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Wednesday June 23, 2010
Volume 91, No. 122 www.theshorthorn.com
Since 1919
Freshness at your front door Students, staff and locals tell how you can get garden fresh vegetables inside your dorm or apartment.
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FACULTY/STAFF
UTA to assess buyout results by fall University will reorganize and may reduce staff based on departmental requests JOHN HARDEN The Shorthorn news editor
Knowing the final saving incurred by the university’s voluntary buyout program may not be known until August due to possible departmental
reorganizations. A week after the university’s voluntary buyout deadline, the future of some departmental positions may not be known until fall, said univeristy spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan. Fifty-nine of 247 employees agreed to take the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, which was introduced in April to help the university meet a state-mandated
5 percent budget cut. The program applied to administrative, professional and classified full-time staff only. Faculty were not eligible for the program. The university offered the voluntary buyout as a way to cut $9 million from its budget, but results are yet to be known until the university looks at possibly reorganizing responsibilities within departments,
Sullivan said. “Trying to determine the savings is difficult because it’s a moving target,” Sullivan said. “It all depends on how each department decides to shape its staff and responsibilities.” A committee, led by university leaders, will make recommendations based on the savings and suggestions made by each department, said Provost Donald Bobbitt, who is on the
Rolling out the tanks
review committee. The committee will review each department’s request submitted by department chairs or deans to fill positions. The committee will make recommendations on how to fill each position and offer ways to eliminate or split responsibilities within each department. BUYOUT continues on page 3
FINANCIAL AID
Area high school students compete in engineeing camp
Loans roll in after glitches cause delay Financial Aid director cites program glitches, unsigned promissory notes for delay in fund disbursements. BY ALLIE COCHRAN The Shorthorn staff
STORY AND PHOTOS BY | JAZZMYNE GREER
As the summer progresses, various camps become a common sight on campus. One of the College of Engineering-sponsored camps hosted the second of its five end of the week competitions between participants. “The overall camp ranges from sixth to eleventh graders…from all over the country,” UTA student sponsor Marianna Vallejo said. The groups for the past week’s day camp session were three ninth and two 11th graders, who all desire a future in engineering. Friday, the students came together in two teams before a crowd outside Woolf Hall and showcased their work through a timed competition. “The purpose of the teams is
[to] experience [the] design process and team dynamic,” Vallejo said. Both teams used miniature army tankers controlled by their laptops through technology they all learned about and assisted in bringing together for the competition. High school freshman Kristopher Robinson and junior Daniel Korff both expressed the amount of fun they had working the tankers and the areas of engineering they wish to go into after college. At the end of the competition, Vallejo revealed to the crowd of students, parents and supporters that Team Global Hawk, which consisted of Dolenz and Joseph Fisher, had won the race.
ARLINGTON
The completion of eight new wells expected by August
–Hannah Dockray
LOANS continues on page 3
TECHNOLOGY
Virtual lab could revolutionize software access Plans to utilize new software would allow on- and off- campus access to university server, computer programs. BY JOHN HARDEN
Continuing Education Workforce Development Center
N Lot 49
Doug Russell Road
FRACING SITE
The Shorthorn news editor
So
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South Pecan Street
Spaniolo also wrote that the royalties are used in the Maverick Match program, established in January 2009. Through the program, every donation of more than $25,000 is matched with the royalties from the natural gas. Although the university sits directly on top of the Barnett Shale, which gives the university and Carrizo Oil and Gas direct access to drill sites, university spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan said it’s hard to say what will come from the new well. “It’s hard to say at this point what will happen,” she said. “No one can tell if the well will produce, and it depends on different variables, like the price of gas.”
South Oak Street
The drilling of eight new gas wells began Friday on the southeast corner of campus. Carrizo Oil and Gas, based out of Houston, are responsible for drilling 22 wells since late 2008 at the same site. These wells have since generated approximately $5.5 million for the university. The resources come from the Barnett Shale, the natural gas bedrock situated across 16 Texas counties and the one of the largest natural gas fields in Texas. UTA President James Spaniolo said in a March letter to the university that the money from the natural gas “goes to the university’s student scholarships, faculty recruitment and the university’s master plan.”
Some students were relieved to receive financial aid Friday after a new mandate of financial aid funding caused an unexpected delay in loan disbursement. The federally mandated adoption of the Federal Direct Loan as a replacement of the Federal Stafford Loan delayed UTA’s, along with other universities’, ability to disburse financial aid funds. Some students struggled to readjust their plans during the delay. “I know quite a few people who, due to the issues, have had to postpone their educational plans due to the mix-ups,” art history senior Tearyne Glover said. Students awaiting financial aid checks were protected from having their classes dropped. However, buying books and other school supplies was halted by delayed disbursement of loan money. “For the first time in my college career, my student loan was not disbursed on the scheduled day. Like most students receiving student loans, I needed the funds to purchase books,” interdisciplinary studies sophomore Kenny Jacobs said. After a brief delay, “the problems [are] resolved and the money is in,” said Karen Krause, Office of Financial Aid. Krause said UTA has
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Gas Well Drilling Site
The Shorthorn: Lorraine Frajkor
The fracing of eight new wells is expected to take about six weeks, with completion estimated by August. At that point, 22 gas wells are expected to be in operation.
Students need easier access to specialize software found in labs across campus, according a report by Committee on Student Technology. One of the many proposals the committee submitted to the president earlier this month includes creating a new lab, virtually. The proposed virtual lab will make pricey software that is available in computer labs accessible at anytime, on and off campus, said Suzanne Montague, Information Technology vice president. The idea of the virtual lab, also known as cloud computing, isn’t new. This type of computing mirrors web-based applications like Google Docs, which allows a user to access and create text documents, presentations and spreadsheets without downloading the software. The software would be strictly accessed and used via a university network and LAB continues on page 3