‘Assisting success’
provides free flu shots NEWS: UNT Page 2 project speaks out against abuse ARTS & LIFE: Clothesline Page 3 suicides a political issue VIEWS: School Page 6
Scarfone steps into crucial role on soccer field Page 5
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
News 1,2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5 Views 6 Classifieds 7 Games 7
Volume 96 | Issue 32
Sunny 81° / 59°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Bullying leads to a rise in students contemplating suicide BY SARA CORWIN Intern
In the last few months, the suicides of students who have been bullied in school for identifying themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender have made news headlines nationwide. However, at UNT, members of the LGBT community feel more accepted. “Honestly, 100 percent tell-all truth, I feel safer on campus with my sexuality than any other place, other than my home, than any other schools I’ve been in,” said Laura Barron, an advertising
sophomore and a member of UNT GLAD. Deputy chief of police Ed Rey nolds said incidences of bullying are not usually reported. “We do get calls for harassment, and a lot of harassment cases are former boyfriend-girlfriend, or you know, things like that,” Reynolds said. “But it’s not necessarily where someone calls us, says ‘you know this guy or girl is picking on me.’” He explained that bullying is a vague term that encompasses more than one offense or act toward a person. Bullying can
be harassment, stalking, hate crimes or assault, depending on what is done to an individual. “You know if you go over and you push someone down, and you’re bullying them around like that, well we’re not going to take a report for bullying, we are probably going to arrest you for assault,” Reynolds said. There have been no incidents of hate crimes in the last three years, according to the Clery Report provided by the UNT Police Department, but there have been 12 reports of harassment within the last year. Ten to 12 reports a year is the
typical amount, said Maureen McGuinness, assistant vice president for student development. She also said there have been 25 people who have been referred to the CARE team, which specializes in preventing suicide by catching the red flags a student may exhibit when they are distressed enough to contemplate suicide. Last year, 55 cases were referred. “It concerns me that our students are struggling so much with many different things in college,” McGuinness said. “A lot of it sometimes is depression. Our numbers are signifi-
SGA rolls out Karts for Cancer BY ISAAC WRIGHT Staff Writer
The golf carts driving around campus aren’t only filled with universit y staff this week as members of the Student Government Association chauffeur students from building to building. Karts for Cancer, the SGA’s first solo philanthropy project, began this week. Every day from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., SGA senators set up a table on the campus green near the University Union where they charge students $1 for a ride anywhere on campus. All the proceeds from the project will go to the Cook Children’s Hospital. “It’s for a good cause,” said Devin Axtman, senator for the College of Arts and Sciences. “Sick kids are one of those things that a lot of people think about and go ‘Well, what can I do?’ We’re giving them an opportunity to make a difference.” The project is the result of a collaborative effort by Whitley Poyser, senator for the College of Business, and Joel Arredondo, SGA Student Senate speaker. The idea started when the SGA was in summer session and Arredondo mistook someone’s suggestion of a project titled Cards for Cancer. The SGA began work on Karts for Cancer instead. “There’s been a good turnout without any publicizing or anything like that,” Arredondo said. Monday was the first day the SGA members drove the carts around campus, and student reception was much better than
cantly higher this year, and that concerns me.” McGuinness and Gilda Garcia, the vice president for equity and diversity, are working on creating a taskforce that would provide services specifically for the LGBT community and make the students feel more comfortable on campus. She explained that several students have attempted suicide this semester. The “It Gets Better Project” was launched last month to provide youth of the LGBT community with support in hopes of preventing suicides.
Intern
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE MULCIHY/INTERN
expected, Arredondo said. The project earned more than $200 Monday. Some students have opted to donate money. “It’s one of the greatest gimmicks I’ve seen for donating money,” said Cody Walsh, a mechanical engineering sophomore. “It’s great because it’s a whole week of donations. I plan to do it every day.” Right now, the project is in its infancy, but the SGA plans to make it a regular event during special times of the year, such as Homecoming. Some SGA
members are thinking of ways it could be improved the next time they’re behind the wheel of a golf cart. “Right now we only have three carts, but if we could get two or three more, we could set up more booths and that would make it a lot better,” said Ryan Cho, Texas Academy of Math and Science senator. The SGA is the student-led governmental body at UNT. The 19th and 20th of this month were planned in advance to be the dates for the organization’s
Meet Your Senator event on the campus green. The organization chose to have Karts for Cancer the same week. Senators hope this will help them reach more of the students on campus. “I think it’s a good way to do it,” said Richard Ward, senator for the College of Visual Arts and Design. “People want a ride, and therefore they’re kind of forced to interact with their senator versus looking the other way as they walk by the table.”
See CENTERS on Page 2
Students wear purple to remember victims BY M ARLENE GONZALEZ
Juniors Shannon Hill and Sara Florez enjoy a ride around campus with SGA speaker Joel Arredondo to promote “Karts for Cancer.” This week, a $1 donation benefits Cook Children’s Hospital while getting students a ride to class or their cars.
The campaign wants to show the youth through video contributions worldwide that “happiness can be a reality of the future,” according to the website. Nine out of 10 LGBT students have experienced harassment at school, and more than a third of LGBT kids have attempted to commit suicide, according to the project’s website. National statistics of bullying show that it decreases with each grade level, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Today, students will don purple shirts to remember the people who committed suicide after being bullied about their sexual orientation. Br it t a ny McM i l l ia n, a 16-year-old Canadian girl, organized the movement for Spirit Day for people to wear purple to remember the lives of Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase and Billy Lucas. They committed suicide within the same two-week period after they were bullied about their sexual preference. “I felt really sorry for the families and for the boys because I know what it feels like to be suicidal and feel like there’s no hope,” McMillian said in an e-mail interview. “I know what it’s like to want to die, I’m just sad that these boys and girls didn’t have someone, anyone to turn to.” Past experiences helped her understand and relate to what the boys dealt with, and she said she was upset they turned to death. “I thought a lot about it and I just don’t understand people,” she said. “I mean, how can you bully someone until they actually have to kill themselves to escape? And to the bystanders: how could they just sit back and let this happen? It’s disgusting.” To determine what day to remember the victims of bullying, she said she averaged the dates of the six deaths to come up with the 20th. The purple color symbolizes
the spirit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning flag. Diedrick Brackens, president of UNT GLAD and a fibers junior, said he heard about the event through Facebook and was immediately drawn to it. He said he was upset and disappointed that the bullying victims had resorted to suicide. “It was really depressing just to know that all these kids are dying,” he said. “I mean, it happens all the time. It’s just now getting all this publicity because of the way it’s happening.” Brackens said he will attend two events related to the cause and will pass out purple ribbons outside of the University Union. Tiffany Thomas, a hospitality management junior, said she didn’t know about Spirit Day, but knew about the bullying victims. Every person should be able to be who they are without being judged or bullied, she said. “I don’t think it’s right,” Thomas said. “To each its own. Each person has their own cup of tea.” On Tuesday afternoon, UNT President V. Lane Rawlins sent an e-mail to students encouraging them to wear purple. “This is a time to recommit ourselves to being a campus community that is inclusive of all people, regardless of their differences, including those of sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression,” he said in the e-mail.
President Rawlins personally answers students’ questions BY SHANNON MOFFATT Staff Writer
Students addressed their concerns about how tuition money is spent, advances in Tier One research and changes in sustainable energy Tuesday with UNT President V. Lane Rawlins. The Really, Let’s Talk forum allowed students to ask the president questions face-to-face. “It’s a great opportunity to express opinions, to ask questions, to hear what’s going directly from the top,” said Laurea Dunahoe, the special events coordinator for Rawlins. One student asked about improving sustainable energy resources for the school. Rawlins said he’s interested in cost-effective ways to bring wind and solarpowered energy resources to the university. “We are looking into it,” he said. “The wind blows here, I noticed, and we need to take advantage of it.” St udent Gover n ment Association President Kevin
Sanders was present along with university department heads to help answer questions. Sanders said students at the event asked a lot of good questions. “Students are really knowledgeable about what’s going on,” Sanders said. “They’re not asking blind questions. They’ve done their research and are armed to ask questions.” Many students walked in and out of the forum as they passed by. Sanders said there were about 15 to 20 students in attendance in the Bruce Hall lobby from 1 to 2 p.m. “I wish we could have had this whole room filled,” he said. “At any other university you’re probably not going to see the president come out and be amongst the students.” Warren Burggren, provost and vice president for academic affairs, assisted the president in answering on topics like UNT’s study abroad program and energy practices.
One student asked if the school would consider changing its zerotolerance policy on drugs. Elizabeth With, the vice president for student affairs, said she has worked at UNT for 14 years and the university has always had a zero-tolerance drug policy. She said the university might consider it if they had enough reason to. Last year, about 50 to 70 people attended the last event held at Discovery Park. One of the past hot issues was parking, but it was not mentioned this time, Dunahoe said. “There is not a day that goes by where you’re not asking questions like ‘Why is this going on?’ or ‘Why are they doing that?’ and this is your time to do it,” Sanders said. Ted Minette, a theatre senior, said he liked one student’s question about the benefits of the new football stadium. “There’s a lot of concern with that and he made a reasonable point,” Minette said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
PHOTO BY JAMES COREAS/INTERN
UNT President V. Lane Rawlins gives students an opportunity to ask questions and interact with him in a casual setting during the open forum Really, Let’s Talk on Tuesday in the Bruce Hall lobby. The next session will be from 2-3 p.m. today at the student lounge in Discovery Park. Dunahoe said the best part is when results happen and understanding is gained. “If there’s misconceptions about things or things that the president is not aware of and
understanding is gained on either end, then that’s a win-win,” she said. For questions he couldn’t answer, Rawlins asked students to provide their e-mail address
so they could be contacted with an answer. Another Really, Let’s Talk forum will take place at 2 p.m. today in the Discovery Park student lounge.