Skipper

The UNT Dallas College of Law is struggling without accreditation from the American Bar Association in June, and law students can’t take the bar exam unless the law school takes it to the Supreme Court of Texas. The school will file a petition with the court if the American Bar Association denies the College of Law’s request for provisional approval in October. There have been two times where the Supreme Court of Texas has waived the accreditation requirement for students taking the bar exam, UNT law school officials said. The school’s main mission is to provide a less-costly and more hands-on curriculum to a diverse student body. And that is a key reason why the young law school is facing headwinds. The American Bar Association reviewed the school in late June and noted the students’ comparatively low LSAT scores in its recommendation letter. The UNT Board of Regents set a goal for the law school in its first year — to have an LSAT score of 150 for the 50th percentile of its entering class. The UNTD College of Law has not achieved that goal and “does not appear to have conducted any meaningful study or examination” of why this is other than “reviewing the success of the students admitted,” the ABA wrote in the letter. While the ABA is concerned about the school’s lower test scores and overall academic standards, the law school still has support from the Dallas Bar Association, as well as the federal, state, county and state judiciary in North Texas, said Tricia Magel, UNTD law school’s director of marketing and communications. The college has responded to the failed recommendation by providing additional documentation to the ABA. Only the ABA Accreditation Council has the authority to deny or grant accreditation status. The council will make a decision later this year, after a meeting with school leaders in late October 2016. “Our faculty and administration has many well-known and highly respected attorneys, legal scholars and former judges,” Magel said. “City and county leadership stand firmly behind the mission of the school.” Despite the ABA’s indifference to the law school’s mission, the ABA has also expressed interested in creating a more diverse law field. According to the State Bar of Texas Attorney Statistical Profile, a 2016 data chart shows that 83.9 percent of attorneys are white, that leaves only 16.1 percent to minorities. The law school attracts students who share the commitment to making legal services available to more citizens, to middle class families, small businesses, non-profit organizations and wealthy corporations. “I would tell students applying to law school to come visit us, and learn about the advantages of attending UNT Dallas College of Law, as part of making a decision,” said Dean Royal Furgeson. “It doesn’t mean every student will find our law school to be a good fit, but we are a good fit for the many students who have chosen to entrust us with their law school education.” UNTD College of Law is the least pricey law tuition in Texas at $15,133 per year compared to almost twice that price at Texas A&M University School of Law. “Legal services are just unaffordable for the very poor, and pretty much at all for middle income individuals,” Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht told The Texas Lawbook. “I spoke at the UNT’s convocation, so I’ve already made up my mind. I’m for them.” Featured Illustration: Sam Wiggins | Graphic Illustrator View Full Article

The crowd at the Denton Music Town Hall is large, loud and ready for their voices to be heard (but this time, it won’t be singing along with a band). With the closing of many local Denton music venues within the past year, such as Hailey’s, J&J’s Basement and Rubber Gloves; an increased number of Dentonites and musicians worry about the future of Denton’s music scene. Hundreds of people met Monday night at the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center to pose questions and offer solutions. The people gathered usually congregate at concerts and performances around Denton, they were all there to talk about the same thing: what’s next for Denton’s music scene? “People just don’t want to pay and go see shows,” said Sarah Button, The Dentonite Founder and Music Town Hall panelist. “It’s hard for a business to pay bands, pay overheads to open their venues, pay their employees to be there and then have 10 or 15 people to attend a show. You can only take so many losses like that.” Angry mobs Although Button said businesses are not profiting much from shows, the people who attend them have been expressing concern over the changes being made. According to locals, some of the biggest issues the Denton music scene is facing are a lack of space and an increasingly smaller amount of venues for musicians to utilize. However, venues have been closing because they can no longer sustain themselves, due to a small turnout for shows. Midlake lead singer Eric Pulido said he has personally been affected by the venue closures. Pulido has not only played in venues all over Denton, but he also attends other shows and concerts of local artists. “To watch iconic venues close their doors in Denton has been a tough thing to see happening, especially Rubber Gloves,” Pulido said. The first venue Midlake ever performed at was The Rib Shack, which was located on Avenue B before the building became Oriental Garden. They eventually performed at Rubber Gloves. “Although personal reasons have played a role in the demise of these venues, the lack of support from the community to get out and see and pay for shows has lessened,” Pulido said. “You just have to dig in, get to work, and connect with the many out there that are willing to jump in with you.” Bringing in business Many people still feel steps need to be taken to liven Denton’s music spirit and Button said in some ways, local businesses can pitch in to help. There are many opportunities for places around Denton to be utilized as music venues, she said. “I feel like there’s more of an urge right now in the community for people to find these creative spaces for people to play in the wake of having all the venue closings,” Button said. There’s opportunity for businesses all around Denton to welcome in a new medium of entertainment, Button said. The closings of these venues are making restaurants and other Denton hot spots the ideal place for shows. “We just have to think about the ‘where else?’ ” Button said. An idea brought up by members at the Music Town Hall was the creation of a “DIY” music space, which members at the meeting explained as an accessible, low cost venue that is run by the community. 1919 Hemphill, an all-ages DIY space located in Fort Worth, was brought up as an example. 1919 Hemphill provides an alcohol and smoke-free environment for people ages six to 60 to see shows for $6 or less. The establishment of a space like this, however, would be a huge economic undertaking for Denton because it would require donations, or some form of financial support. Some are in favor of establishing a GoFundMe for the project. Another debate that coincides with opening a DIY music venue is whether or not alcohol would be sold. Some are not in favor of alcohol being served to create an all-ages environment. Others, like Rubber Gloves owner Josh Baish, believe that not serving alcohol leaves out a huge group of people who would otherwise want to attend shows at the DIY space. Not serving alcohol would also to make it difficult to sustain the community music space. “To become a legitimate venue, you have to make money. You have to pay your taxes. You have to pay your employees,” Baish said. “The expense is just tremendous, and the sure fire way is to sell alcohol.” Another issue surrounding the possible establishment of a community space is whether or not to involve the City of Denton. Michael Seman, a panelist and UNT Economic Research Group member, said that without even a little involvement from the city, finding new places to establish venues and a community space would be extremely difficult. “Without city involvement, we’re not going to be able to find a space at this point,” Seman said. “It’s going to be too expensive to make something work. We need to all kind of come together.” Regardless of the debated topics, however, many Denton residents can agree on the fact that something needs to be done regarding the music scene. According to Button, whether or not Music Town Hall Meetings continue, those who are passionate about the issue won’t rest until something is done. She suggested first thing the music scene should do is organize a committee. “We could meet [altogether] so the music commission can keep the people who are deciding the future of this city up to date with what’s going on our music scene, so there’s no disconnect there,” Button said. “[In the end], building something instead of settling for nothing is progression.” View Full Article

When head coach Seth Littrell and his Mean Green take the field at Apogee Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3 against SMU, the eagerness to see this new-look North Texas squad will reach its peak. As soon as the players file out and touch the eagle statue before sprinting onto the field, it will truly be a new era for the Mean Green. It truly is an exciting time for North Texas football. The hire of Littrell appears to be a slam dunk on paper. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s been successful. There’s a new athletic director in Wren Baker ready to help lead the charge. Expectations are rightfully high. But with all this hype, it can be easy to get lost in it. Sometimes, we need to take a step back, and that’s why I’m here. To deliver news most of you probably know to be true, but don’t want to believe — North Texas football will be bad again in 2016. Let’s look at the facts: while Littrell has added plenty of recruits from both the high school and junior college levels, depth, personnel and maturity issues will eventually rear their ugly heads. At the wide receiver position, there are a lot of unknowns. Junior Turner Smiley is the team’s leading receiver from 2015, but is suspended for week one, making sophomore Terian Goree the leading receiver entering the showdown with SMU. Goree caught 15 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown last season. In the new spread offense, the Mean Green must have higher production from its relatively inexperienced receiving corps, otherwise another dismal season is almost a guarantee. Between Sophomore O’Keeron Rutherford, senior Kenny Buyers, Smiley, Goree and freshman Kelvin Smith, one of them must answer the bell. The question is just who will it be? Indeed, uncertainty is the theme on the offensive side of the ball. Will freshman Mason Fine be redshirted? Who will be the backup quarterback? Who is going to step up on the offensive line, and what position will they be in? In an offense that only scored 15.2 points per game last season, uncertainty has to make you uneasy. Not having a three-man quarterback carousel should help matters, however. Littrell mentioned at media day depth along the offensive line was a concern and that many players were getting reps in different positions. Senior Sam Rice is one of these players, and is likely to make the transition from guard to center after the team lost Kaydon Kirby in the offseason. Only time will tell how well he adjusts to his supposed new role. On the defensive side of the ball, things should hopefully be looking up. Then again, it isn’t hard to improve upon numbers that ranked among the worst in the FBS last year. The secondary repeatedly got torched last season, unable to maintain coverage due to a rush that never got home. The result was unforgiving numbers. North Texas’ opponents put up 41.3 points per game and threw for over 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2015. In short, expect more growing pains, especially if the front seven is unable to pressure the quarterback. However, don’t be surprised if this is the strongest unit of the entire team. As upperclassmen Ashton Preston, James Gray and Kishawn McClain get better, so will the secondary. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good time to be a North Texas fan. Littrell is poised to do big things with this program, and will move the needle in a positive direction this year. Just keep your expectations in check. There’s a long way to go. Featured Image: The football team stands at the entrance to Apogee Stadium before a game. Dylan Nadwodny | Contributing Photographer View Full Article

Video_1 The smell of fried turkey legs, warm canned beer and sweaty mud-coated bulls were lingering in the air from nine nights of the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo. Screams from the spinning, dropping and twinkling rides collided with the live bands on stage. The energy of excited rodeo fans radiated through the crowds regardless of the Texas summer sun. On the last night, August 27th, the Budweiser stage lit up for none other than the American country-bluegrass-southern rock multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, Charlie Daniels. And the tight crowd at his feet wound for over a hundred feet just to watch him pull music from his fiddle. At 79, Charlie Daniels jumped out on stage and contributed to the energy of the rowdy crowd. From the first instant his bow hit the fiddle to the brief moments following his exit, he kept his audience engaged. There was variety in his setlist, from his classic hits like the Devil Went Down to Georgia to his latest album like Tangled Up in Blue. He was proud to tour for the album Off the Grid which had been released in April of this year. Nothing of the show fell short of familiar and fun. The crowd shouted along to the lyrics and tapped their boots. Each person was shoulder to shoulder with one another for the duration of the concert which made dancing near impossible. The pavement was radiating heat, but that did not turn away the cheering fans. Most had been standing on their feet for an hour or two just to stand near the stage. Phones were popping up to get videos and photos of Charlie Daniels from the moment he stepped out. The momentum of the crowd carried through the show. Daniels did not have a hard time keeping the crowd’s attention. Though there was a rodeo on one side of the fair and lines to board the rides, the sound of his fiddle kept the crowd building until the show was over. People would trickle down from the rodeo bleachers to catch the glimpse of Daniels playing. It was an entertaining show, full of nostalgia and excitement. Not before long, the sound of his band shrouded the sounds of the fair, stealing the attention for the duration of the show. Many people had been to pop-up fairs before and seen a rodeo, but they would not miss out on the opportunity to see Daniels play. Even mothers with teary-eyed children ready for bed stood firmly to watch Daniels until the very end. Nothing stopped his fans from seeing the show, even if that meant bumping bodies with complete strangers. The crowd was so thick and dense that hardly any movement was achievable. Nobody could wave their way in or out of that crowd. Everyone was heel to toe with one another, trying to get as much out the experience as possible. And finding where the crowd ended was tiresome, since it was backed up for over a hundred feet. On the edge of the crowd, people were still taking pictures and maneuvering their heads to see Daniels. Charlie Daniels was the perfect ending to nine days of old fashioned Texas rodeo and tradition. For the duration of the fair, attendees got to enjoy livestock shows, local barbecue, carnival rides, local contests, rodeos and live music. Having Daniels wrap up the night with his enthusiasm and passion made it a memorable night. Locals and visitors, both domestic and international, got a good taste of what it feels like to be a Texan. It was an experience that everyone who left was glad they had. The crowd that saw Charlie Daniels at the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo in 2016. View Full Article

Looking to remain perfect through three games, the Mean Green soccer team took on Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi Friday night and came away with a 4-0 victory. The game opened with numerous chances both ways, however, they were not clean opportunities. Possession was hard to come by in the first 45 minutes as play frequently went from one end to the other, resulting in a total of 26 shots and 12 saves. North Texas (3-0) fired 19 of the shots and sophomore goalkeeper Brooke Bailey only had to make three saves. But after coming out of the gate slow, the Mean Green eventually took control of the match. “We got off to a sluggish start,” head coach John Hedlund said. “The intensity and work rate was not there in the first half. Credit our opponent. They played really hard. But I think we talked about it at halftime, and we really went after them in the second half and put them away.” The turning point in the game came in the 37th minute when the Corpus Christi keeper charged out of the box to stop a threatening ball. In the process, she cleared the ball but took out freshman defender Dominique James, giving North Texas a penalty kick. Senior captain Anna Flobeck stepped up and converted the penalty, which opened the floodgates. Sophomore forward Taylor Torres also scored her first goal of the year off of an assist by senior forward Rachel Holden, and her second goal of the season just two minutes later, unassisted. “I just try going forward and crossing it,” Torres said. “ just [try] to find my teammates or take it to the goal and score.” Senior transfer Hailey Sutton played her first three years of eligibility for the Islanders, and came off the bench for North Texas on Friday. She posted five shots, two on goal, in 39 minutes of play. “I just wanted to come out and compete,” Sutton said. “They’re my old friends, my old teammates, old coaches and I wanted to show them that I’m here, I’m in a better place, and we’re [going to] win.” With the victory, the Mean Green kept their perfect record and clean sheet for the season in tact, and have not allowed a goal in three matches. “I’m always going to be pushing their work rate, their intensity level and their passion,” Hedlund said. “I need that right from the start. The team we’re playing on Sunday is a solid team, [and] our goal obviously is to be 4-0 before we go to Oregon and Oregon State.” Next up: North Texas hosts Abilene Christian University at 1.pm. on Sunday. View Full Article

Breaking: TWU reports eight student-athletes hospitalized View Full Article

Clay Massey A revamp in personnel has meant a revamp in confidence. Despite a 1-11 record last season, the Mean Green football team appeared eager to get back on the field at media day on Monday and do something they didn’t do much of in 2015. “We’re about to win this year,” sophomore wide receiver Terian Goree said. “Our team has some swag. The atmosphere is way different. We believe in what the coaches are doing.” .@_teegoree said the team has swag about them this year: pic.twitter.com/qe9JPr0PwO — Clay Massey (@Clay_FC) August 22, 2016 Goree will be the leading receiver going into the season opener on Sept. 3 against Southern Methodist University. Fifth-year senior and University of Alabama transfer Alec Morris is expected to get the nod at quarterback. After running a pro-style offense at Alabama, Morris has settled back into the spread-style Littrell has introduced to the Mean Green. Morris ran a similar offense at Allen High School, which has helped ease the transition. “We’re taking a lot of strides from spring ball and moving forward,” Morris said. “When you get that many practices in a short period of time things start clicking. It’s the little things between linemen, quarterbacks and receivers.” While Morris appears to be the starter, the back-up quarterback picture has become murky. Freshman Mason Fine and junior Devin O’Hara are the two quarterbacks duking it out for the No. 2 slot, with neither knowing who will ultimately win the job. “All the quarterbacks are out here competing well,” Fine said. “We’re controlling what we can control, and at the end of the day let the coaches decide.” Still, there are depth issues on the offensive line to deal with. When senior center Kaydon Kirby left the program after the death of his father, Littrell filled the hole with senior Sam Rice, who played guard last year. “[The offensive line is] coming along,” Littrell said. “There’s just not a ton of depth. We still have to get guys reps and some of those guys are having to swing and play a couple of positions. In the next couple of weeks we need to really wire them in and get them comfortable at one spot.” With the new atmosphere surrounding the North Texas football program, Littrell and his squad are ready to hit the ground running and put last season behind them. “We’re very excited,” Littrell said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s SMU, Bethune Cookman or Florida, you should be excited to play every game.” View Full Article

Clay Massey | @Clay_FC The rain tried to dampen the mood, but it could only dampen the field as Mean Green Soccer picked up the program’s 300th all-time win with a 4-0 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word Friday evening. All 300 wins have been under the leadership of head coach John Hedlund “It’s special,” Hedlund said. “I started this program and we’ve [had] 21 consecutive winning seasons, 11 titles and we just want to keep it going. Three hundred is a great mark. Let’s see if we can get up to 400 next.” Seniors Rachel Holden and Marchelle Davis, and junior Tori Phillips provided the goals. The game was moved to Denton High School after the Mean Green soccer complex was deemed unplayable due to heavy rain earlier in the day. Holden opened the scoring early in the first half when a well-worked ball found the back of the net for her first goal of the season. North Texas added another in the first half when Holden was dragged down in the box and Davis converted from the spot for a 2-0 lead. “It’s really exciting for him, [a] great accomplishment,” Holden said. “Scoring goals is always a huge relief. Scoring the first one is always huge.” Sophomore keeper Brooke Bradley made a key save late in the first half to hold the Cardinals off the board and preserve the shutout. It was Bradley’s first start since the opening round of last season’s NCAA tournament. Shortly after halftime, Davis killed all hope for a Cardinals comeback when she scored her second goal of the night to make it 3-0, ensuring win No. 300 for the program. “It shows we can play together as a group,” Davis said. “We’re still working on our chemistry, but we’re getting there.” Next up: North Texas is back in action at 1 p.m. on Sunday when they take on Oral Roberts. View Full Article

By Courtney Taylor Transportation Services has welcomed the growth of the UNT community as those from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and beyond recognize the world-class education they can receive at this tier-one research university. Of course that means we have to be more responsive to growth as it relates to parking and transportation – and we want to assure you that this is our top priority. Responding to this growth will require change and a new plan. Some of this will take time to implement. Unfortunately, while we are working to bring you improvements, there has been misinformation regarding parking put forth as fact through social media. We would like to thank the North Texas Daily for providing the opportunity to respond and correct that misinformation. As of Aug. 18, student permits are still available. The range of prices for student parking is $125 (Remote) to $450 (Garage). There is no 24/7 towing enforcement. Citations will still be used when necessary. Repeat violators may get a boot on their car. Your car would be towed if you parked on the sidewalk or a fire lane. Anyone with a UNT permit or a visitor permit (which can be purchased online & printed at home) can park in any UNT lot after hours except for three Reserved “A” lots – Lots 1, 2 and 3. Traffic Ambassadors will be in the parking lots during our busiest hours for the first few days of classes to help monitor the lots and if the lot is full, to direct students to open lots. Students will be able to scan a QR code with their smart phone for up to date parking news. Watch for posters and lawn signs coming soon. UNT Transportation Services staff are working to develop new parking lots to provide for the needs of the UNT community. We are extending late night shuttle and e-Ride services, establishing carpool services and working to get pay-by-cell parking on campus for those who need more flexible parking payment options. Based on the recommendations of the Transportation Advisory Committee, a group that includes students, faculty and staff, we are working to: reduce citations, improve communications, incorporate IT into the transportation infrastructure, and to provide multiple parking options on campus. Your safety is important to us, which is why all lots are well lit and we are working on security cameras for parking lots and the parking garages. We also are placing trackers on the shuttles. This will help us keep track of route times in order to provide you with faster and more convenient service. Our free concierge service, eRide, is available after hours starting Sunday. There are a variety of options for parking, depending on whether you’re a commuter or student who lives on campus, a faculty or staff member, or just visiting UNT. Please explore our site to find the parking permit that best fits your needs. We want to make parking easy and stress-free, so we’re doing more to let you know about parking and transportation needs on campus. We encourage you to connect with us on Twitter or on Facebook. Or, simply call us at 940-565-3020 or email us today at transportation.services@unt.edu. Courtney Taylor is a communications specialist with the University Relations, Communications and Marketing department. View Full Article

Preston Mitchell | Opinion Editor @presto_mitch Just when UNT’s parking situation couldn’t get much worse, the school unveiled a revamped permit system earlier this month that has caused controversy among the student body. In this case, the uproar is quite justified since UNT swept the General and Premium Commuter permits under the rug in favor of newer, more expensive permits. Furthermore, officials concluded that fewer permits will be sold this year to prevent students from “overcrowding in parking lots.” While our leaders say they want to improve UNT’s parking issues, this new plan is problematic for several reasons. First and foremost, look at how it’s affected Greek housing. As much as fraternities tend to be the whipping boys of Denton hipster culture, it’s important to note that hundreds of students live in frat and sorority houses near campus. Since primary parking passes sold out before students knew about the sale, they are left at the mercy of a $850 year-long pass, which only applies to Highland Street Garage. For Greek life, it dampens matters since their parking lot was allegedly closed for “future property development.” This is an unfortunate coincidence that will force these students to buy pricey permits. Additionally, not everyone can afford them. Sure, previous parking situations were bad enough since we paid for spots that weren’t necessarily guaranteed. Not to mention that officials ramped up the costs, stating this action as their solution for overcrowded parking. However, the pricial increase makes it harder for students swimming through debt on a daily basis; particularly the abundance of us that struggle just to pay our rent each month. It doesn’t help that the higher-ups have limited parking times from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays without a weekend to spare. Seeing that several UNT events – like Mean Green Fling or Eagle Insomnia – go on much longer than the aforesaid time interval, students will have nowhere to park for late campus activities. The meters on Fry St. and the Village’s open spaces aren’t exactly enough to contain more than 30,000 annual attendees. The decision to convert resident lots into Eagle permit lots, leaving room to build wholly new “R” lots, is also illogical. The entire block of Clark, Maple and Kerr Halls had perfectly sufficient “R” lots from the beginning, so making Fouts Field their closest point of parking makes no sense at all. The remaining “R” lots at Victory Hall are far enough as it is, so why make it difficult for freshmen that want a smooth college transition and nothing more? Before you invoke the word “bus” to any questions we have, keep in mind that the school’s bus system is far from ideal. During the fall and spring semesters, the buses run slower than they should, are quick to leave students that arrive at correct times or will unabashedly skip their requisite stops. Trying to compensate for parking issues with this kind of transportation is like commanding an animal to intercept a football – at the end of the day, both measures are equally fallible. This is what we’ve come to: a parking system that has mangled existing lots and inconvenienced residents and commuters alike. The troubles that it’s bound to cause are foreseeable beyond reason, which is ironic considering how our officials kept these plans from us until this month even began. All we can do now is hope that the system reforms itself again. Preferably sooner than later, UNT. Featured Image: File View Full Article

Clay Massey | @Clay_FC The university’s partnership with the Dallas Cowboys is a deal UNT President Neal Smatresk hopes will drive greater brand recognition of UNT to a national audience. This also gives UNT students potential opportunities to land internships with the Cowboys, the most valuable sports franchise in the world according to Forbes. UNT will be the only university advertising at Cowboys games, according to a news release. The partnership became official in early August. UNT’s marketing messages will be visible inside AT&T Stadium for the upcoming Cowboys season as well as the Star in Frisco. After regent Brint Ryan broke the ice with mutual connections between the university and the Cowboys, negotiations were ready to move forward. “We had an exploratory conversation,” Smatresk said. “It evolved from there into plans for a very significant partnership.” The Star in Frisco, the Cowboys’ new world headquarters, is located directly across from the UNT New College. The proximity made the partnership viable. “It will give us very high-profile coverage,” Smatresk said. “We believe we’ll have broad exposure not just in this region, which is our primary region for student recruitment, but national exposure, that we would probably have difficulty emulating by going out into traditional media markets.” Smatresk wants to get Cowboys officials into the classroom. The classroom and internship facet was one of the biggest selling points for Smatresk. “Just the sponsorship part wouldn’t have been enough to turn my head,” Smatresk said. “It was being able to weave in one of the hottest sports businesses in the country to our educational program. I basically told them if we weren’t going to do that, I wasn’t interested in the relationship. They agreed.” View Full Article

J&J’s Pizza closes up a long-running basement venue, and fans reflect View Full Article

Cool front on way View Full Article

Julia Falcon | Staff Writer @falconjulia22 The UNT College of Information is on the search for someone to fill the chair seat for the Jesse Reinburg endowment fund. Reinburg graduated from what was originally called the UNT School of Library Sciences in 1941. She passed away last September, leaving $1.2 million in her estate to the College of Information. When people leave money to UNT in their will, they do it one of three ways: give it to the school in full, put it toward something specific, or donate it to a broader subject. Roy Grisham, senior director of development for planned giving, said an endowment fund is established for specific purposes, such as this one for the College of Information. “Jesse was obviously thinking about the future generations. Her money went to two churches, and the University of North Texas,” Grisham said. “She realized there is a need for the future. She left it open to the college based on what the student needs, which is why they are still drafting it. It’s typically a great sign of a visionary. That makes this gift special.” Establishing someone to fill a chair seat is important for the research or use of the money from the endowment. “When you establish a chair, it is prestigious for the institution and the person in the chair. They will fill the position of the name chair, they do research,” Alan Thornton, director of development for the College of Information said. “Because this position is just now formulating, they have an idea of what to do with the money, but don’t have a plan yet. We get the money, search nationally for the chair, and the new dean who starts Aug. 15 will choose.” Thornton also said the College of information has fewer chairs than other colleges at UNT, making this is a positive sign of growth. “Having a named chair brings a little more notoriety to your college,” Thornton said. “It looks good for the college to have name chairs. It gives more prestige. We don’t know what the new dean and the new chair will want to do with the money or study.” Grisham said once the college receives all of the money and gets someone in the chair, they can use the money however they please. “Most people in the College of Information are masters or doctorate students. They are getting an advanced education to move forward in their profession,” Grisham said. “The money comes to us in shifts. There will be two more distributions by the time we get the money.” At least 80 percent of donations and gifts to the university come from alumni, like Reinburg. “When we got the call she passed away, I met with with the two representatives of the churches and an attorney,” Grisham said. “She wanted everything handled, and didn’t notify anyone except her attorney and executor that she was giving these very, very large gifts. This represents total liquidation of her estate.” Thornton said that some of the work done at the College of Information is helping connect people, technology and data into one. “Data science is kind of a new buzzword – you see it a lot in corporate America, all these different data points they collect,” Thornton said. “Big data is the collection of all this data. Data science is studying all of this data for corporate industry. Many alums are loyal to their major professor, and they are loyal to their graduated program.” View Full Article

Clay Massey | Senior Staff Writer @Clay_FC As he took the podium to address a crowd of donors, staff, fans and reporters inside Apogee Stadium, new athletic director Wren Baker embraced university President Neal Smatresk. An obviously humbled Baker was soon joined by his two daughters as they rushed the podium where their father was speaking. “For me and my family, today is a new point,” Baker said. “I can’t tell you how humbled I am to be trusted in leading the Mean Green athletic program.” The day was a homecoming of sorts as Baker and his wife both grew up less than 150 miles from Denton, noting both he and his family love the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Baker comes to North Texas after serving as interim athletic director at the University of Missouri. Before Missouri, Baker was the deputy athletic director at the University of Memphis. Baker had a heavy hand in helping turn the Memphis football program around. He also aided in saving the program money while increasing revenue. Former North Texas interim athletic director Hank Dickenson, who took over after Rick Villareal resigned in May, noted the similarities between North Texas and Memphis. “I think the experience with Memphis where the basketball program was certainly at a high level in terms of support, but the football had historically been at an up-and-down,” Dickenson said. “[It was] very similar to North Texas, peaks and valleys but not enough peaks. He was a part of a real reclamation process there.” Baker was attracted to the North Texas job after seeing the hire of head football coach Seth Littrell, and the area the university sits in. The talent rich D-FW hotbed for all sports got Baker’s attention, and the quality of living around the university helped Baker want to seal the deal. Above all, he noted a desire of the coaching staff and athletes to win. “As I had discussions with the president and chairman I am confident there’s a lot of resources in place,” Baker said. “There’s just a desire to win. There’s a strong desire to win. I think we’ve got great coaches. I never had a negative impression of North Texas.” Smatresk knew Baker was the man for the job. “[Baker] was clearly my far and away my top choice,” Smatresk said. “I don’t think we could have gotten a better one.” With many North Texas athletic programs picking up academic honors last school year, Baker hopes to be able to continue to that greatness while adding to the on-field honors. “We will focus on investing in our student athletes,” Baker said. “Their experience, as well as their personal growth is critical.” Smatresk said he feels Baker can carry on the vision he has of North Texas becoming not only tier-1 as a research university, but as a tier 1 athletic school. “While we still have a ways to go, we have wonderful coaches, and a good promising future,” Smatresk said. “We went through a lot of ideas, and at the end of the day we found the guy that put it all together for us. We found a guy that has built athletic programs from scratch.” Baker was announced on July 29 as the new AD and has yet to find the time to evaluate his administrative staff, but said he will do so in the coming weeks. For now, however, Baker is focused on only one thing. “By golly, we will win,” Baker said, joking that he had to keep his speech family friendly. “I am confident we will accomplish great things. Let’s get going.” Featured Image: Full-Image @WrenBaker Twitter | Courtesy View Full Article

Scott Sidway | News Editor @Scotty WK The Texas campus carry law, passed in state legislature last June, goes into full effect beginning today, Monday August 1. UNT officials have laid out an overview of the school’s campus carry policy, including which buildings and parts of campus are designated as sensitive areas where concealed carry is not allowed. Members of the university’s campus carry task force have urged students, faculty and staff to become familiar with what is allowed and what is prohibited with the new law. The law only applies to those who are licensed to carry concealed handguns, meaning somebody must be 21 years or older to fit the description of the law. It also does not permit the open carry of guns – only concealed. It also only applies to public, four-year universities in Texas, such as UNT, with private schools receiving the choice to opt out of the law. Most private universities in the state have chosen to do just that. Campus carry will go into effect for two-year colleges and junior colleges August 1, 2017. View Full Article

Victoria Baghaei | Staff Writer @chorizotacoss Women face several types of social issues in everyday life. It’s assumed that we’re going to comply with every compliment imaginable. That we must be walking alone because we are looking for some company, or possibly a new date. On the contrary, that’s usually not the case, especially if that woman you target has made zero eye contact with you and harbors no will to speak to you. Imagine you’ve had a rough day and want to be alone, so you go outside and play Pokémon Go. You’re likely going to a highly populated area because it’s safer to walk alone there, especially because people approach us women constantly. Once you arrive, you’re relieved and take a nice walk to cool you down from the overwhelming day. Somehow to certain male eyes, a woman walking alone is an invitation to flirtation and that she must definitely want to talk to them because she’s alone. “Well, you’re wrong. I don’t want to talk to you.” Now comes that stranger looking for a female companion. You’re expecting it because, most likely, they’ve attempted to make eye contact despite your efforts to do otherwise. However, they still try because it’s silly for me to expect men to understand my body language, which screams “Please, no, don’t talk to me!” Therefore, you’re not really excited to speak to them since you crave time to yourself. But of course, you acquiesce to be nice and answer them. In turn, the man asks you a lot of personal inquiries, repeatedly complimenting random aspects of you prior to popping the question: “Can we exchange numbers?” It doesn’t feel like he’s looking for a friendship regarding those special compliments, nor are you looking for a relationship in that moment. In fact, you could already be in one. Now, it’s time to speak the words – “I’m not interested” – that could possibly madden the gentleman. It’s the moment that determines if I’m rude or not. Because after not giving this nice young man his “time of day,” I’ve become the villain in his eyes. Sometimes men react in a respectful way, you get lucky and don’t have to deal with the potential uncomfortable nature of rejecting someone. That’s not what usually happens though. Chances dictate that more than one of those times, women are slandered because they declined your offer, even though you were nice. Women will leave the place we wanted to spend time at just to avoid running into a guy again after such an awkward exchange. So here’s some advice for all you “nice” guys out there: Just because you are nice does not mean you are entitled to become a part of my life. It doesn’t mean I have to give you my phone number. Don’t start insulting us to our faces or to your friends, because it’s not fair that a nice girl had to deal with someone trying to get in their pants for 10 minutes. Your niceness doesn’t mean you’re entitled, even if your intentions are good. If you’re truly looking to be someone’s friend, then go for it. It doesn’t mean you can’t talk to anyone cordially. But make sure that your intentions are clear and you aren’t bothering someone that clearly desires alone-time. Learn social cues; they’re important if you’re going to be approaching random women. Whenever your intentions are genuine, we’ll most likely know. View Full Article

After 12 years in business, downtown Denton staple El Guapo’s is now closed. Monday was owner Michael Zampino’s last day, coordinated with his son’s birthday. Zampino’s gift to his son, the oldest of four siblings, was closing the restaurant. “He’s 16 and hasn’t seen much of me,” he said Monday afternoon. “They are all young — the youngest is 2 years old — and it’s more important to be a father than to run a restaurant.” Zampino told his 35 employees Monday afternoon, some who had been with the restaurant since it opened in 2004. Before he finds a new job for himself with better hours, his first priority is getting all of his employees working at other restaurants in the Denton area as soon as possible. Before he opened El Guapo’s at 419 S. Elm St., Zampino operated Tia’s Tex-Mex at Lillian Miller Parkway and Interstate 35E for nine years. When the business’s managing partners left the company, he decided to start his own restaurant. Since then, it has served as a focal point in the community, hosting fundraisers, meetings and celebrities. Customers have included Gov. Greg Abbott, former Gov. Rick Perry, country singer Blake Shelton and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush. View Full Article

Matthew Reyna | Staff Writer @bucko_rodgers The Denton City Council agreed to change the open mic session of their meetings, but did not eliminate it entirely as had been considered. The open mic decision was made during a regular meeting on Tuesday, July 19. The council’s amended ordinance will allow six speakers to speak at meetings. Four speakers must pre-register, while two speakers can present without previously registering to speak. The two open mic speakers must refrain from speaking on topics that are on the Council’s agenda for that meeting. All speakers, pre-registered or open mic, will present at the beginning of the session, instead of having to wait until the end of the session. District 3 Councilperson Kathleen Wazny approved of this change. “I don’t think it’s fair to ask a citizen to wait until the end of the meeting to speak,” Wazny said. “People have lives and shouldn’t have to wait until midnight to have their say.” Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Roden voted in favor of the amended ordinance, but was not sure if the new open mic rules were practical. “Do we even have a rule that hits on that they can’t speak on something on the agenda?” Roden asked. “If we did have that rule, how in the world is that enforced, practically speaking?” According to City Secretary Anita Burgess, the current open mic rules were approved less than a year ago in August 2015. District 2 Councilperson Briggs did not believe the open mic should be removed after such a short test run. “When I re-watch the work session that we did, [open mic] was only around six or seven months old and there was consensus at that time to pull it off,” Briggs said. “I don’t know that that is enough time to gauge if it is working or not. I can’t figure out exactly why we did pull it off. Why did it come up in the work session to be removed so soon?” Wazny was passionate about keeping the open mic in some form. She cited the fact that making people pre-register could eliminate the spontaneity of citizens to speak on issues. “It’s important to recognize that we are a democracy,” Wazny said. “Citizens have the right to speak to their elected officials. At Large Place 5 Councilperson Dalton Gregory was in favor of eliminating the open mic and did not think removing it was a violation of democracy. “I don’t see this as an attempt to limit [free speech] in any way,” Gregory said. “Some people are going to frame it that way, but this is an attempt to provide plenty of opportunity for people to be able to speak, but also for us to be able to respond to them.” According to Burgess the council is not allowed to respond to open mic speakers without being in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. After over 45 minutes of discussion, the council voted 5 to 1 to keep open mic with the amended rules. Gregory was the only councilperson who voted against. View Full Article

UNT, TWU ready for campus carry View Full Article

Blotter: Woman wants to hold egg-throwers accountable View Full Article

Former UNT student, his son killed in Nice View Full Article

Suspect in UNT case to be tried in Oklahoma slaying View Full Article

UNT tech leader heading to TWU View Full Article

Preston Mitchell | Staff Writer @presto_mitch Columnist Preston Mitchell asked UNT President Neal Smatresk some quick questions about UNT’s 2016 so far. Looking back on the past school year, what changes to campus are you the most proud of? Smatresk: In our last year, which was our 125th anniversary, we had a lot of high points. My team and I are proud to have brought in our largest freshman class and having the most national merit scholars. Those are huge achievements which speak to have better we have gotten about promoting our brand and promising newcomers that they can receive a great education. In addition, we’ve had a good year for fundraising. While it’s modest, all the arrows are moving up. To date, we’ve hired two very accomplished deans – signifying our improving leadership. Coming here, I wasn’t even sure if we could complete our student Union. We experienced low bond ratings and pretty severe financial difficulties, including negative cash flow. So to not only complete Rawlins Hall and reopen the Union were both high points of the year. Our the past two years, we’ve moved mountains in regards to deep infrastructure, landscaping, and physical changes to the grounds. A lot of people don’t notice and take it for granted, but we’ve made started to make the campus a lot prettier than it was. We’re now focused on improving academic research and our scholarly reputation, which we’ll achieve by hiring more prestigious workers, remodeling Sage Hall into a student career students for those in need of support, and interacting with chairs more. What are the changes that fell short? If so, how should they improve in the year to come? Smatresk: One of our biggest disappointments sprang from dumping over $500 million into graduate education. We did it to offer tuition waivers for students who are funded on state lines. There is a complicated financial plan for graduate kids, led by Victor Prybutok, that he can elaborate more about if you do a follow-up article. A lot of the information proved to be inaccurate, the plan was implemented but was not communicated well and created confusion. There were certain departments and programs that were working their GA’s really hard, and several that were giving their students free rides. It was a division that created winners and losers (via perception) and it created discontent for a while. In the end, I think graduate students will eventually benefit because tuition waivers are more useful than the insurance benefits they were receiving beforehand. For scholarship students, the plan left them behind and that’s what I would call one of my biggest failures. It’s going to take us a year or two to sort it all out. Our graduate numbers have been static for quite some time and they need improvement. A big project that has come to closure are our IT projects, which are hugely expensive systems that run the university. We’re currently undergoing a huge financial transportation and acquiring a data warehouse to improve customer service in the long run. We kind of how to be in on the specifics to fully understand it, and this should be invisible to a lot of people. After a year of stalling, work on the warehouse is finally moving forward. We’ve fallen short with transportation and parking. For many students, one of their key interfaces with this university is that students drive their car to campus and can’t find a guaranteed parking spot despite paying for a permit. Those are all frustrating things. We have more or less completed a transportation master plan to correct this. I think that we have fallen short of serving our students well with our current transportation and parking. We’ve already began changes that will cheapen and expand parking within the next year, including authorized two new parking garages. We also need to run our shuttles faster and more late to help students transport to class more effectively and ensure that students staying later still have their own means of transport. In your opinion, how did the deaths of Ryan McMillian and Sara Mutschlechner shape the UNT community, as well as your presidency? Smatresk: I think that the two tragic deaths of our students was a shock to our university. As for any tragedy, some people accepted it and moved along, while others were more impacted by it. That’s always going to be the chance. Internally, we had a lot of conversations on why these things happen and how we can properly teach the students about the importance of human life; even to the extent of changing the expectations of downtown Denton and how our students go about “having a good time.” We would like to enhance our students’ understanding of substance and alcohol abuse, and how to be safe and secure in their environments. Denton is not immune from the kinds of challenges that occur in many areas, which is what I think shocked so many about the back-to-back tragedies. It’s everywhere now. So, I would never see an event like this, it would be great. In a community of over 37,000 students, however, there will be tragedies. Anything we could do to mitigate them, we will do. We’ve already stepped up our counseling and clinical program. We have to recognize that behavioral issues are of major concern in universities, due to the vast diversity of students’ backgrounds and how intoxicating many backgrounds can be on an individual. It’s our job as a community to be more sensitive to those experiencing life changes in this vital period in their lives, and support them in any way we can be. We knew that, but due to the tragedies, we’ve really internalized this as opposed to “Well, a lot of these kids have problems.” Our athletics have recently undergone changes in leadership on their own. Do you believe that they can boost school spirit this fall? Smatresk: I’m also very excited for the new coach and football program. It’s going to be a few years before we see the full potential of the program, but I believe choosing [Seth Littrell] was the right decision. View Full Article