North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 2010 Page: 3 of 8
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Wednesday, September 29,2010
Arts & Life
Page 3
Katie Grivna Arts & Life Editor
kgrivna@ntdaily.com
ollege students give their definition of activism
By Nicole Landry
Contributing Writer
Dating back to the civil
rights movement in the '60s
and the anti-war protests in
the '70s, college students have
rarely had a problem showing
their support for various
causes.
Students walking across
UNT's campus can find
themselves face to face with
a collection of activist groups,
cause supporters and aware-
ness raisers any day of the
week.
"Activism is advancing one's
beliefs," said Clint Towns end,
an economics and political
science junior and president
of UNT's Young Americans
for Liberty. "It's promoting
an awareness of injustices
towards a large number of
people."
College students appear to
be more active than the rest
of society because "it's fun to
tell your side and your views,"
Townsend said.
Laura Lamb, an anthro-
pology junior and co-founder
of the Denton chapter of the
Campaign to End the Death
Penalty, agrees.
"College students are defi-
nitely more inclined to be
involved in creating change
in the world we live in," she
said.
Lamb said she believes the
definition of activism is always
changing because the world is
always changing. Sometimes it
takes discourse or even revolu-
tionary settings to see change
occur, she said.
Various forms of activism
are civil disobedience, orga-
nizing protests and attending
marches or rallies, Lamb
said.
"Whether it's the Iraqi-
Palestinian conflict, the anti-
death penalty movement or
GLBT rights, students are
getting the most involved in
finding an alternative," she
said.
Townsend said he believes
civil rights and liberties are
the "hot button topics" that
this generation is focusing on,
due to the recent debates over
things like immigration laws
and gay rights.
Though there may be some
negative criticism from time to
time, Townsend said the best
part of being in an activist
group is getting to know
people who share your views
and getting people to see the
other side of issues,
"A dialogue is very impor-
tant to share ideas," he said.
"The spreading of knowledge
is very important."
Townsend said the Banned
Book reading, which occurred
in Willis Library yesterday,
was a form of activism because
it was designed to bring aware-
ness to an injustice.
He said he believes that even
if someone is not constantly in
the public eye promoting a
cause, people who act publicly
once will always have that
feeling of support and care.
Connie Chan, an entre-
preneurship junior, said she
thinks the university should
provide more outlets for
students to advocate their
beliefs.
"Sure, we have the free
speech areas, but there are
still some rules attached to
m
Photo by Greg McClendon/Staff Photographer
From left to right: Harrison DeLong, a hospitality management sophomore, Eric Hennington, a geography junior, Britney Lorbek, a kinesiol-
ogy junior, Renata Rampersad, a pre-nursing sophomore, Chrissy Scott and Tiffany Duran, a hospitality management junior and senior.
them," she said.
Chrissy Scott, a hospitality
management junior, agreed.
"You're limited to time and
who can say what," she said.
Both women said activism
is a commitment to standing
up and supporting something
and college students are fond
of activism because it helps
them find who they are.
Hip-hop group expresses love
for dance,' seeks new members
By Ashley-Crystal
Firstley
Intern
DEFiNiTiON, an
on-campus hip-hop dance
team, is looking for new
members to join the group,
now in its third year.
"We bring an authentic
movement to dance," said
Mary Allen, an elementary
education sophomore and
president of the team. "We
show passion through our
dance and cleanliness."
Only six students tried
out for the team during last
Thursday's auditions.
Because of a low turnout,
another audition will be
held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday
at the One O'clock Lounge,
Allen said.
Since DEFiNiTiON made
its debut, Allen said at the
end of every semester, many
people drop out. They were
left with three members
at the beginning of the
semester.
Allen, who has been pres-
ident of the team for two
semesters, said she has
been dedicated to the group
since day one.
"Dancing is a form of art
and it's important to keep
that alive," Allen said. "And
so to have that on campus,
we're sharing our love for
art with others and we're
keeping it alive within
ourselves."
Armenthie Conwell, a
biology sophomore and vice
president of the group, said
she's been dancing since
the age of 7.
She said she believes
the students who audi-
tioned have a lot of poten-
tial and they look forward
to having them in their
family.
"Everybody might not
like ballet, everybody might
not like modern," Conwell
said. "Hip-hop, you're really
uppity. You can easily draw
a crowd and it's a lot more
fun and a lot more expres-
sive."
DEFiNiTiON has
performed at events on
and off campus as well
as volunteer and greek
events. Its next perfor-
mance is at 7:06 p.m. on
Oct. 14 in the Auditorium
Building for an Apollo
night.
"If we have a show
coming up, we'll practice
five days a week, Monday
through Friday, or some-
Photo by Berenice Quirino/Staff Photographer
The DEFiNiTiON dance team held tryouts last Wednesday in Crumley Hall.
Photo by Berenice Quirino/Staff Photographer
Armenthie Conwell (right), a biology sophomore and vice president of the dance group teaches Chassidy Douglas (center),
a kinesiology freshman and Fredricka Brown (left), an electrical engineering junior, dance moves for their auditions.
times four days a week,"
Allen said. "It just depends
on how crucial it is."
Kinesiology sophomore
Dalawnia johnson said
she didn't intend to audi-
tion for DEFiNiTiON last
semester.
After going to support
her roommate who was
auditioning, johnson said
she gave it a shot and made
the team.
"I didn't think I was
going to enjoy it as much
as I do but it's a lot of fun,"
johnson said. "We're like a
big family."
There aren't any men
who audition, Allen said,
and she welcomes guys and
anyone else who is inter-
ested to audition for the
team.
"It's our life, it's what we
do. We're expressing our
love for dance," Conwell
said.
David Colunga, a radio,
television and film and
communications senior,
said where he comes from,
hip-hop is a different
culture compared to the
hip-hop in Denton.
Since UNT is an art
school, Colunga said he
believes it's important for
the campus to have dance
groups instead of having to
join official teams like the
Eagle Angels.
"Sometimes there's
things that students don't
want to talk about and most
of the time, they express
it through art," Colunga
said. "Hip-hop would be
one of the genres to express
emotions."
Photo by Greg McClendon/Staff Photographer
A sorority takes votes outside the University Union on which sorority or fraternity has the best
eyes.
IJndecided stu-
dents seek help
Amber Jones
Intern
One in three seniors will
major in the same field that
they started in.
It's estimated that under-
graduates will change their
major four to five times before
reaching a permanent deci-
sion, said Lisa Maxwell, a senior
academic counselor for the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Many of the more than ] ,000
undecided UNT students are
seeking assistance to help them
find a major.
The advisers from CAS have
compiled a few helpful courses
and activities for undeclared
students, Maxwell said.
"Students have several
options available to them,"
she said. "We have a freshman
seminar class which is designed
for students who are unde-
cided."
Other programs, like Road
Trip Nation, allow students to
shadow a professional for the
day. Students can set up inter-
views and learn from experts.
Afterward, they will come back
and present their experiences
to the class about what they
learned, Maxwell said.
Students can also join student
organizations to examine
personal interests.
"When I was undeclared I
wentto advisers, but I also used
student organizations and clubs
to help determine the direction
I wanted to go in," said Misti
Day, a general studies senior.
While some students have
no idea what career they want
to pursue, others used the
career courses, like UCRS 2300,
to solidify their decision in a
specific study.
"My freshman year, I took a
bunch of intro classes including
Intro to Nutrition," said Alii
Clearly, a nutrition junior. "I
was always interested in nutri-
tion, but wanted to make sure
that it was the right held for me.
But after I took the course, I was
like, 'OK, this is what I really
want to do.'"
Sometimes students have
a general idea about what
they want to do, but haven't
committed to a subject, Maxwell
said.
"Sometimes it's best to start
out undeclared to avoid major
hopping," she said. "Alot of the
times when undergraduates do
the research they will stick with
their major."
Maxwell said it's important
to use the campus as a tool to
explore various career paths.
She wants students to know that
there are multiple things they
can do with their degree that
are even outside their speci-
fied field.
"Students have a lot of
different resources. You should
take the time to research your
interest, just like you would a
term paper," she said. "Your
degree opens many doors and
you have many different things
you can look into with it."
To watch more on this
story see ntdaily.com
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 96, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 29, 2010, newspaper, September 29, 2010; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth164933/m1/3/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.