Discovering the districts Six Denton areas present past and future See insert Friday, March 4, 2011
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Volume 97 | Issue 24
Stormy 76° / 46°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Auto ranch corrals classic American cars BY CANDICE LINDSEY Staff Writer
NEWS: UNT phychiatrics start group to help insomniacs Page 2
SPORTS: Tennis team hosts Wichita State Page 3
ONLINE: Student leaders voice concerns in Austin
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At first glance, the rows and rows of nearly 4,000 dismantled and stripped cars seen at CTC’s Auto Ranch appear to comprise a junkyard. But to automobile connoisseurs, this family-owned and operated business looks more like a car heaven on earth. Located four miles north of Denton, just a short drive down the 3000 block of Memory Lane, CTC’s Auto Ranch Inc. collects and stores all major American car brands, selling the individual vehicle parts to clients from around the world. The Auto Ranch, owned by Dale Williamson and his two sons Allen and Dave, has been in operation since 1985. The first location was in Lewisville until 1991, when the Williamsons decided to move the business to its current location. “We built the thing from nothing,” Allen Williamson said. The Ranch contains mostly American cars dating from the mid-1940s to early-1980s. The goal is to keep the focus on the Muscle Car and older eras, the Williamsons said. The Auto Ranch will buy almost any American car or pickup truck. Pa r ts ava i lable i nclude anything from vintage hubcaps, steering wheels, headlights and dashboards to car seats, rearview mirrors and even the very frame of a car. Da l la s resident Joseph Cisneros learned about the Auto Ranch while looking for parts online to fix up his 1970 Chevrolet Impala. The frame on his vehicle is bent and Cisneros found one that wasn’t at the Ranch, which he purchased and
plans to install himself. “Luckily I found this car heaven,” Cisneros said with a smile. Cisneros’ friend and former teacher, Ju lio Herna ndez, accompanied him to help transport the frame back to Dallas. Hernandez, an automotive technology instructor at a Dallas high school, found the Auto Ranch to be one of a kind during his first visit. “It’s not a junkyard. It’s not a salvage yard. It’s an Auto Ranch,” Hernandez said.
“It’s not a junkyard. It’s not a salvage yard. It’s an auto ranch.”
—Julio Hernandez, Auto ranch customer
“Everything here really does have a value with regard to being reused and being reborn.” Allen Williamson said the customer base at the Ranch reaches across the globe. From Dallas to Minnesota to Germany to Australia, the Auto Ranch knows no bounds when shipping its auto parts out, he said. Prices for parts available on-site can range anywhere from $95 for a headlight vessel to $750 for a 1970 Chevy Impala frame. Allen said it’s hard to have a set price for various items because of the uniqueness of each part. The Williamsons have worked on cars together since Allen and Dave were boys. Long before he opened the Auto Ranch with his
PHOTO BY TARYN WALKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Nearly 4,000 rusted cars, arranged in rows, make up CTC’s Auto Ranch, located four miles north of Denton. The Auto Ranch is a family-owned business that sells vintage parts such as hubcaps, car seats and headlights. sons in 1985, Dale Williamson said he was always interested in fixing up old cars in order to make a little money. Ma k ing a litt le money,
meeting all kinds of different people each day and their love of old cars are all reasons the Williamsons still enjoy coming to work after 26 years.
“I’m going to retire pretty soon — one of these days. I’m 77 now, so when I get to be about 90, I’m going to retire,” Dale Williamson said grinning.
Students apply for money to visit conferences
less of whether or not it has to do with their field of study. Yet, Romo stressed the grants are not simply for personal use, and will often go to students who intend to make presentations or represent the work being done at UNT. “I personally think every student we gave funding to is going to bring a lot of good PR to UNT,” said Romo, a logistics and supply chain management senior. “They’ve presented research, they’ve presented papers. They’ve done a lot of good things.” Melissa McGuire, the director of orientation and transition programs for the Department of Student Development and SGA adviser, said more students took advantage of the grants last semester, partly because the university has allocated more money to the program. McGuire said the SGA and the university has been promoting the grants because of the positive impact students are making. “They’re learning new information. They’re networking with other people in their field,” McGuire said. “That can only help them to get a job after they graduate from college.” To be eligible for the grants, students must be enrolled in classes at UNT and be in good academic standing. The application also requires a letter of recommendation from a professor or other individual involved with the conference.
Grants help students travel BY ISAAC WRIGHT Senior Staff Writer
PHOTO BY CONRAD MEYER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Texas Sports Hyperbarics uses oxygenated chambers to help patients recover from injuries in half the time.
Dallas clinic uses hyperbaric therapy BY NICOLE BALDERAS Staff Writer
A new sports medicine center in Dallas uses oxygen chambers to treat professional and amateur athletes recovering from illness and injury. First used by scuba divers in the military 50 years ago, hyperbaric therapy chambers have proved to be an effective means of treatment for many. Texas Sports Hyperbarics opened in November and uses the technology to provide treatment that focuses on the needs of recovering athletes. The room where the procedure takes place is set up like a spa, with calming green paint on the walls so patients can relax. Patients lie down on a motorized examination chair — much like those found in hospitals — that glides into a cylindrical glass chamber. “These are basically like submarines without ballistae
“These are basically like submarines without ballistae and motors.”
—Mary Marchbanks, CEO
a nd motor s,” s a id Ma r y Marchbanks, the president and chief operating officer for Texas Sports Hyperbarics. The chamber pressurizes to a prescribed level and pumps in pure oxygen. This oxygen saturates parts of the body that don’t get enough blood flow. “It’s supporting the body’s ow n hea ling mecha nisms, so it’s not magic medicine,” Marchbanks said. “It causes the body to start stimulating new
vessels, new capillary growth. It’s very individualized, so all we really ever tell anybody is we know that it reduces inflammation and accelerates healing, and you need to try it.” Adriana Ha ll, t he facility’s safety director, lived in Romania before she came to work at the clinic. She said she’s still amazed by what she sees. “I saw a stroke patient who had cane and couldn’t talk, and then two weeks later, he was talking and walking without a cane,” Hall said. “And this man was 78 years old.” One patient spoke of the changes the treatment made in her life after a softball injury. “I tore my quad and did plasma therapy and physical therapy, but nothing helped,” said Cherie Jackson, a freshman at Creekvie.
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UNT of fers gra nts to students each semester to offset the costs of attending professional conferences. The B. Craig Raupe conference scholarships award students up to $500 to cover conference expenses such as registration fees, transportation and accommodations. “It gives them the opportunity to go beyond the classroom setting,” said Jesus Romo, the Student Government Association director of internal operations. “It brings a benefit to themselves as well as the university.” The SGA is the student-led governmental body at UNT. It’s also the organization in charge of the program, and the money for the grants is allocated every year to their annual budget. This year, $35,000 was provided for the grants to be split evenly between fall and spring semesters. Romo said 180 students applied for grants in the spring and 82 were awarded funding, a larger number than in previous years. Romo said a board created by the SGA chooses the recipients. Students can apply for grants to travel to any professional conference, regard-
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