Leading Man
Tennis team’s sweep nets record for head coach Sports | Page 6
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Kilnin’ It
Faculty and grad students collab for ceramics show Arts & Life | Page 3
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3 Sports 6 Views 4 Classifieds 5 Games 5
Volume 99 | Issue 49
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Hazardous material
TABC, Denton DA investigated Prasad HOLLY H ARVEY
Senior Staff Writer
PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND/VISUALS EDITOR
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science student Nick Khil (from left) reacts to general studies senior James Cole and public relations junior Jessica Papion as they tour campus in hazardous material suits and gas masks while campaigning for the Association of Schools of Public Health. Cole and Papion will hand out free tickets throughout the week to a screening of “Contagion” in Lyceum on Sunday at 4 and 7 p.m.
UNT Vice President for Re s e a rch a nd E c onom ic Development Vish Prasad was investigated earlier this year for allegedly providing a minor with an alcoholic beverage, said Jamie Beck, First Assistant Denton County District Attorney. The Texas A lcohol a nd Beverage Commission began the investigation following the incident, which allegedly occurred the night of the Annual Research Reception and Awards Presentation at the University Union’s Silver Eagle Suite on November 1. The TABC sent the case to the Denton County District Attorney’s Office, who reviewed the case and declined to pursue in January because it didn’t fit a statute, Beck said. Prasad came to UNT in 2007 and has received the Michael P. Ma lone I nter nat iona l Leadership Award for his work in creating partnerships between UNT and international univer-
sities. He has prev iously held positions at Flor ida International Un iversit y and Columbia University. VISH D e b o r a h PRASAD Leliaert, vice president for university relations, communications and marketing, did not comment because she did not feel it was appropriate to “speculate about the activities of the TABC.” University Policy Number 1.2.12 prohibits the unlawful possession, use or distribution of alcohol by faculty on university property and at official UNT activities. Any department or student organization wishing to sell, serve or consume alcoholic beverages on campus must obtain permission through the use of an Alcohol Use Request Form, according to UNT Policy Number 10.14.
See VISH on Page 2
Jones introduced at LSU BOBBY LEWIS Sports Editor
PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND/VISUALS EDITOR
Mike Petersen speaks to women’s basketball team players, including junior forward Jasmine Godbolt (from left), sophomore guard Laura McCoy and sophomore guard Desiree Nelson, after the press conference introducing him as the new UNT women’s basketball head coach. Petersen had been head coach at Wake Forest since 2004.
F o r m e r U N T m e n’s ba s ket ba l l he ad c oach Johnny Jones was introduced as t he LSU men’s ba s ket ba l l he ad c oach Monday in Baton Rouge, La. Jones will take over as t he prog ra m’s 21st head coach. He will replace Trent Johnson, who resigned after four seasons as the Tigers head coach. The UNT At h let ic Depa r t ment declined to comment. “I can tell you this is a
dream come true for me,” said Jones of getting t he job in the press conference Monday. “W hen I say a dream come true, I mean it. Many a night, I’ve gone to sleep with this on my mind, having an opportunity to be back or part of this program at LSU.” Jones, 51, spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at LSU from 1984-1997. He was also a member of the 1981 Tigers Final Four team. In the four seasons prior to Jones’ hire in 2001, the Mean Green averaged just five wins per season. Jones finished his time at UNT with a 190-146
r e c o r d , ma k i ng h i m t he s e c ondw inningest coach in p r o g r a m history. D u r i n g JOHNNY Jones’ 11-year JONES tenu re w it h UNT, he led the Mean Green to two Sun Belt Conference Cha mpionships a nd a r un of f ive consecut ive 20-w in seasons from 2007-2011. Over the past six seasons, the Mean Green went 76-17 at home.
See JONES on Page 2
Petersen introduced as new Discovery Park libraries scheduled to combine women’s basketball coach TYLER OWENS Staff Writer
Less than two weeks after Karen Aston resigned as UNT women’s ba sketba l l head coach, former Wake Forest coach Mi ke Petersen was introduced as her replacement Monday. Petersen, who is Wa ke Forest’s all-time winningest coach, will inherit a team that had one of the biggest turnarounds in the country in the 2011-2012 season, as the team won 10 more games than it did in the previous season. “Mike is a guy that will be able to work tirelessly. He’s devoted to what he does, he’s a person that takes great care of his young ladies on the court and has a great relationship with them off the court,” Athletic Director Rick Villarreal said at the press conference Monday. “He has all the things that we are looking for.” The search for a new head coach bega n when A ston
ended her one-year tenure at UNT to become the head coach at Texas. “In goi ng t h roug h t h is process, we look for the very same things we just lost in coach Aston. We want to wish her luck down at Texas, but it is time to move on,” Villarreal said. Petersen, 53, has held head coaching positions at Gonzaga, New Mex ico State, Texas Christian and Wake Forest, and holds a 313-250 career record. He had been the head coach at Wake Forest since 2004. “One of the things about putting a program together is it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle. If you don’t know what the picture looks like, it’s really hard. In my four previous jobs, I’ve assembled that jigsaw puzzle,” Petersen said. “I see the right picture to have a really, really good women’s basketball program.” Jun ior for wa rd Jasmine Godbolt will enter her senior
season with her third head coach while at UNT. Godbolt led the team in scoring last season with 12.3 points per game. “My senior year, I’m going to ex pect a lot f rom him [Petersen], for me personally. I don’t feel like I’ve reached my full potential being here, so I’m definitely going to try to do that my last year,” she said. “We want to get more wins and go even further in the [Sun Belt Conference] Tournament.” During his first season at Wake Forest in 2004, Petersen took a team that had 12 straight losing seasons and guided it to a 17-15 record. In that first season, Wake Forest went to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, its first of three appearances during his tenure and its first postseason appearance since 1988. “I see potent ia l here,” Petersen said. “I see an opportunity to do something really special.”
HOLLY H ARVEY
Senior Staff Writer Discover y Pa rk’s t wo libraries will be merged to create a single library and reference collection due to budget cuts and to increase efficiency, said Sue Parks, assistant dean for special libraries. In an open letter to the UNT community, Dean of Libraries Martin Halbert said the library budget had experienced an $ 800,000 shortfall in 2012 and would need to make $1.5 million in cuts for the budget of 2013. UNT’s library budget is about half the amount of library funding that other peer institutions in Texas receive, Halbert said. “You’re looking at less access to print or digital resources, and that impacts how students and faculty can do work and research,” sa id Shaw ne Mi ksa, professor of librar y and information sciences. “UNT
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE MULCIHY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Starting June 1, the library in room M130 at Discovery Park will be closed to the public. Books for the College of Information, College of Engineering and game programming courses are housed in this library. wants to be a Tier One institute, and we can’t do that if we’re undermining the information resources that students use and we’re taking away from students’ education.” The merge will be effective June 1 and will combine the bound periodicals and reser ves of t he Discover y Park Library Collection with the Discovery Park Library. The library will also edit its subscriptions to a few electronic databases and see if there are any print and data-
base duplications of material in an effort to save money, Parks said. “The Discovery Park Library will now be the main point of contact and will primarily of fer one-stop shoppi ng,” Pa rks sa id. “Students a nd faculty won’t have to go to two opposite locations any longer.” A s st udent en rol l ment declines, so does the library’s budget.
See STACKS on Page 2
Inside Banquet honors three students News| Page 2
Egypt’s sketchy election process Views | Page 4
Postseason update on women’s golf team Sports| Page 6