North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 2008 Page: 1 of 8
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The Dark Side
Do tanning beds cause skin cancer?
Arts & Life Page 5
Graduate Hoops
Amber Jackson bounces between basketball and graduate studies
Sports Page 3
Thursday, February 7,2008
Volume 911 Issue 15
35°/58
North Texas Daily
News, 1, 2&8
Arts & Life, 5 & 6
Sports, 3 & 4
Views, 7
Sudoku, 8
Classifieds, 8
nntdaily.com
The Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Photo by Chase Martinez / Staff Photographer
Cars pass a stop sign on Scripture Street, north of campus. An ordinance passed Dec. 11 that ended parking on the street to ensure traffic safety.
Parking ordinance clears
Scripture Street
By Hailey Persinger
Staff Writer
Before last December, the
intersection of Scripture and
Fry streets was a source of
anxiety for drivers and pedes-
trians traveling through the
area, but a recently passed
parking ordinance has changed
that.
Denton City Council unan-
imously passed an ordinance
Dec. 11, 2007 that prohib-
ited parking on the north
side of Scripture Street in
front of the City Pare apart-
ment complex. The ordinance
came after numerous collisions
were reported at the intersec-
tion, one of which sent Dallas
freshman Truman Rockwell
to the hospital in October of
last year.
A car struck Rockwell while
he crossed the intersection on
his skateboard, and injuries
from the accident sent him into
a coma. Tracy Rockwell, his
father, said he is improving,
but Truman Rockwell is still in
a near-coma state.
His father said that while
the ordinance is "a step in the
right direction," he wishes it
had come earlier.
"There's a strong history
of a high accident rate at the
corner and the city should
have done something sooner,"
Tracy Rockwell said. "Since the
apartment complex was built,
there's been 18 accidents at
or near that corner since May
'04 to October '07, and that's
three-and-a-half years, and the
preceding year there was only
two accidents."
Jack Thompson, Denton city
councilman, said the accident
played a part in the passing of
the ordinance and the council
believed the parking prohibi-
tion would keep Denton resi-
dents safer when crossing the
intersection.
JohnCabrales, City of Denton
Spokesman, agreed the inter-
section was a problem and said
the parking ordinance makes
the area safer. He said prior to
the decisions, drivers regularly
parked their vehicles near the
entrance of City Pare apart-
ments, blocking the view of
those attempting to exit and
enter the complex.
"Motorists were having
to exit out into the intersec-
tion and were given a limited
amount of time to see and react
to oncoming vehicles," Cabrales
said. "This non-parking zone
will add to the overall visibility
and safety of this area."
Since the passing of the ordi-
nance, Cabrales said he has
seen requests for a four-way
stop at the intersection, but
no plans have been made for
one.
"We have certain traffic spec-
ifications that we follow, and
actually we're in accordance
with the Federal Highway
Administration Manual on
the Uniformed Traffic Control
Devices," Cabrales said.
"According to those specifica-
tions, the amount of traffic at
that intersection does not call
for.. .a multi-way stop."
Whitewright sophomore
McKenna Sears said the parking
ordinance is currently enough
to keep her safe when she leaves
her apartment.
"It's a lot better," Sears said.
"You can see when you're
crossing the street if you're
walking and when you're
driving."
But Tracy Rockwell said he
still believes more could be
done to keep pedestrians and
drivers safe and urges commu-
nity members to get involved.
"Write letters or petition to
that apartment complex and
the Traffic Safety Commission,"
Rockwell said, "and encourage
them to put a stop sign there."
Riley Dodge highlight of 2008 recruiting class
By Richard C. White
Sports Editor
Nationally acclaimed
Southlake Carroll quarter-
back Riley Dodge highlighted
the 2008 NT football recruiting
class Wednesday, signing a
National Letter of Intent to play
for his father, head coach Todd
Dodge.
Riley Dodge headlined a list
of 26 new additions to the Mean
Green this fall.
He is considered one of the
best high school quarterbacks
in the nation.
He was named to the presti-
gious 2008 Parade All-American
High School Football Team,
which Todd Dodge said is the
highest possible honor for high
school football players.
"We feel Riley was absolutely
the best quarterback and dual
threat in the state of Texas this
year," he said. "We couldn't have
found a better guy to fit our
scheme."
Riley Dodge was also named
to the EA Sports first-team
All-American Multi-Purpose
squad for 2007 in addition to
being named the 2006 and 2007
Gatorade Player of the Year.
During his four years at
Southlake, he passed for more
than 8,000 yards and rushed
for more than 2,000 yards with
nearly 140 total touchdowns.
He also won state champion-
ships under his father's coaching
tenure in his freshman, sopho-
more and junior seasons.
Despite the father-son connec-
tion, Riley Dodge was not seen as
a guarantee to come to NT.
In his junior year, he orally
committed to playing for
University of Texas head coach
Mack Brown. Not until last
summer did he change his
mind.
"Last June he called me up
and said, 'Dad, I need to visit
with you,"' Todd Dodge said.
"He said, Why don't we just do
this together [by both being at
NT]?' And I said, 'It's about time
you came to your senses.' It was
a very special day."
Even though he coached his
son in high school, Todd Dodge
admits it will be more special for
him to do it at the college level,
saying, "it's a unique situation
that doesn't come about very
often at the Division I level."
Athletic director Rick
Villarreal said NT is lucky to
have a player of Riley Dodge's
widely acclaimed caliber.
"A player like Riley could
play almost anywhere in the
country," Villarreal said, "but
we had that one intangible that
nobody else had in that his dad
is the head coach. You take those
advantages any time you can
get them."
Despite seeing Giovanni
Vizza produce an impressive
freshman season last year, Todd
Dodge said he will give his son
every fair chance to win the
starting quarterback job, just
as he will for all players at all
positions.
If Riley Dodge does not win
the starting job, his father said
he doesn't plan on having a two-
quarterback system, as he will
either redshirt his son or move
him to another position.
"He could play wide receiver,
he could return kicks or play in
the secondary," Todd Dodge
said, "but he wasn't brought here
to do that. He was brought here
to play quarterback."
Overall, the 26 new players
are made up of nine defensive
backs, five offensive linemen,
four wide receivers, three defen-
sive linemen, two running
backs, one quarterback and
one kicker.
See Dodge on page 4
Murder a leading cause of
death for pregnant women
By Taylor Short
Contributing Writer
Shocking studies show that a
leading cause of death among
pregnant women in the United
States is homicide.
According to one study
published in the March 2005
issue of The American Journal
of Public Health, murder is a
leading cause of injury-related
deaths among pregnant women
in the United States between
1991 and 1999. Of the injury-
related deaths, 31 percent were
labeled as homicide, making
it the second leading cause of
death of pregnant women after
car accidents.
"My first reactions to this are
shock and surprise," said Sandra
Spencer, NT's director ofwomen's
studies. "But, once you think
about it, it's not so surprising."
Spencer said there are
many reasons a woman can be
targeted.
"Pregnancy is a time of stress
for a woman," she said. "It's a
time when a woman is most
vulnerable physically. Let's face
it, you can't run as fast. It's a time
when a woman's body is out of
balance."
Assault by a stranger is one
possibility, though most acts
of violence against women are
committed by people close to
them, such as acquaintances,
boyfriends, husbands or family
members. Spencer said she is
willing to bet the father of the
child is most likely the one who
would commit such a crime,
possibly escalating from a dispute
about marriage or use of birth
control.
"Having a child will mean
changes for the couple," Spencer
said. "If this is a relationship that
is already stressed, having a child
could be the straw that breaks the
camel's back."
Ashley Blackburn of the crim-
inal justice faculty agrees.
"It could depend on whether
or not the baby was wanted,"
Blackburn said. "Maybe [the
woman] says, 'You're not going
to have anything to do with this
baby, and there's nothing you
can do.' And he responds, 'Well,
I'll show you.'"
Other risk factors include
women under the age of 20 and
improper prenatal care. The
homicide rate for black women
is three times higher than the rate
for white women. Spencer said
this could be because of social
tensions, frustration or despera-
tion related to social disadvan-
tages.
Both Spencer and Blackburn
advise women to be aware of
their surroundings including
the people they know. As far as
violence involving strangers,
Blackburn said a pregnant
woman should stay away from
high-crime areas and use
common sense.
"If you're talking about inti-
mate partner violence, it's really
difficult because there is a lot of
victim blame that goes on," she
said. "Like someone saying, 'How
could she not see it coming?"'
Spencer relates an analogy of
a frog in a slowly warming pot
of water, unable to notice the
gradual increase of heat before
it is too late to women in certain
violent situations. She warns
women to watch for someone
who isolates them from friends
and family, as this can be diffi-
cult to notice.
"Women should pay attention
to when their friends say, 'I get
bad vibes from him,"' Spencer
said. "Begin listening to your
head instead of your heart. I think
women can be gullible that way
sometimes."
Photo Illustration by Chrislynn Mabul/Intern
i the past year, the price of birth control products has risen at many univeristy
health clinics across the United States, including NT.
Rising birth control
costs affect students
Photo by Chesley Roberts / Intern
Coach Todd Dodge fields questions from the media at the NT Athletic Center Wednesday during National Signing Day.
By Andrew McLemore
Staff Writer
For students across the nation,
safe sex has gotten expensive.
A glitch in a federal law has
caused rising birth control costs,
and this has affected millions
of college students, according
to Jessica Leinwand, commu-
nity advocate for Planned
Parenthood.
The change in law affects all
medicated birth control including
the pill and patch.
"The ruling has affected many
of the prices available to" students
Leinwand said.
Reginald Bond, executive
director of student health and
wellness, said the price of some
birth control pills is now five times
what it was a year ago. He said the
amount of birth control sold at NT
has gone down as a result of the
increased cost.
Bond said he did not know if
that means students have given up
birth control pills entirely or have
found cheaper alternatives.
"They may be using their
parent's insurance; we're not real
sure," Bond said. "They're prob-
ably using condoms more, but the
amount of condoms bought [at the
health center] hasn't increased."
Birth control has been sold at
discount prices since the passing
of a 1990 Medicaid law. But a part
of the 2006 Deficit Reduction
Act cut the federal subsidies that
made health care centers eligible
for discounts from pharmaceu-
tical companies, forcing them to
increase their prices.
"We need to get that preferen-
tial discount pricing back," Bond
said.
Harker Heights sophomore Brit
Schulte has used birth control for
four years and said her insurance
doesn't cover it. Schulte said she
stopped using the campus health
center last summer because the
price went up and she could buy
the birth control cheaper at the
Kroger pharmacy.
"It's a terrible burden because of
the rising cost," Schulte said. "It's
difficult to find cheap birth control
of certain varieties."
Bond and Leinwand said both
their organizations are working to
correct the law and reduce prices.
But Leinwand said students should
contact elected officials like the
university ombudsman or chan-
cellors and tell them their story.
She said some students switch
to generic birth control that is more
affordable by about $10 or $15, but
generic brands may not work as
well with their body chemistry.
She said the cost for contracep-
tion could be higher for students
using more expensive types of
contraception or those ineligible
for Medicaid. She added that
some health centers have seen
400 percent increases in prices.
"This is severely affecting
students and low-income women,
forcing them to look for alternative
means," Leinwand said. "They are
foregoing birth conttol and putting
themselves at risk of pregnancy."
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 2008, newspaper, February 7, 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145540/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.