T h e
u n i v e r s i T y
o f
T e x a s
a T
a r l i n g T o n
Wednesday august 4, 2010
volume 91, no. 128 www.theshorthorn.com
since 1919
Budgeted vacations Not much time between the end of summer and start of fall classes — but students can still find the time and money to escape. page 6 | scene
engineeRing
aRlington
Feds address city’s Professor solicited to air quality concerns Environmental Protection Agency officials discussed the economy and citizens’ well-being. By alysia R. BRooks The Shorthorn staff
Speakers were divided between concerns for how stricter air quality regulation would affect the Texas economy and the health and welfare of residents,
at an Environmental Protection Agency meeting on Monday in Arlington City Hall. Business representatives were concerned that new regulations would limit production capabilities and hurt the bottom line, while people outside these industries expressed concern over health issues caused by lack of regulation and enforcement. A panel of EPA representatives lis-
tened as speakers ranging from concerned local citizens to state officials offered opinions and research findings on the how pollution regulations of natural gas and oil are affecting Texas. The meetings, which took place from noon to 4 p.m, and 6 to 10 p.m., were the first step in involving the public in the review process.
study wells Melanie Sattler uses an alternative method to sample air quality. By ali amiR mustansiR
epa continues on page 3
The Shorthorn senior staff
The Shorthorn: Brian Dsouza
Moderator Jeff Clark highlights the main points about the effects of gas drilling on air quality during the EPA hearing at the Arlington City Hall on Monday. The public was permitted to voice their opinions on the topic and pose queries.
Melanie Sattler, civil and environmental engineering assistant professor, uses a different kind of sampling method when searching for pollutants from natural gas wells. Sattler said she found high levels of several pollutants including the potentially cancerous Benzene when using her method. One location Sattler surveyed was in Dish, Texas. Dish was one of the first locations to find high levels of Benzene in and around compressors. Other locations were in Fort Worth. Sattler said she used a testing method called Dispersion Modeling, which takes readings over the course of a year. The normal test involves a canister that pumps air samples for a predetermined amount of time. The canister is then sent to a lab for analysis, she said. “A sample could be taken for two hours, but those two hours may not be typical,” Sattler said. High winds and meteorological turbulence can cause significant dilution to the readings. Low winds and
meteorological turbulence would cause high readings, Sattler said. It takes time for toxins to touch ground from on top of the stack, she said. “The ideal thing would be to measure what is coming out of the stack,” she said. Sattler said sometimes people would take readings based on smell or by taking readings over a very short time. “There are people at [The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] that would know better,” she said. Rick Trice, Fort Worth Gas Well Divisions Planning and Development assistant director, said Fort Worth will conduct a full survey of approximately 500 sites. A $600,000 contract with Eastern Research Group, Inc. for The Fort Worth Air Quality Study was approved by the Fort Worth City Council Tuesday night. The contract would give the company the task of testing emissions at each of the locations. Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said this study will be looked at by people in other shale areas of the country. “This survey is going to be a lot bigger than Fort Worth or Tarrant County,” he said. Moncrief said the city will release information as it regas continues on page 3
oRientation
safety
Transfer orientation to be available online
Exposed server data could cost university
New developments could help students navigate college life without attending a session. By ReBekah kaRth The Shorthorn staff
UTA now has more incoming transfer students than freshmen. To help accommodate the new transfer students, the university will offer an online orientation for the students in the fall. Orientation sessions designed exclusively for transfer students began in May 2009, said Brian Joyce, New Maverick Orientation associate direc-
tor. Orientation sessions for transfer students are optional, a difference from mandatory freshmen orientation, Joyce said. “A transition is hard no matter what you’re transitioning from,” said Meighan Burke, New Maverick Orientation coordinator. The transfer orientation sessions include a panel discussion with students from different areas of student life who transferred to UTA, like advertising junior Jesse Marroquin. Going to an orientation session transfers continues on page 3
UTA has offered to pay for year-long credit monitoring at $48 per person. By Johnathan silveR The Shorthorn copy desk chief
After more than 2,000 individuals whose Social Security numbers were exposed, the university could be left with a bill up to a $100,000. When the university reported on July 23 a student health center file server was compromised, it made
the aid of Equifax, a credit monitoring agency, readily available to the 2,048 individuals whose Social Security numbers were exposed. The cost – $ 48 per person. But the university is unsure of how many people will take the offer, said Jerry Lewis, university communications vice president. Following knowledge of the breach, the university contacted appropriate federal departments and departments on campus like the university police.
UTA police Capt. Jay Tillerson said the department wrote a report on the incident, but doesn’t plan on investigating. The university followed protocol, according to the directions listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Under the department’s regulations, the university must alert impacted individuals, the media and the Health and Human Services department. data continues on page 3
inteRnational affaiRs
Friends rally to get deported student back home in states Saad Nabeel said via Skype he November 2009. His friends and supporters conis having trouble adjusting to gregated on campus Friday to come his homeland’s foreign culture. up with a plan for his return to By Johnathan silveR The Shorthorn copy desk chief
Saad Nabeel could be back home by February 2011, if friends and friends of friends have something to say about it. Nabeel, a former UTA electrical engineering student, was deported to his home country of Bangladesh
the states. Now, they’re eying U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to remove a 10-year ban Nabeel has from the U.S. His family lived in the United States illegally after petitions to stay failed, even though they entered the country with the government’s knowledge more than 15 years ago. When deported, the
family’s green cards were in the process of being delivered. Nabeel and his mother pursued political asylum in Canada last year, but following misunderstandings, they were subjected to interrogations and eventually separated and imprisoned. Many people became aware of Nabeel’s story through national and international media. The stories may not have come to light deported continues on page 3
The Shorthorn: Brian Dsouza
political science senior priscylla Bento talks with Saad Nabeel via Skype on Friday in the University Center Palo Duro Lounge. Nabeel, 19, was a UTA student before he was deported to Bangladesh.