North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 2003 Page: 1 of 14
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Since 1916
North Texas Daily
Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas w
Friday
February 28,2003
Volume 88, No. 25
WWW.NTDAILY.COM
Officials
to hire
visiting
acuity
Committee tries to
avoid layoffs
Tyler Tamim.in
Staff Writer
Members of the university
budget committee on
Thursday said they would
increase the hiring of visiting
faculty to stave off the threat
of layoffs because of an
expected 12.5 percent short-
fall in state appropriations
funding.
Officials from other major
Texas universities said faculty
firings are not being discussed
as a legitimate option in
administrative circles.
Dr. David Kesterson,
provost and vice president of
academic affairs, said the
increase could affect the uni-
versity "in the long run" if the
hirings were prolonged but
added the decision was one of
a number of contingency
plans put in motion to combat
the possibility of a shortfall in
state appropriations.
The Texas Legislature, now
grappling with a $9.9 billion
deficit, is expected to report
See FACULTY, page 3
raternity
suspended
for hazing
Charged with four
violations of student
code of conduct
Gentry Braswell
Staff Writer
NT's chapter of Sigma
Lambda Beta fraternity, a mem-
ber of the NT Latino Greek
Council, was suspended on Feb.
19 for the rest of the semester.
The suspension is a result of
hazing investigations by the
university and the fraternity's
national headquarters.
"The sanctions were jointly
imposed by nationals and the
university," said Roddy Wolper,
NT director of news and infor-
mation.
Wolper said the NT and
national headquarters investiga-
tions ran concurrently and coop-
eratively.
"We take all incidents of haz-
ing very seriously," Kelly Reese,
associate director of news and
information, said.
"Fraternities and sororities
are generally very mature in
working with the university to
return to campus."
See FRAT, page 4
IS NT'S SPEECH FREE?
College to
AMY WISEMAN/ NT Daily
A student walks by the empty Free Speech Area in front of the Union. Students are required
to make appointments to use the area.
ree Speech Area
sparks controversy
Lauren Grimm, Ashley Womble
Copy Assistant, Editor in Chief
For years students have walked by
the University Union and chuckled
at the bronze plaque reading, "Free
Speech Area — to schedule contact Dean
of Students Office."
The plaque brings an obvious question
to mind: if speech has to be scheduled, is
it really free?
Not according to the Foundation for
Individual Rights in Education, a non-
profit group that aims to protect free
speech on college campuses.
"The University of North Texas has
the odious distinction of having one of the
most restrictive 'speech zone' policies
FIRE has ever seen," Greg Lukianoff, a
spokesman of the foundation, said.
While the United States Constitution
protects free speech, it allows universities
to set reasonable restrictions for time,
place and manner.
NT's current policy allows students to
schedule appointments to use one of the
four free speech areas between 8 a.m. and
5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The poli-
cy mandates that students must request to
use the areas two business days in
advance. Individuals must request to use
an area 20 calendar days in advance if they
want to use large displays more than 6 feet
tall or 8 feet wide or if participation is
expected to exceed more than 100 people.
Dr. Norval Pohl, NT president, said
that scheduling appointments to use one
of the areas is necessary to provide securi-
ty and manage public safety.
"We want to regulate and provide a safe
space for opposing points of view," he
said. "The two 'sides' do not need to
physically confront each other."
Lukianoff said he thought safety con-
cerns do not provide defense for NT's
policy.
"To be considered legal, time, place
and manner restrictions must be 'narrowly
tailored' to substantial governmental
interests," he said. "A generalized con-
cern about safety and order is neither spe-
cific enough nor substantial enough to jus-
tify these rules."
Some students said they thought the
guidelines in NT's free speech policy pro-
hibited organizations from using the areas
as often as they would like.
Gazi Ayyad, The Colony sophomore
and member of the Young Communist
League, said his organization would use
the free speech area more if it did not
have to schedule an appointment.
While the policy states that individuals
must get permission in advance to use the
area, the dean of students has the author-
ity to make exceptions to the policy.
"The university is always willing to
work with individuals that want to use the
free speech area," Ona Tolliver, assistant
See SPEECH,page 3
cut summer
courses by
30 percent
Arts and Sciences
attempts to work
with lower budget
Victor Obaseki
Staff Writer
With the largest curricu-
lum at NT, the College of
Arts and Sciences plans to
cut 30 percent of summer
classes to help meet the
university's state-mandated
budget cut of $6.5 million,
Dean Warren Burggren said.
"Where it is really prob-
lematic is with students
who need [summer] courses
to graduate," Burggren
said.
The budget cuts are part
of the state-wide demand
Gov. Rick Perry made in
January, asking all state
agencies to cut their budget
by 7 percent.
Following Perry's man-
date, university officials
told the College of Arts and
Sciences administration to
cut $398,000 out of their
remaining budget for the
2002-2003 fiscal year,
Burggren said.
Essentially, Burggren
said, summer school and
maintenance and operation
costs were the only two
expenditures remaining in
the fiscal year.
Dr. Jim Albright.
The college's administra-
tion decided to cut 30 per-
cent of summer classes, sav-
ing $310,000, while also
cutting
$88,000
from the
mainte-
nance and
operation
costs.
Houston
senior
Jason
Prahl, a
physics
major, is concerned one of
the three classes he needs
to graduate will be cut from
the summer offerings.
"I'd protest and go to the
[dean's] office because that
would keep me here anoth-
er semester and that's a lot
of money that I can't afford
to be shelling out," Prahl
said.
Following the mandate,
the dean's office asked the
college's 21 department
chairs to reduce the sum-
mer courses they were
offering.
"We think the best
[administrative] decisions
are made locally," Burggren
said.
Dr. Jim Albright, chair-
man of the journalism
department, said his
See SUMMER, page 3
Students react to
tuition increase
irst rise in
graduate fees
since 1993
Erika Stone
Daily Reporter
The NT Board of Regents
voted Friday to increase gradu-
ate tuition by $22 per credit
hour.
The board increased not
only graduate tuition, but also
that of the undergraduates.
The undergraduate tuition only
increased by $2, from $44 to $46
per credit hour.
Since 1993, there has not
been an increase in graduate
tuition, which was $26 per cred-
it hour, and the board decided
to raise graduate tuition to the
maximum it was allowed ■ - all
the way to $46 per credit hour.
Graduates must now pay the
state tuition of $88 per credit
hour plus the tuition everyone
pays of $46 and the extra $46 for
attending graduate school.
"There has been a debate
with the graduate students
about the options we can take,"
said Kendra Bridge, a Round
Rock graduate student and
president of the Graduate
Student Council. "We do not
know whether to accept it or
deal with it by taking it to the
state."
Bridge also said that with the
increase, the teaching assis-
tants, research assistants and
the rest of the part-time
employees of the graduate
department, who only get paid
about $8,000 a year are having
to pay their own health insur-
ance every month, which is
more than $100.
See GRADUATE, page 4
N
A first glance
The Texas House of
Representatives is con-
sidering a bill that
would decriminalize
marijuana use. Read
about the bill's progress.
Page 4
at today's news
Childhood hero and role-
model Mr. Fred Rogers
died yesterday from
stomach cancer. He was
74 and starred in "Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood."
Page 9
Film Critic Jill
Michaelree reviews the
latest installation of
HBO's hit series Queer
As Folk on DVD. Page
10
Television journalists
lost even more credibility
on Wednesday night as
Dan Rather only asked
one hard question of
Hussein. Read the tele-
vision review on Page 10
The Lady Eagles lost to
the Louisiana-Lafayette
Ragin' Cajuns, 65-59,
last night at the Super
Pit. Staff writer Chris
Hawkes reports.
Page 14
The NT track and field
team will compete in the
Indoor Sun Belt
Conference
Championships this
weekend. Julie Goldberg
previews. Page 13
The Mean Green tennis
team will play three
times over the next few
days. Staff writer Phil
Brown.
Page 12
Weather
Cloudy
Today:
High 52
Low 38
Index
Briefs
2
Mews 3,4,6,7
Religion 8
Beat
9.10
Sports
12.13,14
Atmospheric math folk
rock appears in Denton
BEAT, Page 9
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, February 28, 2003, newspaper, February 28, 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145082/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.