Harry

I have nothing but respect for the job that Coach Leftwich has done, however lets lay all of the cards out on the table here. Coach Dickey inherited Coach Leftwich when he got here back in 98. Coach Leftwich is very close to Steve Kraigthorpe from his days back in the Simon regime. I am of the belief that if UNT wanted to retain Leftwich they could have. They - for whatever reason - chose not to. Leftwich had been at UNT for 9 seasons...that's a long time to be at one place. Perhaps this was a good chance for him to move on and take on a new challenge under a close friend. Perhaps this was a way for UNT to move on in another direction as well. I am of the belief that UNT could improve itself at this coaching position, possibly with a line coach that has more recruiting abilities than does Leftwich. My take is that this decision was in the best interests for both sides and not just about money. I guess only time will tell. I wish Coach Leftwich and his family nothing but the very best in the future. GMG!

SWT Name Change Debate Link

SWT name change put off until 2005 University president hired in June says she needs time to study issue, plan strategy. By Jeremy Schwartz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Monday, December 23, 2002 SAN MARCOS -- Greg LaFleur, the athletic director at Southwest Texas State University, had hoped that about this time, he'd be working for a place called Texas State University. Like a number of other school officials, students and alumni pushing to change SWT's title, LaFleur says Texas State University better represents the school's size and quality. Earlier this year, momentum for the effort to ditch SWT's double directional name reached its peak when former President Jerome Supple cobbled together a coalition of supporters to petition the Texas State University System Board of Regents. When the regents delayed a vote on the name change until SWT hired its new president, many remained hopeful that the idea would stay on the fast track and go to the Legislature for approval next year. Instead, the issue has gone to the rear of the school's legislative priorities and will not move to the forefront until 2005 at the earliest, in part because the school's new president remains undecided. "I'm so disappointed," LaFleur said. "I thought that when we reached 25,000 students, there was no better time to change the name." President Denise Trauth, hired in June, said at the time that she would have to study the issue before taking a position. She has been true to her word, talking with current and former students, university officials around the state, and faculty and staff members. "Not a week goes by that someone doesn't bring the issue to my attention on one side or the other," she said. "There's an enormous amount of dialogue." Trauth wants to decide before the 2005 legislative session. That, she said, gives her enough time to study the issue and then map out a legislative strategy, should the school decide to change its name. Such a change would need legislative approval, which would happen after the regents give their OK. Meanwhile, the issue remains hotly debated on campus. Student government President Robert Doerr has become a leading proponent of name change, helping start a group called Students for Texas State that has held public meetings, set up information tents on the SWT quadrangle and printed Texas State T-shirts. The group has set up a Web site, www.texasstateuniversity.net, whose message board is filled with lively exchanges. "Right now it's a pivotal issue with the new president coming in," Doerr said. "It's extremely important that the students' voice is heard." Perhaps no other issue in recent memory has polarized the school as much as the proposed name change. Dorothy Evans, SWT's director of alumni affairs, said that during the height of the controversy in February, she was fielding 200 to 300 e-mails a day. Many alumni and students feel an emotional attachment to the Southwest Texas State University name. They say it's more important to focus energy and money on improving academics and developing programs than on something that would undo a proud tradition. One alum wrote on the Web site's message board, "If you really hate the name SWT please do all us proud SWT Bobcats a favore (sic) and transfer to another school!!!" Name change supporters argue that Texas State University would bring more prestige to the school, increase the cachet of diplomas in the work force and aid in recruiting. Newly hired football coach Manny Matsakis agrees. "Without question, it would help," he said. "A change like that would help me attract better student-athletes." The name change has some of its fiercest critics in the other schools in the Texas State University System, who argue that if SWT had the Texas State moniker, they would be consigned to second-class status. "It's the name of our system," said William Fleming, Faculty Senate chairman at Sam Houston State University, the system's second-largest school. "It would give the wrong impression to the outside world that (SWT) is the flagship, when that is not the case." Fleming said he hopes Trauth will choose a less objectional name. Supple said he supports Trauth's deliberate course, adding that even had he remained president, he might not have been ready to lobby the Legislature next year. "I'm not sure the selling job has been done yet," he said. A selling job is what folks on both sides of the issue hope to accomplish with Trauth, who more than anyone holds the key to the future name of the university. "On one level, it is a lot of pressure," Trauth said. "However, one of the things you take on when you become president of a university is that kind of pressure." jschwartz@statesman.com; (512) 392-8750

wow...that's terrible news....

Go Mean Green Chat Link

GOMEANGREEN.COM CHAT LINK GMG.com Links to Online Radio Listening (88.1 and 100.7)

on the Mean Green Board in the "General Mean Green News" Section. Click and scroll down the following link to read her comments: GMG.com Thread on Mean Green Softball

Bloomington, Ind. - No. 19 Indiana tips off its 2002-03 home schedule against 1-1 North Texas on Dec. 1 at Assembly Hall. The game will be televised locally by ESPN Plus (WTTV-Channel 4). Here are some of the key notes heading into the UNT game. Coach Mike Davis' next victory marks the 50th of his head coaching career * Bracey Wright is the first freshman since North Carolina's Joseph Forte (1998) to earn Maui Invitational MVP honors. He is also the first IU freshman since Calbert Cheaney (1989-90) to score double figures in each of his first three collegiate games. Finally, he has made his last 11 consecutive free throws. * Entering this season, Jeff Newton had attempted three three-pointers in his career. Through the first three games of 2002-03, he is already 4-5 from beyond the arc, following the trend set by former Hoosier All-Americans Kirk Haston and Jared Jeffries. Haston and Jeffries each hit nearly 40 percent from three-point range in their final seasons in Bloomington. * Senior guard Tom Coverdale, a candidate for The Wooden and Senior CLASS Awards, is on pace to become the fifth player in school history with 1,000 career points and 400 career assists. He would join A.J. Guyton, Damon Bailey, Randy Wittman and Quinn Buckner. He has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in nine of his last 12 career games, and the Hoosiers are 15-2 when he has at least seven assists.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/colleges/...oops.643d8.html North Texas visits 19th-ranked Indiana 12/01/2002 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – North Texas' season-opening road tour really gets rough Sunday. The Mean Green, which doesn't play in Denton until Dec. 10, has the unenviable task of facing No. 19 Indiana (3-0) in the Hoosiers' home opener. It would be easy for UNT to be intimidated by Indiana's storied tradition. The Hoosiers have made 31 appearances in the NCAA Tournament – 17 in a row – and have won five national championships. They almost made it six last year, falling in the championship game to Maryland. An 88-75 loss Friday at SMU exposed a disturbing deficiency in the rebounding department for undersized UNT (1-1). The Mean Green is also still waiting for star swingman Chris Davis to return to his scoring form. Indiana claimed the championship of the Maui Invitational earlier this week. Freshman shooting guard Bracey Wright of The Colony was named the tournament's MVP after averaging a team-high 15.7 points per game, including 21 against Virginia in the title game.

GOMEANGREEN.COM GAME RECAPS

SWMS Recap from their Official Site

ttt=to the top

GMG Chatroom annnnnd: Listen to the Game Here (Link)

Old timer have you been able to decipher what the schedule may look like and when the first game will be played. Where will our home games be played?

What is that white cone looking thing on top of the main building on the corner? Just decoration or a design deal?

Really going to be an awesome building!

The Mean Green Report

Great report Buford as usual. Question for you, of the freshman signees - excluding Degrate - which one appears poised to make the biggest contribution. I was very impressed with Ron Harris at the scrimmage and think that he may provide the most immediate help at this time. On the other hand Ty Thomas appeared pretty raw although it was just one practice.

Link to Law.com Article UNT Interested in Buying Texas Wesleyan Law School Pamela Manson Texas Lawyer 10-30-2002 Another suitor is showing interest in Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. The chancellor of the University of North Texas in Denton says UNT officials are discussing buying the Fort Worth law school and have begun appraising its physical assets, including the building, land, computers and library materials. Although discussions about the purchase began recently, UNT's desire to develop a public law school goes back more than 20 years, Chancellor Lee Jackson says. "The opportunity to acquire an existing accredited law school in an area without a public law school offers some advantages to the region and to UNT," Jackson says. UNT is the second university this year to consider buying Texas Wesleyan's law school. Wesleyan administrators have discussed selling the school for almost two years, but the board of trustees turned down an offer this year from Texas Christian University as too low. Wesleyan and TCU administrators decline to reveal the amount of the offer, but two sources who request anonymity peg the amount at about $30 million. Lisa Fellers, Wesleyan's director of communications, says that discussions with UNT are in the early stage. "When you have a great thing, people are always interested," she says. "It's a prestigious school." Jackson says it's too soon to put a price tag on the deal, but UNT plans to raise private money if it does buy the law school. In addition, the university would not ask the Legislature for operating expenses, he says. "This is not the environment to be asking the state of Texas for additional dollars," the chancellor says. "It [the law school] would need to continue to be self-supporting." The school would remain in Fort Worth if it becomes part of UNT, he adds. The state, including the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, would have to approve the deal. The law school was established in 1989 as DFW Law School and became part of Texas Wesleyan in 1992. The American Bar Association granted it full approval in 1999. Approximately 600 students, some of them part time, attend the school. The law school's relationship with Wesleyan, which has been grappling with budget woes recently, has been rocky at times. The university's use last year of almost $1 million of profits generated by the law school for other Wesleyan programs irked law Dean Richard Gershon, who on Aug. 16 announced that he would step down as dean in May 2003 and return to full-time teaching. Gershon said any surplus should help the law students who generated it and his decision to resign as dean was based on funding disagreements with university officials. This academic year, Wesleyan officials will refrain from dipping too deeply into its law school's coffers. Under an agreement approved Oct. 8 by Texas Wesleyan's board of trustees, the university will take only 20 percent of what the law school generates above its $10.9 million budget. That works out to about $150,000 on an estimated profit of approximately $750,000. The rest would be used for the law school. Gershon credits students, faculty, staff and alumni for helping bring about the agreement. They voiced their concern over money being diverted from the law school and university officials responded positively, he says. He adds that the board has set up a liaison committee to work with law school representatives. "It's a very positive step," Gershon says. "It allows the law school to keep all of its budget. We couldn't have asked for anything more."

UNT Frats in Trouble

Last modified: 02:00 AM CST on Friday, November 01, 2002 It's last call at UNT fraternities Officials cite 'culture' of drinking for ban; students wanted input 11/01/2002 By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News Animal House at the University of North Texas just got tamed. Officials have banned alcohol from all common areas of the university's seven fraternity houses because of a rise in underage drinking. In addition, UNT announced Thursday that it was suspending the local chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha for the rest of the school year because of a hazing incident involving underage drinking. "We just finally realized that a culture was formulating that was not a healthy environment for our students," said Bonita Jacobs, UNT's vice president for student development. "We very much needed to get their attention." Consider them attentive. People are upset," said Nick Carter, vice president of UNT's Interfraternity Council. "I don't think underage drinking is any worse in the houses than in the college as a whole." The policy says that fraternity members older than 21 may drink alcohol in their rooms. But drinking in the halls, dens or any other common area is banned. Dr. Jacobs said that the ban is temporary and that if fraternities show a commitment to improved behavior, drinking might be allowed back within a year. The university was pressed into action by a marked increase in the number of underage drinking incidents. So far this semester, six of the 10 fraternities have faced university charges for violations of alcohol policy. In previous years, typically only one or two fraternities would be facing such charges at this point, Dr. Jacobs said. "We've been keeping an eye on it all semester, and it was getting worse," she said. She said the campus' Greek groups had made significant progress in recent years toward a more controlled atmosphere, but that "something changed in the culture this year." One of the six fraternities accused this semester is Lambda Chi Alpha. The university said the group violated a number of school policies, including those on hazing, public intoxication and intimidation, and unspecified state laws. It's the third fraternity suspended by UNT since April 2000. Lambda Chi Alpha members could not be reached Thursday. A phone number listed for the chapter has been disconnected. During the last decade, a number of hazing- and alcohol-related incidents on campuses nationwide have led to a backlash against the excesses of Greek life. Some universities have banned fraternities and sororities; others have insisted that their houses be completely dry. "Everyone is concerned about the risk management that goes on in the houses," said Stephen Hirst, Texas Tech University's fraternity adviser. Dry by choice Fraternities often have been willing to go along with stricter rules. Several national fraternities demand that their chapter houses be alcohol-free, and several of the UNT houses are dry by choice. "We want other people to take pride in our houses as much as we do," Mr. Carter said. "So we've all been becoming more politically correct, you could say." The new policy applies only to members of the Interfraternity Council, which includes the school's 10 historically white fraternities. It does not apply to the campus' sororities or its historically black or Latino Greek organizations, in part because none of those groups have houses of their own. Only seven of the 10 IFC fraternities have houses, meaning the policy's impact will be minimal on the other three. Historically, universities have had a stronger hand in regulating on-campus fraternities than those with houses not on university property. But the new policy applies equally to the five on-campus frats and the two off campus. The university also announced that fraternities may still hold events with alcohol at places other than their houses, but only if they hire a third party such as a bar to serve the alcohol and check IDs. Mr. Carter said that fraternity members were concerned less by the new policies than by how they were imposed. "It's the fact it was handed down to us without our input," he said. He said that the fraternity council is not informed when alcohol-related allegations are made against members, meaning the group cannot be proactive in fixing the problem. What's next The next step will be an evaluation of the existing rules governing fraternity parties to determine if they're strict enough. Already, many fraternity events must be approved by university officials, including advance submission of a guest list, designated drivers, and someone to check students' identification. "I don't think it will be a lot of new rules and regulations as much as making sure they follow the rules already in place," Dr. Jacobs said. In January, UNT plans a "leadership summit" with local, alumni, and national representatives of all the campus fraternities. Dr. Jacobs said she didn't want to estimate when drinking might return to the houses, but she said she hoped it would be measured "in months, not years." E-mail jbenton@dallasnews.com It's Last Call at UNT

I don't know if anyone caught this or not but NMSU Post Chris "T-Rex" Jackson did not make his grades and will have to sit out the first semester of 2002. I read this in the Dallas Morning News. Jackson you might recall originally signed with Vic Trilli and UNT out of Kimball back in 98-99, did not academically qualify and was placed at Garden City CC. He later would sign with NMSU. This doesn't affect the conference race as much but could impact their chemistry...

Wow that would be huge...if anyone can find any news articles on this please post. I have said for years that the metroplex badly needs a public law school. Lets keep our fingers crossed on this one!

12:00 EDT Wednesday UNT enrollment jumps to record high Enrollment at the University of North Texas in Denton reached 30,256 students on Sept. 9, the highest fall enrollment in the school's 112-year history. That's 8.6 percent higher than the 27,858 students counted last year. "This year's 30,000-plus enrollment comes at a particularly good time," said Norval Pohl, UNT's president. "Since this is the base period that determines UNT's formula funding for the next two years, our new enrollment has the potential to significantly and positively impact our appropriations from the state. This is especially important now because new funds for higher education could be in short supply due to the economy." "If funds are available to the Texas Legislature, our growing enrollment has the potential to generate additional state revenue that can be used to enhance existing academic or service programs and/or develop new ones such as the College of Engineering," Pohl said. All enrollment figures are unofficial until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board verifies them later in the fall. It's the sixth consecutive year of increased enrollment at UNT and tops last year's record. Freshmen enrollment of 5,091 students is up 7.9 percent. Sophomore enrollment grew 4.9 percent, the number of juniors grew 3.5 percent and senior enrollment was up 2.8 percent. The largest gain came from the graduate level, where the number of master's degree candidates was up 27 percent, or 1,356 students. The number of doctoral candidates was up 5.3 percent, or 63 students. The enrollment doesn't include 254 out-of-state students who are registered for UNT courses offered on the Internet. However, the total does include 869 students at the UNT System Center at Dallas. Web site: The University of North Texas

Let me add to Cerebus' comments. GMG.com is not a democracy and if you are looking for a free speech beacon or shrine then get then you probably ought to get the hell out of here. We will do what we believe to be in the best interests of this Site which is a Fan Site that serves the Supporters and Fans of the University of North Texas Athletic Programs. We are not censors but we will censor posts that do not meet our Site's global mission and purpose. If you don't like that, then please leave. We do believe in the right to choose and you can choose not to visit this site if you don't like how it is run. Also, I would encourage you to take it easy on Cerebus. He does a great job and gives a lot of his time to this project, basically as a volunteer. When you come after him, you are coming after me. He does a great job on this Site and is as die-hard a fan as I have ever come across... Finally, I want to thank the loyal fans of GMG.com who have provided us our latest accomplishment. In the month of August we had 3.7 million page views which is an all-time record! We appreciate your continuing support GMG.com. HM