Club gets a spare Bowling ranked ninth in the nation Page 3 Thursday, February 24, 2011
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 4 Views 5 Classifieds 6 Games 6
Volume 97 | Issue 19
Stormy 77° / 41°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Couple competes in ‘Project Husband’ BY HOLLY H ARVEY Intern
ARTS & LIFE: Art education program gives back to the community Page 3
SPORTS: Women’s basketball loses eight straight Page 4
VIEWS: The U.S. should maintain ties to Israel Page 5
ONLINE: Visit ntdaily.com to read about the Mean Green tennis team
Follow the North Texas Daily
Five months ago, Lauren Dollarhide was in a coma on life support with a 10 percent chance of survival. Now, she’s on her way to recovery and marriage with the help of her family and the UNT community. Dollarhide, a hospitality ma nagement sen ior, wa s admitted to Denton Regional Medical Center’s emergency room Sept. 16, 2010 because of pain and shortness of breath, she said. Dollarhide said she was transferred to UT Southwestern University Hospital St. Paul four days later and was put in a medically induced coma for a month. After a series of tests, doctors discovered she had Wegner’s granulomatosis, an incurable inflammation of blood vessels that affects organs such as the liver and kidneys, she said. “ Wa t c h i n g L a u r e n g o through her disease, it was like watching what you love the most being torn apart, and there’s nothing you can do,” said her fiancé, Sean Stephan. After she woke up from the coma, Dollarhide was paralyzed. She had to re-learn basic functions. “My muscles turned into mush,” she said. Dollarhide said she credits her support system with helping her through the disease. This semester, Dollarhide takes classes online and lives with her family in Tyler. Dollarhide said she faces rehabilitation a nd a long, expensive road to recovery.
A br ig ht spot in Dol la rhide’s journey was when Stephan proposed to her in the ICU right after she LAUREN DOLLARHIDE woke up from t he coma, Dollarhide said. Family members were with her constantly in the hospital, and her fiancé was there every step of the way, she said. With her medical bills, the couple is unsure of when they will get married, Dollarhide said. Stephan and Dollarhide are trying to win an all-expensespaid wedding contest called “Project Husband.” T he contest, sponsored by KDAF Channel 33, asked people to submit their perfect proposal story in the hope of winning a dream wedding. Voting is open through Sunday, with the winner announced at 9 p.m. on Monday. “It would be an awesome blessing. With the medical bills, it’s hard,” Stephan said. “To w in t hat, it would be great.” Members of UNT housing held fundraisers raised more than $700 for her medica l expenses, said Ben Taylor, the Kerr Hall residence director. “I think they have a good chance of winning,” said Leslie Fortson, a journalism junior a nd fellow resident assistant with Dollarhide. “There isn’t anyone who doesn’t love Lauren Dollarhide.” For more information, visit http://www.the33tv.com/lifestyle/projecthusband.
PHOTO BY VANESSA REISS/INTERN
Wildlife expert Jeff Corwin selects volunteers from the audience to assist in holding up a Burmese python as he discusses wildlife conservation. Corwin was invited by UNT to speak as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series.
Corwin wows crowd with animals BY DREW GAINES
Senior Staff Writer The Auditorium Building resembled a zoo Tuesday night when wildlife expert Jeff Corwin and his gang of toads, snakes and turtles held a lesson in biology and conservation as part of UNT’s Distinguished Lecture Series. People came by the hundreds and packed the Auditorium Building to see the Animal Planet star discuss issues facing the world’s endangered species. With a mix of humor and science, Corwin wowed the audience as he brought out a parade of reptiles and amphibians and delved into the inner workings of each one. “I thought it was really insightful,” said Chesley Williams, an art graduate student said. “His personal energy was engaging, as was his wanting to share his personal experiences with people.” Williams was one of many volunteers called to the stage to handle the animals and to play prey to some of Corwin’s prac-
tical jokes. “This creature is probably the original ancestor to modern-day snakes,” Corwin said, as he held a Black Throated Monitor — a giant African lizard — to the back of Williams’s head. “That was super cool, the texture of the lizard. I was amazed by that,” Williams said. Other animals included a South American Reed Toad, a 15-foot-long boa constrictor, a 110-pound alligator snapping turtle from Beaumont, Texas, and an American alligator. “For me, the most amazing thing about an alligator is that it is here,” Corwin said, as five members of the audience struggled to hold the scaly animal. Like the alligator, all of Corwin’s animals are rescues that he described as “ambassadors of their species,” as they tell the tale of their struggle against habitat loss and near extinction. Conservation of such species proved to be the underlying theme of the event, as Corwin called on audience members to reduce their environmental foot-
print at home in the waterways and fields that make up their community. “I now focus primarily on conservation out of the fear that my children will not have those same natural resources,” Corwin said. He said the world is losing 3,000 acres of rainforest every hour. Human-born diseases are wiping out species of frogs and bats are all factors that could lead to the loss of 1 million species by the end of the century, Corwin said. A question and answer session followed the lecture and audience members asked about Corwin’s favorite reptile — the Eastern Bull Nose snake — his career and his thoughts on global warming. “We all have a footprint. We can all make a difference,” Corwin said. Corwin’s discussion was the first of UNT’s Distinguished Lecture Series to be held this year. A university committee comprised of students and faculty chooses the speakers each semester.
Women’s voting group plans SGA wants feedback for state and local redistricting on concealed-carry bill Leaders to take student opinions to Austin
BY MEGAN R ADKE Staff Writer
The soon-to-be-finalized U.S. Census count might reshape the state’s electoral district lines for Denton County and statewide. In anticipation of those changes, Denton County commissioners formed a committee to help county residents voice their redistricting opinions to Denton officials. Although the League of Women Voters of Denton will not be part of the citizen committee, the organization wants to make sure Denton County voters know what redistricting means for them. The league is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages civil engagement. Suffragists founded the national organization in the early 20th century. The league’s Texas chapter began in 1919 and came to Denton in 1961. The group has both men and women members. “Our Denton league holds meetings August to May on various subjects, including redistricting,” said Sondra Ferstl, the group’s president . “We also go out in the community, and sponsor or participate in events such as candidate forums, or preparing and distributing a voter’s guide to elections in the county.” Mark Lindsey of Denton County Geographic Information Systems, which will play a role in drawing out new maps of the county once redistricting is complete, said that since the 2000 census, there has
BY ISAAC WRIGHT Senior Staff Writer
PHOTO BY ANAM BAKALI/INTERN
Sondra Ferstl, the president of the League of Women Voters in Denton, is a big advocate for women voters. been a huge explosion of residents in various parts of Denton County. W hen district lines are redrawn, Lindsey said, elected officials may change, which is why redistricting is such a concern to many county residents. The Texas League of Women Voters supports the position that districts be appointed on a basis of equal population. They also believe district lines should coincide with boundaries of local political subdivisions, and districts should not be drawn to dilute the voting strength of minority populations. Ferstl also said consideration should not be given to retention of incumbents, political party strength or to communities of interest. The citizen redistricting committee formed by county
commissioners will have representatives, as well as leaders from the county Democratic and Republican parties. Denton County Judge Mary Horn said that, when redistricting, the Texas Legislature draws their lines, and then the county draws their own. Once the state and the county develop the potential redistricting plan, the citizens committee will review the commissioner’s plan and decide if Denton County citizens would agree. Since the Denton County community has grown so much in the last 10 years, Horn said, new district lines were inevitable. The chapter will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. March 10 in Environmental Science Building 176 to help educate the public on the redistricting process.
As the Texas Legislature comes closer to passing a law that would allow individuals to carry concealed handguns on college campuses, the Student Government Association is now trying to gauge student opinion on the issue. C ol le ge of A r t s a nd Science senator A nd res Campion brought up the pending concealed-carr y leg islat ion du r i ng open discussion at Wednesday’s SGA meeting. SGA passed a resolution expressing disapproval of such legislation last semester, which was forwarded to UNT officials and the state legislature. Currently, with the Texas L eg i slat u re i n session, poised to pass a similar bill, Campion suggested the senate poll students about the issue so they can accurately present the opinions of UNT’s student body to the legislature when senators go to Austin next Tuesday. “This is something that is going to affect everybody
on this campus,” Campion said. The SGA hopes to set up a table in the University Union for the remainder of the week to ask students how they feel about the issue. From there, they will take talking points with them to the Capitol to complement the resolution passed last semester. Campion said he hopes there will be a resolution put on the ballot during spring elections so all UNT students can voice their opinion on the issue. “I want it to be on the minds of senators right now, so we can get out there and start asking students how they feel,” Campion said. In other business, the SGA executive board did not present the budget to the student senate at the meet ing a nd ex pects to present it for approval next week. SGA did pass one piece of legislation that would require the executive board to update the senate about how money is being spent on a bi-weekly basis. The legislation also requires the executive board to post the updated budget on the SGA website so students can see it.
See SGA on Page 2