NTDaily 9-22-11

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Cave Art

Artist returns to Denton from NYC Arts & Life | Page 3

DeSoto Defender Orr anchors Mean Green defense Sports | Page 5

Thursday, September 22, 2011

News 1, 2 Arts & Life 3,4 Sports 5,6 Views 7 Classifieds 8 Games 8

Volume 98 | Issue 17

Rainy 78° / 56°

ntdaily.com

The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas

UNT growth sparks concern

Campus buildings due for upgrades A LEX M ACON

Senior Staff Writer

PHOTO BYJUN MA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Students fill a biology class in Life Sciences Complex A117. UNT enrollment has grown by almost 20 percent in the past eight years. NICOLE BALDERAS Senior Staff Writer

Recently released enrollment figures indicate that in its race to achieve Tier One status, UNT is picking up the pace, notching improvements over last fall in the three enrollment-related benchmarks required for a top-tier designation. Despite a slight drop in overall enrollment compared to last fall, UNT accepted more first-year college freshmen and doctoral students this fall than

ever before. The freshman class also brought higher SAT scores and survived stricter admission standards than in previous years. Yet as UNT administrators continue to push toward Tier One, some faculty members are pumping the brakes – raising concerns about the university’s ability to keep up with enrollment levels that have increased 20 percent since 2003. Histor y depa r t ment chairman Richard McCaslin

said he worries about the university’s increased reliance on part-time adjunct professors, who he said are being asked to bear more of the dayto-day teaching responsibilities. “Several presidents back they came up with this idea that it would be best to reduce departments to a small group of tenured faculty, and teach [the majority of students] with adjunct professors,” said McCaslin, who has chaired the department since 2008.

“For the university, they look at it as a way to save money. For faculty, it’s a horrifying idea.” McCaslin said he fears that handing more classes over to part-time instructors could negatively affect on-campus faculty involvement. “Why would someone who is being brought over every other year to teach a class want to serve on a committee for something?” he said .

See CHANGE on Page 2

Some older buildings on the UNT campus could be in line to receive upgrades in coming months as part of the university’s plan to make the university more environmentally friendly. In June, the Life Sciences Complex became the first UNT building to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The council is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that promotes sustainability in building design and maintenance. It developed the LEED certification system in 2000 as a way to certify “green buildings” designed to lessen their environmental impact. Lauren Helixon, assistant director of operations for UNT’s Office of Sustainability, said the university was considering renovating several older buildings on campus to be eligible for LEED certification, including the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building, which was constructed before LEED existed. “With some minor adjustments, some of the older buildings could be retrofitted and made LEED-certified,” Helixon said. The EESAT Building, in particular, was a great candidate for certification and would require relatively few renovations, Helixon said. However, the university won’t know the estimated cost of the renovations until consultants inspect the buildings. “Depending on what the building already has, it may not

“With some minor adjustments, some of the older buildings could be retrofitted to be LEEDcertified” -Lauren Helixon Assistant director of operations for Office of Sustainability cost hardly anything,” Helixon said. According to the LEED certification checklist posted on the U.S. Green Building Council’s website, existing buildings are given points based on water and energy efficiency, sustainable use of materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. The buildings are then ranked: 40-49 points earns a regular certification, 50-59 a silver, 60-79 gold, and a building that receives 80 points or more is certified as LEED platinum. The newly constructed Denton Fire Station No. 7 received a gold certification under the LEED system in 2007. Designed by Kirkpatrick Architecture Studio, the station became the city of Denton’s first green building.

See BUILDING on Page 2

City grants to boost downtown businesses CAITLYN JONES Intern

The Denton City Council will release the $50,000 Downtown Incentive Reimbursement Grant on Oct. 1 to go toward construction and renovation of downtown businesses. The Council approved The grant as part of the $576 million budget during its meeting Tuesday. T he g ra nt prog ra m is one stage of the Downtown Implementation Plan that was passed by the City Council on Aug. 17, 2010, to increase economic development in downtown Denton. Money from the Downtown Incentive Reimbursement Grant is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to whatever businesses apply for it. “In the past, businesses have

“In the past, businesses have used the grants for things such as signage, advertising or utilities.” -Julie Glover Economic program development administrator used the grants for things such as signage, advertising or utilities,” said Julie Glover, economic program development admin-

istrator. “Mellow Mushroom used their previous grant for water pipes.” Mellow Mushroom is a warehouse-turned-restaurant on Hickory Street set to open its doors very soon. Any business downtown is eligible to receive a grant. Those expected to apply are Andaman’s Thai Food and Love Shack among others, Glover said. Businesses are normally awarded anywhere from $5,500 to $8,500 from the grant, she said. Hoochie’s Oyster Bar, located on Bell Street, will open its doors later this month. The new restaurant received a grant of about $6,500 to pay for signage and improvements, Glover said.

See CITY on Page 2

PHOTO BY JAMES COREAS / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The corner of Industrial Street and East Hickory Street near historic downtown Denton is bustling with new businesses, many of which are receiving city funds intended to promote development downtown.

Greenspace plans buried for now PABLO A RAUZ Staff Writer

The empty plot of land dotted with large, decades-old post oak trees on the east side of College Inn was the preferred location for students who wanted to reserve the space for a community garden. For two years, the North Texas Energy and Environment Club made an effort to propose a green space garden on campus that would be accessible to the entire Denton community. However, the project ran into a few obstacles concerning its location over

the last several months. Michael Bales, an art senior and coordinator for the garden, said that a plan by the Capital Projects Council, a university group that oversees capital projects, conflicted with students’ proposal to build the garden in the originally planned space. The council’s priority was to reserve the land for a potential parking lot. “I don’t think it’s because that space is definitely going to become a parking lot, but they just want to keep their options open,” said Lauren Helixon,

assistant director of operations for the Office of Sustainability. Community gardens are spaces reserved for residents to use like a public garden space. Presently, the city of Denton maintains a similar garden at 2200 Bowling Green St. “Basically, we have everything we need from our side. We have a proposal, donations and volunteers ready to help, students committed, and all we need is a location,” Bales said. Every few years the Capital Projects Council updates a master plan for the university,

which essentially describes where buildings might go, parking lots may be built, and any road changes that could be made in the future, Bales said. The most recent plan called for the parking lot to be built on the land that students proposed for the garden. Although efforts were made by NTEEC and other environmental student groups to keep the space, they were not enough to keep the Capital Projects Council from reassigning the location.

See GARDEN on Page 4

What’s Inside NEWS:

SGA gets closer to filling all senate seats

moves ARTS & LIFE: Workshop students past fast food

SPORTS:

Men’s golf faces top 25 competition in Iowa

ratio VIEWS: Student-to-teacher increases as enrollment rises

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