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Volume 99 | Issue 51
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Grad students to lose access to certain loans NICOLE BALDERAS Senior Staff Writer
Graduate students will soon no longer be eligible for subsidized Stafford loans, as stated in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Stafford loans ease burdens for students by allowing them to make interest payments while they are still enrolled in school. July 1 marks the date graduate students will no longer be eligible. “In terms of directly addressing the change in the law, we don’t have anything particular to address this change,” said James Meernik, dean of UNT graduate schools. During the 2010-2011 academic year, 3,022 graduate students received subsidized loans to fund their academic career, totaling $20,695,628. While the loss of these avail-
able funds for students could lead to less student loan debt, the number of students able to afford college may also take a dip. “It’s too early to tell, but I think it will have an effect on student enrollment,” Meernik said. “It will be an effect that’s hard to measure because people who might be thinking about going to graduate school may not apply, so it’s hard to know about those.” The Budget Control Act of 2011 was enacted by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in August. The bill passed with the intention of resolving the student loan debt crisis by slowing the growth of student debt.
See FINANCIAL on Page 2
PHOTO BY MAGGIE SAUCEDO/INTERN
David Allen and Samuel Lawrens salute the flags while the national anthem plays during the Flight Memorial ceremony, honoring and celebrating the lives of “fallen eagles” – student, faculty, alumni and staff that have died within the past year– at the Shrader Pavilion on Tuesday.
Ceremony honors “fallen eagles” HOLLY H ARVEY
Senior Staff Writer
PHOTO BY JASON PRIEST/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Financial aid counselor assistant Blanca Carrillo (right) talks with pre-biology freshman Savannah Stanley about financial aid options in the Financial Aid Office April 9.
About 150 people gathered at noon Wednesday around Shrader Pavilion for the sixth a n nua l F l ig ht Memor ia l Ceremony to honor the 283 UNT students, alumni, faculty and staff who died in the past year. The names of 16 students,
42 faculty and staff, and 225 alumni who died were read as the McConnell Tower bell atop the Hurley Administration Building rang out. “The inf luence of those who passed continues,” UNT President V. Lane Rawlins said. “We mourn what we could have gained from these lives. In our shared grief, we hope and are
comforted.” UNT Student Government Association President Blake Windham gave an opening statement. Windham said the bonds of the UNT community were strong and that the “fallen eagles” would never be forgotten. “Don’t think of it as a list of names being read,” Windham
said. “Think of it as people who will never be forgotten.” Alumna Cynthia Uduebor gave the Flight Memoria l address and spoke about the loss of her brother Otis Uduebor, also a UNT graduate, who died in 2007 after battling sickle-cell disease.
See FLIGHT on Page 2
UNT counseling center helps SGA to co-sponsor contest veterans handle stress disorder BEN PEYTON Staff Writer
EMILY BENTLEY Intern
About 11-20 out of 100 vetera ns of t he Iraq a nd Afghanistan wars deal with posttraumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that can develop after experiencing traumatic events, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. To help its veteran students readjust to civilian life, UNT offers counseling on sliding fees, with additional sessions if needed. “The percentage of soldiers I see with posttraumatic stress disorder ranges from 60 to 80 percent of my patients,” said Mar y Roberts, psychologist at the UNT Counseling and Testing Center. “We test them for it immediately with a check list that rates the symptoms. If they score a 50 or above they have moderate PTSD.” PTSD occurs after a victim ex per iences psycholog ica l trauma. The disorder typically causes the victim to doubt basic beliefs about themselves, creating a sense of panic, distrust and doubt that affects all aspects of their lives. Ada m Hagger t y, a peer mentor at the UNT Veterans Center, said he has not experienced PTSD since leaving the army in March 2009, but he knows others who have it. “They’re just like everybody else, except sometimes they get stressed out in certain situations,” Haggerty said. Repeated deploy ment
PHOTO BY ASHLEY-CRYSTAL FIRSTLEY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Veteran Adam Haggerty, peer mentor at the UNT Veterans Center, hasn’t dealt with posttraumatic stress disorder, but knows others who have. UNT offers counseling to veteran students to help them readjust to civilian life. increases the odds of a soldier getting PTSD, with a 22 percent increase each time they are deployed, Roberts said. “I’ve had wives of veterans complain that their husband no longer seems able to bond with them,” Roberts said. “They [veterans] found an incredible
bond with the men in their unit and often rely on the structure in their unit to feel safe.” John Yonek, a peer mentor at the UNT Veterans Center, said soldiers form a special bond with each other.
See VETERANS on Page 2
The UNT Student Government Association approved a $250 co-sponsorship resolution with the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity to host the second Annual Pike Wingman Challenge. T he proposa l, w h ich wa s broug ht for wa rd to SGA President Bla ke Windham by SGA senator and Pi Kappa Alpha member Adam Hasley, was granted emergenc y stat us a f ter being submitted past the Sunday midnight deadline for proposals. Emergency status allowed a vote to be held the same week the bill was proposed. Before approv i ng t he resolution Wednesday night, the SGA debated the legality of the proposed co-sponsorship, with some senators questioning the impact the resolution would have on the student body’s trust in the SGA since it was proposed by Hasley, a member of both the fraternity and SGA. “I hope that we would raise at least a little bit of controversy for this,” Senator Nicholas LaGrassa said. “From an outsider’s standpoint, this is going to look like cronyism.” The SGA is pushing to spend its remaining funds via co-sponsorships before the university absorbs leftover funds Sept. 1, LaGrassa said. “We need to start going out and getting co-sponsorships with other organizations instead of them
PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND/VISUALS EDITOR
Christy Crutsinger, vice provost for faculty success, asks the UNT Student Government Association members for ideas to improve the student evaluation of teaching effectiveness, or SETE, during a meeting Wednesday in Terrill Hall. coming to us,” Senator Sean Smallwood said. Gue st spe a ker C h r i st y Crutsinger opened the meeting by receiving feedback from the SGA concerning the lack of involvement in Student E v a l u a t i on of Te a c h i n g Effectiveness (SETE). “It does make a difference,”
Crutsinger said. “So how do we sell that it does make a difference?” S G A mem b er s of fer e d suggestions such as student testimonials and involving s t u d e n t-r u n a d v e r t i s i n g programs such as SWOOP, a UNT student-run advertising agency.
Inside 2012 Shack-a-thon cancelled News | Page 2
Women’s golf team finishes fourth in Alabama Sports | Page 5
Is healthy the new skinny? Views | Page 7