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Volume 97 | Issue 44
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ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
State bill sets highest U.S. speed limit Law wouldn’t affect current Texas roads
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SPEED LIMIT
BY STACY POWERS & A NN SMAJTRLA
Senior Staffer & Intern Everything’s bigger in Texas and, soon, the speed limit could be too. A bill has been f loating around in the Texas House of Representatives that could raise the maximum state speed limit to 85 mph, making it the highest in the nation. The law would give the Texas Department of Transportation the option to raise the speed limit to 85 mph on certain roads, said Kelli Petras, a spokesperson for the TXDoT. But it won’t automatically raise the speed limits on any roads nor will it affect any existing roads. “‘It’s disappointing that the speed limit issue was mistakenly reported as something for current roads,” said Lois Kolkhorst, a state representative, in a press release sent out April 8. “There is nothing in the bill to change current speed limits on any existing Texas highway or interstate.” Petras said the roads that could be affected would be new construction roads built on or after June 1. Even then, TXDoT
85!
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BERENICE QUIRINO & ANAM BAKALI/VISUALS EDITOR & INTERN
A new state bill would increase the maximum Texas speed limit to 85 mph but would only affect some future highways. would have to conduct a yearlong “speed test.” “There is a very strict frame for raising the speed limit,” she said. TXDoT recently raised the speed limit on one West Texas road, Petras said. They monitored incidents on the road three years before the change
and t hree years after t he change, and found that accidents actually went down after the speed limit was raised. She sa id t here were a n average of 88 fatal accidents per year before the raised speed and an average of 63 fatal accidents per year after. “Speed is not always the
determining factor of safety,” she said. “Speed limits that are too low are just as hazardous as speed limits that are too high. This is because drivers assume that the road is “safer” and are more inclined to speed and drive dangerously.” There are some rural areas where the law allows for an
80-mph speed l i m it, but TX DoT has kept the speed limit at 70 mph, she said. This is because some factors have to be considered, such as the physical condition of the road and number of people driving on it. See SPEED on Page 1
Students plan for life after college HIV-infected organ donations considered BY BRITTNI BARNETT Staff Writer
On May 14, thousands of UNT seniors will walk the stage, receive their diplomas and begin the next part of their life journey. Many of these seniors have already begun planning what they will do when they drive away from the UNT campus for the last time. “Obv iou sl y we s e e a n increase in the amount of sen iors who come to see us at this time,” said April Kuykenda l l, a n a ssociate director at the Career Center. “We get a feel for what they are looking for and help them find jobs in industries they are interested in.” Students who use a career center at least four times a semester are more likely to find jobs and have a higher median salary, according to the Career Center’s website. Cassie Shanahan, a biology senior, is hoping to sta r t medical school in the fall of 2012. “I have a job lined up as a physician’s scribe at Cook Children’s hospital in Fort Worth,” she said. “My job
is temporary, so I’m not too stressed, but it will be interesting to see how the new health care policies will affect my future in medicine.” For sen ior s a nd ot her students looking to score a job, Kuykendall recommends using the Eagle Network.
“The first thing we do is help them with their resume.”
—April Kuykendall, Career Center
T h i s ne t w or k c a n b e accessed through a student’s MyUNT account, and lists oppor t u n it ies for st udent employ ment, i nter nsh ips, and part-time and full-time employment, according to the website. Students have an adviser assigned to them by major, Kuykendall said. “Walk-ins are also welcome,” she said. “They are not guaranteed to see an adviser, but
someone will be able to help them.” The center also offers help w ith w riting cover letters, resumes and inter v iewing, she said. “The first thing we do is help them with their resume,” she said. “We also hold mock interviews.” Phylicia Jasper, a hospitality management senior, had an interview with a hotel Tuesday and got the job Wednesday. “In hospitality, there are so many opportunities, so I wasn’t worried about finding a job in my industry,” Jasper said. “I will be working at the Hilton Lincoln Centre in Dallas as a full-time guest service agent.” Jasper will join the nearly 93,000 UNT alumni working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to UNT’s Division of Un i v er s it y Rel at ion s, Communications and Marketing. The Career Center is hosting a few events during the final weeks of the semester to help students with their last minute job searches.
See GRADUATION on Page 2
Study: Alcohol and energy, a dangerous mix for drivers BY MEGAN R ADKE Intern
A recent study published by a UNT professor found that people who mix alcohol and energy drinks could be more likely to drive drunk. T he st udy showed ba r patrons who consumed energy drinks mixed w ith alcohol were three times more likely to exceed the legal limit to drive a vehicle, and were four times more likely to drive once
leaving the bar. “M i x i ng a lcohol a nd caffeine can help overcome the sedating effects alcohol can make you feel, but you’re still very impaired,” said Dennis Thombs of t he socia l a nd behavioral sciences faculty at UNT’s Health Science Center. “You may feel like you’re OK to drive, but you aren’t. The caffeine makes a person feel more alert.” Thombs conducted the study
with a team of researchers who interviewed customers as they exited bars, asking a series of questions and testing their blood alcohol levels. “We don’t do the usual questionnaire to sober students. We actually go out to where t h i s i s happen i ng ,” sa id Thombs, who has researched alcohol and drug abuse for eight years. See RESEARCHERS on Page 2
BY LINDA NGUYEN Intern
People who are HIV-positive might soon be allowed to donate organs if the Center for Disease Cont rol OKs a proposa l mea nt to dec rea se t he mou nt ing wa it t ime for pat ient s on t r a n spla nt lists. The change would repeal a 2 3 -y e a r- o l d a m e n dme nt t o t he Na t ion a l Organ Transplant Act that prevents people infected w it h t he hu ma n im munodef iciency v ir us f rom donating organs. Repealing t he a mend ment wou ld allow HIV-positive organs to be donated to people who are already infected with the virus, but there are many factors to consider, said Anthony Curran of the biology faculty. “The d if f icu lt y of allow ing people that are H I V-posit ive to donate orga ns is t hat t here a re many different strains of HIV,” Curran said. “Each st ra in has to be t reated w it h a dif ferent suite of medicine and drugs.” He said doctors would need to treat both strains of the virus and keep both from replicating, which can be difficult. “It’s difficult enough to match the tissue compatibi l it y, but to a l so t r y and match the HIV strain would be impossible,” said Curran. With more than 110,000 A mer ic a n s w a it i ng for organs, supporters of the change said any new donations would help. Brandi Perez is the clin-
By the numbers -110,000 Americans are waiting for transplants -3,225 Americans between 18 and 34 received transplants in 2010 -12,188 estimated number of HIV-infected Americans between the ages 20 and 29 -3,225 Americans between 18 and 34 received transplants in 2010 -500 to 600 HIV-infected livers and kidneys would become available if the law were changed -179 HIV-positive people received livers or kidneys in 2010 -9 HIV-positive people received livers or kidneys in 2000 Information from The New York Times, Centers for Disease Control and United Network for Organ Sharing
ica l champion for organ don at ion s at Pa r k l a nd Hospital in Dallas. “As of the end of March, we’ve had t hree donors, which has saved nine lives,” Perez said. “Last year, we had 24 donors, which saved 88 lives.” Curran cautioned that the repeal wouldn’t fix the need for donors. See ORGANS on Page 2