Dance inspiration Garth Fagan dance showcase celebrates 40th season Page 3 Tuesday, February 1, 2011
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 4 Views 5 Classifieds 6 Games 6
Volume 97 | Issue 9
Snowy 29° / 11°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Smart Project construction underway B Y L ORY N THOMPSON Staff Writer
ARTS & LIFE: Hot dog man starts strong Page 3
SPORTS: Men’s basketball team drops second straight Page 4
An army of chain-link fences, bulldozers and yellow hard hats greeted returning students in January — evidence that the UNT Smart Project gained momentum whi le ca mpus closed for the holidays. The project, which began Dec. 1 and is expected to continue through Februar y 2013, focuses on upgrading utilities to increase sustainability and lower maintenance costs, said Charles Jackson, UNT’s executive director of facilities. “We have old, old systems in buildings,” Jackson said. UNT officials negotiated a performance contract with Schneider Electric, which guarantees the utility costs saved over 20 years will exceed the $42 million spent on renovations, Jackson said. The most extensive portion of the project, and the reason the area around the University Union is ripped up, requires the updating and addition of chilled water loops, which Jackson said are an efficient way to cool many buildings from a central location. The project plans to add a second chilled water plant — to be located in the new parking garage — and integrate almost all of the non-residential buildings on campus into the system.
PHOTO BY JORDAN SHEDD/INTERN
The chiller system will circulate cool water around the campus to cool off the buildings.
PHOTO BY JORDAN SHEDD/INTERN
will continue spreading until it ends in phase V near the Gateway Center. Cu r rent const r uct ion includes parts of phases I and II, Jackson said. The project is waiting for permission from t he cit y to dig under cit y roads including Avenue C and Highland. “A lt houg h we’re beh ind where we want to be ,we’re really not behind schedule,” Jackson said. “It won’t yet delay completion of the project.”
The construction around the Union and the General Academic Building is not in Campus construction elsevain. It is part of the Smart Project to install a new chiller system. where “There’s no specific timeline,” Jackson said. “[The current construction] is the major portion that will take the longest.”
The water chillers project is separated into phases, Jackson said. Phase I began in front of the Hurley Administration Building and construction
The Smart Project is only t he most recent construction venture on campus. Two long-term projects, the new stadium a nd t he Business and Leadership Building and
its adjoining parking garage, are both running smoothly, Jackson said. “I don’t k now if t hey’re ahead of schedule, but they’re definitely not behind,” Jackson said. “There are no roadblocks to having [the stadium] available for that first game next fall.” In an email statement, UNT President V. La ne Rawlins said the stadium and business building have been in the works for years. “We need new buildings,” sa id Rawlins, who cited a recent study that found UNT was one of the only Texas institutions with no room for growth.
See ENVIRONMENT on Page 2
International enrollment grows BY ISAAC WRIGHT Senior Staff Writer
VIEWS: Capitalism isn’t synonymous with greed Page 5
PHOTO BY ZAC SWITZER/INTERN
Students across campus are preparing for the freezing weather as a cold front moves in. Temperatures are expected to be in the teens until Friday.
Snow to hit Denton BY SETH COHN Staff Writer
ONLINE: Check ntdaily.com for closures and weather updates
Follow the North Texas Daily
After a mild-weathered weekend in North Texas, Denton residents can expect to see a change today, as an arctic front sweeps through with freezing temperatures, heav y rain, wind and the possibility of snow, meteorologists said. The rain is expected to turn into to a mixture of sleet, f reezi ng ra i n a nd snow by ea rly mor ning, said Joe Harris, a National Weather Service meteorologist. A nticipating the problems inclement weat her c ou ld pos e for t he 29
percent of student commuters, university officials canceled classes and closed t he UN T-Denton campus today. Thirty states and more than 100 million people are expected to be affected by the winter storm set to last from Monday evening to late Wednesday. The storm is predicted to develop in the Texas south central plains, where it will continue northward through the Midwest, up toward Chicago, and across the Great Lakes into New York and the rest of the Northeast, leaving a path of sleet and freezing rain, Harris said.
The number of international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities reached its highest point ever last fall, an increase that included a large jump in the amount of Chinese students receiving higher education in America. The 2009-2010 academic year saw a 3 percent increase in the number of international students enrolled at U.S. institutions of higher learning, according to a report released by the Institute of International Education. This puts the amount of international students in this country at an alltime high of more than 690,000. The IIE also reported that the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. grew by 30 percent to more than 120,000, making China the leading country of origin for international students in the U.S. “We’ve certainly seen that at UNT as well,” said Mary Beth Butler, director of communications for UNT International. “That’s been very big. China is a growing source of students.” International student enrollment at UNT in the fall of 2010 rose to 2,667 students from nearly 2,500 the previous year. China overtook India as the top foreign country of nationality for students enrolled at UNT as well.
PHOTO BY NAHUM LOPEZ/INTERN
Afnan Aldebane and Fadelah Almanasef, international students of Saudi Arabia, in front of the University Union. Chinese students at UNT jumped to 275 in fall 2010, up from 230 in 2009. Butler said many Chinese students are coming to the U.S. for their
education as a method of getting ahead in their chosen career to benefit the Chinese economy.
See U.S. on Page 2
Authorities search Denton area for fugitive Facebook.com/ntdaily
@ntdaily
BY M ATTHEW CARDENAS Staff Writer
Law enforcement authorities are looking for a man who may be hiding in Denton after he escaped from a Houston area halfway house Jan. 24. Timothy Rosales III, 39, was under electronic monitoring at the house where he was serving out the remainder of a 25-year sentence he received
on t wo cou nt s of ag g ravated sexual assault in 1987, according to a Department of Public Safety press release. Authorities are targeting their search in Denton and Amarillo, because Rosales –– one of the 10 most-wanted f ug it ives i n t he st ate – – reportedly has family in those cities. He is wanted on felony civil
commitment and parole violation charges, reports said. Denton Police Department spokesman Ryan Grelle said there have been no tips or leads to suggest Rosales is in the area, but said he does have family living in Denton. Rosales is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 165 pounds. He has brow n eyes a nd a shaved
head. Rosales has scars on both arms, on his right wrist and on his back, chest and head. He has tattoos on his left shoulder, arm and leg, and on his back and chest. His right arm is discolored. He is considered armed and dangerous. The DPS has raised the cash reward from $5,000 to $7,500 for information leading to
Rosales’ arrest, releases said. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Rosales or any of the other 10 most wanted fugitives is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800252-TIPS (8477), text the letters DPS followed by the tip to CRIMES (2724637), or email a tip through the DPS website. All calls, texts and emails are anonymous.