North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 2009 Page: 1 of 8
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Arts & Life
Video game club invites
players of all platforms
Page 3
Sports
Softball team outdeuled
by the Cowgirls
Page 5
Multimedia
Watch video of original works
of NT's dance department
ntdaily.com
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Volume 93 Issue 22
Cloudy
84° / 55°
N i th Tex i ilv
News 1,2
Arts & Life 3,4
Sports 5,8
Views 6
Classifieds 7
Games 7
> ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the Uni versi ty of North Texas
acuity Senate alters dead week' policy
By Courtney Roberts
Senior Staff Writer
Students expecting to catch
a break from the turmoil of
tests and quizzes before final
exams might not get that
chance this year as they may
not have the usual dead week.
In fact, under the new policy
faculty members can even
give tests during that week.
Faculty members, however,
have the option to adopt the
change this semester or to
wait until the fall semester.
The Faculty Senate approved
the change in January to have
only Friday in the pre-finals
week as a "reading day" when
no classes will be held. The
rest of the days, Monday
through Thursday, will be
regular class days. Under the
old policy, teachers could
not assign homework or give
exams during the pre-finals
week. The revised edition of
the policy was released on
Feb. 5.
"The new policy gives the
faculty a little more measure of
freedom and flexibility when
it comes to designing and
delivering their classes," said
Celia Williamson, vice provost
for advancement of academic
affairs. "It's
supposed to
help students
by best facil-
itating and
supporting
them in their
learning."
In an Oct.
15, 2008
Daily article,
Wendy Wilkins, provost and
vice president of academic
affairs, announced at the
September Faculty Senate
meeting that she wants to let
faculty decide what they do
in their classes during pre-
Celia
Williamson
Photo by Holly Dutton/Staff Photographer
Senior forward Harold Stewart fights for the ball during Saturday's losing game against the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock. In the Mean Green's Wednesday game against Arkansas State University, NT lost 86-83.
Mean Green softens bite
By Sean Gorman
Senior Staff Writer
The Mean Green mens basket-
ball team looks to bounce back
against Arkansas State University
as they travel to Jonesboro, Ark.
to play the Red Wolves at 7 p.m.
tonight.
The last meeting between the
two teams ended in a thriller,
with an 86-83 triple overtime
victory for NT. The win snapped
a five game losing streak for the
Mean Green, and sophomore
guard Tristan Thompson led the
team with 24 points.
The Mean Green (16-11, 9-7)
has been playing well on defense,
but has struggled offensively
The team shot 25 percent against
the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock on Saturday
See NT on Page 8
Transfers association grows
Student group
adds more than
200 members
By Maddi Williams
Contributing Writer
More than 250 people from
two- and four-year universi-
ties and colleges have joined
NT's Association for the Study
of Transfer Students since it
formed on Jan. 23. The asso-
ciation brings faculty and staff
from across the nation together
to promote enrollment and
graduation rates of transfer
students, said Bonita Jacobs,
vice president for Student
Development.
Jacobs is also the executive
director of the association's
national governing body, the
National Institute on the Study
of Transfer Students.
The number of students
in the group could continue
to grow as well, said Marc
Cutright, director of the Center
for Higher Education and exec-
utive research director of the
national institute.
"This is an indication of how
serious we are about transfer
students." Jacobs said. "We are
proud of our transfers."
NT President Gretchen
Bataille said more than half
of NT's students are transfer
students - leading the state
and ranking eighth in the
nation for public universities
in the percentage of transfer
students.
Melissa McGuire, director of
Student Success Programs, said
the forming of the association
means other universities may
try to emulate it. "A lot want to
learn from us," she said.
Organizers from NT plan
to provide a place for faculty
and staff from universities in
more than 40 states to meet
and discuss transfer students,
Jacobs said.
One of the main focuses of
the group is to explore differ-
ences between incoming
freshmen and students trans-
ferring from other institutes.
Some universities tend to mix
all incoming students together,
no matter their background,
Jacobs said, but NT already has
separate orientation options for
the different types of students,
so advisers can help future
students with transfer hours
and make sure credit is received
for classes taken at different
institutions.
Jacob's said about 80 percent
of students with associate's
degrees from two-year colleges
do not pursue other higher
education degrees so the asso-
ciation is focusing on making
sure transfer students graduate
as well.
finals week.
"In preparation for finals,
there were no student events
or papers administered during
dead week," Williamson said.
"Now, we're looking at a more
productive policy and what
this new policy does is it gives
back to faculty members."
Williamson said the spirit of
the old policy is similar to the
new one despite the changes
with faculty receiving fewer
restrictions.
"The question came up
between the faculty and the
provost since [Wendy Wilkins]
arrived and was brought up
7 don't think it s a really great
idea because we use that
week to prepare for finals."
—Jordan Wiehle
Fashion design senior
in discussion this academic
year," she said.
Students, who were not
consulted on the matter, have
a different view.
"I think there should have
been a poll at least conducted
among the students to see
if they wanted this policy
changed or not," said Jordan
Wiehle, a fashion design
senior. "I don't think it's a
really great idea because we
use that week to prepare for
finals."
ire hits Chemistry Building
By Shaina Zucker
Assigning Editor
A two-alarm fire broke out in
a cabinet on the second floor
of the Chemistry Building on
Wednesday night, prompting the
arrival of four fire trucks and
emergency vehicles, Denton Fire
Department officials said.
There appeared to be no inju-
ries and there were no witnesses
to the actual fire, said Ken
Gold, Denton Fire Department
Battalion Chief.
Witnesses working in the
building said smoke filled the
second floor and came out vents
on the side of the building facing
Hickory Street.
Jason Halbert, a chemistry
senior, worked late in a building
lab when the alarm sounded.
"I never would have thought
to expect a fire in this building,"
he said.
The extent of the smoke
damage is unknown at this point,
but the sprinkler system activated
immediately and managed to
contain the fire, Gold said.
The cause of the fire is
unknown at this point but Capt.
Mike Ball said it appeared to be
chemical-related.
"When you get a bunch of
chemicals together, there is
always a chance for fire," he
said.
Crews extinguished the fire by
10:46 p.m. Officials have yet to
review the damage to assess why
the fire started, Gold said.
Photo by Holly Dutton/Staff Photographer
Firefighters walk through the first floor of the Chemistry Building on Wednesday night after responding to a call of a two-
alarm fire on the second floor. Fire officials said no injuries were reported and the fire was contained to one room.
acuity, students meld talent
Photo by Arash Sahba/Photographer
The NT dance department presents UnEven Ground, this year's faculty dance concert that consists of six works that
use the collaborative efforts from both NT faculty and dance students. The performance styles vary from abstract
and poetic choreography to hip-hop while evoking themes expressing the dynamics of human emotion such as
joy, sorrow and destructive habits toward the earth. This year's concert ran from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22 in the University
Theatre in the NT's Radio, TV, Film and Performing Arts Building.
Online: Dance Series
To see a multimedia presentation of Wednesday night's performance visit: ntdaily.com
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 2009, newspaper, February 26, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145666/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.