60 Minutes
to compete with Gmail NEWS: Facebook Page 2 Students create their own green items ARTS & LIFE: Page 3 It is time for students to give thanks VIEWS: Page 5
The Mean Green will play the final game at historical Fouts Field on Saturday. Page 3
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 6 Views 7 Classifieds 8 Games 8
Volume 96 | Issue 52
Stormy 81° / 51°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
FDA may ban menthol cigarettes BY AMANDA VIOLET R AVOTTI Intern
PHOTO COURTESY OF TSA
The Transportation Security Administration has been at the center of controversy involving full-body scanners at airports that produce nude images of passengers.
Airport security initiates debate BY MACKENZIE MICHEL
Staff Writer
New controversial security procedures being introduced at airports have some holiday travellers wondering what to expect. The Transportation Security Administration is implementing the use of Advanced Imaging Technology Units, which show an image of a person’s naked body, and enhanced pat-down procedures as a part of its “many layers of security” to keep travelers safe, according to the TSA website. “They’re going overboard a little bit and it’s gotten really intrusive,” said Rachel Schiller, an international studies senior.
“It’s a whole picture of you, not just a skeleton.”
—Rachel Schiller International studies senior Being Scanned The body scanners are in use in 70 airports across the nation, including the Dallas-Fort Worth one, according to the American Civil Liberties Union website. The new procedures are an attempt to tighten security after a man attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a flight bound for Detroit in December 2009. The units, or body scanners, have met backlash because of the graphic nature of the images. Schiller was one of two women selected to go through a body scanner when she flew to North Carolina in October. At the time, Schiller thought she was going through an X-ray machine. “I was just told to go in, and
I didn’t even know what it was until afterwards,” Schiller said. “Apparently it’s a whole picture of you, not just a skeleton.” Schiller said it was a big surprise when she found out what the machine actually was. Differing Views The ACLU has voiced many concerns over the appropriateness of the body scanners. “It is a virtual strip search that reveals not only our private body parts, but also intimate medical details like colostomy bags,” according to the ACLU website. “That degree of examination amounts to a significant assault on the essential dignity of passengers.” The group also doubts the effectiveness, saying it isn’t clear that such technology would have detected explosives like the ones the man hid in his underwear. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said the scanners are safe and discreet. She asked for cooperation and patience when dealing with the new procedures, according to an opinion piece by her published in USA Today. “Our best defense against such threats remains a riskbased, layered security approach that utilizes a range of measures, both seen and unseen, including law enforcement, advanced technology, intelligence, watch-list checks and international collaboration,” Napolitano said. Napolitano said the images are seen by a separate TSA agent in a private room and the agent assisting the passenger never views the image. She said the unit does not have the capability to store, print or send the images taken.
See PASSENGERS on Page 2
The Food a nd Dr ug Administration is considering a ban on menthol cigarette sales. Because the target audiences are African-Americans and younger people, menthols have emerged as a more controversial product than regular cigarettes. According to a study published in Nic ot i ne a nd Tobac c o Research, menthol cigarettes are favored by about threequarters of African-American smokers. “Menthol hides the burn of the irritant,” said Marisa Moore of the kinesiology, health promotion and recreation faculty. “Numbing is the trick that disguises the initial irritant of the smoke, and then the smoker has to have more menthol to mask the irritation, and that’s where the addiction takes place.” T he F DA w a s g i v en the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009 and has banned various fruit-flavored cigarettes, with menthol being the next goal.
PHOTO BY BRIAN MASCHINO/INTERN
RTVF freshman Payton Forrest smokes outside of Kerr Hall. The FDA’s current bans on chocolate and clove-flavored cigarettes were precursors to the impending decision about menthol cigarettes. The ban is dependent on more research. Menthol covers up the harshness of tobacco. Described as cooling, soothing, smooth and minty, it makes up a growing share of the shrinking cigarette market. “Students find it smooth, and the problem is that once they have one they build up a tolerance,” Moore said. “This is a money-making mule for big tobacco companies. They can
make a lot of money off this population.” Pitching Menthol In 2002, Spanish People pitched a promotional offer for menthol cigarettes that 65 percent of African-Americans took up, whereas 29 percent did not. Higher rates of advertising were found in Spanish and Ebony magazines.
Three studies from 1987 to 2005 indicated cigarette ads in print media geared toward African-Americans were more likely to promote menthols, according to the FDA’s website. In one study, researchers found Ebony was 9.8 times more likely to have menthol advertisements than People.
See Menthol on Page 2
UNT ends season, era against KSU Mean Green hosts Jayhawks in stadium finale BY BEN BABY
Senior Staff Writer Tears will be shed and goodbyes will be said when the Mean Green says farewell to 22 seniors and Fouts Field this Saturday. It will be the final game of the season and the last game in the historic stadium. T he Mea n Green w i l l attempt to send the stadium away w ith a w in against Kansas State. The Wildcats are the first team from the Big 12 Conference to play in Denton since Baylor in 2003, when UNT beat down the Bears 52-14. Home victories have been hard to come by over the last three seasons. During that stretch, the Mean Green is 1-15 at Fouts Field, with the lone win coming against Western Kentucky in 2009. “We know we’re the underdogs,” redshirt sophomore quarterback Riley Dodge
said. “We understand that. They’re a good football team, and we’re going to give everything we got.” Saturday’s game will be the sixth match-up between the two schools. KSU has won four of the five previous contests, including the first career win for current head coach Bill Snyder. The last meeting took place in 2008, when the Wildcats clobbered the Mean Green 45-6. Against Big 12 schools, UNT is 7-55. The game will feature two of the top running backs in the nation. Junior running back Lance Dunbar is 10th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing, averaging 116.6 yards per game. KSU running back Daniel Thomas has been impressive as well, averaging 111.5 yards per game to rank 14th in the FBS. Prior to the start of the season, both running backs were preseason Doak Walker Award candidates. “I like competition,” Dunbar said. “I like going against an opposing team’s [running] back. He’s ranked up there with me in the nation in rushing, and I want to beat him.”
PHOTO BY GREG MCCLENDON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Senior defensive back Ira Smith intercepts junior wide receiver B.J. Lewis at practice Tuesday. The Mean Green hosts Kansas State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Fouts Field. Dunbar will be going up against a susceptible rush defense. The Wildcats rank last in the Big 12 and 117th in the nation, allowing 222.8 yards per game. The Mean Green rush defense is third in the Sun Belt Conference, giving 167.8 yards per game on the ground. Last week against LouisianaMon roe, t he Mea n Green defen se w a s ex posed. It conceded 233 yards on the ground a nd a llowed ULM to score 49 points, the most points UNT has given up all season.
“We have to play like a totally different defense than we played last week,” senior linebacker Craig Robertson said. “We have to play sound all the way around.” The game will be the last for a slew of seniors, including offensive linemen Esteban Sa nt iago, V ictor Gi l l a nd Robertson. The trio has a combined 119 starts among them, and they will be in the starting lineup one last time in 262nd game at Fouts Field. “We started off with a loss,” Robertson said. “It would be better to finish with a win.”
actually,” Patey said. “They’re just folks like you or me. They have great talent, great skills, great knowledge.” The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Command serves five counties: Dallas, Denton, Collin, Ellis and Tarrant. “The populations of those counties is larger than all of Oklahoma,” Patey said. “We ser ve 100,000 people in a year.” Their efforts are paying off. The Feeding America report showed 92 percent of adult clients were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the amount of food they received, and 93 percent were happy with the food quality. St ude nt or g a n i z a t ion s also want to help with these
community issues. UNT SERV ES is a RE A L c om mu n it y t h at s h a p e s st udents i nto com mu n it y leaders. “We do community service activities,” said Bill Atkinson, a behavior analysis freshman, from his lawn chair. He held a sig n a sk i ng passers-by to donate money to get a homeless shelter closer to Denton. Atkinson said this is the first time SERVES has tried to raise money for a new shelter. “Nex t semester, we a re doing another fundraiser for food in the temporary homeless shelter,” Atkinson said. “If we have a place for the hungry, feeding them will be easier.”
Organizations help with American hunger problem BY MATTHEW CARDENAS Intern
About 5.7 million different people, or 1 in 50 Americans, re c ei ve emer genc y food assistance from the Feeding America system any given we ek . Ac c ord i ng to t he National Report Prepared for Feeding America, that is an increase of 27 percent since 2005. Hunger is on the rise in America. The report says the system served an estimated 37 million people last year, an increase of 46 percent since 2005. However, there are organizations to help ease the hurt of hunger in Denton. The Shepherd’s Hand is a nonprofit ministry to help alle-
viate hunger in the Denton County area. “We’re feeding the hungry,” said Diana Garrison, executive director of The Shepherd’s Hand. “We give them food to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” The orga nization determines the amount of food by the amount of people in the home and what they have to cook with. “Not all of the guests have ovens or microwaves to cook with,” Garrison said. Garrison and The Shepherd’s Ha nd sta r ted i n October of 2008. By 2009, they were feeding 1,300 households a month. The number of hungry people peaked in Januar y, when more than 7,000 people
“We aren’t only serving the homeless. We are serving families in the community as well.”
—Pat Patey Salvation Army public relations manager
were fed. “I was just in awe,” Garrison sa id. “We rea l ly saw t he change w it h t he economy recessing.” The Shepherd’s Hand also offers ministry to its guests. The local Salvation Army w i ll help t he hung r y t his holiday season. “We are providing a free Thanksgiving lunch in the shelter in Denton,” said Pat
Patey, a Salvation Army public relations manager. They will serve food from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. “We aren’t only serving the homeless,” Patey said. “We are serving families in the community as well.” The Tha n ksg iv ing mea l served 157 people last year and 125 the year before. Patey said he expects more this year. “It is a very festive activity,