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Wednesday september 23, 2009
volume 91, no. 19 www.theshorthorn.com
note this
since 1919 uTa Jazz ensemble, among various artists, to perform in the levitt Pavilion’s fall concert series.
Cultural Art hispanic students’ works are displayed in gallery West in celebration of semana de Cultura.
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Technology
Online class enters virtual world Taking part in the experimental opportunity will allow students to use an avatar in class instead of themselves. By Joan Khalaf The Shorthorn senior staff
The university will take one online class to another level next month with Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world where people can make avatars, and take them through real-life tasks like owning businesses, buying land and meeting others. Officials say a real-life simulation of classes will allow students to interact in a way they couldn’t with a regular online class — by showing models to demonstrate lessons
and points. The university will start with a one-time session of a graduate nursing class in October. “The goal is to establish a place where members can develop virtual learning communities,” said Sarah Jones, campus lead for the project and a Central Library librarian. “This provides a way for students, faculty and administration to meet without the necessity for travel.” UT System’s 15 institutions have three islands each in the virtual world. The system is the first state-wide educational system to launch a Second Life learning structure. Creating an account and using Second
the university will take one online class to a new level next month by offering a one-time session of a graduate nursing course in the virtual world of Second Life.
Second Life continues on page 3
Courtesy Photo: blogs.secondlife.com
iran
Mav to attend rally in New York City 15,000 people are expected to be at today’s protest of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s U.N. appearance. By JohnaThan Silver The Shorthorn senior staff
The Cost of Belonging
The Shorthorn: Stephanie Goddard
Along with other events, skits focus on hazing prevention
B
iology senior Jerome Kirby, left, and nursing sophomore Peter Samuels push interdisciplinary studies junior Jonathan Walker while biology junior Heinz Schwarzkopf lies on the ground during a skit for the Trail of Haze on Tuesday afternoon in the University Center Guadalupe Room. During the skit, students demonstrated hazing scenarios and reminded the au-
dience that even if you agree to join a group, you are not obligated to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. They also said that even seemingly harmless acts, like making the new guy carry your books, could lead to more serious forms of hazing. After watching the performance, students receive a ticket they exchanged for items such as water bottles and Tshirts at the entrance to the UC Palo
for an editorial about this issue see page 4
Duro Lounge. The Trail of Haze skits will continue today at 11 a.m. in the UC mall. The event is a part of National Hazing Prevention Week. — Stephanie Goddard
PlaneTarium
Observatory may come to nearby park The new facility has received parts since the summer and will contain a telescope worth more than $100,000. By vinod SrinivaSan The Shorthorn staff
Students will soon get the chance to explore the universe from the campus, with the addition of a new observatory tentatively planned for Doug Russell Park. The Planetarium, along with Facilities Management, has been working since the summer to purchase parts for an observatory. The university has received the parts and is waiting to begin construction once a site has been confirmed. Planetarium director Levent Gurdemir
said an observatory is just what the university needs to develop the astronomy program. He said it would be one of the few public observatories in a central location in the Metroplex. “We have a big astronomy program of 600 to 700 students and I thought something was missing — an observatory,” he said. The telescope, which costs more than $100,000, will be equipped with a chargecoupled device camera, which determines the temperature of stars by measuring light intensities, Gurdemir said. The telescope will be strong enough to see our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. He said the telescope would mainly be used to study the moon and the planets in the Solar System. Jeff Johnson, Building Operations associate director, said Doug Russell Park has been
tentatively selected as the location for the proposed observatory. “The City of Arlington has signed off on it and we are looking to start construction within a couple of weeks and hopefully complete in a month after that,” Johnson said. As part of the astronomy labs, students are required to check out telescopes and make nighttime observations, Gurdemir said. “It would be a nice alternative way for students to do their work as well as offer them the opportunity to look through a full computeroriented telescope to make more better observations,” Gurdemir said. He said there is a possibility that students may have the ability to remotely log on to a StarS continues on page 6
UTA student Roozbeh Kiamanesh will be among the estimated 15,000 protesters today who will walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, carrying a green scroll with millions of signatures, petitioning Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s U.N. visit. Ahmadinejad, who will attend and speak at the U.N. General Assembly today, has been accused by protesters to have rigged the June 2009 Iranian presidential election. Election result protests began last summer, including at the university. The Iranian presiyour view dent, who Go online to The has expressed ShorThorn .com anti-Western to comment on this sentiments, story and express your denied that opinion about the Irathe Holocaust nian election. occurred, and said that he is proud that his remarks anger western states. “He was selected, not elected,” said Kiamanesh, civil engineering graduate student. “The election was under no standards legitimate. They fooled people. It got to a point where they weren’t going to win reelection, and so they cheated.” Although he voted for Mehdi Karroubi, the candidate who placed fourth, Kiamanesh said Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh, who took second place with nearly 34 percent of the vote, was the candidate elected by the people. The Green Scroll Campaign is an international movement of people opposed to the election turnout. Green is the official color of the revolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to boycott Ahmadinejad’s speech and encourages members of the international community to do the same, according to a Tuesday’s The Associated Press article. Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, when polls were still open. That raised a red flag, Kiamanesh said. With more than 40 million hand ballots to count, how could the results iran continues on page 6