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UNT Black Student Union to host unity vigil tonight View Full Article

Morgan Sullivan | Staff Writer @sadsquadch New York City made history last month after passing the nation’s first legislation that ensures access to menstrual products in public schools, shelters and correctional facilities. For those who don’t have to deal with periods, this may not seem like a big deal, but for those who suffer through Mother Nature’s cruel punishment month after month, this was a long awaited victory. Being a girl going through puberty is awkward enough. Your boobs get bigger, you start growing hair in places you didn’t really want hair and, worst of all, you start bleeding with no prior warning. It can strike at any time, and for many, that time happens to be at school. Imagine sitting in class, when all of a sudden, the Niagara Falls of periods begins. A gushing wave of red, sticky mess is happening in an uncomfortable area, and if you can’t find a tampon ASAP, everyone is going to know it. If you’re lucky enough, someone you know came to class well equipped. Many girls carry extra equipment just in case. However, imagine a world where none of this panic was necessary. You could walk into any women’s bathroom and find a cabinet well-stocked with anything you’d need – for free. Many people who don’t experience the menstrual cycle don’t understand why New York City’s newest legislation is so groundbreaking. In an era where talking about women’s reproduction is still very taboo, NYC is standing up for women everywhere. New York is one of many states that pushed to abolish its “tampon tax.” Unfortunately, for those who are struggling, saving mere pennies isn’t enough. The cost of pads or tampons is around $10 a month, an expense that many cannot afford. It seems as if condoms are passed around in every high school and college, and are freely available in clinics. When menstrual products are rarely (if ever) given away, society sends the message that safe sex – which is a choice – is more acceptable than a bodily function. New York’s agenda emphasizes menstrual product access in the most vulnerable populations: schools, shelters and correctional facilities. Where toilet paper is available in every restroom, menstrual products are not. Pads and tampons are just as necessary and should be just as easily obtained. You don’t have to pay for toilet paper, so paying $1.50 for one tampon is a ridiculous fee. This legislation is so important because it starts a dialogue. The problem causing the disconnection between women’s health and government is that women are often not at the helm of decisions. Men are making decisions with no firsthand experience of how things work. The “tampon tax” that many states have deems tampons and pads as a “luxury.” Anyone who has experienced a period knows this is untrue. “Wait, you mean that if you don’t go, you’ll just keep on bleeding? I thought that women could turn it off any time that they wanted!” is a quote from a male state representative one Tumblr user interned for. The scary fact is, there are grown men in the world who don’t understand the menstrual cycle. They don’t want to. They assume women are overdramatic about their experiences because women are stereotyped to be weaker than men. By passing legislation that makes menstrual products widely available, women in government are forcing their male counterparts to listen and understand why this is important. NYC’s agenda will set an example for other states to follow. Other countries will follow. Women’s health shouldn’t be taboo. Although the U.S. still has many strides to take, there are women in underdeveloped countries who still have to bleed onto a rag. There are women in countries that teach them to be ashamed of their periods. If the U.S. is truly an example for the rest of the world to follow, our government must ensure women are treated fairly under the law. The revolution of women’s health starts now. No more allowing men to make decisions about our bodies. No more telling young women not to talk about periods because it’s “gross.” It’s time women take a stand. New York is our city upon a hill. It’s time we let the light shine. View Full Article

Austin Jackson | Staff Writer @a_jack17 With intentions of mending a weary fan base, UNT consultants Trip Kuehne and Michael Sicuro hosted a forum Monday, June 27, bringing together prominent North Texas coaches and over 100 alumni to discuss the current and future state of North Texas athletics. In his address to the crowd, Kuehne said the event was the “first step” towards uniting a passionate, but divided, fan base. “Things around this institution haven’t been really great, but they haven’t been going bad,” Kuehne said. “We have some phenomenal facilities, but we have a fan base that is fractured. We have a fan base, alumni base and boosters that need to be brought together.” Kuehne and Sicuro were hired two weeks after former athletic director Rick Villarreal resigned on May 23 to evaluate the program’s resources, staff and facilities as “special consultants” to University President Neal Smatresk, according to a UNT press release. After Kuehne addressed the crowd, UNT head football coach Seth Littrell and men’s basketball coach Tony Benford took the podium, outlining their expectations for the upcoming season and the state of their respective programs. Littrell began his address by saying the alumni’s passion and desire to be great is mutual and later explained his irritation with the question, “Why North Texas?” Citing the facilities, student body, local recruiting hotbed, alumni, fan base and administration, Littrell posed his own question, emphatically asking, “Why not North Texas?” “It’ll come down to all of us together – all of us together,” Littrell said. “We all have to get on the same page and pull the rope in the same direction, and that’s why I appreciate you being here tonight.” When asked if more players could be added to the current recruiting class, Littrell replied directly, explaining the possibility of “blue-shirting” future recruits for the next class. He later noted the team’s current challenges with depth and said having 68 scholarship players on the roster was more comparable to an FCS program rather than FBS, which have up to 85. But Littrell said he’s not backing down from the challenge, citing his tendency to coach and play with a chip on his shoulder and his unique insight into playing football during a regime change. Littrell played football at Oklahoma University when Bob Stoops took over the program midway through his college career. In his senior year, Stoops lead Littrell and the Sooners to a 13-0 record and a national championship. “Trust me – at the end of the day, if I didn’t’ think this was a gold mine, I would never have accepted the job,” Littrell said. “I didn’t want to be a head coach bad enough to just go to a place. I wanted to have everything that we needed to be successful and win championships.” Benford, who doesn’t have luxury of a fresh start like Littrell, explained why next season would be an improvement in men’s basketball. Benford outlined his team’s improving culture and veteran leadership, praising the team’s work ethic on and off the court. He credited his upperclassmen, specifically junior forward Jeremy Combs and senior guard J-Mychal Reese for being “culture creators” who have both helped the team’s current roster and attracted recruits. Benford said the culture he’s established over the past four years is starting to pay dividends, saying it will “translate to wins this year.” In addition to highlighting his team’s progress, he asked fans to come and watch the team not just on game day, but also at their practices and workouts. Afterwards, Benford said his goal for the forum was to have fans see the team firsthand before making assumptions. “There’s some apathy out there, but give us a chance. Give the kids a chance,” Benford said. “Come watch Jeremy Combs. Come watch J-Mychal Reese. Watch the new guys, and then make a decision.” After the event, Benford said he didn’t know if he changed any minds, but thought establishing the dialogue with fans was important. “Communication – that’s what you always want is communication,” Benford said. “I think you gotta have that transparency.” After Benford and Littrell fielded questions from the crowd, Kuehne closed out the first half of the forum, praising the candor of the coaches and the progress their transparency represented for North Texas Athletics. “I also think that everyone in this room has missed in the past is there hadn’t been a whole lot of openness and transparency about what’s gone on,” Kuehne said over the applause. Media members were then instructed to leave the premises for the fan feedback portion of the forum. Kuehne and Sicuro said removing reporters would allow the fans and alumni to feel safe expressing their opinions. At 11 p.m., five hours after arriving, Kuehne and Sicuro left the stadium. They each declined to comment on the forum, citing hunger and a duty to report their findings and opinions to President Smatresk first. Among the notable North Texas alumni present was former Mean Green broadcaster and current radio host George Dunham. Going into the event, Dunham said the people in the room could be part of the solution for UNT athletics and said negativity, while warranted, doesn’t seem to be working. “One thing we seem to be really good at [at] North Texas is complaining,” Dunham said, also saying he planned to listen for the most part but would speak up if needed. After the forum, Dunham said he did speak up, lending his support for interim athletic director Hank Dickenson. “The AD job is about building relationships, and Hank has spent 21 years building relationships with Denton businesses, corporate sponsors, media members and service organizations,” Dunham said. “He has worked tirelessly for North Texas. He loves this place and deserves a shot” Thomas Coe, UNT alumnus from the class of ’00, said the athletic department, alumni and boosters also discussed attendance, culture change, connectivity within the city of Denton and customer service. Coe said UNT has a lot of issues, but he was encouraged Kuehne and Sicuro admitted those issues existed. “What’s great is both of them did say, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a lot damn issues,’” Coe said. “North Texas has a s*** ton of issues.” Coe said he left the meeting feeling “52 or 53 percent confident” that the meeting was evidence the university was heading in the right direction. He said a portion of his skepticism was due to the “pathetic” amount of donors present compared to the school’s alumni base, saying the turnout was evidence North Texas wasn’t ready to compete with bigger programs. Overall he said he was just happy to be heard. “It was a good event. We certainly needed it,” Coe said. “Us as fans and boosters, we need to have a voice. We’ve never had this before.” Featured Image: Seth Littrell, UNT head football coach, addresses fans, alumni, and coaches in an open meeting June 27 in Apogee Stadium. The staff later closed the meeting. Sanchez Murray | Staff Photographer View Full Article

Kyle Martin | Staff Writer @Kyle_Martin35 On the corner of Malone and Panhandle Streets, anybody can find the orange and red hand-painted lettering on the house of Patrick Burke. His windows read, “EARTH IS FLAT,” “gLObaL,” “Practice Truth / Fear Nothing” and things of the like. “My guess is that, just like infinite space has no edges (supposedly, right?), that the realm of earth, the earthly plane, probably doesn’t have any edges either … that it just keeps going out in all directions forever,” Burke said. “But I mean, that’s just a guess.” Burke is a self-proclaimed “flat-earther” and avid “space-junky.” After a few years of time and research, Burke has now furnished his house to convey his beliefs and displays homemade lawn art on his own private property. The city of Denton, however, is now telling him he can no longer do this. Patrick Burke’s, a “flat-earther” and avid “space-junkie”, house sits on the corner of Panhandle and Malone. Burke has decorated his lawn and home to show his beliefs, however, Denton Community Improvement Services has stated he is in violation of three city ordinances. Hannah Breland | Staff Photographer According to a letter sent to Burke by the Denton Community Improvement Services, Burke is in violation of three city ordinances: his signs that fall under “portable” and “non-conforming” signs are a violation. The letter’s comments from officer Caleb Norris of Community Improvement Services reads: “The ‘YOUTUBE ERIC DUBAY 200 PROOFS’ sign on this property is a portable sign…It is unlawful to install, place, display, maintain, or make use of any portable sing. All portable signs on this property must be completely removed from public view.” Patrick Burke received letters from Denton Community Improvement Services that he is in violation of three city ordinances. Hannah Breland | Staff Photographer Other comments involve Burke’s “Practice Truth / Fear Nothing” sign, which is said to be a ground sign needing a proper permit. Included with the letter was an application to receive a proper permit for the sign, and it stated that Burke has until June 21 wherein an inspection will be performed on his property to determine if he has properly fixed his violations. Burke argues that his signs should be treated as “yard art” and left alone, but says he will likely comply with city regulations anyways. “This is absolutely ridiculous for people to think that a boat disappears behind a curve at sea-level, and yet, when I get in a plane and take a picture out the window I still can’t see the curve,” Burke said. Burke has a deep interest in the Earth and his beliefs in the lack of a globe. His inspiration stems from studying Eric Dubay, author of “The Flat Earth Conspiracy.” On Burke’s front lawn, anybody can see his homemade sign painted with orange lettering that reads “YOUTUBE ERIC DUBAY 200 PROOFS.” Eric Dubay’s argument revolves around his “200 Proofs Earth is Not A Spinning Ball” video. He presents his evidence that the Earth is not flat. Moreover, widespread rationale among the proponents of the theory is that the horizon does not change. Using mathematics and basic scientific tools, such as the telescope, Dubay argues his point that the horizon stays flat upon all perspectives, despite changes in altitude. “All amateur balloon, rocket, plane and drone footage show a completely flat horizon over 20-plus miles high,” Dubay said, as his first proof in his video. “Only NASA and other government space agencies show curvature in their fake CGI photos and videos.” Burke wants Dubay’s video to reach 1 million views. His passion for belief in a flat Earth dates back to his personal studies using telescopes and elevated positions on the Earth. After searching for many years for proof of his theories, Burke found Dubay’s YouTube video to be everything he was looking for. And despite remaining in conflict with the local government toward his abode’s upkeep, Burke’s resolve remains unshaken. “The truth doesn’t fear investigation,” Burke said of his message. “Bulls–t does, but the truth doesn’t. All you have to do is put that s–t out there and I promise you, it’ll spread like wildfire. It’s the truth.” Featured Image: Patrick Burke’s, a “flat-earther” and avid “space-junkie”, house sits on the corner of Panhandle and Malone. Burke has decorated his lawn and home to show his beliefs, however, Denton Community Improvement Services has stated he is in violation of three city ordinances. Hannah Breland | Staff Photographer View Full Article

Kyle Martin | Staff Writer @Kyle_Martin35 Peshwaz Azad Waise, 28, was arrested today at the Denton County Courthouse following reports of a suspicious person at 207 N. Bonnie Brae Street, according to Denton Police spokesperson Orlando Hinojosa. Around 8 a.m. Wednesday, police were dispatched to the Texas Health and Surgery Center for a suspicious person making threats in the center. Shortly after, police were again dispatched to the Courthouse to find Waise. It was confirmed that Waise was the same person on scene making threats at the Health and Surgery Center. At that point, officers had enough information to obtain an arrest warrant for threats made at the Texas Health and Surgery Center. After making it through security, Waise was found at the Courthouse screaming and was removed by police. “He was loud enough to get the Denton County Sheriff’s attention,” Hinojosa said. “He wanted to talk to judges and give them a copy of the Quran.” During the time following the arrest, a bomb squad was on site, and police were searching the suspect’s vehicle. The Northwest Corner of the Courthouse parking lot was closed during the search and visitors could not enter or leave. Around 12:30 p.m., the parking lot was opened and visitors could enter and leave again. Waise is now being held at the Denton City Jail. Watch on #Periscope: https://t.co/jTk0VmRR8w — Kyle Martin (@Kyle_Martin35) June 15, 2016 View Full Article

Julia Falcon | Staff Writer @falconjulia22 With one Buc-ee’s up and running on Interstate 35 W in Fort Worth, another one is coming soon in Denton. The final approval to build the famous gas station and convenience store was received by the Denton planning and zoning committee on May 25 and is expected to open sometime in 2017 or 2018, Denton senior planner Julie Wyatt said, three years after the original proposal was made. Buc-ee’s beaver will welcome guests as it plans to open a new location in Denton. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor The Denton location will be off of I-35 E and Lillian Miller Parkway, but Wyatt said the construction with Buc-ee’s will be in correspondence to the construction on I-35. “Buc-ee’s will open when the Brinker Road and other improvements are finished,” Wyatt said. “This project was proposed last November for economic incentives, and after public hearings were held a decision was made.” The topic is discussed often on the Denton Matters Facebook page, where many people support the addition, saying it will bring more tourists and more jobs. But there are also plenty who are against it and think it disturbs the distinctiveness and mystique in Denton. “Personally, I feel that it (Brinker on the access road near the hospital) is a terrible location and could better benefit Denton on the Northern part of town on the Northbound side of I-35, after 35E and 35W merge,” Denton resident Christina Harris wrote on the page. Kinesiology senior Tyler Sudduth is indifferent about the new store coming to Denton and said it’s just another regular gas station. “I really don’t care about Buc-ee’s coming to town,” Sudduth said. “I’m from Missouri, so I don’t get all the hype about it.” Buc-ee’s distribution manager John Taylor said there might not be a difference between the Denton location and others. “The only thing that could be different is a possible car wash at the Denton location,” Taylor said. “Our car washes are some of the best. The size of the store will be the same, and the amount of gas pumps will be the same when the Denton location is built.” Buc-ee’s hosts 60 gas pumps and spans over 15 acres in New Braunfels. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor The Fort Worth Buc-ee’s location is located next to Texas Motor Speedway off of I-35 W, which is 20 miles away from the proposed Denton location. Even though there will be two Buc-ee’s locations within approximately 20 miles of each other, Taylor said he isn’t worried about a loss of customers to the stores. “When the locations are chosen, they really do their homework. Convenience is important,” Taylor said. “Starting out [in the Fort Worth store] traffic was really heavy, it was heavier than ever.” Taylor said events such as football games, professional or college, and events at Texas Motor Speedway are a big part of the store’s business. As far as projecting the outcome and successes of the Denton store, Taylor said the company will just have to wait and see once opening comes around. “It is good to get a year under a stores belt so we can get a good feel of the new surroundings,” Taylor said. “So far we are very pleased.” Featured Image: Buc-ee’s New Braunfels. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

Matt Payne | Features Editor @MattePaper Intermittent rain and wind gusts did not stop Denton County citizens from congregating the Downtown Square for a candlelight vigil in respect to those slaughtered at Orlando nightclub Pulse early this morning. The ceremony, where more than 50 proponents within the LGBT community lamented the dozens murdered, was organized by the Stonewall Democrats of Denton County. Several other organizations, including the Denton County Young Democrats, Denton Trans-Cendence and UNT Compliments, were in attendance, and citizens from within the local government and outside shared personal stories of their own perseverance through discrimination and a sense of urgency within communities nationwide. Denton County Democratic Party Chairperson Phyllis Wolper called the mass shooting a tragedy and urged all in attendance to not only express sympathy, but engage person-to-person to take action in any physical way they can, be it donations or verbal support. Chairperson of the Denton County Democratic Party Phyllis Wolper calls for communal proaction. Matt Payne | Features Editor “This horrible incident will not be in vain,” Wolper said. “It looks like we’ve started over again as a community, but I hope that we learn from this individual act of hatred.” Wolper spoke of a need for sympathy from all sides of the political spectrum and to put aside any disagreements. She welcomed anybody from any political affiliation to express sympathy for those lost in Orlando, and Denton resident Michael Martinez walked to the middle of the crowd. He identified as a Republican and Christian who “is confused and does not understand LGBT lifestyle choices,” but has a lesbian, married daughter and condemned the murder of anybody on account of what they believe in by a collective prayer. “It’s eye-opening and a wonderful blessing to my heart to be able to speak with all of you through this tragedy,” Martinez said to address the LGBT community. “And I hope that all of your desires as a whole are achieved.” Michael Martinez, a local Republican, laments the mass shooting in Orlando before leading the vigil in prayer. Matt Payne | Features Editor Debate regarding stricter gun control in the U.S. was raised in light of murderer Omar Marteen legally purchasing his firearms, which led to discussion about the new campus carry policy to be enforced this fall semester. The policy will allow licensed students to carry a concealed firearm, but hesitation has been present among several UNT administrators. In an effort to safeguard students, UNT professor Deborah Armintor has written in her syllabi that students enrolled in her classes are prohibited from carrying guns in spite of the forthcoming policy. “I’ve been told that’s illegal, but I don’t care when I think about guns on campus and vulnerable student communities like the LGBT community, women and domestic violence,” Armintor said. “We shouldn’t live in fear, and I don’t want anybody on campus to walk in fear.” The need for blood transplants for wounded survivors in Orlando was mentioned at the vigil, and straight allies of the LGBT community were urged to donate blood in place of denied LGBT individuals. Denton County Stonewall Democrats officer Chaz Choate scolded the federal law that prevents gay individuals from donating blood and recalled wanting to donate blood and plasma for his mother who died of cancer. Choate’s offer was denied for his sexual orientation. “I am blacklisted from donating blood, all because I answered that one question in truth and honesty because I was not going to lie to myself,” Choate said. “If they can test our blood within three days, there’s no reason that gay men or women cannot donate. It’s ridiculous and needs to be changed.” Choate urged local citizens to reach out and work with the Denton County Stonewall Democrats to send donations of water and snacks for those donating blood in Orlando. President of the Denton County Young Democrats Patrick Aguilar has also been working with the Dallas Resource Center to send funds for supplies. “I think people need to become active,” Aguilar said. “It’s nice to see so many people come together on such short notice. I think that we all at home watch these things on TV and call these people evil, but for our voices to be heard, we need to become active and do what we can to help.” The vigil concluded with Wolper prompting each attendee to turn to one another, introduce themselves and hug. “Hate has destroyed many things and has never saved anything,” Wolper said. “Let’s explore our differences and love and respect each other for our differences.” Featured Image: Denton citizens from all political alignment gathered for respect in spite of the rain. Matt Payne | Features Editor View Full Article

Nealie Sanchez | Staff Writer @NealieSanchez Despite many subpar performances on the field, UNT athletics found success in the classroom, finishing 2014-2015 with high APR scores, according to an NCAA report. A team’s APR score is comprised of both student athlete GPA and retention of athletes. Each student athlete can receive two points for his or her team: one for passing, and one for staying with the team. UNT had multiple sports with perfect scores: men’s golf, women’s cross country, tennis, women’s track & field and volleyball, while various other sports ranked among the top in the NCAA. The football team finished with an APR of 993, which is the top 10 percent of all NCAA football teams. Men’s and women’s basketball finished with an APR score of 938 and 939 respectively, placing them in the bottom 20 percent in the NCAA. Super Pit / Coliseum – 600 Avenue D. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor Outgoing UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said these types of improvements are possible because the athletics department prioritizes academics. “My philosophy is that there’s some kids that we have that are good enough to go to the next level. But out of the 25,000 student athletes in the last four years, we’ve got five of them making a living [in sports], and the rest of them are out working in the real world,” Villarreal said. “I’ve always made it clear to our entire staff that the degree has got to come first.” For cross-country head coach Stefanie Slekis, the improvement is something that doesn’t go unnoticed. “This year we had our highest semester GPA ever, a 3.64,” Slekis said. “My first semester coaching here it was a 3.04. It’s great to see how much they brought up their GPA.” Upgrading academic spaces UNT was docked scholarships in 2009 for poor academic performance, but it has made strides in ensuring student athlete success since then. One step Villarreal took during his tenure was improving the student athlete academic center. “When we came here in 2001, we worked in a room that was probably 20 feet by 16 feet, and it had two tables and eight chairs with no computers. That was kind of our study hall for student athletes,” Villarreal said. “Unfortunately, at that time graduation rates were about 32 percent for student athletes, and so that to me has always been one of my main focuses.” UNT athletic director, Rick Villarreal. File Photo The improvements included a larger space, technological upgrades, staff members and an entire program dedicated to coaching freshman into a successful first year at college. Track & field senior Connor Bey is one of many student-athletes who has used the center since the beginning of his college career and said it’s clear how UNT prioritizes academics. “Freshman year, all student athletes have eight hours of mandatory study hall,” Bey said. “So it really sets the tone for how important it is.” The study hall remains mandatory for any athlete with a GPA under a 3.0, but students with higher GPAs can still utilize the space. Student athletes also have the added pressure of doing homework while they travel with their teams for away games. “It’s important to get our schedules so that they can do work while they’re on the road or before they’re on the road, or make arrangements if they’re going to miss a particular test while they’re out of town for three days,” Villarreal said. With many classes emphasizing online coursework and the use of blackboard to turn in assignments, getting homework done on the road has become easier, Bey said. “Online helps a lot and everything is sort of online now. I’ve taken my laptop with me out of town for homework,” Bey said. “I was at conference last year on a Wednesday and Thursday, and I had an assignment turned in on Thursday night.” From classroom to field Each Mean Green team seeks the same thing: students who excel in classes so their dedication originates outside of their uniform and carries over while wearing it. “A lot of the same work ethic translates [to classwork], and we try to find good students to join our program,” Slekis said. “They’re working really hard to finish what they started here at UNT, and it shows the dedication levels of the athletes in our program.” While every university is competing to win on the field, Villarreal insisted UNT would never sacrifice the academic success for a few wins here and there. “We want to win as much as anybody, and so we’re not excited that we don’t win,” Villarreal said. “But the fact that we know that our students here are doing what they came here to do – they have made academics a priority, and it’s been a priority across the board for everybody involved in our program.” Student-athlete success in the classroom was one of Villarreal’s biggest points of pride before stepping down as athletic director last month. “When somebody asked me what my greatest accomplishment is, was it building a stadium? Was it moving us from noncompliance Title IX to compliance Title XI? For me, it’s that we have set up a system that our kids academically have graduated and stayed in school at numbers that compare with the best in the country,” Villarreal said. “That’s the biggest thing that I can ever hope students do.” Featured Image: Apogee Stadium – 1251 S Bonnie Brae St. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

Victoria Baghaei | Staff Writer @Chorizotacoss Zoos play quite a few roles in society. They are where we take our kids to educate them on different animals in the world, and they help preserve and reintroduce endangered species. However, they also put animals on display for our entertainment, where our kids can fall into pits and animals sometimes get shot. So the question comes to mind: Are we responsible enough to have zoos? As I walked around the Fort Worth Zoo last weekend, I slowly started realizing the zoo was a sad place. It had been years since I last visited the zoo, so I was excited to see animals play around in their exhibits. Instead, I was met with confusion. There were massive animals in what I consider very small enclosures. Two or three snakes were in about a gallon sized tank. About 20 penguins had a small pool to swim in. Three to four crocodiles shared a tiny tank inside the cafe. The animals looked sad. Children beat on the glass to get the animals to respond, but they just sat there like nothing was happening. Some people leaned over the balconies screaming at the monkeys to wave back, but the apes just continued to eat their food and payed the people no attention. I took notice that parents were very attentive to their children, which could be attributed to the recent incident at the Cincinnati zoo, where a a gorilla was shot after a 3-year-old fell into the pit. But this tragedy also brings something else into the light: maybe we shouldn’t have zoos at all. People became obsessed with zoos, with the gift shops, the out-of-control children beating on the glass and the water parks inside them that we lost sight of what the zoos could have been. It is our job to fix what we broke. Putting these animals on display for the rest of their lives feels wrong, and putting them in the danger of having to be shot due to human error, again, feels even more wrong. If you had to stay in only two places for the rest of your life, with no freedom to truly move where you want, with people screaming at you every day and children beating on the glass, you would go crazy. People came to the realization that SeaWorld was wrong thanks to the documentary Blackfish. The similarities between SeaWorld and the zoo is undeniable. Both feature animals taken from the wild or born in captivity. Zoos should be taken just as seriously as SeaWorld. They both display animals who were either taken from the wild or breed from captivity, that are made to sit in enclosures for the rest of their lives. Problems with zoos should be taken just as seriously as SeaWorld. Some zoos have even taken a step to try and help endangered species by implementing breeding programs to regrow the populations. But don’t fret, there are plenty of ways for you and your children to still get the ‘zoo’ experience. Wildlife sanctuaries can give your children the zoo experience. We can look into programs that support the rehabilitation of these species and donate to them. There isn’t truly a way for zoos to be done right, because we can never truly be sure if a child isn’t going to get away from their mother for enough time for them to climb over a fence; and we’ll never have enough room to truly accommodate and give these animals the proper amount of space. People don’t always get what they want, so sometimes we need to learn to sacrifice for the good of something else. Here are some animal sanctuaries in Texas you can visit instead: http://www.bigcat.org/ http://www.insyncexotics.org/ http://www.easttexasgators.com/ View Full Article

Preston Mitchell | @presto_mitch The year 2016 will be remembered for the nerve-raking face-off between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Despite many Americans pulling for Bernie Sanders, it’s time to realize two megalomaniacs are our only options for commander-in-chief. Regardless of which side of the coin you fall, it is now more important than ever to vote this November. In spite of whatever vitriol you harbor toward the Electoral College, or how different your state may think than you, your vote still counts. For those who are unfamiliar, the Electoral College is an institution of 538 electors. There are 435 representatives, 100 senators, and 3 Washington D.C. electors chosen to select the new president and vice president. To win, the candidate must reach a minimum of 270 votes. The purpose for this system is to prevent the new head of state from being solely determined by the everyman without political consent. In essence, it’s affording each candidate a final fair trial before decisions are made. A common criticism of the Electoral College is that even if citizens vote, the system is seen as the end-all-be-all that completely disregards popular state opinion. Texas is a sizable site for this grievance because people who were once confident in a Sanders renaissance are now backing out from balloting because of the state’s well-known flirtations with Republicanism. Even though the college acts as the politicians’ last say in leadership, it was never intended to discourage “we,” the American people, from actually voting. Our votes certainly count because the Electoral College always goes through us to cast their own votes. Case in point: we tackle the state votes so the politicians know how to read the national votes. Every state receives more than one elector, both in the House and the Senate. The House of Representatives is always divided by population, causing larger states to have more representatives than smaller states. Nonetheless, each state is granted two senators no matter what, meaning every state stands an equal chance whether it’s big or small. In fact, there have only been four times in U.S. history when a person won their presidency without popular vote. Most recently, George W. Bush was elected this way 16 years ago. Before that, Benjamin Harrison won the national vote in 1888. Stop worrying about the Electoral College, get off your couch and go vote soon. The only way to make the change you want to happen is to participate in the nationwide conversation. Because we’ve had four solid years to make up our minds, it is imperative that we all make a choice in November. Please vote. View Full Article

Adalberto Toledo | Staff Writer @adaltoledo29 Construction crews are set to continue mostly aesthetic work on the UNT campus this summer while a majority of students are away from campus. With the University Union now complete and as the university moves further into its master plan, the familiar sounds of drills and hammers will continue to be heard. David Reynolds, associate vice president of facilities. File Photo “There’s over 65 projects going on on campus this summer,” associate vice president of facilities David Reynolds said. “That’s from interior renovations of dorms, to roof repairs, mechanical systems and other small remodeling jobs. It’s a very busy summer.” The bigger projects include renovations to the Language Building courtyard, facade renovations to the research building, and interior work and renovations to Mozart and Bruce Halls. Language Building The language building is set to receive a new courtyard that will open up and face businesses on Fry Street by the end of the summer. “We’re going to be replacing a lot of the concrete around the building,” Reynolds said. “We’re working on some drainage around the building and water infiltration issues.” Construction is set to remain inside the current fences around the Language building and should not affect access. Some work may be done to the north side of the building, which faces Voertman’s and Big Mike’s Coffee, and fencing will change accordingly. “There’s also going to be different landscaping around the area,” Reynolds said. “The whole point is really to give that area a facelift.” Research building Through January 2017, the Research Building will have two projects going on. Exterior work to the facade of the building will finish by July, according to Reynolds, but the inside renovations on the first and second floors will not be finished until January. Super Pit Reynolds said it’s challenging to set out a schedule to renovate the Super Pit because it gets so much activity year-round, including everything from camps to visiting groups and orientation. Still, he said renovations are necessary. “We really just want to kind of freshen it up in there,” Reynolds said. “Right now it looks pretty tired.” The Super Pit / Coliseum – 600 Avenue D. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor He said the project hasn’t entered the design phase yet, but he still has a vision for the upgrades at the home of Mean Green basketball. “The plan is to redo the concourse area around the building on the inside, where the concession stands are and the bathrooms, and give it a nice Mean Green appearance,” Reynolds said. He said it is still too early to tell whether construction will disrupt the basketball schedule. Residence Halls Renovation crews have walked up an down the hallways of Bruce Hall for the past two summers due to renovations being done on the third and fourth floors. This summer, updates to Bruce will complete with final renovations in the first and second floors, while Mozart and Clark are to receive some upgrades as well. “We’re doing some really nice things in the residence halls,” Reynolds said. “We have further renovations to Bruce Hall, some minor touches in Mozart and a new bakery project in Clark Hall.” Walkway The controversial walkway, which will run from the Gateway Center to Hurley, was set out in the 2002 campus master plan but will not break ground until the late summer months, possibly not even until the fall semester. Students have voiced their concerns with the pathway, which would eliminate 87 parking spaces from the Clark Hall parking lot with no plans to develop new parking lots or parking structures. Other Projects There is no set plan yet as to the renovations to the former Sack n’ Save building on Avenue C and Interstate 35E, but Reynolds said a design is in the process of being created. IH-35 construction near Bonnie Brae St. and North Texas Blvd. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor Reynolds does not expect any work to be done to the building until the fall and said a lot of the work depends on the expansion of I-35. He said construction crews will also deal with smaller projects, such as roof repair, mechanical and electrical updates and other small remodeling jobs. “It’s going to be a very busy summer for the crews,” Reynolds said. Featured Image: IH-35 construction near Bonnie Brae St. and North Texas Blvd. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

The Editorial Board In November, a plane circled over campus towing a message for the Hurley Administration Building: “Fire Rick Villarreal.” Seven months later, that plane landed. Villarreal told the university community Monday that he was leaving his post as athletic director. Good for UNT. At a time when the university is sailing full steam to be Dallas-Fort Worth’s choice school, the three money making sports have routinely come up short. In an interview, Villarreal said he and UNT President Neal Smatresk “came to this decision and felt like it was best.” Publicly, Smatresk has been grateful for Villarreal’s service. But Villarreal’s departure is a clear reminder that Smatresk and other leaders are serious about turning North Texas athletics into more, shall we say, tier-one programs. Head coach Seth Littrell looks on as the offense runs through drills. Colin Mitchell | Senior Staff Photographer Villarreal will be the athletic director until June 20, but the effects of his 15 years here will linger. The football program, a sore thumb, has a new coach, Seth Littrell. Villarreal hired him. New head women’s basketball coach Jalie Mitchell: hired by Villarreal. For a long time now, Villarreal has built a kitchen without a cook. Smatresk and others must quickly hire a new athletic director who can press these new coaches and enforce excellence. We need an athletic director who will not be defensive about their flaws. In some interviews, some Daily reporters and editors say Villarreal’s attempts to spin questions about substandard game attendance were almost laughable. In one interview, Villarreal told a reporter “I hope I’m not disappointed” with the ensuing article. That’s not how this works. North Texas women’s basketball head coach Jalie Mitchell talks with Steven Bartolotta on the Coach’s Show at Rudy’s BBQ. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer On forums like GoMeanGreen.com, alumni, donors and fans roast Villarreal for the school’s poor athletic performance. They yelled about Villarreal’s empty promises of a baseball program. People stopped buying season tickets; they stopped showing up to games. Online posts turned into bricks, thrown at UNT’s Mean-Green facade, shattering it like glass. Good for UNT, for listening to its people. It’s clear that airplane-delivered terrorist kite of hate speech over campus hit its target. For Smatresk and his team, growing a quality athletic program is a challenge. We know he and his team have done well to position UNT as a vital institution for DFW and for Texas. We’ll see how athletics turn out. And stop quietly raising our athletic fees while you field losing teams. Find UNT an athletic director who can get us excited about going to games. There are people here and abroad who love North Texas sports and want to see UNT’s athletes thrive. Give the community a reason to celebrate. Featured Image: File Photo. Colin Mitchell View Full Article

Julia Falcon | Staff Writer @falconjulia22 After finals come to a close at UNT, most dorm residents are required to pack up their things and either head home or find a new place to live. But, there are still a handful of students who choose to stay on campus while they take Maymester and summer classes. For those students, Legends and College Inn remain open. Nine months at Legends Hall is $5,960, while a room during the Maymester costs roughly $430 and about $840 for the summer sessions. At College Inn, the nine-month fall and spring semesters cost $5,080, while during Maymester a room is either $307 or $360, depending on the size of the room, and $613 or $720 during summer sessions. Meal plans are only available during the two summer sessions, and like fall sessions, flex dollars do not roll over from session to session. Computer science student and Legends Hall resident Allison Goins said she chose to live on campus through the summer because she does not have a car and lives too far away. “I am from Austin and I will be here for the Maymester and Summer 1 sessions taking classes,” Goins said. “After that, I will be going home when I am done with those classes. My roommate won’t be here until Summer 1 starts, so I will be by myself most of the time.” College Inn – 200 Avenue D. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor College Inn Residential Assistant and Speech and Language Pathology student Briana Rena is going on her fourth year of being an RA and said the demand for students living on campus is lower during summer time than during the fall or spring semesters. “There are a lot of empty rooms in this hall, but we are also hosting staff members like me,” Rena said. “Private rooms are usually the first rooms to go. This is a unique building, with the outside style rather than inside like the rest of the dorms. It kind of always seems quiet.” Legends Hall and College Inn will also be hosting programs every month for the RA’s. Cheryl Elliott is a desk clerk at Legends Hall and said the hall is quiet now, but she doesn’t think it will be as quiet when the athletes come back to campus for training. “Student athletes will start coming in during Summer 1,” Elliott said. “It’s quiet anyways since we have mostly upperclassmen, but I am looking forward to meeting the new football players and watching the games this fall.” Legends Hall – 221 North Texas Blvd. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor In Legends Hall there is a total of 276 beds, but currently there are only 50 in use. “When the fall semester starts, football players will go back to Victory Hall, and basketball players will go back to Mozart Hall,” Elliott said. “And the swimmers will stay here.” German and Psychology student Kiana Moore is an RA at Legends and said she will stay in Legends all summer to avoid making the long commute back to her home in Arkansas. “I just didn’t want to go all the way home and come back,” Moore said. “It’s really quiet right now. There is usually a few people hanging out in the lobby, but now I never see anyone.” Featured Image: College Inn – 200 Avenue D. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

Scott Sidway | News Editor @ScottyWK A fire broke out on a second floor apartment at the Woodvine Apartment Complex Wednesday around 11:45 a.m. Nobody was inside the apartment at the time of the fire, and no pets were inside either. The Denton Fire Department arrived on the scene shortly after the fire broke out, according to multiple witnesses. Fire trucks and ambulances were lined up on Avenue H by 11:50 a.m. “All we heard was fire trucks. We didn’t know where they were going,” Harold Smith, a resident in Woodvine Building 3, said. “I thought they may have been going past here, but the next thing you know, boom. The next thing you know, we heard something going off, and I was like ‘Whoa. Fire trucks everywhere.’” The resident for the ablaze apartment is Carlos Martinez, the brother-in-law of property manager Jesus Martinez. Carlos did not respond to any phone calls from family and was at work, according to his wife, Diana Martinez. Jesus lives in the apartment directly underneath Carlos’ and said the resident behind Carlos reported smelling smoke in the apartment Tuesday night. Jesus said he went to personally inspect the residence, and no sign of fire was evident. “I checked everything. I didn’t find anything wrong,” Jesus said. “We didn’t smell it again. It went away.” Jesus said the fire department asked him how many people lived in the apartments, though nobody appeared hurt. Fire fighters initially entered the apartment through the front door through a wall of smoke, but they eventually boarded the truck’s crane and entered from above to cut through the roof and find the fire. The fire was eventually extinguished. Woodvine Apartments are located only a couple of blocks from UNT campus, located at the corner of Charlotte Street and Avenue H, between Bonnie Brae Street and North Texas Boulevard. To make matters worse, today was Jesus’ last day on the job and was set to retire tomorrow. “What a day to make your last day as apartment manager,” Smith said. “Can you imagine your last day as apartment manager and this happens?” North Texas Daily will continue to update this story. View Full Article

Scott Sidway | News & Sports Editor @ScottyWK Editor’s Note: I contacted Rick Villarreal minutes after it was announced he and UNT mutually decided to part ways. Here is the transcript of the exclusive interview between myself and Villarreal. From your point of view, what played into the decision to step down? RV: I think a lot of things. The time I’ve been here and the amount of things we’ve done, all those were great. But at the end of the day, you have to do everything, and we struggled in football, we struggled in basketball, and those are the sports we have to win. Somebody’s held accountable for that, and I think that along with the fact I had been contemplating how much longer I was going to do this. With conversations between the president and myself, we came to this decision and felt like it was best. You mentioned to me off the record awhile back you had considered retiring sometime in the next couple of years. Is this sooner than you were planning, or did this feel like the right time? RV: It just felt like the right time. I think with a new football coach coming in, with basketball in a situation where there may have to be a decision made, and then Jalie [Mitchell], I believe she’s going to be an unbelievable coach in only her second year – I think the time was right now because of all of those things. Somebody who’s going to be here for an extended time needs to step in and help Seth [Littrell] through his first season and consecutive seasons, and make those decisions that may have to be made during this year. Is this retirement for you, or are you thinking about staying in the field and fielding offers? Or are you ready to just sit down and spend time with the family? RV: Scott, I can tell you, I don’t think I can sit around in a house, and anybody that’s been around me for any length of time knows I go 100 miles per hour. I don’t know that I can just sit around and play with the grandkids every day. I am going to do a lot of that, but I’m going to take a little bit of time off here, decompress, lose a little more weight and get myself in good shape. Then, this may sound crazy, but I believe all of us are led somewhere to do certain things. So I’m going to take my time and kind of see what comes my way, because that’ll be what I’m supposed to do. How long has this thought process been going on? Did you approach President Smatresk, or did he approach you? When did this become a decision in either your head or his? RV: It was kind of a mutual decision. I had commented to him earlier about my length of time I was interested in staying, and we had another conversation about continuity in the program. So again, it was really a back-and-forth conversation, and at the end of the day, this week felt like the best decision. At the end of the day, how much of a better position do you think you left UNT in than it was when you first arrived 15 years ago? RV: I think if you’d ask anybody, they could answer the question for you. But the one thing that has happened, I’ve been through four and a half presidents here – four and a half administrations. So you don’t have somebody who kind of knows what things were like at this time or that time. But I can tell you, it’s night and day. From facilities, from fundraising, from academics, from the culture – I think one of the things, whether people agree with this or not, we changed the culture. When we got here, there was no pride. We were losing games left and right, and you didn’t hear a word. I think today, people take great pride, and I’m excited about that. Even when people aren’t happy with it, I get why they’re not happy with it because I wasn’t happy losing. Nobody is happy losing. But we’ve changed the culture to where people care. And hopefully, and I mean this, I hope that part of this situation is that those who have been away from the program will come back to the program, and that more and more and more people that are North Texas grads will come back and find out what we have here today and help grow this program the way it needs to grow. So what’s on the agenda then between now and June 20? RV: Just going to tie up some loose ends, make sure of projects that are in process, that people will need to take over the completion of those if they’re not completed by then. To make sure that we get everybody up to date on what’s going on with so many things going on in the NCAA and those kinds of things – making sure everybody knows who’s going to take what piece of the pie to make sure we stay on track until an interim is named. And again, when the new person comes in, I want to make sure they come into the very best possible situation. You said restoring pride back in North Texas athletics is one of your biggest accomplishments. If you have any, what would you say is your biggest regret or thing you wish you had accomplished in your 15 years at North Texas? RV: I wish we won more games. I look around and see our facilities; I look around and see the academic progress. This past fall, we raised $6 million or so. I regret that we didn’t win more games and thereby attract more people back to the program. I’m not sure that winning solves everything, because after four straight bowl games 2001-2005, even though we were out there, we couldn’t get 10,000-12,000 to buy season tickets when we’d been to four straight bowl games. But I wish we would have won more games. If you have one thing you could say to fans or North Texas students before you step down, what would that be? RV: That it’s been an honor to be the athletic director here and that I poured 24 hours a day into this job. And sometimes things have been really great, and sometimes they haven’t been so good. I hope that students, fans and everybody involved will stay green, regardless of wins or losses. Regardless of who’s in what place, this is still their institution. I hope they will learn to love it in a way they will support it day in and day out. View Full Article

Scott Sidway | News & Sports Editor @ScottyWK UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal will step down from his post June 20, according to a university news release. He has held the position for just over 15 years. “UNT President Neal Smatresk and I recently have been in discussions about the future of the university’s athletic program and a transition of athletic leadership, and we have come to this mutual agreement,” Villarreal said in a statement. “With the support of dedicated staff members, I have accomplished almost everything that I imagined possible here. I am satisfied that the work we have undertaken together has placed our coaches and student athletes in a better position to succeed, both on and off the field.” Villarreal took over as athletic director in 2001 and helped UNT make big strides athletically, including a move from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA in 2013. He also played a pivotal role in improvements to athletics facilities, like the construction of Apogee Stadium and the Mean Green Village. “Rick has taken pride in helping to put our coaches and teams in the position to succeed, and he is one of the most effective community advocates in the history of our university,” Smatresk said in a statement. “But his biggest contribution of all is to the bright futures of our student-athletes. And for that, especially, Rick will always have a place in the heart of this university. We all appreciate and respect what he has accomplished.” Villarreal’s most gaping hole in his resume at North Texas, however, is the lack of production in the win column in the three major-money sports: football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. In 107 games under head football coaches hired by Villarreal, the football team went 29-78 and endured four 10-loss seasons. His coaches also are connected to all-time lows in the program’s history, including three of the five worst totals for most points allowed in a single game. In men’s basketball, Villarreal found success in the hire of Johnny Jones early in his tenure, but since hiring Tony Benford as head coach, the program failed to replicate that success. Since hiring Benford, the men’s basketball program has gone 54-73 and has failed to make it out of the first round of the C-USA tournament. For women’s basketball, the program has endured eight straight losing seasons under Villarreal-hired coaches. The team did make a positive turn-around in 2015-2016. Since 2008, the program has gone 79-163 and has never finished above .500 in conference play. In two of those seasons, the team recorded five wins, and four times the team finished with 20 or more losses. Smatresk will identify an interim athletic director and make decisions about a national search for a new one at a future date, according to the release. “I’ve taken pride in serving as this university’s athletic director,” Villarreal said in a statement. “Even when the work was challenging, it was gratifying. I will miss being part of daily campus life, but will forever treasure memories of the experiences I’ve had at UNT.”

Julia Falcon | Staff Writer @falconjulia22 On Friday, The UNT System Board of Regents approved a renovation project for the first floor of Sage Hall that will change it into a student academic success center. The board agreed to amend the University of North Texas System Fiscal Year 2016 Capital Improvement Plan with a given budget of $1.85 million to pave the way for renovations. James Maquire, vice chancellor for administrative services, proposes to amend the University of North Texas System Fiscal Year 2016 Capital Improvement Plan to make renovations in Sage Hall at UNT for a first-floor student acedemic success center. The Board of Regents passed the motion. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor They did not pave the way, however, for a proposed increase of the recreational facility fee to about $7 per month. “The amount of waivers that have come through have been high. There is $1.8 million of revenue lost,” vice president of student affairs Elizabeth With said. “Each year we replace equipment. Now we have settling issues to take care of. The newness is very important to us.” UNT President Neal Smatresk said he would like to support the increase in use of the recreation center and is in favor of the fee raise. However, Chairman of the UNT System Board of Regents Brint Ryan said that there is not enough information to pass this motion. Elizabeth With, vice president of student affairs, proposes an increase the student recreational fee to renovate the Pohl Recreation Center at UNT. The Board of Regents met May 19th and 20th at the University of North Texas System Building. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor While the motion was withdrawn from the agenda, Smatresk’s support indicates it will likely be reexamined at a later meeting. The board also approved language in its Policy for Prohibition of Sexual Assault. House Bill 699 requires that each of the UNT campuses adopt specific sexual assault policies. Title IX coordinators at the university created these policies to enforce rules and training to avoid sexual assault on campuses, and these policies are in compliance with state and federal laws. Nancy Footer, vice chancellor and general counsel, proposes that each UNT campus adopt sexual assualt policies. These policies are to ensure safer environments on school campuses. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor A motion for UNT to become the exclusive higher education partner to the Dallas Cowboys also passed Friday. The partnership would theoretically bring internship possibilities and hospitality skills to students, though no final dollar amount or specific details have been made yet. Vice president for university relations and planning Deborah Leliaert said the university will not use student tuition fees or any legislative appropriated funds to fund any future agreement. “I think we will be expanding our brand awareness, expand opportunities with students, tap into talent and give real world skills,” Smatresk said. “Our students will benefit from having access to their staff, and if you don’t tell anyone what you’re doing, then no one knows.” UNT President Neal Smatresk proposes to negotiate and execute a multi-year agreement for UNT and the Dallas Cowboys to the Board of Regents May 19. The agreement is expected to be signed before or in August, Deborah Leiliart, vice president of university relations and planning, said. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor Smatresk also said he thinks the university will benefit from the marketing by maximizing the value and exposure at Cowboys games, as well as on television, radio and websites. “We hope we build a thoughtful contract,” Smatresk said. “If it’s successful we will continue, and if not we will have it out. It’s been in talks for a couple of months. We would like to be there before the next recruiting season.” Featured Image: Brint Ryan, chairman of the UNT System Board of Regents, argues, ” It scares me to learn that in this environment, the utility cost went up 25-percent in three years,” The Board of Regents withdrew the motion from the agenda. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

Editor’s Note: The North Texas Daily sports staff steps back and takes a look at the entire academic year for North Texas athletics, spanning from August 2015 to May 2016. Between the soccer team making the NCAA tournament and the football team making a mid-season coaching change the night of Homecoming, the year definitely had its highs and lows. But through the good times and the bad, we as a staff have been thrilled to be a part of the ride and provide news reports, analysis, opinion and fun every step of the way. Without further adieu, the North Texas Daily sports staff puts a cap on a captivating year of Mean Green athletics. Our staff: Scott Sidway (SS), Reece Waddell (RW), Alex Lessard (AL), Clay Massey (CM), Brady Keane (BK) 1. Give a letter grade to UNT athletics this year, and explain how it was earned. SS: D+. It’s somewhat of a contradictory grade, when you think about it. Congratulations, you didn’t quite fail, but you just barely skated by really well! Still, D+ sums up the year perfectly. Attendance was poorer than poor, the wins were few and far between for the many of the more recognizable sports and coaches were either getting fired midseason, fired by the fans and media, or blasted by their own players. If it wasn’t for the brilliance of John Hedlund, the dominance of Carnae Dillard or the homecoming for Jalie Mitchell, the sad-Jordan meme would be an acceptable substitute for Scrappy’s head. RW: D. It’s hard to earn a passing grade when your three major revenue sports all post losing seasons, and it’s really hard to earn a passing grade when your head football coach is fired after a 66-7 route by an FCS school on Homecoming. Men’s basketball was below average and softball has completely fallen apart over the past month. However, women’s basketball improved under first-year head coach Jalie Mitchell and soccer won Conference-USA. So I mean, those are two bright spots. AL: C. Football’s self-combustion weighs the grade down a ton, but men’s basketball and softball were surprisingly dreadful as well. Yet, there were still plenty of positives to take away from 2015-16. Soccer racked up the most wins in the nation, tennis came one match away from a shot at the C-USA championship and Carnae Dillard had arguably the best individual year in Mean Green volleyball history. But at the end of the day, earning just one C-USA title in 12 sports is a major disappointment. CM: D. Tennis and women’s basketball made the conference tournaments, and men’s golf and soccer made the national tournament. Those successes created a curve for the F-worthy performances of football, men’s basketball and softball. BK: C+. I’m basing my grade on the three major revenue sports (football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball), but the success of other sports helped to bring the grade up a little bit. The men’s and women’s basketball teams were both wildly inconsistent, but I think both of them have a lot to look forward to for next season. Football was awful, but they made a solid hire in Seth Littrell. So there is actually some excitement back in the air, which is good for the program. 2. What’s your fondest memory this year in athletics? SS: The way Dan McCarney handled his abrupt firing was the classiest moment I’ve ever been a part of in my short sports career. How many people in this world would, after abruptly receiving the pink slip 10 minutes after your most humiliating moment on the job, willingly walk out to a pool of reporters and colleagues and talk about it in the heat of the moment? The firing needed to happen, don’t get me wrong, though I still stand it was poor timing on Rick Villarreal’s part. But it was extracurricular for McCarney to go out of his way and tell us he wanted to give us one final press conference, shake our hands, and thank us – even after some of us questioned the direction of his program. Class personified. North Texas interm coach Mike Canales celebrates with the team after a 30­-23 victory over UTSA. Colin Mitchell | Senior Staff Photographer RW: It’s hard to choose because there were so, so few. Mike Canales getting carried off the field in the football team’s lone win of the season was laughable, but my favorite moment of the year was Darvin Kidsy hauling in a Hail Mary pass as time expired during the first half of a game against Western Kentucky. Why? Because I predicted it seconds before it happened. Honorable mention: Carlos Harris getting ejected for targeting and posting a photo on Snapchat before he even made it into the locker room. What a guy. AL: Soccer’s first round NCAA Tournament game versus Texas Tech. Jackie Kerestine got injured in warmups and wasn’t able to play, forcing freshman Brooke Bradley into her first career start with the team hoping to win its first tournament game in school history. It was almost like watching someone grill the most perfect steak anyone’s ever seen and then dropping it on the ground. Life really is unfair. CM: Softball head coach Tracey Kee was tossed from a game against Louisiana Tech for arguing balls and strikes. To be fair, she did it very calmly, but the ump still gave her the boot. But she was still always watching – Kee went out past the left field fence and pulled up a folding chair to watch the rest of the game. Always. Watching. Honorable mention: Sunday’s softball season finale against UAB. Lauren Craine had a 2-2 count with the bases loaded and two outs, and she squared around to bunt. The pitch ended up being a ball, but I was screaming on the inside and shaking my head on the outside. BK: Without a doubt, it was the football team’s lone win over UTSA. Seeing the passion and excitement on Mike Canales’ face and the “roaring” student section was a good moment for the football team. The only good moment, actually. 3. Which senior UNT athlete will be missed the most? SS: Jackie Kerestine is going to be missed for more than just her dominance in net. The amount of leadership goalkeepers have to exhibit is often unnoticed by casual soccer fans, and even though Hedlund is entering the fall with a couple of talented keepers, I wonder if either of them will be able to organize her defense as seamlessly as Kerestine did. They played a huge role in padding her sometimes mind-boggling stats, but she played just as much a role in helping her defenders as they did keeping balls out of her net. Can’t wait to see your North Texas Hall of Fame induction someday, Jackie. RW: Either Jackie Kerestine or Carnae Dillard. Dillard holds the UNT all-time kills record for volleyball and Kerestine was a brick wall in net for soccer. Both were vital to the success of both teams, and it’ll be tough to match their production when they’re gone. Redshirt senior soccer goalkeeper Jackie Kerestine and senior volleyball outside hitter Carnae Dillard are two of the top athletes in their respective sports. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer AL: Carnae Dillard. She essentially did everything and more for Mean Green volleyball, racking up over 700 points and almost 400 digs. She set all sorts of career school records and provided the leadership and experience needed as the team’s lone senior. There’s no way North Texas can replace her with just one person, so it’ll take a complete team effort to match or exceed last season’s 20-13 record. CM: Definitely Carnae Dillard. Dillard led the team in kills her senior season with 687, and the next most was junior Alexis Wright with 199. I’m not sure where those 488 kills are going to come from next season. BK: Carnae Dillard. Nobody was more important to their team, and she holds so many records with the volleyball program that I think the team is going to be a little shell-shocked when they can’t lean on her to carry them anymore. The volleyball team has a young roster, but Dillard will be the most missed senior by far. 4. Which team is going to have the most success in 2016-2017, and why? SS: I would not be shocked to see the women’s basketball team make a deep run in the Conference USA tournament next season. The work Jalie Mitchell did with one of the most shallow teams in the history of basketball was almost Rick Carlisle-esque in terms of turning what looked like nothing into something. Other than John Hedlund, there isn’t a coach better than her at North Texas. It should be fun to watch a Jalie-led team compete after a full recruiting cycle and with another year of experience under Kelsey Criner and Candice Adams’ belts. RW: I’m inclined to say men’s basketball because of the supposed “talent” they have returning and coming in. Plus, it’s a contract year for head coach Tony Benford, and he knows another sub .500 record and first-round exit from the C-USA tournament will get him a one-way ticket out of Denton. Sure, people are going to want to talk about football and new head coach Seth Littrell, but even the offensive guru himself does not have a magic wand that will cure all that ails the football program. It will be a slow, arduous process to even get Mean Green football back in the bowl conversation. AL: Men’s and women’s basketball are under pressure to take a leap next year, but tennis should be expected to make the biggest stride. Head coach Sujay Lama struck gold with the freshman duo of Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze, with each earning C-USA First and Second Team honors as a doubles pair. The squad is saying goodbye to three seniors, but added growth from its best doubles team and a strong incoming freshman class should give the Mean Green a great shot at a C-USA title. Junior guard Kelsey Criner (3) drives the baseline against Louisiana Tech. Colin Mitchell | Senior Staff Photographer CM: Softball is primed for a run next season, assuming the pitching staff gets a little deeper. It seems like this season’s struggles were partially due to a young team who wasn’t ready for the grind of a long season. After only losing two players and bringing back eight talented freshmen who were major contributors toward the team’s hot start, watch out for North Texas softball next season. BK: I’d like to be optimistic and say the men’s basketball team is going to have a breakout season. They have talent, especially with Jeremy Combs continuing to improve, and they added a lot of transfers that could make an immediate impact. Tony Benford is going to have to get the guard heavy roster to mesh together, and I think it’s obvious that if this team under preforms, he won’t be returning again. Final editor’s note: This sports section has made incredible strides in the last year, and in my personal opinion, has become a go-to source for North Texas sports news. The reporters working their way up this publication don’t treat this like a college newspaper – we treat it like it’s our full-time job. I hope and trust the sports staff in future years will build on the reputation we’ve established in the last year, and I hope you, the reader, continues to visit North Texas Daily for Mean Green Athletics news. We will continue to be the absolute first source to publish game stories after North Texas games, and we will also continue to keep improving on breaking news and providing quality content. Thank you, readers and writers, for helping us grow this enterprise and joining me on this wild ride that has been North Texas athletics in 2015-2016. Also, I still have the transcript. – SS Featured Image: Senior Jackie Kerestine clears the ball with her fists following a free kick in the final minutes of the game on Sunday. Colin Mitchell | Senior Staff Photographer View Full Article

Alex Lessard | Associate Sports Editor @alexjlessard With a 13-game losing streak weighing on its shoulders, the Mean Green softball team headed into its Saturday doubleheader with the University of Alabama at Birmingham looking to avoid a not-so great milestone. North Texas (21-33, 4-19) couldn’t break out of its slump in game one, but avoided what would have been the longest losing streak in school history with a victory over the Blazers (25-29, 14-9) in game two. “Credit to our kids,” head coach Tracey Kee said. “That could have gone either way. They could have rolled over. This group’s been gritty and fighting all season.” UAB 9, North Texas 1 Junior southpaw Jessica Elder got off to a good start in her first inning of work, but was the culprit of a lengthy two-out rally. After getting two groundouts right back to her for easy outs, Elder allowed three walks and four singles, giving UAB a 4-0 lead before the Mean Green came up to bat. Elder settled down to post four consecutive scoreless innings, but the offense simply couldn’t get things going. A walk and a double in the bottom of the first put two runners on base, but freshman Harley Perella struck out to end the threat. North Texas didn’t put multiple runners on base in an inning again until the sixth. The Blazers caught fire again in the sixth, pounding Elder for two runs on three hits. The inning could have been extended further, but a wild sequence with two runners stuck between bases gave the Mean Green the third out it needed to prevent any further damage. At that point, all of UAB’s runs had come with two outs. Kee elected to let Elder finish the game, but the runs weren’t done flowing in for the opposition. A three-run home run gave the Blazers a 9-0 lead, marking the sixth time North Texas has given up at least nine runs in a game this season. “For us, [Elder] knew unless our offense was going to put some runs on the board, she was going to have to eat those seven innings to save our pitching,” Kee said. The Mean Green headed into the seventh looking to avoid a one-hit shutout and delivered thanks to one of its bench contributors. In her first at-bat of the game, sophomore Lauren Miller ripped a solo home run over the left field wall to put her team on the board. However, that would be the only run for North Texas, marking the ninth time the team has scored one or fewer over the course of the losing streak. “We just talked about playing for pride,” Kee said. “If you’re going to put that uniform on, you’re expected to bring it.” UAB 0, North Texas 5 Nearly everything that went wrong in game one went right in game two, as the bats and pitching both turned things around. After a Perella homer put the first run on the board in the second inning, the Mean Green erupted for a three-run inning, ignited by a successful double-steal to go up 2-0. From there, freshman Rhylie Makawe was hit by a pitch to load the bases and North Texas took advantage, getting an RBI walk and scoring again on an infield single due to an error from the UAB shortstop. “We were struggling to hit with runners in scoring position, so I think those couple runs on that walk and double steal kind of got us going,” senior Karly Williams said. Meanwhile, junior righty Stacey Underwood was dominant on the hill. The HIco native went the full 7.0 innings, only allowing two hits and two walks on the way to her first shutout of the season and second of her career. “I knew UAB was a good hitting team, so I knew I was going to have to come out and pitch good anyways,” Underwood said. “Once our offense started kicking in, I felt a lot less pressure to put up zeros every time.” An RBI single off the bat of junior Kelli Schkade gave Underwood a five-run cushion headed into the seventh and final inning. At that point, Kee said the team remained calm and refused to panic. Yet, the excitement showed once the game’s final batter popped up to Schkade at shortstop. Underwood took a few hops towards the dugout and threw her arms into the air out of pure excitement when the ball hit her glove, finally earning the win she said her team desperately needed. “It’s hard to come back every single day after such a long losing streak and long season,” Underwood said. “I think it shows a lot of grit and who we are as people as players.” Seniors Bryana Wade and Williams will play their last games in North Texas uniforms to close out the season on Sunday. First pitch is at 1 p.m. View Full Article

Adalberto Toledo | Senior Staff @Aldot29 Advertisements from the university often use words like “superb,” “leading” and “top” to solidify its brand image, but in a recent review, UNT System chancellor Lee Jackson advised a change in the language UNT uses. Having recently received the Carnegie Classification, Jackson advised UNT that as the university or any organization grows, the rhetoric associated with it must also change, to cast UNT in a more prestigious light. With the “Green Light to Greatness” campaign ending in 2017, UNT will change the university’s voice to reflect that of a university comparable in standing to other Carnegie classified universities. “Cities, companies, and universities,” Jackson said, “make broader and more aggressive claims laced with superlatives and ambitious expectations when they are weak than when they become more successful and respected.” UNT’s Identity Guide suggests all advertisements be “written in a way that expresses the university’s creativity and innovation.” The website says to use of words like “confident,” “friendly,” “bold,” and “inspiring” to describe the university. The online version of the “viewbook” every prospective student receives from UNT have words like “one-of-a-kind” and “incredible,” to showcase the university’s diversity and viability as a freshman’s new home. Deborah Leliaert, vice president for university relations and planning, said UNT always tries to give an accurate representation of itself. “Our practice is to provide information accurately and on a timely basis,” Leliaert said. “We routinely freshen the appearance of our marketing and communication materials – print and digital.” As with all brands, UNT’s image is an evolution. Leliaert said the university must look to the best practices of communication throughout various fields, not just higher education, to establish its brand. Biology senior Brittney Anderson said the university just wants students to enroll, and mentioned that the language describing the university is often “very cliché.” “If you express and talk a lot about your accomplishments, it makes you want to look into what they’re saying,” Anderson said. “They should be more specific with the things they advertise.” Her friend, biology senior Allen Thongrivong, said that while he agrees with many of the things UNT says about itself, the university should focus in on the accomplishments of specific programs and not on the overall “awesomeness” of the university. “They need to prove [what they say],” Thongrivong said. “You have to live up to what you say, and I personally think they do.” In the performance evaluation, Jackson said he receives many newsletters and messages from universities that contain their language. “I am struck by how many of them are more restrained in speaking of their own campus accomplishments,” Jackson said. “The universities with the strongest reputations whose faculty or student achievements are perhaps expected [in particular].” A look into peer university’s messages to their student body shows this restrained language. When UT Dallas became a part of universities in “highest research” category of the Carnegie Classification, the announcement did not come with elevated language or even the use of the words “tier-one,” something UNT did. The announcement’s headline “UNT ranked among nation’s Tier One research universities.” That stands in contrast to UT Dallas, which led with, “Carnegie Classification of Institutions Elevates UT Dallas to Highest Research Category.” In the language of the announcement itself, no mention of “tier-one” exists, though in a sidebar UT Dallas explains the term as “inexact.” The sidebar also said “Texas currently has three universities that by common consent would be termed as “Tier One”: The University of Texas at Austin, Rice University and Texas A&M University.” UT Dallas said the announcement comes as “merely a milepost” in its pursuance of their greater strategic plan. UNT, however, marked it as a “significant step” and did not distance itself from language like “top-tier,” and “among the state’s top universities.” Journalism junior Rand Gowan agreed with Jackson’s criticisms of UNT’s voice. “Overtalking your brand can be construed as insecurity,” Gowan said. “Rather than say that UNT is great, say what specifically makes it great.” The Carnegie ranking, Jackson said, gives reason for UNT to adapt its voice and “speak more modestly now.” “Leaders [at other institutions] are able to speak about their institutions with pride in an understated voice,” Jackson said, adding he would like Smatresk to review the best examples of communications from other respected universities. Featured Image: Courtesy | UNT View Full Article

Reece Waddell | Senior Staff Writer @ReeceWaddell15 Featured Image: Junior quarterback Damarcus Smith left the program giving other quarterbacks a chance to compete for the spot with fifth year senior Alec Morris. Colin Mitchell | Senior Staff Photographer View Full Article

Adalberto Toledo | @aldot29 Julia Falcon | @falconpunch_ Denton residents packed a lecture hall Friday to hear experts from around the country talk about what they see as drawbacks to the Renewable Denton plan to bring Denton to 70 percent renewable energy usage by 2019. The plan has been criticized for its proposal to build two natural gas plants, even after the city’s staunch opposition to natural gas operations in the city limits. The discussion was planned by people in the community curious about the Renewable Denton plan who claimed Denton Municipal Electric — the agent behind the plan — has not provided all the facts and data for citizens to have the complete picture. One speaker, Mark C. Jacobson of Stanford University, said the natural gas plants the plan proposes are unnecessary. “Wind is currently half the cost of [natural] gas, unsubsidized,” Jacobson said. “Solar power is actually cheaper than gas as well now. It makes sense not to [build].” Initiated by a talk from Bob Howarth of Cornell University, the main topics included the dangers of continuing down the energy path the world is currently on. Though he did not provide any specific solutions, aside from weaning off of fossil fuels, the meeting continued with Jacobson providing many alternative energy sources suitable for Texas. Condensed solar power systems, as well as wind power systems could both serve nearly 100 percent of Texas’ energy requirements by 2050, Jacobson said. Electrification, power derived from electricity gotten through alternative energy, is chief among Jacobson’s solutions to both climate change and the future of energy in the U.S. “This transition will be difficult,” Jacobson said. “The key to electrification is to do it fast with the existing technologies.” Natural gas plants are said to be beneficial, but Anne C. Epstein argued otherwise. During her presentation, Epstein told people the risks residents have in living so close to natural gas plants. She began by saying her speech was meant for those people who would live within a mile or so of the proposed plants — many audience members nodding at the relevance. “They found that babies within a certain mile of gas plants are born prematurely,” Epstein said. “Much of this is due to air toxicity factor, it is increased if you are smaller, older or a baby.” Epstein also said that unconventional gas and oil drilling are associated with increased hospitalization rates, with significant increases in cases of neurological and heart diseases. Denton county resident Robin Gregory said the plants would be close to her home. She added the plant’s close proximity could mean diverse health effects, as Epstein pointed out earlier. “For me, there is no point in talking to council,” Gregory said. “We need to make changes. Denton is already too polluted and too congested to move forward with this.” Gregory continued with the difficulty she sees in pursuing alternative energy sources, as Texas politicians are “steeped in oil money.” Nervous about climate change, Denton city councilwoman Keely Briggs has since last year argued against the quick pace of this energy policy, calling for more time to review the implications of the overall plan itself and to be open-minded about alternative sources of energy Denton could employ. “It’s real political, that’s the biggest obstacle,” Briggs said. “If there’s anything that we can do that isn’t going to put a [financial] burden on our citizens, then we should go for that.”

Staff Reports The officer who shot and killed 21-year-old Ryan McMillan will not face charges because a Denton County grand jury chose not to indict the officer last week, according to the Denton County District Attorney’s Office. View Full Article

Reece Waddell | Senior Staff Writer @ReeceWaddell15 Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, members of the Mean Green softball team looked down and found hardwood at their feet instead of the green grass they were accustomed to. Practice was over, but conditioning had just begun inside the volleyball gym a few hundred feet away. Running back and forth on the court, each player swiped her hand along the floor before sprinting back to the baseline to finish the exercise known as a “suicide.” In the midst of the controlled chaos was head coach Tracey Kee, shouting words of encouragement as her team completed the drill. A former softball player at East Carolina University, Kee is no stranger to hard work or being pushed to the limits – and requires the same level of dedication from her players. “Ironically, I’m an incredibly shy person,” Kee said. “I’m in a job that requires an extrovert personality. Out here on the field is typically not my demeanor.” After hanging up her cleats in the ‘90s, Kee began her coaching career as an assistant at her alma mater. Fast forward to 1997, and Kee was at the helm. During her span as head coach, Kee went 684-362-1, led the Pirates to four NCAA tournament appearances and earned Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year honors on three separate occasions. Suffice it to say, Kee knows what it takes to be successful. “[My coaching style] is very fundamental,” Kee said. “It’s very play-the-percentages. I’m a firm believer in discipline and hard work. It’s finding those kids who fit that mold that will help build a program.” Some players, however, did not appreciate Kee’s style of tutelage. North Texas softball head coach Tracy Kee is one of the winningest coaches in the NCAA with over 700 wins. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer This past offseason, five North Texas players with eligibility left the team, including Taylor Schoblocher, who led the Mean Green in homeruns and RBIs in 2015. Junior infielder Kelli Schkade was one of the players who defended her coach and took no issue with Kee’s discipline-oriented approach. “I appreciate her kicking our ass in practice,” Schkade said. “I’ve been around tough coaches and degrading, hostile environments. Last year was nothing like that. I couldn’t even say one bad thing about Coach Kee.” For Kee, it was not the first time she had been accused of creating a negative environment for players. Even though she is one of the winningest active division one softball coaches, Kee and her assistant Natalie Kozlowski were fired from ECU in 2012. According to a press release on East Carolina’s website, the university conducted an investigation, which “found an emotionally hostile environment in the program, identified potential NCAA violations and noted shortcoming to oversight of property and fiscal matters.” Despite her fallout with East Carolina, Kee was not out of work long. Roughly one year after her departure from ECU, athletic director Rick Villarreal hired Kee to serve as the fourth Mean Green softball head coach. “I love it,” Kee said of North Texas “I went into college knowing I wanted to coach. I wasn’t sure the route I was going to take – I was just fortunate enough things fell into place.” North Texas softball head coach Tracy Kee laughs with senior pitcher Stacey Underwood (15) and senior catcher Bryana Wade (23) after they finish a defensive half-inning against Nicholls State. Dylan Nadwody | Staff Photographer After getting a master’s degree in education, Kee came to a crossroads in her career path – coach on the diamond, or teach in the classroom? In the beginning, Kee chose the latter, molding young elementary students’ minds. Things changed once she received the opportunity to be a graduate assistant at East Carolina. “To be on the college level, it’s really no different,” Kee said. “When you’re teaching a kindergartner to throw and a college kid – sometimes they’re of the same mindset.” Although Kee is incredibly focused and intense on the field, players say there is a different side of her people may not know about. A few weeks ago, freshman pitcher Lauren Craine was caught in a two-out, bases-loaded jam with North Texas clinging to a one-run lead in the final inning. With the game on the line, Craine got the batter to fly out to center field, sending the Mean Green home victorious. As she came out of the circle and back to the dugout, Kee was the first person to greet her with a smile and a hug. “She’s sweet and super encouraging,” Craine said. “I love [playing for her]. I feel super comfortable. I’ve never second-guessed being here.” Kee recounted her embrace with Craine and said the thing she enjoys most about coaching is seeing her players perform well. “You work so hard and you want these kids to be successful,” Kee said. “When they get a taste of it, you’re happy for them. For me, it just comes natural. Whether it’s a high-five, hug or kick in the butt, they all tend to run together.” Now in her third season at North Texas, Kee believes she has the building blocks to create the program she envisioned when she was hired. And for the first time since she arrived, Kee is content with the state of the team and the progress she has made. “I would say I’m probably at my happiest point,” Kee said. “I feel I’ve got kids who are fun to be around, fit our coaching style as a staff and fit North Texas.” Featured Image: North Texas softball head coach Tracy Kee had a record of 684-322 at Eastern Carolina University before coming to coach the Mean Green. Dylan Nadwodny | Staff Photographer View Full Article

The Texas Tribune offers a look at the money being spent on athletics by Texas public universities. Aside perennial big-time programs at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and the University of Texas at Austin, whose teams each generate nearly $200 million in annual revenue, these schools are heavily subsidizing their quest for glory on the playing field. The University of North Texas brings in more than $11 million in revenue but also runs up expenses totaling more than $31 million. Its students are asked to subsidize the difference in the form of additional dedicated fees ($165 per semester): Making dramatic cuts wasn’t much of an option if the athletic departments wanted to remain competitive. So that left two choices: They could ask their universities for “direct institutional transfers,” which are dollars sent from the university to athletics. Or they could take more money in student fees. In most cases, the schools did both. In 2008, UNT athletics collected $4.6 million from student fees. By 2015, that figure had more than doubled to $10.7 million. At UTSA, the number nearly doubled from $6.1 million to $12 million in the same time frame. At Texas State, it more than tripled from $5.3 million to $17.3 million. View Full Article