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| Thursday, April 29, 1999 | Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas |
Vol. 81 | No. 109 |
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NT continues mini-mester, adds courses
By Kendra Boome
Staff Writer
Last year, NT began offering a May mini-mester - a crammed three semester hours in three weeks. This May, NT departments are offering classes from May 17 to June 2.
Regular registration begins on May 14, and late registration is from May 15 to 17. Payment deadline is May 17.
The mini-mester offers students a chance to get basic classes out of the way and also take in-depth upper level courses.
Students can get some core classes such as economics, political science and visual and performing arts out of the way.
New courses have been added to the mini-mester schedule. Check the web site at http://www.unt.edu/registrar/maymini/index.htm for more information.
Students can take senior and graduate level classes in almost every department that offered classes.
Bob Killam, administrative services officer for the biology department, said the department will only offer upper level and graduate courses because lower level biology courses have labs.
"There's really no easy way to fit in a lab in the three weeks," he said.
Richard Golden, head of the history department, said the history courses offered depended on the faculty members who wanted to teach in May.
"We tried to put courses together that would look attractive to students and that faculty members would want to teach," he said, adding that students should be sure to study hard and go to class during the term.
Demerris Johnson, Lancaster freshman, said she will probably take a class in the mini-mester because she would like to get her basics out of the way as quickly as possible.
"I think we should take all basic classes in a short session," she said. "They need to make all the summer sessions three weeks.
"That way, people can take it and be through with it."
However, Adam Young, Arlington freshman, said mini-mester classes were too rushed.
"I would want to have more time to really get a feel for the class and professor," he said.
Housing sponsors forum
By Kendra Boome
Staff Writer
In the wake of the Littleton, Colo., high school shooting deaths, NT's housing department will host a town hall meeting Friday.
The meeting will look at ways support staff and housekeeping employees can reach students who might be experiencing psychological turmoil.
The meeting is from 10 am. to noon in the Crumley Hall Conference Room.
Jena Isham, Bruce Hall administrative clerk, said custodians and clerks have daily contact with students that other school employees miss.
"Everyone should be aware of what is going on, even as a society, we should work together and help each other out," she said.
"I know that stuff like what happened in Colorado can happen anywhere," she said.
Isham said administrative clerks and custodians could help students by being trained to notice signs of trouble and seeking help for students.
Isham said she has told students who said they were experiencing problems that they could go to the Counseling and Testing Center.
The center offers eight free sessions for NT students each academic year.
Sugarland senior Terrell Taylor, administrative assistant in the housing department, said everybody is invited to come to the meeting.
Officials focus on legal issues
By Selene A. Benjamin
Staff Writer
NT is sponsoring its Third Annual Texas Higher Education Law Conference Monday and Tuesday.
The two-day conference features 28 speakers who will speak on a number of topics dealing with legal issues in higher education and how to handle them.
"This conference is open to public and private, senior and junior institutions of higher education," said conference director Dr. Richard Rafes, vice chancellor and general counsel for NT.
The keynote speaker, Sandra McMullan, will discuss "The Relationship between the Institution and its Attorney." McMullan is the general counsel and assistant to the chancellor for governmental relations for North Harris Montgomery Community College.
McMullan has served as both inside and outside counsel to colleges and universities for more than 15 years. McMullan's speech will answer questions such as the appropriate role for a campus attorney or outside legal counsel and whether conversations with them are confidential.
The two other featured speakers for the conference are Paul Coggins, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, and Leroy Rooker, director of the U.S. Department of Education's family policy compliance office.
Rafes said Rooker is coming from Washington and is the national authority on student records.
"It's his job to monitor student records in the whole country," Rafes said.
Rooker's speech, titled "Release of Student Records Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act," will cover the complex legal issues regarding the disclosure of educational records.
Coggins will discuss the steps to avoid costly liability.
Before serving in his current position, Coggins was Special Assistant Attorney General for Texas. He also served on Attorney General Janet Reno's advisory committee and is currently the vice chairman.
"We've got some tremendous speakers," Rafes said.
Other topics that will be discussed at the conference are "How to Handle Violent Employees and Students," "Dealing with the Media," and "Issues in Distance Education."
Rafes said every person who attends the conference will get a packet outlining every issue of higher education law, such as religious freedom, age discrimination and others.
"It's a unique opportunity for an individual to see 28 experts in higher education and law to speak on current legal issues," he said.
NT President Al Hurley said he believes there are several benefits the conference will bring to NT.
"Internally, all members of the community participating will learn a lot," Hurley said. "Externally, the event is one more way to put the university into the consciousness of a large number of people."
Registration for the conference is on a first-come, first-served basis. Rafes said about 150 people have already registered and he is expecting more.
For information call (940) 565-3628.
Fraternity sponsors pig gig
By Selene A. Benjamin
Staff Writer
On Friday, one member of the music faculty will kiss a 30-pound pig in the commons of the Music Building.
Mu Phi Epsilon, a music and service fraternity, is holding the event to raise money for its philanthropy projects, said fraternity vice president Matt Marr, Lone Grove, Okla., sophomore.
Seven music faculty members, including Dr. David Shrader, dean of the College of Music, have been chosen. Monday through Thursday, people can put money in milk cartons set up around the building. Each carton is designated for one faculty member, and the faculty member with the most money in his or her carton has to kiss the pig.
This is the second year the contest has been held.
"Next year we hope to do a schoolwide kiss-a-pig contest," Marr said. "We want a two-to-three week buildup."
Mu Phi Epsilon president Jessie Hinkle, Shreveport, La., senior, said they hope to make as much as they made last year.
"Last year we made around $150," Hinkle said. "We were really excited. It was all quarters and nickels and dimes. We were quite taken aback by how much we made."
Hinkle said they have no set goal for this year, but up to this point they are doing well.
"There is a big front-runner we're expecting to win," she said, but would tell who the expected winner is.
The pig was donated by local farmer Stacy Hardin.
"We really appreciate Mr. Hardin for donating the pig," Marr said. "The College of Music has been great. Last year the pig pooped in the commons."
This year the winner will kiss the pig during the College of Music's honor day.
"The winner will have to do it in front of all the people at the honors day," Marr said.
The last day to donate money is Thursday at 2 p.m., and the kissing will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
Multimedia equipment changes teaching styles
By Brent Adam Crandall
Daily Reporter
Walking into Curry 104, students will see some of the most expensive and under-used equipment the university owns.
To the left there is a stack of ominous-looking electronic devices and a computer. Hanging from the ceiling is a large projector pointed at a screen at the front of the room. All are linked together to provide multimedia capabilities.
And this is not the only room on campus set up in this fashion.
But while many instructors choose to either ignore or sparsely use this equipment, Dr. Kenneth Thompson of the business faculty centers his lectures on them.
Thompson uses Microsoft PowerPoint to create slides to outline his marketing lectures. Along with the stock graphics, he also integrates print and television advertisements as well as instructional and marketing video clips.
All this is an effort to make the course more relevant to real life, Thompson said.
"Marketing is highly media-driven," he said.
He also makes slides for every lecture, and complete lecture notes for most lectures, available on his web site so students can better access them.
Thompson said he spends about 100 hours per week through the course of the semester working on his presentations.
"There's a lot of time involved," he said. "In essence, you're writing a book each time you do one."
Thompson said he is the only instructor on campus that he knows of who uses multimedia to this extent for every lecture.
Several others use PowerPoint, but do not use the video and other media, he said.
"These facilities have been in place for about three years, and they're updated yearly," he said.
The computers have been upgraded twice already and will be upgraded again this summer to Pentium 400s.
So what do the students think of this format?
"I learn principles faster this way and understand marketing better," Heather DuBose, Dallas senior, said. "The presentations are fun, and they leave a lasting impression."
DuBose said she will see a commercial on television that she saw in class and always makes a link to how the marketers are trying to get her attention.
"Dr. Thompson uses old and new commercials to help us see marketing concepts in action," she said.
Thompson said he has some worries about his presentations.
"The thing I worry about is overkill," he said. "It's interesting in the beginning, but it may wear you out after a while."
Thompson plans to continue this format next semester, but the multimedia presentations are only the tip of the iceberg.
The original university grant he received was to make the course Internet-ready, he said. That is a work in progress. What he makes available to his students on the web now is not the Internet version of the course.
When the Internet course is completed, it will have its own web site with chat capabilities, site searches and direct e-mail to an instructor, he said.
"One of the pluses with this course is that we're building a lot of hyperlinks right into the course," Thompson said. That way, when a company is referenced in the course, students will be able to instantly access its web site if they choose, he said.
Thompson said he hopes to have the Internet version of the course available for the spring 2000 semester.
By the time the course is online, he said he hopes to have a total package, including a text book and CD-ROM. But he said it may take additional financing from corporations.
Avenue D to shut down for road work
Staff Report
The campus intersection of Chestnut Street and Avenue D, in front of the Physical Education Building, will be closed to traffic beginning May 17 for concrete work and repaving.
During this construction project, Avenue C will remain open at all times. The construction, which will include wheelchair ramps and street repaving, is expected to last about two weeks.
Depending on the weather, the actual construction period may be longer or shorter than two weeks.
Commencement traffic will not be affected.
Sorority gets recognition
By Daneshe Williams
Daily Reporter
The NT chapter of Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin Sorority was recently awarded "Chapter of the Year '99" at the sorority's national conference.
The NT chapter is the only one in Texas. Corina Sanchez, El Paso sophomore, said the sorority members are glad about this award because the chapters were compared to other chapters in the nation.
"We won chapter of the year compared to chapters which have been established longer," Sanchez said.
Chi Upsilon Sigma members chartered their NT chapter in spring of 1998. The chapter has only been in existence for a year. There are about 18 chapters in the nation, with the majority of the chapters on the East Coast.
"We set up this chapter about a year ago, and have already gained national recognition," Sanchez said.
The chapter's 10 members have been involved in many community activities, such as pen pals, academic kickoff, and they have worked with Mobile Corporation in passing out backpacks to elementary school students. They have also been on KICK-FM radio to encourage Hispanic high school students to attend NT. The members said they try to focus on promoting the Hispanic community and being open to other cultures. Mireya Cortez, Dallas senior, said she joined the sorority because she wanted to do more community service.
"In this sorority I feel a sense of home, being with people who are concerned about promoting Latino education," Cortez said.
Chi Upsilon Sigma member DIana Vega, Dallas senior, received an award for Outstanding Grade-Point Average. The award was given to the member with the highest GPA out of 18 chapters. She said she was shocked when she received the award.
"I was surprised because I did not know I was competing for the award," Vega said.
The sorority focuses on four main areas, which are social, political, educational and cultural.
Court deals another setback to Starr
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - In another setback for Kenneth Starr, a federal judge ruled Wednesday prosecutors cannot interview jurors who refused to convict Susan McDougal, President Clinton's Whitewater partner, in her recent criminal trial.
U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. concluded Starr's office had not shown good cause for the court to make an exception to a policy of not invading the province of the jury.
Prosecutors had said interviewing jurors would be important to their decision about whether to seek a retrial of Mrs. McDougal on two counts that deadlocked the jury.
''We are evaluating our next step,'' Starr spokeswoman Elizabeth Ray said.
Howard wrote that ''permitting the unbridled interviewing of jurors could easily lead to their harassment, to the exploitation of their thought processes ... and to diminished confidence in jury verdicts as well as unbalanced trial results.''
Various members of the jury have talked to the news media since the verdict this month. In interviews with The Associated Press, Donald Thomas, the jury foreman, said he was put off by the ''arrogance'' of Starr's prosecutors and felt the testimony of Starr's deputy, Hickman Ewing, was evasive.
Howard said most courts do not allow attorneys to contact jurors after the conclusion of a trial. Federal courts generally disfavor post-verdict interviewing, he said.
The jury this month acquitted McDougal on an obstruction of justice charge but deadlocked on two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Whitewater.
Starr prosecutor Julie Myers had argued that post-trial contacts with the trial jurors may help save the United States, the court and the defendant from undergoing another judicial proceeding.
McDougal's lawyer, Mark Geragos, at first said he would welcome such interviews by the prosecution team. He later changed his mind and objected to the request. Geragos said Arkansans had been bothered enough by Starr's investigation.
Geragos said federal rules do not allow an inquiry into the mental processes of jurors.
''They are never going to retry this case,'' Geragos said Wednesday after the judge's decision. ''It's just more nonsense and a way for them to spend more tax dollars. It's time they came to their senses, packed up and moved.''
Thomas, the jury foreman, had said that testimony from other witnesses - especially Julie Hiatt Steele, who like Mrs. McDougal was charged with obstructing Starr's probe - convinced some jurors that McDougal's fears about testifying to a grand jury were justified.
McDougal said she thought she'd be charged with perjury unless she falsely implicated the president and Hillary Rodham Clinton in wrongdoing.
Juror Angela Smith, one of five jurors who wanted to convict Mrs. McDougal of criminal contempt, has said she saw no evidence Starr's team acted improperly.
But another juror, Becky Boeckmann, said she wanted to acquit Mrs. McDougal on all counts and doubted she knows anything of value to prosecutors.
One of the jurors who wanted to acquit McDougal on all three counts, Michael Nance, insisted Starr's office was not on trial here, only McDougal.
''She honestly believed that she could be held for a false statement'' and that explained why she didn't talk, said Nance.
NAFTA highway traffic considered
IRVING (AP) - Transportation consultants on Wednesday outlined three strategies for dealing with a possible trade traffic jam along Interstate 35.
Each plan would cost about $10 billion to implement and would provide needed mobility and safety improvements, maintain environmental quality and enhance economic development along the corridor, said professional engineer Joseph W. Guyton of Kansas City.
''We also checked for adequacy, asking, 'is this a good use of public money?''' Guyton said.
Since Congress approved the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, I-35 has been considered a key artery, stretching 1,500 miles between Canada and Mexico. In the United States, the corridor traverses Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and Texas.
Traffic on parts of the route is expected to increase 85 percent on parts of the route by the year 2025, according to a study prepared by The HNTB Cos., a consulting group of architects, engineers and planners.
The study, not directly linked to NAFTA, was federally funded and involved transportation officials from each state involved, Guyton said.
Interstate 35 carries a greater percentage of trade among NAFTA partners than any other U.S. interstate highway, the study found. Most of the traffic was concentrated in Texas, with international truck traffic accounting for only 5 percent of truck traffic between Dalla's and Duluth, Minn.
About 19,000 trucks per day use I-35 at Laredo on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Auto traffic also is heavy, with 230,000 private vehicles using the two legs of I-35 in Dallas-Fort Worth each day. The highway splits south of Dallas-Fort Worth near Hillsboro and rejoins at Denton to the north.
Average daily volumes of 200,000 vehicles have been recorded in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Austin and San Antonio.
Research and hearings to collect public comment culminated in the proposals discussed Monday in Laredo and Tuesday in San Antonio. A final hearing was scheduled Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Final recommendations were expected to be made by mid-summer, said Peggy Thurin, statewide planning coordinator for the Texas Department of Transportation.
After approval of a steering committee including local government groups and the departments of transportation in the six I-35 states, the next steps would be to identify specific sectors requiring improvement, obtaining funding, assessing environmental impact, obtaining public comment, designing the improvements and actually doing the construction.
First U.S. hand transplant patient goes home
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - He made medical history, but Matthew Scott said Wednesday he now wants his groundbreaking hand transplant to become just a footnote in medical textbooks.
Scott has completed his treatment and began the drive home to Absecon, N.J., on Wednesday.
''It would be a dream if I could be anonymous,'' he said at what he hoped would be his final news conference.
''I would very much like to fade into the background.''
Accompanied by his wife, Dawn, the 38-year-old paramedic instructor thanked his doctors and assured naysayers ''my precious gift is anything but useless.''
Scott said he expected to return to his teaching job at a community college and as an emergency medical service supervisor in about two weeks.
Scott lost his hand in a 1985 fireworks accident.
He received a new one Jan. 25 during a 15-hour operation at Louisville Jewish Hospital.
The surgery prompted debate over the ethics of performing a hand transplant. Critics claim the risk is not worth the reward.
Although he still has no sensation in his fingertips, hand surgeon Warren Breidenbach said Scott was progressing rapidly.
''The last thing we anticipate is sensation,'' he said.
Full sensation, he said, whatever that should be, will come in about one year.
As he fielded questions from reporters, Scott talked about the anti-rejection drugs he has come to depend on and the changes he expected as he returned to a normal life away from public scrutiny.
''The time to be scared has come and gone,'' he said. ''Once we decided to go ahead, the fear more or less left.''
Scott will continue his physical therapy at home and return to Louisville for monitoring.
''We're still in uncharted waters,'' said Jon Jones, one of Scott's doctors.
Scott already overcame one episode of rejection and the possibility exists for another.
''But we're confident we can handle what comes next,'' Jones said.
Marine pilot on trial for obstruction
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) - The Marine pilot acquitted of manslaughter in the Italian cable-car tragedy that killed 20 people went on trial Wednesday on obstruction charges.
The obstruction charges stem from allegations about the pilot helping to destroy a video shot from the cockpit of his jet.
Opening statements in the court-martial were interrupted for seven hours while the judge weighed and then rejected a request from the defense for a mistrial.
Capt. Richard Ashby's lawyers objected to what they said was a prosecutor's suggestion that Ashby's silence about the videotape was evidence of his guilt.
The judge, Col. Alvin Keller, agreed that the prosecutor's comments were improper but called a mistrial a drastic remedy and told the military jury to disregard the remark.
Prosecutors said they might appeal the ruling on grounds that it impedes their attempt to show Ashby remained silent to obstruct justice.
Defense attorneys acknowledged in opening statements that Ashby took the videotape from the plane but only because his navigator, Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, asked him to.
The prosecution will begin questioning witnesses Thursday morning.
Ashby, 32, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was acquitted in March of 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 1998 accident in which his EA-6B Prowler sliced through a ski gondola cable in the Alps.
Prosecutors said he was flying recklessly.
He is being tried separately on charges of obstruction and conspiracy for allegedly helping to destroy a videotape shot by his navigator minutes before the jet hit the cable.
Ashby could get up to 10 years in prison.
The prosecutor, Lt. Col. Carol Joyce, said Ashby deliberately concealed evidence when he replaced the video with a blank tape.
''He wanted to make his own judgment of that videotape,'' she said. ''He knew that after that flight, the tape would be nitpicked by investigators.''
Joyce also said Ashby failed to tell authorities about the videotape and invoked his right to silence before an Italian magistrate.
That statement prompted defense attorney Frank Spinner to complain that the government was saying that Ashby ''must be guilty because he elected to remain silent.''
Ashby has admitted he gave the videotape to Schweitzer. Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, N.Y., said he threw the tape into a fire because he feared a frame on it of his smiling face might be used to vilify him and the rest of the crew in the Italian media.
Joyce also said Schweitzer was concerned that the tape might have shown an acrobatic maneuver before the mishap.
Schweitzer pleaded guilty to obstruction and conspiracy in the destruction of the tape and was ordered dismissed from the Marines.
In his opening statement, Ashby lawyer Maj. Bill Weber said Ashby removed the tape after nursing the crippled jet back to the Aviano, Italy, air base because Schweitzer asked him to
He said Ashby gave Schweitzer the tape a day or two later because it belonged to Schweitzer.
''He didn't want to get into an argument'' with Schweitzer about the tape, Weber said.
He said Schweitzer had a plan to destroy the tape and Ashby did nothing to stop it.
Teen pregnancy rate continues to drop
WASHINGTON (AP) - Teen pregnancy plummeted 17 percent in the 1990s to the lowest level since 1973, and teen abortion rates were down, too.
Researchers point to a mix of reasons, including more reliable contraception, fear of AIDS, a new focus on abstinence and even the strong economy.
And there's fresh evidence that the peer pressure so many parents worry about actually does more good than harm.
The falling rates have some advocates worried the nation will become complacent about teen pregnancy, but many were celebrating the statistics, which were being announced Thursday.
''We have made real progress - and must do more - to encourage more young people to delay parenthood,'' said Vice President Al Gore, who plans a roundtable discussion with teen-agers Thursday.
Two new reports document the decline.
New statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services show that births to teen-agers fell 4 percent in 1997, helping to push the national birth rate for all women to a record low.
And a report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute finds teen pregnancy dropped 4 percent in 1996 and fell 17 percent from its peak in 1990.
The Guttmacher statistics combine the birth data with statistics on abortion and estimates for miscarriages.
The HHS report, which looks at a host of birth data, also found a new record low for births to unmarried black women and a continued decline in out-of-wedlock births in 1997. The year saw a record high for women getting early prenatal care and a record low rate of women smoking during pregnancy, down to 13.2 percent.
Nationwide, there were about 880,000 teen pregnancies in 1996 - just under one for every 10 teen women. Sixty-two percent of them were 18- and 19-year-olds; the rest were 15 to 17 years old. The report did not look at teens under 15.
About one in three pregnancies were aborted, as the teen abortion rate dropped 3 percent in 1996. It fell 31 percent from 1986.
Most of the decline in pregnancy is due to increased use of birth control, said Jacqueline E. Darroch, a vice president at Guttmacher, a private research group.
She noted that 11 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds now use long-acting, highly effective birth control methods such as Depo-Provera shots.
Condom use also increased as fear of AIDS spread in the '90s. And national surveys point to decreased teen sexual activity as well.
Other explanations are harder to pin down, including an explosion of abstinence and pregnancy prevention programs and a strong economy that may be giving teens more hope for the future.
Also, for the first time, research suggests positive peer pressure may be stronger than the negative pressures parents usually fear.
Hanging out with friends who do well in school and don't drink or smoke will help a teen avoid pregnancy, researchers found.
But, contrary to many parents' fears, hanging out with kids who engage in these and other risky behaviors doesn't make much difference, said Brad Brown of the University of Wisconsin, who analyzed a federal survey of teens for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Tamara Hayman, 18, who is finishing high school in Baltimore, agreed that peer pressure isn't always negative.
''My best friend is a virgin,'' she said. ''A lot of our friends have had sex and it obviously doesn't bother her that she's still a virgin.''
Still, a new poll conducted for the campaign finds that both parents and teens say parents are more influential than friends when it comes to decisions about sex.
Many parents don't want to talk about sex, Ms. Hayman said. She's been having sex since she was 16 but has never talked to her mother about it.
''You know, there are certain things you don't feel like you can talk to your mother about,'' she said.
Her mother, Laverne Coates, agrees, saying she feels ''real uncomfortable'' talking about sex so she has never had a real conversation with her daughter about it.
But she thinks she has made it clear that teen sex and pregnancy are unacceptable.
NT's agents
Students find calling, good benefits in representing
university as Eagle Ambassadors
By Lesley Outlaw and Mary Buckelew
Staff Writer
Melanie Sidwell said when she heard about the Eagle Ambassador job she knew it was for her.
It would allow her to get paid for doing things she already did voluntarily, the Irving senior said.
"This organization gave me an outlet to have a job and still do the things I like to do," she said.
Sidwell started out at NT trying to get involved. She worked as a tour guide, a peer counselor, and finally an Eagle Ambassador.
Sidwell said she is the type of person who tries to get involved in as many activites as possible at NT.
"I love working with the students," Sidwell said. "I love working with the alumni and I enjoy making other people proud of NT."
The Eagle Ambassadors consist of 12 student representatives who are required to work 10 hours a week, representing NT to the public through tours and to the alumni through recruiting events.
David Gerle, Phoenix, Ariz., junior, said in the fall 13 Eagle Ambassadors will represent NT, and he will be the only returning ambassador. He said he is returning next year because he really enjoys the job.
"I enjoy doing the job because I get to meet hundreds of new people," Gerle said. "This job improves social skills and I like that about it."
The Eagle Ambassadors participate in special events for the chancellor, high school college nights, grand openings of buildings and alsotake care of information desk, assist NT 40, and aid the admissions office.
Stephanie Stegall, supervisor of the Eagle Ambassadors, said the ambassador program is funded through public affairs.
Stegall said she wants to spread the word about the group and encourage students to help their peers.
"We hope to get the word out to let all departments know that they can call upon us," Stegall said. "When students speak to other students the response tends to be better."
The student ambassadors are not only paid, but they receive scholarships as well, Stegall said. She said all of these students go through a selection process to be chosen for this job.
"I'm glad I had the opportunity to be an Eagle Ambassador because I was afraid my studies would make me have to give up involvement in the university," Sidwell said.
NY Times to refuse tobacco advertisements
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times announced Wednesday it plans to rid its pages of all advertisements for cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products because of the harmful effects of smoking.
''We don't want to expose our readers to advertising that may be dangerous to their health,'' New York Times Co. spokeswoman Nancy Nielsen said.
The ban will take effect Saturday.
Tobacco advertising accounted for less than 1 percent of the newspaper's $1 billion in ad revenue last year. More than a dozen other U.S. newspapers refuse to publish tobacco ads.
Mark Smith, a spokesman for tobacco company Brown & Williamson, criticized the Times' decision, saying the new policy is ''pathetic.''
''Isn't it ironic that a publication that trumpets freedom of the press would trample on the freedom of commercial expression?'' he said.
Judge approves move of dragging death trial
JASPER, Texas (AP) - The judge in the second trial over the dragging death of a black man agreed Wednesday to move the case out of Jasper.
The decision came after the defense argued the town may be inclined to convict the white defendant to salvage its image.
Where Lawrence Russell Brewer will be tried won't be made public until May 14. Judge Monte Lawlis said jury selection may not begin until July.
Last week, District Attorney Guy James Gray persuaded Lawlis to reject defense efforts to move Brewer's trial from Jasper. But then Gray decided he didn't want the defense to be able to bring up the change of venue issue in an appeal if Brewer is convicted. So Gray, too, asked the judge to move the trial.
''What I'm trying to do is avoid a sideshow,'' Gray said.
Brewer, 32, is one of three white men accused of chaining James Byrd Jr. to a pickup truck last June and dragging him to death for three miles along a rural road. In February, John William King, 24, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Brewer smiled and shook his attorneys' hands after Wednesday's hearing. The attorneys said Jasper County residents would be unfairly inclined to clean up the image of Jasper, a racially mixed timber town that became infamous nationwide after Byrd's gruesome death.
Gray and defense attorney Doug Barlow both refused to comment on areas under consideration for Brewer's trial. The likeliest place appears to Georgetown, a city of 22,000 about 200 miles west of Jasper, near Austin.
Officials there confirmed that Jasper authorities contacted them a week ago about the possibility of holding the trial there. Other possible locations are Corpus Christi, Kerrville and New Braunfels.
Gray said location doesn't matter.
''A jury in some other county is going to be just about like a jury in Jasper or anywhere else,'' he said. ''They're going to decide this case on facts.''
A trial date for the third defendant, Shawn Allen Berry, 24, has not been set.
Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band to premiere student composition
By Torrey Bell
Staff Writer
The Lucille G. "Lupe" Murchison Performing Arts Center is getting a theme song.
Composer and musician James Kazik, Denton graduate student, has written "Fanfare for a Great Hall" to be premiered at a joint performance of the Wind Symphony and the Symphonic Band today at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.
The piece was commissioned by the NT Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. The organization approached Dr. Eugene Corporon of the music faculty to suggest potential composers to be sponsored.
"This is a really nice piece by a talented composer," Corporon said. "It's good that it turned out to be a student-to-student project."
Corporon will direct the Wind Symphony during the second part of the program, made up of pieces by Gustav Holst, John Phillip Sousa, Edward MacDowell and Aaron Copland.
"For our last concert, we try to program lighter pieces - pieces that are not hard to listen to, listener friendly," Corporon said. "We're playing things from the entire century beginning in 1911 with Copland and the end of the century with Kazik's piece."
Corporon said the evening will be a nice celebration of a beautiful performance hall and the performance will be the last one for many of the players because many of them are graduating.
"It's a special night, an emotional one," he said.
Corporon also said he tries to make the last performance of the Wind Symphony student-oriented, adding that doctoral candidates Cheryl Fryer and Bradley Genevro will conduct two of the selections. However, Kazik and his premiered piece will be the focus of attention, he said.
"The composition is short. It's a fanfare," he said. "So we'll probably play it twice so everyone can really enjoy it and [Kazik] can get a good recording."
Kazik said he began the composition in the fall and that after finishing the piece he realized how fitting it was for the commemoration of the Performing Arts Center.
"This piece is meant to signal the beginning of a new era - of the future of the College of Music," he said.
Kazik, who also plays in the trombone choir, said playing his instrument rather than composing has been the bread-winner for him and he hopes to do both after school, possibly scoring films.
The evening will begin with a performance by the Symphonic Band, headed by Dennis Fisher of the music faculty.
"We try to offer a variety of selections in the repertoire, a balance of different composers, styles - historic and new pieces," Fisher said. The Symphonic Band will play selections by Johann Strauss, Morton Gould and William Hill. Fisher's selections, like Corporon's, also are geared toward the listeners.
"We try to select compositions that are appealing to play and listen to," he said. "We try to leave people with a good taste of what we perform."
The Symphonic Band's performance will feature a faculty artist, clarinetist John Scott. Scott will be featured in "Concertino for Clarinet."
"This piece was written in the early 1800s and is one of the most famous clarinet pieces. It is a staple of most clarinetists," Fisher said.
The finale of the band's will be Gould's "Jerico."
Fisher related how Gould was a composer for NBC Radio in the '40s and how the composer has a very pragmatic, descriptive style
"He used the radio orchestra style. The picture is easy to imagine," he said.
NT fraternity organizes benefit to raise money for AIDS
By Thomas Dodson
Staff Writer
Preparing for upcoming AIDS awareness month in May, the NT campus and Denton community are coming together to help a local clinic.
In order to raise money for NT's AIDS services clinic in Denton, service fraternity Gamma Beta Phi and local night club, the Groovy Mule, 1131 Fort Worth Drive, have joined forces to put on a benefit concert.
Gloria Cox, who has been the adviser to Gamma Beta Phi for the last two years, said the organization has always been committed to helping the Denton community.
"Gamma Beta Phi is devoted to public service and has done projects for several years to help better the community," she said.
Rockwall junior Jessica Lundborg, Gamma Beta Phi's AIDS service's chair, said that the fund-raiser had been done by NT's Human Alliances in the past and this is the fraternity's first year to take it over. She said they hope to raise at least $8,000 for the clinic through ticket sales and donations at the door.
"The clinic took a 40 percent decrease in budget this year, so they're really hurting in that area," Lundborg said.
In order to hold a benefit concert, Lundborg approached Groovy Mule co-owner Lloyd Banks about having the event at the club. Banks said he and his partner Scott Foster had talked about hosting some kind of charity event and that this was the perfect opportunity to use their venue to do something unselfish.
"It's nice to actually have something that we can give to other people, especially those who need it," he said.
Lundborg also spoke with members of the successful Dallas' band, Tripping Daisy, after a January show about playing for the benefit. Lundborg said the band was so responsive to the idea that they themselves signed on many of the other acts playing.
Daisy spokesman Erik Courson said the band jumped at the opportunity to play.
"When we were contacted quite some time ago, it sounded like a good idea and opportunity to play a great show for a great cause. We really couldn't turn it down," Courson said.
Playing along with Tripping Daisy will be four other Metroplex acts. Flickerstick, Centro-matic, Baboon and Captain Audio are scheduled to play along with the comedic styling of Tim Howell.
The event is also sponsored by Eagle's Nest, Student Association, Lucky Lou's, Cool Beans, The Loophole and Riprock's.
The benefit concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Groovy Mule. Tickets are $12 prior to Saturday and $14 the day of the show. For information call the Groovy Mule at (940) 383-7674.
Nation observes centennial of Ellington's birth
WASHINGTON (AP) - This city of presidents is turning its attention to a duke as jazz lovers and historians observe the centennial of the birth of one of America's most prolific composers, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington.
The talents of Ellington, who put the country "In a Sentimental Mood" and implored folks to "Take the A Train," are the focus of lectures, performances and other special events in the capital and around the nation. Most of the events are tied to his birthday, April 29.
Both the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Lincoln Center in New York have scheduled numerous concerts honoring Ellington.
Other tributes include lectures at the Juilliard School, a series of ballets to his music by the New York Ballet and music festivals at venues from Iowa to Italy.
"Everybody is starving for Ellington projects and Ellington works and Ellington evenings," said Mercedes Ellington, a choreographer who also has arranged works to her grandfather's music.
Some of the interest may be attributed not only to the 100th anniversary of Ellington's birth but to the recent resurgence of swing dancing.
Ellington enthusiasts, however, say it's mainly because people - like the judges who awarded him a Pulitzer Prize this year - are finally appreciating the Duke's genius.
The Pulitzer board said Ellington's body of work "evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture."
"He is the greatest all-around musician this country has produced," said John Hasse, an Ellington biographer and the American music curator for the Smithsonian Institution.
"The United States has produced a number of superb composers, many great band leaders and conductors, brilliant arrangers and orchestras and virtuostic soloists and accompanists," Hasse said. "But Ellington did all of those things and did them brilliantly."
Ellington lived in Washington until his early 20s.
He formed two of his earliest bands, Duke's Serenaders and The Washingtonians, here before moving to New York.
There, he rose to fame during a time when radio had burst onto the scene and the recording industry was burgeoning.
By the time he died May 24, 1974, Ellington had published about 2,000 compositions, but he wrote much more than that.
Among his archives preserved at the Smithsonian are 200,000 pages of documents - about half of which are unpublished music.
"Can you imagine acquiring a hundred thousand pages of unpublished Beethoven music?" Hasse said.
"It's just incredible. I regard the Ellington collection as one of the Smithsonian's crown jewels."
Future looks bright for NT athletic teams
By Chris Roark
Sports Writer
Yet another year of Mean Green sports comes to an end with track, tennis and golf being the only sports still going on.
However, unlike years of the past, this season's end promises a more realistic showing for next year.
I'm talking about all the sports at this school, not just the women's basketball team, which won the division for the first time since being in the Big West Conference.
It goes back to the football season. The Mean Green played its first season under head coach Darrell Dickey and was one win away from having a tie for first place in the conference.
Big wins over Boise State, Nevada and New Mexico State helped get the confidence going for the team and the rest of the school as all of a sudden the word around school was a possible Humanitarian Bowl appearance.
That never happened as NT lost its second to the last game to Idaho, which went on to win the conference. But the fact that NT football team and postseason were used in the same sentence was a new adventure on this campus.
The late-season surge gives a reason for Mean Green fans to be excited. So does the return of Broderick McGrew, Corbin Montgomery and next season.
Another team that showed a ray of sunshine after a dark and dreary start was the men's basketball team. Losers of its first 12 games, NT came out strong in the third conference game by defeating Pacific 83-75.
Though it continued to plummet to the bottom of the dark unknown, it was able to make one last grasp to break the never-ending fall and pull off three wins in its last four game to keep from completely hitting rock bottom.
But they weren't just wins. They were ground-breaking wins. For a ground-breaking season next year. Maybe. That is if next year's sophomores Dexter Tennell and Deginald Erskin perform as well as they did during the last four games. Tennell had 24-, 26-, 23- and 12-point games in that span, and Erskin had 21,15, 40 and 35.
There were other teams that have little else to prove except to NCAA Selection Committees. The NT women's soccer team missed out on a playoff bid when the committee decided not to vote them in despite having a 13-4-2 record. But never fear, the team lost only two players, to graduation that is, so there won't be a lot to make up.
Instead, the team will have one more year from Krista Davey (14 goals) and two from Christy Johnson (10 goals).
The Lady Eagles basketball team is another team that came close to peaking last season as it won the division but fell in the second round of the playoffs to Long Beach State. The team was full of freshmen, but they were freshmen who could play.
The team never used the fact that rookies made up most of the team as an excuse for winning or losing.
` The fact is that the these freshmen will be second-year players next year. Whatever they did this season should be only scratching the surface of what they will do next year.
And when Ashley Norris (36 percent career shooter from the field) and Shannon Stephenson return from being red-shirted, the conference, not just the division, should belong to NT. For the next few years, NT and conference champion UC Santa Barbara should be the teams of the conference, the teams to beat and the Big West representative in the NCAA Tournament.
The track team as well has reason to be excited for the next few seasons. Most of the women on the team will be returning, including Chiquita Ellis, who put on a great season after running 24.29 seconds in the 200-meter dash.
Paul Ndachi on the men's side comes back as well after having success in the 5,000 and the sprint medley relay event, which broke a school record at the Texas Tech Relays.
The men's golf team will have all of its key players coming back as well, and after looking at their performances this season, any golf fan can see that this is a very good thing. Neal Collins averaged 73 strokes per round and was followed by Les Phillips (74), Phil Everson (75), Chris Brown (75) and Michael Pruitt (75).
The next few seasons are going to be something to behold at NT. Several Mean Green teams have boasted in the past of having quality players who will take them to the top.
While we laughed at them before for this bold promise, now it might be time for them to do some laughing of their own.Finally.
Men's golf team leads in 1st round
Staff Report
The NT men's golf team continued its success on the West Coast, taking a seven-shot lead after the first round of the Big West Conference tournament.
NT, which won the Pacific Invitational in September, shot a 295 in the first round at Santa Ana Country Club, a 7-over par. UC-Irvine is in second place after shooting a 302.
NT's Les Philips held a two-stroke lead in the tournament shooting a 2-under par 70. Philips shot a 35 on both the front and back nine. Philips had a 73-stroke average during the season.
The next NT competitor is Phil Everson, who is tied for eighth place. Everson shot a 2-over par 74.
Neal Collins is tied for 11th, shooting a 3-over par 75. Collins shot a 37 on the front nine and fell off with a 38 on the back nine.
Chris Brown was 4-over par with a 76 and is tied for 13th. Brown struggled on the front nine with a 39, then rebounded with a 37 on the back nine.
Freshman Michael Pruitt playing in his first conference tournament shot a 6-over 78. Pruitt is tied for 24th place.
Cycling club ends season at conference meet
By Jennifer Bissett
Daily Reporter
NT's cycling club competed in the collegiate conference in Wichita Falls on Saturday and Sunday.
NT is usually four riders strong in collegiate races, but the club had to go into the conference competition last weekend with only three riders, since class B rider Andrew Medlock was out of competition with an injury. Along with the shortage of riders, NT and the other competitors had to endure rain through the weekend.
"It rained for pretty much every race," Mark Bayer, class B rider said. "It was a really wet weekend."
The conference was divided into division I and division II schools. NT went up against UT-Austin, Texas A&M University, Midwestern State University, Baylor, Texas Tech University, the University of Houston and UT-Arlington.
"They usually set it up as large school and small school conferences, but this year it was by division," Medlock said. "We were considered a large school even though, we only have four people."
Mark Bayer, Ron Sunker and Nathan Bellshaw made up the NT riding team at the conference race. The three finished fifth as a team in the time trial competition. Bayer took second in the road race on Saturday. Overall, NT finished fourth in the conference. The club is now ranked sixth in Texas, with Bayer ranked 10th overall individually.
"Conference is like the Super Bowl for cycling in Texas," Bayer said. "It's the big closeout for the collegiate season. It was a good race and we had a good time. We all did really well this season. We started out with almost an entirely new team, and everyone ended up in the top 15 in Texas for the year. It's been an awesome season."
Worldly Welcome
International students get a taste of American culture
Story by Julie Freeman
It wasn't exactly an ideal day for a picnic. Chilly winds whipped across the park, and somber clouds loomed overhead, threatening rain.
But for all the sullenness of the weather, the spirits of about 100 students and community members who gathered Saturday at North Lakes Park weren't dampened. Laughter and excited chatter illuminated one corner of the park, where Global Interact celebrated its second American Picnic in the Park for international students.
Coming together
NT and TWU students from countries across the world congregated under one of the park's pavilions to enjoy free food, American style. While munching on hamburgers, hot dogs and barbecued chicken, they had the opportunity to talk with Global Interact participants, who were interspersed among the picnic tables.
For those who have crossed borders, cultures and language barriers to come to Denton, Global Interact offers a welcoming hand and a way for those students to become acquainted with community members. The spring picnic and the fall's American Thanksgiving are two ways the group tries to encourage fellowship among the foreign students and their American counterparts.
"Our main thing really is not the picnic and Thanksgiving dinner, but to match international students with community families for cultural exchange," said Mike McMillan, Global Interact chairman.
Volunteering values
Global Interact is not a live-in program; instead, it encourages families to volunteer their time with international students about once a month, planning family activities and showing the students what American culture is all about. The program is supported, but not sponsored, by both NT and TWU.
McMillan and his wife have taken four Chinese students under their wing during their stay in America. During their time together, they have gone to sporting events and musical events, had dinner together and played table games, among other activities. This time spent together has formed a bond between not just them and the students, McMillan said, but among the students themselves.
The success of the program is evident in the number of students wanting to get involved with the program who don't currently have a sponsor. Right now about 50 community members are active in the program, and NT houses about 1,500 international students each year.
"We have more students that want the program than we have families,"McMillan said. "We have not been able to fulfill all student requests,though a number of us have more than one student."
To try to get more community participation in the program, McMillan said he is planning to meet with various civic organizations in Denton to enlist their support, and also to advertise on television and newspapers.
A collage of cultures
Neda Salahi, Tehran, Iran, graduate student, said the picnic is important to international students in understanding the American culture. Salahi, who has been in Denton for about three months, received her bachelor of arts degree in English from Azad University in Tehran. Her fluency in English comes from hours of intensive study combined with practical experience that comes from her job as a switchboard operator in the Eagle Student Services Center.
"I was really interested in coming here, studying here especially,because in my country they really value studying in America," Salahi said."In my country, it's so important to be educated. If you're not educated, you can't get a job. If you can't get a job, you can't live.
"I was just one of those students that was interested and really worked hard to come here," she said. "I'm so happy to be here."
Weichih Tung, NT student from Taipei County, Taiwan, is still working through intensive English classes and hopes to enroll as a freshman this fall. This year was Tung's second time to attend the picnic, which he said is impotant to international students who often don't have the social opportunities of other students.
Connecting
"We don't have space or many chance ... to make friendship with classmates," Tung said. "Lucky we have this chance, come here, always someone to share experience."
Tung said he wished NT could do more activities for international students such as the picnic.
"I want to suggest to UNT to think about how to use short time and give for students to feel easy, safety and comfortable for stay on campus," Tung said. "When we come here, it is our privilege to study. Sometime we really need to have some fun."
While the picnic may be some international students' only interaction with Denton residents on a large scale, some are involved in other groups that reach out to international students.
Three women who participate in the International Student Ministry at Denton Bible Church came to the picnic together to learn more about Global Interact.
One of the women, Marigladys Lopez, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, graduate student, has been in America for four years. Lopez said the transition between cultures was not as difficult for her because she made contacts to get into the international group at the church before arriving.
"It was not so hard because in my country, I called someone in country who know people here," Lopez said. "When I came, very fast go to international group."
Annie Ye, Chia-Yi, Taiwan, senior, did not have as easy of a time adjusting.
"For me, I'm shy," Ye said. "For me it's hard to talk to people. The language problem kind of makes you feel like you don't know what to talk about. You try to learn better and better and better, but it's like it never ends."
Being a part of an international group made her gradual adjustment to American life easier.
"I think for me I love here because I love God," Ye said. "I love church here. It makes me love being here."
Community importance
Lassamon Chanurai, Bangkok, Thailand, graduate student, will soon mark the anniversary of her second year in Denton. Along with the two women who came with her, Chanurai also thought fellowship between international students and the community is important.
"I think it's great," she said. "Sometimes international students here are lonely."
McMillan said that, unlike many other church-oriented international groups, Global Interact seeks only to open friendships among international students and the community, without attempting to change cultural beliefs.
"It's an exchange of culture, not a change of culture," he said.
And from the number of students enjoying the time of fellowship away from the school books, McMillan could call the picnic a success.
"I'm very pleased. Students are having a good time," he said. "The students are more enthusiastic this year. We are better organized because we learned from last year."
McMillan said the yearly picnic will continue indefinitely, as will continued efforts by Global Interact to help international students familiarize themselves with American culture and American families. And the work Global Interact is doing today is thanks to Jim Riddlesperger, who helped start it all back in the '50s, he said.
Riddlesperger, a former faculty member an NT alumnus from 1937, also participated in the picnic, mingling with international students and seeing the fruits of his efforts many years before.
"I just have felt perfectly delighted to have international students because I've been out in other countries and I know what it means to them," said Riddlesperger, who served in the Korean War. "It means a lot to me to have this connection.
"I feel international students need to get into American homes, get acquainted with American families," he said. "That's what I always tried to encourage and tried to get Americans that would enjoy them. That is the reason we started it and enjoy seeing it."