North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 22, 2007 Page: 1 of 12
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NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Thursday, February 22, 2007
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
Volume 91 I Issue 75
ntdaily.com
Bon Appeti
Defeat
76°/55°
Students serve up dishes for restaurant class.
Life page 5
onoan loses aouoieneaaer, rans 10 0-
oris Dase
• Arts, 2,3,4
• Life, 5 & 6
• News, 10 & 12
• Sports, 7, 8, 9
• Views, 11
• Classifieds, 12
• Sudoku, 12
The Tomato is forced out by March 15 22-year-
' old mom-
and-pop
business
prepares for
relocation
By Monica Mendez
Contributing Writer
College student banter, graf-
fiti-covered wooden paneling, the
blinding sun beaming through the
windows and arcade-style video
games have been familiar sights
and sounds for an NT hangout,
The Tomato.
After 22 years of hot, thick-
crusted pizza service, The Tomato
was served its final eviction notice
set for March 15.
"We've been here since Aug. 30,
1984," said Tomato Owner Mike
"Ski" Slusarski.
With the Fry Street renova-
tion in the beginning stages, The
Tomato was given an original evic-
tion date of Jan. 31, Mike Slusarski
said. Since then, United Equities,
Inc., the building's Houston-
based owners, have been negoti-
ating individual expulsion dates
for the business on the strip, Mike
Slusarski added.
"We found out Monday of last
week," Mike Slusarski said.
In the midst of shutting down
their business and 22-year invest-
ment, Mike Slusarski and his wife
and co-owner, Becky Slusarski,
will be searching the Denton
area for alternate locations, Mike
Slusarski said.
Mike Slusarski said if fate is in
The Tomato's favor, the Slusarskis
and their staff will be back in
business a few weeks from now.
Today, the Slusarskis are looking
at a location that, with hope, will
meet their needs, Mike Slusarski
said.
"Hopefully we'll be open in
three weeks," Mike Slusarski
said.
Becky Slusarski said the move
has been tough, not only for
managementbutfor the Slusarski's
children as well. Mike and Becky
Slusarski have two children, ages
13 and 17. Becky Slusarski said it
was a sad time for their family,
and that both children are having
difficulty coping with the insta-
bility of the move.
Slusarski said that if relocating
takes too long, he and his wife
will be forced to find other jobs
to support themselves while
continuing to search for the future
home of The Tomato. Without The
Tomato's earnings, the Slusarski
family loses its only source of
income, Mike Slusarski said.
Mike and Becky Slusarski are
well aware of the burdens the
Fry Street renovations are going
to force on their mom and pop
business.
Becky Slusarski said that she
feels as though her customers
are her kids. She said she has flip-
flopped between grief and excite-
ment, combined with the fear of
Chase Martinez / NT Daily
NT students, in silhouette, stand in line to order food Wednesday
afternoon at The Tomato.
starting all over again.
Mike Slusarski said his favorite
part of the business is the loyal
college crowd. The constant flow
of students throughout the day
and seeing the same students for
years will be immensely missed
once they relocate this college
hang out, Mike Slusarski said.
"I get to see new faces every
year," Mike Slusarski said. "With
the new location, the crowd will
be different."
Slusarski said that with the new
location comes a new strategy.
The Tomato's environment will be
forced in an entirely new direction
since his faithful college crowd
will, more than likely, decrease
at its new site.
Tomato employee Kwinton
Filip said he shares the Slusarskis'
grief.
Filip said that working at The
See Tomato on page 10
Weather brings studies outdoors
Chase Martinez / NT Daily
Chris Brown, senator for the College of Arts and Sciences,
speaks to the SGA senate Wednesday afternoon in the University
Union.
SGA drops plans
cor honor code
By Erin Waters
Contributing Writer
Senators of the Student
Government Association voted
against a resolution that would
enact an honor code for NT
Wednesday night.
While rules and regulations
regarding plagiarism already
exist and appear on every class's
syllabus, a formal Honor Code
to bind students to "maintain
honesty and integrity in all
academic pursuits" does not.
Senators discussed whether
passing the resolution would
lead to a decline in cheating
or whether it would exist just
for show. Speaker of the Senate
Shana Gooch said if the legis-
See SGA on page 10
Police search for
tire-slashing suspect
$Ng£j
By Aaron Bracamontes
Staff Writer
Police are searching for any
information that may lead to the
arrest of the person or persons
responsible for a series of car
vandalisms this week.
Several vehicle owners' tires
were slashed in front of Maple
and Kerr halls Sunday and
Wednesday mornings.
NT Deputy Police Chief Ed
Reynolds said the damaged vehi-
cles all had a single puncture in
one of the four tires.
"There is no known pattern;
no common factor among the
vehicles other than the tires,"
Reynolds said.
Cindy Stride, associate director
of housing, said flyers would be
posted at entrances and exits of
all residence halls, instructing
students to look for and report
any suspicious activity.
"We're trying to insure aware-
ness among students," Stride
said. "It's the best communica-
tion tool we have when we issue
safety alerts."
Over 20 vehicles have been
reported to have their tires
slashed. However, police cannot
say that the same party damaged
them, Reynolds said.
The housing department
has been working with police
in trying to locate a suspect
while hall directors have been
in contact with victims trying
to gather all their information,
Stride said.
Police have no description
about the suspect or suspects,
but encourage anyone with
information to call NT Police at
(940) 565-3000 or Crime Stoppers
at (940) 369-8477 for anyone who
wishes to remain anonymous.
Rebecca Evans / NT Daily
Karl Villanueva, Mesquite graduate student, studies outside the Library Information Sciences Building at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb.
21. Students and professors across campus enjoyed the warm weather by spending time outdoors, studying and holding class.
Inauguration celebration brings new traditions
Mean Green
Blowout is a no-go
By Carli Baylor
Contributing Writer
Thousands of students have
attended the annual end-of-the-
year party in the past, but this year
they will have to look forward to
a new celebration if they want to
have a good time.
The seventh annual Mean
Green Blowout is being replaced
with festivities for the inaugu-
ration of NT's 14th president,
Gretchen Bataille.
The original Mean Green
Blowout in 2001 was called "Let's
Party" and honored the inaugura-
tion of NT's 13th president Norval
Pohl, according to a Daily article
from April 12, 2002. The party's
name later changed to Mean
Green Blowout and became an
annual end-of-the-year celebra-
tion where students could eat
free food and listen to live music,
according to a Daily article from
April 28,2005.
The party is being replaced this
year to honor Bataille by creating
her own tradition at N T, said Alan
Ross, San Antonio senior and
Student Government Association
president.
"The blowout was first planned
for the inauguration of Dr. Pohl,"
Ross said. "The committee didn't
feel it appropriate to put together
an event for a past president."
Chuck Fuller, assistant vice
president for business services
and faculty chairman for the new
party said the event is being orga-
nized by a committee of students,
including Ross and NT's grad-
uate student representative, Tobye
Nelson. He said they have devel-
oped a theme different from the
blowout's traditional "Mean
Green" idea but are still in the
process of finding a name for it.
"The event is being organized
by a committee of students,
SKqys ofQaocettmce
Rekindle. Ignite. Illuminate.
headedby Alan Ross, Tobye Nelson
and myself," Fuller said. "All other
committee members are students.
The theme of the party is New
Orleans, but we do not as yet have
a title for the gig."
See Mean on page 10
Mayborn nstitute receives ournalism grant
By Wendy Moore
Staff Writer
NT's Mayborn Graduate
Institute of Journalism was
awarded a $25,000 grant by
the Ethics and Excellence in
Journalism Foundation Feb. 14.
The grant money will help fund
scholarships for those who want
to attend the Mayborn Literary
Nonfiction Writers Conference of
the Southwest in July and defray
travel costs for the speakers sched-
uled to present at the conference,
said Mitch Land, director of the
institute said. He said the appli-
cation process required a team
effort from Mayborn students
and staff as well as the help of
NT's Advancement Office. The
proposal they constructed was
sent to the Ethics and Excellence
in Journalism Foundation and
ultimately led to the grant
approval.
The foundation, established
in 1982 by Edith Kinney Gaylord,
was created to help support
projects designed to improve
the quality and ethics in jour-
nalism.
"This is another example of a
major organization recognizing
the outstanding work of the
Mayborn graduate students and
the Mayborn Graduate Institute,"
Gaylord said. "I consider it an
honor and privilege to partner
with Ethics and Excellence in
Journalism Foundation."
Nancy Eanes, project coordi-
nator for the Mayborn Institute,
said this is the third time the
department has requested this
grant and she thinks the success
of the past two conferences,
which was described in their
application, helped the school's
chances of getting the grant.
Nancy Flodgkinson, Ethics
and Excellence in Journalism
foundation program officer, said
the foundation awards about
$5 million in grants per year to
universities and other journalism
programs throughout the nation.
She said more than 250 inquiry
letters are sent to the founda-
tion, and a portion of those who
requested funds are asked to
submit applications for review.
Hodgkinson said an advisory
committee, made up of six indi-
viduals either working in jour-
See Journalism on page 10
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 22, 2007, newspaper, February 22, 2007; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145430/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.