INSIDE
Get fit with Pure Barre classes
PAGE 2
Arranged marriages still exist
PAGE 4
Two artists win Meadows Prize
PAGE 5
Mustangs 11-10 after loss to UCF PAGE 6
MONDAY
JANUARY 28, 2013 MONDAY High 73, Low 64 TUESDAY High 71, Low 44
VOLUME 98 ISSUE 50 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
Student works to bring gay fraternity to campus Julie Fancher Assignments Desk Editor jfancher@smu.edu This time next year students can expect to see a new set of Greek letters around campus. Delta Lambda Phi is a fraternity for gay, bisexual, and progressive men, which sophomore Colton Donica and others are working to bring to SMU. “I saw there isn’t a [recruitment] week that gay students can be involved with to meet hundreds of students, and there isn’t a greek system to be formally a part of, so I figured how about we address this issue,” Donica said. If the chapter is approved, it won’t be the first time that Delta Lambda Phi has had a chapter at SMU. “Delta Lambda Phi was here in 1995, but they did not have a enough members to keep their charter,” Donica said. SMU’s Fraternity and Sorority web page still recognizes Delta Lambda Phi, but qualifies it as silent which means “it is no longer active, but is without conduct status.” Delta Lambda Phi, the fastest growing fraternity of its kind, was founded in 1986 by Vernon L. Strickland III in Washington, D.C. Since its founding, DLP has grown to have 30 chapters nationally. There is also a DLP chapter at the University of Texas at Austin. Donica said that while his first
year at SMU was great, he never felt truly at home. When friends at UT told him about Delta Lambda Phi, Colton almost transferred to UT Austin. “I always felt like an outsider,” Donica said. “I always felt like it’s a wonderful campus and students were great, but there is a vibe that it wasn’t inviting and sometimes you don’t feel like this is your home and you want to feel safe in your home.” He had his application to UT ready when he realized the campus’ potential to embrace the LGBT community. “I knew I could do so much more good here, and make more of an impact here than I could at state school where all of these organizations already are. I thought ‘don’t run from the problem, fix it’,” Donica said. Delta Lambda Phi has three main principles that guide its members. Members of DLP should be involved in dignified social and personal action, regardless of sexual orientation, leading the fight that is going on of representing the gay community and the rights and equality of all minorities and to present a strong image of who a Lambda man would be. “We like to lead by example and show that it is OK to be gay, and this is how we are and we want to show the SMU campus who we are, when they come to our events or see us on campus wearing our letters. We want them to get to
Courtesy of Delta Lambda Phi
Delta Lambda Phi’s fraternity crest. know us,” Donica said. Donica has been working throughout the fall semester to bring a Delta Lambda Phi chapter to campus. He has been talking to the Delta Lambda Phi nationals to begin the recruitment process. Delta Lambda Phi requires 10 members to be recognized as a chapter, but SMU requires that each fraternity has 12 members. Once Donica gets the required number of members, he will need funding to start the fraternity, which they hope to obtain through fundraising events. He has also been talking with the Multicultural Greek
Council, which is where DLP will be as opposed to the Interfraternity Council. He needs three of the five members of the Multicultural Greek Council to approve Delta Lambda Phi. He has also worked closely with Spectrum, another LGBT organization on campus. “I’ve been talking to those fraternity and sororities of the Multicultural Greek Council, and everyone I have talked to has been very supportive and believes I will get the votes I need,” Donica said. For Donica, the recruitment
See LGBT page 3
Courtesy of Methodist Dallas Medical Center
Artist rendering of the Charles A. Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower which broke ground in September 2012.
Trauma tower reaches new heights in South Dallas The Charles A. Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower at Methodist Dallas Medical Center will bring new jobs and better health care to the people of South Dallas. Dallas has a population of about 1.2 billion people and only three level I trauma centers. This means that there is an overwhelming 400,000 people for every one level I trauma center. Of those three, none are on the south side of I-30, which is most commonly known as the dividing line between North and South Dallas. "With limited access to critical health care in southern
Dallas County and only three major adult trauma centers in Dallas, overcrowded emergency departments are delaying care," Laura Irvine, Methodist Dallas Medical Center president, said. Ground was broken on Sept. 11, 2012 on the planned six-story Charles A. Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. With a completion date set in the summer of 2014, this soon-to-be 248,000 square foot trauma center will bring important medical services to South Dallas. The project is part of GrowSouth, a plan by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to rejuvenate the Dallas area south around Oak Cliff. This area is known for its gang violence and crimes. The plan, which began
February of this year, includes strengthening neighborhoods, creating a clean culture and creating creative financial and investment funds. "The Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower [brings] improved access to medical resources for residents of Oak Cliff," Shawn Williams, deputy chief of staff for Rawlings, said. Currently a level II trauma center, Methodist Dallas Medical Center's Emergency and Trauma Center sees around 1,500 trauma patients and over 60,000 emergency patients each year. This 25,000 square foot facility located on North Beckley Avenue south of I-30 was last renovated in 1999. The medical center also has multi-organ transplant services, nationally rated high-risk infant
ERIC SHEFFIELD/The Daily Campus
An intersection of Jefferson boulevard in Oak Cliff.
metropolitan
SAMANTHA PELTIER Chief Copy Editor speltier@smu.edu
dallas
care and neuro-critical care. The trauma tower will expand Methodist Dallas Medical Center's emergency department tenfold — increasing from 25,000 square feet to 248,000 square feet. The tower is planned to house 58 new emergency room beds, six trauma suites, eight surgical suits and a 36-bed critical care unit. There will also be the option of expanding the tower to have 11 stories in the future. "Expanded services of the Charles A. Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower will help us meet critical care needs and continue Methodist's mission of providing compassionate, quality health care to those who need it most," Irvine said.
See MEDICAL page 3
Jefferson boulevard under construction for improvements eric sheffield Video Editor esheffield@smu.edu Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff hopes to preserve history and culture by becoming a “Main Street”. Pawn stores to the left. Convenience stores to the right. An old, gravel street under the wheels of cars. A rusted, green sign that’s barely legible reads, “Jefferson Boulevard, Oak Cliff ”. But beyond the thrift stores and parking meters along the boulevard, change is brewing. It can be seen in signs that read: “Under Construction.” Mayor Mike Rawlings’ GrowSouth plans calls for changes that will help transform the stretch of Jefferson Boulevard from Tyler Street to Marseilles Street into a de facto Main Street for Oak Cliff. That is to say, it aims to be a hub of shopping and dining for residents, and even attract attention away from the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas. “The plans that are being studied will change the way that the community interacts with Jefferson Boulevard,” said Shawn Williams, the Deputy Chief of Staff in the mayor’s office. “It will promote foot traffic and give people a reason to linger a little longer than if they were visiting the area today.” There is some controversy over whether the renovations along Jefferson Boulevard are focusing too deeply on the north part of Oak Cliff, while the south part is left alone. “It’s great that they want to improve this neighborhood,” said Oak Cliff resident Donna Hernandez. “But I wish they’d improve my neighborhood too. Hernandez lives on the south side of the neighborhood, close to Wright Street, which is seeing fewer improvement efforts than the parts of Oak Cliff closer to I-30 and downtown. However, Hernandez said that the improvements are still helping her because she visits Jefferson Boulevard frequently to eat and shop.
Bob Stimson, the president of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, said the street is visited by many of the Hispanic residents from the area and is already a shopping hub. “I don’t think it’s a north or south thing at all,” Stimson said. “I view it as a project for all of Oak Cliff. I think it’s incredibly cool that we’re getting things” like this. Another idea that is being thrown around Dallas City Hall is the establishment of a ‘Las Ramblas’ area around the boulevard. The term comes from a tree-lined, pedestrian strip in Barcelona that is popular with locals and tourists because of its restaurants, retailers and entertainers. Dallas City Hall’s new CityDesign Studio, headed by Brent Brown, is handling the Las Ramblas project. The theory is that the median in between the opposing lanes of traffic would be used as a stage that could host food carts, live musicians and street artists. However, to accommodate for this, it would be necessary to remove a lane of traffic in each direction. However, it is uncertain yet if this change would greatly affect commute times for residents. “It might slow down traffic in that part of town,” Stimson said. “But we’re okay with that.” Another renovation that is being considered as part of the GrowSouth plan is the construction of a streetcar that will connect the Dallas Convention Center in downtown with the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff. According to city officials, the streetcar will pass directly through Jefferson Boulevard and, more importantly, it will have the ability to drop riders off at the restaurants along the street. “The streetcar will be an excellent tool for increasing the visibility and marketability of Oak Cliff, and specifically, Jefferson Boulevard” said Gary Sanchez, who works for Delia Jasso, the Dallas councilwoman
See DALLAS page 3