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Magnetism Matter
32nd Arts & Jazz Festiuval brings in new and old talent SCENE | Insert
Friday, April 27, 2012
News 1, 2 Sports 3, 4, 6 SCENE Insert Classifieds 5 Games 5
Volume 99 | Issue 56
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
A Nutty Legend
PHOTO BY JOHNATHAN BOHMIER/COURTESY PHOTO
Sociology senior Johnathan Bohmier took this picture of an albino squirrel outside his apartment off Eagle Drive and Carroll Street on April 10. “I was drinking some coffee on my porch … look to the trees because I hear squirrels fighting, and I see a white blur jump across the branches. It was an albino squirrel chasing another squirrel around.”
PHOTO BY CHELSEA STRATSO/VISUALS ASSIGNING EDITOR
Soryrigh Um of Seeds for Needs helps history junior Axell Nieto place her plant in her self-decorated flower pot at EarthFest outside of the Library Mall on Thursday afternoon. The celebration also included sustainable food and an Arbor Day tree giveaway.
UNT closes Global Citizens First Raza Graduation nears Month with EarthFest See ALBINO on page 2
H AYLEE HOWARD
Contributing Writer Members of t he g roup Mueve have come together to set up UNT’s first annual Raza Graduation, which will take place May 2. Raza Graduation will be a bilingual ceremony for UNT graduates to bring their parents to celebrate their graduation and Latino culture, and give special thanks to the people who are responsible for their success. Leslie Jimenez, a higher education master’s student, founded UNT’s Raza with the help of Mueve and the Multicultural Center to encourage Latino students to celebrate their success as graduates. “We want to bring cultural awareness to t he Sout h,” Jimenez said. “Less than 1 percent of Latinos have a Ph.D. in the U.S., and we want the people who come to the graduation to know that could be them one day too.” T he R a z a Gr a du at ion Celebration was created by Chicano and Latino students,
staff and faculty at UCLA in 1973. As a proactive strategy, the organizations decided to focus on students that were not only surviving at the institution, but were doing well academically and were on track to graduate. “This celebration is an attempt to reclaim our rich and potentially empowering history and contributions that our peoples have made, not just to American society, but to the world,” Jimenez said. Mueve president Juana Perez said the ceremony is not meant to discriminate against other ethnic groups on campus, and African American students will be in the ceremony as well. “We want to bring awareness to the Latino students on campus. We are recognizing [Latinos’] success, not excluding other groups,” Perez said. “We encourage everyone to attend the ceremony.” Mueve is a pro-immigration, anti-discrimination group currently awaiting approval from the Institutional Review Board to work with the Anthropology Department to document cases
of discrimination on campus. “We stand against discrimination on any level – gender, race, orientation. We promote equality for all,” Perez said. “When people think of the immigrant community, people think Hispanics, but that’s not true. Immigrants come from all over the world and shouldn’t be treated as criminals or aliens.” A nt hropolog y professor Mariela Nuñez-Janes is Mueve’s faculty sponsor and co-adviser. She said the Raza Graduation is meant to commemorate and acknowledge minorities who have achieved the odds. “It is hard to be a low-income black and Latino student. We want to celebrate their resilience,” Nuñez-Janes said. “This is a chance for students to gain the right to name themselves. Raza is a term for empowerment and of critique.” The Raza Graduation will also commemorate Shaun Chapa, a graduate student who died in early April. Chapa helped initiate the Raza Graduation and helped unite several groups across the UNT campus.
DAVID L ANDER Intern
A throng of UNT students, faculty and staff gathered in the Willis Library Mall for EarthFest, which concluded t he C e le br a t i n g G r e a t Global Citizens Month. UNT Division of Student A f f a i r s , t he O f f ic e of Susta inabi lit y a nd UNT International collaborated to host the event. The celebration included free lowwaste food, live music and booths featuring items from various cultures. Celebrating Great Global Citizens Month consisted of a series of events to promote multicultural and global awa reness a nd susta i nability. UN T Inter nat iona l, a long w ith the Intensive English Language Institute, set up booths and invited i nt e r n a t ion a l s t ude nt s to show off their culture, including interdisciplinary s t ud ie s s e n ior L e t ic i a Alducin, who offered hand-
“It’s an easy way to give back to the UNT community ...” —Sarah Amberson Higher education master’s student
crafted earrings from Mexico. Other booths displayed Indian incense, Taiwanese iPhone cases and Nepalese jewelry. Local farmer Ryan Crocker represented his Denton-based company Earthwise Gardens with a stand of organic vegetables grown within a 100-mile radius of Denton. “A lot of my volunteers are UNT students, in the market and the garden,” Crocker said. Olga Grieco, director of the UNT International Welcome C ent er, help e d or g a n i z e portions of the festival. “They’re a ll great globa l c i t i z e n s ,” G r i e c o s a i d , p oi nt i n g ou t t h e m a n y
mu lt icu lt u ra l boot hs t hat dot ted t he L ibr a r y Ma l l. “I was bummed out that I didn’t really see much of this during the year; I wish they did this more often,” advertisement student Jessica Peláez said. The Center for Leadership and Service rallied group of about 40 volunteers to landscape areas on campus and clea n up t he a rea a rou nd the Library Mall before the event. “It’s an easy way to give back to t he UNT community by beautifying the UNT c a m pu s ,” h i g he r e duc ation master’s student Sarah Amberson said.
Home-based shelter gives rabbits a second chance NICOLE BALDERAS Senior Staff Writer
Every year, as those across the Dallas-Fort Worth area enjoy their Easter Sunday, Diana Leggett waits anxiously for the inevitable distressed calls from the unprepared and overwhelmed. Leggett, the president of Wild Rescue/Rabbit Rescue Inc., deals with the aftermath of impulsive animal purchasing that particularly surrounds the spring season. “The phone calls started early Easter day,” Leggett said. “I received six bunnies that are the result of a bad Easter party and got seven phone calls from people still wanting to buy an Easter bunny.” Rabbits are the third most frequently euthanized animal in the U.S. after cats and dogs,
PHOTO BY ASHLEY-CRYSTAL FIRSTLEY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bunnies sit in a surrounding cage in Diana Leggett’s front yard Monday afternoon. Leggett owns the largest bunny rescue in the south, housing more than 100 wild and domestic bunnies and some wildlife such as squirrels and birds. Her garage is currently under construction where she plans to build a small clinic. though their life expectancy is just as long. Leggett, who runs the no-kill
shelter out of her own Denton home, doesn’t do adoptions on Easter or the surrounding days
in order to diminish impulse adopting. Despite this rule, the shelter sees numerous animal
surrenders during the next few months up to a year after the holiday. “They’re not wanting to adopt, they’re wanting to buy,” Leggett said. “We’re the garbage disposal for everybody’s impulse buy.” Volunteers of all varieties – including three veterinarians – frequent the shelter, though Leggett said they could always use more help. “If it weren’t for Petco, I don’t know what we would do,” Leggett said. “Petco gives us grant money to help keep the place running.” Ever since her move to Texas 25 years ago, Leggett knew she wanted to help out. “My neighbor showed me around the neighborhood, and I found two bunnies roaming around, both filthy,” Leggett said.
“I got them cleaned up and put them in the newspaper.” Leggett, now state certified in wildlife rehabilitation, has turned her home into a sanctuary for animals in need. “The garage is going to be rebuilt to be our new intake center,” Leggett said. “Just like a wildlife center, we’ll have a separate room where you can assess the animals and a table for surgeries.” Biology master’s student Jamie Stine volunteers at the rescue and said a lot more goes into it than just petting animals. “I feed and water the domestic rabbits,” Stine said. “If any animal needs immediate care we deal with that. Other than that, sick or injured bunnies are taken care of last so we don’t get the other ones sick.”
Inside State mistakenly releases personal information News| Page 2
Assistant coaches hired for basketball teams Sports | Page 3
Two O’ Clock Lab Band represents UNT during fest SCENE | Insert