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Volume 95 | Issue 56
Stormy 84° / 62°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Examiners release causes of death BY LISA GARZA
Music enthusiast
Senior Staff Writer
James “Mike” Dickinson was a jazz studies sophomore who returned to UNT in fall 2009 after seven years away. His family said he had pursued his passion for music since he was in middle school, learning the trumpet, piano, guitar, bass and drums. Young philanDickinson died in thropist his house at 305 Casie Raegan Davis was C ou r t s ome t i me an interdisciplinary before his landlord studies freshman who discovered his body dreamed of becoming on Nov. 11, 2009. He a teacher, said her RAEGAN was 27. father, Charles Davis. DAVIS The Tarrant County She died Jan. 18 at 18 Medical Examiner listed his years old. “She really wanted to work cause of death as “undeterwith special needs children,” mined” after a full autopsy. her father said. “She had a huge The toxicology test revealed no significant drugs heart.” or a lcohol in his Dav is’ death system. was ruled an acciRob Dick i n son dental overdose of said he checked the a mixture of drugs, Medical Examiner’s including heroin, by website regularly for the Dallas County three months after Medical Examiner. his brother’s death The autopsy results showed her blood JAMES “MIKE” in hope of finding answers. Now, his contained the drugs DICKINSON family has accepted alprazolam, morphine and diphenhydramine in addi- that they will never know tion to a 0.07 percent blood exactly why he died — and they are at peace with that, alcohol content. Charles Dav is said his he said. “ T he c au s e i s family is fearful that not that important people w ill judge because we k new Raegan Davis as a that Michael didn’t person because of hurt himself and no the manner of her one else hurt him,” death. he said. “This was an “The choices that act of God ... what’s Raegan made that led important to us is to her death were not that he was doing indicative of the way FEDERICO what he loved, and she lived her life,” he GARCIA the belief is that he is said. in a better place than Although her family members continue to process we are now.” their grief, they will eventually take a proactive role to Environmental activist “help people understand how Federico Ga rcia was a dangerous drugs of any kind sociolog y senior who was are,” her father said. involved in many activities “She was a beautiful and at UNT, including soccer and loving person, and that’s how the North Texas Energy and we as her parents, her family Environment Club. Garcia and those that knew her will died on Nov. 3, 2009, at 24 remember her,” he said. “We years old. will miss her greatly.” Reports from medical examiner’s offices reveal details of three student deaths, and family and friends said they would not focus on how they died but rather how they lived.
See DECEASED on Page 4
PHOTO BY CLINTON LYNCH/VISUALS EDITOR
Marcos Salas, international studies senior, Crique Dozal, Texas Woman’s University nursing freshman, Jaqueline Amaya, Texas Woman’s University nursing freshman, Zuleyma Rogel, political and social sciences senior, Celina Hinojosa Texas Woman’s University nursing freshman, and Victor Fiqueroa, political science freshman have organized a march that will meet 1 p.m. at the Cathedral Guadalupe at 2215 Ross Ave. to protest the Arizona Immigration Bill.
Texas bill follows Arizona’s example
BY SHEA YARBOROUGH & LISA GARZA Senior Staff Writers
Texas is joining Arizona in a controversial push for illegal immigration reform. State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R -To m b a l l , a n n o u n c e d Thursday that she will introduce a bill to the legislature that would allow law enforcement officers with “reasonable suspicion” to inquire about a person’s citizenship status and arrest those who are in the country illegally. “Despite all the national controversy, this is a common sense bill, pure and simple,” Riddle said in a press release. Riddle’s bill will differ from the Arizona act in that suspects will not be required to provide identification to officers and cannot be arrested unless their immigration status is confirmed by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. “It does nothing but allow law enforcement to do their job: arrest those who are breaking the law,” Riddle said. Racial profiling Working as a day laborer in Texas is not a crime, said Jaime Barron, a board certified immi-
Taking the Plunge
gration attorney. In Arizona, however, it became a crime when Senate Bill 1070, or the Arizona Bill, was signed into
“Nothing less than our national security is at stake when it comes to illegal immigration.”
—Debbie Riddle Republican state representative from Tomball
law April 23, he said. With the passage of the bill, many fear racial profiling will be used to enforce it or that it opens the door for lawsuits from people who feel the police are not adequately enforcing it, Barron said. Before the bill was passed, police could stop people if they were in the act of committing a crime, but now they can stop people based on appearance, he said. “W hat if it’s Bjork from Iceland?” Barron said. “It is brutally difficult not to use racial profiling.” Jim Swan of the applied gerontology faculty wanted to know who was most likely to be
Michael Olaya, a business sophomore and president of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, waits for a student to dunk him to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. The Kappa Sigma fraternity charged students $1 Thursday on the campus green for three chances to dunk a fraternity member.
he said. “ W hat a bout Nat ive Americans who have lived in Arizona for thousands of years?” Swan said. C r i m i n a l s s h ou l d b e deported, Barron said. Though contact with Mexico is unavoidable because it’s a border state, state and federal governments are not doing enough to enforce immigration law, he said. “There should be a balance,” Barron said. “It’s a touchy subject.” Protecting U.S. citizens Riddle dismissed claims from critics that the bill promotes racism instead of Texans’ safety.
“Nothing less than our national security is at stake when it comes to illegal immigration,” Riddle said. With violence escalating along the border, Riddle said, the rest of the state and country has suddenly awakened to a reality that her district has experienced all along. “The safety and security of our citizens is in jeopardy and will continue to be in jeopardy until we secure our border,” she said. The U.S is protecting its border, like every country in the world, said Dianne Edmondson, chairwoman of the Denton County Republican party. Edmondson cited Mexico’s “very strict immigration laws” to illustrate that the U.S. has the right to enforce similar laws. If you’re stopped for a speeding violation or any other reason while in Mexico, you will be asked if you are there illegally, she said. “If you went to Mexico and tried to sneak in, they would prosecute you if you were there illegally,” she said. “I don’t know why the U.S. shouldn’t have the same right.”
See STUDENT on Page 4
UNT improves disabled access BY K RYSTLE CANTU Staff Writer
PHOTO BY REBEKAH GOMEZ/PHOTOGRAPHER
stopped in Arizona as a result of the new law. People of Hispanic heritage are not the only people living there with dark features,
The facilities and construction department is working on several projects to further compliance with the Americans w it h Disabi l it ies Act on campus. Several of the items were identif ied by t he Student Government Association and are now in the works. Charles Jackson, an executive director for facilities, said curb cuts and access ramps are being improved around Crumley and Chestnut halls, Prairie Street, and Welch Street at Highland Street. The improvements will be joint-funded by UNT and the city at a total cost of $16,600. “Crumley has been a bad one for a long time,” Jackson said. “Coming off the ramp, you have a very sharp down into the gutter, and it’s really tough for them to maneuver.” Ron Venable, a disability accommodations director, said the department has been good about addressing acces-
sibility, but there is room for improvement. The act is a federal law, passed in 1990, that specifies equal opportunity requirements in government and com mercia l faci l it ies for disabled people. “The facilities on our campus have been excellent about responding to any issues that have come up,” Venable said. “They’re very proactive about addressing concerns.” He said the accessibility problems with curb cuts were because of water runoff. “There is a continual problem with water runoff that drains over the base of these curb cuts, and that can cause the concrete to start rising up or form small potholes,” Venable said. “That can cause a wheel chair to catch a front wheel as it’s going down a curb cut.” Devin Axtman, a political science sophomore, voiced his concerns about accessibility for the disabled students at UNT earlier this semester.
“I tipped over backwards once on Crumley,” Axtman said. “I worry about people not knowing about things like that and having to find out the hard way.” Venable said these issues are a constant battle for any university. “What’s important is that a campus have processes in place to be able to respond to concerns that come up and plan for future accessibility of new buildings and to be in compliance with the federal guidelines for access,” he said. The restrooms in Terrill Hall and in the Art Building are also being remodeled to provide disabled students with more mobility and space to maneuver. “Restrooms is a big one because, although they may be equipped with a stall that says handicapped, they don’t exactly meet the code sometimes,” Jackson said.
See UNT on Page 4