower said.