North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 94, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 25, 2004 Page: 4 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 4 March 25, 2004
News
North Texas Daily
NT health center gets
award for diversity
Natalie Hull
Daily Reporter
The American College Health Associa-
tion has chosen the NT Student Health and
Wellness Center to receive one of the first
national Best Practices in College Health
Awards.
"We're pretty excited/' said June Brown-
lee, assistant director of administrative ser-
vices at the Health Center. "This is the first
time this award has been given."
The Best Practices Award is modeled af-
ter the Pacific Coast College Health Associ-
ation's "Golden Glove" awards and covers
four categories: clinical services, counseling
services, administration and consumer ser-
vices and health education and promotion
services. The Health Center
submitted an Internet-based
program titled "Welcoming
Diversity in Health Care for
international Students" and
won the health education and
promotion services category.
"It was a very creative and
original program that is close-
ly aligned with the mission of
ACHA, that of diversity, and
incorporated online access,"
said Dr. Bob Dollinger, ACHA
awards committee chairman.
"This program was also se-
lected because it can be easily
modeled at other universities."
According to Brownlee, other schools
currently use the Web site to help their in-
ternational students understand health care
in the United States. The Web site and pro-
gram were developed under a 1997 grant to
give health education and disease informa-
tion that applied to international students.
Many come from countries where the
government pays for health care and they
require information on obtaining insurance
coverage while studying in America. All
international students at N'T are required
to have health insurance. The international
"This is the
first time this
award has
been given."
- June Brownlee
Assistant director
administrative services
NT Health Center
health care Web site explains insurance op-
tions and even defines insurance terminol-
ogy such as carrier, deductible, claimant
and co-payment for those who have never
encountered such terms.
The Web site also addresses cultural is-
sues facing students from other countries.
In some cultures women cannot be seen by
male doctors. This is explained by saying it
is common in America and that requesting
a doctor based on gender may mean more
time before actually seeing a doctor. While
realizing that other cultures may approach
illness in different ways - such as a holistic
mental approach or an herbal approach - it
describes the American approach as "scien-
tific" and relying upon "medical data."
According to the Web site, "It is a com-
plex blend of medical and
nursing schools, hospitals, re-
search institutions, insurance
companies, and allied medical
fields. It is the foundation of
university student health cen-
ters as well."
While all other awards the
ACHA offers are given to in-
dividuals, this set of awards is
the first given to colleges and
universities based on what
Dollinger described as "meri-
torious programs." Four cate-
gories exist, but all four might
not be awarded if submissions
are not strong enough to merit receipt of the
award.
"There was no recipient this year for the
Administrative Category, as none of the
three submissions was sufficiently meritori-
ous in the recommendation of the Awards
Committee," Dollinger said.
The NT Health Center and its executive
director Reginald Bond only entered the
one category this year. Bond will accept the
award for the Health Center at the ACHA
conference on June 10 in New Orleans.
The Web site is www.healthcenter.unt.
edu and click on the international link.
WHO HAS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE NT COVERAGE?
GUESS.
YOU DON'T NEED A PH.D
TO UNDERSTAND
"NO C0MMMISSI0NS"
The math is pretty simple. Hidden charges, high fees, and sales commissions
can erode the retirement savings your working so hard to build. Contact us,
a company known for giving clear, objective guidance and keeping costs low.
We'll show you how our principled approach to long term investing can really add up.
TIAA-CREF.org or call 800-842-2776
Find out more about TIAA-CREF IRAs
and our other tax-smart financial solutions
Managing money for people
with other things to think about.
RETIREMENT I INSURANCE I MUTUAL FUÑOS I COLLEGE SAVINGS I TRUSTS I INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses
carefully before investing. Please call 877-518-9161 for a prospectus that
contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully
before investing. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC and Teachers Personal
Investors Services, Inc. distribute securities products. Please read the prospectus carefully before
investing. © 2004 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund
(TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 C31471
TAMS sponsors debate
over gay predisposition
Sides fail to reach consensus on ultimate answer
Jillian Jordan
Daily Reporter
The Texas Academy of Mathematics and
Science sponsored a debate entitled "Ho-
mosexuality: Personal Choice or Genetic
Predisposition" Wednesday night. Charles
Stolfus, an associate pastor of the Denton
Bible Church, and Rebeca Perfecto, Puerto
Rico senior and a member of the NT ally
program in the Office of Equi- ^—
ty and Diversity and co-presi-
dent of the Gay and Lesbian
Association of Denton chapter,
took part in the debate.
The debate concluded wTith
both sides in agreement that
there was little valid research
to determine homosexual-
ity being genetically predeter-
mined; however, a consensus
on whether it was a choice was
not reached.
"We usually pick one of the
hot topics, and this is a hot-but-
ton issue our students are in-
terested in," said Kevin Roden,
assistant director of TAMS stu-
dent life. "Our staff initiated it,
and then we kind of put a call
out for representatives."
Until Tuesday, there was
no representative to represent
genetic predisposition, Roden
said.
"We didn't have any prob-
lem getting a representative
for the choice side of it, but the
people for genetic disposition
told me they didn't feel com-
fortable speaking about it,"
TAMS resident assistant Ginny Kendrick
said.
After two-and-a-half months of planning,
Perfecto stepped up to fill the space for the
debate, but not necessarily in complete rep-
resentation of the side of genetic predisposi-
tion.
"She's bringing in a new perspective, a
social one," Kendrick said.
This new idea was one of social construc-
tion. Where events in one's life can shape
a person's sexual orientation and how that
person will evaluate his or her life later on,
Perfecto said. In her life she had concluded
"Not the great
role of genetics,
rather the great
role of
environment."
- Charles Stolfus
Associate Pastor
Denton Bible Church
"Why would I
choose to not
have the rights
of others, or to
be the victim of a
hate crime? You
don't choose."
- Rebeca Perfecto
Co-president
Gay and Lesbian Association
that it was not a choice for her personally.
"Why would I choose to not have the
rights of others, or to be the victim of a hate
crime? You don't choose," Perfecto said.
"You can choose not to act on it, but you
cannot choose not to be it."
Stolfus argued that it was not genetic,
and found it to be due to influences outside
of genetic predisposition.
"Not the great role of genetics, rather the
^— great role of environment," he
said.
Being an associate pastor
and working in a law office
for nine years, Stolfus said he
has had some experiences that
help him deal objectively with
hot-button issues, and he had
also done research on his own
because of personal interests,
he said. Morally he disagreed
with the practice of homosexu-
ality.
"It is objectively known that
it is wrong based on natural
law alone," he said. He also
suggested "reparative thera-
py" to reverse the disposition
toward homosexuality, but
pointed out that "the key is an
intense desire to change" in or-
der for its success.
In counter to Stolfus's moral
stand, Perfecto said that homo-
sexuality occurred and is rare-
ly reversible.
"It is part of your subcon-
scious, it is part of something
you cannot access even if you
tried," she said. "It is very hard
to reverse."
Gay marriage was also an issue brought
up in the debate.
"It's a disturbing trend to open up a
marriage to homosexuals," Stolfus said. It
"is going to increasingly see society in its
breakdown, a move away from marriage in
general."
In refute Perfecto said that many gay
couples have long-lasting relationships like
those of heterosexuals and gave her person-
al opinion on the matter.
"I'm no different then my heterosexual
peers,
she said.
Firing
FROM PAGE 1
stead provided 10 meals each week.
Although the last paid meal was used on
August 12, 2002, he continued to receive
meals through Feb. 17, 2004, a total of 417 un-
paid meals. He incurred a $1,351.08 loss for
the university.
According to Miller, after dining services
found the encoding error, a complete audit
was done and no other errors were found.
"I was told two co-workers admitted at
the public hearing that they knew about
what I was doing and they accepted invita-
tions to eat from me before," Velasquez said.
"This is proof that I was not hiding what I
thought was something given to me by the
university."
Miller said the coworkers wTould not be
disciplined for accepting a meal from the
meal card.
"There is no information that they knew it
was wrong the time," he said.
Velasquez is pending charges of theft by a
public servant for $500 to $1,500, a felony.
The case has yet to go before a grand jury
because it is waiting for more information-
from the investigation.
"Again, I deny any wrong doing in this
matter and allegations against me," Velas-
quez said. "And I hope to come back to work
as I will appeal to the termination decision
through all compliance and grievance pro-
cedures."
MG s Restaurant
Now Open for Breakfast!
Mon, - Fri, 6- 10:30 a.m.
Sat. & Sun. 7-11 a.m.
Daily Specials for Lunch & Dinner
Mon. - Thurs. 10 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. 11 p.m.
Sun. 8 p.m.
(940) 243-3311 • 301 W. University
FOR THE BEST
NORTH TEXAS
NEWS
LOG ON TO
NTDAILY.COM
A Quee/j
^Ush ZXM
Zeta Tau Alpha cordially invites the
ladies of UNT to Beth Marie's tonight
at 5 p.m. Please bring your transcript.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 94, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 25, 2004, newspaper, March 25, 2004; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145122/m1/4/?q=EARTH: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.