T h e
u n i v e r s i T y
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a r l i n g T o n
Thursday october 1, 2009
volume 91, no. 24 www.theshorthorn.com
since 1919
taking Flight
indeX Calendar News Classifieds Sports Pulse
2 2, 3, 4 5 6 B
ultimate frisbee Club holds university tournament, which gets more than half the available team slots filled. SpoRtS | page 6
eventS
Rain could wet the Bed Races A decision will be made by noon today to determine if the tradition will be delayed due to inclement weather. By aRionne WellS The Shorthorn staff
The semester’s string of inclement weather could potentially postpone another campus tradition. The campus entities sponsoring this year’s Bed Races are taking a wait-and-see
approach, hoping the possible inclement weather will not delay the fun. EXCEL Campus Activities is considering postponing the event, said Maggie Garza, EXCEL University Events director. The National Weather Service forecasted a 30 percent chance of severe thunderstorms for Thursday. If the forecast is accurate, with strong thunderstorms and serious lightning, Garza said a postponement would be unavoidable. In the event of a postponement,
a decision will be made by noon and all the teams would be contacted personally, along with an alert on www.uta.edu. “We’re not willing to risk any student’s safety,” Garza added. Bed Races features participants racing a decorated bed about 50 yards down Maverick Stadium’s football field. This year’s theme is Running of the Beds and the event will include a mechanical bull,
MoRe aBout Bed RaceS To find out whether the event will be postponed, visit The ShorThorn .com today. For tips on how to race a bed, choose a theme and participate in the pillow fight see Pulse, section B.
Bed races continues on page 3
health
aRlington
Raising the bra for awareness Vendors to sell fresh produce downtown
For the eighth year, residents built the Bra Bridge outside Brazos House to bring awareness to breast and testicular cancers. By Johnathan SilveR The Shorthorn senior staff
Brazos House residents and volunteers tossed bras, boxers and an assortment of undergarments around trees Tuesday evening, to raise cancer awareness. The Brazos House Hall Council began the tradition known as Bra Bridge eight years ago to recognize National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which officially begins today. Information about WaRning SignS of testicular cancer will also be given out. UnBReaSt canceR dergarments will stay • New lump in the breast or on the trees throughunderarm out October. • Thickening or swelling of Council president part of the breast Collin Harper said • Irritation or dimpling of participants will share breast skin the learning experi• Redness or flaky skin in the ence. nipple area or the breast “If you know how • Pulling in of the nipple or to prevent the disease, pain in the nipple area you can teach others • Nipple discharge other than how to prevent it as breast milk, including blood well,” she said. “Even • Any change in the size or giving pamphlets to the shape of the breast • Pain in any area of the your mother or checkbreast. ing for symptoms could help.” Some of these warning signs A table will be can happen with other nonset outside Brazos cancer conditions. House with a place to make donations to Source: Centers for Disease the Susan G. Komen Control and Prevention Web Breast Cancer Founsite dation. The table will hold breast cancer information pamphlets and a prosthetic breast model with lumps. Testicular cancer information and prosthetic testes models will be available later in the month. Digital communication freshman Tyler DeMarcus volunteered to help place underwear on the trees. “I think it’s good that people know about [breast and testicular cancer] and not think that it’s small,” he said. “A lot of people are affected by this.” The idea is to attract people and get them to ask questions, said Spanish sophomore Andrea Mims, another volunteer. Some passersby paused, pointed and laughed when they saw the dangling underwear. “I thought they were air drying their clothes for sustainability because the campus is trying to go green,” said nursing freshman Amber Green. “That’s a good way to get [cancer awareness] out there.”
Fruits and vegetables will be available every Friday beginning at 9 a.m. between Mesquite and Elm streets, a few blocks from campus. By John haRden The Shorthorn staff
Locals will sell fresh fruits to help promote healthier eating, along with earthworms and ladybugs as part of the first downtown Arlington weekly farmers market beginning from Friday to Dec. 18. The market, 215 E. Front St., will open every Friday at 9 a.m. and vendors will stay open until sellout. The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation is organizing the marWhen and ket that will feature locallyWheRe grown fruits and vegetables. What: Downtown Councilmember Lana Arlington weekly Wolff said this will be a good farmers market move for the downtown area. When: 9 a.m. “This will be a test case. Friday It can always be expanded,” Where: 215 E. she said. “Our market can be Front St. a launching point for something bigger, like the markets in other areas.” Last year, downtown Arlington completed the construction of Levitt Pavilion on Founders Plaza. The pavilion holds many local events and concerts. “Like the pavilion, I believe it [the market] will become a magnet for people to come downtown,” Wolff said. “The market and the pavilion are ways to help promote traffic downtown, and through them, we can expose the people to what The Shorthorn: Jacob Adkisson
aerospace engineering junior nick Guman hangs from a tree outside of Brazos Hall as he puts up part of the Brazos Bra Bridge on Wednesday. anthropology junior collin Harper, left, and digital communication freshman tyler deMarcus hang donated underwear for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month for the Brazos Bra Bridge. The tradition has been going on for eight years.
Bras continues on page 3 The Shorthorn: Jacob Adkisson
MAC adds pink treadmills for donations Manufacturer pledges to give 10 cents to breast cancer research for every mile run on the machines. By SaRah lutz The Shorthorn assistant news editor
Students can work out while helping breast cancer research starting today in the Maverick Activities Center. For every mile logged on the MAC’s two new pink treadmills, the manufacturer, Cybex, will donate 10 cents to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, said Tom Woodman, Campus Recreation Department informal recreation and facilities assistant director. The offer will continue through October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Nursing sophomore Tai Tran, who
Market continues on page 4
works at the MAC, said he hasn’t seen a lot of people on the treadmills, which was set up before the 30-day eligibility period. He said more people come to the MAC at night so more people might be on them during evening hours. “Some people just like the regular ones because they have a TV on them, some people just like running on the track,” he said. “So if they put a TV on them more people would use them.” Tran said the incentive might not be enough, because it takes 10 people running a mile each to raise $1. Education junior Ashley Lebouef said she came to the MAC for volleyball on Wednesday, but would come back another time to use the pink treadmills. “It’s convenient. I’m already on
canceR factS • Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in Hispanic women. It is the second most common in several other ethnicities, including white and black. • In 2005, the most recent numbers the CDC recorded, 186,467 women and 1,764 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. • In the same year, 41,116 women and 375 men died from breast cancer.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
campus,” she said. “I want one in my house.” treadMill continues on page 3
Study
No difference in kids raised by gay parents Couples tested on factors including family composition and dynamics, child’s preadoptive history and behavioral functioning. By Rachel SnydeR The Shorthorn staff
There is no significant difference in adopted children raised by gay rather than straight parents, according to a study by Scott Ryan, School of Social Work dean, and three other social work educators. The study asked 155 homosexual couples and 1,229 heterosexual couples about parent and child characteristics, family composition and dynamics, the child’s pre-adoptive history and current emotional and behavioral functioning. Josh Little, Gay-Straight Alliance UTA chapter president, hopes this study will help people see that gay and lesbian parents are no different scott ryan, School than straight parents. of Social Work “As a gay man, I eventually want dean to have kids and I obviously can’t have kids naturally so having people know that gays and lesbians can raise a kid just as well would make things easier for me,” Little said. Criminal justice junior Leo Villalobos said he is against gay adoptions because he doesn’t feel gay parents can properly raise and teach a child. Villalobos said that he is against it also because of his religious perspective. adoption continues on page 3