11-25-09 Edition by North Texas Daily

Grand chase

mosque grows with Islamic community NEWS: Denton Page 2 Exhibit honors early female blues singers ARTS & LIFE: Page 3 Wikipedia more credible than profs say VIEWS: Page 4

Guard looks to become 12th UNT player with 1,000 career points Page 6

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

News 1,2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 6 Views 4 Classifieds 7 Games 7

Volume 94 | Issue 52

Sunny 66° / 39°

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The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas

Denton library to reopen doors after renovations BY CAROLYN BROWN Senior Staff Writer

Maria Lopez, a Denton resident, loads food donations into her car. Lopez received the food from the Denton Food Center.

PHOTO BY MELISSA BOUGHTON / PHOTOGRAPHER

A week for giving in Denton BY MELISSA BOUGHTON Senior Staff Writer

The holidays are here and local Denton churches, shelters, and food centers are opening their doors and kitchens to those in need. The Denton Community Food Center, Salvation Army, and The Village Church are all preparing for their busiest time of the year and helping those in need with Thanksgiving meals. Denton residents were elbowto-elbow in the small building at the Denton Community Food Center on Tuesday as they waited their turn for food donations. “This is our record day each year,” said Tom Newell, chairman of the Board of Directors at the Denton Community Food Center. “In 2007, it was 83 families, last year it was 103, we saw 92 yesterday which is normally a 40 to 50 day.” Newell said the center expected 150 families on Tuesday and was already at 71 by 1:30 p.m. The center is open Monday

through Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. It will be closed on Thanksgiving for the rest of the week and will reopen on Monday. The center interviews families and gives food based on the size of the family. Each family is given about five days worth of food, Newell said. “Normally we only allow people to come once a quarter,” Newell said. “We are now allowing them to come up to once every 30 days because of the economy situation.” According to the annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of this year’s dinner for 10 is $42.91, a $1.70 price decrease from last year’s average of $44.61. That decrease is still an increase from 2007’s average by 65 cents. The center relies on donations from the community for its food bank. Newell said 45 percent of all the food the center gets annually

Thanksgiving Donations • 1,500 and 2,000 pounds of food a day is the average amount the Denton Food Center gives out • 2,500 pounds of turkey will be served at the Village Church’s banquet • More than 150 people are expected for the Salvation Army’s free Thanksgiving dinner

comes in during the months of November and December. The center gives out between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds of food a day, Newell said. The center gave 4,500 pounds of food to families in need on Monday. “It helped saved my family’s holiday,” said Linda Graham, a Denton resident. Graham said her husband was laid off about three weeks ago and her family was living off savings. “Someone told me about this and they are going to make the holiday, so I am really apprecia-

tive of it,” she said. Newell said the center is in new territory because they surpassed last year’s 157 tons in October. “We have not so far had to turn anybody away or reduce the volume of food we’re giving,” he said. “We’ve been very fortunate that donors have been supporting us.” The Village Church is hosting their 23rd annual Thanksgiving Banquet between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday at the Calhoun Middle School cafeteria.

See SALVATION on Page 2

A f ter contend i ng w it h t he season’s heav y ra ins and unexpected construction issues, Denton’s South Branch Library may reopen soon. The South Branch at 3228 Teasley Lane has undergone extensive renovations and expansion this year as part of a project funded by about $2.65 million in bond sales and certificates of obligation, according to City Council records. “You make plans, and it doesn’t always just fall the way you’d like,” said Linda Tou ra i ne, Sout h Bra nch manager. The librar y closed Aug. 16 for the last stages of the project. It was origina lly scheduled to reopen in midOctober but was delayed. Touraine said the library does not yet have a set date for reopening, but she estimates that it may happen in mid-December. “We’re probably 90 percent ready,” she said. Project crews expanded the branch’s parking lots last year and began adding on to the building this year. To deal with the closing, the staff boxed up much of the branch’s materials and re-located them within the changing building, Touraine said. A fter t he closing, customers had to return their books to the other two libraries, the North Branch and Emily Fowler, and the staff members split between t he t wo to dea l w it h t he increased traffic f low. The building has expanded on three sides, and the floor space has doubled. It now has a new foundation, paint, carpet and

work space, a mong ot her features. Before the South Bra nch ca n reopen, t he project team members will have to do some final checks including the heating and air conditioning systems, and the building will have to pass final inspections. Fred Kamman, a South Branch librarian, moved to North Branch to continue his job. He said that the transition went smoothly, but that he is looking forward to returning to the South Branch. “It’s going to be g reat when we open,” he said. “I’m looking forward to helping t he customers again and getting back in the swing of things.” He sa id some of t he changes, such as moving the computers closer to the reference help desk, will make it easier for the staff to assist people. The South Branch’s collection has also expanded to about 62,000 items, which will give South Branch users more options, he said. “I think they’re going to find that there’s more stuff at the South Branch, so they won’t have to wait a day or so for it to come over from the other branches,” he said. Jack ie Tha mes, a UNT computer support specialist, said she has used the South Branch occasionally to find items that the North Branch lacked. She said she looks forward to seeing t he new Sout h Branch open because it is more convenient for her to visit after work. “I’m going to check it out when it reopens,” she said. “I’m hoping the new South Branch will be larger, maybe more like the North Branch.”

Mean Green men’s team tames Jackson State Tigers BY SEAN GORMAN Senior Staff Writer

The UNT men’s basketball team has a lot to be thankful for this holiday. The Mean Green continued its success at home with its third win of the year, defeating the Jackson State University Tigers 68-58. “We knew these guys weren’t going to be easy,” said forward Eric Tramiel, a sociology senior. “They went to the national tournament last year, and we knew they wouldn’t stop fighting.” Both teams kept their opponent’s offense in check early on, and the teams traded baskets for the game’s first 10 minutes. “They’re a very well-coached team,” head coach Johnny Jones said. “Just like the usual, it was a hard-fought win that we had to earn.” For ward Ty rone Hay nes got the Tigers’ offense going, scoring seven points in the first five minutes of the contest. Sparked by an emphatic block by g ua rd Col l i n Mangrum, a sociology junior, UNT pulled ahead with a 15-8 stretch and took its seven-point lead into halftime. “We had a lot of balance on offense tonight, and that

“If we’re able to put up those type of figures night-in, night-out, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

—Johnny Jones Head coach

allowed us to get an early lead,” Mangrum said. “The guys on this team allow us to have multiple options on offense.” The Mean Green defense harassed the JSU shooters all night, holding them to 35 percent shooting. “After last week’s loss we wanted to make sure we locked dow n on t heir shooters,” Tramiel said. “That’s the one thing we worked on the most during these past two practices.” Strong bench play helped the Mean Green all night, as the UNT reserves outscored the Tiger bench by five. “We are a family in the locker room and deep when we play,” Tramiel said. UNT kept up the pace at the beginning of the second half, as a 14-7 run after the break allowed the Mean Green to pull ahead for the next few minutes.

UNT gained more momentum from another big play when Mangrum brought the Super Pit crowd to its feet after a strong dunk in transition. “I thought that we played ou r b e s t a b out m id w a y t hrough t he second ha lf,” Jones said. “We got to the free throw line and made some necessary shots.” The Tigers used the full court press to get within two points, but the Mean Green was able to recover after a three-point play by Tramiel. The senior led the way for UNT, scoring 15 points. “They made a few quick shots, and I think we got a PHOTO BY RYAN BIBB / PHOTOGRAPHER little overexcited,” Mangrum said. “We didn’t have enough Junior guard Josh White works his way through the Jackson State’s defense during Tuesday’s game. patience and got a little ahead of ourselves a double-double, scoring 11 type of figures night-in, night- back on the court Saturday, Forward George Odufuwa, points while snatching 11 out, we’re going to be tough to when it travels to Boise, Idaho, a finance junior, made his rebounds. to ta ke on the Boise State beat,” Jones said. presence felt on the post with The Mean Green w ill be Broncos. “If we’re able to put up those

Page 2 Wednesday, November 25, 2009

News

Shaina Zucker & Courtney Roberts

News Editors ntdailynews@gmail.com

Event honors Texas almanac BY A MBER A RNOLD Senior Staff Writer

The Texas State Historical Association will celebrate its first publication of the 2010-2011 Texas Almanac and also its oneyear partnership of working with UNT during an open house next week. The open house will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 in Stovall Hall 175. “It’s been a very good year, and we feel like we’ve got an excellent partnership to build a successful future for the association,” executive director Kent Calder said. The association moved from the University of Texas to UNT in fall 2008 and has worked with departments in the university. The UNT history department has been instrumental in helping the association reach its goals of expanding its membership and having a more recognizable brand, development coordinator Christina Rodriguez said. Part of the association’s contract with UNT is to create an endowed Texas history chairperson. “This will establish that we are representative of one another,” Rodriguez said. So far, $575,000 has been raised, but the association needs $1.5 million to create a Texas history chairperson. No one has been considered for the position yet.

Celebrating the Texas Almanac publication Since 1904, The Dallas Morning News Inc. was responsible for publishing the almanac, but it passed the duty along with all the archives to the association in May 2008, according to a press release. “It’s a great opportunity for us,” Rodriguez said. “In the future as we continue to publish it we’re

hoping to grow t he awa reness for it and perhaps get a stronger base to get the word out.” The associaKENT tion published CALDER t he Te x a s Almanac on Nov. 1. The association is working closely with UNT’s Libraries’ Digital Projects Unit to convert all archives of the Texas Almanac as well as the first 100 volumes of Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Calder said. The Texas State Historical Association was founded on March 2, 1897, to promote Texas history and is recognized in academic circles as the nation’s most dynamic regional history organization. “This is a good partnership because UNT has a lot of people in the history department that teach one kind or another of Texas history,” Calder said. The association also provides different educational programs including the Texas Quiz Show, a competition for middle school students, Junior Historians of Texas, an extracurricular program for students in grades 4 to12, and the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society, a program for undergraduate college students, and Texas History Day in the spring, according to the association’s Web site. “We encourage students in our educational programs to become part of UNT,” Calder said. Admission to the open house is free, and Texas Almanac editors and publishers will be on hand at the event to answer questions. UNT Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Wendy K. Wilkins and Calder will both speak at the event.

46 Filipinos die in election massacre AMPATUAN, Philippines (AP) — A few miles off the main highway, on a remote hilltop covered with waist-high grass, bodies lay with twisted hands reaching in the air. They had been shot point-blank. Nearby, bodies were being laid out under banana leaves Tuesday as police unearthed a mass grave containing 22 victims from Monday’s ambush on an election caravan. The discovery brought the death toll to 46 — an unprecedented act of violence at the outset of the country’s election season. As many as five people remained unaccounted for. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao and a neighboring southern province, sending extra troops and police to try to impose the rule of law. “No effort will be spared to

bring justice to the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable to the full limit of the law,” she said. Authorities said the victims included at least 13 Filipino journalists from regional newspapers, TV and radio stations who were accompanying family members and supporters of a gubernatorial candidate out to file his nomination papers for May 2010 elections. Noynoy Espina, vice chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said as many as 20 journalists may have been in the convoy, based on reports from union chapters in the area. The figures could not be immediately reconciled, but still the deaths marked “the largest single massacre of journalists ever,” according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

PHOTO BY JAYDA QUINCEY / PHOTOGRAPHER

Imam Mohamed Fouad of the Islamic Society of Denton stands in front of the library in the mosque’s office. Fouad has served as Imam for four years.

Denton mosque expands to accommodate growth BY T.S. MCBRIDE Senior Staff Writer

Muslim residents will soon have more room to worship once the Islamic Society of Denton finishes construction of a long-awaited addition to its overcrowded mosque. The new $700,000 facility will increase the size of the Denton mosque by about 16,000 square feet, adding a larger prayer area, new classrooms, a larger space for female congregants and possibly a free clinic. “It is ver y crowded and e s p e c i a l l y t he w omen’s section is very small and that’s something that we’re ver y concerned with,” said Tariq Zafar, a business computer information systems senior. Construction is expected to take about six to eight months, said Imam Mohamed Fouad, leader of the mosque. Za fa r ha s gone to t he mosque about three times a week since he returned to school this year after a

20-year sabbatical. At t he mosque, women worship in a separate area. Faoud said that the separate areas allow women to worship without distraction. The mosque also offers an Islamic school to Muslim children from first grade to about 15 years old. The children are taught some Arabic and how to read the Koran. Now, about 50 students crowd into a small balcony area above the main hall for classes. The new facility will also have separate classrooms. Zafar also said the mosque plans to provide a medical clinic staffed by two volunteer doctors, although those plans are still under consideration. He said the clinic’s services would be available to anyone. T he major it y of t he members of the mosque are UNT students, Faoud said. He said attendance at the mosque has grown steadily

Continued from Page 1 Kristen Bowman, spokeswoman for Salvation Army, sa id t he Denton locat ion anticipates more than 150 people for the free dinner. “T h is g ives people a n opportunity in the community that cannot afford a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to come to the Salvation Army,” Bowman said. Clients w i l l have place settings and will be served by the center’s volunteers at a table. Bowman said the center

will be set up and decorated similar to a person’s home to ma ke t he cl ient s feel welcome. “Our biggest thing that we really try to make happen is to make it a warm friendly place,” Bowman said. The event began in 1987 as a way to minister to UNT students, most ly international, who were unable to go home for the holiday. “It h a s g row n i nto a community event over the years,” said Gilbert Montez, director of communications

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architecture. The mosque was vandalized in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a window. On Nov. 5, a U.S. A rmy major killed 13 people and injured 30 ot hers at For t Hood. Maj. Nida l Ha sa n was a Muslim whose objections to his deployment to Afghanistan may have played a role in the shooting. Faoud said that Denton was a hospitable community and that he had not observed any threats or hostility since the shooting. He condemned the actions of Hasan and said that they did not ref lect the beliefs of most Muslims. “When we say our prayer, it’s principle in our prayer to say ‘Peace be upon us.’ Peace is the main thing in our prayer,” Faoud said. “The Muslim community chooses to be residents in America because of freedom.”

Salvation Army will serve meals

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over the past few years with UNT enrollment. During Friday services, he said congregants must stand outside. “Now it is not enough. The room in which we pray and t he place in which ser ve, especially on Friday, is too small,” Faoud said. “Ever y Friday, it’s full completely and they pray outside and in the lobby and on the balcony.” Faoud estimates that 150 to 200 people attend the Friday services. For most major holidays, the mosque has been forced to rent out other places like the MLK Jr. Recreation Center. Once t he additions a re complete, the mosque will accom modate up to 300 c on g r e g a nt s f or F r id a y services. Saud i A rabia n a nd Eg yptian Muslim students at UNT founded the mosque in 1979, Faoud said, adding that it was the first mosque in Texas built using Islamic

at the Village Church. “We are able to feed people that are alone at Thanksgiving or who might not be able to have a meal.” T he chu rch w i l l ser ve more than 2,000 people a Thanksgiving feast. The menu w i l l include 2,500 pounds of turkey, 2,500 slices of pumpkin and pecan pie, 100 gallons of sweet potatoes, 68 gallons of gravy, 150 gallons of green beans, 150 gallons of tea, coffee, and lemonade, 300 dozen rolls, and a lot of stuffing.

The event is free to attend a nd op en t o e v er y one. Calhoun Middle School is at 906 Congress St. The Salvation Army is also offering a warm Thanksgiving meal for those in need this year. They will serve turkey, dressing, g reen bea ns, ma shed pot atoes, y a m s, fresh rolls, and pumpkin pie between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at various locations throughout Dallas and Fort Worth. T he Denton shelter is located at 1508 E. McKinney St.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Page 3

Arts & Life

Kip Mooney

Arts & Life Editor ntd.artslife@gmail.com

Artist honors blues singers in latest work BY MORGAN WALKER Staff Writer

St udent s i ntere ste d i n learning the art of mixed media now have an opportunity while listening to the soulful sounds of early female blues singers. Susan Lenz, an artist from Columbia, S.C., installed her latest work “Blues Chapel” on Sunday at the Gough Gallery in the Denton Center for Visual Arts at 400 Hickory St. “Tapestry in Blue,” a mixed media quilt, honors 24 early female blues singers and inspired Lenz to create the larger installation, “Blues Chapel.” “These early female blues singers lived in a male-dominated culture in the segregated South, primarily,” Lenz said. The chapel honors singers such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Bessie Smith. Lenz said she wanted to depict these women as if they were martyred saints because they put the woes in their life into PHOTO BY MORGAN WALKER / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER their lyrics and were passionate Susan Lenz, a fiber and mixed media artist, installed her latest work “Blues Chapel” on Sunday at the Gough Gallery in the Denton Center for Visual Arts. about music. When she started to make art, Lenz said her mentor told whether to do a show featuring have well-respected jurors because of Materials: Hard piece in and last year I got two her to enter juried shows, which that artist’s work. from beyond the local area and Soft, a show the Center pieces in and got awarded with provide artists the opportunity “You get more rejects than who produce catalogs, Lenz for Visual Arts puts on every a catalog and it was so exciting,” to submit their work to a qual- acceptances,” Lenz said. Lenz said. year. added. ified juror who then decides Deb Dyer, associate director “Two years ago I got one Lenz said she came to Denton T he best ju r ied shows

of the center, said she loved the idea of the “Blues Chapel” from the moment she saw Lenz’s work on a disc. “I wanted something that gave another dimension to fiber art besides just patchwork quilts,” Dyer said. It has a much stronger statement than paintings hanging on a wall, Dyer added. Lenz created an environment for “Blues Chapel” by placing church pews in the center of the gallery with her work surrounding the room while soulful music plays. “It’s not painting a single piece, it’s something that sort of builds and when you create that environment it becomes multidimensional,” Dyer said. Lenz said when the installation was first created in 2006, three of the women she included in her piece were still alive but Ruth Brown and Anita O’Day died in November 2006 and Koko Taylor died in June 2009. “I wanted a way to pay tribute and respect to people that paved the way for the world to be a better place,” Lenz said. “Blues Chapel” will be at the Gough Gallery until Jan. 8. For more information call the Center for Visual Arts at 940-382-2787.

Students find iPhone apps useful, entertaining BY LISA GARZA

Contributing Writer Whether waiting at a bus stop, wa lk ing to class or lounging in the University Union, students across campus can be regularly seen with an iPhone or iPod Touch glued to their hands. Applications for both of these Internet-enabled devices, known as apps, range from playing music and games to budgeting and finding local restaurants. To date, there are 100,000 apps available in the App Store on iTunes, according to a Nov. 4 press release by Apple. Two billion apps have been downloaded so far.

For entertainment only Mike Benavides, a psychology sophomore, purchased his iPhone a year ago because “it was trendy.” He said the majorit y of his apps are games and they provide an entertaining diversion. “I play Scoops,” he said. “It sounds silly but it’s game where the object is to catch scoops of ice cream coming down.”

Useful yet controversial Trapster is a free app that alerts drivers when they are approaching a red light camera

or a radar-enforced speed trap. The app primarily relies on users to report radar-monitored zones and known intersections with cameras. The app must be activated while driving and a siren alert is emitted when it is determined through GPS that the vehicle is approaching a monitored zone. Jessica Trapp, a communications and marketing senior, has an iPhone with 30 apps. “One of the things that attracted me was the Trapster application,” she said. “It actually works. Mine has gone off when I approach red lights with cameras.” Many police officers nationwide have denounced the app. In a statement obtained in July by The Washington Examiner, Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the technology is a “cowardly tactic” and “people who overly rely on those and break the law anyway are going to get caught” one way or another. Other law enforcement officials see the app as a tool to promote safe driving. The Austin Police Department takes a different perspective, according to KXAN-TV. “If that application, if they look at it before they get into the

To see a story about the Blob, the University Program Council’s volunteer group, visit ntdaily.com.

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car and realize they’re going to go through an intersection that has a red light camera and it causes them to stop then at that intersection, that’s great,” Cpl. Scott Perry said.

From a small to hefty price The price of apps ranges from free to $900. The most expensive app currently available is the iRa Pro according to The Business Insider. This app is used to view and manage surveillance cameras and would most likely be used by corporations, schools and government entities, according to the magazine’s Web site. Trapp has the MobileMe app, which is priced at $99. “My boyfriend bought it for me,” she said. “If my phone gets lost, I can track it through the Internet.” The app also syncs up e-mail, photo galleries and music libraries from any Mac or PC. Benavides said he is hesitant to pay a lot of money for an app. “First, I go for the free ones but if I really like it, I will buy it,” he said. “The most I’ve spent is $3.99. I wouldn’t buy an expensive one because that’s ridiculous. My phone bill itself is already $100.”

Creating your own app Ryan Garlick, a computer science professor, will supervise an iPhone development course in the spring. “It’s not a traditional class,” he said. “It’s very self-guided. Students figure out on their own how to approach creating an app.” Garlick does not own an iPhone but says that is not necessary to create an app. “Most programming is done using a computer software that looks like an iPhone,” he said. Success stories of everyday people developing iPhone apps have made headlines. An April edition of The New York Times tells the story of Steven Demeter, a 30-year-old man with no computer science background who developed an app that spawned immediate success. Demeter created the game “Trism,” which involves aligning rows of brightly colored triangles. He released it into the App Store in July 2008 and made $250,000 in the first two months. Garlick said success stories like Demeter’s are possible but not easy to come by. “You would have to have some programming experience but money is a huge motivator,” he said.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KAITLIN HOAG / PHOTOGRAPHER

The Apple iPhone has thousands of applications from brain games to cooking tips to ways to avoid traffic violations.

Page 4 Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Views

Josh Pherigo

Views Editor ntdailyviews@gmail.com

High tuition rates justify Calif. protest Editorial Angered by a 32 percent rise in the price of tuition, University of California students used bike locks and chairs to barricade themselves inside a campus building last Friday. Of the hundreds that protested inside and outside Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall, 45 were eventually arrested for trespassing and joined dozens of other students arrested at similar events protesting the rise in tuition that have taken place this semester. As the nation continues to climb out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, public universities must find ways to deal with the economic slump that do not include dumping the burden on students. The editorial board salutes California student protestors in their efforts to enact change at their university. By directly forcing administrators to confront loud, frustrated, and peaceful demonstrators, these students have drawn national attention to an issue that reaches across state lines and threatens the educational opportunities of middle to low income college students across the country. There are many options universities can and should consider before drastically raising tuition. Budgets must be cut to reflect the immediacy and severity of the current economic climate, and dispensable budgetary expenditures should be eliminated. Administrative perks, for instance, represent a large and unnecessary drain that should be plugged before any rise in tuition should be considered. However, if tuition increases are deemed necessary, universities must also increase financial aid to offset the burden on low-income students. This will improve the equity of a system that bases the cost of receiving an education on one’s ability to pay. So as the Board of Regents sit in their Dallas office pondering cost-cutting measures, the editorial staff points to the protests at the University of California as a regrettable, but necessary measure of behavior for students standing up against a gratuitous increase in the cost of an education that could be substantially cheaper.

Campus Chat

What is one thing that you would like to change at UNT?

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“I think UNT is a good school and at the moment I can’t think of anything I would change.”

Tanner Smith

Radio ads a driving distraction Crash! Honk! Beeeeeeeeep! Sirens. You whip your head around in traffic searching for the tragic accident. While you’re looking for the wreckage, you nearly crash into the Ford truck in front of you. But there’s no wreck. Not a cop in sight. All that noise is from a radio commercial for car insurance. Including auto noises in radio commercials is ver y dangerous. It not only annoys drivers, but it also threatens those on the road. The average driver comes to attention at the sound of sirens, ready to pull over to let the ambulance pass.

W hile look ing for these ph a nt om a c c ident s a nd emergency vehicles, drivers undoubtedly are distracted from the main task at hand — safe driving. Drivers listening to sports radio channels are fully expecting the “W hoa! Touchdown! Fumble!” type of outbursts. Even though these outbursts are expected, drivers listening to sports in the car have caused about 2 million wrecks, according to a study conducted the University of Leicester. And those accidents involved a consenting, expectant audience. How many more w recks

have been caused by an innocent driver who is listening to Mix 102.9 or KISS FM and unexpectedly hears a fake emergency siren? Unfortunately the answer to that question remains a myster y, but what nea rly everyone knows is that those noises on radio commercials are very distracting and frightening. How many times have you heard a “honk, honk!” on the radio and thought a fellow driver was a ng r y at your driving? Or what about the cop siren? You know your heart has pounded because you’re thinking you’re about to get pulled over.

But honestly, those are mild examples of what reactions to these commercia ls can cause. This could turn out to be a life or death situation. Come on, insurance companies and other advertisers, is it that important to have that car honk or siren in your radio commercial? Based on the adrenaline reaction those sound effects cause, most drivers are too busy panicking to notice what your commercial is actually advertising anyway. Shea Tellefsen is a journalism junior. She can be reached at SheaTellefsen@my.unt.edu.

Wikipedia deserves more recognition It’s a phrase with which I’m sure we’ve all grown familiar as we’ve made our way through the various tiers of academia. Yet it’s perhaps the least reasonable of all statements issued by teachers: “And remember, no citing Wikipedia.” When a teacher gives me guidelines about source citations I assume they are crafted in order to promote knowledge and learning, but I’m at a logical loss for why Wikipedia’s exclusion promotes learning. We are often given lists of acceptable sources of information to use when writing papers. These lists are populated by .govs and .edus, organizations that are generally considered credible sources of information. Statistics posted by these Web sites are thoroughly vetted by numerous entities, from governments to internal organizations. But while we are given a trusted statistic, few people understand how that particular fact bubbled to the top of an ocean of misleading information. If .gov and .edu Web sites are regulated, and .coms are free of regulation, then Wikipedia is the regulated free market of information. Unlike many other Web sites, Wikipedia has an adaptive advantage. Its information is constantly subject to scrutiny

and always undergoing evolution through revision. While information can often begin without credibility, its credentials expand rapidly. Wikipedia is prone to accurate revision because those more likely to post corrections and submit original content are those most interested and studied in that particular field. Most of my professors ask for sources that are “generally accepted as credible.” Wikipedia’s functionality is based on the general public revising information in order to boost credibility. And so while some take issue with the fact that Wikipedia is just popular opinion, that very opinion is often the basis by which information is deemed credible. For example, a couple of weeks ago I was shocked to learn from a professor one of the greatest intellectual ironies of the information age: It is common for professors to post research, journal papers, and new theories on Wikipedia in order to receive anonymous and reliable peer revision. Apparently in some cases, Wikipedia vets information for credible Web sites before its debut. There have been cases of abuse on Wikipedia, just as our free market system is susceptible to schemes and scams, but these cases are isolated. The most

famous case involved Stephen Colbert persuading viewers to fight elephant endangerment by altering the number of elephants in the world on the Wikipedia page for elephants. Colbert’s plan was promptly thwarted and Colbert was banned from posting on Wikipedia in the future. Here we see how Wikipedia’s regulatory systems work quite well. Although Wikipedia can ban abusive users and won’t change an article until a quota of similar revisions is met, many worry about how to identify some of the more obscure revisions unlikely to be changed. Here, Wikipedia has another safeguard: the citation tool. It would be good practice to check some of the listed citations on Wikipedia entries. An article with few or no citations at all is likely to be less credible than an article studded with footnotes. There are many cases in which Wikipedia’s information is more accurate than the information featured elsewhere. One topical example is the global warming debate. In environmental science I am permitted to cite Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” when writing about climate change, regardless of the fact that 12 separate points featured in this movie were proven scientifically

false. Wikipedia tells me which sections of the movie have been deemed false, and the movie obviously does not. And so, in this situation, I could reasonably cite Florida being flooded in half a century even though that claim has been proven false and misleading, but Wikipedia (a site featuring that warning) is squarely out of bounds. There exists a reason that our economy balances regulation and free market innovation: It’s the most effective system that produces the most reliable products. Addressing Wikipedia in a different way is absurd and fallacious. Knowledge has never been and will never be absolute. To treat it that way furthers ignorance and buries educational debate.

Morgan Bookish is a political science and economics freshman. He can be reached at MorganBooksh@my.unt.edu.

Electronics engineering technology freshman

“I think UNT should have more music concerts around the campus not just the One O’Clock (Lab) Band, but some of the other lab bands.”

Matthew Brown Music sophomore

“As an RTVF major, I would like to specifically see the department change how they run things.”

Cory Wimberly

Radio, television and film senior

“I would like to see UNT host more outdoor events and things for all the students.”

NT Daily Editorial Board

Lauren Shaddix Biology sophomore

The Editorial Board includes: Andrew McLemore, Josh Pherigo, Shaina Zucker, Courtney Roberts, Brooke Cowlishaw, Kip Mooney, Abigail Allen, Sydnie Summers, Brianne Tolj, Christena Dowsett, Justin Umberson, and David Lucio

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sports

Justin Umberson

Sports Editor ntdaily.sports@gmail.com

Break allows no rest for team By Justin Umberson Sports Editor

Photo by Ryan Bibb / Photographer

Wide receiver B.J. Lewis runs past the Army defense during Saturday’s 17-13 loss at Fouts Field.

Mean Green’s final stand By Eric Johnson Senior Staff Writer

The Mean Green (2-9, 1-6) will brush away the pain and heartbreak it has suffered this season one final time at 2 p.m. Nov. 28. UNT will travel to Jonesboro, Ark., to challenge a team that has defeated it four-straight years: the Arkansas State University Red Wolves (2-8, 1-5). But UNT will get a break after the Red Wolves lost their starting quarterback to a torn knee ligament. “It is very important for us to get that bad taste out of our mouths,” head coach Todd Dodge said. Seven times this season running back Lance Dunbar has eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards, but this game he will face the Red Wolves oaktree-sized defensive linemen. The four players’ average weight

is nearly 300 pounds. The “Green Blur” and company will need to find a way to chop them down if they hope to have success against a defense that only allows 122 yards rushing per game. “I have got to just keep doing what I have been doing,” said Dunbar, a sociology sophomore. UNT’s defense has shot down the aerial assault of its opponents recently, allowing an average of 86 passing yards during the last two weeks. With the senior quarterback Corey Leonard lost for the year, the Mean Green will face an inexperienced redshirt freshman making his first collegiate start. “We are going to get pressure on him all day and try to make him beat us with his arm,” said defensive end Eddrick Gilmore, a criminal justice senior. The

Red Wolves’ offense has struggled to make plays this season, and ranks near the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference in every statistical category. But with guys like running back Reggie Arnold in the game for ASU, UNT’s defense will need to continue its improved play. “We have completely changed our mentality,” said defensive end Brandon Akunku, a biology sophomore. “We are playing with this unmatched intensity, and as long as we are playing with this level of heart and desire I think we can shut down any offense.” This will be the final contest for UNT’s 12 seniors, and after a season of disappointment, coach Dodge looks to send his most experienced players off with a victory. “We don’t have a lot of seniors, but they have been a steady force on our team,” Dodge said.

Guard Brittney James has three shots this week to write her name into the UNT women’s basketball record book. Twelve points away from 1,000 career points, James will attempt to lead the Mean Green (1-3) past the UT-Pan America Lady Broncs (0-4) tonight at the Super Pit and through the weekend’s UAB Thanksgiving Classic tournament. “It’s a lot of games, so we need to work on taking care of our bodies and doing the right things every time we step on the floor,” assistant coach Jalie Johnson said. Attempting to build on its first win of the season, UNT will not stop to rest during the Thanksgiving break. The team instead will celebrate the holiday with dinner on Thursday night. James, a criminal justice senior, said it would mean more to her to reach the scoring milestone at home, and she expects to reach it today. “It’s going to be Wednesday,” James said. “I can get 12 points.” James has shared the four years with one other teammate. Post Torrian Timms, a biology sophomore, said she has watched James grow from a quiet freshman into the team’s leader. “I am really proud of her,” Timms said. “I respect the way she has matured.” There have been only 11 players to reach 1,000 career points in the team’s 34-year history. “That’s really an honor because obviously there has been a lot of talent come through here,” James said. The last time the Mean Green faced the Lady Broncs, UNT came out on top with a 73-55 win in

Photo by Ryan Bibb / Photographer

Denetra Kellum, a criminal justice junior, drives past Newman on Nov. 11. 2005, but the last members of those squads ran out of eligibility with the new year. Traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for the weekend tournament, UNT plays two teams that Johnson thinks the Mean Green can handle. “It’s a great opportunity for us to go on the road and play in a tournament,” Johnson said. “They are good teams, but if we go down

there and play our game we will walk away with first place.” Starting with the Samford University Bulldogs on Friday and finishing against University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers on Saturday, the Mean Green will complete its brutal schedule of five games in eight days. “That’s how you get better is hands on experience in games,” Timms said.

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