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Volume 97 | Issue 6
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ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Annual conference ‘transfers’ out of state Transfer Center ranked first in Texas BY ISAAC WRIGHT Senior Staff Writer
NEWS: Center helps transfer students adapt to UNT Page 3
SPORTS: Women’s basketball to visit conference foe Page 4
VIEWS: Nerds, dorks and geeks do not exist Page 5
ONLINE: Students sound off on campus construction
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Welcoming more than 3,500 new transfer students each fall, UNT leads the state and ranks fourth in the country among universities that lure students away from other campuses. In 2003 the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students was established at UNT to help school administrators better understand the factors that make certain universities more appealing for collegiate migrants. This year, the institute will host its ninth annual conference in Jacksonville, Fla., the first in the organization’s history to be held outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. With more than 120 schools represented at the conference, George Niebling, assistant director of the institute, said
PHOTO BY SARA JONES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Matt De Los Reyes, a sociology senior and transfer ambassador, and Katy Moss, graduate assistant, work at the Transfer Center in the Union. Moss said they strive to provide a first year experience for transfer students by providing guidance and various activities for new transfer students. colleges across the nation are experiencing a transformation in the career of a traditional college student. “Sixty percent of students that
State of the Union uses social media Obama encourages innovation to create jobs
in technology and clean energy as opportunities to create jobs and boost American infrastructure. He presented a high-speed rail plan that would crisscross the country in the next 20 years and proposed to have 1 million electric cars on the road by BY DREW GAINES 2015. Senior Staff Writer All of this would be undertaken as the federal governPresident Barack Obama called for job creation and tech- ment freezes spending during nological innovation, Tuesday the next five years, something night, in a State of the Union Obama called for during the Address that might be remem- speech. “In short, t he president bered most by its use of interadvocated a broad v ision active social media. Obama opened his address for economic growth,” said by recognizing congresswoman Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha of the Gabrielle Giffords’ empty chair, political science faculty. This year’s address proved to as the representative now recovers from the shooting in be the most interactive in its’ Tucson, Arizona that nearly took 221 year history as the White House opened a Twitter feed, her life. The calls for bipartisanship Facebook page and created that followed the shooting Youtube videos specifically for two weeks ago were heard the event. An “enhanced” viewing of the throughout the President’s speech as he focused on the address complete with graphs and photos was available online, economy and U.S. jobs. The majority of the President’s and White House advisors took address revolved around the questions from online followers economy, as Obama highlighted immediately after the speech. “I think that he is definitely increasing global competition, the country’s dependency on targeting the users of social foreign oil and a lagging educa- media and that no longer is tion system as issues affecting defined by one particular demographic,” said Samra Bufkins of America’s jobless. “The competition for jobs the strategic communications is rea l, but this shouldn’t faculty. The speech comes as just the discourage us, it should challenge us,” Obama said, as the latest example of the adminischamber erupted in applause. tration’s unprecedented use “We need to out-innovate, out- of technology to reach more educate and out-build the rest Americans, Buf kins said. of the world.” Obama proposed innovation See PRESIDENT on Page 2
graduate with a baccalaureate do so with credits from more than one university,” Niebling said. “The institute was established to better understand the
transfer student population, not only at UNT, and also to better understand the scope of transfer issues nationally.” Niebling said the goal of
moving this year’s conference was to give schools on the east coast that haven’t been able to participate in the conference in the past the chance to take part in the networking and other opportunities it provides. “Moving a conference allows colleges with limited travel funds the opportunity to participate and increases the visibility of NISTS across the country,” Niebling said. The conference is a chance for colleges to exchange information about the best ways in which to work with transfers and helps extend the conversation about issues transfer students experience, he said. The conference is entirely selffunded by the registration fees paid by representatives from the colleges that attend. In addition to two keynote speeches and workshops focusing on transfer student issues, two research grants will also be awarded at the conference.
See INSTITUTE on Page 2
Synthetic cannabis stirs reactions BY SHANNON MOFFATT Senior Staff Writer
The buzz about the banning of K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids is growing and so are herbal imitations. Students and community members have mixed emotions about whether the banning of these products is the appropriate protocol. “I’m not into drugs,” said Sarah Green, a finance junior. “I don’t really think [synthetic cannabis] should be banned, but I do think there should be an age limit.” Head shops and gas stations, like EZ Check, sell botanical incense. Products like Kush Max and Space, whose label also reads, “Not to be consumed,” have age limits on the package. Stores are able to sell sy nt het ic ca n nabi noids because they are lab-tested and proven to not contain any illegal ingredients. However, the ingredients in these are not proven to be any less harmful. “The stuff that’s on the market now doesn’t say that it has the JWH ingredients on the package,” said Ryan Grelle, a public information officer for the Denton police department. “It’s only a matter of time before they are all banned.” Easy’s Tobacco cleared their shelves of all synthetic cannabinoids on Dec. 24, said Michael Johnson, a sales employee at Easy’s Tobacco. “They can be extremely dangerous,” he said. “They’re poison.” When K2 was being sold
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VANESSA REISS/INTERN
Hydro and Space 2 contain similar ingredients to 42 Degrees but are still available for purchase at many places in and around Denton. in the store, it represented 52 percent of Easy’s Tobacco’s total sales, Johnson said.
“They can be extremely dangerous.”
—Michael Johnson Sales employee Easy’s Tobacco
“When we first got [K2] we didn’t know much we would sell,” he said. Many people believe if marijuana were legalized, these harmful alternatives wouldn’t be an issue. “I tried [K2] but I didn’t even like it,” said Lacinda Watson, a communication studies senior. “The only reason they buy it is because they’re on probation, so they default to the next best thing,” Johnson said. “But it’s really worse. What they really
want is the leafy green vegetable. They need an outlet.” Because the K2 packages had ingredients posted on the label, people were able to easily make their own versions of the unintentional drug. “People may have tried making their own stuff,” said Orlando Morales, a radio, television and film junior. “I think that made the situation even worse.” The health issues facing the use of the incense as a drug worries students. “In my opinion [synthetic cannabis] is scary,” said Morales. “It’s probably more harmful than weed and is less tested.” With more marijuana alternatives being banned, worse health problems could be at hand. “People are going to start going to Hobby Lobby or whereever and start getting potpourri off the shelves and hurting themselves even more,” Johnson said.
Protests interrupt UNT students’ safe travels home BY A LEXANDRA K ING Staff Writer
@ntdaily
A group of UNT students and faculty members travelling through southern Chile got a little extra time abroad and a lot more than they bargained for, last week, when violent protests delayed their trip back home by four days. Now back in Denton, the 10 students, led by James Kennedy and Jeff Johnson — both of the
biology faculty — were on a 10-day study abroad trip sponsored by the Sub-Antarctic Bio-cu ltura l Conser vat ion Program to study wilderness preservation techniques. Due to arrive back Jan. 15, the group found themselves stuck when flights were halted to a nd from t he sout hern island they were staying on after regional protests over gas hikes spurred roadblocks
and transportation strikes, crippling the area. “T he a i r por t i n P u nt a A renas was barricaded by the locals, so no planes were able to f ly in or out of Puerto Williams,” said Allison Gilmer, a biology junior. “We did not expect anything like this to occur.” More than 200 people were arrested during the course of the strike and two demonstra-
tors were killed when a truck burst through a barricade and ran them over, according to the Aassociated Ppress. Several others were wounded in clashes with police. “At no time were we in any danger. We were all in the Hostel,” said Kennedy. “The biggest hassle was missing the first two days of classes and not knowing when we would get off the island.”
W hile in Chile, students witnessed the inauguration of the Cape Horn field station, which is created through a partnership between Chilean and U.S. institutions coordinated by the University of Magallanes and the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity in Chile.
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